I can't stand Oprah Winfrey.  It's a credit to her talent and drive that a poor girl from Mississippi could parlay her gifts into a $2.5-billion personal fortune.  What's wrong about her is that her gift is to make emotional slop and drivel seem important.  Given that modern Americans are emotionally weaker, less rational, and more clinically narcissistic than past generations were, I blame the Oprah influence, which turned these bad traits into virtues.  All these modern "virtues" were on display Thursday on the House floor, when Nancy Pelosi granted House Democrats an hour in which to share their collective trauma from January 6.

I have a few certainties about January 6:

• First, Trump was not responsible.  (See here for data points about that.)
• Second, if it's indeed true that the FBI knew in advance that radicals intended to try to enter the Capitol, and neither the Capitol Hill police nor Pelosi and her team did anything to beef up security, any blood that was spilled is on their hands.
• Third, I am opposed to political violence, whether it comes from the left or the right.
• Fourth, I'm unaware of evidence that any congresspeople were near the Capitol breach, nor were they at risk.
• Fifth, AOC's narrative about her experience on January 6 shows either that she entirely lacks courage and common sense or that she is embroidering her narrative almost to the point of dishonesty.
• Sixth, the Democrats are using what happened on that day as a Reichstag Fire moment — that is, they're taking an isolated event; crafting an overly broad, false narrative about it; and then using that narrative to destroy their political opponents.  It is profoundly un-American and, indeed, evil.

The latest act in the public trauma that our nation's Democrat "leaders" suffered occurred on Thursday, when Nancy Pelosi granted AOC an hour on the floor so she and her fellow House members could treat America to their psychic anguish.

As I said earlier this week, my story of the attack on our Capitol is not the only story,nor is it the central story.

It is just one of 100s of stories.

Tonight, we will start to hear more on the House floor.

I invite all colleagues who wish to share to join our special order. https://t.co/O4rVIA4R95

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 4, 2021

Once upon a time, Americans were proud of their backbone and courage.  Thanks to the Oprahfication of America, though, leftists show their strength through irrational emotional spillage in front of the world.

Don't be fooled into thinking AOC is a moron.  A college graduate, she understands the manipulative power of victimhood.  The mantra of leftist victimhood is that you must believe the victim — that is, if the victim is a Democrat.  And since it was Democrats who were literally weeping on the House floor, AOC insisted that no one could challenge their stories:

AOC is on the floor of the House saying that anyone who questions the claims of "survivors" -- because everyone in Congress is apparently a "survivor" now -- is guilty of exacerbating the "trauma" of ALL "survivors" everywhere in the country. Again, this is insanely manipulative

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 5, 2021

Rep. Cori Bush echoed this sentiment: there is no longer absolute truth, she said.  Instead, there is only emotional truth, which is something no one can deny.  Oprah would be proud:

"Everybody's experiences must be validated," says Cori Bush. Sorry, you are no longer allowed to "invalidate" the "experiences" of politicians -- that's "harm" pic.twitter.com/TunvQ0A9uY

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 5, 2021

In his opening monologue when subbing for Tucker Carlson, Mark Steyn, with his inimitable style, discusses some of what happened during that Oprah hour in the once mighty and at least somewhat dignified deliberative body:

If the Steyn video is unavailable, here's footage of the whole event.  My favorites are Dean Phillips from Minnesota, who desperately tries to twist himself — a white male — into a good victim, and Rashida Tlaib, who breaks down completely even though she wasn't even there but gets a comforting back rub from AOC as she sobs while reciting the diversity bona fides of her large staff:

It is impossible for me to imagine what our geopolitical enemies in Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and other warlike and totalitarian places think when they witness these emotionally incontinent displays.  Do they think we're weak, or do they respect these leftists for using emotional manipulation for their political advantage?

After all, the dramatic approach these young socialists are taking to January 6, which they call a "coup," has given them enormous power.  They've used it to deploy the military to D.C.; turn law enforcement on ordinary Americans for the "crime" of supporting Donald Trump; and give corporate America, which is entirely in the bag for the left, the opportunity to "de-person" all Trump-supporters.

Image: Rashida Tlaib cries about the riot she missed.  YouTube screen grab.