Letter: Not political discourse

The Republican National Committee must not have had any TVs in its office in January 2021. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is a “Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.” I guess Ms. McDaniel doesn’t own a TV at home either.

McDaniel apparently didn’t see the insurgents breaking the windows of the Capitol when trying to overthrow our election results. She apparently missed the insurgents beating Capitol police officers with flagpoles, sticks, batons and all manner of weapons. She apparently didn’t hear that crowd chanting “kill Mike Pence.” She must not have watched any news program for weeks because you couldn’t mistake those acts for legitimate political discourse. Those rioters would have physically attacked members of Congress and VP Pence if they got the chance.

Many people who attended the ex-president’s rally in D.C. that day voiced their opinion – and that is their right. But numerous videos clearly show that many other people went far beyond discourse and into active insurrection. Ronna McDaniel saying otherwise is an act of political fantasy, cowardice or prevarication. Her own statement might be considered political discourse if it weren’t political farce. It is important that the January 6 Committee find out what was really at the root of the unpatriotic attack on the Capitol. Because such an attack should never happen again.

Corey Belobrow

Concord