“Under The Banner Of Heaven (Abyss – Part Two)”
By
A.H. Scott
.
In a review of the seventh hearing, Donald J. Trump’s acts of commission were spectacularly displayed in showing how much in charge he was of the dainty dolls in satin and rough boys in leather.
As for the eight hearing[18] of the House January 6th Committee, it was an exacting reverse engineered inaction of omission which came in the form of a more demurred presentation from a President who always boasted with anything which would arise, that he alone could fix it.
Overview of the Eighth Hearing – July 21st, 2022
“Abyss”
“For 187 minutes on January 6th, this man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved, not by his aides, not by his allies, not by the violent chants of rioters, or the desperate pleas of those facing down the riot. And more tellingly, Donald Trump ignored and disregarded the desperate pleas of his own family, including Ivanka and Don Junior. Even though he was the only person in the world who could call off the mob he sent to the Capitol, he could not be moved to rise from his dining room table and walk the few steps down the White House hallway into the press briefing room, where cameras were anxiously and desperately waiting to carry his message to the armed and violent mob savagely beating and killing law enforcement officers ravaging the Capitol and hunting down the vice president and various members of Congress.” – Bennie Thompson, D-MISS, Chairman, January 6th Committee
Donald Trump’s inaction was an action of sorts, as sitting on his rump in the dining room off the Oval Office doing nothing showed the abandonment of the American people, when some sense of leadership was needed. But, then again, the American people did not the full portrait of a man who was not just a rider in the storm, but the driver of devastation.
“Donald Trump’s own White House counsel, his own White House staff, members of his own family all implored him to immediately intervene to condemn the violence and instruct his supporters to stand down, leave the Capitol, and disperse. For multiple hours, he would not. Donald Trump would not get on the phone and order the military or law enforcement agencies to help. And for hours, Donald Trump chose not to answer the pleas from Congress, from his own party, and from all across our nation to do what his oath required. He refused to defend our nation and our Constitution. He refused to do what every American President must.” – Liz Cheney, R-WY, vice-Chair, January 6th Committee
All about the numbers.
All about an Election Day.
All about 11,780 votes.
All about an electoral certification.
All about machinations of a coup.
All about inaction.
All about President Donald J. Trump.
This is January 6th, 2021!
This is 187 minutes!
Sending out a few chirping characters of persuasion to his second in command at 8:17am, Donald Trump was bright-eyed and fluffy tailed for his big speech at the Ellipse:
“States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!” – President Donald J. Trump[19]
With morning turning to afternoon, not only was Vice-President Mike Pence in danger, but so was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was third in line of Presidential succession. I think someone who might have been overlooked in the enormity of calamity that was hovering over that day was the fact that the former Senator from California who was now Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris was having a meeting inside of the Democratic National Committee and was evacuated at 1:14pm, where the first of two pipe bombs were found that day.
Pence, Pelosi, Harris – just to think about what could have happened to one or all of them is beyond any type of horror I wish not to think about ever again after writing this article.
At 2:24pm another needling of Vice-President Pence came from Trump:
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify.USA demands the truth!” – President Donald J. Trump
With all hell breaking loose, to the left, right, up, down and all around the Capitol, all Donald Trump was focusing on was urging further objection to the electoral count, as he was working the phones in dialing for Senators from Utah and Alabama at 2:26 pm to help him implement the pernicious plan.
“Within minutes of stepping off the Ellipse stage, Donald Trump knew about the violent attack on the Capitol. From the comfort of his dining room, he watched on TV as the attack escalated. He sent tweets that inflamed and expressed support for the desire of some to literally kill Vice President Mike Pence. For three hours, he refused to call off the attack. Donald Trump refused to take the urgent advice he received that day, not from his political opponents or from the liberal media, but from his own family, his own friends, his own staff, and his own advisers. In the midst of an attack when there was no time for politics, the people closest to Trump told him the truth.” – Adam Kinzinger, R-IL, January 6th Committee Member
At 2:38 pm, while Capitol Police and congressional staffers were barricading the main entrance that leads to the House floor, President Donald J. Trump tweeted the following:
“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!” – President Donald J. Trump
Without missing a beat, Trump touted that false flag sloganeering of “Support the Blue”. “Back The Blue” and “Blue Lives Matter”, which didn’t mean a damn thing as those men and women of law enforcement who in that same moment were in the middle of a battle for their lives with his supporters in and around the Capitol complex.
