Donald Trump must have awoken on the morning of Jan. 6 last year with a terrible sense of foreboding. It was the day his nemesis, Joe Biden, was scheduled to be certified as the winner of the presidential election. He had spent two whole months, November and December, trying to forestall what was going to happen that day. We now know from reporting on the period after the election that he didn’t do anything except play golf and talk to his outside lawyers, like Rudy Giuliani, and outside advisers, like Steve Bannon, about possible ways the results of the election could be overturned.
Well, wouldn’t that be just desserts! It would be healing for most of the nation to see TFG held to account for at least one of the many crimes he has committed in plain sight. And soon, please, my nails were bitten to the quick, some time ago….
I saw that interview on MSNBC and while I'm not a student of Woodward as you are, I did notice his agitation. He was almost sputtering to get his words out! From the tidbits being leaked this past week, and the term being used more frequently and publicly "a treasure trove of documentation" - I would venture to guess that the Select Committee is sitting on top of an "Open Sesame" mountain of evidence. I can't wait for those hearings! In spite of my dark and unmentionable thoughts about the cheeseburger mob boss, I do hope he stays alive and alert enough through these widely televised hearings and has to endure, sans social media, hours and hours of testimony that nails him.
Among the many very bad, broken things about the American presidential election process, one of the overlooked items is the too-long interregnum between election day and inauguration. As this analysis makes clear, Trump (or anyone like trump) only uses these months to hatch plots and make mischief. In other countries, newly elected leaders take power pretty much instantaneously. There is little time for conspiracies to overturn the election to form.
From your keyboard to God's ears, Lucien but what we have to fear most is not what Donald Trump and his henchmen did but the apathy by a way too large segment of our population to the plot . Yes, too many willfully ignorant Republicans still believe in The Big Lie and swear fealty to the Man Whose Name I will not Repeat. It is the apathy by the rest of us whether we call ourselves Democrats , Independents and Principled Republicans to what transpired and what must be done to , yes, bring a degree of justice to those who tried to hijack this nation.
What I fear is way too many Americans are going to tune out whatever the 1/6 Committee might reveal through public hearings and place the pursuit of justice well below their own hierarchy of needs going forward. They will be concerned about inflation, the cost of gasoline and , yes, how to live with COVID on a day to day basis. The preservation of liberty by holding those accountable for the coup will be #11 on the 10 most important things to them.
None of the opinion polls I have seen have yet captured the degree of rage, indignation and sense of betrayal I feel about what happened. And I fear the general public's indifference will eventually lead to holding those accountable accountable will fade. It surely will if the GOP recaptures the House in 2022. So the question and our energy should not be focused on confirming the guilt of the ex President and his henchmen/women but getting all of the rest of us mad as hell to the point we will not be distracted. How do we do that?
Thanks for this positive sign that there is hope this despicable criminal will face justice (and may his name be erased from history for eternity). I really enjoyed your perspective on Bob Woodward, Lucian.
I hope you’re correct…because the future of this democracy depends upon some accountability of these G-DM’d corrupt republicans. Citizens United needs to be overturned and the illegitimate tRump judges need to be booted out at every level.
From your pen to God’s ears….I hope you’re on to something here.
As I was reading, an oft-used word popped into my head. Demagogue. Admittedly, it’s one of those terms that through overuse lose their sharpness. I felt the need to look it up to refresh my own usage. Webster defines it as “ a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power”
The committee is doing its job of fact finding. But it has no authority to indict. That is up to the various District Attorneys in places like Atlanta. Also the United States Department of Justice which, in my opinion, is doing just what Woodward is described as doing -- getting all the facts lined up so that, if an indictment is warranted (itself requiring a high degree of certainty that a conviction is likely) the facts will be there. But given the connections between all the players (any of whom could be indictable) they will need to be granted immunity so that they can not refuse to give testimony by citing the 5th Amendment.
I've always adored Bob Woodward for his meticulous work, which you rightfully called "Stenography", which as a reporter he was a champ at. He never reports gossip or second hand accounts without huge amounts of evidence, phone call logs and notes.
If he says Trump is in trouble, Trump is in big trouble. Woodward knows everyone there is to know in Washington, and he knows the secrets they all hold. Nobody else would have that kind of entree into any office in that town and if he's holding back on Trump, that means he's got the receipts and then some.
I just hope Trump gets taken down before 2024 and before he dies a natural death. We've got to have some sort of legal closure on the most eminent and famous grifter/bum of our country.
I want to see him in orange. So would a lot of people. It might be the only way to get his followers to stop being stupid, but Covid is doing a number on them anyway..
Let's hope this year brings some hard-earned justice to the ending.
Having read all the comments, I have this sickening feeling that Orange Foolius suffers a massive coronary and becomes an untouchable martyr to his Fox fed brain dead racist birther morons.
Absolutely spot on. I, too, watched the Woodward interview with rapt attention. I'm expecting Mike Pence to be a star witness at the public hearings. Pence's testimony should be memorable.
