Coincidentally, as the January 6 Committee hearings are being televised, it is also the 50th anniversary of another bleak time in our nation’s history: the Watergate scandal. So lots of comparisons are being made. What has been striking to me, above all, is the difference between how the American people have responded to each of those horrific events.
Once the details and the truth of Watergate were exposed, a large percentage of the American people were very much against Richard Nixon’s behavior and against his misuse of the power and authority of the presidency.
As the facts of the January 6 Commission are exposed, a large percentage of the American people still seem either disinterested or their positive opinion of Donald Trump is not affected.
What has changed so dramatically in the last 50 years that the people of this country seem to have lost a moral center?
No one can seem to answer that complex question fully, but I will say that those of us who do live by some moral code need to be certain to act accordingly. We need to do this to teach the children who observe us that how we behave matters. Something from simple as not littering to politely but assertively letting a vendor know if we feel we’re being mistreated.
Now is not a time to be shy. I don’t believe we can just sit back and passively listen to podcasts or watch TV. Our voices and our opinions must be heard, and we must seek the truth at all costs.
Having opinions is not enough if we don’t act on them in an appropriate way. Otherwise, 50 years from now, history will show that January 6 was exposed, explained and clarified — and the American people didn’t care.
If so, I wonder what our country will look like then?
Paula Angelone
Southampton Village
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