Political Manna From Heaven

There are some things, that no matter how long an individual lives, that person will remember that particular instance for the rest of their lives. It takes on a different( and maybe special) if that instance happens when that individual is very young, like in their early teen years. This reporter says this because, at the age of 12, he can remember exactly where he was and what he was doing when John Kennedy( not that John) President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. This reporter knows where he was when NASA’s Challenger exploded. And for those much younger, when 911 occurred. This reporter was in elementary school eating lunch when we heard the news about President Kennedy. I was at home watching the launch of Challenger because space exploration always interests me. And, during the 911 attack, this reporter driving on I-!0 in New Orleans said to myself, what in the world is going on? There are others, but those three incidents stand out vividly in my mind because all three changed the course of history, in politics, space exploration, and how other nations are not afraid to attack America. But this reporter would wager that there is hardly anyone of a certain age, knows exactly where they were and what they were doing on Jan. 6, 2022. For the record this reporter has just finished playing 18 holes and was at a local auto repair shop when he gazed at a television set and saw the mayhem and chaos that was occurring at the Capitol. I asked the attendant behind the counter if what I was seeing with my own eyes was real, and he said “yes” to my bewilderment. My gaze was transfixed on the television screen because what I was seeing was something that I thought happened in countries ruled by dictators by people who had had enough and were overthrowing a rouge government. But no, this was America, the “land of the free, home of the brave”, not Russia or North Korea. I and the world would soon learn that those rioters who stormed the Capitol were supporters of soon-to-be ex-president Donald Trump who didn’t accept the fact that he had lost the election.

Donald Trump and his supporters have done everything that they can to remind us of Jan. 6, 2022 by ignoring court rulings but embracing conspiracy theories that the FBI “planted” agents to mimic Trump supporters or that those rioters “were Democrats” acting as if they were Trump supporters. There were(still are) a number of congress members in Republican circles who not only voted to de-certify the election results but still will not concede that Trump lost the election. One of those congressmen is House Speaker Mike Johnson. He has said that he will release over 44,000 hours of videotape that “would contradict the public understanding” of what happened on Jan. 6. By now, the vast majority of the nation and a sizeable portion of the world has seen with their own eyes and heard with their ears, the carnage of what happened on Jan. 6. There are some things that we don’t need to be told what is happening, but WHY it is happening. The Jan. 6 committee hearings told us why the events happened and who it was led by. There is plenty of videotape of him extolling his supporters to march down to the Capitol and “fight like hell”. One must remember that Speaker, then-Congressman Johnson was there ready to cast his vote for Vice-President Mike Pence to defy the Constitution and somehow keep Trump in power. Now Johnson wants to release the tape in hopes( I guess) that somehow the course of history will be changed. The Speaker appears to be on the side of those who will not accept the truth in hopes that after “cherry-picking” certain excerpts from the tapes, it will make it seem that a gross misjustice has befallen on those who were “fighting to preserve” the nation. But for someone who calls himself a “devout Christian” whose views are influenced by the scriptures, why would a disciple of Jesus allow himself to be led by conspiracy theories? Speaker Johnson and the rest of us weren’t around to witness( no videotape) Jesus’ crucifixion but believed that it happened because we believe the scriptures as the word of God. But now, the Speaker armed with a videotape of destruction, bodily harm, and the deaths of five people, wants us to not believe what we saw with our own eyes. It’s ironic that when Speaker Johnson gave his reasons for releasing the tapes, he did not give a scripture reference as to why he was doing it. Makes one wonder who the Speaker is preaching to. This is like political manna from heaven for Democrats. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.