This afternoon in Washington, D.C., as members of Congress counted the electoral college ballots inside the Capitol, Donald Trump’s supporters gathered outside for a “stop the steal” rally, where speaker after speaker told them that, at that very moment, our elected officials were conspiring on behalf of Joe Biden to rob their beloved president of a second term that he’d rightfully won. At one point, the President’s persona, attorney Rudy Giuliani took the stage to urge a “trial by combat” to overturn the 2020 election results. At another, the President himself addressed those gathered. “We will never give up,” he said. “We will never concede. It will never happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore.” And, with that, the mob turned upon the Capitol, scaling walls, smashing windows, and eventually forcing their way in, causing elected officials to flee, and temporarily stopping the federal certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Here’s some of the footage.
Whoa: Trump supporters going at it with the police on the steps of the Capitol as Congress counts the Electoral College ballots inside pic.twitter.com/LiQhaa5KkQ
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 6, 2021
There are a lot of different ways we could go with this conversation. We could talk about the way these pro-Trump terrorists were treated compared to the peaceful protestors at Lafayette Square Park a few months ago, who were disbursed with tear gas and bullets when the President wanted to have his photo taken holding a bible in front of a church. Or how different the scene today might have played out, had those people forcing their way into the Capitol been black supporters of Barack Obama, for instance, as opposed to the white supporters of Donald Trump. Or we could talk about whether what we saw today was technically an insurrection, a coup attempt, or an act of sedition. Or we could talk, as many are today, about the fact that Colin Kaepernick was labeled anti-American by the President and others for having the audacity to “take knee” before a football game to protest police brutality, when these self-professed “patriots” were literally smashing windows to get at our elected officials, and occupying the floor of the U.S. Senate. Here, by the way, are just a few of the photos documenting what had happened.
My inclination is to focus on those in Congress who helped lay the groundwork for what we saw play out today — those who could have taken action earlier, but instead chose to play along — those who now seem genuinely horrified by what’s come to pass, but still lack the self-awareness to see that they actually helped create this situation. Specifically, I’m thinking of Lindsey Graham, Liz Cheney, Mitch McConnell and Will Hurd, but there are others. All of them knew how how this would end, and yet they went along. (Graham, according to Georgia election officials, even interceded on Trump’s behalf to push for legal ballots to be thrown out.) They could have spoken up and done the courageous thing when it would have made a difference. They could have joined the likes of Justin Amash and Mitt Romney, but they put their own careers ahead of the county, and chose to do nothing. And, now, they want us to believe that they’re absolutely horrified at what’s taking place, like we never could have conceived such an outcome.
Mitch McConnell: "If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral. We'd never see the whole nation accept an election again. Every four years, there'd be a scramble for power at any cost." https://t.co/wTKxzqAo9U pic.twitter.com/qTNeA6PeNQ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2021
Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks amid debate on Electoral College objections: "Trump and I, we had a hell of a journey. I hate it being this way. … all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough. I tried to be helpful." https://t.co/GhkjZZLbSO pic.twitter.com/AhkEO1J4D7
— ABC News (@ABC) January 7, 2021
.@Liz_Cheney: “there’s no question the president formed the mob. The president incited the mob. The president address the mob. He lit the flame.”
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) January 7, 2021
But at least they’re accepting the reality of the situation, unlike Matt Gaetz, who just had the audacity to say on the floor of the House that, “some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.” There’s a special place in hell for him and the six Senators (“the seditious six”) today who voted against the certification of the electoral college vote (Cruz, Hawley, Hyde-Smith, Kennedy, Marshall, Tuberville).
Gaetz should be censured and loss his position on every committee. https://t.co/gnONv0NFVD
— Amy Siskind
(@Amy_Siskind) January 7, 2021
(@Amy_Siskind)
As I mentioned Romney and Amash earlier, here are quotes today from both. While I don’t agree with either on much, I respect them both immensely for standing up to Trump, knowing that it would put them at odds with their party.
As for Trump, he was given an opportunity to talk to the terrorists who had stormed the Capitol, and urge them to leave. And, while he did suggest that they leave, he also talked about how the election had been stolen from him, and how much he loved those who have taken over the Capitol. “We love you. You’re very special,” he said. He also posted the following online. Eventually, however, all of the major social media platforms pulled his posts.
And, now, as a result of all of this, one woman is dead. A Qanon believer by the name of Ashli Babbit was shot and killed today during the siege at the Capitol. According to the Daily Beast, she was in D.C. because she wanted to be there for “The Storm”, the day when it was predicted that Trump would arrest and execute his demonic, child-eating political rivals. Here’s a clip.
On Jan. 5, a day before her death, Babbitt tweeted references to another QAnon slogan, “dark to light,” and said the United States would soon see “The Storm”—a moment much awaited by QAnon followers, in which Trump would execute his opponents in the Democratic Party.
Babbit, like other QAnon followers gathered outside Congress on Wednesday, appeared to believe that the apocalyptic moment was at hand.
“They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light!” Babbit wrote…
I could go on. I need to sleep, though. It’s all too surreal. I never would have thought that I’d see the day that the Capitol would be overrun, and I’d be reading tweets from elected officials hiding in their offices. It’s all so fucking insane. And I can’t imagine what still lies ahead of us, as Donald Trump still has two more weeks in office. There’s word tonight that high level Republicans are finally organizing to see him removed from office, whether by invoking the 25th amendment, or by way of impeachment. One hopes that happens, and happens quickly, before things escalate even further. Word is that he’s beginning to lose his grip. Three White House staffers have already walked out today, and one gets the sense that a long-awaited shift against Trump is finally starting to take hold.
update: Trump, while still not conceding, finally said that there would be a peaceful transition of power. How insane is it that it took this long?
