Jan. 6 is a new date that will live in infamy

President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to Dec. 7, 1941, as “a date that will

live in infamy.” On that day, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a sneak attack upon the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu.

If Dec. 7, 1941, should be remembered as a day of infamy, then certainly Jan. 6, 2021, should also be remembered as a day of infamy.

The attack on Dec. 7 was carried out by a foreign power under the direction of a foreign leader. The attack on Jan. 6 was carried out by U.S. citizens under the direction of a sitting U.S. president. The home-grown nature of the January insurrection makes it more appalling than the attack on Pearl Harbor. In my view, former President Donald Trump’s blatant violation of our Constitution and democracy is the most heinous crime that a U.S. president can commit.

The Republican Party, which likes to cast itself as the party of “law and order,” has refused to participate in the House committee investigating the events surrounding the insurrection. Most Republican leaders refuse to acknowledge Trump’s role in the insurrection. Yet these are the same people we saw cowering under their desks on Jan. 6 in fear of their lives.

Republicans would like us to forget about the insurrection. They want to rewrite history and trivialize the significance of the event. We should not and must not this allow to happen. The country must hold Trump and his cohorts accountable for the day of infamy that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021. Don Steiner

Schenectady