Yesterday we witnessed something that has not been done in America before. Don’t let anyone belittle it by telling you it has happened before when a State House was taken by racists more than an hundred years ago. They did not take the Capitol, and they did not try to force a national coup in opposition to the 8 million vote majority of the American people. Yesterday, a mob was incited by The President of the United States of America. Yesterday he knowingly riled them up against the Congress while they were working through a Constitutional;y mandated formality to certify the Election. All the while, he promised to go with them to the Capitol to stand in opposition, and then went home to The White House, and created with that, and the almost loose words he used, plausible deniability. It was the kind of wording we have heard before, during the Ukraine call. All the while, Ted Cruz initiated objections to State’s Elections, interfering with State’s Rights, and pretended he was just serving the interests of those who think there was voter fraud, of which there was no evidence and which Cruz himself said there were many instanced of allegations of voter fraud, which he and Trump and Trump’s loser lawyer made, and stirred among the tin hats of our country.
I almost made it to 50 before witnessing such a serious threat to our democracy. What I find wild is that I thought the people who did it were the nuts who for years complained that the government was coming for them. Instead, they came for the government, and they came for the majority of the American People.
There is talk of having Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment. That is a bad choice. It is designed to work for a President that is physically incapacitated. It is not designed for someone who will receive a letter saying “We think you cannot do your job,” and he can rebuke it with a simple letter back saying. “yes I can.” Furthermore, it ignores an important aspect of this crime, which is punishment. So we begin with impeachment. How long does it take to write up the reasons why, vote on it, and pass up on the discussion when the iron is hot and we all still feel the burn of it? Donald J Trump has committed an act of sedition. We all have born witness to it. His followers should bear the shame of it.
Yesterday, WHILE the Capitol incursion was happening, my child was on a group call with some students from her school. One boy was heard by me to say, “Donald Trump won the election, and there is nothing you can do about it.” I know that is just a child, but I am sure he reflects the teachings of his parents. “Nothing you can do about it?” I beg to differ. I don’t need to do much about it. His followers are hell bent to destroy this Democracy for the sake of an authoritarian. We have words for that kind of thing, and the one that comes in particular to mind is fascisms. I am reminded of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon. Trump cannot be allowed to. He needs to be removed, and prosecuted.
Free Speech is first enshrined in the Constitution, to protect the people from government retaliation. Understandably it has its limitations. Inciting a riot is one of them. Putting people in danger is not legal even under “free speech.” Encouraging a mob to go to the Capitol and putting an end to a Constitutional process is not legal.
And above all, I have to ask, why would anyone follow a leader who promised to go with, not to lead, then failed to do even that?
Yesterday was depressing. It was most of all depressing because it was plainly coming, and that has been apparent for years. It has been apparent for as many years as I have been telling my children that “this is not normal.” The behavior of the current President is not normal. It has not been for quite some time.
Trump has been working on this division for some time. He has been belittling “the Democrats” for years, calling them “the do nothing Democrats,” and treating his political opposition as though they were useless and did not matter, rather than as people who he was supposed to represent. He has had a team, and he has had an opposition, which has lead to this coup attempt. This has not been an accident. This is premeditated. And to those who say, “well, he’s just a fighter.” He has no grace. He is not suited to national leadership. He may have done fine in the military, but for those damned bone spurs.
There is so much more to say on the subject. But for now, I don’t care to. People better suited than me are in the position to actually DO something about it. That’s what matters. Our Democracy was threatened yesterday by a bunch of tin hat crazies who bought their hats off their dear leader, and they want to follow him. I do not. I want a government that acts in the interest of my needs, and the needs of every citizen. Not a dictator enshrined by people who have got to follow some higher power.
Lastly, Conservatives are always calling Liberals “snowflakes.” What was that blizzard on the Capitol yesterday?