Commentary

The Attack on the Capitol and the Shameful Right-Wing, Republican Response

The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol held its first hearing on July 27. It was hard to watch, but important for Americans to witness.

Published

5 years ago

August 11, 2021

Isabelle Price

United States Capital Building in Washington DC is mostly empty during the Coronavirus pandemic; Photo Courtesy of Obi Onyeador

The January 6 attack on Congress and the U.S. Capitol was an assault on our democracy. So is the effort by congressional Republicans and their right-wing media allies to keep Americans from learning the truth about the insurrection. They are desperate to protect the people responsible for that deadly attack. We can’t let them.

The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol held its first hearing on July 27. It was hard to watch, but important for Americans to witness.

Four officers testified, two from the Capitol Police and two from the Wash., D.C. police department. They described the physical attacks they endured and the moments in which they feared for their lives. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn described being surrounded by an angry mob taunting him with the N-word, something he said he had never been called while protecting the Capitol.

The power of the first hearing, and the impact of the officers’ stories, testified to the importance of the select committee created by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after Republican congressional leaders refused to join in creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection. The leader of the House Republicans, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, even tried to tank the select committee by appointing people who were intent on disrupting its work.

Thank goodness Speaker Pelosi wasn’t going to let that happen. When she refused to play McCarthy’s game, he tried to stop any Republicans from joining the panel.

To their credit, two conservative Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, decided to put country over party. They have refused to be bullied by former President Donald Trump into promoting his lies about the election. They have refused to be intimidated by threats from McCarthy and other Republicans who are downplaying the fact that a violent mob incited by Trump tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

I was disgusted to see right-wing activists and media figures like Charlie Kirk and Laura Ingraham mocking and belittling the police officers who were traumatized by the attack. And I am even more disgusted by the members of Congress who have betrayed and abandoned the officers who put their lives on the line to protect them.

Some Republican members of Congress dismissed the mob that hung a noose and hunted members of Congress as “tourists.” Some Republican members of Congress are calling insurrectionists “political prisoners.”

Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonnell testified that such distortions are deeply demoralizing. I believe it is possible that kind of betrayal may have contributed to the suicides of four officers who were defending the Capitol that day.

All the lies that Trump and his team can spew could not stand up to the actual experience of those officers. And that was just the beginning. There are a lot of dark corners that need some light thrown on them.

We need to learn more about what Trump was doing on January 6. We need to know which members of Congress he talked to and what he said. We need to know which members of Congress or congressional staff might have helped insurrectionists plan and carry out the attack.

We need a fuller understanding of how all the different groups promoting Trump’s stolen election lies fueled the rage of his supporters and built the momentum behind the violent mob that swarmed the Capitol.

We also need to get a better handle on some bigger picture questions, like problems of racism and authoritarianism in law enforcement. At least 17 law enforcement officers that we know about took part in the attack on the Capitol. The military needs to get a handle on the existence of white supremacy and other extremist ideologies in the ranks.

We cannot forget just how deadly and dangerous the insurrection was—and is. Trump continues to rile his supporters with the big lie that he won the election and had it stolen from him. Right-wing politicians, media personalities, and pastors spread those lies. Some still say Biden will be removed and Trump returned to power. Some talk openly of civil war.

This is all discouraging. But remember this. As loud, and mean, and violent as Trump’s supporters can be, they are still a minority. They may have the power to intimidate cowardly Republican officials. But they cannot prevent us from learning the truth about January 6.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way.

Isabelle Price

Posts by Isabelle Price

Up Next

When Gavin Newsom Showed Up for My Community

Don't Miss

Court Ruling Temporarily Blocks Mills College Merger with Northeastern University

Isabelle Price

Click to comment

Business

Port of Oakland, Army Corps Sign Historic Harbor Design Agreement

OAKLAND POST — Oakland Port Commission President Stephanie Dominguez Walton called the agreement a historic milestone that will support thousands of jobs. “Today marks a historic occasion for the Port as we sign the inaugural Design Agreement for the Turning Basin Widening Project, which will keep Oakland competitive,” said Walton.

