Over the past several years, Republicans have fought to arm their supporters to the teeth, fed them endless conspiracies and political victim narratives, and elected a sociopathic con man as their supreme leader. What could possibly go wrong? Today, we found out: thousands of Trump-supporting thugs assaulted the U.S. Capitol and the very fabric of our democracy. History was made, but for what worthy cause? Because their orange overlord lost, fair and square. We’ll say it louder for those in the back: trying to overthrow a legitimate government is treason, and Trump and his minions are proving what we’ve known all along: they believe in the virtue of “freedom” and in constitutional rights for themselves alone. Unfortunately, in their quest to preserve Trump’s power and “defend” their own interests, they’ve taken us all along for the terrifying ride.
In his usual form, Trump has been the quintessential sore loser since November—claiming endlessly that the election was “rigged” (despite no evidence of widespread fraud), blatantly fanning the flames of conspiracy, and even trying to strong-arm public officials into cheating for him. However, he’s not the only one at fault. The Republican Party’s descent into madness began well before Trump, but he significantly upped the ante. Then, members of the “lawlessness and disorder” party enabled him at every turn, hoping to score political points or boost their name recognition for 2024. In short, they revved up their base with baseless claims and now the idiots are coming home to roost. Welcome to the new Greed Over People party, adored by conspiracy theorists, con men, Parler snowflakes, and white supremacists. You know, only the finest people!
It’s easy to make light of misguided Trump supporters, but the events that unfolded today are unprecedented and will have serious consequences. Public officials knowingly fomented violence against our government under false pretenses to save themselves from Trump’s political wrath. Gullible citizens put enough faith in our leaders’ lies that they were driven to attempt a haphazard coup. Trump, true to his word for once, threw a match into a tinderbox establishment, and Republican officials counted to 100 before grabbing even the tiniest bucket. Trump’s reign may officially be over, but the viewpoints and behaviors he normalized are just the beginning of a new kind of political chaos.
Democratic control of the government increases the odds that these undemocratic, unconstitutional, and anti-American actions will be punished, but the signs thus far don’t look good. Many of the rioters in DC, like countless white offenders before them, were “escorted” off the Capitol grounds instead of arrested, charged, and treated like the criminals they are. We’ve all been mentally exhausted by four years of lies, recklessness, and childish Twitter taunts from our “leader.” The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on our families, communities, economy, and greater society. The insanity just keeps on coming, and the burnout is real. It’s easy to just wish it would all go away, but we must stay strong.
President Elect Biden has spoken of the need to heal and unite together, but that approach simply can’t work anymore. The fact that the vast majority of Trump voters believe Democrats fraudulently stole the election is one challenge, but violent insurrection among Trump supporters is a line that can’t be uncrossed. There’s no turning back. We can’t be content with full Democratic control of the federal government, or the implosion of the Republican Party as we know it. We need tangible and criminal consequences for the people who gambled with our democracy and incited violence among our citizens. We must press our new government leaders to bring these offenders to justice. Forget Russian interference—the willingness of our own Republican leaders to promote lies, conspiracies, and authoritarianism is more damaging than any scheme Putin could dream up, and the ignorance of our own citizens is one of our greatest vulnerabilities. The next Trump will be more cunning and more tactical, and our democratic processes must be able to withstand an even worse attack in the future. What happened today is a mere warning shot, and Democratic leaders must use the next four years to shore up our democracy to survive the coming war. Because make no mistake, the next Trump is watching, and the next war will come.
So what about the rest of us? Voting every two or four years isn’t enough. Writing this blog isn’t enough. Arguing with your Trump-loving relative on Facebook isn’t enough. We must support Democratic candidates at every level, or run ourselves if we’re up for the challenge. We must donate to organizations that fight for our values and our communities and protect the rights that are so critical to our lives and our Democracy. We must act, whenever and wherever we can, in support of democracy, justice, and progress.