As a country, we celebrate anniversaries; we commemorate the
births of leaders and important dates from history. (However, now that I
reflect upon it, I do not recall one holiday
celebrating the birthdate of a woman! There is an international Women’s Day,
but that is not the same.) I do not wish to celebrate the events of January 6th
2020, but I do not wish to forget them either. I do not want to pass over the
deaths of 5 people, and the suicides of police officers, and injuries to
hundreds of officers, that followed the actions of the mob that day.
I will remember the destructive forces that attacked the Capitol,
an important symbol of our democracy. I will never forget that an out-of-control
president egged on the rioters and refused multiple requests by staff to ask for
them to stop; according to some, he reveled in this display of lawlessness in
his name. Although VP Mike
Pence now professes that it was no big deal, the American public remembers
the chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and “Where are you, Nancy?” -
threats made against two of the highest officials in our democracy. I will
continue to remember that elected officials who had sworn to protect the Constitution
voted against the certification of valid electors chosen by their respective
states regarding ballots in a free and fair election. Some Representatives also
claim that tours of the entrances and tunnels were given to the rioters in the
days before January 6th by Congressional members
and staff. Of course, we also remember the grandstanding by Congressman Brooks
and Senators Hawley and Cruz, among others. (Brooks, possibly expecting
violence when he spoke on the presidential stage, famously wore a flak jacket
under his coat on that January day.)
You do not have to believe my memory here. The Washington
Post released a powerful account of the actions before, during, and after the
insurrection. That extensive report can be found here in great detail:
and www.wapo.st/theattack.
But what will the greater population in
America remember? Already Fox commentators seldom show the events of that day
and when discussing them, refer to them occasionally as tourists visiting their
Capitol. Other programs on the right and the former president continue to
repeat the Big Lie that the election was stolen or fraudulent, despite repeated
recounts, audits, and other reviews that proved their statements false. Polls
reported today
in the Washington Post find that most of the voters, although divided often by
party, still believe that the former president was at least partly responsible for
the violence that day. The poll also revealed that a small portion
(one-third) also believes that violence is justified against a government that
is acting unlawfully or is becoming anti-democratic.
But how is lawlessness defined? The last
administration ignored valid subpoenas, gave false testimony before Congress, and
lied to the public about the pandemic threat and our readiness to combat it. It
obstructed justice, interfered with valid Department of Justice probes, and
obfuscated others. According to the Mueller investigation, it invited foreign
influence in an American election and encouraged it for future contests.
Attorney General Barr seemingly saw his role as working to protect the
President, not the Constitution or the American people, if one judges his
actions and words. According to an article in the Atlantic,
Barr only broke with the president when he continued to claim fraud after the
2020 election and he refused to concede, even after Barr assured him that there
was minimal fraud and the results were valid.
Other than not reelecting the president, what
were the consequences of his disregard of the principles found in The Rule of
Law, supposedly treasured by our democracy?
So far, there
have been rumblings from some court hearings and other grand jury proceedings,
but no public results have emerged. The House January 6th Select Committee
Hearings have collected a lot of data and some of it is gradually finding its
way into the daily news. Over 300 individuals have given interviews, depositions,
and testimony behind closed doors; soon these findings will be discussed in
open and televised hearings. I expect that this will be watched intently by the
voters, even as the Republicans will try to dismiss everything as overly
partisan. The two Republicans on the committee have been vocal in their
criticisms of the events from that day. The former presidential chief of staff,
Mark Meadows, has refused to testify after some of his text messages were made public
and the MAGA crowd complained about comments he made in his book about just
when the former president was diagnosed with COVID. With that crowd, telling
the truth seems to get one in trouble, doesn’t it? In December,
the House voted to refer Meadows to the Department of Justice for his refusal
to answer their subpoena and testify. Some believe that he has some basis to
claim confidentiality, because of his position, while others believe he could
testify in a limited manner about events of January 6th which were
unlawful. Stay tuned, as they say. Many Republicans hope these referrals can
lead to extended delays that could eventually derail the committee, especially
as they expect to seize the House in the mid-terms. I believe the committee has
enough information already to pursue their goals adequately, but more is always
nice, just like icing on a cake.
Significant numbers of Americans are
concerned that in future elections, if Republicans lose, that they will continue
to claim fraud and not concede. If that becomes the norm, we shall no longer
have a democratic process in place and we will succumb to the tyranny of the
minority. Republican legislators are passing bills that threaten non-partisan
election workers, instill partisan poll watchers who cannot be challenged, and
produce confusing election protocols that might allow overturning valid
election results. Some officials are considering challenging duly certified
electors in future elections. Aren’t some of these actions already
undemocratic? I think that most of them are.
We can no longer count on the Supreme Court
to act in an unbiased manner, it seems, so legislation is our only remedy.
Senator Schumer must get his Senate in order, corral the nay-sayers, get rid of
the filibuster, in this instance, and pass both Voting Rights bills as soon as
possible. To delay further is to cultivate destruction of our values. Please
contact your Senators!
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Over the Holidays our country has seen unprecedented
numbers of COVID cases, most are because of the rapid spread of the Omicron
variant, even as Delta is still with us. DC and Maryland are among the hardest-hit
areas even though MD vaccination rates have increased to over 70%. People are
getting infected after full vaccinations and booster shots; both Governor Hogan
and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich have been infected after full
vaccinations. In Frederick County, where the infection rate is 23.8%, an
emergency meeting of the Health Committee reinstated indoor mask mandates and
considered limits on indoor groups, because this variant is so infectious. Some
physicians claim this variant reduces the chance of getting the Delta
infection, although the data has not been proven. There is a lot of controversy
about whether this variant spread should again change schooling to virtual,
although there is a lot of opposition to further distance learning. Data from
South Africa seem to show that the course of the variant is several weeks,
rather than several months, as Delta has been. Even if that is the case, we are
still in for a very rough January with a high percentage of cases but
proportionately fewer deaths.
COVID stats–NY Times
US totals: Total cases: 55,107,627. New
Cases: 401,252. (Two weeks ago =133,012.)
Total Deaths: 824,388. New Deaths: 1,249.
Maryland Totals: Total Cases: 737,437. New
Cases: 10,541.
Total Deaths: 1,249. New
Deaths: 32.
Maryland has finally recovered from the
Health Dept. data hacking/ransom–or whatever it was–so it can again report
numbers.
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I will close with greetings to all for the
New Year of 2022. (I hope you didn’t mind that I took a week away for
Christmas, but I am now back!)
As always, I look at each new year as a blank
slate on which are written hopes and dreams, goals and milestones. For this
year, I wish the same. I want our democracy to work; I want our elections to be
fair and fairly counted. I would like to see extreme partisanship decrease, but
doubt that it will with MAGA folks fanning the flames daily. I want Senator
Manchin to realize that not all people can drive a Maserati like him, or worry
about their stock, and many do need the options found in the Build Back Better
Bill, so he should come down to earth and vote for its passage. As for Senator
Sinema, she should just stop being a diva with bad fashion choices and also
vote for it.
Oh, and I heard that Representative Green was
kicked off Twitter for tweeting false COVID information; it is about time! Now
she should have the fines she incurred for refusing to wear a mask on the floor
of the House deducted from her paycheck.
“Til next week–Peace!
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