For the 8th hearing of the January 6th Committee, there were a pair of witnesses who were White House insiders. One was from the communications sphere and the second was from the national security realm.
Sarah Matthews, Deputy White House Press Secretary had served under Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and she testified about the media messaging for that hectic day.
Matthews and Kayleigh McEnany had a conversation after the President’s tweet at 2:38, which the White House Deputy Press Secretary recounted in her testimony before the committee about the reluctance Trump was giving everyone who was advising him on what to say in those 250 characters.
“When she got back, she told me that a tweet had been sent out. And I told her that I thought the tweet did not go far enough, that I thought there needed to be a call to action and he needed to condemn the violence. And we were in a room full of people, but people weren’t paying attention. And so, she looked directly at me and, in a hushed tone, shared with me that the president did not want to include any sort of mention of peace in that tweet, and that it took some convincing on their part, those who were in the room. And she said that there was a back and forth, going over different phrases to find something that he was comfortable with. And it wasn’t until Ivanka Trump suggested the phrase stay peaceful that he finally agreed to include it.” – Sarah Matthews, former Deputy White House Press Secretary
Seated next to Sarah Matthews in the hearing room was Matthew Pottinger, Deputy National Security Adviser, who took what happened on January 6th and placed it into a global narrative of how we are seen around the world, by both friend and foe.
“The – you know, we’ve been hearing, for the entirety of US history from kings and despots, that the United States is – is in decline, and those kings and despots have been proven wrong every single time. But nonetheless, January 6th helped feed a perception that I think emboldens our adversaries. You know, the – the other part I – I think is simply our- our allies. I heard from a lot of friends in Europe, in Asia, allies, close friends, and supporters of the United States that they were concerned about the health of our democracy. And so, I think it’s incumbent upon us to put their minds at ease, to put our own hearts at ease, by investigating what happened on the 6th and making sure that it never happens again.” – Matthew Pottinger, Deputy National Security Adviser
Both Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews resigned from the Trump administration in the wake of an unprecedented attack on the seat of American democracy, the United States Capitol.
As Stephen Ayers and all the others who were there in Washington DC at the behest of the President to hear his speech at the Stop The Steal Rally, the tweet which was sent out at 2:38pm also had a reaction from someone who knew the impact of the President’s words.
“POTUS is not ignorant of what his words would do” – Ali Alexander, Stop The Steal Rally organizer
The only hand-to-hand combat Donald J. Trump ever had was a Big Mac in either of his hands and trying to decide which he would wolf down first.
Even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy expressed his displeasure with the antics of President Trump during those hours when he himself was cowering as the barbarians were at the gates of Congress.
“I’ve had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it. The only discussions I would have with him is that I think this will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign.” – Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA., House Minority Leader
Under a month of saying those words of a warrior against the vile actions by President Donald J. Trump on January 6th, it was McCarthy who went down to Mar-A-Lago to kiss Trump’s backside, grovel and play patty-cake for political dollars with him.
Finally at 3:26pm, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser received confirmation from the Secretary of the Army of the United States Capitol Police request for DC National Guard support was approved.
Ten minutes later, at 3:36pm, a tweet from the house of lies came from White Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany:
“At President @realDonaldTrump’s direction, the National Guard is on the way along with other federal protective services. We reiterate President Trump’s call against violence and to remain peaceful” – Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary
Earlier in the committee hearings, it was Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley who confirmed that it was not the President that gave the order to call up the National Guard, but it was Vice-President Mike Pence.
So, once more, the house of lies does what it does oh so well – lie la lie….lie la lie, lie, lie, lie, lie…
Damn, it’s like hearing Simon and Garfunkel’s harmonizing on one of their tunes.
From 4:03pm to 4:07pm, President Trump went into the Rose Garden and scraped together some a mealy-mouthed message to his people to leave the United States Capitol peacefully. Even after all which occurred in a volley of such heinous violence, he expressed his love for those who supported him.
“We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace.” – President Donald J. Trump
Not done with rubbing salt into the still festering wound of the madness which all Americans and people all over the world had been witness to in wall to wall televised coverage that day, the President’s thumbs were working overtime for a tweet that went out at 6:00pm:
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” – President Donald J. Trump
Citing the violation of civic integrity policy, at 7:00pm Twitter suspended Donald Trump for 12 hours.
