The column written by Di Lothrop published in the July 23, 2022, edition of the Telegraph is an excellent example of the use of personal attack to deflect and distract from facts the writer prefers not to talk about.

Ms. Lothrop characterizes Trump assistant and Jan. 6th Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson as an attention-seeking opportunist. She questions Ms Hutchinson’s professionalism, patriotism, motives, and access without evidence of deficiencies in any of those areas. In doing so, she must also claim that not one single Republican who has corroborated her testimony, from mob members to family members to chief counsel, can be believed.

She attacks the Committee itself, and particularly the Republicans who are serving. They’re opportunists, Trump-haters, disloyal. Her defense of those who refused to serve is typically circular: they won’t serve because the process is a sham. How do they know it’s a sham? Because none of them is serving.

It’s all nonsense, meant to confuse and distract from the real story: that the most powerful man in the world, the CEO of the United States, the Commander in Chief of our armed forces, failed to summon any help from any security agency on 1/6/21, even as he watched the deadly siege on television.

The real story is that everyone in the White House that day, including members of the President’s own family, understood that his stolen election lie had summoned and activated the mob. His advisors knew he had the power to disperse them, and most begged him to do so. He did nothing for over 3 hours.

The real story is that the 45th President, with the help of his co-conspirators, most notably career grifters Meadows, Bannon, Eastman, and Giuliani, shattered his promise to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Those who chose to testify are, as Rep. Cheney said, confessing their own roles in enabling a man who has no respect for democracy to corrupt and attack it. Unlike Trump and his gang, they had the courage to see the truth, tell the truth, and admit fault, in spite of losing their careers and suffering attacks against their characters, and even their lives.

The Jan. 6 attack and the Jan. 6th hearings represent opposite visions of America. One is chaotic and violent, driven by greed and vengeance, and ruled by force. Even now, Trumpism is well-funded by groups like America First Action, one of whose leaders, Pablo Andrade, is on record as stating, “The only thing Hitler didn’t get right is he didn’t keep ******* going.” He served in the Trump administration on the “National Diversity Coalition.” The former President was warmly received at an America First fundraiser just this week. They gave him a standing ovation when he again lied about the election.

The other vision of America is represented by the January 6 Committee, the school board meeting I attended this week, and hundreds of other governing bodies around the country where duly elected officials are trying their best to look at the facts and do the people’s work. They are often maddeningly plodding and deliberative as they discuss policy, budget, and the concerns of their constituents, even as they are harassed and threatened for doing their jobs. They will always disappoint at least some people with the decisions they make, but they see themselves as public servants, motivated not by money or applause, but by respect for public institutions and the common good.

The choice for Republican voters between these two visions couldn’t be clearer. Do they stand with Trumpism and all it represents, or the everyday people who, like the rest of us, make mistakes from time to time, but hope to be of service? In spite of the personal costs, those who testify and serve at the Jan. 6th hearings choose service and truth. Those who refuse have chosen self-interest and the big lie. It’s up to all Republicans now to ask themselves the question, “Which side am I on?”

Jean Lewandowski is a resident of Nashua.

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