I chose to not watch the Jan. 6 hearings Thursday night. It’s not because I don’t care; I very much do care. In fact, I might care too much. The reason I didn’t watch is because I don’t need to be convinced how historic (not in a good way) the goings-on were on that day. I was convinced in real time. That day is as etched in my memory as 9/11 and the day of the Challenger explosion, the other two huge news events of my adult life. I remember tuning into CSPAN at the beginning of the roll call of states. When they got to Arizona, of course, there was a challenge, which caused applause to break out in the chamber. It was then that Sarah convinced me to turn it off and lay down for a nap. I think it wasn’t much more than a half hour later that my texts started blowing up. I woke up enough to grab my phone to look, and the first text I saw said “They’ve breached the Capitol.” Um, wait, what? Who? I learned soon enough what and who. I was glued to every news source I had access to (we have no TV in the house) for the rest of the day. The best description I can come up with for how I was feeling was gut-punched. I’ve read about the British invasion of DC during the War of 1812. I never thought anything like that would ever happen again, and this time it wasn’t even foreign enemies, it was Americans. And, all of America was united in horror and revulsion, for maybe 24 hours. I think it may have been the very next day I saw my first Facebook post where someone claimed this was just a peaceful protest that got a bit out of hand. And maybe it was Antifa. Or it was Nancy Pelosi’s fault, though I’m at a loss to know what an 82-year-old lady could have done in the face of a mob bent on mayhem. Nevertheless, all these alternate narratives took hold in certain segments of the public, and they’re still held very strongly. At this point, even if Donald Trump himself was somehow convinced to add narration to the film footage complete with audio description for the visually impaired, it wouldn’t make a dime’s worth of difference to these segments of the public. They’ve turned their eyes away and put beans in their ears ong ago. The older politicians learned lessons from Watergate. I think at least some of them probably think now that if they had just held on longer with the third-rate burglary narrative, the public would have either been swayed by their arguments or just simply tuned out. And maybe that’s who I’m the most angry with right now; those who just can’t be bothered, who think it’s just all politics. I can’t totally blame them; that’s how much of the media has portrayed the past 1.5 years. Rather than the attempted coup it was, it’s been seen as just another mud-slinging contest between the parties. Yawn. Sadly, this is another segment who will never be convinced with hearings like this, because they’re skipping them in favor of Netflix or binge-watching Gilmore Girls. I fear we have reached a point where nobody cares enough to change anything anymore. This will probably lead to the Republicans taking over control of the House and Senate in the November elections, which means the next 2 years will be nothing but an ongoing circus in DC, though I have no doubt some will enjoy the spectacle. And, when 2024 rolls around, enough people will decide, you know, Disantis really isn’t that bad, at least he’s not Trump. And then, as Don Meredith used to sing during blowouts on Monday Night Football, turn out the lights, the party’s over. And that is when certain segments of the population will finally wake up saying hey, wait a minute! This isn’t what I wanted! Sorry. Too bad, doodad, too late. So, I’m very thankful that the Jan. 6 Committee has done all this work. I salute their efforts. The things I’ve read about Thursday’s hearings have been mostly very positive. But, in the long run, has all this work been futile? Will it all come to naught in the end? Very sadly, sitting here on a mostly sunny Saturday morning, my gut is telling me yes. With every fiber of my being, I hope I’m wrong.
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