Last night TB and I stayed up to watch the 8th hearing of the January 6th committee. The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, has contracted covid and so he had to isolate himself. He did give an opening statement. While he was speaking, our cat Gus got up in front of the TV. It seemed like he was interested in what Rep. Thompson was saying so I took some pictures. It was probably our big laugh of the evening.
The purpose of the hearing was to go into what tRump was doing for 187 minutes while his rioting insurrectionist supporters terrorized legislators, staff, and secret service details, injured hundreds of police officers, and trashed the Capitol Building. Granted, I’d heard all the previous testimony so I knew damn well all he was doing was sitting his fat ass in the Oval dining room watching the coverage on Fox News while his advisors and family members begged him to do something to stop the violence. I did appreciate the way two leads last night, Rep. Luria and Rep. Kinzinger, compared what was happening with tRump with what was happening at the Capitol. That was effective.
Luria and Kinzinger went through that three hour period that just seemed to last forever when TB and I were watching it. Not only did tRump refuse to do anything to stop the violence, he instigated more of it. His tweet around 2:30 p.m. that day basically set a target on Vice President Pence’s back. It inflamed the already out-of-their-minds insurrectionists to more violence. One new thing I learned was that around the time of the tweet, VP Pence’s secret service team were so alarmed by the danger that they began calling their families to leave goodbye messages. Geeze. Shades of 9/11!
There were two nothing tweets from tRump, coerced out of him by family and advisors. Still, they only said vague words like “stay peaceful.” Say what? The insurrectionists were smashing windows, destroying, defacing and stealing property, pooping everywhere, and physically hurting the police. Legislators were very lucky they escaped rather quickly. Still, VP Pence and his detail came within 40 feet of the insurrectionists. What if someone had seen Pence as he was being whisked away? Would the traitors have seized him and dragged him to the gallows they’d erected to hang him?
I wasn’t as emotionally horrified and upset as I was during the earlier hearings. I guess it’s because I knew that tRump was evil personified and so I didn’t feel shocked that he just sat there enthusiastically watching the coup attempt. Two people, both witnesses that testified last night, resigned that night. Why didn’t the others? Some said it was because they were afraid of what tRump might do if he only had the “Clown Car” (Guiliani, Bannon, etc) to advise him.
I wasn’t surprised at the raw footage of his videotaped statements released to send the traitors home and the address to the country. He’d stop himself and object to having to say some of the things in the script. He didn’t want to say that the election was over. He didn’t want to condemn the followers who’d obeyed him and tried to stop the vote count. It is so clear tRump violated his oath of office. He did nothing to protect the Constitution nor the country from a terrorist action.
Yet, he walks free. The Clown Car walks free. People who did what he wanted are, in some cases, facing severe consequences. He and the Clown Car have been obstructing, ignorning subpoenas and otherwise breaking all kinds of laws with no consequences. They continue to terrorize and bully people. One witness had to be disguised for testimony because of a pervasive fear among the staff their lives would be in danger if they testified openly.
This is America?
So what I felt wasn’t horror so much as it was disgust and worry for out future. Judge Luttig and others are absolutely correct that the coup is continuing. Sometimes I think my heart may break.
It's not over yet. This hearing was supposed to be the last, but both Reps. Thompson and Cheney told us that they are getting so much more information, they will begin more hearings in September. Good. We need the whole truth, painful as it may be.
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