Capitol Records
Our republic was attacked on January 6. Where do we go from here?
WHEN JOHN WILKES BOOTH shot Abraham Lincoln, he exclaimed, “Sic semper tyrannis.” That is the state motto of Virginia, and it means, “Thus always to tyrants.” Booth fervently believed that the democratically-elected President of the United States was a power-mad despot, and that, by killing him, he was liberating his countrymen from tyranny. In his sick mind, he was a hero. In reality, he was an angry white supremacist, radicalized by false grievance: MAGA 1.0. He fell for the Big Lie of the 1860s—just as his spiritual descendants fell for the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from their Führer, Donald John Trump.
I keep referencing the mid-nineteenth century because the Civil War is the only precedent in our nation’s history to what’s happening right now. “Stupid Watergate,” we jokingly called it, but Trump has gone far beyond the wildest excesses of Richard Nixon. The republic is under attack—present tense. The peaceful transition of power, which took place even in 1860, is in jeopardy. Troops are bivouacked in the Capitol. The lame-duck president, an inveterate criminal, wants to remain in office, mostly to avoid prosecution. Whether motivated by cynical political calculation, rank delusion, authoritarian radicalism, coercion, or fear for their family’s lives, the lion’s share of a once-proud political party—ironically, the Party of Lincoln—has thrown in with him. Republicans failed to remove Trump a year ago; 400,000 Americans are dead because of their failure. Granted a second chance to do the right thing, most of the GOP balked.
Last Wednesday, a coup attempt came a hair’s breadth away from succeeding. The collaborators sought to, first, stop the electoral votes from being counted, because Trump had been told, wrongly, that this would prevent Joe Biden from taking office (by the same lousy low-rent lawyer who wrote the Kamala Harris birther attack in Newsweek!); and second, hunt down and execute Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and possibly Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, so that Trump could resign and be pardoned by unctuous lapdog Mike Pompeo, who as Secretary of State is fourth in line to the presidency. If the second part sounds conspiratorial, I ask: Why else had Q whisperer Lin Wood called for the VP’s execution? Why else were there gallows erected outside? Why else would the Secret Service have whisked Pence away? The besiegers were seeking out Mike Pence, and they were seeking out Nancy Pelosi—and they made it into the latter’s offices, terrorizing her young staffers, smashing her mirror, and making off with her fucking laptop. What do we think these berserkers would have done if they had found her there? Shared a pot of tea? Binged Downton Abbey? Quilted?
Again: January 6 was an attempt to do harm to leaders in the presidential line of succession. This is no small thing. It’s not something we can gloss over because of “unity.” It’s the worst attack by secessionists since Lee surrendered. And only by the grace of God, and the heroic acts of police like Eugene Goodman, were we spared a bloodbath.
That coup attempt was instigated by a number of powerful players, including the President, members of his family, his personal attorney, two sitting Senators, a cabal of seditious House Representatives, various and sundry alt-right personalities, and the wife of a sitting Supreme Court Justice. Three sitting Congressmen coordinated with the event’s organizer. At least one, Lauren Boebert, tweeted out Pelosi’s location during the besieging, directly violating orders by the security detail. The day before, members of Congress allegedly gave a recon tour of the warren of hallways in the Senate to some of the attackers, who came with schematic maps and seemed to know exactly where to go to find key individuals. Even now, with additional security members in place, some gun-happy members of Congress, all vocal supporters of “Stop the Steal,” are refusing to walk through metal detectors. Rep. Madison “Dr. Strangelove as a Young Man” Cawthorn claims he was packing heat during the besieging; given his lusty support of “Stop the Steal,” Donald John Trump, Adolf Hitler, and firearms, we should be grateful he didn’t take out Pelosi himself.
Certainly there were people on the inside with some inkling of what was happening. Ali Alexander, the alt-right dipshit who helped organize the “Stop the Steal” rally, confessed that three members of Congress helped him plan the event: Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar. This remarkable video by the photojournalist Sandi Bachom shows that the attack on the Capitol was well orchestrated; group leaders with megaphones issued commands, which the rank-and-file followed. And the police did not arrive on the scene until it was too late:
And here we are.
