Clarence Franklin Osborne was 27 years old when killed in action in the final weeks of World War II and was buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery in St. Avold, France. His body was later returned to the United States, arriving on December 17, 1948 — on his wedding anniversary. He was re-interred two days later in our family plot in Chester, Virginia.

After her retirement, Mom spent years researching to discover what actually happened to her older brother including traveling several times to Texas to talk with Clarence’s sergeant. She passed away in July 2019 so we are especially grateful that she took the time to research and share the details of her brother’s final months of war. This is her story to tell….

By Eula Osborne Randall Lucy

Italian Campaign
The Italian Campaign was one of the most difficult of World War II, and some of the most difficult battles for foot soldiers were in Italy which was very mountainous with heavy snows in the winter of 1943 and heavy cold rains in the late winter and spring of 1944.

The earth turned into a quagmire and foxholes were filled with water. Mud was so deep it was nearly impassable for vehicles as well as men on foot. In the summer of 1944, the ground turned to dust which swirled at the least disturbance. The unit veterans’ most vivid memories of the Italian fighting was the weather and terrain.

Clarence spent 15 months as a First Gunner in a Mortar Squad, part of the American forces who freed the little town of San Pietro in southern Italy from the Germans. From there they battled their way to the Riviera in southern France and on to the northern border of France, plus one day on Germany.

He was killed in the last great battle the 36th Division of the 1st Battalion, Company D, 143rd Infantry Regiment of the Texas National Guard.

Clarence’s first battle was December 15, 1943. Starting December 8th, the 36th Division had been trying to take 4,000-foot Mt. Summacro (Hill 1205) so they could liberate the little town of San Pietro at the base of the mountain. Dock Roberts, Clarence’s sergeant, and Roy Goad, Commanding Officer of the 143rd Regiment, were wounded on Hill 1205. San Pietro was at the entrance to the Liri Valley and was heavily fortified by the Germans. It had to be taken by the Allies before they could enter the Liri Valley in the drive to liberate Rome.

The men of the 36th Division had come into Italy after fighting in the deserts of North Africa and were still wearing their summer uniforms. They were not prepared for the bitterest winter Italy had experienced in years. Most had no overcoats, raincoats, or even gloves.

Much of the fighting for Hill 1205 was by climbing, literally hand over hand, straight up the side of the mountain which was very rugged with sharp, jagged rocks. Germans were entrenched on the top, protected by large boulders along the edge of the top of the mountain. When the first Allied soldiers reached the top and surprised them, the Germans started rolling large boulders off the mountain.

San Pietro
The 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment moved on from Hill 1205 to the battle to liberate San Pietro at the bottom. Clarence was a replacement for the 36th Division and entered the fighting on December 15th. The next day they finally succeeded in capturing San Pietro but a high price was paid with 1,100 casualties.

San Pietro was the beginning of the siege — the first line of defense for Casino, which they liberated in 1944. Christmas of 1943 was spent at San Pietro. There is a picture of Clarence in the pictorial history book of the 36th Division, “The Fighting 36th,” taken on Christmas Day that shows him and a number of others sitting and standing around their dead comrades. Also, he had sent us a small snapshot of him in front of his tent, also taken Christmas Day. In the photo, he was sitting in a rumpled uniform and looked very tired.

Disastrous Rapido River crossing
Dock said the two-day attempt to cross the Rapido River on January 20 and 21, 1944, was a total disaster and many men died unnecessarily. In their attempt to clear the way to capture Monte Cassino they were to cross the river which was swift and deep, and take the town of San Angelo. The first night was unsuccessful so they were sent back the second night. The riflemen went across first, followed by a heavy mortar platoon.

Dock and Clarence were in the mortar platoon from the 1st Battalion of the 143rd and crossed together on a footbridge. Many of the men drowned and many who were not swept away by the swift water were shot by the Germans on the hill above them. Most of the men who got across were killed by vicious German mortar and artillery fire. A few survivors, including Dock and Clarence, swam the icy waters back to the other side.

Clarence was in combat a total of 15 months, starting with the battle of San Pietro, and ending with his death near Bergzabern, Germany. It had been continuous, heavy fighting including such well-known battles as Monte Cassino, the Rapido River crossing, and San Angelo and more, all the way up the valley to Rome which was liberated from the Germans on June 5, 1944, the day before the D-Day invasion at Normandy.

Operation Dragoon
After Rome, the 36th had a retrieval and training period near Naples where they prepared for the invasion of the French Riviera in southern France. That invasion was known as the 2nd D-Day invasion and was code-named “DRAGOON.” A fleet of more than 1,500 ships, including nine aircraft carriers, left Naples on August 13, 1944, passed through the Sardinia-Corsica Straits, and landed on the beaches of the French Riviera between Toulon and Cannes on August 15, 1944.

Clarence landed on “Green Beach.” They headed north through France toward Germany, driving the Germans north toward their homeland and liberating one French town after another. Dock talked about going through the town of Nancy which, I believe, was a little resort town. As “foot soldiers,” they walked up to 100 miles a day, according to Dock, all the way up the Rhone River Valley to the Colmar Pocket in the Alsace region of northeastern France near the border into Germany.

Christmas at Strasbourg
Christmas 1945 was spent in the town of Strasbourg which has both French and German influence. That is where the tradition of a Christmas tree began, and it has one of the world’s finest cathedrals. It provided a far nicer Christmas for the 36th than the one in San Pietro the year before. Dock said they received heavier resistance as they approached the German border.

