The televised January 6th panel meetings keep rolling along, and per usual I shan’t try to summarize this one. But I will point out that this is another bend in the path of the condemnation of former President Trump for corruption. It consists of two points:
- The official view. This consisted of three witnesses who had contact with various members of Trump’s inner circle, including himself, and showed the clumsy dance of Trump’s Dance Ensemble trying to ride that line between plausibly investigatory and corruption. Trump led the way in irreversibly crossing that line, as summarized in the replayed clips from his hour+ phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) in which he solicits corruption from the Secretary of State. I really do encourage my readers to watch those clips, and if they seem alien or even reasonable, rewatch them. They are a near-master’s class in the Art of the Bully, employing first the carrot, then the stick, suggesting the cheat wasn’t really a cheat, and that no one would blame him for being “late” to find those votes. Raffensperger was too smart, though, to fall for the mixture of rewards, threats, and blandishments, even if he was a fool to support Trump in his reelection bid.
Also present was elder statesman and Arizona Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who described the bluff of Sure, we have the evidence, we’ll send it to you, with an implicit After you do us a little favor from Trump and Giuliani. He never received the said evidence.And Raffensperger’s COO, Gabe Sterling, described his interactions with the Trump circle, underlining its mendacity.
- The personal view. Raffensperger, Bowers, and Sterling also presented the personal affects of computer-powered harassment, a maneuver that should fill everyone who participated with crippling shame. But the real stars of this part of the hearing were Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, her mother, and her grandmother, who had been accused by name by Trump’s inner circle of corrupting the Georgia elections. Moss and her mother appear to have PTSD. The story she told, presumably confirmed by law enforcement, was horrific; the idea that “patriotic” Americans would have invaded her grandmother’s home in order to try to perform a “citizen’s arrest” is, again, so shameful that I’d recommend those people emigrate to Russia. Immediately.
These two views should serve to alienate independents from ever voting for Trump, or a Trumpist, again. The slight change in strategy of using the Moss family, whose political affiliation, if any, are not stated, as well as Sterling, once again political affiliation unstated, rather than staying with Republicans, current or former, was necessary as they are witnesses and victims with the most impact.
And that was a lot of impact.
I hope more and more Americans are watching, so that they understand this monster who occupied the Oval Office for four years too many.
