Looking Back on 2022 Gerry OShea
In Greek
mythology the river Lethe was deemed very important because those who drank
from it in the underworld experienced complete forgetfulness and concealment.
It flowed through the cave of Hypnos, the god of sleep, where they claimed its
murmurings induced drowsiness.
I thought of
the mythical river when I listened to and read about the witnesses at the
January 6th hearings. Perhaps one of its tributaries wended its way
to the Washington underworld and some of the witnesses sipped its water!
A majority
of the observers to the events of that dramatic day could barely remember what
the weather was like. So many of the witnesses recalled attending a meeting
that involved references to the insurrection, but they forgot all the details
of what was talked about. The real content of phone calls and meetings with the
President of the United States and his top advisors had somehow evaporated –
gone with the wind.
Cassidy Hutchinson’s experiences with the
committee were revealing. When she was called to appear, she looked for a
suitable lawyer only to hear about exorbitant fees, beyond her means.
She was
contacted by a Mr. Passantino who assured her that she could have his services
free and gratis – never an invoice. Furthermore, as their conversation warmed
up, he and a few of his cronies mentioned about some really good jobs opening
up that would suit her – after she finished testifying, of course.
She inquired
from her generous benefactor about who would pay his fee, but she failed to get
a straight answer. He was, however, clear about the legal strategy she should
follow: “the less you remember the better.” Mum’s the word! The title of Seamus
Heaney’s poem, “Whatever you Say, Say Nothing” encapsulates perfectly the
spirit of deceitful foxiness that pervaded many of the responses.
Cassidy mentioned
to her “volunteer lawyer” that she was aware of Trump’s attempt to join the
crowd at the Capitol during the riot. His apoplectic response left no doubt
about his counsel: “no,no,no,no,no. We don’t want to go there! We don’t want to
talk about that.” She realized she was being enticed into No Man’s Land where
obfuscation and vague quarter-truths are seen as proper and even required.
Hutchinson
confided to her mother that she was in a tight corner because she felt so
completely indebted to Passadino and company that when she was testifying she thought
Trump was looking over her shoulder, prompting her to provide meaningless
answers.
To her
credit, she cut loose from all these entanglements and decided to maintain her
integrity by giving full and honest answers to all the questions she was asked.
Her authentic voice enhanced the credibility of the committee’s findings,
changed the tenor of the proceedings and remains my main memory of the
impressive committee’s deliberations.
2022 was
also the year that Putin believed that he would gain control of Ukraine in a
few months after the February invasion. He looked disdainfully at Washington
where one of the political parties did not even accept the presidential
election results, and NATO was riven by divisions and demoralizing internal
squabbles. He assessed the situation as easy pickings for his powerful
military.
Eleven
months later, he is singing a very different tune. With over 100,000 Russian
soldiers dead and tens of thousands of young men fleeing to the West rather
than engage in the killing fields of the Donbas, Putin is facing internal
opposition which is bound to grow.
Also, he
completely misread the determination of the European powers and, most of all,
the dexterous leadership of President Biden and the strength and guts of the
Ukrainian people admirably led by President Zelensky.
We see the
results of the daily pummeling of towns and villages by Russian projectiles
that successfully destroy water and electricity supplies. Horrific images of
young and old trying to get by somehow in shivering cold temperatures brings to
mind Juno’s primal plea in Sean O’Casey’s play as she faced widespread tragedy
and suffering: “Heart o’ Jesus, take away these hearts of stone and give us
hearts of flesh.”
Russia’s war
in Ukraine has come to symbolize the global conflict between autocracy and
democracy. Early in the year, the autocrats, from Moscow to Peking, seemed to
have the upper hand. Putin’s invasion of a democratic European country
highlighted his belief that the Western countries, members of the European
Union and NATO, would just engage in verbal denunciations and then settle back
to accept Moscow’s expansion, especially as, led by Germany, they needed
Russian oil and gas.
Today,
Putin’s face conveys doubt and unease as he hears the generals’ reports from
the various fronts. Perhaps he is beginning to realize that so-called strongmen
in history, the bullies, all eventually get their comeuppance.
The
autocrats did not do well last year. Bolsonaro was defeated in Brazil. Trump
ended the year sharing a meal with an open antisemite and a leading devotee of
white nationalism which in addition to his continuing insistence that he really
won the last time makes him a long shot for returning to the White House in
2024.
Assemblyman
George Santos dominated the local news in December. In running for office, he
took the gold prize for lying by asserting complete falsehoods about his
family, his education and his finances. His rationalization was memorable. He
explained the dozens of untruths as “resume embellishments.”
Reminds us
of Kellyanne Conway’s famous justification for the stream of lies emanating
from the Trump White House; she pleaded that she felt entitled to present
“alternative facts.”
Finally, a
few brief sporting remembrances of an eventful year. Argentina won the World
Cup led by the master strategist Lionel Messi. The final against France will be
talked about forever.
And the
death in December at 82 of the Brazilian super star, known worldwide as Pele,
who unbelievably played in three winning World Cup teams and is spoken about by
all the aficionados of the game as the most accomplished player ever.
My greatest
sporting event of the year by a mile involved Sam Maguire’s return to my home
county Kerry. The marvellous David Clifford earned the Player of the Year
award, but the Irish footballing memory of 2022 goes to Sean OShea – no
relation but from the same club, Kenmare, that I played with – who kicked a
free over the bar for the winning score from 60 yards facing a cross wind. That happened in the
dying seconds of the All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park against Dublin with
over 60,000 watching that feat in amazement.
Gerry
OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com
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