A Way Forward
“The congressional certification of the electoral college votes on Wednesday should have been a routine event. It usually is, but Donald Trump and well over a hundred Republicans in Congress led by senators, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, decided that they would object to the election results in an effort to overturn the will of the voters. Donald Trump also urged his supporters multiple times to descend on Washington over the last week saying, quote, ‘Be there. It will be wild.’ Then on Wednesday morning, while Congress gathered to certify the election, Trump incited a mob of his supporters outside of the White House, many of them armed, and told them to March towards the Capitol to quote, ‘Give our Republicans the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.’
They clashed with Capitol police and shots were fired and four people died. And the entire United States Congress, along with the vice president, either barricaded themselves in offices or evacuated from the Capitol while Trump’s supporters stormed the building, carrying weapons, Trump flags and Confederate flags. Pipe bombs were later discovered and detonated at the Capitol, the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee. It was the first time the U S Capitol had been breached since the British invaded during the war of 1812. Except this time the invaders were extremists who had been incited by the President of the United States.”
— introduction, Pod Save America, 1/7/2021
Stating the obvious: this was a national security failure of the highest order. Gathered together in the halls of Congress was the entire line of succession to the Presidency, the future vice-president, and nearly every single lawmaker from both parties. It is a miracle that the death toll stands only at five from Wednesday’s attempted coup. The presence of homemade explosive devices, loaded firearms, and rioters wearing tactical gear underscore the fact that the aims of such an attack were not mere protestation.
Nearly as consequential, was losing complete control of an entire arm of the federal government for hours. Rioters were able to freely roam the halls and offices of Congress where some of our nation’s most closely guarded military, intelligence, and cybersecurity infrastructure and communications pass. All of it — in print and every single computer workstation — was completely unsecured for hours.
But this failure is even more galling when considered in light of the civil unrest following the protests of the previous summer. Washington DC is one of the most heavily fortified cities in the nation, with forces including the Capitol police, federal agencies including the National Park Police and the FBI, the metro DC police force, the National Guard, and surrounding military bases. A show of force in DC can be quickly, effectively mobilized. That’s why it is so perplexing that there were so many failures up and down the chain leading up to the attack on the Capitol. I will not speculate here as to the reasons for such a failure, but the fact remains, the deferential nature of the Capitol police to a hostile invading force stands in sharp relief to previous protests for healthcare and black lives that were met with overwhelming and excessive force, and the violation of citizens’ first amendment rights. I do hope a thorough investigation reveals exactly what happened and holds any responsible parties accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
Sadly, what transpired on January 6th, 2021 was not surprising. What the world witnessed was truly shocking, but not surprising. What transpired in the assault on the Capitol was the inevitable outpouring of years upon years of lies, demagoguery, and utter nonsense that have been relentlessly repeated to the American people. Donald Trump, the more extreme factions of the GOP, and a never ending parade of right-wing mouthpieces have no interest in speaking the truth. Their assault on reality, most recently, an unfounded assertion that the armed insurrectionists at the capitol building were members of Antifa or hired instigators, has resulted in a radicalized base of voters who do not agree with reality. This lie, like so many others, falls apart as soon as it is held up to scrutiny.
Trump rallied his supporters to his side on January 6th. When he told them to march on congress, was he joking? Let me make sure I have this right… when they all made their way over to congress, members of Antifa, dressed as Trump supporters, joined the crowd? And when these bad actors began assaulting Capitol police officers and ransacking congress, please explain to me why the Good American Patriots™ did not stop them and hand them over to the authorities? Why, after dozens of arrests have been made, are the accused insurrectionists’ social media presences flooded with MAGA world’s propaganda instead of leftist memes? The truth is that those who showed up that day are the most vocal, brainwashed members of Donald Trump’s personality cult. Why else would he tell them how much he loved them so?
They chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” because he was the only one who could overturn the election, and if he did not, he was a traitor. Who put that (fantastically untrue) idea into their head? They brandished the symbols of white supremacy and hatred on flag poles, clothing, tattooed on their very bodies, and on their lips, screaming the n-word dozens of times at black Capitol police officers. They dragged a Capitol police officer onto the steps and beat him with the American flag. One capitol police officer died because they caved his head in with a fire extinguisher. All while actively hunting for our elected officials.
This, tragically, is just one of the multitude of lies being sold to the American public. Decades of false claims of voter fraud have been used to justify widespread voter disenfranchisement. Whether it is the hard science behind climate change or the systemic plague of racism, this unholy alliance between billions in advertising dollars and conservative political power is being used to whip our fellow Americans toward a constant state of anxiety and outrage. Their fabricated enemy is a socialist horde who hates Republicanism, wants to strip conservatives of their incomes and their religious freedom, and seeks to lay waste to their neighborhoods, schools, and families. What we are witnessing is the rotten fruit of weaponized hateful speech — fruit that has spoiled the ballot box and now in the halls of American democracy.
To pretend that liberal media outlets are equally guilty of such actions is patently false. To pretend that liberal-leaning journalism is rife with intentional factual inaccuracies, glaring contextual omissions, or a venomous, anti-conservative bias is a wholesale, ridiculous lie. Can some of the more left-leaning media outlets be condescending and smug? Yes. It that the same as selling dangerous conspiracy theories or calling someone you disagree with “the enemy of the people?” Clearly not.
It is equally false to try to blame “both sides” of the political spectrum for the violence of this week. The largely inflammatory and purposely false rhetoric of Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress do not bear any resemblance to the language used by even the most left-wing lawmakers.
