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babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 01:29 PM Feb 2022

David 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 Can’t Handle the Truth
The January 6 committee has the challenge of portraying the enormity of Trump’s 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 improperly—possibly criminally—pressured 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 election—not just provide the states more time to review their vote tallies. (Trump’s 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 president—who could be a presidential candidate—the unchecked power to decide an election.) But the enormity of Trump’s turpitude has not fully registered—in part because the Republicans have stuck to a this-parrot’s-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 doesn’t 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 governance—defending the Constitution—the GOP has proved itself unworthy of national stewardship. And yet the Republicans remain standing—and 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. There’s 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, it’s not drip, drip, drip; it’s more like a splatter.

Here’s 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 won’t happen with a lot of speechifying. But committee members—or staffers—should 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 Mueller’s probe, are imperfect vehicles for informing the citizenry. That’s 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 nation’s citizenry deserves a full account of Trump’s skullduggery, even if we can’t handle the truth.
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David Corn: The Trump Coup: Maybe We Can't Handle the Truth (Original Post) babylonsister Feb 2022 OP
Whaaa!?!?!? Americans can't handle the truth? Caliman73 Feb 2022 #1
EVERY DAY homegirl Feb 2022 #11
Good idea housecat Feb 2022 #17
we ought to still tell those events... Grasswire2 Feb 2022 #28
Even if the House Commitee dies an A+ job.... TheRealNorth Feb 2022 #2
They should hire Ken burns to turn their findings into a documentary. Volaris Feb 2022 #14
And homegirl Feb 2022 #22
I suspect the people who most need convincing find Burns-style programs too intellectual. Dark n Stormy Knight Feb 2022 #29
They should start the hearings no later than April cilla4progress Feb 2022 #3
Never homegirl Feb 2022 #13
Right? cilla4progress Feb 2022 #15
The continued lying, hiding, and refusal to testify.... MyOwnPeace Feb 2022 #4
Love the Monty Python reference Mr. Ected Feb 2022 #5
I can handle that truth. greatauntoftriplets Feb 2022 #6
They can handle the truth that the Jan6 Comte & DOJ will do their jobs & bring Trump to justice. ancianita Feb 2022 #7
Perhaps his coverup try (shredding, eating, flushing, keeping) will get him like it got Nixon. . .nt Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2022 #8
Looking for the mouse in my pocket. Ferrets are Cool Feb 2022 #9
The hiegth of alert needs to be 911 level and its not, that's the reason the public doesn't give a uponit7771 Feb 2022 #10
But the Norwegian Blue PREFERS kippin' on its back! n/t TygrBright Feb 2022 #12
The sad thing is Trumpers won't care. 1/6 was "legitimate" to them. CaptainTruth Feb 2022 #16
Explanation "that shows anyone paying attention..." That some Hortensis Feb 2022 #30
whoa! Teach!!! llashram Feb 2022 #18
We can handle the truth Leith Feb 2022 #19
The hearing should start with: SayItLoud Feb 2022 #20
And justice for all Nululu Feb 2022 #21
Much of the US is in denial about what happened and what it means. Irish_Dem Feb 2022 #23
Definitely true. The next guy will be smarter. We can't let this be the training ground. Scrivener7 Feb 2022 #24
Another sociopath POTUS, with brains, could be like Putin. Irish_Dem Feb 2022 #25
In my opinion..the show is still in Act 2, (nation wide show)..some of us here know the Stuart G Feb 2022 #26
I agree, we are in act 2. Irish_Dem Feb 2022 #27
As long as there is a big teevee and chips, 1/2 country could care less. Evolve Dammit Feb 2022 #31

Caliman73

(11,694 posts)
1. Whaaa!?!?!? Americans can't handle the truth?
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 01:39 PM
Feb 2022
But I mean, we've been so good about talking about issues of race and White Supremacy, about our history with the indigenous people and that legacy. We are usually so good about talking about things like wealth inequality and how systems of poverty and deprivation affect children and their future achievement.

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)
11. EVERY DAY
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 02:33 PM
Feb 2022

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!

TheRealNorth

(9,435 posts)
2. Even if the House Commitee dies an A+ job....
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 01:40 PM
Feb 2022

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)
14. They should hire Ken burns to turn their findings into a documentary.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 02:44 PM
Feb 2022

And then give it to any network that wants to air it.

Fuck these fascists.

Dark n Stormy Knight

(9,760 posts)
29. I suspect the people who most need convincing find Burns-style programs too intellectual.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 08:08 AM
Feb 2022

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)
3. They should start the hearings no later than April
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 01:50 PM
Feb 2022

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.

MyOwnPeace

(16,888 posts)
4. The continued lying, hiding, and refusal to testify....
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 01:55 PM
Feb 2022

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.

ancianita

(35,813 posts)
7. They can handle the truth that the Jan6 Comte & DOJ will do their jobs & bring Trump to justice.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 02:30 PM
Feb 2022

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.

uponit7771

(90,225 posts)
10. The hiegth of alert needs to be 911 level and its not, that's the reason the public doesn't give a
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 02:32 PM
Feb 2022

... damn because no one in the alphabet organizations are treating J6 like a the threat 911 was.

shit

CaptainTruth

(6,546 posts)
16. The sad thing is Trumpers won't care. 1/6 was "legitimate" to them.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 03:05 PM
Feb 2022

The RNC (the Revolting Nationalist Committee) even said so.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
30. Explanation "that shows anyone paying attention..." That some
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 08:24 AM
Feb 2022

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)
18. whoa! Teach!!!
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 03:33 PM
Feb 2022
we must see thru the political BS. We must be prepared to defend ourselves and this flawed but workable democracy. Fascism helps no one.

A full accounting.

SayItLoud

(1,696 posts)
20. The hearing should start with:
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 04:02 PM
Feb 2022


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)
21. And justice for all
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 04:26 PM
Feb 2022

No greater crime than Trump's attempt to end democracy and install himself as dictator.

Irish_Dem

(45,640 posts)
23. Much of the US is in denial about what happened and what it means.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 06:47 PM
Feb 2022

Especially what it could mean for our future.

Irish_Dem

(45,640 posts)
25. Another sociopath POTUS, with brains, could be like Putin.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 07:01 PM
Feb 2022

Total control over the country and take all assets.

Stuart G

(38,363 posts)
26. In my opinion..the show is still in Act 2, (nation wide show)..some of us here know the
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 07:09 PM
Feb 2022

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)
27. I agree, we are in act 2.
Thu Feb 10, 2022, 07:12 PM
Feb 2022

I don't know the ending yet.

But I do know one possible ending and it is not good.

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