Battle for Bergzabern
Clarence and his unit spent the night before he was killed in the town of Wissembourg, France, about two miles from the German border. Their unit left on foot around 9:30 a.m. the next day — March 21, 1945 — and crossed into Germany around 10:00 a.m. Their mission was to take the village of Bergzabern, Germany.

It was slow going and they did not reach the Siegfried Line, which had been opened up by the Armored Division ahead of them, until that night. They were in the main fortification of the Siegfried Line when Clarence was killed. Another member of their squad, Harry Yale, from Long Branch, NJ, was killed at the same time as Clarence.

Dock said there were little roads going off in all directions and their battalion took a wrong road and they were lost — behind the German main line! They heard the Germans talking on the mountain above them and they knew the Germans had heard them thrashing around in the woods below in that mountainous terrain.

The German soldiers began firing their rockets and mortars, and during the battle, Clarence and Yale were hit by shrapnel from a “screaming meemie,” the mortar most hated by the American soldiers because it had an eerie moaning sound similar to a woman crying, and there was no way of knowing where it was coming from or where it would land.

Under attack, the men scattered and the mortar gun could not be found. Emilio ran from soldier to soldier in the unit asking of anyone had seen Clarence and Yale, but no one knew where they were, and the unit couldn’t stop because they were actively under attack. Soldiers ran through the woods to escape the rain of fire, and one of the soldiers heard moaning as he passed through one area but it was unknown if it was Clarence or Yale, or someone else. Even if either or both had survived their wounds, they would have succumbed in the overnight freezing temperatures because it was the next day before Dock could go back and look for the missing. Official military records listed Clarence’s death as March 22 but Dock said it was that battle on March 21 when Clarence died.

The search for Clarence
The 36th took Bergzabern from the Germans the next day, March 22. After the fighting stopped, Dock and another sergeant went back to try and find their casualties. Both Clarence and Yale were dead, lying side by side, apparently hit at the same time with shrapnel from the same “meemie.” Dock went back the next day, March 23, with the litter bearers to pick them up, which may be the reason military records showed Clarence’s death on the 22nd, probably assuming the soldiers were killed during the battle for Bergzabern.

Dock said that Clarence never wore his dog tags but instead carried them in his pocket so he told the litter bearers to be sure they found Clarence’s dog tags. Sure enough, when they rolled his body over, the dog tags had fallen out of his pocket and down into the snow. Thank God that Dock went with the litter bearers because Clarence would probably have been listed as an unknown and we would never have known what happened to him.

Thankfully for the Americans, that was the last major battle because they overtook Bergzabern which sent the Germans on the run, retreating back to their homeland. Sadly, Clarence and Yale died just six weeks before the Germans surrendered and the European War ended.

Background to Mom’s research into her brother’s death….

On March 21, 1945, my mother’s brother Clarence Osborne, who was 27 years old and the oldest of ten siblings, was killed in Europe just six weeks before the end of World War II.

Mom was a student at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Virginia, when he died. She still remembered her mother’s reaction that fateful day when the official government car drove up the long driveway of their Chesterfield County farm, and how her mother’s knees buckled as she watched from the yard and realized the presence of that car meant her son had been killed. Mom says my grandmother, who lived into her 80s, never completely got over the loss.

After retiring, Mom spent years researching to fill the void of not knowing exactly what happened to her brother, and eventually found Clarence’s sergeant, Dock Roberts, living in Texas. Another soldier buddy, Emelio Albert, lived in California. She traveled to both places to talk with them to learn about her brother’s journey as a U.S. Army soldier through war-torn Europe and his final hours, and she documented the treasured research for our family history.

Clarence’s name is carved into the granite walls of the Virginia War Memorial that overlooks the James  River in Richmond. Freedom is not free. March 21, 1945 … a day my grandmother never forgot.

Cover photo: The U.S. military cemetery in Saint Avold, France, Clarence’s first resting place before his body was returned to the U.S.

Virginia War Memorial located in Richmond, Virginia

The post March 21, 1945: A Day My Grandmother Never Forgot first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Ellen Ratner doesn’t pull any punches as she begins her article praising George W. Bush:

George W. Bush, not Barack Obama, is the real American hero in Africa.

Take it from me, a liberal Democrat who voted for Obama twice. I know a little about Africa: I have been to the continent 17 times over the last 32 years.

She ended her article with a thank you to 43:

… this liberal commentator thanks president and Mrs. Bush every single day for their amazing and tireless work for humanity.  They are wonderful role models for future leaders around the world.  I wish more leaders would follow the shining example of George W. and Laura Bush.

In the article, Ratner talks about her interest in South Sudan, that civil war-ravaged country, and how they have benefited from financial help pledged by President George W. Bush during his administration. It’s a fact the African nation and her people recognize and are appreciative of, as Radner notes:

In fact, South Sudanese today are thinking more about another U.S. president: that would be Obama’s predecessor, Bush 43. As a liberal Democrat and Obama supporter, I was particularly struck by this. Yes, Bush is a hero in Africa, and Americans, too, should know why.

No American president, before or since, has had Bush’s vision and determination to save so many millions of lives.

For Africans, that vision traces back to the early years of his presidency. In his 2003 State of the Union Address, Bush introduced the “President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief” (PEPFAR.)

And that proposal had real meat: $15 billion over five years, as well as a serious look at African health problems, beyond HIV/AIDS.

Bush proposed it, and his proposal wasn’t just a few throw-away lines in a speech; even as the Iraq war raged, Bush spent precious political capital to get PEPFAR enacted.

The result was the largest upfront contribution ever made by any country to fight HIV. And the numbers are staggering.

