Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
The hearings
Who among us hasn’t watched at least a little of the January 6 hearings? In my brief experience, that’s all it takes to make my blood boil. The amount of planning for the bloody day is being made crystal clear by the evidence and the witnesses. I listen carefully to Liz Cheney because she articulates 45’s deliberate design in very clear terms. I would not vote for her because we disagree on some fundamentals, but I sure as hell admire her. She is putting her career on the line, and maybe even her life, in service of the truth.
I only got a part of yesterday’s hearing, where so many witnesses recounted the hell that they have been put through by 45 and his minions. Shay, the former Georgia poll worker was especially moving as she recounted the hatred that has been spewing toward her. That her grandmother was even made a part of this by having people push their way into her house in order to intimidate her, is horrifying. Then there is Miss Ruby, who states she has even lost her good name for simply doing her civic duty.
What kind of evil spawns this hate campaign? In his book, “What Do We Do With Evil”, Fr. Richard Rohr says this: “Injustice, for example, always profits somebody. Justice is usually denied to a minority of some kind. All a politician has to do is put such a spin on it and people will often vote against their own legitimate self-interest to follow the demagogue or the group.” 45 has managed to do just that and an alarmingly large number of people are drinking the kool-aide.
The fact that he was able to whip up the root anger of his followers and set them loose on his own government institutions boggles my mind. The crowd that day was looking for blood and I believe they would have killed Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi if they had gotten to them. That I’m even writing these words makes me go cold inside. Even today, 45 sits in his make believe castle in Florida throwing out recurring lies about how he was robbed. And a huge portion of our population goes along with him – including politicians who really know the truth but are afraid to say it.
Last night, I could watch no more. I even stood up Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid and my other go-to news people, whose reporting I depend upon. (I’m really no different than the Fox News devotees but I put my faith in MSNBC and CNN instead.) So I went to my church at home – Cardinals baseball – and lost myself in the beauty of the game. We played the team from Wisconsin, the home state of Senator Ron Johnson who has uttered some of the craziest phrases I have ever heard. Oh-oh, here I go again..