By Donald A. Collins | 19 October 2022
Church and State

After the October 13th final House January 6th hearing, I had enough. When will a functioning democracy with claims of equity for all and equal protection under our laws strike down this corrupt, lying lawbreaker?
We keep hearing that the practice of not bringing criminal charges just before major elections and that Justice Department actions on the secret documents scandal have certainly elevated the likelihood of an indictment.
Hooray! But When?
On October 13th at the final House January 6th Committee session, Liz Chaney and all members of that Committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump in what is likely only a symbolic action, but the completeness of the evidence is striking as you can read here.
The Jan. 6 Committee has voted to subpoena Trump. Here's what else happened https://t.co/RxDpNhLfKA pic.twitter.com/SxTbXLJSNn
— WOSU News (@wosunews) October 15, 2022
Now veteran Washington Post editor Dan Balz writes on October 15th the perfect summary of where the case against Trump fits into our future, reflecting how dangerously he has impacted our democracy and how little too many voters have absorbed.
As Balz points out:
Inflation, abortion and crime are dominant issues in the midterm elections, but Thursday’s public hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was a valuable reminder of what else is at stake in November.
The connection between the attack and the midterm elections couldn’t be clearer. The committee’s hearings have established that former president Donald Trump was prepared before the 2020 election to call foul if he lost — that he willfully ignored aides who told him after the voting that he had lost, then brazenly brushed aside those who told him his conspiracies about widespread fraud were unfounded and sometimes ludicrous. Trump continues to traffic in these same false claims today.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Republican candidates who have bought into the lie that the election was stolen are on ballots this fall. If they win, they pose potential threats to future elections. The threats will become even more serious if an unadmonished Trump becomes the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
Read his full article here:
The Jan. 6 committee has made its case. Will anyone act on it, and when? https://t.co/rPLt4rnVD3 pic.twitter.com/f6vM4pOX5t
— Robert Franek (@robertfranek) October 15, 2022
I am still angry that such wrongdoing has been left unaddressed for so long. Trump’s crime of masterminding a deadly election coup has, despite lack of an in court cross examination, been proven beyond any doubt.
Trump indicted himself on national TV with his own January 6th call to attack the Capitol, certainly hoping and wanting to scare VP Mike Pence to not certify the Electoral College votes. Trump here proved conclusively his own guilt.
Regardless of likely turmoil inherent in Trump’s indictment, it must be pursued to insure he never again holds public office in our democracy.
More importantly his downfall should foreclose future attempts to impede honest and proven election results. Some Congressional legislation will be necessary.
Trump’s GOP’s likely election on November 8th will put the election of some election deniers in powerful places to alter honest voting. We can be sure that November 8th will confirm their continuing intentions to upset secure vote counting in states where they hold legislative majorities.
Read here again that WP 10/17/22 Marc Fisher article on the global shift toward the right, whose avatars promise security and equity and end up as dictators requiring violent overthrow as now in Iran. His prescient piece was put on page one center in the Post on 10/18/22!
From Italy to Brazil and the United States, political leaders increasingly are echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin and one another by embracing far-right authoritarianism. https://t.co/JP6sEkuZSM
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 17, 2022
The Shah of Iran, overthrown with many false promises by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 shortly after my visit there, was not fully benevolent but his successor’s religious autocracy was many times worse. The Shah provided many government services including free medical care and safe abortions.
In short, the right wing’s route to power are false promises and the results uniformly lead to dictatorships.
Our voting on November 8th will renew our resolve to continue our democracy or in losing to the Trump GOP make a step toward an evil political future.
The Supreme Court’s June 24th decision to kill Roe was the perfect example of how the loss of democratic freedom can get started by the right!
Indict Trump or not and when? It remains the key question most of us are asking!

“What Can Be Done Now to Save Habitable Life on Planet Earth?”: https://t.co/fHuh0CG6JD
“We Humans Overwhelm Our Earth: 11 or 2 Billion by 2100?”: https://t.co/TA4j7cp1tE
“From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013”: https://t.co/lkC2t3E1A9 pic.twitter.com/bQsL2mLBcO— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) November 1, 2021
Trump issues letter slamming Jan. 6 subpoena | Morning in America
Donald Trump is the ‘greatest threat’ to U.S. democracy, says former ambassador
Atlantic’s Franklin Foer: Trump Indictment ‘Inevitable’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: ‘Our Democracy Is At Stake’ In The 2022 Midterms
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