Five million children, women and men have received antiretroviral treatment under PEPFAR. In 2010 alone, 600,000 pregnant mothers received treatment so their newborn children would not be infected.

Yes, millions of people live productive, healthy lives due to Bush 43.

Ratner give credit to the President for his vision:

Orphans turning to theft or even worse can destabilize communities and countries.

George W. Bush saw this, too. He had a vision. He understood what saving lives would mean not only to the individuals and families saved, but also to the communities who have experienced so much death from HIV. As a result, a whole continent is much better off, including my beloved South Sudan.

Bush 43 is no longer president, of course, and yet his great work continues. Even as his presidential library is dedicated in Dallas on Thursday, April 25, he is still looking to mobilize resources to make real change in Africa.

Ratner is the latest in a line of liberals who have shown surprised gratefulness to George W. Bush’s work in Africa and, while it is nice to hear their praise, it’s sad they did not recognize and write stories about this side of the 43rd president while he was in office.

Originally published on 4/28/2013

Background:

– AP: Africa knew Trump’s ‘America First’ pledge meant it might be last. Then came the freeze on aid

– The Guardian: ‘It’s been madness’: US federal workers reeling over Trump-Musk takeover

– CNN: How Elon Musk set off two weeks of chaos across Washington

The post PEPFAR: Democrat Commentator Said, ‘George W. Bush Has Saved More Lives Than Any American President’ first appeared on Bearing Drift.

This post, however, will be looking back at the Biden Administration that will come to an end at noon. Most of the commentary surrounding Biden has varied between praise for his accomplishments and lamenting that he was still unable to fend off Trump’s return. For the most part, however, both “sides” of this argument assume that Biden was a major break from Trump. Ironically, if that were true, the Democrats would have actually defeated Trump and this would be a very different day.

The Two Ts

The two largest and most damning examples of this can be described as “the Two Ts” – tariffs and the Taliban. I’ll address the second one first. Simply put, Donald Trump surrendered to the Taliban, but pushed the operative date into Biden’s Administration. It was a terrible “agreement” that he signed. That said, Trump was not in a position to implement it.

Biden was. Biden did. Biden shouldn’t have. The Taliban were already breaking the promises it had made in the agreement. Biden had every justification to tear it up and insist that the United States and the Afghan people deserve better than a Taliban return to power. Instead he followed Trump’s plan. The rest is tragedy.

Domestically, as America faced a double-whammy of COVID-driven supply chain foul-ups and an energy disruption caused by Ukraine, Biden had a chance implement the supply-side reforms his predecessor-turned-successor missed or ignored. Biden chose not to do that. Maddeningly, many of the tariffs Trump implemented are still in place as he re-takes office today. For all the talk of Biden’s age impacting his ability to do his job, one aspect that is still largely beyond discussion is how Biden’s ideas on trade are old (as old as Trump’s in some areas). For whatever reason, Biden still saw trade as importing final goods (in competition with domestic firms), instead of importing inputs (to be used by domestic firms). Thus, the easiest way to address inflation – and their most visible way to be seen doing it – was left unused.

It’s the Continuity that Did Biden In

There are many things about which the two presidents disagree, of course. Trump is still beholden to Vladimir Putin; the consequences for our democratic allies (and for us) will be evident enough in the near future. The culture wars will go on so long as there are people who wish to fight them (I would argue that itself is one of those consequences already occurring but that is not the subject of this post). Trump will claim to want to cut spending; he is more likely to be serious about cutting regulations. Neither were of interest to Biden.

Yet on the big things that drove Americans’ realities (and thus, their votes), Biden’s failure wasn’t a departure from Trump. It was his continuity of Trumpism. When history looks back, it will find that continuity to be what sealed Biden’s fate.

Whether American democracy goes down with Biden remains to be seen. As I said earlier, I’ll be tracking its fate at Standing Athwart, Yelling Stop.

The post The Biden Legacy first appeared on Bearing Drift.

From the George W. Bush Presidential Center….

Engage at the Bush Center, presented by NexPoint events

Feb. 12 | 6:30 p.m. CT
The Six Triple Eight: Quiet Heroism in WWII
Milauna Jackson who plays Captain Campbell in the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight, will join critically acclaimed producer of the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight, bestselling author, and former U.S. Ambassador Nicole Avant on stage at the Bush Center to discuss the only women’s Army Corps unit of color during WWII. Retired Army Col. Edna Cummings, producer of a 2019 documentary about the 6888 and advocate for the battalion to be recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal, will also share details of their achievements.

March 18 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Navigating Turbulence: Senatorial Insights on Geopolitics & Foreign Policy
The Bush Center welcomes U.S. Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, for a compelling conversation with Bush Institute Executive Director David J. Kramer on geopolitical hotspots and how the United States can best navigate today’s foreign policy challenges.

May 8 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Laura Bush Book Club with author Amor Towles
Highland Park United Methodist Church
The Seventh Annual Laura Bush Book Club will proudly feature Amor Towles. One of Mrs. Bush’s favorite authors. Towles’ novels, Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, and The Lincoln Highway, and his collection of shorter fiction, Table for Two, have all been New York Times bestsellers.

Also happening at the Bush Center: 

Feb. 17 | 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. CT
Presidents Day – Free admission and extended hours at the Bush Museum
In honor of Presidents Day, enjoy free admission and stay late at the Bush Museum to explore the American presidency through the lens of the 43rd president.

Saturdays March 15 – May 31 | 10 a.m. CT, weather permitting
Guided tours of the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park
Explore the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park with free guided tours led by North Texas master naturalists. Park tours are made possible with support from the family of Susan S. Fischer.

