Yesterday we witnessed the first violent insurrection against the United States government since the US Civil War. It was led by a cult leader who managed to get himself elected President of the United States, and he activated it when he lost his re-election bid.
Yesterday was President Trump’s SECOND attempt at a violent insurrection. His first was on the Thursday after Election Day, when he falsely declared himself the winner of the presidential election. When he made that announcement, it was a call to his followers to rise up against the US government at all levels and take control. His followers did not answer the call, and his coup attempt failed.
President Trump’s coup attempt yesterday was more successful. After fomenting anger for weeks, the infected sore Trump manufactured came to a head and popped. An angry mob, who surely represented hundreds of thousands if not millions of others, violently broke into the United States Capitol building during a sacred counting of electoral ballots and interrupted the count, with the intention of stopping it to declare President Trump the winner of the election.
Even more disturbing is what President Trump wanted to happen, but thankfully did not. When the military and the National Guard did NOT RESPOND, it was President Trump’s and the Republican Seditionists’ hope that angry cult members would rise up throughout the nation, causing chaos and turning the nation into an uncontrolled frenzy. At that moment Trump would have declared martial law, and we can be sure Russian assistance in many forms would have arrived. The Russians have already hacked into the nation’s deepest computer security and may have power over US systems (military, health care, electricity, internet, financial, and more). It could take years for the US to identify and understand the extent of Russian control.
This successful attack on the nation’s Capitol, government, and the nation’s sacred duty has never happened before; not even during the Civil War.
We witnessed and learned some important things:
- Law enforcement was not able or was not willing to stop the attack on the Capitol.
- Many Republican members of the House of Representatives and the Senate not only took specific and coordinated actions that aided and abetted the attack for weeks, but they continued to foment anger and insurrection even after the attack by continuing to officially question the electoral vote count.
- President Trump is able to whip many citizens to unthinking, angry action.
- The military and the National Guard did not provide security needed, nor did they act when action was first requested.
As a result of the failed insurrection, the following actions MUST be taken immediately:
Every former-American who attacked the Capitol must be arrested and brought up on charges of sedition and any additional relevant crimes.
President Trump must be immediately removed from power using every legal means available. There are several. Any official who does not act in this manner is abetting a traitor and is thus a traitor.
Every member of congress who aided and abetted this insurrection must be held accountable by 1) being expelled from congress; 2) being brought up on charges and tried for treason and any additional relevant crimes.
DC law enforcement must be immediately investigated to determine the reasons for their failure to protect the Capitol. Insurrectionists or insurrectionist sympathizers within the enforcement ranks must be found and fired and brought up on appropriate criminal charges. Pentagon and other law enforcement leaders who denied requests for additional assistance must be identified, investigated and charged with any crimes it appears they committed.
We must recognize that many Americans are currently under the control of a cult leader and a task force to deprogram them, humanely, must be immediately formed and funded and human, research-based deprogramming must be undertaken immediately to aid them in their recovery.
Other American citizens who aided and abetted President Trump’s attempted coups and fomentation of sedition must be held accountable by being charged with their crimes.
Washington DC must be immediately made the 51st state, so a fully-functioning governor may protect the District of Columbia with all the rights and responsibilities of any other governor.
The US Congress must openly recognize the role that race played in yesterday’s insurrection. The country watched as hundreds of angry, violent white people were allowed by law enforcement to break into and violently desecrate a sacred US building while it was undertaking the most basic and most sacred work of this democracy. White supremacy must be taken seriously as a legitimate problem, investigated, and eliminated. People of all colors and all stations of life must be involved (and compensated) in this effort to rid our nation of white privilege and anti-Blackness immediately.
The US must undertake a coordinated, nation-wide effort to stamp out all forms of racism and inequality in every aspect of American life, from government to education to healthcare to distribution of wealth to all pursuits of happiness.
There are many–especially many of the members of congress who were attacked yesterday–who may prefer to ignore yesterday’s events by describing them as a brief moment of chaos or a single incidence of violence. They may be in denial or they may simply be willing to sacrifice this country for their own cowardice. Neither must be allowed to stand.
A nation attacked cannot simply move on. We must acknowledge these events as the coup attempts they were and act accordingly. If we do not, the United States of America is already gone.