Written on January 7, 2021
January 6, 2021 (Wednesday)
I am still trying to wrap my head around what happened today in the country I live in, the country I was born in, the country I love. I am not blindly patriotic, but I do think the United States has been, and has the potential to be again, a leader in the world. It will take a LOT of work, a LOT of each of us taking responsibility for upholding freedom and justice for all of us, and a LOT of being the adults we are supposed to be.
[These are my thoughts, but I have added quotes from Heather Cox Richardson, a scholar and historian, because she is so articulate.]
In November 2016, I wept after the election of Trump as president of the United States. I was afraid of what he could do, based on what he said during the campaign. Since he had never held public office, there was no record of his public service. I was shocked that someone so unqualified, so apparently narcissistic, could be elected Leader of the Free World.
But never, ever—in my darkest dreams—would I have ever imagined what happened today; when a sitting President of the United States incited insurrection. That happens in other countries. Not in the United States of America. I should not have been surprised or blindsided by the events, but I was. Who in their right mind thinks their leader is going to lead a coup in a democracy? And yet, Trump was enabled, from Day One, by GOP leaders and administration officials, by his Cabinet secretaries, and by ordinary Americans. Every. Single. Time he broke a law, he got away with it. Every single time he violated common practices, he got away with it. He was impeached for trying to bribe the leader of another country, and he got away with it. Just last Saturday, he forcefully “asked” officials in the state of Georgia to commit election fraud, and he got away with it. He told over 10,000 lies in his first year in office, and he got away with it. His response to the pandemic has been reckless, irresponsible, and pathetic…and he is getting away with it. He has done everything he can to cheapen, to destroy, the office of President of the United States…and he is getting away with it.
The majority of voters knew he was dangerous for our democracy and needed to go. We chose Joe Biden to replace him.
Operating under the guidelines set forth in the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, every four years Congress meets in Joint Session to certify the election of the president and the vice president. It’s usually a formality; the sitting vice president “opens” each letter of certification from each state, and if there are no objections (a member of the House and a member of the Senate must be involved in any objection), that state’s Electoral votes are counted. Usually takes less than an hour. We knew there would be objections this year; Trump loyalist Sen. Josh Hawley (who raised money off of his objection guarantee) said he would be joining House members in objecting to the (fair and legally certified) votes from Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. What a putz—this meant that, in the midst of a raging pandemic, this ceremonial process was going to go on for hours (each objection meant a return to chambers, and a potential two-hour debate before a vote).
I knew the day was going to be a long one, but being the political nerd I am, I looked forward to the speeches that defended the process and the Electoral vote (I did not look forward to the GOP speeches, which I knew would be full of lies, and I’d already heard those lies multiple times from the election loser). I knew, ultimately, that the process would run its’ course, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would be our next president and vice president. The nightmare would soon be over—on January 20th, in fact.
The day started off great—Raphael Warnock had won his race for Georgia senator, and Jon Ossoff was on track to win too—this would ensure a 50/50 split in the Senate, with the leadership going to DEMOCRATS!!
I had heard there was going to be a rally of Trump supporters in the morning (I had assumed it would be on the Mall, as most protests are. In fact, the rally was on The Ellipse (a park just south of the White House)). “Big deal,” I thought—there had already been two such rallies already, and they were poorly attended and full of a lot of lies and bluster. Trump was actually going to make an appearance though, which would energize the few hundred; I assumed that, although there were certainly going to be white supremist groups and the Proud Boys would make an appearance, there would be nothing to worry about. I listened to a bit of Trump’s speech, and it seemed like a typical rambling, incoherent stump speech. I didn’t even see that many people in the crowd—it was cold and windy, and who would want to put up with that??
Richardson says of the rally, “In the middle of the day, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd, telling them: “Let’s have trial by combat.” Trump followed, lying that he had won the election and saying “we are going to have to fight much harder.” He warned that Pence had better “come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.” He warned that Chinese-driven socialists are taking over the country. And he told them to march on Congress to “save our democracy.””
