In a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, former Daily Show host, Jon Stewart opined that we are too focused on Donnie Trump because we are not putting him into the proper context.

I am a big fan of Stewart and delighted to see him back on the air. He is smart and witty, but in this case, he is wrong. As wrong as he can be.

In my lifetime I have both experienced and read about events that stand out in history as impactful and profound. Some reached a level of profundity that changed the world forever in dramatic and unforeseen ways.

Electricity and the atomic bomb are two examples of those changes, both good and bad.

Into what context could the average person have put the nuclear explosion that devastated Hiroshima, Japan in August of 1945? It was unlike anything that had ever happened before and beyond the scope of most people’s comprehension.

It’s been said that the attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021 was the biggest threat to our democracy since the Civil War (1861-1865) and the worst attack on our government since the British burned down the White House in 1814.

January 6 however, stands alone as unprecedented, a word that has become all but overused in the past five years as unprecedented events abound.

When the British attacked Washington, DC, they did so as America’s enemy, attempting to retake that which they lost in the American Revolution (1765-1791).

The Civil War was fought over ideologies and a way of life, all of which boiled down to the South defending slavery against its abolition.

The only possible context alongside which January 6 can be juxtaposed is the terrorist attack we suffered on 9/11/01, although that was perpetrated by foreigners, not Americans posing as patriots.

In 1995, Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan organized the Million Man March, which was held on the National Mall in Washington, DC.. Certainly a controversial figure himself, Farrakhan’s stated goal was to enhance the image of African-American men and encourage them to stand up for themselves in a White society.

Admirable goals, coming from an anti-Semitic misogynist.

The march turned out an estimated 400,000 to 1.1 million Black men, non of whom felt the impetus to attack any of our government buildings or elected officials.

January 6 was a clarion call that can not be taken in context of anything.

The only thing more seismic in occurrence is Republican willingness to pretend that it never happened or to say that it was just a regular day or some spontaneous rowdiness and completely unplanned.

56% of Republicans feel that Donnie Trump has no responsibility at all for the events of January 6, 2021.

Stewart told Tapper that, fair-minded people working together can make incremental progress over time.

Republicans however, are not fair-minded and they have been able to make groundbreaking progress in the dismantling of American democracy in record breaking time.

Stewart thinks the conflict over masks and vaccines would best be served by providing useful information to anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers.

Sadly, those folks are well insulated in their fact free zone. There is no way to reach them and they wouldn’t believe you if you could.

Stewart correctly points out that the media isn’t always great at de-escalation because that is not what sells. On the most important issues though, the media falls short in conveying the urgency of what is imminent and probable.

19 states have passed laws to suppress voters who are most likely to cast a Democratic ballot. 8 states have passed laws prohibiting the teaching (or mentioning) of slavery or the Black struggle in America. One state wants to mandate alternative views of the Holocaust.

ALTERNATIVE VIEWS OF THE HOLOCAUST? Are you fucking kidding me?

What’s next, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott offering a rebuttal following the airing of Schindler’s List?

We watched a president stand on the world stage in Helsinki, Finland and defend a former KGB agent against America’s entire intelligence community.

Jon, these things are unprecedented (for lack of a better word) and there is no context in which to consider them. If your house is on fire, you don’t stop to think about other houses that may have burned down, you call the fire department.

You put out the flames by whatever means necessary.

Our house is on fire, Jon and one man wants to pour on more gasoline. No historical context can change that fact.

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