Throughout history there are certain dates that stand alone, that in the retelling need no year for clarity. December 7th, September 11th, and now January 6th … when we hear those dates, we automatically remember who, what, why, when, and where. These three stand-alone dates all represent days when the United States was brutally attacked: Pearl Harbour, World Trade Center/Pentagon, and the Capitol/Congress. The first two differ from the third only in that Pearl Harbour and the World Trade Center were attacked by other nations or groups outside the U.S., while the attack on January 6th came from within, rather like having your son or daughter viciously burn your own house down with you in it. In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared December 7th to be “a day that will live in infamy.” The same can and must be said about January 6th 2021.
So often we hear, “Well, whaddabout _____________?”, or “But both sides do it!” And sometimes, to some extent depending on circumstances, that is true. It’s call ‘moral equivalence’. But there is not and cannot be any moral equivalency for what was done before, during, and after January 6th in an attempt to overthrow an election, overthrow a duly elected government, and destroy people’s lives. This one, my friends, falls entirely on the shoulders of the Republican Party and their unofficial leader, one Donald Trump. Kevin McCarthy said just this month …
“I think everybody in the country bears responsibility [for the January 6th attempted coup].”
No, Mr. McCarthy … YOU, and Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, and most every other Republican in and out of Congress bear the full weight of this one.
Not only did Donald Trump, as we now know, incite the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, but was also plotting numerous other illegal and unconstitutional tactics to overturn the election and overthrow our voices, our justly elected president Joe Biden. Democrats did NOT do this, Independents did NOT do this – it was done by and at the behest of Republicans.
But as if that weren’t bad enough … the average John Doe Republican voter caught the spirit of the moment and set out to destroy … property, the nation, innocent lives, and more. If you watched the four people who testified in yesterday’s televised hearing, you had to be moved. All four told heartbreaking stories about receiving threats of violence, not only against themselves but their families as well. You will have seen Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testifying that until very recently Trump supporters would drive around his neighborhood and falsely announce that he was a “pedophile” and a corrupt politician. He recounted an argument between a neighbor and a man with a pistol, and also talked about the reactions of his family …
“At the same time, on some of these, we had a daughter who was gravely ill who was upset by what was happening outside and my wife, that is a valiant person, very strong, quiet, very strong woman. So, it was disturbing.”
He fought the tears that we could see in his eyes. What he didn’t mention was that his daughter died of her illness shortly thereafter. My own eyes were suddenly in need of a tissue, as well.
The last testimony of the day was from Shaye Moss, a young woman who had been an election worker for some ten years prior to the 2020 election. Ms. Moss was falsely accused, along with her mother, of carrying out a fake ballot scheme and Rudy Giuliani started the ball rolling when he called them professional vote scammers, allegations that led to death threats and intimidation, and forced them into hiding for a period of several weeks. Both Ms. Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, spoke at the hearing yesterday and told of the ways in which they have been tormented and threatened.
“This turned my life upside down. I no longer give out my business card. I don’t transfer calls. I — I don’t want anyone knowing my name. I don’t want to go anywhere with my mom because she might yell my name out over the grocery aisle or something. I don’t go to the grocery store at all. I haven’t been anywhere at all. I gained about 60 pounds, I don’t do nothing anymore, I second-guess everything I do. It’s affected my life in a major way, in every way. All because of lies for me doing my job, same thing I’ve been doing forever.”
And her mother, Ruby, said …
“There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the President of the United States to target you? The President of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one. But he targeted me, Lady Rudy, a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen who stand up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of the pandemic.”
This, folks, is what everyday Republicans are doing – to their own!!! The first three to testify, Rusty Bowers, Brad Raffensperger, and Gabe Sterling were all Republicans! The elected officials on the Republican side of the aisle keep the populace riled with hate-spewing rhetoric, but it is the average everyday white Republican who is allowing themselves to be manipulated into this horrific behaviour aimed at the very heart and spirit of the nation. And in the past 24 hours, since yesterday’s televised hearing, there has been an increase in threats of violence against the members of the committee, leading to a security detail being assigned to each member.
For the record, in case any Republicans, or any others who still believe the Big Lie and are enamoured of Donald Trump:
DONALD TRUMP LOST THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!
Get over it and try to make something of your lives instead of living your life vicariously through your wishful dreams.
I hurt … I literally hurt for what this nation has become. It’s like when Smokey the Bear used to say, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” … only WE THE PEOPLE can turn this around. And if we don’t, if we fail, then our children and grandchildren will pay the hefty price. I leave it to your imagination to figure out what that price will be.
Filosofa's Word 