Revisiting January 6

Like many others, I watched in horror on January 6, 2021, as an angry crowd carrying Trump-supporting and Confederate flags broke barriers, fought with police, and broke their way into the United States Capitol, many of them chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” as they tried to stop the certification of an election that Donald Trump lost.

Since then, I have continued to watch in disbelief as many Republicans have sought to whitewash what happened–or who describe the events of that day in a way that only exists in an alternate, fantasy reality. I have seen individuals who were hiding underneath chairs and who were helping to blockade doors…individuals who were rushed to safety by brave police…now claim that what happened that day was “just like an ordinary tour.” I have seen individuals who at the time recognized the need to hold accountable those who incited that insurrection back away from and deny their original statements–and refuse to accept a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened and why…a commission that had been created by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties…a commission which would have included no members of Congress in order to focus on the events, not politics.

As it has become clear that there was no real interest from the GOP in finding out what happened and why, Nancy Pelosi created a select committee…and invited the Republicans to name members. Five were named–two denied because of words and actions that indicated they were not interested in finding the truth. Three others were accepted, even though they had voted not to certify the election. But Speaker Pelosi believed that they were willing to listen for the truth. The Senate minority leader apparently was not willing–and he pulled all GOP members from the committee.

Two other Republicans were invited to join the committee. They did–and have been excoriated by other members of their party for their decision.

On the first day of hearings, the committee heard from four police officers who were present and attacked that day: US Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, and Metropolitan Police officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges. Their testimonies are difficult to listen to–but necessary to hear. Who didn’t listen, though? Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell–congressional minority leaders. They weren’t interested enough to hear from individuals who put their lives on the line to try to keep them safe? What a slap in the face!

And while there have been numerous “Back the Blue” postings during summer protests, those same memes and statements of support have been sadly lacking on behalf of these officers and others like them who put their lives on the line to protect our democracy.

What will be the outcome? I think it’s important to read the opening statements of both Republicans on the committee–both Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. Neither were particularly excited to be named to the committee but both feel it important to understand the events of January 6 in order to hopefully keep it from happening again.

Cheney’s final questions are important ones for all of us:

America is great because we preserve our democratic institutions at all costs. Until January 6th, we were proof positive for the world that a nation conceived in liberty could long endure. But now, January 6th threatens our most sacred legacy. The question for every one of us who serves in Congress, for every elected official across this great nation, indeed, for every American is this: Will we adhere to the rule of law? Will we respect the rulings of our courts? Will we preserve the peaceful transition of power? Or will we be so blinded by partisanship that we throw away the miracle of America? Do we hate our political adversaries more than we love our country and revere our Constitution? I pray that that is not the case. I pray that we all remember, our children are watching, as we carry out this solemn and sacred duty entrusted to us. Our children will know who stood for truth, and they will inherit the nation we hand to them — a Republic, if we can keep it.

May it be so.

Can we agree on this?

I’ve been thinking about the ways in which we seem to be so divided currently. We sometimes don’t seem to be living in the same realities, and that makes it extremely difficult to find common ground. This has been especially true when we talk about what happened on January 6 in the United States Capitol. What happened? Who did it? Who was responsible? Lots of questions–but we haven’t been able to find a foundation on which to build.

So I was wondering…can we at least agree on these statements?

• A mob attacked the United States Capitol as lawmakers were assembled to certify the election results.
• Windows were broken by members of the mob to gain access to the Capitol..
• People broke through barriers that had been set up by Capitol police.
• Some policemen were attacked and beaten by members of the mob.
• One policeman died as a result of his injuries and many others were injured.
• Some people in the mob were pictured sitting at the private desks in the offices of members of Congress.
• A gallows was erected outside the Capitol.
• Some people were chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
• A number of members of the mob were either wearing shirts that supported Trump or were carrying flags that supported Trump.
• A few members of the mob died during the attack.

If we can agree on those events, is this the kind of behavior we want to allow or support? Should we not want to know what happened? what caused this? so that we can keep it from happening again?

We have to find some kind of common ground–a common foundation–in order for our democracy to survive.

Nazis…Confederates…seditionists…oh my…

I have been concerned for the last few years over what seemed to be fairly clear parallels between what was happening in the United States under Donald Trump’s presidency and what I knew from history of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Those concerns were frequently poo-poohed and I was told I was over-reacting.

I don’t think so. Let’s take a look:

Hitler	Trump
Legally elected	Legally elected
Surrounded himself with “yes” men	Surrounds himself with “yes” men
Anyone who disagreed was seen as disloyal	Anyone who disagrees is seen as disloyal
Attacked the media – “lying press” and “fake news”	Attacks the media – “lying press” and “fake news”
Anyone who was “other” (i.e., not Aryan) was seen as “less than” and subject to being locked up for minimal (or no) reasons	Anyone who is not white American (i.e., immigrants, refugees, African-Americans) is seen as “less than” and frequently subject to being locked up or imprisoned for minimal reasons
Used the police and military to enforce his desires	Encourages the police to enforce his desires
Demonized his political opponents	Demonizes his political opponents
Derided science	Derides science
Purged voter roles and challenged integrity of the electoral process	Encouraged purging of voter roles and challenged integrity of the electoral process

I am not saying that everyone who has supported Trump is a Nazi…but they are supporting someone whose policies line up with those of the Nazis.

And what happened on January 6, 2021, in the United States Capitol was nothing less than an attempted coup, similar to Hitler’s beer hall putsch on November 8, 1923–an attempt to overthrow a legitimate government. It failed–as did Hitler’s initial putsch. But it should be seen as a warning.

We are also still dealing with the fall-out from the American Civil War–and the “Lost Cause” narrative. That mythology has several aspects (as noted here):

• That cultural and constitutional differences—not a singular interest in preserving slavery—forced the slaveholding states to secede. While denying the centrality of slavery to secession, Lost Cause authors consistently described slavery as a benevolent institution in which white and black southerners engaged in a reciprocal relationship that secured a domestic peace that abolitionists threatened.
• That Confederate armies—composed uniformly of gallant men and brilliant leaders—succumbed not because of poor leadership, sub-par military performance, or battlefield losses, but to overwhelming United States resources. In fact, a veritable religious cult developed around the Confederate pantheon of President Jefferson Davis and Generals Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E. Lee.
• It regarded Confederate women as sanctified by wartime sacrifice and identified, in them, perfect examples of gender conformity.
• Though ex-Confederates accepted the end of slavery, the Lost Cause maintained that because slavery had been beneficial to black and white people alike, emancipation had been a grave mistake. Further, it maintained that Reconstruction had been driven by a vindictive desire to impose a dangerous racial equality on a prostrate white South, and that the “redemption” of the South by Klan violence and electoral fraud had been a heroic moment in southern history.

And under Trump, all these myths and stories have been given legitimacy, legitimacy which culminated in the mob attack on the Capitol by individuals wearing clothing and waving flags expressing support for the Nazi and Confederate causes.

This is not who we are. This must not be who we are.

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