Until yesterday’s Select Committee hearing, I was convinced that OS’s ranting about election ‘fraud’ was a complete scam invented by Roger Stone and used by Trump to keep himself in the thick of things politically, so to speak. After what I saw and heard last night, I’m not so sure.
What we learned was that on January 6th, Trump returned to the White House after talking at the Ellipse, and then spent the next three hours in his private dining room off of the Oval Office, making phone calls, sending out several tweets and watching the invasion of the Capitol on TV.
He then went out on the South Lawn, recorded a brief video telling the rioters to go home but also telling them that the election was rigged and that he loved them all for what they had done.
Neither of the two witnesses who appeared at yesterday’s hearing actually spoke directly to OS while the riot was going on. And even though the Committee played endless text messages from other Trump supporters – family, media personalities, staff – none of these individuals had a direct conversation with the President during this fateful time.
What we know for sure is that OS knew the Capitol had been invaded and that the rioters were trying to stop the final electoral count from taking place. We also know that Trump made no attempt whatsoever to protect federal property or the lives and wellbeing of Congressional members and staff.
What was OS actually doing or thinking during those 187 minutes while he was sequestered in his private dining room on January 6th? The only person who may have an answer to that question besides Trump himself is Mark Meadows, his staff chief, who until now, at least in public, has kept his mouth shut.
Near the end of the hearing a video was played which showed OS getting ready to make his ‘go home in peace’ message which basically ended his day. He looked confused, he mumbled and garbled his words, this wasn’t the big, tough Donald Trump that was usually on display.
I don’t think Trump really understands the impact he has on the MAGA shitheads. They remind me of the Weathermen who used to show up at anti-war rallies back in the 1960’and 1970’s: always angry, always pissed off, always looking for a fight. They even tried their hands at building bombs which luckily only killed a couple of them and nobody else.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking or believing that the average person who voted for Trump in 2016 or 2020 is ready to drop everything and mount the nearest barricade on his behalf. If that were the case, the January 6th rally, which drew some 30,000 people to the Ellipse, should have drawn twice that number from POS/GOP neighborhoods in the Virginia ‘burbs alone.
Almost 900 people have been charged with breaching the Capitol on January 6th, and they come from just about all the 50 states. They remind me of the crowd which shows up every year at the big Harley thing in South Dakota, which I attended one year by driving my Low Rider all the way out from New Jersey, a trip which basically gave me a real pain in the ass.
The people who show up at Sturgis are the same kind of people who come to those MAGA rallies, they seem to enjoy going halfway across the country and back because they really have nothing better to do. When they get home and the neighbor asks where they’ve been for the past week, they can brag about going to a Trump rally which is certainly more impressive than saying how they enjoyed going back to where they were raised in order to spend a day on the porch visiting Mom.
It really may be the case that OS believes his own conspiracy theory about how the 2020 election was a fake. He also may believe he has a chance to win if he runs in 2024.
Please Donald, please run.