“Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities can make you commit injustices.”
– Voltaire, On Absurdities and Atrocities[1]
The future of the United States of America as a free nation is imperiled.
Never before has a sitting American president incited an insurrection against the free and fair election of his successor in a vain attempt to seize power for himself. Thankfully, the Capitol Hill insurrection of January 6th failed to achieve a coup d’état and assassinate elected officials. But, as this series will evince, the greater majority of registered Republicans continue to remain supportive of the would-be authoritarian, the former President Donald Trump, even months after this extraordinary betrayal of the country. Most elected Republicans in Congress follow the lead of their constituents by continuing to loyally support the would-be dictator. They’ve lied, cheated, and broken their oaths of office. Rather than protect and defend the U.S. Constitution and its democratic-republican institutions and laws, they choose to preserve their own power. And at great cost: not only to their own integrity, but to the U.S. Constitution and the constitutionally-derived democratic-republican institutions and laws which make America the fundamentally free nation it has become.
In this multi-part series on the Capital Hill insurrection and the future of American liberty, we will examine what really happened on January 6th, 2021. We will explore the significance of the event itself, why the insurrectionists really did what they did, and the broader implications for the so-called “Republican” party, the nation, and the world. Finally, we will examine what can be done to stem the tide of what can accurately (and ironically) be described as an American pro-authoritarian movement, and what can be done to protect and secure American liberty for future generations.
So what happened on January 6th, 2021? The evidence shows that thousands of loyal Donald Trump supporters converged on the U.S. Capitol that early afternoon. The mob engaged in a planned and violent insurrection. The irony of the mob’s claim to fight for freedom while ransacking and damaging a most prominent symbol and functional center of our free government was apparently lost on them. The absurdity of carrying Blue Lives Matter flags while assaulting police officers was also, apparently, entirely lost on them. Over 140 cops were injured, some left with crippling injures like a lost eye. One officer lost his life in the line of duty. Ironies abounded, as these self-proclaimed believers in fair elections hunted for duly elected officials with explicit threats to assassinate them. Most notably, they specifically threatened the now former Vice President Mike Pence with death by hanging, as well as threatening the life of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.[2][3]
Insurrection is the act of revolting against civil or governmental authorities. It is a very serious federal criminal offense in the United States. The insurrection included white supremacists, members of an array of extreme racist groups, such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.[4][5] It also included QAnon conspiracy theorists: political cultists who, without evidence, choose to believe that a widespread cabal of Democratic politicians, media figures, and even Hollywood actors are secretly Satan worshippers engaging in pedophilia and running a child sex trafficking operation in such locales as the cellars of pizza parlors around the country.[6][7][8] Adding to the growing list of absurdities and ironies, a number of military veterans and even an elected Republican representative – people who vowed to defend the U.S. Constitution and our democratic-republican institutions and laws, not to defy or defile them (as they have done) – also joined the insurrection.[9][10]
The mob’s main objective was to interrupt one of the most intrinsic institutional norms of a free nation: the peaceful transfer of presidential power.[11] That is to say, they attempted a coup d’état: a French term for the violent alteration or overthrow of an existing government by a small group. Violent transitions of power are a hallmark of dictatorships, not democratic republics. If they’d had their way, this pro-authoritarian mob of criminals would have devolved our free country into a dictatorship. If they couldn’t get their way and vote Trump back into office, then they’d whine and lie about how unfair the election must have been for them to lose, then use this big lie as their justification for using brute force to get their way instead. They actually expected the U.S. military to abandon the rule of law and come to their aid on that day. They also expected Trump to declare martial law in the United States.[6]
Military rule? Martial law? Violent insurrection? Clearly, the thinking process here is very faulty on multiple levels. To begin with, they have a very poor comprehension of what it means to live in a free country. In the United States, the power to declare martial law is not within a sitting president’s constitutional authority. Nor is it within the military’s authority. Nor is it within Congress’s or the Supreme Court’s authority, for that matter. Martial law is indeed entirely unconstitutional in the United States of America: nobody can declare it, at any time, or for any reason whatsoever. Simply reading the U.S. Constitution suffices to establish this fact. And common sense should inform us of why it should never be declared.