The Joint Session began at 1 p.m., and I listened to the proceedings as I worked. When they got to Arizona, Sen. Ted Cruz joined members of the House in baselessly contesting the election process and the vote tally. The Joint Session adjourned, and senators returned to their chamber to begin what could be a two-hour “debate” of these false claims. Oy, what a long afternoon it was going to be. I switched to coverage from C-SPAN, as they will just air the speeches without commentary; I watched every once in a while, but mostly listened.
About 2:20ish, it appeared that something irregular was going on. The audio from C-SPAN was cut, and there were a lot of people moving around on the Senate floor. Because there was no audio and no commentators, it was impossible to tell what was going on—it was clear that Vice President Pence was gone; no longer presiding. I checked Twitter, to see if anyone had posted anything, and what I read was chilling.
Turns out the words of the President of the United States had incited insurrection. Yes.
INNSURRECTION.
In Washington, D.C.
Over the next 2 hours, we watched various news channels, but every single image was stunning and absolutely unbelievable.
There was a mob, storming the Capitol Building of the United States of America. A violent mob. Hundreds of people, waving Trump flags and Confederate flags, screaming and attacking police. Breaking windows, smashing through doors, streaming into Statuary Hall and into the Rotunda of OUR Capitol Building.
WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY DOING??? AND WHY???
I watched as the doors to the House Chamber were barricaded, and police crouched behind the stack of chairs with guns drawn. I watched as members of the House put on gas masks, and were escorted to safety. More and more rioters pushed past police lines and barricades outside, broke more windows and doors, and forced their way into the Capitol. There were so many of them! Where were they all coming from???
I was watching an event, the equivalent of watching the events of 9/11, unfold on my computer screen. I was not there, but it was terrifying, and I felt so very scared. How did this happen? What were their goals? Were they going to kill members of Congress?
The mob, the thugs, the insurrectionists—then they breached
the Senate Chamber and the House Chamber. They dropped down from balconies,
they took selfies?!
The last time the Capitol was taken over was by the British….in 1812. Not even during the Civil War. And yet here was a stunning image: the Confederate flag, being carried by so many through the halls of Congress.
The bastards.
Richardson writes: “…a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Cruz, along with the rest of the lawmakers, was rushed to safety (four quick-thinking staffers brought along the electoral ballots, in their ceremonial boxes). As the rioters broke in, police shot and killed one of them: Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, QAnon believer, and staunch Trump supporter. The insurrectionists broke into the Senate chamber, where one was photographed on the dais of the Senate, shirtless and wearing a bull costume that revealed a Ku Klux Klan tattoo on his abdomen. They roamed the Capitol looking for Pence and other lawmakers they considered enemies. Not finding them, they ransacked offices. One rioter photographed himself sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet on it. Capitol police provided little obstruction, apparently eager to avoid confrontations that could be used as propaganda on social media. The intruders seemed a little surprised at their success, taking selfies and wandering around like tourists. One stole a lectern.”
So unbelievable. An assault, instigated by the President of the United States, on the Capitol! And the police seemed to be outnumbered. No tear gas, no riot gear, so few officers—unlike the Black Lives Matter marches in the summer, when Trump called out the National Guard AND the military AND some guys who wore all black, wore no identifying badges, and who were herding people into unmarked black vans. The mayor of DC could only do so much with the personnel she had. Getting no help from the Defense Department (even though these were federal lawmakers under attack, the president issued no orders. He was silent), she turned to surrounding states and localities for police officers. Then, FINALLY…
Richardson: “… acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller issued a statement saying he had conferred with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and had fully activated the D.C. National Guard.
He did not mention the president. “
Meanwhile, the rioters were looting, a woman (a veteran and
a Q-Anon follower) had been shot and killed, and the whole world watched the
chaos. Fortunately, fortunately, fortunately…the rioters did not
seem to have a coordinated plan beyond breaking into the Capitol. Having been
to the Capitol Building myself, I can only image that the rioters were as
awestruck as I am every time I walk into the People’s Building. The sheer
grandeur of the Rotunda, the beauty of Statuary Hall, the artwork (“Please
don’t let them destroy the priceless art,” I thought), the solidness of the
marble floors and walls, the sense of history—all must have struck them as they
stormed up stairs and down hallways. I say this because as I watched them
swagger into the House and the Senate chambers, the rioters suddenly
appeared…subdued. They seemed to wonder what they were really doing there. Oh
sure, there were those who were photographing papers still left on desks, but
for the most part, they just sat down. That’s it, thank the heavens—they just
sat. Then they left.
“WHERE is the president???” I shouted. “Why isn’t he saying something….anything!” It was truly unnerving, to know that this mob was inspired by the Leader of the Free World, and he was completely and utterly silent as mobs destroyed the Capitol.
Richardson: “As the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security all remained silent, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke to cameras urging calm and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to go home. But CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins later reported that she spoke to White House officials who were “genuinely freaked… out” that Trump was “borderline enthusiastic” about the storming of the Capitol because “it meant the certification was being derailed.””
Let that sink in. The president was “enthusiastic” about riotous insurrectionists. Thank goodness for President Joe Biden (let’s just call him that, because he WAS); his words were calm, articulate, and a voice of reason during absolute chaos.
FINALLY, just after 4, Trump spoke via video, repeating his
false claims that he had been cheated of victory. He concluded by saying: “Go
home, we love you, you’re very special.” Twitter found this video so offensive,
they immediately took it down, stating it could incite more violence.
Richardson: “By nighttime Trump’s Twitter feed seemed to blame his enemies for the violence the president had incited (although the rhythm of the words did not sound to me like Trump’s own usual cadence): “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Twitter took down the tweet and banned the president for at least twelve hours for inciting violence; Facebook and Instagram followed suit.”
Trump was cut off from communication, thank goodness. The rioters started to leave the Capitol—apparently when you are not given a set of goals, you don’t know what else to do with yourself.
Richardson: “At 8:00, heavily armed guards escorted the lawmakers back to the Capitol, thoroughly scrubbed by janitors, where the senators and representatives resumed their counting of the certified votes. The events of the afternoon had broken some of the Republicans away from their determination to challenge the votes. Fourteen Republican senators had announced they would object to counting the certified votes from Arizona; in the evening count the number dropped to six: Cruz (R-TX), Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
In the House, 121 Republicans, more than half the Republican caucus, voted to throw out Biden’s electors from Arizona. As in the Senate, they lost when 303 Representatives voted in favor.
Six senators and more than half of the House Republicans backed an attempt to overthrow our government, in favor of a man caught on tape just four days ago trying to strong-arm a state election official into falsifying the election results….White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged people to stay away from Trump to limit their chances of being prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. By midnight, four staffers had resigned, as well as Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, with other, higher level officials also talking about leaving. Even Trump adviser Stephen Miller admitted it was a bad day. Quickly, pro-Trump media began to insist that the attack was a false-flag operation of “Antifa,” despite the selfies and videos posted by known right-wing agitators, and the fact that Trump had invited, incited, and praised them.
Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis laid the blame for today’s attack squarely at the feet of Trump himself: “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, and effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”
The attempted coup drew condemnation from all but the radical Trump supporters in government. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement “on insurrection at the Capitol,” saying “it is a sickening and heartbreaking sight.” “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election,” he said, and accused such leaders of enflaming the rioters with lies and false hopes. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was more direct: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”
Across the country tonight are calls for Trump’s removal through the 25th amendment, impeachment, or resignation. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus, writing to Pence urging him to invoke the 25th. Angry at Trump’s sabotaging of the Georgia elections in addition to the attack on our democracy, prominent Republicans are rumored to be doing the same.”
At 1:30 this morning, I turned off C-SPAN, disgusted that there were still members of Congress who would support the lies of a president who had almost pulled off a coup. The United States is still standing, but this one man, aided by so many, nearly destroyed her. Nearly.
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