So, let’s start with something Fani herself bravely and with spunk, made clear. She is NOT on trial. Although yeah, she really kind of is, and I hate that for her and for us. It is infuriating to see how she is held to a standard that Trump has escaped over and over again in this country, and I could go on about that, but I won’t, because it’s not the point I want to make. I don’t want this to be about Trump. I want it to be about Fani.
I watched this hearing, all day long, as I attended to other things that needed doing, but I was continuously riveted back to what we all say we want to see. Transparency. So here’s my take on it as it happened.
In the beginning, when her once friend testified against her, and then her “dear friend,” X-paramour or whatever, Mr. Wade testified, to the best of his ability--- and yes, with all the caginess of a lawyer who knows when he’s being interrogated by another lawyer, tried to put out his story. And frankly, perhaps not so successfully, if you heard the pundits shake their heads after his testimony. Although I will say, every time he dared laugh and smile, I got his strength. IMO, he did the best “Yes sir” he could do, all things considered.
So that took us to about noon today, and when MSNBC broke from their coverage so far, their pundit board was all talking about how it might be too bad, but Fani really needed to step aside.
And THEN, Fani blew in to testify, and in her own words, said essentially, I’m here to speak my piece. And so, she did. In ways that shook up anything you thought you knew, and the pundits who were sure they knew she was finished, even on MSNBC.
She testified as the lawyer and prosecutor she is, with an eye to every damn thing Trump’s lawyers tried to get away with. Every freaking time they tried to get away with an assumption she did not agree with, she fought back. She refused to let them lasso her with the words that made up their questions.
Some might say she went too far and “came in hot” etc. etc. But gotta say, if I was her, I’d have come in plenty hot too. YES, women do not explain themselves the same way men do, but that’s a whole different thread. And YES for me, Trump’s attorneys were every bit as tiresome as some would say she was.
I really loved that she simply refused to let them get away with their endless attempts to get her to answer “yes or no.” Fact is, there are very few issues in life that can be answered by a simple “yes or no.” And bravo to Fani for not letting them get away with it. I really loved how she threw them all for a loop.
You really had to watch the whole thing in real time, to understand how much raw this woman showed, and how hard she fought to be heard and understood, and how hard she fought to put her story in context.
Now, I know, some of you will say, she could have done this or that. She should never have done this or that. She made mistakes! And yeah, also, that hoary old chestnut here---we need to prove our angel wings by being harder on ourselves than we are on our opposition.
Which is not to say that I resist any comment or thought that Fani Willis made mistakes in judgement. But I’m also here to say that, please, let’s not drown ourselves in self righteousness.