Bill Hanna’s Musings
–Abhorrent, horrifying, loathsome, disgusting, horrific, deplorable, heartbreaking, repulsive, execrable, sickening, unconscionable, detestable, unbelievable, and inexcusable. Choose any one or any combination of the foregoing adjectives that can be applied to the assault on the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday. Newscasters watched and reported in stunned disbelief as the insurrection orchestrated by Donald Trump forced the evacuation of lawmakers from the floor of Congress. The attack came at approximately 1:10 p.m. during the meeting of a joint session of Congress to affirm the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden. The badly undermanned security team was no match for the mayhem launched on the Capitol building, where rioters scaled walls and smashed windows and doors to gain entrance to the floor of Congress and to various lawmakers’ offices. Trump reportedly watched events unfold on television in the Oval Office before finally going on camera at approximately 4:17 p.m. to ask the rioters to “go home in peace.” Five people were killed, including a decorated female Air Force veteran and a male Capitol Police officer. More than 50 police officers were injured during the fray, but remarkably Congress reconvened at 8 p.m. and worked well into the early morning on Thursday before ultimately confirming Biden’s victory. At 3:50 a.m. Thursday Trump issued the following statement using the Twitter account of Dan Scavino, his deputy chief of staff. (Trump’s Twitter account had been temporarily suspended.) “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on Jan. 20. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again.” That Trump calls his time in office “…the greatest first term in presidential history…” simply underscores just how seriously tenuous his grasp on reality is. On Thursday law enforcement agents and government officials were examining what action, if any, would be taken against Trump before he leaves office on Jan. 20. Trump’s message should be amended to read “…the WORST first term in presidential history… .” At this writing, in the wake of the assault on the Capitol Building, government officials and lawmakers were discussing various ways to remove Trump from office for the final few days of his term. Looking toward the future, nothing Trump ever says or does can absolve him from the unspeakable embarrassment he brought on this country and the unmitigated disgrace and dishonor to which he subjected the office of the presidency. Jan. 20 cannot come quickly enough!
–Kudos to Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to fold under the pressure Trump put on him to try to overturn the election during the joint session of Congress. After four years of being Trump’s faithful and obsequious “yes man,” he honored his commitment to the office and to the Constitution and did his job. Of course this made Trump furious, and it was reported that he said he didn’t want to be Pence’s friend. What a loss! Congratulations, Mr. Vice President, on a job well done.
–Oh yes, and there’s this. Trump has announced he won’t be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. In response to this news Biden said, “This is one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on. It’s a good thing him not showing up.” However, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will be in attendance.
–Our deepest and sincerest sympathy goes to the family, relatives, and friends of Mike Myer, who died last week. For the past 25 years Mike served as the executive editor of both the Wheeling News-Register and Wheeling Intelligencer. I had the pleasure of working both for and with Mike during much of his tenure at the newspapers. I worked for him as a columnist writing film and book reviews, and my work with him involved my position at West Liberty University (formerly West Liberty State College) as an associate professor of English and journalism and faculty adviser for the weekly student newspaper. Among the journalism courses was an off-campus internship at a newspaper, and throughout the years Mike always managed to find a place for my students to have the experience of working for bona fide newspaper. These internships often led to an actual position as a reporter at one of the two newspapers after the students had been graduated, and thus Mike was responsible for helping me launch the professional careers of myriad students. Mike was the consummate journalist, who loved his job and the Ohio Valley. His contribution to the Wheeling community will be sorely missed, as will he.
Ponder this: If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is he homeless or naked? ~George Carlin
