In marking this deplorable event and its aftermath, PBS Newshour host Judy Woodruff moderated a panel discussion which explored the broader effects of the insurrection on American politics, culture and democracy itself.
Woodruff’s guests were George Packer, staff writer at The Atlantic; Jelani Cobb, who covers race and politics at The New Yorker and is a professor of journalism at Columbia University; Stuart Stevens, a former Republican strategist and author of the book, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump; and Gary Abernathy, a contributing columnist at The Washington Post.
As you’ll see from the video below, it was an informed and insightful (albeit disturbing) discussion and exploration, with all the guests but Abernathy expressing the belief that the January 6 insurrection was a “warning shot” and likely a “harbinger” of things to come.
I should note that although I appreciated what everyome had to offer, I thought it was unfortunate that the panel was comprised only of men. It’s a pity the producers of the show didn’t reach out to some of the many female social and political commentators out there, such as Heather Cox Richardson and Marianne Williamson, both of whom published thought-provoking pieces that same day (see here and here).
How can one overreact to a mortal threat to American democracy, the first in my lifetime that actually seems to be on a road toward making it impossible for the popular will to be respected at the ballot box?
That’s been the goal of all these [Republican-backed] bills passed or debated across legislatures in Georgia, in Arizona, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, which are not just about restricting access to the ballot, but are about putting elections in the hands of reliable partisans, so that, next time around, we will have states that claim that the election was somehow wrongly held, and that it’s thrown into the hands of a partisan legislature, which sends its own electors to Congress to choose the next president.
That’s exactly the strategy going on right now, and it’s building on what the Republican Party learned from January 6 and these events around it, which was: You need the right people in the right offices to be making these decisions in order to seize power.
They didn’t have it last time. They’re trying to get it next time. I can’t possibly overestimate the seriousness of that.
Following is video of the complete panel discussion, the transcript of which can be found here.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking Democracy
• “The Coup Attempt on January 6th Was a Warning for What’s to Come If We Don’t Act”
• “My Biggest Worry Is for My Country”
• Republicans Pose an “Existential Threat” to American Democracy
• The Big Switch
• Two Conservative Voices of Integrity
• David Remnick: Quote of the Day – February 13, 2021
• Dan Rather on America’s “Moment of Reckoning”
• The Republican Party in a Nutshell
• Acknowledging Where We Are
• Michael Harriot: Quote of the Day – January 7, 2021
• Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
Related Off-site Links:
Are We Doomed? – George Packer (The Atlantic, December 6, 2021).
A Year Later – Dan Rather (Steady, January 5, 2022).
The January 6th Criminal Case Against Donald Trump – David Rohde (The New Yorker, January 5, 2022).
Trump Thrashed for Lie-Laden Response to Biden’s January 6 Anniversary Address – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 6, 2022).
UPDATES: The White Christian Nationalism Tearing America Apart at the Seams – Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (Common Dreams, January 11, 2022).
January 6th Is Just the Beginning of the Assault on American Democracy – Christina Baal-Owens (Common Dreams, January 11, 2022).
Evidence Mounts of GOP Involvement in Trump’s Attempt to Stay in Power – Farnoush Amiri (AP News, May 1, 2022).
Image: Leah Millis / Reuters.
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