Saturdays | 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m. CT
Sundays | 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. CT
Mondays | 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. CT
Situation Room Presentation

The post Upcoming at the George W. Bush Presidential Center first appeared on Bearing Drift.

“Their legacies will endure through these aircraft carriers, which serve as formidable platforms dedicated to safeguarding our national security and strengthening our resolve to protect this nation against any who would threaten our freedoms and way of life.” -NavyTimes

The USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83), the 42nd and 43rd Presidents of the U.S., are the latest in the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, President Joe Biden and U.S. Navy recently announced.

According to the Navy Times, Clinton was noted for his actions as President:

Clinton served in the Oval Office for two terms from 1993 to 2001 and led several military operations with zero combat casualties, including Operation Uphold Democracy in 1994, Operation Deliberate Force in 1995 and Operation Allied Force in 1999, according to the release.

Clinton also ordered a U.S. Navy cruise missile strike against Iraqi intelligence headquarters in 1993 after a reported Iraqi assassination attempt against his predecessor, former President George H.W. Bush.

George W. Bush was remembered for his response to protect Americans after 9/11 (Navy Times):

Former President George W. Bush is remembered for his response to the devastating al-Qaida terrorist attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, which killed 2,977 people. He spearheaded Operation Enduring Freedom and banded 25 NATO partners and 17 nations together in an attempt to target and destroy terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. He created the Department of Homeland Security, signed the U.S. Patriot Act and executed Operation Iraqi Freedom, which ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and ended a rule that lasted from 1979 to 2003.

Read more at the Navy Times (Navy names aircraft carriers after former presidents Bush and Clinton).

Photo: President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush at ceremony honoring the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in Newport News, Va, in August 2003. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Johnny Bivera.

The post U.S. Navy Announces Aircraft Carriers Will Be Named After George W. Bush and Bill Clinton first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Voter ID measure on the ballot in Wisconsin on April 1 
2. Thirty-five state legislative chambers have or will select new leaders in 2025
3. Did you know that 45 states require a majority of state lawmakers to be present in a chamber to conduct official business?

Grab your coffee and get caught up with the Brew!

The post Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. A look at all recall elections in 2024
2. Thirteen of Trump’s Cabinet nominees have confirmation hearings scheduled for this week
3. The Democratic representatives boycott the start of the Minnesota House of Representatives’ 2025 session

Grab your coffee and get caught up with the Brew!

The post Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. First and last votes expected: 4:00 p.m.

Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 33 – United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act (Rep. Smith (MO) / Ways and Means Committee)

Postponed Suspensions:
H.R. 164 – POWER Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Hoyle / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 144 – Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act (Sponsored by Rep. Cohen / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

For new subscribers, please click here to sign up for these email updates.

The post U.S. House Schedule for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

On Monday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. First and last votes expected: 6:30 p.m.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
H.R. 192 – Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure Act (Sponsored by Rep. Rouzer / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 188 – Amtrak Transparency and Accountability for Passengers and Taxpayers Act (Sponsored by Rep. Nehls / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 152 – Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ezell / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 153 – Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ezell / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 164 – POWER Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Hoyle / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 144 – Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act (Sponsored by Rep. Cohen / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

H.R. 189 – Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act (Sponsored by Del. Norton / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

The post U.S. House Schedule for Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. An early look at election administration state legislation activity
2. Five statewide ballot measures have been certified so far for 2025, 10 have been certified for 2026
3. There were 14 federal judicial confirmations and three new vacancies in December

Grab your coffee and get caught up with the Brew!

The post Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew for Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Inside the battle to be Texas State House speaker
2. The approval rate for constitutional amendments in 2024 was the lowest since 2005
3. 2025 state legislative sessions have begun

Grab your coffee and get caught up with the Brew!

The post Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew for Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Virginia’s freshman congressman from the 5th District voted against honoring law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line during the violent insurgency on January 6 from Trump supporters intent on overturning the 2020 presidential election.

Bob Good was the only member of the Virginia congressional delegation who joined 20 other Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, including Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Matt Gaetz (FL), to vote no. Their no votes were to deny awarding the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest congressional honor – to the men and women of the Capitol and Metropolitan police departments who had protected members of Congress, including Bob Good, on January 6.

The mob of rioters was intent on hunting down electeds and the vice president, and had even erected a gallows outside the Capitol building. As they roamed the hallways, they chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!” Some have been charged with carrying weapons.

Every no vote came from a Republican. Every Democrat voted yes.

The measure overwhelmingly passed 406-21.

Republicans have usually stood for the Blue … supporting our law enforcement officers. These 21 Republicans proved otherwise, and while I don’t begin to believe they speak for all Republicans, the GOP needs to pay attention to who is representing them, how they portray the Republican Party, and where they stand on important issues.

Thank you to all the Republican representatives who actually recognized that police officers who threw themselves between the rioters and themselves deserved this honor. That includes my own Representative Ben Cline (VA-6) who voted yes.

The 21 who voted no are among a group of the most far right members of the GOP.

The Republicans who voted against honoring police with the Congressional Gold Medal had a problem with the wording that called the attackers “a mob of insurrectionists.” If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck….

The meaning of insurrection, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.

According to those who attacked the Capitol, their intent was to stop the legal certification of the 2020 presidential election that declared Joe Biden had won and Donald Trump had lost. Some have even said they felt that Donald Trump had instructed them – called them – to be there to stop the certification. That interference fits the definition of insurrection.

What is the meaning of a mob? Again from Merriam-Webster, a large and disorderly crowd of people especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.

