Today is Friday, June 10, 2022. I’m still reeling from the first televised hearing last night of the January 6th committee investigating the insurrection fomented by rogue president Donald Trump. It was fascinating drama for 2 hours. I’m not sure how many Americans actually watched this first proceeding that laid out incontrovertible proof that our former president participated in a well-planned coup against his own government in order to sustain his position as President of the United States, even though he lost the election. The committee, chaired by Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and cochaired by Liz Cheney of Wyoming, presented powerful evidence damning the autocrat-to-be in the White House for his role in overturning 2020’s election results. Cheney’s presentation did not mince words as she laid out the myriad steps that were followed by Dumpf and his ghastly allies as they duped the American public as to Dumpf’s standing as a victim of electoral fraud. He was fucking not, people!

Yesterday’s first hearing is reviewed comprehensively in The New York Times in an analysis by Peter Baker in a piece called “Portrait of a Power Grab by a Would-Be Autocrat.” Baker says with dead bluntness in the opening paragraph: “In the entire 246-year history of the United States, there was surely never a more damning indictment presented against an American president than outlined on Thursday night in a cavernous congressional hearing room, where the future of democracy felt on the line.”

Baker says in the second paragraph that Dumpf was “willing to shred the Constitution to hang on to power at all costs.” According to what was presented during the first hearing, Dumpf had executed a seven-part conspiracy to subvert a fair and equitable election. According to the panel, he lied to the American people, ignored all evidence refuting his false fraud claims, pressed state and federal officials to throw out election results unfavorable to him, encouraged a violent mob of primarily white supremacist nut jobs like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to storm the Capitol, and – shocking more than anything – even signaled his support for the assassination of his own vice president who wouldn’t go along with his traitorous scheme.

What was most incriminating were the depositions of Dumpf’s own advisers and appointees, who spoke on video clips that were beamed to a national television audience, who countered what Dumpf was publicly saying about a “rigged election.” There was Dumpf’s attorney general, William P. Barr, who testified there was no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the election in Dumpf’s favor. Dumpf’s own daughter, who looked like an android in one clip that played repeatedly, verbally disagreed with the old man over the conclusion that the election was stolen, as he was incessantly claiming for so long. As an aside, the old fool already dismissed his own daughter’s testimony; who would have expected anything else from this grifter? He’s a real crazy loon.

I think the most chilling words uttered by Cheney during the long presentation were her own assessment of her repugnican colleagues who have bought the “Big Lie” and still stand behind today’s version of Benedict Arnold. This is her resonating condemnation of the repugnican party as it wallows today in complete mendacity: “I say this to my republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone [oh, how I wish it were today!], but your dishonor will remain.”

Another gasp-worthy moment in the two-hour proceedings came when, in a steely voice, Cheney informed the American public that Dumpf was quoted as saying this about his own vice president’s role in not going along with his illegal scheme. When the former autocrat was told the crowd at the Capitol was chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” this scumbag responded with approbation, “Maybe our supporters have the right idea.” He added, “Mike Pence deserves it.”

Another revelation that was first made known at the hearing was that members of Dumpf’s own cabinet discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the insurrectionist from office. Cheney revealed that Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and “multiple other Republican congressmen” involved in trying to overturn the election sought pardons from the main conspiracy leader in his final days in office. Don’t you think this desperate attempt to get pardons were just admissions of these traitors’ guilt in the massive scheme? They lost their bid, of course.

As students of history, we should know that Dumpf is not the first president to be impeached by the House. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were both impeached during their presidencies. They were both acquitted. Richard M. Nixon resigned under the threat of impeachment for abusing his power to cover up corrupt campaign activities. However, Nixon’s crimes appear trivial almost when compared to actions committed by 45.

The January 6 Committee is involved with trying to build the case that Dumpf was embroiled in a criminal conspiracy against democracy – that he knew there was no widespread fraud because his own people told him, that he intentionally summoned a mob to halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joseph Biden and that he sat by and did virtually nothing once the attack commenced.

All in all, the committee members did a brilliant job of presenting evidence against the Orange Menace in a clear, prosecutorial tone that should get the ear of Attorney General Merrick Garland who would have heard an earful about “seditious conspiracy” like the rest of us. Even if the majority of Americans are so polarized as to their impressions about what really went down on January 6, the only audience that is important here are officials within the Department of Justice under Garland.

One of the witnesses who offered chilling testimony about her presence during the riot was Capitol Police officer, Caroline Edwards, who was grievously injured during the early moments of the attack and lived to tell the nation of the brutality suffered by the Proud Boys. Her testimony was indeed chilling. To present the personal costs of the siege, the committee presented Officer Edwards who spoke about being knocked out by an acolyte of Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs who pushed over a bike rack where she was posted, causing her to hit her head and lose consciousness. Before she blacked out, Edwards recalled seeing “a war scene,” playing out in front of her. She said that other police officers were bleeding and throwing up. “It was carnage,” she said. “It was chaos.” What was particularly horrifying was Edwards’ admission that she was slipping in officers’ blood as the situation got more chaotic.

After delivering this dramatic testimony, Officer Edwards received an apology from Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson who said, “It is unfortunate that you had to defend the Capitol from fellow Americans.”

While the mob ransacked the suites of Congress, Liz Cheney reminded the audience in the hearing room and at home that the former president made no effort to reach out to defense officials or to officials at the Justice Department to help quash the attack. Cheney stated that when his advisers told Dumpf he needed to be doing something more, Dumpf grew angry, she asserted.

In one of the most surreal moments of the presentation, a videoclip of the mob roaming and ransacking the Capitol was shown, which was overlaid with an audio clip of Dumpf describing the day that was definitely detached from reality – which really characterizes this delusional man to a T. “The love in the air,” Dumpf could be heard over images of bashing and breaking of windows and overall mayhem. He concludes with, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” The world has not seen anything like this phony president ever either!

For those who are engrossed, as I am, with the committee’s televised hearing schedule, the next public hearing will occur on Monday, June 13, at 10 a.m. The next hearing after that will transpire on Wednesday, June 15, also at 10 a.m. All in all, there are five more hearings after the June 9th one, culminating with the last hearing on June 23 starting at 8 p.m. This last hearing should be a real humdinger as all of the evidence presented thus far will be summed up by the nine-member panel for the nation to decide the probable guilt of the former president. My DVR will be in overdrive next week, that’s for sure.

I just heard now that 20 million people viewed the first night of the hearings. I wish it were a much larger number, but the days of an entire nation tuned into something like the Watergate hearings are sadly over.

It’s time to wish everyone a good weekend.

Stay safe and be well.