The attack on the Capitol building in Washington, DC was wrong and anyone involved with it should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Vast majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree with that statement. But if we distill it down to it’s base argument — mob violence is always wrong — the opinions diverge.
In this episode, I talk about why that is, and suggest who might be to blame for normalizing mob violence.
Mentioned links:
US Capitol secured, 4 dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden’s win
Whataboutism [Wikipedia]
Show transcript
It was January 6th, 2021, and I was in the middle of my workday when I got a Facebook message from Listener Barb. “You watching this!?!? Unacceptable.” All that I knew that was going on politically that day was that the Electoral College votes were to be certified in the Senate, and there were Republicans that were going to request that there be a commission to review the results in some of the close states. So I replied, “Is it the Electoral College thing?” Her reply didn’t seem possible. “Protesters have broken into the Capitol building. Congress being evacuated. Turn on your TV.” Well, it turned out that on that particular day I was working at the home of a friend who does not get broadcast TV but has a great Internet connection. What I found out made it one of those days where I believe I will remember where I was when I heard the news.
It was January 6th, 2021, and terrorism entered the halls of our nation’s Capitol. It was at once unthinkable, horrifying, sickening, un-American, evil, heartbreaking, and insane. Feel free to add any adjectives of your own. Make no mistake; this was, at the very least, terrorism; violence committed in pursuit of a political goal. In this case, it was a goal almost guaranteed to not be arrived at. It may have temporarily stopped the procedure that would ultimately declare Joe Biden and Kamala Harris President-elect and Vice-President-elect, but the violence did not stop it, partially because the American system of government is so very resilient, and partially because it is so very stubborn.
But not achieving their goal is beside the point. What their goal was or why they were pursuing it is beside the point. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what they did, and what they did were acts of violence. The place that they committed these acts was uniquely dangerous to our constitutional system of government, and may likely result in stiffer penalties, but their violence was the core of what they did wrong. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for what they did.
Some are calling what they did “insurrection” or “sedition”. Technically there might be a case for that, but guys taking selfies in the Senate chamber with horns on their head, or with their feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, don’t come across as those trying to usurp the government; more like rebels without a clue. Maybe that’s just me. But there were some other consequences of their actions that they do need to answer for. At least one person that I heard about died of a heart attack during the event, and a Capitol police officer was killed. Those must be a component of their prosecution.
So now let’s zoom out a little from the protesters, and as we do that we see Donald Trump. I’ve been so dismayed at President Trump for fanning these flames of the idea of a stolen election, and that it was really a landslide for him. I hear people talking about evidence for it, but his legal team either didn’t present that evidence in court or presented it and then withdrew it. Some suits have been thrown out, many by Trump-appointed judges. We’ve heard people talk about what they saw, but never in court.