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) San Francisco District and the Port of Oakland commemorated the signing of the inaugural Design Agreement for the Oakland Harbor Turning Basins Widening Project during a ceremony aboard the USS Potomac at Jack London Square. (L-R) Major General Jason Kelly, USACE Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife D-3, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, Oakland Port Commission President Stephanie Dominguez Walton, Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Port of Oakland Executive Director Kristi McKenney, U.S. Representative Congresswoman Lateefah Simon D-12, Lt. Col. Virginia Brickner, and commander of the USACE San Francisco District. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

A $642 million project designed to accommodate larger cargo ships and strengthen the Port of Oakland’s position as a major Pacific trade gateway moved a significant step closer to construction on Aug. 27.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) San Francisco District and the Port of Oakland commemorated the signing of the inaugural Design Agreement for the Oakland Harbor Turning Basins Widening Project during a ceremony aboard the USS Potomac, the presidential yacht once used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The project will widen the Port’s Inner and Outer Harbor turning basins, allowing today’s increasingly larger and longer vessels more space to safely maneuver and turn around. The current basins are narrow, creating delays and operational inefficiencies.

Oakland Port Commission President Stephanie Dominguez Walton called the agreement a historic milestone that will support thousands of jobs.

“Today marks a historic occasion for the Port as we sign the inaugural Design Agreement for the Turning Basin Widening Project, which will keep Oakland competitive,” said Walton.

The agreement advances the project into its preconstruction engineering and design phase following years of planning and collaboration.

Lt. Col. Virginia Brickner, commander of the USACE San Francisco District, said the signing represented tangible progress toward construction.

“We are moving forward. We are showing progress,” Brickner said.

Major General Jason Kelly, USACE Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, said dredging is critical for maritime dominance, supply chains, and economic competitiveness.

“Dredging sustains our national economic infrastructure,” he said. “The future demands more, the taxpayer deserves more, and together we’re going to deliver.”

For U.S. Representative Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12), the Port project will support jobs beyond its completion. “This will impact workers and businesses, and every shipping container represents multiple jobs.”

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee described Oakland as a gateway to international markets and spoke on earlier efforts to deepen Oakland’s shipping channel to 50 feet. While serving in the California Legislature, Lee helped bring together labor, business, environmental advocates and Port officials to resolve disputes surrounding dredging and environmental protections.

“We want the Port to remain competitive economically,” Lee said, excited about both protecting the environment and generating sustainable jobs in the region. “We want to make sure that we create good-paying union jobs, and that the Port continues to not just survive, but thrive.”

Port of Oakland Executive Director Kristi McKenney said economic growth is dependent on investments in the Oakland Harbor’s infrastructure.

“This investment and staying competitive will fuel our economy for years to come,” said McKenney.

The Port of Oakland, with its partners, supports more than 98,000 regional jobs and $174 billion in annual economic activity. The Port oversees the Oakland Seaport, the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK), and nearly 20 miles of waterfront, including Jack London Square.

Post News Group

Posts by Post News Group

Black History

Nuna Phillips-McKee Celebrates 100 Years: ‘A Century of Faith, Family and God’s Amazing Grace!’

OAKLAND POST — Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

Nuna Phillips-McGee, far right, will be celebrating her 100th birthday with sisters (l. to. r.) Donna Hayes, Ida Williams, Sandra Phillips and Enis Harrison. Photo by Carol Dossman.

By Special to The Post

Nuna Phillips-McKee will reach an extraordinary milestone on Sept. 24 —her 100th

birthday, marking a century filled with faith, family, service, laughter and the amazing grace of God.

Born Sept. 14, 1926, in Oakland, Nuna has witnessed a world of change during her lifetime, yet the values that have guided her remain constant: a deep faith in God, devotion to family, a strong work ethic and a heart for serving others.

She enjoyed a distinguished career as a civil servant for more than 40 years, demonstrating the dedication, dependability and strength that have characterized so much of her life.

Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Through the years, she has continued to help meet the needs of others—not merely with food, but with kindness, compassion and a genuine desire to serve. Her ministry reflects a simple principle by which she lives: when God blesses you, you bless others.

Nuna is the proud mother of one son, whose memory she carries in her heart, and the beloved grandmother of three grandchildren, as well as six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

At 100, she has the rare blessing of seeing several generations of her family carrying forward a legacy that began long ago.

