Like anyone, I felt a disheartening mix of emotions about what happened in Washington D.C. when the “Patriot Boys” mob went berserk like a lynch mob in the South.
I could recognize fear, sadness, and anger but there was another emotion a little harder for me to identify. It was something akin to joy—no, that’s the wrong word; maybe gladness—no, that’s not it either. Let me jump ahead and then come back to this point.
The rampaging mob stands exposed; now the nation and the whole world get to see who they are and the crude, violent behavior of Trump and his followers.
In 2016, when Trump made his off-color remarks on the Hollywood Access tapes, a lot of people thought that would be enough to undo his presidential campaign for sure . . . but it wasn’t.
When he made the phone call to Zelensky, a lot more people had high hopes that his breaking the law would be enough to get him removed from office . . . but it wasn’t.
Then when he said he wouldn’t abide by the outcome of an election if he lost, a lot of people felt that should be enough to end his presidency through impeachment. They also anticipated that it could end his bid for a second term in 2020—and in a way they were right.
The Zelensky phone call wasn’t the only example of poor behavior on the president’s part that millions of Americans held against him—but it helped create a growing, more profound movement that recognized how dangerous to our constitutional democracy the president was becoming. Call it lunacy, narcissism, right-wing politics or what you will but Trump was becoming a real threat to American democracy.
He lost by over seven million votes on Nov. 3, 2020 and he was crushed in the Electoral College, losing by a “landslide” 306 votes to 232 votes. (Trump called that a “landslide” when he defeated Hilary Clinton in 2016). Over 80 million Americans were “woke”.
But the villainous falsifier was not done yet—he insisted on one senseless challenge after another in court after court and managed to lose over sixty times, the cases thrown out for lack of substance, which must be some kind of record.
Has any other American ever had sixty court cases thrown out in such a short period of time? He had no evidence, he had no proof—and he had no truth.
He can lie as much as his egotistical temperament demands but he can’t manufacture evidence. And even then violent conspirators who would attack the government were already making their plans. While pursuing supposedly “legal” channels of redress, behind the scenes Trump was calling on his supporters to protest and egging them on—he knows how to flip their switch–until the crowd’s transformation into a violent treasonous mob became inevitable.
And then, the truly American stronger response began happening, like a miracle. We had talked ourselves blue in the face for four years trying to warn people of the endless dangers posed by this selfish one-dimensional falsifying narcissist and our words often seemed to bounce away.
But this last act of Trump’s has awakened millions of people to who he is and the very real dangers presented by his followers. These riotous acts, like a terrorist invasion, have struck a blow at the deepest roots of patriotism in all true Americans: at last they see!
Trump and his loyalists would sooner attack the government and chase Congress from its sacred meeting place rather than accept the results of an open, fair, and peaceful election! They are challenging the right of a democratic and constitutional America to exist–wake the dead!
In the past, Americans who were aware of the grievous and grotesque nature of Trump’s character may have struggled to convey something of their apprehension to others; they struggled to explain clearly why Trump was a threat to the country . . . but now Trump’s mob of followers were explaining it clearly to everyone; they interjected new terms like insurrection, sedition, and treason into the conversation.
Their violent mob riot in the nation’s capital is another whole ball game apart from anything we have seen hitherto. Everyone can see who is at the helm of this shameful Republican Party, a Benedict Arnold who preferred to turn traitor to his own country rather than accept the results of a national election!!
He is demented, he is deluded, and he is ingloriously defeated—and yet he chose to incite a mob to riot—to commit acts of assault and mayhem against the nation’s elected representatives–rather than bow out gracefully; he would rather see people injured and killed in the ensuing riot than participate in the normal peaceful transition of power from one president to the next.
He has no respect for human life itself, it appears; if, during the mob assault, people were killed, the fact does not bother him so long as his larger purpose is filled. He does not bother to utter words of compassion to the families who lost loved ones, including officers who gave their lives to stop his riotous mob although greatly outnumbered.
He is ready to accept such loss of life even though the Founders wisely put it first when they wrote: “That among these rights are LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yes, all Americans enjoy a fundamental right to life itself!
Trump’s rioters attacked the very government and democratic institutions that the Founding Fathers created and which is sworn to uphold these democratic rights and traditions. The rioters are beyond the pale; they must face the consequences for what they have done.
Yes, I had been moping around the house feeling ashamed of myself for having had an “inappropriate” emotional response to recent events but now I can come to terms with it—if that is what it takes to wake people up all the way then something good will yet arise from the human carnage and shock unleashed on January 6!
Thousands of police and military personnel are pouring into the city daily, hourly. The District of Columbia was caught under-prepared once; it won’t happen again. Arrests are underway and quite serious charges are in the offing. Social media helped the rioters plan their attack; now social media appears to be doing an even better job of identifying and locating the worst of the violent offenders.
If there were any Americans left in the nation unaware of how dangerous the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party has become, now they know. If Americans thought Trump was only a joke or a narcissist or a pompous ass, now they understand the kind of existential threat he poses to America’s constitutional democracy.
If it took a rampaging crowd behaving like a lynch mob to ring the alarm bells, so be it! I for one am GLAD because I know “deep in my heart” that the coming response will be measured, swift, and vigorous. We need not indulge petty fantasies of revenge-like retribution when the actual charges, convictions, and lengthy prison sentences will send a message that America stands for freedom, equality, and justice. We stand upon the Rock of our Country’s Founding. Let justice determine the punishment; it will be stern enough.
Americans will defend their country when right-wing insurrectionists threaten to destroy our democracy. Watch and learn: Americans are standing up to these right-wing white supremacists!
The election results stand whole and intact; the people have voted and elected the next president through majority rule . . . and the Benedict Arnold hiding in the White House stands exposed before the whole world as a betrayer of democracy. Let him reap his just deserts!
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