(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 187 Minutes of Indelible Shame, Infamy, and Disgrace [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-07 Cross posted on my Substack, The Janovsky Report Of all of the Trump misdeeds before, during and after January 6, 2021, one stands out as indisputable and proven beyond any doubt. On that date, from the moment the Capitol was breached at 1:10 pm until 4:17 pm; for 187 minutes, Donald Trump did nothing. As Andrew Wortman writes in America Rises, the President: refused to act to stop his mob of supporters as they brutalized Capitol Police and threatened hundreds of lives; and instead took steps to further incite them to even more horrifying and potentially lethal violence . There are mountains of evidence other than this of criminal acts, outlined in the four indictments against him. And by itself, this failure to act may not even fit into a criminal statute.** But it fits squarely into a betrayal of the oath of office he took at noon on January 20, 2017: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." For more than three hours, despite advisors and family begging him to do something to call off the mob, he sat there. Worse, knowing the violence had begun, he further incited the mob in a tweet at 2:24 pm: x This tweet was from 2:24 pm ET Jan 6... The security camera footage of Pence and his family being whisked out of the Capitol by Secret Service that we saw for the first time today was from 2:26 pm ET pic.twitter.com/udk1cXDsjP — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 10, 2021 As he was sitting there, four people in the Capitol died and hundreds were injured, many of them severely. Suicides by Capitol Police followed the attacks, and others remain traumatized three years later. A novelist could not imagine a better example of a President betraying his oath “to preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. Andrew quotes Rep. Elaine Luria on Trump’s abrogation of his oath: she says our oaths are sacred, and that in all her years in military service she has defended our country from all enemies but never imagined this threat would come from within—from a sitting President. This dereliction has no legal, equitable, moral or other defense. As Rep. Kinziger said at the January 6 Committee hearing, because the mob was doing exactly what Trump wanted them to do, which was prevent the certification of Biden’s victory. A pathetic attempt at a defense tries to blame Nancy Pelosi, a laughable claim disproven by video shown by the January 6 Committee: Pelosi is on the phone pleading with Trump administration officials for help to stop the violence and secure the Capitol as U.S. Capitol Police were overmatched by the hundreds of rioters storming the building — including some who demanded her head. Getting nowhere with the officials, she contacts Virginia’s governor and says she will contact the D.C. mayor. Nothing else is as clear cut and understandable as this. Nothing better illustrates the KISS Principle. Nothing is less like the phrase “if you have to explain, you’re losing.” Trump and his supporters are the ones who have to explain, there is no explanation, and they must lose. The criminal and civil proceedings against Trump and his gang will proceed. The attempts to bar him from running under the 14th Amendment will proceed. But in the meantime, at every opportunity, Trump or any of his defenders must be asked the same question. Why did he sit there for more than three hours while people were dying, suffering and being driven to suicide? Any interviewer, candidate or officeholder who doesn’t ask this question is a party to Trump’s dereliction. If we happen to be speaking with a Trump supporter or even someone who may be hesitating about Biden’s age or anything else, we must ask, “How can we let back in office someone who sat for three hours and did nothing while brave people died? Jethro Tull’s Aqualung is a “classic rock” chestnut with a great tune with very problematic lyrics, which have not aged well. In other words, it begs for a new version, and I’m working on it. Here is the final verse of “Former Guy:” Do you still remember One Six Twenty One You sent your goons to the Capitol You let ‘em in with guns You sat there for three hours While good folks fought and died Now your time has come and justice will be done * Cover of my Folkways Smithsonian Album, Winners and Losers, Campaign Songs from Critical Elections in American History, V. 2. ** Unless it occurred in the fictional town with a "Good Samaritan Law" in the Seinfeld finale. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/7/2192000/-187-Minutes-of-Indelible-Shame-Infamy-and-Disgrace?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/