{"id":114461,"date":"2021-05-18T08:43:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T08:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=114461"},"modified":"2021-05-18T08:43:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T08:43:36","slug":"capitol-riot-inquiry-january-6-commission-is-bipartisan-breakthrough-but-dont-relax-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/capitol-riot-inquiry-january-6-commission-is-bipartisan-breakthrough-but-dont-relax-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol riot inquiry: January 6 Commission is bipartisan breakthrough but don’t relax yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

“How shall freedom be defended? [B]y truth when it is attacked by lies.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and poet<\/em><\/p>\n

Congress is about to take one small step for bipartisanship and one healthy step for truth. It will launch the new \u201cNational Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act\u201d at a hearing Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just days ago, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson and Rep. John Katko, the committee’s senior Republican, announced their agreement to introduce the bipartisan bill. It creates a commission modeled after the 9\/11 Commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection, an attack that injured 140 people and led to five deaths. A violent mob chanting \u201cHang Mike Pence\u201d came within seconds of finding him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The commission will be made up of 10 outside experts who will examine the facts and causes underlying the Jan. 6 attack and recommend corrective measures to secure the Capitol and our democratic institutions against domestic terrorism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Revisionist battle over history<\/h2>\n

In our tribal times, such an agreement across party lines is remarkable.\u00a0Rep. Andrew S. Clyde, R-Georgia, a Donald Trump loyalist, recently called the violent invasion \u201ca normal tourist visit.\u201d Another Trump loyalist, Rep. Paul A. Gosar, R-Arizona, described the rioters as \u201cpeaceful patriots.\u201d\u00a0This brewing revisionist battle over history reminds us of what George Orwell wrote in 1984, his scathing allegory on totalitarianism: \u201cWho controls the past, controls the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of preventing recurring attacks, the 9\/11 Commission is the model. It made recommendations that helped the country avoid another 9\/11 \u2013 establishing the Department of Homeland Security and the screening of all airline passengers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other countries have also helped create a template. Most famously, South Africa had its post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission under President Nelson Mandela. It helped a\u00a0police-state, white supremacist society transition safely into \u201ca modern democratic era,\u201d writes McMaster University professor Bonny Ibhawoh.\u00a0In 1990, Chile created a Truth Commission\u00a0following the electoral defeat of its brutal dictator, General Augusto Pinochet. That commission \u201cstripped the military of its control over history,\u201d University of Arkansas professor Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm wrote in his book “Truth Commissions and Transitional Societies.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Members of the National Guard on Feb. 2, 2021, at the Capitol, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Olivier Douliery\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1992, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, a unified Germany\u2019s legislature created a Study Commission for working “through the history and consequences” of the\u00a0East German Dictatorship. The commission\u2019s goal was to solidify \u201cdemocratic consciousness and the further development of a common political culture in Germany.\u201d By any measure, that goal has been fully realized.<\/p>\n

Here, the ultimate success of the January 6 Commission hinges on overcoming several obstacles.\u00a0First, half the appointments are controlled by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Both have suggested that a commission should also look into so-called violent demonstrations last summer, reflecting a desire to dilute the focus on January 6. And McCarthy\u2019s continuing fealty to Trump, who cannot be happy about another investigation, casts a long shadow on the potential for a politically disinterested probe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A nation in crisis: <\/strong>Republican lies have thrust America into its third revolution\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Second, under the bill as drafted, it takes a majority of commissioners to issue subpoenas, or agreement between the chair (named by majority Democrats) and vice chair (appointed jointly by McCarthy and McConnell).\u00a0And even if meaningful subpoenas were to be issued, the bill says the commission must complete its work by Dec. 31, presumably because Republicans do not want investigations extending into an election year. That timeline creates incentives for reluctant witnesses to delay their compliance with subpoenas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curbing the filibuster is essential<\/h2>\n

The remedy for this\u00a0lies in the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which speeds up the ability of Congress to enforce subpoenas. But to pass that bill, Democrats in the evenly split Senate would need Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to support curtailing the filibuster. That would allow them to prevail\u00a0with a simple majority \u2013 their 50 senators and Vice President Kamala Harris, the tiebreaker.<\/p>\n

So far Manchin and Sinema have shown no signs of weakening on the filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes to proceed on a bill. If they had a change of heart, the Senate could also pass the \u201cFor the People Act.\u201d In federal elections, it would override the voter suppression measures sweeping Republican states.<\/p>\n

Donna Brazile: <\/strong>Liz Cheney’s ouster should alarm all fact-based Americans who believe in our country<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The two filibuster holdouts hold\u00a0the key to preserving our democracy, and pressure on them could rise. New polling sponsored by an election reform group found that 79% in Manchin\u2019s West Virginia and 84% in Sinema\u2019s Arizona support the For The People Act.\u00a0If it’s not passed, even a robust investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack may not diminish the risk of our government\u2019s future control by extremists, such as those seeking to rewrite history around the insurrection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld, the legendary 1950s United Nations Secretary General whom President John Kennedy called \u201cthe greatest statesman” of the 20th century, once said the U.N. was \u201cnot created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.\u201d\u00a0An independent and empowered January 6 Commission, combined with enactment of\u00a0the For The People and Protecting Our Democracy acts, can do the same for our republic.<\/p>\n

Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor and Supreme Court advocate who writes on national affairs.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“How shall freedom be defended? [B]y truth when it is attacked by lies.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and poet Congress is about to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCapitol riot inquiry: January 6 Commission is bipartisan breakthrough but don't relax yet - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/capitol-riot-inquiry-january-6-commission-is-bipartisan-breakthrough-but-dont-relax-yet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Capitol riot inquiry: January 6 Commission is bipartisan breakthrough but don't relax yet - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“How shall freedom be defended? 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