Geez, Twitter finally pulled his plug, as he was sounding like he was creeping into ‘Remember the Alamo’ territory there. Ugh!!
Besides the President of the United States going round and round in looking for some way to stop the certification, even as the Capitol was being battered and flesh was being bruised, there were those legislators on the inside that commiserated in desiring the failed plan to continue. Rudy Guiliani was on the phone like a used-car salesman trying to nail down a final sale to a Congressman and six Senators. Representative Jim Jordan and Senators Marsha Blackburn, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Haggerty, Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, and Ted Cruz were getting the big sell to make the President’s wicked dream of overturning an election come true.
The very long ago Mayor of New York City was not going to give up the ghost of past glory, as he tried to rally the troops to help Trump:
“Hello. Senator Tuberville? Or I should say Coach Tuberville. This is Rudy Giuliani, President’s lawyer. I’m calling you because I want to discuss with you how they’re trying to rush this hearing and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you.” – Rudy Guiliani, former Mayor of New York City
What if United States Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman had a pang of selfishness in those moments as that hulking mob up that marble staircase in the Capitol was hurling expletives of both violence and racial hatred at him for the color of his skin, would have just shrugged or pointed a finger in the direction of the Senate chamber and told the mob exactly where they could find the people they considered traitors to Trump and truth?
Unlike a well-insulated President inside of the White House, at 2:14pm Officer Eugene Goodman showed selfless service and courage in getting the rowdy mob to go into a different direction, saving the Senators and their staffs from coming face to face with those who meant them harm and even death.
What if Vice-President Mike Pence just gave into the chattering of persuasion in tossing the Constitution in the crapper, flushing democracy down the tubes and going along to get along with a carnival-barkin’ crazy bunch of coup conspirators?
Unlike the whining man-baby inside of the White House, in the early hours of January 7th at 3:40 am Vice-President Mike Pence presided over the electoral certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as victors in the 2020 Presidential election over President Donald J. Trump and himself.
Nine minutes later at 3:49am, there was a Presidential statement released via the twitter account of Dan Scavino, Deputy White House Chief of Staff:
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!” – President Donald J. Trump
What if the President of the United States would have manned up, swallowed his pride and put America before himself?
Of course, there is no answer to this, because the person in question is Donald John Trump.
If the President of the United States does not have the emotional bandwidth, then we were (and, I hope he doesn’t run again) and could all be screwed by his whims, flights of fancy, and just plain-out dimensions of such dark despair.
Those in government in the days following January 6th were trying to deal with aftermath of what had gone on. There were members of the Trump cabinet and appointees in the administration resigning to whispers of the invocation of the twenty-fifth amendment to the Constitution, which would only happen with the incapacitation of the President of the United States. It was a rollercoaster of days between the 7th and 21st days of January, when a new President would be inaugurated.
“There was a couple of the calls where, you know, Meadows and or Pompeo, but more Meadows, you know, how – how is the President doing? Like, Pompeo might say how’s the President doing? And Meadows would say, well, he’s in a really dark place. Like here’s one, for example, on the 7th of January. So this is a day after, right? POTUS is very emotional and in a bad place. Meadows.” – General Mark Milley, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman
At any point along that timeframe, from back in the early months of 2020 when Trump’s re-election campaign was starting in motion, to the days winding down to November and then after Election Day itself; 60-plus judicial rulings going in a more favorable direction, state officials turning a blind-eye here and there, getting high-appointed members of the administration to bend laws into pretzels for the sake of one man – it could have all gone sideways.
But, even now in the wake of the remnants of that convoluted, election theory; there are turns and twists in the reshaping of how future elections have already been affected, in several new voting laws being passed across the country. Many are not too subtle voter suppression laws pushed forth by those election deniers that wallowed in the waste-water of Trump’s cynical ploy to maintain power.
All these years, it was never about anyone else. Only and always, it was Donald Trump. He took it, he ran with it, he bastardized it, and watched us all ignite.
“The Big Lie has been good only for Trump and has brought him millions in donations, which some evidence suggests may have been mishandled. The Big Lie, and the related violence, election interference and other perceived misconduct, was and is an affront to this nation and its first principles. It has permanently soiled the history pages and deepened the abyss[20] that divides our country and continues to expand due to the delusions and lack of accountability of politicians in both parties. It should be disqualifying for Trump and his political acolytes, and would have been at any other time in our history. To modify a well known Seinfeld quote – SANITY NOW! ” – Ty Cobb, former White House attorney
Trump has taking the willing and the unwilling of all Americans into the abyss without a care of how dark and deep the ramifications are into this unknown reality the United States of America is facing right now in the moment and into the unforeseen future.
