My takeaway from yesterday’s final January 6 committee investigative hearing is it sure does take a long time for folks to grasp basic facts.
Yes we know the wheels of justice turn slowly, but is that any reason for the media and everyone else to not come out and address elementary, elemental, relevant points about a catastrophic event? We manage to endlessly speculate about every other mundane and often inconsequential detail.
On January 6, 2021, I watched on television in real time what was taking place at the US Capitol. And the absolute soul-dreading panic it induced was triggered by one specific question:
Why is no one stopping this?
I was literally screaming it at the TV that day.
Where were all of our so-called defense forces? Was there no advanced intel that might have indicated this was going to happen? Why did it look like some police were in on the gig?
Of course, we now know that it wasn’t an intel failure. It was failure to act on intel.
Any way you slice it, that’s dereliction of duty. The reasons behind it are even worse, and it takes time to bring every nuance to light, but the clear observation is a whole host of those charged with preventing or stopping such atrocities sat back and deliberately let it happen.
Why did it take numerous hearings and almost two years to reveal this blatant, obvious, in-your-face reality?
The reason I felt so sickened watching the events of January 6 was it was an utter betrayal. Problem is, the coverup appears to have begun as quickly as it did on 9/11. And we still have no answers to many basic questions from that day. Why?
Why is no one willing to address unfortunate facts associated with our nation’s most vaulted institutions? Because we are only as good as the sum of our parts, and if the Secret Service, the FBI, the Executive Branch, the Supreme Court, the US military, and any number of police forces are utterly corrupted, what does looking the other way and brushing it under the rug do?
Meanwhile, as coverage of yesterday’s hearing progressed and we entered the first ten-minute break, watchers were treated to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC spluttering about how the public needs to be reminded that there might be strong language—as in profanity—involved in the broadcasted testimony.
Seriously? That’s what was most compelling and needed to be pointed out about the first half of the hearing?
I don’t want to engage in ageism because that form of discrimination is prevalent and vile, especially where women are concerned (I myself experienced it most recently disrespected in a job interview for a journalism fact-checking gig), but is this ridiculous tone-deaf obsession a generational thing?
Why are we pandering to delicate sensibilities of people who have a fit if they hear the word fuck on TV but have no qualms whatsoever about violence, corruption, or unprecedented insurrection? Sheesh.
Do ya think we might have our priorities out of whack when we focus on naughty words instead of a bunch of thugs calling themselves patriots flailing on Capitol police with an American flag as a weapon and taking a shit in the hallowed halls of the Capitol itself?
One more thing, is anyone else repeatedly asking—into the void—how is it the committee never managed to get around to addressing and holding accountable their fellow members of Congress who aided and abetted this insurrection, instigated by a traitorous president that they continue to support with fascist fervor?