John,

When I served this country, I put my life on the line for it. Many of my brothers and sisters in arms laid down their lives for it. We did it all for the sake of the democracy and freedom we cherish as American citizens. This is at the very core of who we are as a country.

What we learned tonight was affirmation of what many of us already knew: Donald Trump and his GQP cronies tried to violently overthrow a free and fair election -- spitting in the face of every single one of our fallen heroes' sacrifices.

Before a single vote was cast in the 2020 election, Trump saw the writing on the wall … there was no mathematical way – neither via electoral college nor by popular vote – that he would possibly defeat Joe Biden.

So, what did he do? Well, it's Trump after all, he did what he does best – what he has done his entire pathetic life – he tried to cheat.

Early in the summer of 2020, in the middle of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when people were locked down at home and worried about whether and how they’d be able to safely vote, Trump began sowing seeds of doubt about mail-in ballots and making baseless predictions of widespread fraud. This was no accident, he did it on purpose to muddy the waters and prime his base to believe and embrace The Big Lie on Election Day.

When he lost, he issued marching orders to his rabid base and bid them to commit terroristic acts of violence against the Vice President, Congress, and the Capitol Police.

Tonight, what the Jan 6th Committee laid out without a shadow of a doubt was a mountain of evidence that proves it was Trump who led the insurrection, and that the horrific violence that took place was his design. 

Tonight, we also learned that even though the majority of the Republican Party knew that Trump’s claims of election fraud were -- as then-AG Bill Barr said: "bullshit" -- they still followed his marching orders and backed him up as he attempted a violent overthrow of our legally elected government.

In the days following, they tried to cover it up, but facts are facts, and evidence … well, wow, did we ever see a lot of evidence tonight!

Everything we thought we knew about our country was threatened that day and continues to be threatened every day that Donald Trump walks free. This man was directly responsible for a deadly attempted coup, and he has yet to suffer any real consequences; in fact, just the opposite – he is gearing up to do it all over again.

The difference is, this time, he has about a billion dollars in his war chest to do it, his handlers have learned lessons from their narrow failure, and they’ve been busy installing their handpicked loyalists into electoral oversight positions all over the country.

They don’t intend to fail again.

Even former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, a stalwart conservative, has said: “The last presidential election was a dry run for the next.”

That should motivate all of us to do whatever it takes to stop them. Our democracy is precious, and tonight’s hearings showed us how it might be taken away from of us in the blink of an eye.

Republicans love to throw around the word “patriot,” well guess what? I believe a patriot is someone who lays it all on the line to save their country when it’s in mortal danger. And right now, American democracy is in mortal danger.

So, we’ve got to step up, each and every one of us. We have to do whatever it takes to save this country … and tonight, you saw exactly what we’re up against.

I say this all time: We each have a role to play. Some of us will run for public office, others will work behind the scenes to help those running get elected. Some will write postcards, make phone calls, knock on doors – you name it, there’s a role for you, too.

But all of this action obviously requires resources and funding … and that, too, is a role folks need to play. So, I am asking you today to step up and play a role in helping us save our country by chipping in to help fund this fight.

Together, we will defend democracy and make sure the Evil Orange Buffoon never sees the inside of the White House ever again.

We are less than 6 months away from the midterms, everything is on the line, and we are playing from behind.

Help us take the lead – our country deserves it, and so do the generations to come. 

Sappers clear the way, Airborne all the way!

--Retired Major Richard Ojeda