- 14 Jul 2022 16:21
#15238507
"Two rather sad characters conveyed this “you don’t have to keep following Trump blindly” message at the House Jan. 6 select committee’s hearing on Tuesday. One was former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove; the other was Stephen Ayres, who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6. Both appeared deflated, diminished and embarrassed by their association with insurgents based on the “big lie” of a stolen election.
Still, they served two critical roles that those outside the MAGA world have not fully appreciated. First, they showed that a person can admit to being conned. Second, they warned that unless others break free from the violent cult, the United States will remain in deep trouble.
Given how many GOP politicians still spew the “big lie” or run from inquiries about the 2020 election, it was refreshing to see two ordinary Americans admit they now know the election was not stolen and that there was no way short of civil war to reverse the election results.
Van Tatenhove likewise now recognizes members of the Oath Keepers as “straight-up racists” and he refuses to indulge in the Republican National Committee’s lie that the insurrection was “legitimate political discourse.” As he declared on Tuesday, “We need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths, and what it was going to be was an armed revolution.” He described Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes as “always looking for ways to legitimize what he was doing,” not unlike Trump.
The two witnesses also warned about the consequences of following Trump’s mob. “It definitely changed my life, not for the good,” Ayres said. “Definitely not for the better.” He lost his job and had to sell his home."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... effective/
A lot of Republican insiders should share his fate..
Still, they served two critical roles that those outside the MAGA world have not fully appreciated. First, they showed that a person can admit to being conned. Second, they warned that unless others break free from the violent cult, the United States will remain in deep trouble.
Given how many GOP politicians still spew the “big lie” or run from inquiries about the 2020 election, it was refreshing to see two ordinary Americans admit they now know the election was not stolen and that there was no way short of civil war to reverse the election results.
Van Tatenhove likewise now recognizes members of the Oath Keepers as “straight-up racists” and he refuses to indulge in the Republican National Committee’s lie that the insurrection was “legitimate political discourse.” As he declared on Tuesday, “We need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths, and what it was going to be was an armed revolution.” He described Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes as “always looking for ways to legitimize what he was doing,” not unlike Trump.
The two witnesses also warned about the consequences of following Trump’s mob. “It definitely changed my life, not for the good,” Ayres said. “Definitely not for the better.” He lost his job and had to sell his home."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... effective/
A lot of Republican insiders should share his fate..
Facts have a well known liberal bias