Sir, – Not all the blame for the events in Washington lies with Donald Trump and his leading supporters.
Had the mainstream media properly reported and discussed the various allegations of material electoral fraud the issue might well have been defused.
Also, if the Supreme Court had heard the challenge brought by Texas and endorsed by Trump that would have helped to close divisions.
While claims of interference by a rogues’ gallery of foreign states are entirely implausible, many of the other allegations are not.
Suggestions that vote counting machines were linked to the internet and could be remotely hacked could best be described as “I want to know more.” Some evidence produced definitely warranted detailed investigation, notably the glitches in certain vote counts where blocks of votes suddenly switched from Trump to Biden.
Statistical evidence goes further and at least raises doubts as to the overall result.
The simplest is that Biden got by far the largest ever presidential vote off a record low for a winning candidate of 509 counties to over 2,500 won by Trump.
However, the media and the Supreme Court chose not to canvas and thereby defuse these matters, the distrust and division will fester to the severe weakening of America, a result which will undermine our security here in Britain.
Otto Inglis.
Ansonhill,
Crossgates.
Sturgeon is ready to play the Trump card
Sir, – Our first minister has the Trump card in her hand and is prepared to play it.
Possibly one of her predecessor’s biggest mistakes was to ignore local and national opinion as far as golfing at Balmedie was concerned.
It incurred the wrath of thousands of people and probably cost him his constituency.
Sandy Coghill.
Sligachan, Isle of Skye.
Accountability key for social media
Sir, – What lessons can we learn from the events on Capitol Hill in Washington DC?
What allowed this to happen? Firstly, social media markets, where platforms reward users that have large followings as ‘influencers’.
More followers equates to more ego hits. We are all egotistical to some degree and get a buzz from likes or retweets. The more we get the more we need. Bigger is better.
Second is that social media platforms see their role as being simply platforms.
It is their view that the ‘user’ who posts material is responsible for the content.
They take no responsibility.
Compare this to a real publisher who reviews material in terms of truth/facts and is responsible for the publishing of the content.
Third, money can be used to ‘push’ a story or post on the platforms without it needing to be declared by the person or political party involved.
It was described by one political commentator as ‘once the toothpaste is out of the tube it’s hard to get it back’.
Such is the case with Trump’s frequent unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Fourth, we are all responsible when we do not challenge lies and false reports in social and the mainstream media.
Alistair Ballantyne.
Birkhill, Angus.
Why so many doses of the Covid vaccine?
Sir, – According to the UK Government it has ordered 375 million doses of vaccine against the virus.
Can anyone tell me why such a large number has been procured?
We have a population in the UK of some 67,886,011 at mid 2020 according to the UN.
If everyone takes it we only require 140 million doses, allowing for a little inevitable wastage, to vaccinate the whole population.
Why the excessive over ordering?
Does this mean the government is anticipating a vast amount of wastage or is there some other reason which is not being shared with the public?
Could it be that there are vested interests at work who will gain financially from this surplus which is not required? Alistair Henderson.
Wester Carse, Aberfeldy.
