Democracy Inaction

It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

On Wednesday this past week, the unrest being fomented by the soon-to-be-former U.S. President came to a head. Following nine weeks of lies by Donald Trump about election fraud, he urged his followers to come to Washington on January 6, the day the electoral votes were being certified, a largely ceremonial function, and protest the results and a free and fair election. 

And let's be clear here - while there are obviously cases of rightfully rejected ballots here and there and reports of spurious ones getting through, there is no evidence whatsoever suggesting the kind of widespread and institutional shenanigans being alleged, despite dozens of cases brought to court by P45 and his legal team, every single one of which to date has been rejected by judges (many of which were appointed by Trump).

At the protest, Trump riled up his most dedicated supporters and directed them to march on the Capitol in order to convey 'strength' to the Senators and Representatives voting there, including the one presiding over the matter, Trump's own VP, Mike Pence.

Trump told his acolytes he would be joining them, adding to their fervour, but then beetled off back to the White House to watch things unfold.

And what unfolded was a travesty. 

Undersupported Capitol police were unable to staunch the surging crowds who physically broke into the building and wreaked havoc. The chambers were evacuated and staff and politicians moved to secure locations (and thankfully, quick-thinking staff were able to grab the actual physical elector ballots as well, or they would certainly have been destroyed, muddying the waters even further).

In addition to the uproar, disruption, vandalism and terror one might expect from such a debacle, five lives ended up being lost, including two Capitol Police officers. But as more reports and videos emerge from Wednesday's fracas, it is apparent that things could have been much much, much worse.

• A gallows was erected on the Capitol grounds, among other ominous, code-laden symbols
• A police officer was almost crushed by a door while the mob yelled "heave ho, heave ho" and trying to push their way past.
• Groups of insurrectionists roamed the Capitol building chanting "hang Pence, hang Pence."
• Multiple invaders were spotted carrying bundles of zip-tie handcuffs and tasers, suggesting there was a plan, or at least an effort, to take prisoners or hostages.

Tales are also emerging of how little time there was between the perimeter breach and the chambers themselves being invaded, and how at least one officer (a black man, facing an almost exclusively white mob, by the way), led one group of invaders away from the senate chambers, buying them valuable moments to continue their evacuation.

And although it is tempting to write the whole affair off as a farce, remember that large swathes of the ultra-right try to cloak themselves as satirical or ironic clowns in order to avoid consequences for their heinous actions under the time-honoured but only sporadically effective "just kidding, lol" defence. 

Thankfully, law-enforcement agencies seem to be taking it seriously, treating the incident as an attempted insurrection and prosecuting the individuals they can find (many of whom either made little or no efforts at disguise or willingly identified themselves.

But this is small potatoes. These people are largely idiots, whipped into a frenzy and exploited by a power-hungry demagogue. What about the instigators?

Well, Trump has been banned from Twitter (a mixed bag, since now we can only guess at what he is thinking instead of having him broadcast it nearly constantly) as well as Reddit, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Stripe, the e-commerce company that enables a lot of his online political fundraising.  He is also facing a potential second impeachment and there is even a slight chance of the 25th Amendment being used to remove him due to his being incapacitated.

But whatever. In all honesty, I have given up hope in Trump ever being held truly accountable, and I don't think he will be able to mount an effective re-election campaign in 2024 at this point, so it is almost enough for me not to hear as much about him due to his being so effectively de-platformed, at least for the moment.

No, I reserve my deepest ire for Trump's enablers.

Trump is, and always has been a maniacal, narcissistic and selfish opportunist - everything he has done, including inciting insurrection, was clearly within his capabilities. He is the scorpion riding the back of a frog called America.

But other people, particularly elected officials, should know better. When the riot ended and the chambers resumed their business, working through the night to certify the electoral votes and bring the horrors of this election to a final end, some of them chose to continue following the President's wishes and object to certification.

This is not because they honestly believe that there was widespread fraud in the states in question. Most of them will admit to this if asked, claiming instead that their objections are principled criticisms of election security and investigation. But in truth, it is to curry favour with a bullying leader and a populist movement that still has a stranglehold on the Party of Lincoln.

In an evening that saw these eight Senators cowering in a secure space while other people fought and in some cases died to maintain security and order, they came back into session and had the unmitigated temerity to continue their objections and to prop up Donal Trump's monumental lie that the election was stolen.

Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley try to base their objections on the fact that 39% of Americans don't have faith in the results of the election. They are unwilling to accept any correlation between this figure and the fact that the President has abused his office and spread lie after lie and wasted legal argument after legal argument squawking about the supposed unfairness and statistical impossibility of his loss, all while providing zero evidence to back up his scurrilous assertions. He, and just importantly, they, have undermined faith not only in their own country's government but in democracy itself.

Thankfully, there is the potential for consequences here as well. Cruz and Hawley are now facing calls to resign, some of which come from within their own party. A petition by alumni of their law schools to have both of them disbarred gathered 500 signatures in less than 48 hours.

Hawley, a freshman Senator, appears to be getting the worst of it, accused by a former senator and sponsor of having "blood on his hands," a sentiment echoed by the Kansas City Star, among others. His pending book deal has also been cancelled by his publisher, removing a significant leg from the platform he hoped might make him a presidential hopeful in 2024. 

Meanwhile though, toadies and lickspittles who would rather have a strongman in the Oval Office than someone actually elected to the office continue to defend the actions of those contesting an election that has been settled for weeks.

Division continues, cynicism grows, and another rough beast slouches off towards Bethlehem to be born in the next election cycle. But if we can have even a smidgen of comeuppance for people like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, I will content myself with that, as well as with the silence once filled with Trump's tweeting.