you're not being unclear, i just disagree with you. other than the president himself, congress is the only body with the power to authorize an investigation into the full body of evidence surrounding 1/6. the justice department can prosecute individual participants. the press can use whatever information is leaked by their sources. however, neither of those has the subpoena power to give the public a full picture of how (and/or why) our government somehow didn't protect itself from a violent mob of deluded partisans.

a non-partisan commission would have been a better route, but it didn't happen. even if there IS more heat than light, in my opinion the light is worth the heat.

JL

We're like two ships, passing in the night.

There ARE investigations going on, no? I'm learning a lot, anyways, beyond the obvious and fundamental facts which have long been known.

I'm like Biden - I'm not making myself crystal clear because I am assuming you all can read between the lines.

Of course, I'm not against investigations or against investigations into Jan 6. All I am saying is that THIS congress is not capable of hearings that will produce more light than heat.

Perhaps, I'll be proven wrong and the hearings will be fruitful ... meaning that a substantial majority of American voters will accept its final report. Which gets back to my points about ending the filibuster and the impact that will have, over time, on confidence in government, in elected officials and in democracy, itself.

In other words, I do care about this, deeply.

there's literally nobody else in the country who has all the authority, funding, and lack of ethical entanglements necessary to do the investigation. would you prefer that nobody investigated it at all? because those are the options.

JL

But, these ain't normal times and half of the American electorate, give or take, won't be buying the result, even if by some miracle the hearings don't devolve into, ah, chaos. :)

I get that it is part of their job to do investigations but there were not obligated to investigate this. They chose to do that.

*emphasis mine

very funny

They aren't obligated to do THIS investigation.

obligated because it's part of their job.

The only chance McCarthy has for saving his political career is to turn on Trump…hard! I wish McCarthy would fight to save his political career…but that would require telling the truth and excepting responsibility and…let’s face it — McCarthy would not know how to do either of those if his life depended on it!

Whether or not they want to is beside the point. They're obligated.

These are all important things we need to research, right??

well, color me the cockeyed optimist. i believe we'll survive the age of trump, and come out on the other side intact, if slightly the worse for wear.

JL

Not only did they have an idea, they also let me know how sad they were that the grand American experiment was going to fail...

I told them it was not over, but between their sort of sincere statements of comfort, and getting tear gassed in Lima, Santiago, Guatemala City, and Managua when the wrong party remained in charge; combined with seeing the GOP drive to extinguish the same spirit of protest coupled with limiting the power to vote... I kinda see their point.

Forget "still" and "stress test" our government is undergoing a test of the status quo of "democracy" or the new way of "autocracy"... either way their is an "ocracy" involved. "Stress test" suggests that the current form of government will survive. I however have serious doubts....

If the Democrats ignore their duties to focus on only what will benefit them electorally, would they really be that different from the republicans?

Of course, I never said that.

Here is what I said:

"The best way to do that now is to make sure every American understands what the Biden administration is doing to make their lives better and how Republicans are working to sabbotage these efforts. That how Democrats gain more seats in the midterms - not by a partisan fiasco in Congress."

i feel like the folks in south and central america knew what donald was the second he took the stage; they've seen his type many times before. argentina and chile know it well, as do peru, ecuador and brazil. nicaragua is still living it. the trump phenomenon is far from over, and our system of government is still undergoing a major stress test.

JL

Just sayin' what I see out of the GOP scares the living crap out of me, especially given that they now have not just one wing nut network, but three of them and lots of runway for indoctrination...

I appreciate your experience and it scares me, too.

My point is, simply, that I hope the cons don't outweigh the pros of having a very partisan committee investigating this at a time when the nation is so politically divided.

As I said, I hope I'm wrong about how this committee's final report will be received by an already extremely polarized electorate and about the negative impact i think it will have on Dems chances in the midterms.

Time will tell ...

Up until COVID, I have spent a vast majority of the past 12 years in South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean. I have been on the ground for some of the coups that were successful (unlike the TUMP one) and their aftermath or lack thereof.

I am now seeing alot of the early foundation blocks being put in place for 2024. Given the voting "reforms" meant to give only voting republicans faith in the outcome, 2022 will be the first set of serious building blocks by if necessary overthrowing the will of the electorate to ensure lower houses are in their control for 2024. Once that fix is in they will again ignore the will of the people to ensure their side gets in. Once that happens, it will stay that way until they get too corrupt for their own good or the people become restive.

Just sayin' what I see out of the GOP scares the living crap out of me, especially given that they now have not just one wing nut network, but three of them and lots of runway for indoctrination...

Beyond that, I do think there are a lot of unaffiliated voters who are uninformed to the point that they truly don't realize what actually happened, how bad it was, and how it was brought about. The full facts of the situation need to be presented publicly for people like them, and those sorts can be persuaded, if not to support the democratic agenda, then at least to reject the lies of the republicans.

trump and his minions in congress would love to present this as if it were an attempt to "convince" someone of something. the point is not to win or lose voters, it's to figure out precisely how the incursion on the capital was allowed to happen, in order to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.

at least, that's what the cake agenda WANTS you to believe.

JL

Of course, it's a partisan finding of fact.

So, who, pray tell, do Democrats hope to convince with their partisan fact-finding mission?

Tonight at the town hall, Biden was asked about how to increase public confidence in government, in elected officials, in democracy, itself.

The best way to do that now is to make sure every American understands what the Biden administration is doing to make their lives better and how Republicans are working to sabbotage these efforts. That how Democrats gain more seats in the midterms - not by a partisan fiasco in Congress.