PRESIDENTIAL MEDALS OF FREEDOM GATHERING DUST – 

HEROES UNAVAILABLE

Thursday evening’s (6/9) Prime Time, two-hour broadcast of the House committee’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 insurrection and riot at the U.S. capitol exposed Americans to some ugly, dramatic footage of the event, much of which had not been seen before. But, thanks to the eagerness of those flag- and club-wielding participants with their bear spray, videoing their actions for self-gratification replays, and for the world to see their ‘patriotism’, they also gave law enforcement and the courts a perfect source on which to base criminal charges. Smile for the camera…no need to stand back and stand by anymore! 

Monday morning’s (6/13) public broadcast #2 laid out a more detailed, thorough, incisive view, with day-to-day accounts by former Trump aides, attorneys, and advisors, who failed in their efforts to convince Humpty Drumpty that he lost the election, and to prepare for an orderly transition to a Biden Administration. As individuals bailed out, Rudy Giuliani stepped up, with the assistance of attorney Sidney Powell, who were unable to prove anything, and only ended up being embedded more deeply in the mire, notably by suits filed by Dominion Voting Systems who the two tried to blame for election irregularities.

TrumpCo filed a total of 62 lawsuits trying to overturn the election based on vote counts and fraud allegations, with the bulk being thrown out for lack of evidence, being based on gossip, innuendo, and misinterpretation and misreading of the U.S. Constitution. Attorney General Bill Barr was bedeviled by Trump to help him overturn the election, finally resigning on December 14, 2020. The former president, grasping at straws, was beguiled by every rumor or false report that popped up, getting Barr involved with a ‘whack-a-mole’ game. The AG felt that his boss knew from the start that he was the loser, but eventually became “detached from reality”, believing his own lies and forging ahead with the scheme to stay in office. Indeed, a drunken Rudy Giuliani on election night advised The Donald to just say, “we won!” and to continue in that aggressive vein.

Committee Chair, Bennie Thompson has laid out what the basics of their work entailed, as they conducted and videoed over one thousand interviews of Trump administration/campaign personnel in the probe to collect information that led up to the attack to overturn the legitimate certification of the 2020 Presidential election. Vice Chair, Liz Cheney presented what amounted to a thorough, point-by-point legal case for the prosecution of the former President and his minions. Several who were asked to cooperatively appear before the committee refused to do so, subsequently being subpoenaed. Several complied, a few now face criminal contempt, and arrests have begun…notably, Peter Navarro‘s. Not to be ignored are the fifty-eight defendants charged with conspiracy, 213 defendants charged with violence, and 303 pleading guilty to charges stemming from the siege. Five defendants have had jury trials, each being convicted on all counts. Two bench trials resulted in one mixed verdict and one full acquittal; two federal court cases were dismissed, with seven D.C. Superior Court cases being dismissed. 

NPR found that at least 14% of those charged appear to have ties to the military or law enforcement, as well as military service members and veterans, a distressing discovery. At least 136 defendants have alleged ties to known extremist or fringe organizations, to include QAnon, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters. A disturbing finding points to the fact that the majority of those charged have no known connections to extremist groups, indicating how far extremist ideologies are being accepted by the mainstream. In public comments and court documents, the DOJ has roughly put cases into three categories: those who conspired to attack the Capitol; those who allegedly, violently attacked police, often with weapons; and the remainder who entered the building in the throng, with no additional criminality…likely Russian expatriates looking for a McDonald’s. 

Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr was videoed with his assessment that the election wasn’t stolen, and how he had attempted to convince his boss that it was all B.S., and not worth the effort to continue with his deception of ‘stolen votes,’ faulty voting machines or China’s meddling. Barr’s tenure was then dead in the water, with his opinion receiving a surprising endorsement by daughter and Senior Advisor, Ivanka Trump, who told the committee that she ‘respected and believed’ Barr’s summation of the election results. The next day, Orange Daddy, on his social media platform, weighed in on his daughter’s testimony with, “Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying Election results. She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Barr and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!).”  Daddy’s on a tear…be on the lookout for speeding Greyhound or Trailways buses when you cross the street, Ivanka!

Former first-daughter’s husband, Jared Kushner, who was also an administration Senior Advisor, was asked what he thought of Cabinet members and other staff who were raising red flags and threatening resignation over his father-in-law’s drive to stay in power, blamed his nose-to-the-grindstone efforts in processing presidential pardons, and attributed the hubbub to “whining.“  So, Jared, did your stuffed-shirt, self-importance get far enough down the list to complete your own pardon? Afraid you’re gonna need it, bud…your ‘prints are on everything! Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may be your only avenue of escape, but watch out…his knives are sharper than those of your disgraced father-in-law’s.

