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| Adam Kinzinger (R) named to House Committee probing Capital siege (NYP) |
Let me begin by once again trying to assure the doubters here (futile though it may be) that I am no fan of the former President. In fact I truly believe that in many ways he was the worst President in American history. But as I have also repeatedly said, I favored most of his politically conservative policies as well as his unabashed support for Israel.
Not going into details. Nor do I expect anyone to my left to agree with me – even about his pro Israel polices. Which they all deem to be meaningless at best and possibly even harmful. But that is the nature of that kind of hate. It is blinds one to objectivity.
I have not been blinded that way. I follow the example of the great sage of Mishnaic times, R’ Meir who continued to learn from Elisha Ben Avuia (Acheir) - a teacher that turned into a heretic. When he was challenged about how he could do such a thing, he responded by basically saying that he threw out the bad and retained the good.
Now that I got that out of the way, I am going to tell you why I think the House committee to find out the ‘truth’ about what happened on January 6th is little more than political theater.
This might be shocking to those who see everything right with such a committee. Why on earth would we not want to know exactly what happened on January 6th when a group of Trump supporters, led by locked and loaded right wing extremist militias stormed the capital?!
The truth is I agree that it is important to know the facts. We need to know exactly what happened, who is responsible, and at what level. But a highly partisan committee filled entirely with people on record as blaming the President for this is hardly the way to find that out. If there was ever a congressional version of a kangaroo court, this is it. They all ‘know’ the President is guilty and they are determined to prove it. This committee is about as impartial as would be a jury consisting entirely of KKK members judging a black man accused of a raping a white woman.
Even without this committee, it is not too hard to see that the former President shares some blame for what happened. It was all recorded by the media. We all pretty much witnessed it on TV as it happened! Yes, the President exacerbated the situation by expressing sympathy and support for all the protesters that showed up that day.
But it is is also well known that various right wing extremists militias had planned this all along. They had coordinated with each other on how to execute it long before that day. They came armed and ready. So when the former President made those comments, they took it as a cue from their President to proceed with their coordinated plans and broke in. They were then followed in by many of the rest of the Trump supporters that showed up that day.
That pretty much sums up what happened. Trump did not plan this nor did he want it to happen. I agree that a deeper dive needs to be made into all the facts of the case to discover exactly who was responsible and how much. But this is not the committee to do that.
This should be done by a non partisan blue ribbon committee consisting of independent unbiased expert investigators. Not politicians with preconceived publicly stated notions about who is guilty. The audacity of claims made by the Speaker of the House and members of her committee to say all they want is the truth - is why politicians are considered to be about as honest as used car salesmen! They have all publicly declared the former President guilty. With a helpful media cheering them on!
The problem with this is that it will divide the country even more than it is now. Trump supporters will be more energized than ever. And he might just win if he runs in 2024. He did after all receive more votes than any other Presidential candidate in history. Except for Biden. .
Without an impatrtial blue ribbon committee congress should instead have put this behind them and not allow Trump to remain in the headlines. They should be focusing on the things they have been elected to do. Like passing an infrastructure bill. And let Trump fade into ignominy where he belongs.
