Roll the Video Tape

Is anyone available to watch 40,000 hours of video from 1/6/21?

Not that anyone has the time or the desire to sit through 40,000-plus hours of video taken on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. In fact, a lot of Americans simply wish that bizarre day would finally fade into memory so the country can focus on a positive future. Clearly, that’s not happening, so instead Americans have to make decisions. Do they:

A. Side with Democrats that this was a deadly insurrection and a threat to our democracy?

B. Agree with Republicans that this was a mostly peaceful protest, save for a few unsavory characters who caused damages outside and inside the Capitol?

C. Stay neutral and long for a time when this isn’t discussed every single day?

D. Watch countless hours of surveillance film and amateur videos, beginning with Trump’s speech and up to the time the last protestor left the Capitol to draw their own conclusions about what happened and how it should be viewed in the context of the country’s history?

Quite a few people immediately latched onto either answer A or B, with little chance of being swayed. For them, the nonstop coverage of the events of 1/6/21 (a la MSNBC) or the lack of any coverage except for Tucker Carlson’s recent reveal of surveillance video (on Fox) does not convince but rather solidifies what they already know to be true.

Answer C seems to be great advice to avoid arguments and anxiety, but it’s hard living under a rock indefinitely.

For those who see the events that took place in and around the Capitol as a combination of dangerous and ridiculous, who believe that there is more than one side to the story and who would like to once and for all understand what happened so it can be avoided in the future, answer D would be the best bet. Of course, to watch all of the footage and draw their own conclusions, they’d have to remove themselves from all obligations (work, family, etc.) for the next five-and-a-half years. That’s implausible and probably not worth it.

Another possibility exists, though, courtesy of Australia’s Sky News.

This report discusses all aspects of Jan. 6, 2021: the peaceful march toward the Capitol, the breaching of the building by a number of protestors, the weird police escort of the “Q’Anon Shaman” through the Capitol, the deadly shooting of one protestor, and so on. In doing so, the report draws logical and rather unbiased conclusions:

January 6, 2021, “as horrible as it was, turning into a riot…” has been “exaggerated…and described as one of the worst days in U.S. history.” It also points out that while nothing excuses the “disgraceful” behavior of some protestors who turned into rioters, “the majority of the intruders were respectful of police.”

In other words, in spite of definitive claims one way or another, much gray area exists regarding the events on Capitol Hill. Still, if you disagree, there’s 40,000 or so hours of video to check out and decide for yourself.