Jan. 6 - The Feast of the Three Kings - no longer

As a young lad attending Catholic elementary school in Chicago, I looked forward to January 6 after Christmas excitement subsided. We were going to have a day off from school to celebrate The Feast Day of the Three Kings, the Epiphany.  Since those days, that is how I have thought of January 6, a special holiday, even if my employer didn’t give me the day off.

For the rest of my life, it seems now clear that January 6 will be a politicized “holiday”, when non-Republicans will vilify the participants in the “insurrection”, and those who actively or passively encouraged the demonstration at the Capitol building in 2021.

It has been a year since the event, and we have learned a lot about how it came to be, and what happened before, during and after, in some detail. The Capitol Police and activist Trump supporters were the main players, but others were involved.

The demonstration was a protest against what many viewed as a “stolen” election.  The contention was that Donald Trump actually won the election, and would have been declared the winner, if there had not been massive fraud committed before, during and after the election by anti-Trump activists. The final step in the election process was the confirmation of the election results (the votes of the electors) by a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on that day.  The Vice President, who is also the President of the Senate, is the Constitutional Officer who presides over the process, and was doing just that when the doors of the Capitol building were breached.

Trump supporters had been called to action by pleas made via social media.  These pleas were available publicly and members of Congress and government officials were aware of the pleas and the likely demonstrations at the Capitol on January 6.  Among those taking note were members of the Capitol Police. There are some reports that a request had been made by the Capitol Police that the National Guard be called out to assist the Police in their job of defending the building and its occupants, which, on that day, would include every single member of Congress! These reports have been challenged by others who have said that no such request was made.

The record of communications between the Capitol Police and their superiors should be available to those who oversee the operations of that police unit. The Capitol Police report to two House officers, the Sergeant-at-Arms (certainly sounds police-like) and the Chief Administrative Officer. The ranking Republican of the House Administration Committee (who oversees Capitol complex management) has been stone-walled in his request for those records for eleven months. The records are under control of the Congressperson to whom the Capitol Police are ultimately responsible – the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.  (I think I smell a rat.}

Release of the records will show the American public if and when aid to the Capitol Police was requested, by whom and to whom. It would also show what, if any, response was made to that request(s).

Even without the public release, some of the people involved have made comments about what they knew and heard at the time. One comment, allegedly made by the Sergeant-at-Arms, was that the request for the National Guard made by the Chief of the Capitol Police was not honored because the “optics” would not be good. Whether that meant that the Speaker didn’t want to get involved in a public show of support for Trump, or that she hoped that the undermanned Capitol Police would prove no match for a huge, fired-up crowd, embarrassing Trump and his followers on a very public stage – we may never know that answer.  But, whatever the answer, Pelosi is included as a major player in what went down.

In June of last year, the House formed the “Select Committee to Investigate the Attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6”.  Hearings are now being held and witnesses subpoenaed. The ranking Republican is Senator Liz Cheney, an avowed anti-Trumper. I have a strong suspicion that Speaker Pelosi will not be called as a witness. Yes, there is still a strong odor emanating from The Swamp.  What did Pelosi know? When? What did she do to ameliorate or exacerbate the situation?

Given the activities of this San Fran Socialite during the height of the pandemic, it is likely that only her hairdresser knows for sure.

In any event, enjoy your celebration of The Feast of the Three Kings.

OttoPolitico