Musings on the January 6th hearings...

As I write the following, I brace myself for the inevitable attacks from both Trump supporters and some lefties determined to attack anything that even remotely supports anything republican.

Despite this eventuality, I must admit after reviewing the testimony and evidence from the January 6th hearings, I cannot help but conclude a man that had so much to gain, rejected self-interest and was nothing short of heroic. Vice President Mike Pence stood up for principle, for the Constitution, and for the people. As his counsel informed him so eloquently at the end of that fateful day, he fought the good fight and finished the race. Think about it---he was asked to give himself the opportunity to continue to be Vice-president, a position he held for four years; one that was likely a gateway for an eventual presidential run. He could have taken a path to serve his future fairly well. Instead, literally underneath the Capitol that was overrun by rioters, many hunting for him, he decided to stay at the site, determined to undertake his constitutional roll and preside over the certification of the results of the presidential election. As a result, he ensured a peaceful transition of power, despite the attack on the Capitol. 

As during the Nixon era where Republican leaders advised the president to resign, in order to preserve our democracy, heroes need to be above politics and stand for what is right. Pence followed Vice-President Al Gore's heroic and noble efforts after the 2000 presidential election. Though I spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours volunteering for Vice President Gore's election efforts, at the time I would have preferred he not be so  honorable, I now realize what Gore did the day he certified the election was the correct decision.

 

While Vice President Pence is too conservative for my taste and some will assuredly assert he was merely being calculating, I invite you to take a look at the pictures of him at the secret location on the afternoon of January 6th, and I bet most will literally feel both the danger and tension of that moment. It is for that reason, I will always respect Vice President Pence for what he did on January 6, 2021--he faced a clear and present danger to his life and that of his family. Further, while at the secret location, Pence was asked to leave the Capitol by secret service. Had he done so, who knows what would have happened thereafter. At the very least, the country would have faced a constitutional crisis likely only resolved weeks, if not months later, by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Instead, Vice President Pence refused to leave the secret location (evidently somewhere underneath the Capitol), determined to do the people's work and did in fact complete the people's work and certified the presidential election in favor of President Biden. I am nothing short of proud to learn of these heroic acts. 

Comments

[Anon]

How sad that, after everything that's come to light in the last few years, you actually believe the drivel being fed to you through that political theater.

[EDIBERTO ROMAN]

Knowing who you are---you do indeed need legal advice---I expected nothing less from you Anon.

[Anon]

And I expect nothing better from you.

What sort of legal advice would I need, pray tell?

[anon]

I too was impressed by teh Pence profile in courage. And, almost all the other actors in the WH. Is the goal here to prove the system works and that republicans, almost to a person, are principled, honorable people trying to do the right thing?

Or, being cynical, are the republicans hoping not only to disqualify Trump, but set up Pence as the nominee?

Oh, and BTW, this anon is not Anon. That said, I deeply resent Ediberto threatening the way he does. This isn't the first time. "I know who you are ..." sounds like "I know what you did last summer" (a horror movie). Combine that with "you need a lawyer" and you get the picture.

Ediberto, these unseemly threats and attacks are wrong. Again, I am not "Anon" but I feel that something needs to be said here.

[anon]

Should have said, "are democrats hoping to set up Pence as the nominee " ...

[Anon]

Hi anon,

No, you really ought to have said "are the Democrats and the Republican establishment hoping to set up Pence as the nominee?" It's a desperate effort by the ruling class to return to the pre-2016 status quo ante and so expect GOP voters to just go full-blown "Oceania was always at war with Eastasia, NEVER Eurasia"...

Threatening or otherwise, Ediberto's remark was quite amusing. I'm nonetheless happy for him to out me by noting with specificity what sort of legal advice I could possibly even require - in any area of law.

[nonA]

I dunno. Ediberto is willing to identify himself. It's the rest of us sniping anonymously. Maybe you all shouldn't whine if you aren't going to show as much courage and transparency as him--particularly when the whining in question includes the insinuation that you know as much as he does. Prove it. Don't post anonymously.

[anon]

nonA

This tired old debate about anonymous posting is really so old and worn out that it deserves litte response. But, to briefly address your specious and risible contention (anonymous posters need to "prove" they know "as much as Ediberto does"), the fact is that this site permits anonymous comments (when it permits comments at all).

Some with privileges delete comments they don't like, close comments (in part or entirely), etc.

So long as anonymous comments are permitted by the policy of this site, to threaten those who do this perfectly allowable action (commenting) with the need for a lawyer is simply unseemly and, frankly, creepy.

Do you threaten your students this way when they submit evaluations? ("I know who you are, you better seek some legal advice.") Stunning, Really stunning.