The sitting president of the United States of America invited his followers from across the country to converge on Washington DC on the day he was to be certified by Congress as the loser of the election. Certified — not decided. The decision had already been made. The sovereignty of states to manage the process by which they participate in the electoral college is a fundamental part of our system, and the attempt by the president, his mob, and his enablers in Congress was a direct attempt to subvert our democratic process — to wrest political power away from the American people — by force. Legally, the standing of such challenges remains dubious, as has been previously pointed out. Such legitimate challenges to a slate of electors from a sovereign state should only arise when a governor and state legislature attempt to send competing electors. This has not been the case, as states, including Georgia, have repeatedly pushed back against the onslaught of overtures from the president and his cronies to do otherwise.
Furthermore, not once did the congressional representatives call into question the legitimacy of their own victories, when they shared the same ballot, on the same day, which was a result of the same process as the losing presidential candidate. The cognitive dissonance is stunning, but not surprising.
How dare the president and his enablers across the government do this to our country. How dare they, in their craven quest for more power, incite angry mobs, only to turn around and call measures of accountability “partisan” and “divisive.” How dare they seek to overthrow the will of the American people by force — both political and physical — while in the same breath donning the self-righteous mantle of victimhood. How dare they finally flip-flop now in their rebuke of Trump, as if four years of enabling and colluding can be erased by one sad tweet or indignant speech.
There must be severe consequences for such action. In 1923, for his failed beer hall putsch, Hitler was given a light sentence in a minimum security prison thanks to politically sympathetic judges. At the time, no one took him seriously, but he was ultimately given a platform to espouse his foul nationalism at trial, and emerged from prison with his manifesto, Mein Kampf completed. Ten years later, he was assembling a coalition government at the request of the German Chancellor.
I am not saying America will go down this road. But considering the level of grievance now present in American life, combined with a lack of accountability or acknowledgment of wrongdoing will certainly lead to more, not less, political violence going forward. Already the FBI is warning every single state in the union of armed marches and protests between now and the Inauguration.
America is divided against itself once again, and we will not unify unless we can all agree to the standards of personal responsibility the GOP is so very fond of.
The next few months and years in American history will be critical. The violent extremism that permeates the dark corners of the internet may still erupt from time to time. We must be vigilant in our defense of democracy. We must continue the very hard work of dialogue with those who disagree with us. We must find new ways to deter those who would take matters into their own hands and subvert, or worse, reject, the Constitution.
The priorities laid forth for the coming administration are bold. I do not agree with each position, but I think there are certain common goals that can help us achieve a pathway back to a democracy that works for and heeds the voice of the people — a common complaint from the whole of the American public.
First, a voter enfranchisement law must be established at the federal level. A new voting rights act, could accomplish the following:
- Automatic voter registration once citizens reach their 18th birthday.
- Loosening of restrictions for absentee voting — Current restrictions vary from state to state, and range from permissive to functionally impossible.
- Guarantee greater access to polling locations
- Ensure voting security by backing up every vote with a paper ballot/ receipt
- So-called voter ID laws must not place an undue burden upon certain populations
Each of these practical measures will open voting to American citizens that have been disenfranchised through no fault of their own. The result will be a broader electorate that must be courted by political parties with broader public appeal. A greater plurality of American voters exercising their right to vote will ensure political candidates in most areas will find it politically impossible to appeal to a narrow slice of energized voters. This will result in political candidates who are more inclined to compromise than obstruct or vilify the other side.
Second, it is of utmost importance that money and undue influence be permanently disentangled from politics. Members of congress currently need to spend more than half of their time in office fundraising. The Citizens United decision from the Supreme Court gave unfettered access of corporations and special interest groups to congressional lobbying power. Districts in many states suffer from outrageous examples of gerrymandering that render over 85% of congressional seats in Congress uncompetitive, fueling entrenchment, and dis-incentivizing compromise or broad appeal. Without changes to our current system of representation, Congress will continue to pass laws that do not reflect overwhelming majorities of popular opinion in the American voting public. From common-sense firearm legislation, to laws governing pharmaceutical and medical costs, to infrastructure expenses, measures that enjoy more than 70% popular support — including the measures I’ve already mentioned — rarely receive consideration. This must end.
Required viewing:
Third, the increasing and exponential widening of the wealth gap in this country must be addressed. Millions of Americans are falling into poverty and slowly receding down the socioeconomic ladder into lower levels of generational wealth, have lower relative earning power than previous generations, and can expect more negative health outcomes and life expectancies — all of which are being used to stoke greater levels of distrust in government and resentment of other racial and ethnic groups. Meanwhile, the amount of wealth amassed by the very richest Americans has exploded, even during the worst economic and health event of the last century. The dire, failed consequences of so-called “trickle-down economics” have been soundly debunked by academic studies, as well as the lived experiences of hundreds of millions of Americans whose shot at the American dream have gotten longer and longer. There is no excuse that the most wealthy and powerful nation on earth cannot feed, clothe, house, and provide adequate healthcare to its citizens when other nations with a fraction of our resources manage to do so. Today, less than 10% of Americans control 90% of the valuation of the stock market. Today, every generation from millennials all the way down to their children face economic and health outcomes that represent a decline in quality of life from previous generations, while entering more competitive job markets for less relative income, and amassing more debt in order to do so. The fundamental flaws in a system that allows individuals to achieve wealth that surpasses the total GDP of a first-world nation are too many to enumerate. The wealthiest individuals and corporations profit off of the infrastructure and workforce of our country without proportionate contribution, and that needs to change.
Please, join me.
