Purposely Looking Away
Very few will admit that someone has been smart enough to fool them. That they had been gullible and believed what most would have recognized as a scam. Especially when they had gone all-in and bought the deluxe package. Better to live with the loss than with the shame and ridicule of others.
The dynamic changes, however, when the con is a cause and fools millions of others. Among like-minded believers swept up in patriotism and the belief that theirs is a righteous crusade sanctioned by God; feeding on the group's energy and every word of its leader, one doesn't feel gullible, but invincible. And to recognize and admit that one is the victim of a con, is almost impossible!
Such a person was Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers. A group, he described in his testimony to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, as a violent militia and a threat to democracy. Addressing the group's vision for America, Van Tatenhove said:
"I think we saw a glimpse of the vision of what the Oath Keepers is on January 6. It doesn't necessarily include the rule of law. It includes violence. It includes trying to get their way through lies, through deceit, through intimidation, and through the perpetration of violence."
Van Tatenhove added that groups like the Oath Keepers thrive on using lies, rhetoric, and propaganda to sway people. And those who may not know any better can get swept up in the moment. Admitting that at some point, the group had swept him up as well.
However, Van Tatenhove is a rarity. Offended by the Oath Keepers' denial of the Holocaust, he left the group in 2018. But for many in the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other radical right-wing groups, the long trudge into darkness, fueled by denial and deceit, continues.
With the seven public hearings it has aired, the House Committee has exposed the rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, for what it really was. An orchestrated, violent attack to mask an attempted coup to keep Donald Trump, the losing candidate, in office. But most of Trump's supporters haven't seen the January 6 hearings. Instead, they've either turned their televisions off, tuned into something they find entertaining, or are watching channels that continue to feed their beliefs.
Because to accept what the committee has proven, they would have to admit that people they genuinely trust lied to them. Their closest friends, their pastors, and political leaders. Even more troublesome, it would force them to acknowledge that Donald Trump is a liar. That he is not the patriot, he claims. And that, by supporting him, neither are they!
So, they're lost! Stuck in the mire or sinking in the quicksand of a swamp designed by Republicans in the House and Senate and conservative members of the Supreme court. Supported by White nationalists, right-wing conservative groups, and White Evangelical Christianity.
They are not watching because to feel better about themselves, they have no choice but to defend Donald Trump. Defending Donald Trump is defending themselves! To hide their guilt and shame, they are purposely looking away. The best interest of the country, be damned!
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