There was definitely a large and disorderly crowd of people and they were intent on destructive action by illegally breaking into the Capitol as they bashed in windows and doors, destroyed property inside the building, illegally entered offices and removed property that was not their own, rifled through papers and files, attacked and injured law enforcement, broke down barrier fencing and used it against police officers … the list goes on. That definitely defines a mob.

Almost 500 insurgents have been charged at this point in the investigation. In court records as charges have been filed for actions that day, some rioters called for “execution” as “just punishment” for those who refused to overturn the 2020 election.

And this:

That’s what Capitol police were up against on January 6, and it is why this issue is so important.

On Tuesday, Virginia Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly laid it on the line: “They voted to overturn an election. But in their vote today, they kind of sealed the deal of basically affiliating with the mob. They now are part of the insurrectionist mob. They brought enormous disrepute and dishonor on themselves in not honoring the brave men and women who defended the Capitol of the United States—everybody in it, but also defending the symbol of democracy in the world, not just here in the United States.”

Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, who voted for impeachment and for a January 6 Commission, tweeted:

Here are the Republicans who voted against the bill:

-Rep. Bob Good (Virginia)

-Rep. Andrew Clyde (Georgia)
-Rep. Andy Biggs (Arizona)
-Rep. Andy Harris (Maryland)
-Rep. Barry Moore (Alabama)
-Rep. Chip Roy (Texas)
-Rep. Greg Steube (Florida)
-Rep. Jody Hice (Georgia)
-Rep. John Rose (Tennessee)
-Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colorado)
-Rep. Louie Gohmert (Texas)
-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia)
-Rep. Mary Miller (Illinois)
-Rep. Matt Gaetz (Florida)
-Rep. Matt Rosendale (Montana)
-Rep. Michael Cloud (Texas)
-Rep. Paul Gosar (Arizona)
-Rep. Ralph Norman (South Carolina)
-Rep. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania)
-Rep. Thomas Massie (Kentucky)
-Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio)

This issue is not going away….

The post Former VA-5 Bob Good Voted Against Honoring Capitol Police with Congressional Medal of Honor first appeared on Bearing Drift.

“President George Washington, in his celebrated 1796 Farewell Address, cautioned that American democracy was fragile. ‘Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government,’ he warned.” -Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, 6/5/2022

“We live in the greatest constitutional Republic in history. No citizen in our Republic can be a bystander. If we do not stand for our freedom and for our Constitution, we will lose them.” –Rep. Liz Cheney

Rep. Adam Kinzinger nailed it when he said, “Anybody that is out there pretending like January 6th didn’t happen, or it was tourists or whatever, in 5 or 10 years, they’re going to be very embarrassed about their role in history.”

January 6, 2021, was the most violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in 200 years, yet the GOP wants to ignore it. Why?

In a nutshell, the danger of ignoring January 6 is the possibility of such an event occurring again and, if successful, the unraveling of democracy that would follow. Regardless of all the naysayers, it is a big friggin’ deal – enough of a big deal that Liz Cheney has done what Republican electeds won’t these days: put her political career on the line for her country, and she has not backed down. History will remember her kinder than the majority of GOP leaders who have hidden behind her steel backbone.

In a recent op-ed, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein wrote of 1/6, “On that day, driven by Trump’s rhetoric and his obvious approval, a mob descended on the Capitol and, in a stunning act of collective violence, broke through doors and windows and ransacked the House chamber, where the electoral votes were to be counted. The mob then went in search of Pence — all to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Trump did nothing to restrain them.”

The single most important political issue at this time in my life is to learn what happened that day because there were members of my political party who appeared to have led a coup and I want to know why electeds went along with it when they knew it was a lie. Hours after the attacks were brought under control, over 100 Republican members of Congress still carried out their plan to protest the certification.

When Donald Trump came on the scene in 2015, the GOP began a metamorphosis that led the party to where it is today, leaving behind pragmatic statesmanship and bringing shadow players who had been on the fringe for years to the mainstream. That year, as is normal during primary season, the party was divided behind numerous candidates.

With so many qualified Republicans to choose from (as in, they had a working knowledge of how government operated and had actually been involved), it was painful to watch political folks I had volunteered with for years swing behind the unprincipled, crass, brash, fickle candidate whose party affiliation flip-flopped six times during the years – from Republican to Independent to Democrat to Republican to Independent to Republican. Even with all the baggage he carried and his lack of political or military experience, Trump went on to win the GOP nomination and general election for president in 2016.

Side Note: The Mueller Report concluded there was Russian interference during the 2016 American presidential election. Why do I mention that? Because in March 2022 Donald Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release unsubstantiated “dirt” on President Joe Biden’s son.

Keep in mind the United States is on the side of and providing military help to Ukraine, an independent country that is currently under unprovoked attack from Russia resulting in unprovoked shelling attacks and genocide on Ukrainian civilians. (The brutality has been documented in an investigative report published at the New York Times and others.) What Trump did could be considered the same as calling on Hitler during World War II to have him release “dirt” against President Roosevelt’s family members.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to dangle a re-do in 2024 when in reality, as background 1/6 evidence mounts, he should never again be allowed to hold political office, in my opinion.

And this is what drives me nuts about the GOP. I know most electeds know much of the past six years and certainly the past two years isn’t right. Indeed, this April 21, 2022, New York Times article notes, “In the days after the attack, Representative Kevin McCarthy planned to tell Mr. Trump to resign. Senator Mitch McConnell told allies impeachment was warranted. But their fury faded fast.” As a result, they began to rewrite and downplay the events of 1/6.