But, hey, just as long as it keeps stoking that bottomless pit of ego need that the narcissistic former President craves like inhaling hamburgers and hearing the distant strains of “Hail to the Chief” played on a loop in his mind.
Yet, for the rest of us average citizens who are just trying to live our lives, love our families, embrace our friends, and practice the tenants of democracy and civic engagement – well, we just get the stiff-arm, brush-off and obviously the middle finger of Donald Trump, who embodies the paranoiac, incendiary and nihilistic, lyrical attitude of “Gasoline”[21] towards us all:
“I don’t give a fuck
Burn it all down, burn it to the ground
Feed the flames, go insane
And burn it all down, burn it all down
The time is up
There’s no return
Fuck them all
Watch them burn
Yeah, ’cause I don’t give a fuck
Fuck what they say, fuck everything
Light the match, gasoline
Kill it all, kill everything
And burn it all down, burn it all down” –“Gasoline” by I Prevail (songwriters, Brian Burkheiser, Eric Vanlerberghe, Steve Menoian, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.)[22]
Trump incinerates the truth to ash, as black is white and white is black, and the loser of an election makes the rest of us in this world seem like our sanity is out of whack.
“And what Trump’s going to do is declare victory, right? He’s going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner. The Democrats – more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump’s going to take advantage – that’s our strategy. He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also – also if Trump is – if Trump is losing by 10 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier. Because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it. If Biden’s wining, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.” – Steve Bannon, advisor to President Donald J. Trump
With Trump using that crack-head logic, it was almost like him reliving his father Fred’s adoration of Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking” in believing anything you can craft a positive spin upon, even an election loss would be turned into an election win if only you just believe. Not so fast, Donnie, you sure as anything ain’t a Kansas waif in need of clicking your ruby red slippers together to bring you back from Oz. You are just an opportunist with a thunderous bark, trying to plow through to a victory you did not achieve. Just say any ol’ crap and everything will fall into place. Nope, not for you, Trumpy!!
“President Trump did not then and does not now have the character or courage to say to the American people what his own people know to be true. He is responsible for the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.” – Elaine Luria, D-VA, January 6th Committee Member
Courage is what was seen and heard from the witnesses who were sworn in and testified under oath in the eight public hearings held by the House January 6th Committee.
Vice-Chair Liz Cheney from Wyoming eloquently took a brief moment from her closing remarks to point out the women who were featured from the first to eighth hearing, in showing that a valiant heart need not be that of masculinity or muscularity, but a graceful determination of feminine will.
“We’ve seen bravery and honor in these hearings. And Ms. Matthews and Mr. Pottinger, both of you will be remembered for that. As will Cassidy Hutchinson. She sat here alone took the oath and testified before millions of Americans. She knew all along that she would be attacked by President Trump and by the 50, 60, and 70 year old men who hide themselves behind executive privilege. But like our witnesses today, she has courage and she did it anyway. Cassidy, Sara, and our other witnesses including Officer Caroline Edwards, Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, are an inspiration to American women and to American girls. We owe a debt to all of those who have and will appear here.” – Liz Cheney, R-WY, vice-Chair, January 6th Committee
Donald Trump may have taken America into the abyss and figured he’d sail off into the sunset. Yet, no man is above the law. And, a castle in West Palm Beach ain’t beyond the grasp of a warrant looking for purloined papers ya’ took when you left your last gig!!
Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
It sure isn’t Avon calling!
Hmm….I guess that’ll keep for another time.
“Under The Banner of Heaven (Abyss Part Two)”
By
A.H. Scott
FOOTNOTES – “Under The Banner Of Heaven (Abyss Part Two)”:
18.-Transcript of the 8th Jan. 6 committee on its investigation : NPR
19.-The Capitol Riot: A Chronology – National Security Archive
20.-Former White House Attorney Ty Cobb: ‘Big Lie has been good only for Trump’ – NBC News
21.-Gasoline Lyrics By I Prevail – LyricsFreak
22.-I Prevail – “Gasoline” (Official Music Video) – YouTube
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