Lynn Rudmin Chong: America's abstract treasure, democracy, needs protecting

To The Daily Sun,

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, loathe to cross former President Donald Trump, was not responding to the Jan. 6 attack on our U.S. Capitol, according to Cassidy Hutchinson's courageous June 28 testimony. Top aide to Meadows, her office was near the president's. In her Congressional hearings testimony, Ms. Hutchinson expressed being proud of President Trump's accomplishments. As Jan. 6, unfolded, however, she feared for Vice President Mike Pence's safety. White House staff and President Trump only watched the mayhem. Questioned by Rep. Liz Cheney, Ms. Hutchinson revealed she wanted Jan. 6 behavior in the White House and at our Capitol building to show real patriotism. It didn't.

New to me is that on Jan. 7, President Trump's department heads discussed the Constitution's 25th Amendment, about removing a president who "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." Fifteen cabinet-level departments exist, some being defense, justice, treasury, state. Also: interior, commerce, labor, etc. On Jan. 7, only 13 days remained in President Trump's term. These Trump appointees saw the worst on Jan. 6, including unsettling presidential behavior.

While the Russian war on Ukraine has my daily attention, and loss of women's reproductive rights causes dismay, and more gun deaths in our United States are intolerable, these Congressional hearings are important duty-being-done regarding our democracy. Our democracy may appear less concrete than war images, loss, and cost, and people holding our signs expressing our feelings, and families having to bury their loved ones untimely, but our abstract treasure — democracy — needs protecting. The Jan. 6 hearings are essential to that and need legal follow-up on evidence brought to light.

Lynn Rudmin Chong

Sanbornton