Elected Republicans remain silent even at the expense of our democracy and those of us who cannot buy into their willingness to publicly sweep it under the rug. We know it’s not true, and they know we know it’s not true, and we know they know it’s not true. And yet they remain mute. If our country goes down in flames, if a second January 6 insurrection occurs, if there is a widespread uprising, it will sit squarely on the shoulders of each and every one of them with the exception of the handful who stood up – publicly – for the constitution.

Don’t let Trump’s usual finger-pointing at shiny baubles draw your eye off the ball. Stay focused on the January 6 committee, the seven hours of missing White House phone records on 1/6 (remember when Nixon had 18 minutes of missing tape during Watergate and the commotion that caused?), a federal judge’s assessment that Trump probably committed crimes, Putin’s evil war and terror in Ukraine, Kevin McCarthy’s revealed phone tapes with GOP House leadership, and more as each day passes. So to me Trump’s “request” of Putin and Russia to work against our current President’s son adds even more weight to the Mueller report.

During the four years of Trump’s administration, many grassroots Republicans who had been involved in Republican politics for years went along with the influx of hard-core Trump supporters who swelled GOP ranks. Who could blame them? They were doing what the party always does – swing behind the elected leader.

But the overwhelming numbers of overt Trump loyalists rattled Republican elected officials who toed the line and stuck with the Trump “philosophy” – either in verbal support or submissive silence – even when Trump went off the rails such as his bizarre suggestion that injecting bleach was a cure for Covid. In the past, every elected I knew would have been loudly warning his or her constituents of the danger of such nonsense: “Danger, Will Robinson … don’t try this at home!”

Trump loyalty welds the lock-step mentality to the extreme in the GOP. Those who disagree or speak out or try to seek truth or debate the infinite controversies that abound around him have had their heads handed to them and are shown the door. That goes for electeds as well as grassroots, clearing the ranks for only the loudest Trump-supporting “yes” voices. I had never seen anything quite like it before Trump came on the political scene. Let’s just say the GOP, including the religious right, could give the Amish a run for their money in the shunning department.

Side note: Recent GOP primaries have thankfully shown a weakening of Trump’s grip on the GOP, most notably the races in Georgia after three candidates who refused to help him overturn the 2020 election results won against Trump-endorsed opponents: Gov. Brian Kemp (who won by 52 points over the Trump-endorsed opponent), and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (who won by 18 points over the Trump-endorsed opponent), and Attorney General Chris Carr (who won by 47 points over the Trump-endorsed opponent). To say Trump was trounced in his Georgia meddling is an understatement.

Taking a look at 2020, information has shown Trump and his team appear to have begun laying the groundwork early to sow doubt about the upcoming election. Just in case, you know … insurance. Sure enough, when he lost, Trump loyalists spread out with what appeared to be prearranged conspiracies about fraud and a stolen election, another first in a gallery of firsts with Trump. Grassroots supporters picked up on it and began repeating the conspiracies that spread faster than a grassfire in 75-mph winds on a parched Oklahoma prairie. I mean, if your elected officials didn’t say it was wrong, then it must be right was, sadly, the prevailing thought.

As a result, all the election fraud lies led to January 6, 2021. On that day, stirred to action by prominent GOP voices, angry Trump supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, crashed through barricades while battling police, broke into and vandalized the historic building, and roamed the hallways looking for members of Congress. A gallows was erected on the Capitol lawn as rioters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” The vice president’s life surely was in danger and he was secreted out by security. Terrified staffers and Congressional members feared for their safety and hid behind locked doors or escaped down back stairways. Indeed, if the insurrectionists had found them, I shudder to think what could have happened.

Side Note: Definition of insurrectionist (for those who insist these were just your everyday out-of-town friendly tourists stopping by the Capitol for a visit):

-“A violent uprising against an authority or government” (Oxford).

-“An act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government” (Merriam-Webster).

-“An organized and usually violent act of revolt or rebellion against an established government or governing authority of a nation-state or other political entity by a group of its citizens or subjects (Britannica).

-“An organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence” (Cambridge).

Those all define what occurred on January 6 – the goal to prevent the election certification – especially as the Select Committee uncovers volumes of evidence that, incidentally, most likely would have remained buried if the GOP was in the majority. An alarming thought is that if the GOP takes control of the House in November 2022, the search for answers to January 6, 2021, could very likely evaporate.

Look, the GOP is my party. It does not make me happy to be at odds with the party I’ve belonged to my entire life but they have chosen to ignore a black day in U.S. history, a day I watched unfold on live TV and never thought I’d ever see happen in America. Never. I was stunned. Trump’s recorded message that afternoon told the rioters, “We love you.” We love you. Republicans didn’t find that odd on a day when the Capitol was trashed by their team?

If they don’t get to the bottom of it, a precedent will be set for the future.

The violent “Unite the Right” rally 2.5 years earlier in Charlottesville that brought hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other far right extremists to the University of Virginia and the surrounding streets had been shocking and, quite frankly, eye-opening. Was it a clarion call for the GOP, a party that, in my opinion, continues marching backward toward the past?

The memory of January 6 isn’t going anywhere; it’s already in the history books. But we have those on the political right side of the aisle who want to sweep it under the rug versus the handful of Republicans who want to protect the Constitution and discover the root of this attack that was meant to stop the certification of Joe Biden as winner of the 2020 Presidential election.

