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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Corn: The Trump Coup: Maybe We Can't Handle the Truth
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/02/the-trump-coup-maybe-we-cant-handle-the-truth/4 hours ago
The Trump Coup: Maybe We Cant Handle the Truth
The January 6 committee has the challenge of portraying the enormity of Trumps betrayal to the public
David Corn
snip//
Each week yields new evidence that Trump was scheming in his final days to destroy American democracy. He improperlypossibly criminallypressured state legislators, state election officials, and Justice Department officials to help him rig or undermine the vote count. Last week, Trump issued a statement acknowledging he had leaned on Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the electionnot just provide the states more time to review their vote tallies. (Trumps argument that a vice president has the power to do this is both dumb and dangerous. Certainly, the authors of the US Constitution did not intend to grant the vice presidentwho could be a presidential candidatethe unchecked power to decide an election.) But the enormity of Trumps turpitude has not fully registeredin part because the Republicans have stuck to a this-parrots-not-dead stance and refused to admit reality.
But this shameless denialism can only work if enough of the public either goes along, declines to pay attention, or doesnt give a damn. A president attempting a coup ought to define the political moment. A party that supports such a leader and his return to power ought to be scandalized and delegitimized. Failing the basic test of responsible governancedefending the Constitutionthe GOP has proved itself unworthy of national stewardship. And yet the Republicans remain standingand drool over the prospect of regaining control of Congress later this year.
snip//
The attempted Trump coup, similarly, may be too profound a breach to be processed by our fractured political system. This presents a challenge and an opportunity to the House committee investigating January 6. Its members had considered holding extensive hearings last month, but they postponed them until April or May, as the committee reviews the massive amount of information it has gathered and pursues recalcitrant witnesses. Up to now, the Trump coup tale has emerged in bits and pieces through multiple revelations in the media. These components do not appear in a linear fashion. Theres new information about Trump muscling the Justice Department. Something about fake electors forging documents. A phone call to Georgia state election officials. A draft order to declare martial law. And so on. The story can be confusing and murky even to those of us who cover it steadily. Imagine how it comes across to citizens who only see the headlines intermittently. For them, its not drip, drip, drip; its more like a splatter.
Heres where the House committee comes in. When it does get around to hearings, it will need to convey a clear and comprehensive story that shows anyone paying attention how Trump vigorously endeavored to sabotage the republic. This wont happen with a lot of speechifying. But committee membersor staffersshould guide the public through the various elements. With charts. With video. With timelines. Witnesses can be quite useful at hearings. A sharp grilling of a bad actor will go viral. But narrative storytelling can be more important. The full tale of the Trump-Russia affair was never presented publicly (though the 966-page Senate Intelligence Committee report produced four years after the fact is a somewhat full and frightening chronology of what occurred).
As we learned with the Trump-Russia scandal, criminal investigations, such as special counsel Robert Muellers probe, are imperfect vehicles for informing the citizenry. Thats the job of Congress or an independent commission. Remember the 9/11 Commission and its impressive final report that provided a straightforward recounting of that nightmare and the governmental failures that preceded it. The House January 6 committee ought to take its lead from the commission and embrace the effective telling of the 1/6 story as its top priority. The nations citizenry deserves a full account of Trumps skullduggery, even if we cant handle the truth.
Caliman73
(11,694 posts)Don't you all remember how we systematically and thoroughly talked about when President Nixon helped to scuttle the Vietnam Peace Talks in 1968 to influence the elections, prolonging the war another 5 years? Don't you remember when we held Reagan accountable for negotiating with Iran behind President Carter's back to keep the hostages in captivity in exchange for selling them weapons illegally, then taking that money and giving it to right wing Nicaraguan Contras to buy their own weapons, also illegally. I mean once we had that difficult conversation and Reagan and his people were put in prison, that certainly stopped Bush Jr. from taking the US to war under false pretenses in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yeah, we are pretty piss poor at having difficult conversations about the bad things we have done as a nation.
homegirl
(1,419 posts)the January 6 Commission should release for publication a list of all and any who have failed to respond to subpoenas, refused to testify or taken the Fifth. If necessary the list should be a paid advertisement in all major print outlets in the USA!
housecat
(3,121 posts)Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)No more "Look forward, not back"!
TheRealNorth
(9,435 posts)I am skeptical. Republicans and Republican-leaners will either dismiss it or will never see it. And the politically uninvolved middle will probably not pay much attention, or realize how in danger we are of losing our Democracy.
Democrats need to have a social media plan to get key elements of their findings in front of as many faces as possible, and not just people who follow politics.
Volaris
(10,260 posts)And then give it to any network that wants to air it.
Fuck these fascists.
show it in every classroom in the country...
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)I wonder if the best way to reach most Americans might be through non-documentary TV shows & movies. Programs that don't tell ahead of time that they actually intend to teach you something. Because, unfortunately, most, people are more convinced by feelings than facts & logic.
Facts can be conveyed, but through emotionally moving stories, to convince those people of the truth of what's happening. If every show biz producer who cares to save our democracy would use the power of storytelling to flood the field with shows that in various ways convey what's wrong with fascism and the fact that the R party is fascist (& corrupt & cruel & hypocritical & mendacious...), we might stand a chance of stopping the fascist takeover.
cilla4progress
(24,588 posts)as they are promising.
They don't need to wait till all the evidence is in. They should start while it's still coming in.
homegirl
(1,419 posts)let up on the pressure !!!
cilla4progress
(24,588 posts)The evidence is clearly going to keep rolling in.
MyOwnPeace
(16,888 posts)makes the public hearings even more important - and necessary.
Facts must be presented with supporting evidence, and an clear explanation about what and how laws were broken will make it clear how close we were to losing our democracy.
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)Trump - the "This parrot is not dead" wannabe dictator.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,698 posts)In fact, I'm looking forward to it.
ancianita
(35,813 posts)This is a big scale coup, lots of levels. FUD at this point isn't fair to those who've worked day and night since the AG took office March 20 2021, and the Jan 6 Comte convened in July 2021.
And even if the public can't handle the truth, they'll damn well believe it and get used to it.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,788 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)No WE lives here.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... damn because no one in the alphabet organizations are treating J6 like a the threat 911 was.
shit
TygrBright
(20,733 posts)CaptainTruth
(6,546 posts)The RNC (the Revolting Nationalist Committee) even said so.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)will refuse to has always been the way. Some people could always be fooled all the time. Sad, all right.
I didn't realize until I was older that it was because they want to be, even insist on it. The rest of humanity has always had to walk over or drag them along. So be it.
llashram
(6,265 posts)A full accounting.
Leith
(7,802 posts)It's the LACK of it that's doing the damage.
SayItLoud
(1,696 posts)America, all Americans regardless of party for the first time in our nations history the facts that we will present to you will prove that .....Donald Trump, a sitting POTUS, having lost the election did attempt a coup. Yes a coup and in an effort to remain in power committed multiple illegal acts ....
Nululu
(833 posts)No greater crime than Trump's attempt to end democracy and install himself as dictator.
Irish_Dem
(45,640 posts)Especially what it could mean for our future.
Scrivener7
(50,774 posts)Irish_Dem
(45,640 posts)Total control over the country and take all assets.
Stuart G
(38,363 posts)entire show. (all of the acts)
...But most of the nation does not know..but the nation will know over time..This show will not stop until the
entire movie will be played. Just like Nixon. The whole show will come out,... over time..It always comes out!!/b]
Irish_Dem
(45,640 posts)I don't know the ending yet.
But I do know one possible ending and it is not good.