The shameful, bloody attack of the People’s House, our nation Capitol must be called for what it was – a coup, an insurrection incited by President Donald Trump and his enablers, and executed by his radical supporters, right-wing fringe elements.
And why? Insurrectionists believed in the big lie that the 2020 presidential election was wrought with fraud, contrary to all facts and evidence. We have the who and why. But the what is even more compelling that a seditious act was committed. What did they do?
*Disrupt and attempt to prevent the certification of the Electoral College
*Seek out to harm elected officials: Vice President Mike Pence (chants of hang Pence) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (ample audio recordings of violent threats to her); both of whom are the number one and two successors to the presidency
*Assaulted law enforcement, and killed one officer
*Trespassed, looted, and destroyed propertyMake no mistake the Capitol siege could have ended far worse, and potentially have resulted in a massacre of our entire leadership. Repeat: our nation’s entire leadership could have been wiped out.
This is the gravity of what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, a day that will be forever be seared in the memories of those who lived to witness it, be written in history books and taught to our children, their children, and succeeding generations.
What else will be taught?
That Trump was held accountable for the insurrection via an impeachment (his second one). We shall see later, if he is convicted by the US Senate, which would bar him from running for any public office.
The Senate should move to convict even if it is for one reason alone – to remove this dangerous threat to our country so that he can no longer harness destruction ever again. Trump needs to be constraint in a constitutional straight jacket.
Accountability Before Moving Forward
Any lawmaker in good conscious should not turn this into a bipartisan issue and not use the excuse of some false greater good to unite the people, to heal and to move forward. The question begs: where were Republicans when Trump was tearing our nation apart with divisive policies and rhetoric? Why the sudden urgency for unity and national cohesion? Four years have passed and many sectors of society were at the receiving end of hate, discrimination, and violence.
Immigrant communities were targeted and killed in El Paso, TX because of dangerous, divisive anti-immigrant rhetoric. Asian communities were targeted with violence because of Trump’s Wu Han virus rhetoric. Black athletes who protested by taking a knee were demonized for protesting policing violence on their community. BLM protestors were beaten on the streets in their calls for justice. Children were being separated from their parents and placed in separate detention centers for days, weeks, months – an act of inhumanity that roused anger cross-sectionally among both sides of the political spectrum.
Where were you, then? And why weren’t you calling for healing and unity, then?
Before any progress can take place there has to be accountability. Anything short of that is really political preservation.
And accountability must be exacted not just onto Trump to bear, but those who voted against the certification of the Electoral College, the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. These “bad” actors must be either asked to resign or, at the very least, censured. Why? If there were no lawmakers agreeing to do Trump’s bidding in Congress by rejecting the certification, there would have been no protest to begin with, no storming of the Capitol, and no deaths.
Right-wing Radicals and their False Grievance
The writing of history will be a greater stain of shame when future generations learn about the treasonous groups that were aligned with this disgraced, twice-impeached President.
Capitol insurrectionists included white supremacists, QAnon (conspiracy theorists), the Proud Boys (thugs), and arguably most dangerous among them, militia groups — people who epitomize entitlement.
There were no legitimate grievance here.
A protestor was caught on film saying that they had no choice but to take matters into their own hands that day. He said the Supreme Court would not help them, the states were not helping them, the courts were not helping them. They had no choice.
Imagine if other groups with far more legitimate grievances had that mentality of entitlement and criminal audacity to do what these rioters did.
Who are they? Our Black, Brown and immigrant communities, the LGBTQ community, the families whose loved ones were murdered by gun violence, the women who were denied the right to vote or have control of their own bodies — the truly disenfranchised groups who for generations (emphasize here generations) were denied justice by the courts and legislatures over and over again.
Compare these Americans struggle to the entitled rioters who feel they were disenfranchised by last year’s election on false premises. An example must be made. Rioters must be convicted and charged. The President must be convicted in the Senate.
Radicalism must not be normalized. The President chose his own destiny when he decided not to act on a peaceful transition of power as every president had done before him.
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