My Three Takeaways From The Second Jan. 6 Insurrection Hearing

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​MY THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE SECOND JAN. 6 INSURRECTION HEARING

      After watching the second hearing this past Monday on the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection against the United States Capitol I can't say that I found any of the testimonies to be surprising. Appalling, disturbing, terrible, incredible? Yes. But surprising? Not at bit. 
        What could possibly be surprising about a coterie of Donald Trump's former appointed enablers,

...stepping forward and publically singing a far different tune than they sang when they were in service to Donald Trump?
       Why be shocked that these men who used to praise Trump before the world and exhibited the fiercest loyalty to him and his interests were now testifying that the man was beyond unreasonable, listened only to what he wanted to hear, cared nothing for truth or facts, refused to accept that he'd lost the election, spread totally baseless claims that there had been election fraud, spread lies and made inflammatory statements that culminated in an attempted overthrow of the United States government? No surprise in any of that. Just a different variation on a theme we've been hearing almost from the beginning of Trump's presidency sung by self-justification-seeking ex-Trump subservients.
       Nor was it news, attested to by Trump's former aides, that after the election Rudy Giuliani glommed himself onto Donald Trump, gratifying him with whipped up conspiracy theories that Giuliani spewed on Fox News about stolen votes, fake ballots and a rigged election. ​

      And who would be particularly surprised by the testimony of former Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt who was fired by Fox for being the first election night analyst to call Arizona for Joe Biden?

     Or would anyone be surprised to learn, as we did during the hearing, that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner called the owner of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, on election night to complain and demand that the Arizona call for Biden be retracted?

      No, almost all the testimonies given at Monday's hearing sounded like more of the same since our country's descent into the Age of Trump: accounts of lies, corruption, self-dealing, fraud, and injustice ad nauseam. 
      That was my first takeaway from this second Jan. 6 hearing: That it was no news, but it was far from good news.
        But that wasn't my only takeaway. I came away with two more thoughts, one that gave me hope, the other that sent a chill down my spine.
        Here is my second takeaway from the second Jan. 6 hearing: That, in spite of the attack against our democracy perpetrated by Donald Trump and his camp, we were now seeing the wheels of justice turn. We were watching serious people carrying out a serious undertaking, thankfully minus the loud-mouthed, clownish, bullying behavior that is too often the modus operandi during Congressional hearings nowadays - think the antics of Jim Jordan, Rand Paul, Lindsay Graham.  And I couldn't help but think of the army of loyal civil servants in the justice department -  not the big-name celebrity politicians, judges, or justices - who are hard at work every day beneath the radar seeking out and revealing the truth. Thus even if Donald Trump and his accomplices manage to escape justice for their role in the Capitol insurrection, they have not succeed in shutting down the pursuit of the truth. And this gives me hope.
        My final takeaway was a brief comment made  by ABC political analyst Rick Klein,  

...who mentioned in passing that the Committee members know they must finish the hearings on the Jan. 6 Insurrection  before the 2022 midterm elections because otherwise if the Republicans gain the majority in Congress the hearings will be shut down. He pointed out that if the Republicans were currently the majority there would have been no hearings. He also offered that if the Republicans take control they may well initiate a criminal investigation of the current members of the Jan. 6 Committee. 
       I found those words a frightening reminder that it is ultimately we the American people who hold our democracy in our hands and that we have the power through our vote to hold onto democracy or toss it away for love of a glittery idol.