Six Months after the January 6th Insurrection …or Preamble?
By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.
Maybe it’s been the joy of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being in office; the relief of living a semi-normal life thanks to Covid19 vaccines; or simply the prolonged utter disbelief and profound shock at having witnessed a violent, murderous mob attack the US Capitol, but it doesn’t quite register that Trump’s MAGA insurrection happened six months ago.
Most likely it’s because January 6, 2021 has been stuck on a continues “Ground Hog’s Day” loop in the media due to half of Congress whose lives were under direct threat, who’s own sitting Vice President was being singled out for execution want to ignore it happened. Republicans want to ignore it because it was another failure by Donald J. Trump.
Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and every other Republican who has voted against the second impeachment, the bipartisan commission and/or the House Select Committee are not trying to whitewash history, they’re “orangewashing” it. They’re protecting the “Republican Jesus” not only to please him but to appease his followers. Seventy percent of their party still believe he won the election. That’s their reality and it isn’t going to change. The ongoing Arizona “fraudit” is their “smoking ballot” that will change everything, and Trump will be reinstated as POTUS next month. Never mind that reinstatement is not even a thing.
The one thing Republicans have excelled at in the last six months is proposing and enacting more than 389 pieces of voter suppression legislation in 47 states, even in states as blue as New York. Their “voter integrity” bills are based on “The Big Lie,” that there was massive voter fraud in 2020, which no one including Bill Barr could find. While painted as racially motivated, and they are; frequently overlooked is the backend force. It gives almost absolute power to state legislatures and judges to overturn the final vote if they don’t agree with it or at the mere suggestion of fraud.
Right now on the West side of the US Capitol.
(? Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/1FxSN5Ugc7
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) January 6, 2021
But to many of us, in the last six months it doesn’t appear like there has been much accountability for those who ransack, defiled, and defaced the Capitol or were involved with it by law enforcement and the DOJ. There have been 500+ arrests many of whom are being held pre-trial but many of whom are getting released for pathetic reasons. It’s been reported three Oath Keepers have decided to plead guilty and become cooperating witnesses, but the first trials don’t begin until late January 2022.
Most of the new and horrifying information that has come to light so far has been from journalists and White House insiders who are starting to reveal the depths to which the former President was willing to go retain power. What’s more it’s sickening to learn just how many around him were willing to aid and abet his treasonous efforts. Even more so is seeing exactly how close the insurrectionist came to succeeding in overthrowing our democracy.
But as more and more of the truth comes out and inevitably the facts and identities of people behind the insurrections are brought into the light, there will need to be accountability. It will become the proverbial “unstoppable force” and will meet the “immovable object” of that 70% who believe the election was stolen. What then?
A veteran with a brilliant political mind has been telling me for months to “prepare for civil war.” He spent nearly a decade in combat and has witnessed civil war, so he does not speak in hyperbole or say that lightly. I hate when he says it, but I have to wonder if January 6th wasn’t already the preamble.
Trump likes to compare himself to Lincoln
Among so many other differences, one of the things Lincoln accomplished was keeping the Confederate Flag out of the U.S. Capitol #RemoveTrumpNow#ArrestThemAll pic.twitter.com/bkHt9ZuSMM
— Robin ❤️???? (@rob0349) January 7, 2021
(main photo: video still via NBC)
