Political turmoil in a sharply divided nation as two cults do battle while a bewildered electorate wonders when they will get some attention.
For those avoiding the antics and histrionics of the partisan news media, let me catch you up with this briefing.
In Washington, The National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Complex is homing in on former president Donald Trump. Using slickly produced imagery and selected testimony, the January 6th Committee, as it is informally known, has developed a devastating picture that the president almost single-handedly mounted a bizarre campaign to undo the results of the 2020 election. Selected testimony from the former president’s most trusted aides and advisors describes a man laser-focused on his own ratings and popularity. You know, the same guy who humbly accepted the presidency in January of 2017 by making his first priority spreading the false story that the crowds at his inauguration were bigger than the president who preceded him.
With those bookends of an administration led by someone who obviously didn’t know the job, had no interest or ability in learning the job, and displayed enormous personal problems, I wonder why the committee let in superfluous testimony. While there exists some legitimate argument that such hearings, absent advocacy of a counter-narrative, it always gives pause when exaggerations are introduced. For example, a few months ago then-president Trump was depicted as a man unable to walk down a ramp unassisted, and as a person requiring two hands to drink from a water glass. And this is the same guy who nimbly propelled himself from the rear of a giant SUV to physically overpower physically fit and well-trained Secret Service Agents? One of those depictions cannot be true, and introducing the conflicting thoughts just reminds the public of the long list of dead-end fake scandals.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
In any case, there are only four remaining outcomes to this drama:
Donald Trump will be indicted
Donald Trump will not be indicted.
Donald Trump will be convicted of a crime(s).
Donald Trump will be acquitted.
When Richard Nixon was forced to resign, it was a bit of a unifying moment. To be sure, there were partisans in both major parties who disagreed with the outcome, but all-in-all a crisis was avoided, and the country forged forward. Some make a reasoned case that President Nixon should have been charged as a deterrent, and others advance the notion that the president should have burned the incriminating tapes.
2022 is not 1974
Given the four remaining outcomes, it is difficult to imagine a unifying moment. Why? Because in 1974, Richard Nixon and his staff were seen as THE problem, and one that was addressed through justice. Many felt a bit unsettled by the whole ordeal, but there was some relief that the issue was resolved.
Why is 2022 different from 1974? Despite the similarities 1974 and 2022 share of presidential investigations, soaring gasoline prices and imminent recession, a (further) disgraced Donald Trump does not clear the air. The outrage over a government unresponsive to the policy needs of vast numbers of citizens that allowed the election of Donald Trump still exists. That populist urge has not gone away. What remains after the indictment/non-indictment/conviction/non-conviction is still a mess. But the fiery partisan blowhards on the established media outlets will have a field day.
There is bitterness toward what many perceive as two sets of rules – one for those in power and one for everyone else. That the single major cable outlet that is ignoring the January 6th investigation is the only one covering growing evidence of scandal involving the current President of the United States speaks to the country’s division. In a united country, the answer cannot be that one has to elect the opposition party to find justice. Consider how much more credible the January 6th Commission would be if the representatives simultaneously began investigation of the Biden family, including our president.