Over my lifetime, I have had my share of difficult and testy conversations. Some were resolved, while others were not.
The conversations lingered so we agreed to disagree.
People became frustrated and impatient with each other.
Have you ever experienced moments like the one I described?
When you are involved in limited truth-telling, people will take different routes to avoid it.
Outright lying is the most popular choice.
That choice is so blatant and outrageous that it defies any reasoning.
Another tactic used is just giving partial information when asked a question. A person will only give some of the information to protect their own self-interest.
Some will avoid the elephant in the room by not showing up to the meeting. They avoid them, and don’t want to be connected to them, no matter the cost.
The January 6th Committee Hearings have been greatly influenced by the elephant in the room, in my opinion.
The elephant that I am speaking about won’t be appearing at these hearings.
Witnesses and committee members have called his name on numerous occasions.
Actually, too many times to count.
Last week, the 9th hearing of the January 6th Committee was held in primetime, no less.
I believe these most recent hearings have been dramatic and defining.
The witnesses called thus far have been able to articulate, quite clearly, how January 6th affected them personally and how it affected the country.
This time was no different.
The Committee showed that the former president did nothing for 187 minutes to stop the January 6th human stampede.
Nothing was done from the time he influenced his supporters to go to the Capitol, to the time he did that passive video in the Rose Garden to tell them to go home.
These culprits had just destroyed one of our national treasures, and he told them that he loved them.
The former president is self-absorbed and self-centered. Those two terms characterized his presidency from start to an ignominious finish.
During these 187 minutes he was compliant and complicit.
Sarah Matthews, who served as the White House deputy press secretary said, “I thought January 6th, 2021 was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. And President Trump was treating it as a celebratory occasion. So, it just further cemented my decision to resign.”
Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, decided to resign after he saw that the former president was going along with the “hang Mike Pence” statement.
Both were loyal and longtime Republicans who had simply had enough of Mr. Trump.
They had their fill. They were both empty emotionally and psychologically when they left their posts.
Still to come, I believe, will be more witnesses who will share the sordid and distasteful truth about the day and the man.
Inner-circle Republicans are now seeing the former president’s lack of ethics and his quest for power at any cost.
Because of his rage, and for leading this attack, our nation has lost standing in the world.
Other countries saw that we had a despot, who was a lie-carrier, and who knew no bounds of decency.
“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” said 19th century English historian, Lord Acton.
Mr. Trump exercised his power and influence, which was detrimental to America. His unhinged use of it showed him to be mindless and surreptitious.
At some point along the way, democracy will overtake him, and others like him.
It’s not a matter of if, it’s simply when.
If you are still on the fence of doubt, keep listening as the truth is bound to move you to logic and reasoning.
You can’t stay in denial forever.