June 13, 2022
Dear editor;
Some among us may ask questions of the purpose, or, the value of the public hearings being presented by the January 6 (2021) Committee of the House of Representatives. Most of us who have been paying attention to the various political maneuverings which have taken place since the Presidential election of November 2020, already have formed our opinions of what happened January 6, why it happened, and who was responsible for its happening. However, part of being human is the tendency to shape our opinions according to our own pre-existing biases. We may find support for our opinions in those media channels where we choose to tune in, but sadly those channels are often simply sources of other opinions, no more valid than our own. As a nation, we find ourselves with confrontational differences of opinion, and to address these differences, we need facts, rather than more opinions.
With the testimony of hundreds of sworn witnesses and hundreds of pages of documentation, the Committee has accumulated an extensive collection of facts, and their public hearings allow us all to be made aware of what those facts happen to be. It is unfortunate and irresponsible that some have chosen to follow in the footsteps of Fox News, covering their ears and closing their minds to these facts. But ignored truth remains the truth.
As the facts are being shared with us, it is becoming increasingly obvious that our former president, Donald J. Trump, has committed numerous offenses against this Nation, not the least of which were his refusal to command an end to the violence which resulted in the death of a public servant, and his support of the call to hang his own vice president!
His claim of Joe Biden’s fraudulent election has torn this country apart, while his attorney general had told him that such a claim was “bullsh*t” and his closest advisors informed him of his indefensible claim of victory. Yet, with what appeared to be his delusional and pathetic effort to remain in power, he has bilked his loyal followers of millions of their-hard earned dollars in his support. As the facts continue to find daylight, it becomes less and less understandable why so many of the Republican Party choose to remain in the dark.
I would suggest that the real purpose of the Committee’s public hearings is to provide a cushion of the blow to this Nation’s ego when a former president of the United States is taken away in handcuffs. After a consideration of the facts presented, only the intellectually challenged would find him undeserving.
Vince Smith, Big Rock