A Republican show

As Republican after Republican steps before the cameras of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, the public (some 19 million viewers strong the first day) is hearing from former administration staffers, elected officials, presidential loyalists in key government positions, poll workers, Capitol police, all either willingly or by subpoena delivering credible testimony as to the actions of former president Donald Trump on that day. It has been called a Democratic witch hunt, but in truth this is a Republican show.

According to the testimony of Republicans, virtually all former Trump loyalists and many eyewitnesses, this president set in motion and then refused to acknowledge this tragedy, even endorsing the violence that killed or hurt police and protesters, sent duly elected government officials scurrying into tunnels, and threatened not only the life of his vice president but our democratic institutions.

Republicans are telling Congress that this man threw plates and attempted to commandeer the wheel of his own presidential limo to go to the Capitol to lead his base. This man was not playing around.

I have little hope that, even in the face of his disgrace at the hands of fellow Republicans who knew him best, Donald Trump will ever be held accountable, outside a rubber room. However, the persons I most want to be accountable are closer to home. I would like Sarah Huckabee Sanders to explain why she still covets the support of Donald Trump or the people who defend him. The idea of a governor who would endorse the violent overthrow of the government of the United States, plainly reconfirmed by scores of Republicans in this congressional hearing, sickens me.

In addition, I would like to see our six congressional representatives vocally and physically disavow this stain on our democracy. The best time to have done so would have been when they crawled out from under their desks and hidey-holes to resume the Electoral College count. Surely, before it is too late to save their reputations and this country’s hopes as a democracy, they will do so now.

DANA STEWARD Sherwood