I read Judge Luttig’s full statement which was released before his testimony before the January 6th committee last Thursday. It is so well thought out and also very chilling. Our country is still in danger of losing our most precious right to vote. Once we lose that, we’ve lost our democracy. Judge Luttig’s statement is here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22061497/jml-final.pdf
Today’s Bible Verse is very appropriate today:
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his very soul? — Mark 8:36
As far as I’m concerned, tRump, his base, his family, and the GQP have all forfeited their souls lying, cheating, and committing acts of treason just so they could stay in power.
The fourth hearing was last Thursday and it’s taken me the weekend to wrap my mind around it. It brought back so many horrific memories I have of watching the coverage on January 6th. I remember the violence of the mob, striking down police officers and beating them with American flags—of all things! —and other weapons. I remember the poor officer caught between the doors, screaming for help as he was being crushed by the insurrectionists.
I heard them chanting “Hang Mike Pence” and saw footage of the gallows erected outside. Other terrorists were calling for Speaker Pelosi to come out and the worst of their language was edited out. I remember how that mob poured through the Capitol, endangering the lives of the legislators, staff, and visitors. Those awful people desecrated the building, defecating and spreading their poop around, vandalizing property and just trashing the place.
It went on for hours and hours.
All of the came back as I watched and listened to Judge Luttig and Mr. Jacob give testimony and answer questions. Judge Luttig spoke very slowly and carefully; he looked distressed to me and I thought it might have been because he was distraught about what happened. He is a highly respected, conservative Republican judge and had found himself in the position of having to advise Vice President Pence about what his role was in certifying the vote. I can only imagine how he must have felt, a patriot horrified by what had happened to the country since tRump became President. To me, the Judge represents one of the last of the Grand Old Party. They had morals and a code of behavior once upon a time.
The GQP now is totally lawless, fascist, and out of control.
It’s very clear from testimony just how close we came to losing the America I grew up in: a democracy where our votes counted and there was always a peaceful transition of power. That’s all changed since the 6th. Now the legitimacy of all elections is called into question. The Big Lie persists and persists and stupid people continue to believe it.
Judge Luttig’s warning was stark and frightening. The coup goes on to this day. After the 6th, the GQP moved to a Plan B and began infiltrating local and state political offices. They’ve invaded school boards, mayoralties, state legislatures and governor’s offices all around the country. It’s scary. Already there are Big Lie politicians talking about having the power to overturn an election when they don’t like the outcome.
America is a republic but it’s also a democracy. We, the people, elect candidates to office. It’s not supposed to be decided by one person or a committee of politicians. And that’s the scary part. I try to have hope that people will vote in November but I’m also aware that some have short memories. Some move on to the next exciting story week-to-week. It doesn’t help that the GQP tell people the investigation is a witch hunt that happened 18 months ago.
The insurrectionists need to be brought to justice, all of them and especially tRump. The right-wing white supremacist extremist group Proud Boys are very up-front claiming that if they’d found Mike Pence, they would have killed him. They would have killed Speaker Pelosi. They came very close to capturing the Vice President. They came within 40 feet of Pence as he and his family and staff were being evacuated by the secret service.
I can feel my mind boggling again.
I don’t understand why the Vice President didn’t denounce tRump and his cronies from the get-go. I don’t understand how the threatened GQP members of Congress could criticize what happened one day and defend the insurrectionists the next. They continue to support tRump’s claim that it was a just a protest that got a bit out of control.
No, it wasn’t. It was an attempt to overthrow our democracy.
It’ll happen again. Robert Reich wrote a rather disturbing article about why the January 6th hearings are NOT going to make a difference in GQP’s strategy to undermine and destroy our democracy. Half this country is too lame-brained and gullible to believe it. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-the-january-6-committee-is-failing?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share
God help our country.
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