Thursday January 6th Committee Hearing: Perspectives From Your Two Favorite Blog Overlords

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Bill Clinton and James Patterson. LL and Trevor. 

Yes, folks. You read that right. Your two favorite wordsmiths have done the unthinkable and teamed up on our first-ever co-authored essay. With tonight's historic hearing upon us, we thought it would be fun to share our unique perspectives on the event, with both of us being guided by our own personal histories.

From Trevor, your neighborhood millennial:

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I was not alive for the Nixon Watergate hearings.

I was not mature enough to understand the Clinton impeachment hearings.

It was not until the two Trump impeachment hearings that I finally began to understand the power of political theater and spectacle. Fortunately for all of us, there will be no Republicans theatrics this time around.

Starting tonight, there will be 6 televised hearings from the January 6th Committee, the first and last of which will be aired in primetime. A lot has been made the last two days on social media about Fox News' decision not to air the hearings. But these hearings aren't for their audience. To be honest, these hearings aren't for those of us following this blog. These hearings are directed at the 43% of Americans who identify as independent and who still might have some misconceptions as to what really happened on January 6th. It's to paint a picture not just of Donald Trump being involved but of the entire Republican Party. It will lay out the fact that there were unprecedented levels of collusion between the then-president, members of Congress, White nationalists, and the likes of Roger Stone/Steve Bannon/Michael Flynn all coordinating together to commit treason at the highest level.  

Not everything will be revealed. We might not get to the bottom of some of the most pressing questions we might have. But remember, we know more than most. We know the importance of the meeting at the Willard Hotel. We know that Mo Brooks wore body armor to the January 6th rally. We know that QAnon Congresswoman Lauren Boebert tweeted Speaker Pelosi's location during the terrorist attack.

We know that this wasn't some "dust up" as Washington Commanders Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio implied on Wednesday. You don't pre-print MAGA Civil War shirts without fully expecting there to be blood spilled. We know all this simply because we have been paying attention over the past 16 months.

Most Americans are not us. These aforementioned facts will be new to them. This is critical because they are the ones we need to reach. When someone as calm and collected as Congressman Jamie Raskin says that the January 6th Committee has found more on Trump than "incitement" then you know that there will be some new and explosive revelations. And it will be these revelations that will move the needle among independents in Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Trump isn't on trial during these hearings, Trumpism is. What is revealed about a conspiracy between the Republican Party, conservative media, and White nationalists is a key takeaway that could easily sway independent and nonaffiliated voters. Do you really want to vote for a party that openly colluded to overthrow the American government?

That is the question that Democrats on the committee hope the American public is left thinking about at the conclusion of these hearings. 

***

Well howdy there, Barflies. LL here.

1987. That was the year of the Iran-Contra hearings. Ronnie Raygun got caught with his hand in the cookie jar skirting around a Congressional ban on arming the Nicaraguan rebels against the Sandinista regime. And how did he do this? By selling arms to our supposed mortal enemy, Iran, and using the proceeds to buy arms for the Contras. (Drugs may have also been involved. The Contras were not above selling them to fund their war.)

I remember being riveted to the TV for them. This was history. Another popular Republican president showed himself to be completely unfit for the position, flipping his finger at the Constitution.

But that may as well have been a mere bagatelle compared to what we face now.

Reagan, for all his faults, was no traitor. What will be revealed in hearings over the next two weeks is the extent of how close this country came to having its democracy killed. Killed. Extirpated. Extinguished.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is feverishly saying that the insurrection was just a "riot". It was unplanned. Uncoordinated. There was no conspiracy. I look forward to her lying words being shoved down her lying gullet. 

January 6, 2021 was the greatest threat to have faced this Republic since 1861 and Ft. Sumter. Greater than 9/11. Perhaps greater than 1941. Our existence as a free nation was put under extremis for those hours, and the days and weeks which preceded it. The conspiracy was real. The conspiracy was vast. The fact that it was botched and bungled doesn't excuse it. We were lucky that the putschists were morons. We can't rely on that luck for the next time.

The GOP has spent almost two years denigrating the investigation. Questioning that there was even an insurrection. Imagine if Jim Jordan had been allowed on that committee. Ninety-nine percent of Republican lawmakers are either cowards or complicit. And we will find out on which side of the ledger they fall.

This is a signal moment in our history. How we meet it will determine our future course. We dare not falter in seeing this through until all traitors have been held to account. Even former presidents.