Well, wouldn’t that be just desserts! It would be healing for most of the nation to see TFG held to account for at least one of the many crimes he has committed in plain sight. And soon, please, my nails were bitten to the quick, some time ago….
I saw that interview on MSNBC and while I'm not a student of Woodward as you are, I did notice his agitation. He was almost sputtering to get his words out! From the tidbits being leaked this past week, and the term being used more frequently and publicly "a treasure trove of documentation" - I would venture to guess that the Select Committee is sitting on top of an "Open Sesame" mountain of evidence. I can't wait for those hearings! In spite of my dark and unmentionable thoughts about the cheeseburger mob boss, I do hope he stays alive and alert enough through these widely televised hearings and has to endure, sans social media, hours and hours of testimony that nails him.
Among the many very bad, broken things about the American presidential election process, one of the overlooked items is the too-long interregnum between election day and inauguration. As this analysis makes clear, Trump (or anyone like trump) only uses these months to hatch plots and make mischief. In other countries, newly elected leaders take power pretty much instantaneously. There is little time for conspiracies to overturn the election to form.
From your keyboard to God's ears, Lucien but what we have to fear most is not what Donald Trump and his henchmen did but the apathy by a way too large segment of our population to the plot . Yes, too many willfully ignorant Republicans still believe in The Big Lie and swear fealty to the Man Whose Name I will not Repeat. It is the apathy by the rest of us whether we call ourselves Democrats , Independents and Principled Republicans to what transpired and what must be done to , yes, bring a degree of justice to those who tried to hijack this nation.
What I fear is way too many Americans are going to tune out whatever the 1/6 Committee might reveal through public hearings and place the pursuit of justice well below their own hierarchy of needs going forward. They will be concerned about inflation, the cost of gasoline and , yes, how to live with COVID on a day to day basis. The preservation of liberty by holding those accountable for the coup will be #11 on the 10 most important things to them.
None of the opinion polls I have seen have yet captured the degree of rage, indignation and sense of betrayal I feel about what happened. And I fear the general public's indifference will eventually lead to holding those accountable accountable will fade. It surely will if the GOP recaptures the House in 2022. So the question and our energy should not be focused on confirming the guilt of the ex President and his henchmen/women but getting all of the rest of us mad as hell to the point we will not be distracted. How do we do that?
Thanks for this positive sign that there is hope this despicable criminal will face justice (and may his name be erased from history for eternity). I really enjoyed your perspective on Bob Woodward, Lucian.
I hope you’re correct…because the future of this democracy depends upon some accountability of these G-DM’d corrupt republicans. Citizens United needs to be overturned and the illegitimate tRump judges need to be booted out at every level.
From your pen to God’s ears….I hope you’re on to something here.
As I was reading, an oft-used word popped into my head. Demagogue. Admittedly, it’s one of those terms that through overuse lose their sharpness. I felt the need to look it up to refresh my own usage. Webster defines it as “ a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power”
Bingo!
The committee is doing its job of fact finding. But it has no authority to indict. That is up to the various District Attorneys in places like Atlanta. Also the United States Department of Justice which, in my opinion, is doing just what Woodward is described as doing -- getting all the facts lined up so that, if an indictment is warranted (itself requiring a high degree of certainty that a conviction is likely) the facts will be there. But given the connections between all the players (any of whom could be indictable) they will need to be granted immunity so that they can not refuse to give testimony by citing the 5th Amendment.
I will believe it ONLY when I actually see him in handcuffs.
I've always adored Bob Woodward for his meticulous work, which you rightfully called "Stenography", which as a reporter he was a champ at. He never reports gossip or second hand accounts without huge amounts of evidence, phone call logs and notes.
If he says Trump is in trouble, Trump is in big trouble. Woodward knows everyone there is to know in Washington, and he knows the secrets they all hold. Nobody else would have that kind of entree into any office in that town and if he's holding back on Trump, that means he's got the receipts and then some.
I just hope Trump gets taken down before 2024 and before he dies a natural death. We've got to have some sort of legal closure on the most eminent and famous grifter/bum of our country.
I want to see him in orange. So would a lot of people. It might be the only way to get his followers to stop being stupid, but Covid is doing a number on them anyway..
Let's hope this year brings some hard-earned justice to the ending.
Having read all the comments, I have this sickening feeling that Orange Foolius suffers a massive coronary and becomes an untouchable martyr to his Fox fed brain dead racist birther morons.
https://youtu.be/H_IxT2ei9gU this is priceless!
once more, this is it, have faith!
Absolutely spot on. I, too, watched the Woodward interview with rapt attention. I'm expecting Mike Pence to be a star witness at the public hearings. Pence's testimony should be memorable.
Holy hot dam, lets party!
Hope Woodward is right, but I fear he is not because rich white guys in this country go to prison only for crimes against other rich white guys.