Author’s note: This article reflects my interview with John Dean about his and Bob Altemeyer’s book, Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers prior to the 2020 Presidential Election. John provides a deep analysis, particularly timely during the January 6th Select Committee Hearings. This article was originally published in 2020, prior to the Presidential Election.

In my opinion, the January 6 Special Committee hearings accomplished its goals of informing viewers who were not previously closely following the January 6 reporting, and/or forgot about the attempted coup that led to the violent insurrection and loss of life during the certification of President Joe Biden’s election.  

“Why so much grief for me? No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate.And fate? No one alive has ever escaped it, neither brave man nor coward,I tell you – it’s born with us the day that we are born.”– Homer, The Iliad

This is the story of three journeys—two remarkable women on very different paths and the one we are all taking together.

In May the head of the Food and Drug Administration warned that misinformation has become the leading cause of death in the United States.

“Ah death. A change of clothes.”– The Dalai Lama

What we remember are the stories. It is what holds us together. Families. Communities. Countries.