It is very telling of the insurrectionists’ pro-authoritarian character that they, apparently, support the idea of martial law being declared in the United States when it suits their wishes. The very belief that such power should exist reveals a severe lack of both comprehension of and respect for democratic-republican institutions and laws, and therefore of the liberties they afford us, notwithstanding their hollow professions to the contrary. Military takeovers, martial law, and violent insurrections are the hallmarks of a dictatorship, not a free nation.
Furthermore, can this even be considered “thinking” at all? I find their subjective illogic and immaturity far more akin to that of a gathering of toddlers, all throwing a collective temper tantrum after not getting their way.
How did it come to this? How did we reach a point in American history where thousands of ignorant belligerents, under the incitement of a sitting president no less, actually attempted to overthrow our democratic government and institute an authoritarian regime in its place? How can the absurd irony of these self-professed “patriots” and “freedom fighters” go on to most unpatriotically attempt to erode our constitutional freedoms with violence? Please join me next time as we explore the root causes of this mass ignorance, followed by what can be done to save America from self-destruction.
Sources
[1] Voltaire, On Absurdities and Atrocities, quoted in Les Philosophes: The Philosophers of the Enlightenment and Modern Democracy, ed. and trans. by Norman L. Torrey, 3rd ed. (NY: Capricorn Books, 1961), https://archive.org/details/lesphilosophesph00torr/page/276/mode/2up (accessed May 31, 2021).
[2] Barbara Sprunt and Ryan Lucas, “With New Video Footage, Managers Show How Close Rioters Got To Pence And Lawmakers,” NPR, Feb. 10, 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/2021/02/10/966508091/using-new-video-footage-managers-show-how-close-rioters-got-to-pence-lawmakers (accessed May 31, 2021).
[3] Evan Hill, Arielle Ray, and Dahlia Kozlowsky, “‘They Got a Officer!’: How a Mob Dragged and Beat Police at the Capitol,” NY Times, Jan. 11, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/capitol-mob-violence-police.html (accessed May 31, 2021).
[4] Sarah N. Lynch, “Prosecutors say Oath Keepers militia members conspired in U.S. Capitol siege,” Reuters, Jan. 19, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-capitol-arrests-idUSKBN29O275 (accessed May 31, 2021).
[5] Zoe C. Jones and Clare Hymes, “Proud Boys organizer arrested and charged for role in Capitol attack,” CBS News, Jan. 21, 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proud-boys-joe-biggs-arrested-capitol-riot/ (accessed May 31, 2021).
[6] Camila Domonske, “The QAnon ‘Storm’ Never Struck. Some Supporters Are Wavering, Others Steadfast,” NPR, Jan. 20, 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958907699/the-qanon-storm-never-struck-some-supporters-are-wavering-others-steadfast (accessed May 31, 2021).
[7] CBS News, “What is the QAnon conspiracy theory?,” Nov. 24, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory/ (accessed May 31, 2021).
[8] Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins, “‘Pizzagate’ video was posted to YouTube account of alleged arsonist’s parents before fire,” NBC News, Apr. 25, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/pizzagate-conspiracy-video-posted-youtube-account-alleged-arsonist-s-parents-n971891 (accessed May 31, 2021).
[9] “The Capitol Siege: The Arrested And Their Stories,” NPR, Feb. 9, 2021, updated Apr. 15, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/02/09/965472049/the-capitol-siege-the-arrested-and-their-stories (accessed May 31, 2021).
[10] Dave Mistich, “Video Shows Newly Elected W.Va. Lawmaker Among Mob That Stormed The U.S. Capitol,” NPR, Jan. 6, 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/954227854/video-shows-newly-elected-w-va-lawmaker-among-mob-that-stormed-the-u-s-capitol (accessed May 31, 2021).
[11] Sara Georgini, “On the Peaceful Transfer of Power: Lessons from 1800,” Perspectives on History (Sept. 2020), https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2020/on-the-peaceful-transfer-of-power-lessons-from-1800 (accessed May 31, 2021).
Image by Michael Judkins at Pexels.com.
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