To the Editor:
Second Opinion. In Plain Sight.
In the shadow of the anniversary of the Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021, President Biden spoke and, without actually naming him, laid the blame squarely on past-President Trump for the attack and the completely dis-proven Big Election Lie. Still, there were some fairly hilarious moments on cable news last week.
The highly-emotional, illogical but imaginative heir-presumptive to Rushbo, and Fox News darling, Tucky, striking his now-patented confused-schoolboy look, squealed that Sen. Ted “Daddy” Cruz (R-TX) had referred to the events of January 6 as a “terrorist attack” (and not for the first time). Outrageous! barked the poster boy for Concocted Grievance. Daddy begged to be on the next night to do public penance and correct his “awkward statement,” and dutifully slobbered and groveled (the camera only showed him waist up, but surely he was on his knees), finally denouncing his now- “stupid statement” at the feet of his whip-cracking, spit-hacking dungeon master. Staff hint: next time Daddy starts feeling chilly and wants to jet mid-storm to Cancun, run this segment for him and he’ll be a good boy.
Trumpian Republicans and their media esteem the Radical Right rioters as patriots, while condemning Leftist demonstrators, such as BLM, as threats to democracy and the culture. This has been Tucky’s schtick for the last year: “you didn’t see what you think you saw in D.C. It was a harmless demonstration that got a little out of hand.” A blatant lie (as further revealed in emails from Hannatee and Angerham begging Trump to call off the disastrous riot; they knew who had instigated it). But many Repos, who cannot bear to be faulted, are eager to consume it, just as they continue to push the 2020-21 Election Big Lie. Cruz can accuse the Left of inciting “terror,” but Tucky and his minions will not tolerate that label applied to the Radical Right. I think Daddy understands now.
The Matt and Margie Show (Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green, both R-GA) was not quite as amusing but had its moments. Warbling like a tone-deaf duet of Edith Piaf wanna-bes, they proclaimed, “Non, je ne regrette rien,” they “regret nothing!” about their support of the assault on democracy, thuggery, fear, and violence of January 6, 2021. Without a conscience, it’s easy to regret nothing.
Sen. Lindsey “Li’l Lord” Graham (R-SC) responded to the President’s speech by sniveling about the “politicization of January 6” and tried to refocus the discussion to the appalling lack of satin…er, security…at the Capitol. “Regardless of the reason for the assault on the Capitol, to lose control in such a fashion twenty years after 9/11 is stunning.” Regardless of the reason for the assault?
The reason for the attack is the point, as he well knows, as do the congressional Repos. They are willing to minimize, ignore, or lie about the damning evidence of video and expanding testimony as “fake” because it reveals their true intent. It’s as if the security camera shows that you were battered and beaten by the assailant, whose defense is that you didn’t fight back hard enough to prevent your injuries. Or didn’t run fast enough to escape. Or the video was doctored to make it look worse than it was. They know that some of their folks are desperate to buy that.
OK, most of these and other related incidents aren’t so amusing (except the Tucky-Daddy exchange. Try YouTube). We now know that nearly all the Republican Senators and most of the Repo House members, many of whom were outraged and terrified on January 6, 2021, are now back in their hidey-holes, quiet as dead mice. Except for those who live for the spotlight. Looking for any way out of the Truth.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore