So Washington DC basically became like something from a movie today as Trump held a big rally at the same time as Congress was certifying the Electoral College results (normally, a formality but with all the talk of “rigged elections”, various Republicans were going to try to gum up the process as much as possible) which led, in turn, to Trump’s supporters storming The Capitol.
I have so many thoughts/questions:
* honestly, why does this surprise anyone? Trump has been batshit insane since he announced he was running for President and has only gotten worse as time has gone on (especially since he lost the election two months ago.)
* where the hell were the police? As someone pointed out on Twitter, the US spends $700 billion on defence and can’t prevent a guy in a buffalo costume from getting onto the Senate Floor? They had lines of National Guard on the steps of the Capitol during the BLM protests and I literally saw one lone guard trying to block a mob of about 20 people who had already entered the building today.
* it makes me incredibly angry to see the disparity in how protesters were treated during BLM protests this summer (rubber bullets, batons, etc.) and how the MAGAts were treated today (kids gloves with very little resistance and even clips of protesters in the Capitol taking selfies with police! 😮
* some speculation that law enforcement, which is majority for Trump, may have been complicit in allowing this along with higher level Trump appointees who made arrangements (or failed to) for the possible outcomes of the day.
* one thing not being talked about a huge amount is how the breach isn’t just the damage to the physical spaces but the possibility that confidential materials such as hard drives, thumb drives, paper documents, mail, etc. may have been taken (one guy bragged that he took an envelope from Nancy Pelosi’s desk but “left a quarter” so that was okay!)
* “protesters” isn’t even the right word for the mob today once they breached the Capitol. At that point, they are rioters, criminals and very much insurrectionists.
* the difference from BLM protesters or others who say, break windows or loot stores during their riots, is the word insurrectionist which takes this to a whole other level of offense.
* which leads to my biggest worry – the people involved – from the low level rioters to Trump himself – will not face appropriate consequences – whether that is jail time or the invocation of the 25th Amendment.
* I feel like I could make a list with a hundred bullet points of thoughts and observations about what happened today but I feel like my head is literally spinning at how completely insane today’s events were at their core. Everything that many people (including myself) thought might happen in terms of Trump’s ongoing escalation and creeping fascism basically came true.
But really the only question is…what happens next? Congress has reconvened this evening to finish their vote, it sounds like the group of elected Republicans who were prepared to oppose the count aren’t, it’s a very open question whether Trump will be impeached (again!) or possibly even removed under the 25th Amendment.
I don’t know…back to CNN I guess.