If Republicans were honest with themselves, they would admit that if Democrats had attacked the Capitol, the GOP would have been all over it in righteous indignation. One needs look no further than their obsession with Hillary’s emails and Benghazi – both were investigated ad nauseum – and, yet, a violent attack on the United States Capitol is of no concern to them?

The hypocrisy has grown deep the past six years.

This is why it’s been a slog for some in the GOP to write because it’s difficult -impossible? – to be truthful without stepping all over GOP toes. But January 6 is the line in the sand, something I myself cannot let go, and I support Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the two Republicans willing to serve on the bipartisan committee, on the need to root out all that was behind that travesty.

What is even sadder is the way the party has turned on that handful of Republicans who have tried to defend the Constitution.

For being willing to swim against the overwhelming red tide by joining the 1/6 Select Committee, Cheney and Kinzinger were censured by the Republican National Committee. (Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership decided to abdicate their responsibilities to defend the Constitution but appear to be livid that Cheney and Kinzinger accepted the invitation of Democratic committee Chair Bennie Thompson to be part of the proceedings.)

Which begs the question: What are Republicans afraid of? They appear far too willing to remain silent to protect the guilty and outlandish members of their caucus while punishing the ones who speak the truth.

Because of her dedication to America and the Constitution, the very conservative Ms. Cheney was also punished by fellow Republicans in other ways. After she was stripped of her number three leadership position in the caucus, Trump endorsed a candidate running against her in her reelection campaign this November. Over 100 House Republicans signed on to co-host a fundraiser for her opponent (how’s that for gratitude?), and caucus leader Kevin McCarthy, he who was against 1/6 before he flipped, also endorsed Ms. Cheney’s opponent.

With the newly released phone tapes published by NY Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns that expose McCarthy talking about lowering the hammer on Trump after 1/6, one has to wonder if McCarthy is drowning in hypocrisy while betraying Rep. Cheney (who was on the recorded phone calls as one of the leadership team), or acting as a double-agent between the GOP factions.

Throughout it all, Ms. Cheney’s national profile has grown. She is considered a hero by pragmatic Republicans, and she has raised millions in reelection funds, shattering her previous fundraising record. Even former President George W. Bush countered Trump early on by heading up a fundraiser for Liz, and she has received a dollar or two from my family. Her courage, tenacity, and respect for democracy is admired.

Sen. Mitt Romney, who tweeted in May 2021, “Every person of conscience draws a line beyond which they will not go: Liz Cheney refuses to lie,” held a fundraiser for her that raised substantial funds, and she has the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former GOP Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

There was a time in the GOP when people of principle and honor like Cheney and Kinzinger were hailed as heroes of freedom and pillars of the party. But you know the old saying: No good deed goes unpunished. And the other saying: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. As the GOP works to tear down two of its most conservative members, we have to wonder where the so-called conservatives and constitutionalists are – shouldn’t they be out front on this issue, working with them? Again, the hypocrisy has grown deep the past six years.

Side Note: While working and researching for this post, a news report came through from CBS News and Scott MacFarlane, the reporter who has been a stalwart watchdog of the January 6 court cases, keeping his eye on the legal proceedings as they unfolded.

In the wake of January 6, four Metropolitan police officers committed suicide. There had always been a question about the connection between the violence of the Capitol riots and the suicides. Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell battled rioters and later said the hand-to-hand combat with the mob that day was worse than anything he had encountered while serving in Iraq.

Metropolitan police officer Jeff Smith was on the front lines the day of the January 6 riots. His body cam showed attacks on him including blows to the head both inside and outside the Capitol, and his wife wanted authorities to recognize that his suicide nine days after the riots was directly connected to that violence. D.C. didn’t consider suicides as a death caused in the line of duty.

The CBS report reveals: “Earlier this month, Erin Smith received an email from Washington, D.C., with the result she had spent more than a year fighting for. The city had ruled that her husband’s suicide — nine days after Jan. 6, 2021 — was caused by injuries sustained in battling the rioters, and as such, his death was found to have occurred in the line of duty.” The designation was important because when her husband died, she lost health insurance and income.

So for Republicans who claim people no longer care about 1/6 and have moved on – no, not everyone has moved on. People inside and outside that building were traumatized by the weapon-wielding mob hunting them down in the hallways. Capitol police officers are still dealing with it as well as everyday Americans who watched in disbelief as the events unfolded.

Others are disappointed by the GOP’s lack of concern with the Constitution and an attack on the Capitol. I’m quite frankly shocked that Republicans are so la-dee-da about it. We all know it’s done for political motives. But the question remains, why are so few willing to speak out against it?

Which begs the question: How much longer will Trump hold sway over the GOP or, more accurately, how much longer will the GOP allow Trump to hold sway over them? As more in the party express opinions about the undisciplined politician, perhaps the facade is beginning to crack, perhaps just a bit. The 2022 Georgia primary noted above also comes to mind – Trump was trounced. Perhaps there will be more losses for Trump as Republicans, especially those in leadership, find a backbone to stand up to him.

The bottom line, and the urgency of investigating the who, what, when, where, why, and how of January 6th, is to prevent such an event ever happening again. There has to be accountability for such a violent attack and the continued insistence from the 45th president that he won a lost election. If this is not resolved, how would we move beyond the possibility of every candidate questioning all campaign results? It has to be resolved and those responsible have to be held accountable.

As I worked on this piece, it was announced that The Washington Post had won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their coverage of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

The staff of The Washington Post has won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Post’s coverage of the causes, costs and aftermath of the attack showed how the forces behind the siege are shaking the underpinnings of democracy. See The Post’s complete coverage.

