June 9, 2022
Hello Everybody,
On January 10, 2021 I wrote to you:
And today the January 6th committee will present the first of its findings. I consider it 'must watch TV'. It will be on all the networks (except Fox "news").
You can see the all of my 'Letters from D.C.' here:
Again, there is a veritable avalanche of reporting on the aftermath of the election and the insurrection and the Jan 6 hearings and I really don't need to add to it nor am I that qualified to do so but ... I do feel that I have some interesting things to share.
In the Jan 10 letter I also wrote:
I have been following the podcast of Michael Cohen, Trump's former 'fixer'. His podcast is named 'Mea Culpa' and he is trying his best to 'do penance'. A recent podcast was a conversation with Diane Benscoter, a speaker, author, and cult de-programmer who spent five years deep inside the 'Moonie' religious cult before finding her way back. You can find it here:
Cohen is a very knowledgable, articulate, and eloquent trained lawyer. Warning... he is also a 'motormouth' and extremely vulgar - spouting inventive curse words creatively and unrestrainedly.
His most recent podcast was a conversation with Norm Eisen, the ethics czar of the Obama administration and a legal consultant for the first Trump impeachment.
Eisen has recently published a book entitled 'Overcoming Trumpery'.
The former guy (tfg), Donald J. Trump, continues to hold rallies and spread the Big Lie about the 'stolen election' and criticize the Biden administration. He seems to really enjoy being the demagogue-in-chief. The narcissistic sociopath revels in the adoring crowd. Again, he is breaking a long-standing tradition whereby former presidents (Clinton, Bush, Obama, ...) are generally silent after they leave office.
I came across the term 'stochastic terrorism'.
Here's a wikipedia article:
It is in this manner that the stochastic terrorist is thought to randomly incite individuals predisposed to acts of violence. Because stochastic terrorists do not target and incite individual perpetrators of terror with their message, the perpetrator may be labeled a lone wolf by law enforcement, while the inciters avoid legal culpability and public scrutiny.
In my mind this is what Trump and his cronies were/are doing. They incited all kinds of activity but (mostly) stopped short of publicly encouraging violence. I am very curious to see if the Jan 6 committee will find a link between the Trump administration and the recently charged seditious conspirators in the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
Here's an academic study of stochastic terrorism:
I continue to follow the daily missives from Heather Cox Richardson, the professor of American history at Boston College.
On June 6th she quoted from the Tarrio indictment (for seditious conspiracy):
Who was that individual? Maybe we will find out today in the Jan 6 first public hearing.
The wheels of justice move slowly but they do move. The Attorney General, Merrick Garland, is proceeding very deliberately with the massive task he has taken on. I am glad that the seditious conspiracy indictments have come recently. And the decision to indict Peter Navarro. And Steve Bannon. Garland has said that no one is above the law and that he will pursue justice for all regardless of their level. This will (hopefully) include Trump himself.
At his rallies Trump, the master demagogue, has encouraged his minions to vehemently protest in case he is charged and held responsible for his many misdeeds. Maybe Garland is proceeding so deliberately so as to prevent a civil war? I do think we are already in a kind of 'cultural' cold civil war. I pray that it will not become hot.
I heard that recorded testimony from Ivanka and Jared may be included in the Jan 6 open hearings. That would be great. Ivanka was with her father on January 6th when the insurrection was happening.
The midterms approach ... The polls largely predict that the Republican Party will retake the majority in the House and Senate. I pray that this won't happen. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker and Jim Jordan as chair of the House Judiciary committee would be a nightmare. Mitch McConnell resuming his role as Senate Majority leader in charge of the agenda would be a disaster for the country. In October 2020 when McConnell said that he would confirm Trump's appointee after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died it moved me to travel to D.C. for my individual protests. I carried a sign in my circumnavigation of the Capitol that said 'Hypocrisy will be the Legacy of the GOP'.
High gas prices and inflation will be certainly be issues in the mid terms. Even though these things are happening globally and that the Biden administration really cannot do much to change them I sense that many voters will hold Biden responsible and will vote against the Democrats.
What will I DO to help steer the midterms toward the Democrats and progressives? Not sure yet. One thought is to take the train to Georgia and do canvassing for Stacy Abrams and Rafael Warnock. (And patronize the many vegan restaurants in the Atlanta area).
High gas prices may speed the adoption of electric vehicles. For over a year now I have owned a long range EV - the VW ID.4. It came with 3 years of free charging. There are many other good choices now.
Be well,
Stay safe,
Jon