Subsequent installments of the committee hearings may be history by the time these words are read, with devastating reporting on the hate groups, the white supremacists, and the coterie that make up the Trumpian Criminal Enterprise. Liz Cheney began her first-round presentation by saying,“Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power.” Memorably, she later said,“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

Cheney applauded VP Mike Pence, who refused to go along with the Clodwork Orange’s planned coup, and perhaps prevented DJT Junior’s visage from appearing on the ten-dollar bill by 2026. Jack Holmes, in Esquire magazine writes, “Here is another idea the committee might consider: Take a moment to praise Mike Pence. Congress can name a building in his honor. The House and Senate could propose nonpartisan resolutions recognizing Pence for his service to democracy. And then Joe Biden could give Pence the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Because while Pence may not be the hero you or I might have wanted, he was the hero America needed.” Far better, and more appropriate, why not name the new prison facility that will be needed to house all the Trump administration officials, the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other insurrectionists, in honor of our white-topped ‘hero?’ What a jolt to see the image of DJT in an orange suit imprinted with ‘Just HANGin’ Out at the Mike Pence Federal Penitentiary.’ Save a size for Pence, however…there was much he could have done between November 2020 and January 6 with the awareness he had of Trump’s intentions. The committee can still use your help Mikey…you still have a chance to choose country over party, instead of aiming your hat for the ring in 2024. Remember, it’s only a cult of personality now, going the way of the Whigs if some responsible adults don’t step up, but you ain’t the personality-in-waiting!

The glaring question in this entire, ugly ‘coup in search of a leader’ chapter inserted into our history, is why didn’t more…nay, anyone, of consequence step up and lay bare what was really going on, instead of just tiptoeing around it, resigning and moving along to let it fester and continue to embroil our politics? Is it because the Proud Boys still have that stash of weapons hidden in Virginia, or because the letters, emails, tweets and UPS packages dispatched by the radical fringe to those who dare open their mouths in an attempt to right the ship of state? Pence and Barr are not the only ones guilty of dereliction of duty!

Chair Thompson warns, “Our democracy remains in danger. The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over.” And, we can see it as right-wingers continue their efforts to make it more difficult for ‘unacceptable’ persons to vote, or as they attempt to fill governmental positions with officials who are willing to alter election results, as they criticize the J6 Committee as illegitimate, rehashing ‘old news’ that no longer interests people. GOP Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia, stands by the words he uttered last year, that the attack on D.C. was nothing more than a protest or a “normal tourist visit.” And, just last week, football team defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio of the Washington Commanders, dismissed the assault on the Capitol, as a “dust-up.” Then there’s Honest Representative Louie (Gomer) Gohmert, who lambasted the arrest of Peter Navarro, telling Newsmax, “If you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent, or they’re coming after you.” Preach, Louie, preach! 

The New York Times, in a perturbing story, “How the Proud Boys Gripped the Miami-Dade Republican Party,” has uncovered how the white-supremacist hate group has wormed its way into the supposed mainstream GOP, being accepted and rationalized by the ‘party’ leaders as they rise to power within the local leadership hierarchy. The chairman admits that there are “fringe elements, different points of view, but that’s how they are, and however wrong they may be, it’s our duty to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights.” Chairman Garcia goes on to say, “outright racism is merely a point of view in need of protection – and the radicals who spew hate speech and practice political violence are to be embraced and accepted into the fold of the mainstream.” This from a party who excludes people with a different political point of view, who perform in public venues, have their books accessible and read, and tell their side of the story in educational institutions. Okay, accepted by the party leaders, but…put there by…the voters? Welcome to the new normal!

Two prominent Republicans, U.S. House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise told the press that they had no plans to watch any of the J6 Committee hearings…Kevin with an outright, “No”, and Steve replying, “I’ll be busy.” In actuality, for the premiere they were probably watching Tucker Carlson on Fox, who ran his show for an hour with no commercial breaks (a repeat of the Benghazi hearings with his running commentary?), so that watchers wouldn’t be tempted to break away to watch the J6 hearing, which was broadcasting concurrently. Even with Carlson’s competition, the House production managed to have a viewership of twenty-million for Episode #1 according to Nielsen Media Research…not comparable to an NFL game’s draw, but not too shabby!

As Ivanka Trump attempted to get her Assaulter-In-Chief father to call off his dogs from the attack of the Capitol, he was heard to say, “Sure, in a jiffy!” which most would take to mean in a very short period of time – the blink of an eye. Surprisingly, a jiffy is an actual measurement of time, depending on who’s doing the talking. Chemist Gilbert Lewis defined a jiffy as the length of time it takes for light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum. Some physicists have defined a jiffy as the time it takes light to travel one femtometer, or one-millionth of a millionth of a millimeter; hence, each second contains about three hundred thousand billion billion jiffys. An electrical engineer could describe a jiffy as the time it takes a single cycle of alternating current (1/50 or 1/60 of a second depending on the electrical system. So, whatever may be true, all would agree that no one has ever accomplished much in a jiffy. Worked for Trump, didn’t it? Maybe not…to be continued!