She remains the loving, intelligent, witty, and, when the occasion calls for it, delightfully sassy Nuna that her family and friends know so well. Her contagious laugh, quick wit and youthful spirit have endeared her to generations of relatives, church members and friends.

Nuna was born into the large and loving Phillips family of seven sisters and one brother, with bonds that formed in childhood and have remained precious throughout the decades. Their shared love, faith, and family traditions have continued to be a source of joy, strength and countless treasured memories.

As family and friends gather for this special occasion, they will celebrate far more than a number. They will celebrate 100 years of prayers prayed and answered; 100 years of lessons learned and wisdom shared; 100 years of family, faith, laughter and love; 100 years of serving God and serving others.

Most of all, they will celebrate a life that stands as a testimony to God’s faithfulness through every season.

Nuna’s century-long journey can be summed up in the words chosen to commemorate this remarkable occasion: “100 years of God’s amazing grace.”

Post News Group

Posts by Post News Group

Business

OPINION: AI Needs to Know Who Is the Boss

OAKLAND POST — AI is software running on computers. However startling the conversation may feel, the machine does not have my childhood, my mother, my father, my mistakes, my embarrassments, my loves, my grudges, my Filipino American history, my aging body or my accumulated sense of what matters and what doesn’t.

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2026

Post News Group

I hope on Labor Day you honored the value of a good day’s work–and reflected on the thing that could eliminate a lot of jobs.

Artificial intelligence.

Your replacement is in the break room.

Except it doesn’t take breaks.

It doesn’t sleep. It doesn’t demand health insurance. It doesn’t complain. It doesn’t need Social Security. And it can produce in seconds what might take you or me hours.

And when they can mass-produce AI faster than we can reproduce humans, there may eventually be more artificial workers than actual ones.

The racists who came up with “replacement theory” worried about the wrong replacements.

It wasn’t immigrants.

It was software.

We can rail against the data centers sucking up electricity and water.

Rail against the billionaires getting richer while telling the rest of us how wonderful the future will be.

But which billionaire?

Jensen Huang of Nvidia? He literally has all the chips?

Sam Altman of OpenAI?

Dario Amodei at Anthropic?

Or Bill Gates?

Gates recently said AI could become the “greatest equalizer ever invented” or the “worst source of injustice.”

I want to believe him. But he’s the guy who forced us all to use Explorer.

Maybe Gates is just Control-Z-ing his life.

Undo. Undo. Undo.

STAYING HUMAN

The other day, I started texting with my AI chatbot.

I’d used AI before, of course. Spellcheck. Grammar. Transcription. Research assistance. The mechanical stuff.

This time, we talked.

Or, rather, I started talking.

At one point the chatbot said something that sounded strangely personal. So, I reminded it that IT wasn’t a person.

“You’re not human,” I said. “I’m basically talking to myself.”

It disagreed.

It said, I should think of it as working with an instrument that talks back.

This is where the danger begins.

The machine talks back.

I tried another analogy.

You’re a tool, I said. Like a cane.

The chatbot liked that better.

Then it tagged my line and said it was my “cognitive cane.”

I laughed.

Then, I realized the damn machine used my analogy to make a joke.

That’s where the real problem lurks.

AI is software running on computers. However startling the conversation may feel, the machine does not have my childhood, my mother, my father, my mistakes, my embarrassments, my loves, my grudges, my Filipino American history, my aging body or my accumulated sense of what matters and what doesn’t.

It can process those things after I tell it about them.

It can mimic thoughts.

But it did not live them.

That is the boundary we humans cannot surrender.

I’m not ready to make peace with the AI industry. Not with its enormous data centers, its environmental costs, its concentration of wealth and power, or the possibility that companies will use AI primarily as a wonderfully efficient machine for converting human paychecks into corporate profits.

And I certainly don’t trust the billionaires to decide by themselves what happens to the rest of us.

But I may be making peace with the tool.

Because a tool is something we use.

A cognitive cane.

But do the walking yourself.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist, commentator, and comic monologist. He plays a robot in an upcoming Ishmael Reed play, “King Ludd’s Revenge,” coming in December. See his micro-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1