It took a besieging of the Capitol for Nancy Pelosi to mobilize for a second impeachment. But mobilize she did. Indeed, the House went from being attacked by the MAGA terrorists to voting to impeach the President in less than a week. There are many reasons for pursuing this path to its conclusion, but one of the most obvious is to get the traitors on record. History will show that contemptible scoundrels like Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Devin Nunes, and Elise Stefanik voted to keep the tyrant in power.
Now the baton is passed to the Senate, where Trump’s removal requires a two-thirds vote—unlikely, given the composition of that deliberative body, but hardly impossible. Every day that goes by we learn another gruesome detail about the January 6 besieging of the Capitol. People are horrified—even people who voted for Trump a second time. It will be fascinating to watch what unfolds, especially if the trial begins when Chuck Schumer, and not Mitch McPurplehands, is Majority Leader.
Part of the horror of January 6 is the realization that the MAGA army was not all obvious lunatics. It is just beginning to dawn on us how many quote-unquote normal people participated in the protest and the besieging of the Capitol. Yes, there were Proud Boys there, and neo-Nazis in “Camp Auschwitz” t-shirts, and religious whackos, and Alex Jones and his bad-comic-book-supervillain voice, and the Whole Foods Q Shaman guy. But there were plenty of folks at the riot who, in a different context, wouldn’t immediately compel you to swipe left. Take this dude:
Once upon a time, I’m told, he was perfectly nice, “a REALLY sweet guy.” He’s a high school gymnastics coach. He has an ex-girlfriend and a daughter in elementary school. How are his little girl and her mother going to reconcile what they know of this man with the marauder who brought a police shield to the insurrection? What are all the kids he coached going to think? (And yes, the FBI knows who he is). This is one example, but Trump cultists came from all across the country to participate in an egregious violation of law that they, like John Wilkes Booth, stupidly believed was ridding the nation of tyranny—when it was doing the exact opposite.
About participants flying in from around the country: We have also not even begun to unpack that the besieging happened during a pandemic, and few of the participants were wearing masks. Worse even than falling for the Big Lie of “Stop the Steal,” in my mind, is believing that all the world’s doctors and scientists and journalists and statisticians are lying about the clear and present danger of covid-19. Four hundred thousand Americans are dead, and still these MAGA nincompoops insist it’s a hoax. The January 6 rally/riot was a superspreader event. Folks went to DC, caught the virus, and brought it back to their hometowns. In another week, we’ll see the result of that in the grim charts—and Trump will blame it on Biden.
The events of January 6 comprised an attack on our republic, the likes of which have not befallen this nation since the Civil War. And the perpetrators of this ghastly crime, this desecration of our sacred space, must not get off lightly—even if all they did was wander around the halls, even if they are a high school gymnastics coach and this was a first offense.
As I see it, the (mostly white) men and women who participated in the besieging of the Capitol waived their U.S. citizenship the instant they penetrated the building. It is one thing to peacefully protest outside—that is lawful and protected. But once the Rubicon was crossed, these secessionists became not Americans but enemy combatants. They should be treated accordingly. It would be ironic if the QAnon crew, who for years have promised to send the Clintons, the Obamas, and Rick Wilson (for some reason) to Gitmo, wound up there themselves.
Me, I hold with these sentiments:
On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic.
Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.I will vote to impeach the President.
The Squad-loving radical socialist member of Congress who wrote those stirring words? Liz Cheney, one of just ten House Republicans who voted to impeach. Strange bedfellows indeed!
Trump is a petty, greedy despot who has egregiously violated, again and again, his promise to defend the United States. Now he has instigated a coup. He must be removed from office, prosecuted for his heinous crimes, and remanded to ADX Florence for the rest of his miserable life.
Thus always to tyrants.
Photo credit: Robert Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views, New York Public Library. U.S. Capitol in 1865.
The zealotry is indicative of mental illness, akin to that of followers who met their excruciating end at Jonestown. Trump refers to “the movement” in the same terms and with the same fervor and fanaticism as the leader who commanded those troubled souls to leave their happy homes, follow him blindly and drink his kool-aid. There is NO difference.
