After last week's televised hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, the artists in the political cartoon arena came out in force.
Thanks to Sister Resister Pagrs for pointing me to some of these, as well as
The Week.
I appreciate these artists so much! (Side note: where my female cartoonists at?!)
So. Thoughts.
Will there be justice? Friends have been asking me, "Do you think they'll put 45 in jail?"
The Department of Justice must move forward with indictment. Whether or not it will be perfect justice is another question. Imperfect justice is better than no justice.
Some say, "There will be such a backlash from the right if they move to indict. Think of what they will do!" News Flash: they've done it. They attempted a violent coup! We cannot let that stand unpunished. If we are truly a nation of laws, no one is above the law. Everyone involved with the coup, from the bottom to the tippy top, MUST be prosecuted.
And as Liz Cheney said in a recent interview, not moving forward with prosecution of 45 would be more dangerous to the country. On
ABC's "This Week," she said:
I have greater concern about what it would mean if people weren’t held accountable for what’s happened here. I think it’s a much graver constitutional threat if a president can engage in these kinds of activities and, you know, the majority of the president's party looks away or we as a country decide, you know, we're not actually going to take our constitutional obligations seriously. I think that’s a much -- a much more serious threat.
Who should get indicted? All of them. The DOJ has done a pretty good job of identifying (well, they identified themselves on social media) the seditionists in the crowd. But up from there: Giuliani, Meadows, state officials who conspired, all those members of Congress who aided and abetted, and the former president* most of all.
Nearly 60% of those polled by
ABC/Ipsos agree with me.
So, to answer the question: I think 45 will be indicted on some charge or other. Whether he goes to jail is a whole 'nother question. He seems to be as slippery as a snake covered in his own snake oil when it comes to consequences.
The Committee. The Committee has been masterful laying out the case. Each hearing has had a theme, and they have kept it simple and easy to understand who and what comprised each part of the nefarious plan. Each hearing has been a simple and direct presentation of the facts.
They have done a great job of weaving video testimony, live testimony, and other video evidence and documents. It has been good TV. The video presentations have been mighty powerful. The committee has former ABC News exec
James Goldston to thank. He has been producing the powerful videos and advising the committee on their presentations.
The Committee itself cannot bring criminal charges, but they can make criminal referrals to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Those referrals would hold no legal water, but the DOJ does not need a referral to bring charges anyway. And they are performing their own investigations. The Committee has laid out numerous chargeable offenses neatly and clearly with evidence. The possible charges against 45 being floated around by pundits:
- Obstructing an official proceeding
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States
- Seditious Conspiracy
- Obstruction of Justice
The tell. It's telling that after the damning testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, the right glommed onto the grabbing-the-steering-wheel vignette as the one to contest.
- Allowing weapons knowingly to the rally on the Ellipse? It's a given.
- Sending that armed mob to the Capitol, asking them to "fight for me"? No dispute.
- Witness intimidation, from the top? Eh, it is the way.
- Urging his followers to murder the Vice President of the United States? Pence deserved it.
- Grabbing the steering wheel and lunging at an agent to try to get to the Capitol? THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE IF HE WERE SITTING IN THE BACKSEAT! HE WASN'T IN THE BEAST – HE WAS IN A SUV! SHE LIES! SHE LIES!
The backlash. It's getting ugly out there. Listen to what people have said when they call into Rep. Adam Kinzinger's (R-Ill.) office. Warning: foul, disturbing language!
I've always urged my readers to contact your members of Congress. I want to make clear that I would never, ever advocate words or actions like this. Please, continue to contact your MoCs. But please, always always be civil and direct to the point of what you want them to do on your behalf. Be the better person. Every time.
The next hearing. The next hearing will be next Tuesday, July 12 at 10 a.m. Eastern time, 7 a.m. Pacific. A witness list has not been released, but it will focus on the crime of assembling a mob: the financing, the organization, the participants. Watch with care: don't hurt your jaw when it drops again.
See you after.
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