Bee Opinionated: Jan. 6 hearings + Folsom’s new name + DiFi goes nuclear
It’s me again, Robin Epley with The Bee Editorial Board. Happy Father’s Day to everyone who is, was, has, had — or wanted to be — a dad. I hope your day was filled with love, regardless of your situation.
Have you been watching the televised hearings of the House Select Committee investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection? We certainly have. According to the New York Times, about 20 million people across the nation did, too.
I was unsurprised to learn that Fox News stuck with it’s primetime lineup, including Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson’s shows, which covered the hearings but kept them muted on a split screen while the hosts disparaged the process, calling the damning evidence merely “propaganda” and “lies.”
I was, however, surprised to learn that Fox News didn’t once cut away to commercials — sacrificing ad revenue in order to keep their devotees glued to the screen. I sometimes wonder how Fox News would have covered the Revolutionary or Civil wars.
(Then again, I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that.)
Anyway, metro columnist Melinda Henneberger spotlighted former Vice President Mike Pence in particular, positing that he’s not the coward President Donald Trump called him — but he can’t have it both ways if he’s going to run for election in 2024.
“He’d have to be a lot plainer about the criminal under whom he served,” Henneberger wrote. “(And) he’d have to be a lot less oblique in his attempts to help Republicans see that the 2020 election was not stolen.”
Several Editorial Board members opined about the hearings last week. Yousef Baig pondered the fate of Trump sympathizers who elected not to attend the riot, and what it will take to restore their democratic spirit. Josh Gohlke underscored why the testimony from Republicans is so important to consider, as well as their willingness to go along with Trump’s illegal coup attempt.
Jack Ohman compared the hearings to the Watergate scandal and the Senate investigation that followed, as the 50th anniversary of the Watergate Hotel break-in was on Friday.
“I can only imagine how Nixon would sound if he got up and denied that the black bag job even took place: ‘My fellow Americans, there was no burglary at the Democratic National Committee. The seven Watergate burglars are a figment of the liberal news media’s imagination. There were no arrests, and not only am I not a crook, but I am also the most perfect president ever, as well as a very stable genius.’”
Who’d’ve thought we’d long for the simpler days of Watergate?
What’s In A Name
Opinion Assistant Hannah Holzer wrote an editorial this week decrying the continued place name of “Negro Bar” — a popular swimming spot and historic site within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. On Friday, the California State Park and Recreation Commission held a public hearing to consider renaming the day-use area.
“The (California Parks Commission) recommended a temporary renaming until the community can find a new name that ‘meets both goals of removing the offensive term and recognizing the site’s historical contexts.’” Holzer wrote. “The commission also called for additional research to help inform a more long-term naming process as well as expanded programs to improve the site. The commission should accept these recommendations to better honor the history of the site and ensure that no Folsom resident or visitor feels unwelcome.”
Di Fi Changes Mind On Diablo
California’s senior U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote a guest essay for The Bee this week, explaining that she’s changed her mind on the closure of Diablo Canyon, a PG&E-owned and operated nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County. She supported the closure when it was announced in 2016, citing concerns about the lack of long-term storage for spent nuclear fuel. But as she wrote:
“Closing Diablo Canyon would remove 18,000 gigawatt-hours from the grid, nearly 10% of the state’s electricity generation. This is an extraordinary amount of power for a grid facing reliability concerns amid heat waves and wildfires. When the power goes out, lives are endangered.”
The article was one of the most-read pieces on The Bee’s website this week.
Opinion of the Week
“This stalemate has now dragged on for three months, which is particularly ironic given that part of the argument allegedly concerns which plan would get the checks out faster.” — Deputy Opinion Editor Josh Gohlke on the “glacial negotiations” of California Democrats, and the “fake budget” that was passed to ensure lawmakers get paid.
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I hope you have a happy Juneteenth tomorrow with family and friends,
Robin Epley
