Don’t Be Surprised If Trump Says ‘Yes’
By Ed Kociela
When it comes to drama, Hollywood’s got nothing on Washington, D.C., baby.
Live and in real-time, we saw on Thursday how natural-born political enemies Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence worked in unison to save not only their lives but the lives of their Congressional colleagues as a pack of crazies stormed the Capitol.
We saw how members and select members of law enforcement struggled – sometimes violently – to ensure our democracy would survive the attacks of insurgents hell-bent to shred the Constitution and circumvent the election process.
And, we saw the committee seated to investigate the Jan. 6 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Capitol call out former President Donald Trump and issue a subpoena demanding that he testify about his actions and inaction on that frightful day.
It was originally billed as the final meeting of the committee, that it would lead to a report that will be turned over to the Department of justice – specifically Attorney General Merrick Garland – to consider criminal charges.
But, as the clock ticked down, the committee rose in unanimous voice vote to summon Trump to testify.
This could all be a waste if Republicans take control of Congress during the upcoming mid-terms. A new Congress could simply let the clock run out and allow the tenure of the committee to expire. The thing is, the former president remains in legal jeopardy for an assortment of other serious felonies beyond the insurrection.
Or, something very interesting could happen: the committee could persevere and press Trump into testifying with the threat of contempt of Congress hanging over his head, a charge that several of the former president’s men have been found guilty of doing.
The guess is that the former litigator in chief would try to stall his way through all of this with legal protest after protest lodged to gum up the works.
Or, we could see the Trump ego kick in with an immediate agreement to testify.
Look, we’re talking about a guy who once said he could kill somebody on a public street in front of Trump Towers and not lose a vote. With an ego like his, he could very well believe that all he has to do is show up, do a Trump roadshow and turn some heads in his favor.
The thing is that anybody with a modicum of reason should understand that the former president is responsible for the terror march on the Capitol, that nobody is above the law, that there should be a penalty for his actions. It could be a mounting debt as the former president finds himself in the stench of a miasma that could taint the remainder of his years on the planet as he continues to take up the sword on a variety of criminal charges and fight his way through the courts.
The thing is, where there’s smoke there’s fire and Trump is enveloped in smoke. He has been for some time but has been lucky in that, for whatever reasons, he has had friends in court – in this case the United States Senate – who have continuously bailed him out. It is not, of course, because he is a great and magnanimous guy. Rather, it is because of the payback he has doled out on Democrats who had the temerity to elect a black man to the White House. That is really where and when this all started as white nationalists got their manes ruffed. The Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, and other white nationalists are the foot soldiers for this bunch of self-proclaimed patriots who conducted the thuggery on Jan.6 in Washington, D.C. when Congress met to certify the Electoral College vote.
These “patriots,” you must remember, were the folks who constructed a gallows on the Capitol steps where they threatened to hang Pence, Pelosi, and anybody else who disagreed with the Big Lie that Trump had won the election.
We have a pretty good idea what happened that day, you know, as those who were working closest with the former president testified about him locking himself away in front of a television to watch what he had unleashed, refusing to call upon the thugs to stand down and refusing to send aid to the threatened members of Congress. He was so bent on taking back the White House by force that he ignored pleas from his fiercest allies like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham who called upon him to end the violence. He was so enthralled with the havoc he wreaked that he would not listen to family members – including his daughter – who practically begged him to call an end to the insurgence. Instead of a man rising to the importance of the moment we are left with a picture of a sloth with quarter-pounder juice running down his chin as his witless minions violated the Capitol and the law enforcement officers sent to protect it.
There is no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump looked upon the events of Jan. 6 as a personal triumph, that he was able to muster a bunch of wannabe rebels to do his bidding.
The thing is, the system usually works.
It has from Day One and it will, for the most part, continue.
Truth and justice have a way of coming to the surface. It may take a while, may arrive ugly and tattered for the wear and tear along the way, but justice will be served. It might come knocking on his door in the guise of his suspect business dealings, it might arrive on the heels of discovery as they try obstruction charges, it might be delivered by a jury foreman. However it comes, I predict it will be firm, unshakeable, enough so that this guy will not become a modern-day Joan of Arc. Martyrdom does not run in his veins and there is nothing remotely righteous about his stance or demeanor. And, with such an ego in play, it is rather likely that he will trip himself up along the way with a whopper that even his most ardent supporters cannot swallow.
I believe that, I truly do.
But, I am also convinced that good is eventually victorious over evil.
Otherwise, what’s the point?
Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you!
Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor
