I’m glad the Insurrection happened!
In a way, I was glad—very glad—when trump’s white supremacists attempted their little Insurrection on yesterday. Why? Because for four years, some of us have been asking the question “What will it take?” to make people (including the media) understand the dangers of trump and trumpism.
Now, it appears that we know.
They didn’t “get it” when he praised the rightwing neo-nazis in Charlottesville. Nor when he downplayed coronavirus and said it would soon go away. Nor when he encouraged Americans not to wear masks or social distance. Nor when he said if he lost the election it would be because of cheating. Nor when he paid hush money to cover up his adultery with porn stars. Nor when he retweeted a message calling Biden a pedophile, or when he alleged Biden is on drugs. Nor when he scared suburbanites by claiming Corey Booker would soon be leading hoards of homeless Black people into their neighborhoods. Nor with any of his misogynistic slurs. Nor when he refused to commit to a non-violent transition of power. Nor when he insulted Gold Star Parents, disabled people and John McCain. Nor when he attacked the American Intelligence Community. Nor when he insulted everyone he considered his enemies. Nor when he fired James Comey. Nor when he claimed Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election, or that Russia did not hack into U.S. computers. Nor when he defended the sexual predator, Roy Moore (birds of a feather…). Nor when he banned transgender people from the military. Nor when he called for Hillary Clinton to be locked up. Nor when he tried to blackmail Georgian president Zelensky in his “perfect” phone call (which got him impeached). Nor when he tried to fire Robert Mueller. Nor when he and his family made millions by abusing the power of his office. Nor when he spent half his term in office playing golf, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Nor when he threatened the Georgia Secretary of State for not calling the election for him. Nor when he pardoned convicted criminals from RussiaGate and probable war criminals from Blackwater. Not when he vetoed the Defense Bill because it didn’t call for an investigation into the 2020 election. Nor when he repeatedly threatened the media and called reporters the enemy of the people. Not when he told 20,000 lies (and counting). Nor when he refused to accept Biden’s victory. Nor when he showed, again and again and again, how unfit he is to hold office.
Not one of those things turned Republicans against him. Nor was the media of much use. For years, they pretended that in order to be “fair and unbiased” and present “both sides,” they had to treat trump’s lies and the Truth as equivalent. It wasn’t until a year or so ago that the New York Times even started calling trump a liar, and it wasn’t until some months ago that MSNBC started using the word “lie” instead of “mischaracterization.” So day after day, night after night as this nightmare rolled on and it became apparent that trump was planning something dreadful post-election, some of us kept asking the question: “What will it take?”
On Wednesday, we found out. An armed Insurrection, inspired and incited by Trump.
Now, a few Republicans are crying crocodile tears. Mitch McConnell. Chris Christie. John Kelly. Bill Barr. George W. Bush. Liz Cheney. Stephanie Grisham. Sens. Tom Cotton, Richard Burr, Roy Blunt. John Thune, Pat Toomey and Kelly Loeffler. Well, here’s my message to them: TOO FUCKING LITTLE, TOO FUCKING LATE. You collaborated with trump, aided and abetted his criminal regime for years. You saw the violence, and you kept silent and said and did NOTHING because it was in your interests. And now, suddenly, you’ve seen the light?
Well, the optimistic way of looking at this is, Better late than never. Somebody said, years ago, that everything Trump touches, he destroys. Now, these enablers are realizing that they, too, were played for fools. But that’s why I say that Wednesday’s Trump Insurrection made me very glad. Now they see. Now they all know what some of us have been warning them about for many years. I don’t know what the Republicans in Congress will do, in the 12 days trump has left in office: the 25th amendment, impeachment, censure. Probably they’ll do exactly what they’ve done all along: nothing. But their reputations are trashed, the Republican Party may be on its last legs, and as for Cruz and Hawley, the new Democratic Senate (thank you, Lord!) had better have the cojones to expel them.
* * *
Trump’s speech to the proud boys, immediately prior to the Jan. 6 Insurrection: Of course he started by trashing the Republican Party. Of course he played the victim. Of course he repeated his outrage about Pence—“All he has to do” is to trash the Constitution and declare trump the winner. Of course he felt sorry for himself. Of course he told his millionth lie: “Biden lost the election in a landslide.” Of course he pretended to love America. Of course he postured, Mussolini-like, with jutting chin and puffed-up chest. Of course he hated on the press. Of course he promised not the rename the Washington Monument. Of course he predicted “really bad things” from the Biden administration. Of course he praised Giuliani—“New Yorkers want you back!”, just after “America’s Mayor” called for “trial by combat.” Of course he pretended to care about American democracy when he has done his best to destroy it. Of course he called the pandemic a “fraud.” Of course he delegitimized Biden and said Democrats have gotten away with “election fraud” when there was none. Of course he revealed his resentment against “weak Republicans” who haven’t supported his coup e’etat, which he knew was just moments away from being launched. Of course he pandered to his cult followers: “You’re not the people who tore down our country,” even as they prepared to do just that. Of course he urged his proud boys “to fight,” in a reprise of “stand by.” Of course he called mail-in ballots “a scam.” Of course the election was “a theft.” Of course he repeated his lie about “fake ballots” in the middle of the night. Of course he again insulted Romney. Of course he resorted to his usual hyperbole: “In the history of this country no election was ever less fair.” He couldn’t help repeating one of his ugliest slurs: “The media is the enemy of the people.”
And then, instead of marching down the avenue with his proud boys, he motored back to the West Wing, where fried chicken and donuts were waiting, and he watched the thugs inspired by his egging-on assault the Capitol. Now Donald J. Trump is a pariah. And if nothing else, this outrage should cause Joe Biden to change his mind about making nice with Republicans. No more talk of kumbaya, of reconciliation. For Hawley and Cruz, for Gohmert and McCarthy, for Giuliani and Bannon and all their ilk, it’s time for Justice and Retribution.
