It was bad enough when Democrats and their media cronies used hyperbole to elevate a riot into an insurrection. Then it was an unsuccessful coup attempt to seize control of the government by force and install President Trump as some sort of dictator for life.
Realizing that even those claims were not getting millions of people (voters) from abandoning the Republican Party, the crazies on the left are now peddling an ongoing coup attempt that will take down the American Republic if Republicans gain control of Congress or a local school board.
First, allow me to describe what I saw on January 6, 2021 – and since.
I saw a very large crowd of people exercising their constitutional right to assemble and protest. I saw a number of Republican officials – including President Trump – encouraging the protestors to stay strong.
They used fighten’ words … in a political context. We often call on our people to “fight.” We “target” political adversaries. We tell people to kick our political adversaries in the ass. We even profess to get so angry we could kill another person. Of course, none of that is to be taken literally.
Perhaps Trump’s and others’ language was too bold in retrospect. That can be fairly debated.
From my armchair, I saw the protest get out of hand. I saw a riot develop – egged on by a small number of provocateurs. It appeared that there were some bad actors in the crowd promoting the breaching of a weak security perimeter.
It was obvious from the onset that there were not enough security forces to hold back the rioters. The inadequacy of the defense forces, in and of itself, seemed to be a major factor in the ability of the protestors-turned-rioters to push back the Capitol Hill police – or even find gaps in the security permitter – and enter the building. The lack of security arguably encourages the mob to seize the opportunity to enter the Capitol Building.
I saw throngs of rioters running upstairs and down hallways and one security guard ran away in retreat. I saw other rioters using flat polls and fists to break through doorways and windows to gain entrance – occasionally fighting back police. I saw rioters attacking the police.
The rioting, vandalism, theft, and attacks on police went on for four hours – by which time the riot was ended and most of the peaceful protestors outside the Capitol Building were heading home. It was over and the Congress went back to its business of certifying the election without incident.
I hold no brief for the rioters. They should be arrested and punished for the criminal behavior – especially those attacking and injuring police – that pitifully ill-equipped officer left without adequate support.
Yes, the rioting was outrageous and criminal – and there was universal condemnation and calls for punishment among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. No one was excusing the behavior of the rioters.
In many ways, the riot on Capitol Hill had all the indicators of a small group of troublemakers hellbent on using the larger protest as an excuse. And with the limited security, they found their opportunity. That is a lot like what we have seen in the scores of urban riots – although the rioters in those cases have been much more destructive and often had guns. There were looting, arson, and life-threatening attacks on police with rocks, urine, and Molotov cocktails, injuries – and occasional deaths.
Rioters in places like Seattle and Portland attacked, took over, and even occupied federal and local government buildings –and yet no accusations of insurrections or coup attempts. Actually, the left-wing establishment condoned the rioters. Vice President Harris even raised money for the bail of the few that were arrested. And there was no massive response by the FBI or ongoing coverage by an obsessed news media.
The only significant difference between those iconic urban riots and the events on Capitol Hill is that the former only destroyed the homes and businesses, further damaged the economic foundation of poor neighborhoods, and left scores of people injured or dead. It affected people the Washington elite do not give a damn about. As former Republican National Chairman and now MSNBC personality Michael Steele said after the January 6th riot. “This was in OUR backyard.” Yep! That is a significant difference.
While the crowd on Capitol Hill wanted to stop the certification of an election they believed to be illegitimate, there was no – as in zero – evidence of a widespread insurrection. Only a fraction of the demonstrators breached the security perimeter – and even fewer engaged in destructive or endangering activities once inside the Capitol. That is why so many of the arrested have been charged with minor crimes, such as trespassing – much to the chagrin of those on the left.
It is possible that some of the rioters were PLANNING to shut down the government by force. Of the thousands of demonstrators and hundreds of rioters, a handful of people have been charged with seditious conspiracy. At worst, they seem to have been playing out a homegrown fantasy scenario –like those on the left who called for revolution and bringing down the government as they rioted in the streets. We recall black leaders using terms like “burn, baby burn” during riots.
Even more ridiculous is the claim that January 6th was a failed coup attempt. That would mean that a significant force of individuals was attempting a complete takeover of the operations of government by force to install Trump as an unelected dictator-for-life.
There is nothing that day – or prior or since – that gives any validity to the coup attempt narrative. One only needs to look at what real coups and coup attempts look like. There are basically two varieties. One is known as a “palace coup” – occasionally bloodless. Basically, military leaders and others march into the president’s office and usher him out and declare Marshall Law.
