Americans are still processing the horror of Texas’s child slaughter, the New York racist murders of Buffalo and other disturbingly repeated scenes in American carnage.
They are confronted with what seems like highway robbery at a gas pump, they are nagged on a virus that is spreading around the world, and they have been split into two hostile camps over culture and politics — the twin pillars for the nation’s foundation.
They have already gone through two dramas of presidential impeachment, and the whole wringer about Donald Trump.
The House Select Committee to Investigate January 6th Attack On the United States Capitol will begin in prime time Thursday. It is attempting to establish the historical record for an event that was not only detrimental to a family or community but also to democracy as a whole.
The committee has a story to share in the hearings this week, after more than 100 subpoenas and 1,000 interviews. It’s a story for the ages.
The question is open: How much care will the country need?
The committee’s investigation of Trump’s actions and the actions of all his men and women has led to a number of plot lines. These will tell the story of a violent uprising fuelled by the lies and venom of a defeated president.
Even Republicans who had condemned Trump’s actions at the time have taken a “nothing to see here” position since then, rejecting calls for an independent investigation commission like the one that was established on Sept. 11.
A disinformation network was created that made completely false claims about the nature of the attack. Trump continues to deny the attack and insists that he was defeated by 7 million votes. This in effect validates the cause of the rioters.
Many of the insurrectionists were brought to justice and many were convicted or plead guilty to serious crimes. The committee’s ultimate goal is to hold those in power accountable.
There are many avenues of inquiry.
Is Vice President Mike Pence refusing to leave the Capitol besieged because he believed that Trump’s Secret Service was trying to take him away in order to prevent him from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory? Did Trump flush incriminating papers down a White House toilet?
How can you explain the seven-hour gap in White House telephone logs for Trump’s calls during the uprising? It will be compared to the 18 1/2 minute hole in Nixon’s 1972 secret White House recording system.
Watergate, Nixon’s scandal that exposed politically motivated criminal acts, destroyed Nixon’s presidency. It was centered around a question asked by Howard Baker, a Republican senator: “What did President know and when did it happen?”
The Jan. 6 committee asked the following questions about Trump’s involvement with the insurrection: What did Trump do and when?
