When Richard Nixon was in free-fall during Watergate, I was an avid watcher and reader of the news. Even if you didn't hate Nixon — and I'd like to think I didn't; that I just thought he was a bad man — it was a fascinating story. Alas, I missed seeing in real-time what may have been the most interesting moment of that sordid story. I was off at a convention during the infamous Saturday Night Massacre.
I am now facing the possibility that I will be at WonderCon when Donald Trump is arrested and/or indicted for the first — but probably not last — time. That timing is a slim possibility but I might have to tear myself away from coverage on TV and my laptop to go moderate panels and do interviews and meetings. It could be a most entertaining week if it happens in the next few days, what with Al Franken hosting The Daily Show this week.
As with the Nixon matter, it's intriguing that it's all so unprecedented and therefore so unpredictable. I'm kinda curious, as well as a little scared, about the calls for protests. The insurrectionists on January 6 more or less had a stated goal: To stop the confirmation of Biden's victory so that some sort of legal miracle, including but not limited to Mike Pence exercising powers he didn't really have, could reinstall Trump. If I were a Trump supporter who was equally outraged now, I'm not sure where I would demonstrate or what I'm really asking for…to have a prosecution dropped because of mob rule?
But then I wouldn't pretend to understand what these people want beyond a vote that makes our 45th President also our 47th. I'm not even sure how many of them think Trump is a good man and good Chief Exec and all the charges are Fake News and we'd all be better off with him in the White House…
…and which ones think, "Even if he did everything they accuse him of, I still want him as My President." The few Trumpers I know well enough to engage in civil conversation have all abandoned him. They want right-wing policies in our government but they fear that running Trump in the next election will lead to a Democratic landslide. I have no idea how prevalent these various attitudes are or how the current prosecutions will affect them. I just think they'll affect them.