America has always needed heroes.
Rarely are the heroes real. No worries. America will imagine them. Immediately. For many Americans, it’s comforting to believe that making heroes in America is still possible.
But these days, like everything else in America, few can agree on who is and isn’t a hero. One American’s hero is another American’s villain or, worse, the traitor. Today too, heroes can turn into villains and vice versa quickly and easily.
Americans can be quite fickle about their heroes, especially in the media.
America’s mercurial relationship with real and crafted heroes was dizzying earlier this week during a January 6 congressional committee hearing investigating the villainous modus vivendi of a mafioso-esque boss turned President who wanted to stay in charge despite being told by millions of sages – not wise-guy – Americans on November 3, 2020, that he was no longer in control.
Some witnesses — Republican politicians and election workers from Arizona and Georgia — said that a stone’s throw from their suspension, Don Trump and his consigliere Rudy Giuliani leaned on them like mangled heavyweights to break their oaths. If not the law, to get Don Trump to serve another four years (sorry, term) in that other “big” house, the White House.
One of the Republicans Don Trump and consigliere Giuliani put the screws in was Rusty Bowers, an Arizona Republican who is said to be as ardently conservative as that fictional American hero on a leather saddle, John Wayne.
Bowers told the committee that Don Trump was lying when he claimed that the chairman of the state legislature had said the 2020 presidential election had been “rigged” and that he, Don Trump, had won Arizona.
“That’s not true,” Bowers said.
Don Trump and his consigliere teamed up with Bowers on a phone call sometime after the November election, when the pair of swindlers in tailored suits claimed they had “proof” of voter fraud in Arizona.
Bowers asked for the “proof” – time and again.
There was no evidence to prove once again that Don Trump and his consigliere had been auditioning for roles in Martin Scorsese’s next mob-themed opus all along.
The Tommy DeVito wannabes (see Joe Pesci in Goodfellas) were probably convinced that their not-so-subtle persuasion would convince an uncooperative “citizen” to agree to their offer to, you know, with each other. Hurry up.
Don Trump and his consigliere even urged Bowers to convene a special state house committee to investigate the specter “evidence” and to “take action,” including replacing Biden’s “voters” with a more receptive crew who would support Don Trump.
Bowers said: I will not agree to no “bum beef” (translation: a false accusation) and risk spending time in the nasty “big house” so that you can stay in the beautiful White House. No. I don’t get “in the car” (translation: into the plan).
Okay, Bowers didn’t use prison language. Instead, he said, ‘ It is a doctrine of my faith; the Constitution is divinely inspired. [It is] my most basic, fundamental belief. And that I’m doing that because someone just asked me to is alien to my being. I will not do it.”
Editorial writers and cable news personalities on CNN and MSNBC fell apart. At last, an honest man emerged from the shameless political wilderness. Step aside, Atticus Finch, you have a fictional company.
Regardless, Don Trump’s armed locusts swarmed from Bowers’ office, telephone, and home after he told Don Trump and his consigliere that he wouldn’t play bent ball.
They threatened him. They blared through loudspeakers that he was corrupt and a pedophile. They upset his “seriously ill” daughter, who died in 2021.
Bowers was not only praised for relying on his faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution to reject Don Trump’s powerful tactics, but he was also anointed to be an inspiring, steadfast defender of democracy and, of course, a hero by the Democrats and an established media yearning for heroes.
Unfortunately, Bowers’ tenure as “hero” lasted just over 24 hours. In an interview with Associated Press, Bowers said he would vote for Don Trump again in 2024, as the former President and blackmailer have done great things beyond planning, prosecuting, and applauding a coup attempt.
“If (Trump) is the nominee, if he goes up against Biden, I would vote for him again,” Bowers said. “Simply because what he did the first time, before COVID, was so good for the country. In my eyes, it was great.”
Bowers returned to the evangelical Trump lake in one news cycle from the ironclad hero of America’s rapidly evaporating rule of law. The Guinness World Records should take this into account.
Now, two unwilling heroes have testified on the same day as Bowers: Ordinary citizens plunged into extraordinary circumstances doing their jobs with the humility, honesty, and integrity that Don Trump and his greasy and drooling hair dye consigliere never had and never will possess.
I suspect Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, “Lady” Ruby Freeman, would rather do what they’ve done for much of their lives in Fulton County, Georgia—help people, especially older Americans, to vote—than appear before Congress to describe how Don Trump and his consigliere lied about them, smeared them, and destroyed them.
Ms. Moss took a reassuring breath before answering the committee’s questions. When she did, she reminded enlightened Americans of what dignity looks and sounds like.
Ms. Moss reminded enlightened Americans that, despite the serious damage done to her beautiful name and charitable spirit by two career bullies, she and her mother would be remembered for their grace and insistence on doing the right thing to serve the right of other Americans. to vote.
I won’t repeat the despicable lies that two dishonorable white men spat about two honorable black women because that would mean repeating the sickening slander.
In an ominous sign, the attacks spawned Don Trump’s marauding pack of rabid locusts, this time targeting Mrs. Moss, her mother, and her grandmother.
The locusts invaded her grandmother’s house to make a “citizen arrest.” the locusts promised to find Mrs. Moss and lynch her. That was no empty threat. The FBI urged Ms. Freeman to leave the house. Her life was in danger.
“I felt terrible. I felt it was all my fault,” Ms. Moss said. “To choose this job, to always want to help.”
It wasn’t her fault.
It was the sinister work of Don Trump and his MAGA flag-waving, incoherent with ignorance, hatred, and raging locusts.
The horror inflicted upon Mrs. Moss and her family by the former President of the United States and his shock troops compels us to reject any attempt, by anyone, in any forum, to ask us to pause to understand or to consider why Don Trump’s “disenchanted” locusts inflict such harm and malice on good people who do good.
Today, Mrs. Moss and Lady Ruby usually stay home where it is safe. They don’t go together if they go out of the house for errands or other chores. They are afraid of being heard or recognized. And they no longer help other Americans to vote.
Still, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and “Lady” Ruby Freeman agreed to testify, despite the danger from the villains and the locusts.
Their courage and defiance are the definitions of heroism. They are an example to all of us.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
