Lessons of Jan. 6th
VIEWPOINT
By RALPH HARDIN
Evening Times Editor
Like many of you, I’m sure, I was just sitting at home on January 6th, 2021, minding my own business when news began to trickle out about, well, something going on in Washington, DC, having something to do with the certification of the 2020 election results. It was weird, of course, because the election taken place two months earlier, and all that really remained was the perfunctory non-event of the certification — or so we thought.
Around lunchtime, I saw the word “coup” in a news headline… the first time I had seen the word used to describe something happening in the United States and not some third-world nation or dictatorship. So, I started paying a little more attention.
It has only been four years, so I won’t bother you with all of the details. In summary, a small but very vocal number of Trump supporters were outside the Capitol Building to protest
See VIEWPOINT, page A10 VIEWPOINT
From page A4
what they saw as a “stolen” or “rigged” election — a sentiment backed by Trump himself, conservative news outets and alt-right social medi — and one held without a single shred of evidence and numerous court rulings that showed the claims held no merit.
But nonetheless, these people stormed the Capitol, broke into the main chambers, trashed several rooms and even assaulted members of the Capitol Police Force. One person died during the attacks and several others were injured.
In the end, the incident, the coup, the insurrection or whatever you want to call it, ended after a few hours and the election results were certified. And Trump and his sycophants faded into the pages of history…
Oh, wait, no they didn’t. Sure, there were arrests made and some folks even went to jail for a little while, but that core group remained — and then grew more and more powerful even as members of their own party worked to distance themselves from Trump and the MAGA crowd.
Ultimately, no one from the GOP was able to usurp Trump as the party’s de facto leader and Republicans were forced to bend the knee and kiss the ring.
It did not help that the Democrats completely fumbled the ball (repeatedly) over the next four years and allowed Trump to not only get reelected but do so in overwhelming fashion. Now, it’s January 6th again, and what have we learned? Not much, honestly. We’ve learned that certain kinds of criminals can get away with certain kinds of crimes — and even get elected presidents. We’ve learned that nothing, apparently, can stop good ol’American populism, and that the Democrats are going to have to find something to hang their hats on besides “Hey, we’re not Tump” if they wand to remain relevant going forward — espcecially since he will finally be out of our hair one way or another in 2028 (right?). At least we can rest assured that there won’t be another riot in Wachington this time around… probably.