Finally, kudos to the January 6 Select bipartisan committee as they continue their work with cases going to court while hearing from more than 1,000 witnesses as the avalanche of information builds with more than 100,000 documents.

All of Liz Cheney’s colleagues saw the same events on January 6 and yet they have been unwilling to act. Cheney recognized the importance of concentrating on the head of this insurrection – the plot to overthrow the U.S. government – the one who enabled and encouraged the supporters who attacked the Capitol that day.

This week, the committee will begin with the first hearing that will, in the words of the committee, “present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power.”

Here is the schedule up to this date:

-Thursday, June 9 – opening hearing, at 8pm ET (7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT)

-Monday, June 13, at 10am

-Thursday, June 16, at 1pm

-Tuesday, June 21, at 1am

-Thursday, June 23, at 3pm

-Tuesday, June 28, at 1pm – unexpectedly added by 1/6 Committee stating new evidence had come to light with a witness (Congress is on July 4 break; additional hearings were not expected to resume until mid-July)

All major TV and cable news outlets have aired the hearings – NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC – with the exception of Fox News. (Fox skipped the first hearing; after 20 million tuned in, they have carried the rest.)

Bearing Drift colleague Kristina Nohe wrote (see Must See TV), “Every generation has its moment when it must come to terms with its own immediate state of affairs: the McCarthy hearings, the Warren Commission, the Watergate hearings, the Starr Report, and now the January 6th hearings. What people watch on Thursday night will tell the country a lot about itself.”

As a reminder, take a look at these GOP leaders who were for getting to the bottom of 1/6 before they were against it: McCarthy, Haley, Graham, Cruz, McConnell.

Did you watch the hearings?

“The lesson of our history is that the task of merely maintaining strong and sturdy the structures of a constitutional order is unending, the continuing and ceaseless work of every generation.” -Charles Krauthammer

Background:

-U.S. House: Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol

-Washington Post: Finally, the Jan. 6 hearings: Two audiences, five objectives

-New York Times: Opinion | My Fellow Republicans, Stop Fearing Donald Trump by former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock

-The Bulwark: Liz Cheney’s Star Turn

-New York Times: Before Jan. 6, Aide Warned Secret Service of Security Risk to Pence

-Politico: ‘It’s going to be an army’: Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections

-New York Times: Trump and Ukraine: Former Advisers Revisit What Happened

-MSN: ‘Evil exists when good men do nothing’: Former DC cop fears Trump won’t be held accountable for Jan. 6

-CNN: Mark Meadows’ 2,319 text messages reveal Trump’s inner circle communications before and after January 6

-Washington Post: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein thought Richard Nixon defined corruption. Then came Donald Trump. By Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

-Washington Post: Thomas Webster, retired NYPD officer, guilty of Jan. 6 assault on police

-Politico: POLITICO Playbook: SCOOP: Liz Cheney’s record fundraising haul

-Washington Examiner: House Republicans are angry with Liz Cheney because she tells the truth

-The Oregon Way: A year after 1/6/21: Ignoring a warning flare for democracy

-Washington Post (Jennifer  Rubin): The Jan. 6 hearings should follow 5 basic rules

-New York Times: Trump and Ukraine: Former Advisers Revisit What Happened

-Business Insider: Republican Rep. Chip Roy privately warned that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were ‘driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic’

-New York Times: McCarthy Says He Would Urge for Trump Resignation After Jan 6 in Recording

-USA Today: Ginni Thomas’ texts peddle QAnon conspiracies. We must say: ‘Enough!’

-The New York Times Magazine: ‘This Was Trump Pulling a Putin’

-The Atlantic: Will Hurd 2024: Revenge of the Normal Republicans?

-New York Times: The Capitol Police and the Scars of the January 6th Riot

-Time: Officer Mike Fanone Survived the Capitol Riots. Then His Trials Began

-CBS News: Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag, officers who responded to January 6 attack, die by apparent suicide, bringing total to four

-NPR: How did the Republican Party become the party of Trump?

-Pew Research Center: How America Changed During Trump’s Presidency

-New York Times: The American Abyss

-YouTube: Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations

-CBS: January 6 timeline: Key moments from the attack on the Capitols

-LA Times: In solidarity with Trump, McCarthy backs Cheney’s primary rival

-Business Insider: Mark Esper: Trump Skipping Biden’s Inauguration Was ‘a Final Act of Petulance’

January 6 videos:

–Full Video: Impeachment Managers Show New Graphic Security Footage Of Capitol Riot | NBC News – YouTube

–Full Video: Impeachment Managers Show New Graphic Security Footage Of Capitol Riot | NBC News – YouTube

–A Reporter’s Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege | The New Yorker – YouTube

–Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations – YouTube

–Attacks on police officers at U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021 – YouTube

–Capitol insurrection: Tracking the attack 1 year later | ABC News – YouTube

Originally published June 9, 2022 – updated June 28, 2022

The post The Danger of Ignoring the 1/6 Capitol Attack first appeared on Bearing Drift.

Wishing happiness and light to your family

during the Festival of Lights and always.

December 25, 2024 – January 2, 2025

Happy Hanukkah!

The post Happy Hanukkah 2024 first appeared on Bearing Drift.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.” -Luke 2:8-20

The true meaning of Christmas is a joyful time for the Christian world to pause and celebrate the birth of the son of God.

We at Bearing Drift are thankful in our twentieth year for our writers, content partners, strategists, and number crunchers. Most especially, thank you to our readers. Here’s to a healthy 2024 as we continue to observe, ask questions, and write about politics and more.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us to all of you!

The post Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bearing Drift first appeared on Bearing Drift.