Such coups require a major portion of the government – especially the military – to be on board. That was not the case with the January 6th riot. In fact, any hypothetical attempt by Trump to simply declare himself President-for-life would have been opposed by every component of the American government – the military, the Cabinet, the bipartisan members of the Congress, the federal courts, and the bureaucracy. Even Trump’s own family. The Republic was sound and safe.
That is why the hyperbolic claims that the American Republic was teetering on the brink of extinction was so shamefully nutty. The pillars of the Republic were solid – and even Trump, himself, was not pushing a forced takeover of the nation. He spent his efforts trying to find votes and highly technical constitutional procedures to change the outcome.
The other way a coup occurs is when the people rise in overwhelming numbers – well-armed. A popular coup is what we saw bring down the Tsar in Russia, and the King in France when the Bastille was stormed.
The key elements of a people’s coup … masses of people and lots of weapons. No one goes to a real coup attempt unarmed. The crowd outside and inside the Capitol Building was unarmed – and there was no one shooting at police or other protestors. The only use of a gun was Capitol Hill Officer Lt. Michael Byrd who shot and killed a protester, Ashli Babbitt. So far, that incident has not been explained by the Select Committee.
Pelosi’s kangaroo Select Committee tried to imply the presence of weapons by noting that a number of rioters had guns in their remotely parked vehicles. That suggests that they were NOT preparing for serious violence – and definitely not a real coup attempt.
To carry their fictitious narratives even further, Democrats and their media sycophants raised their theory of an ongoing coup attempt. According to them, January 6, 2021, was not a one-off, but just a steppingstone to a continuing attempt to seize control of the American government by force.
That does not hold up either. You will recall that those on the left alleged that there would be massive demonstrations in other cities on January 6th. That did not happen. They alleged that there would be nationwide street violence across the nation on the anniversary of the Capitol Hill riot. Those did not happen.
They said the anniversary would be marked by a massive assemblage at the Capitol Building. In fact, they put up miles of fencing and called out the National Guard. Instead, approximately 200 to 300 peaceful demonstrators appeared, heard some speeches, and went home. In the year and a half since the Capitol Hill riot, there has been not a single incident that suggests an attempt to overthrow the government. Not even any arrests of coup plotters planning such a takeover.
Failing to prove an insurrection and having the coup attempt claim go completely flat, the left is now claiming the reforms of election laws in more than half the states – and the election of Republicans in November – are evidence of a coup. They claim that requiring an ID is racist … that challenging the legitimacy of specific voters is wrong … that removing dead folks or those who moved away from the voting rolls is evidence of a coup. In fact, challenging the legitimacy of a voter or a ballot has been part of the electoral process for more than 200 years. It is one of the safeguards against vote fraud.
And finally, what about those attempts to have state legislatures overrule the vote and create a list of electors approved by the state legislature. That does not sound right, but it is perfectly legal and within the framework of the Constitution. It was at the heart of the controversy that resulted in the Compromise of 1877.
President Trump’s efforts to win the electoral college can be seen as ham-handed, shameful, and offensive – and inconsistent with the peaceful traditional transfer of power. But it may not have been illegal.
I have no doubt that President Trump went to extremes in trying to win the 2020 election. You can accuse him of sour grapes. You can say that he went too far in his attempt to win the election. I agree with that. The fact that he did not concede after his various court cases and recount challenges failed can be attributed to a pugnacious and egotistical nature – something I do not admire and have consistently criticized.
But there was no insurrection – and certainly no attempted coup. More importantly, there are no plans for any coup attempts in the future. The 2022 midterm elections will be played out without much controversy at hundreds of thousands of polling places across America. Votes will be cast and counted. There will be accusations of vote fraud here and there – as there always are – but for the most part, the will of the people will be manifest. Of course, to ensure the fairness of the elections, we will always have to be diligent.
America may be divided more than usual. The political discourse may be harsh. It is possible that some individuals have acted badly (on both sides) – even broke the law. But there was no grand coup planning. The Republic is not at risk. The American democracy is not endangered.
In the vast majority of the tens of thousands of elections for local, state, and federal candidates, the winner will be determined without controversy – even as stakeholders on both sides monitor the voting. The Republic will be as strong as ever. American democracy will be preserved.
Democrat fearmongering claims that there is a threat to the very foundation of the American democracy are a bunch of campaign bullstuff. And the work of Pelosi’s Select Committee is bullstuff on steroids.
So, there ‘tis.