Expose “the movement”. Then pull its legs off. The process has begun: Trump is losing his beloved golf tournament. The name will be a curse and the brand pure garbage. Those who stood by his side and enabled the squandering of America will find it impossible to return to any vestige of a happy and reasonable life. Jared called Hollywood looking to resituate his flailing staff. Unless it’s Hollywood UAE he doesn’t have a shot and neither do they. Corporate America says NIMBY. And so go the rest of us.
Those who commit crimes must be held to account. Our laws must be enforced. Our police must be protected. All those who incited, encouraged or enabled them (including members of Congress) must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When they leave prison they should be banned and shunned, lose all privileges and wear an invisible Scarlet T for treason.
But we cannot hate them all.
This is the time we must look to medicine and brain science for answers. Dr Bandy Lee and others have them. Once treated with disdain and scorned by even the most open minded of media, she is finally being credited as the visionary she is.
We cannot shame and shun them all. Our country needs mass deprogramming. Let the experts lead.
DAY 9 of the U.S. CAPITOL ATTACK
First of all, I want to say that Greg, you don't have to present your case from a defensive position. I presume you are getting flak for your case elsewhere in your world, perhaps Twitter, wherever you hang out in your favorite forum, hence the defensive posture.
You haven't presented anything questionable or unjustifiable.
The problem is this: all of us are in shock. No one wants to believe, present company included, that an armed and organized insurrection against our democratic institutions and democratically elected leaders has just occurred. It takes time to move from denial and disbelief to acceptance of an unpleasant (horrifying, shocking, disturbing, deeply distressing) reality.
We are learning more and more about the workings of Trump's U.S. Capitol attack with each passing day. So from one day to the next, new information is coming out about the extent of the attack. Each day, we are having to adjust our perspective of what really happened here.
It takes time to accept a truth so horrible.
It is Day 9 after the attack. Someone out there should be keeping count, like Brian Williams on MSNBC keeps count of Day XXX of the Trump Administration.
I say again, it is Day 9 of the U.S. Capitol Attack.
From the day of the attack, I have been deeply disturbed. So has my wife. So have a lot of people. Long before we had any real information at all about the nature of the attack, we have been deeply disturbed. This event is all-consuming. This event has pushed aside other projects and activities in our lives, because it's such a big deal.
Now we are all beginning to understand the reason for the depth of the shock, the reason why we have felt so deeply disturbed. Notice I use the word "beginning." We are still in the beginning stages of seeing the depth and breadth of this horrifying event.
When was the last time members of Congress conspired with radicals and extremists, oh, and just an afterthought, the President himself, to attempt to overthrow our democracy in order to get their way?
The Civil War.
The Civil War is an apt historical reference point, because maybe we didn't realize it, but the Civil War is still alive and well. The Civil War never ended. It just turned into a Cold War, an underground war.
You may think, "What is this fool saying? We don't have slavery anymore. We don't have Union generals fighting Confederate generals."
The Civil War is a social struggle, a power struggle between two social orders. The old social order of whites-first, males-first, straights-first vs. the new egalitarian social order. Red and Blue. Red = whites, males and straights come first, they get special privileges and benefits over non-whites, females, and non-straights. Conversely, Blue = human equality, all humans have equal rights and privileges.
Of course we are not limited to just the 3 categories listed here. Ancestry and ethnicity goes along with racial heritage.
My wife was watching all this on TV as it happened. She saw the man with the Camp Auschwitz T-shirt in motion, in action. She saw the back of his T-shirt. Know what it says?
"Staff"
Camp Auschwitz Staff
What do Lauren Boebert, the other members of Congress who are complicit, the men with the plastic handcuffs destined to capture Pence and Pelosi and others, our dearly beloved and dearly departed President, and Mr. Staff Person at Auschwitz have in common?
They want desperately to maintain the old social order.
They want to return to the past, when whites came first and when Blacks, Jews, women and non-straights (and yes non-Christians) could be dominated and persecuted.
Yes, we are in the middle of a civil war, a war in our society, a war between 2 opposing sides with mutually exclusive positions.
Which side are you on?