How anyone can call the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol anything but an insurrection is beyond me.
Maybe they don’t know what the word insurrection means. The dictionary defines it this way: “a violent uprising against an authority or government.”
Clearly, there was violence. Clearly, it was an uprising. Clearly, it was against the government of the United States.
Those involved wanted to stop the certification of the electoral college that cemented Joe Biden’s win in the November 2020 presidential election.
The uprising didn’t work.
But it did help to further divide the country. It helped to further erode our democracy with people continuing to believe the election outcome was fraudulent. They can’t believe their guy lost when court after court, election official after election official, recount after recount have affirmed Biden the winner.
It’s alarming Republican governors are replacing state election chiefs because they didn’t like the outcome. It’s alarming lawmakers want to tighten the screws on voters’ rights to the point it is difficult to even get to the polls to cast a ballot.
These actions also erode a democracy.
I now firmly believe those following Trump are in a cult. It’s not about being a Republican. It’s about following one irrational man who doesn’t even care about them. Trump is an evil shit stirrer who relishes autocratic control.
Autocrat by definition is: “relating to a ruler who has absolute power.” Autocratic style is: “taking no account of other people’s wishes or opinions; domineering.”
Each day that goes by our democracy is eroding. To think that it is being undermined by people within the walls of the Capitol is frightening.
Now a year later, I feel angrier than I did last year. I wrongly assumed everyone involved would be arrested by now, if not behind bars. This includes elected officials who were involved; from Trump on down. The fact that some of the culprits are still in Congress is mind boggling.
My last hope is the congressional committee investigating the insurrection will come up with definitive proof of who knew what when, what they did or did not do, and will make people accountable for their actions.
Most everything these insurrectionists did Jan. 6, 2021, was broadcast live on television and the internet, with footage aired around the world. Still photographs also captured the scene. People on the ground wrote about the event. Plenty of participants shared their personal experiences, proud of their involvement as they posted selfies on social media.
How anyone could think the actions of this group were justified is beyond me. I suppose one has to be a white supremacist or a Trumpster to believe the actions of the mob that day should be condoned, even celebrated.
It’s time to stop letting the Trumpsters dictate the narrative. It’s time to get involved. It’s time to elect people who understand, respect and want the United States to be a democracy. We must keep doing our part to ensure Black Lives Matter, that the truth is taught in schools–not revisionist history, and that equality for all becomes a reality.
Here here
We’ll stated, Kae
Would you like to run for Congress Kae? We need someone like you on the Senate floor.
An important point is to determine, as soon as possible, the actions that need to be taken to make certain that attempting to overthrow the results of the Electoral College doesn’t happen again. On January 4, 2022, Erwin Chemerinsky, a dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, wrote an opinion piece in The Sacramento Bee entitled “I’ve never been more worried about democracy – and how to save it.”
The piece includes the following statement: “The Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs the counting of electoral votes, must be revised. I completely agree with a recent article in the conservative National Review: ‘At a minimum, it should make explicit and undeniable that (1) the vice president does not decide which electoral votes to count; and (2) states that hold popular votes to choose electors cannot later attempt to have their legislatures select their own electors.’ ” (I tried, unsuccessfully, to look up the article.)
One might argue that the 1887 law has worked well for 135 years. I would counter that it worked well until it didn’t, and the law needs to be tightened.
Well said. And as frustrating as it is to not have more people behind bars I do believe it’s only a matter of time. These cases, especially those going after lawmakers, need to be rock solid and that, unfortunately, takes time and diligence.
Spot on!!!!
One thing I’m worried about is the power of one party or even one person, Mitch McConnell, to change the rules when they can’t win under current rules. He did it recently when he was Senate Majority Leader. Republicans didn’t have enough votes to pass some legislation so he changed the rules so they only needed a simple majority of votes, which they had. This is not democracy, this is Trumpism, a desire to be dictator, McConnell knows this, but says otherwise. Democracy will never be safe as long as Trump and his ilk are not held responsible for their actions. Prison would do wonders.