Sunday, July 24, 2022

Fiddling around

 

(4 minute, 30 seconds read)

Different strokes

            In other countries those that unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow their government with a coup are shot, imprisoned or worse.  In America they get elected or reelected to office.

Or write a book.

Nero

            In their eighth hearing the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has laid bare Trump’s support of the insurrectionists.[1]  The committee covered what transpired during the hours from when the Capitol was breeched until it was over.  Republicans from Trump’s inner circle at the White House provided testimony about Trump and his shameful conduct that day.  In all, hundreds of Republicans have testified before the committee.[2]

            Nero didn’t fiddle while Rome burned.  Trump didn’t fiddle while the Capitol was under attack.[3]

He watched TV.

Runners

            OMG!  Have you seen the video of brave Senator Josh Hawley hoofing it to safety?  The committee provided us with the video.  What will get lost here though is the capitol police noting that when he gave the insurrectionists the raised arm fist of solidarity the mob became more emboldened.[4]  He was one of them!  On the inside!  Evidently Hawley later decided that the mob might not take the time ascertain which people in suits were Trump loyalists. 

            Trump Republicans have covered a lot of ground since the 1/6 coup attempt.  They’ve gone from there was no coup attempt to saying that they have the Constitutional obligation as true patriots to try and overthrow our government.[5] 

They don’t.[6]

Fair weather

Trump really did want to be President for Life.  He came close to achieving that goal on January 6, 2020.  He never planned to leave office.  Trump was plotting to stay in office before the vote even took place.[7]

When Trump realized that the insurrectionists he had incited weren’t going to be successful in stopping the Electoral College count after three hours of sustained violence against those defending the Capitol and Congress he was finally persuaded to call them off.[8]  On January 7th he trashed the same people that the day before he had professed to love, called “very special” and defended their actions.[9] He called for their prosecution.  The reason for his change in heart is that there was talk about enacting the 25th Amendment and/or impeaching him for inciting the insurrection.[10]  As it turned out his Republican opposition lacked the courage to publicly and professionally do what needed to be done.  They put their political careers first. 

Trump also lied in his concession speech.  There’s a surprise.  He claimed that he was the one that had called in reinforcements to restore order at the Capitol.[11]  He claimed to have done what he should have done but didn’t do.  Thanks to testimony provided to the committee we now know that he did absolutely nothing other than watch what was happening on Fox Pravda.  (Trump did call his Senators and House members asking them to stop the count.)  It was Vice President Pence that was calling for assistance.  (VP Pence was not the Commander in Chief. Why did anybody obey him?)

We have also learned that there were Secret Service (SS) agents willing to try and help Trump by spiriting Vice President Pence away from the Capitol to prevent him from doing his duty under the Constitution.  We have also learned that Pence’s SS agents were in fear of losing their lives and making last calls to loved ones that day.[12] 

Whether it’s the nation or Trump’s supporters,

Loyalty to Trump is a one-way street.

Stand your ground.

            Vice President Pence refused to hoof it and stayed at the Capitol.  He understood how it would look to the world.[13]  Pence refused to get in a vehicle because did not trust all the Secret Service agents in his protection detail—specifically the driver. He didn’t want to be spirited away.  We don’t yet know the full depth of Trump’s corruption[14] of the praetorian guard.[15] 

            Trump embarrassed our nation to the world and undermined democracy with his coup attempt.  The Trump Republican Party continues to whine and destabilize our democracy with his “Big Lie” of winning the election that he lost.  

Republicans remain that have the courage of their convictions when it comes to standing up for the Republic.  Sarah Matthews, Former deputy White House press secretary and Matt Pottinger, Former Deputy National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump are two of the latest witnesses that provided crucial testimony at the eighth hearing.[16]  They resigned on January 6th because of Trump’s actions. 

They placed country before Party.

Quirky

Remember Ted Baxter?  He was a quirky newscaster on the Mary Tyler Moore show.  When I was watching the video of Trump working on his speech I thought of Ted Baxter.  Ted the newscaster would have certain words removed from the newscast because he couldn’t say them properly.  Trump didn’t like the word “yesterday” because it was hard for him to say.[17]  So they pulled it out of his teleprompter text.  You know what else is hard for Trump to say?

He lost.


[2] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/who-are-the-key-players-in-the-jan-6-committee-hearings-so-far  This link provides access to in depth information about witnesses that have testified.

[3] https://www.history.com/news/did-nero-really-fiddle-while-rome-burned

[10] https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/25th-amendment

[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-211nL5nfvY  (Trump made no calls for help.)

[13] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C4tivPraEBk  (Pence refused to leave the Capitol)

[14] https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/07/politics/anthony-ornato-deputy-chief-of-staff-for-operations/index.html

[15] https://www.worldhistory.org/Praetorian_Guard/

[16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxn36ciqbd4  Pottinger and Matthews intros. Proud of accomplishments.

[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KZhia3ZEeo  Yesterday and other outtakes.

Posted by Keith Thomas at