5-18-21
Well, the Republicans did it. They killed any hope that a bipartisan Congressional Commission will investigate the January 6th assault on the United States Capitol Building.
Think about that. What happened on January 6th has never happened before in American history. We’ve never had an angry mob of American citizens storm the Capitol Building like that with the intent of interfering with a legitimate national election. What occurred on that day was of major significance, and as such, a bipartisan Congressional Commission is not only recommended, frankly, it’s essential to make it clear to the entire world that US Democracy will continue to stand and thrive into the future.
But instead, Republicans killed any hopes of a Commission.
The fact that the Republicans did this is beyond disturbing and sickening. It’s dangerous. There are times when issues arise which are so vitally important that partisan politics should be put aside. Frankly, it should be a no-brainer that a bipartisan Commission is entirely in order here. And the proposed Commission would have been based on the 9/11 Commission with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on it and both sides having subpoena power. Democrats also agreed to the Republican demand that the Commission wrap up by the end of 2021 so that it didn’t push into midterm elections.
What is going on?
In my opinion, it’s a symptom of the dangerous path the Republican Party has been going down of late. Most Republicans are bowing to Donald Trump’s whims and demands no matter how outrageous or incorrect those demands may be. Some may be doing this because they’re true believers while others may be doing it out of fear, fear that Donald Trump will speak out against them so that they may lose their future reelections, and many Republicans are especially worried about the midterm elections. They appear to be putting party loyalty and a tendency to blindly follow an authoritarian wannabe, Donald Trump, over standing up for American Democracy and the United States Constitution.
It’s obvious why Trump doesn’t want a January 6th Commission. Trump’s outrageous rhetoric and lies about the election clearly instigated the mob who then stormed the US Capitol Building. So Trump is afraid that he’s going to be made to look bad by a Commission, and there are other Republicans who fear that as well because they were parroting Donald Trump’s lies too.
But it’s also extremely troubling the way there are Republicans such as Mitch McConnell who, while they may have laid the blame on Trump immediately after the January 6th events, have since changed their tune so that they no longer appear to hold Trump responsible to any significant degree. Many Republicans started downplaying the assault with one even referring to the mob as “tourists.” Tourists?! Are you kidding me?! They literally assaulted the United States Capitol Building on live TV. The entire world saw it happen! Those were not tourists.
This is so dangerous to our democracy. We have a major political party, the Republicans, that is bowing to the disturbing will of one person, Donald Trump, despite the fact that that person has been spreading outrageous rhetoric and flat out lies. Instead of learning about what happened in a bipartisan way for the good of country, the majority of the Republican Party want to sweep the Jan 6th assault under the rug because of Trump’s outrageous demands and the Republicans’ desire to try to gain more power in the midterm elections. This further undermines American democracy.
People need to open their eyes about what is going on these days because our democratic values are under threat. Remember the Republican Senators and Representatives who voted against the January 6th Commission and vote them out of office when they come up for reelection. Speak out against them. Make your voices heard.
Demand democracy!
Democracy is precious and should not be taken for granted. We must all stay vigilant to ensure our democratic values survive and thrive into the future.
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