If 7 December 1941 was a day that would live in infamy, and 9/11/2001 was likewise a day that will long be remembered as a day when the United States was attacked by a foreign enemy (The Manhattan Raid, in the words of Osama bin Laden), 6 January 2021 will stand as a day more significant than either of the others. It was on that day that our sitting legislature was attacked by our own citizens, and if reports are to be believed, those citizens were led by our president, and aided by members of the legislature itself. That's called a coup.
The leadership of the President in this coup is only in doubt if you have truly drunk the Trumpian Koolaid, as most Republican members of the Congress have. If you have, stop reading now, and run your browser, and your mind, over to NewsMax or OANN. We have no business with each other. As for the assistance of members of Congress, its scope may never be known with certainty, but as evidence continues to surface, it appears that a core group if the rioters planned the assault in advance, and had access to the layout of the Capitol complex, courtesy of a tour no longer available the public. Hopefully arrests and interrogations will yield more ground truth, but the President's actions are a matter of public record.
Such treasonous acts have occurred before. Legislators have beaten their fellows within an inch of their lives at one time or another. But that was in the 19th century, when passions concerning slavery ran hot, and the country threatened to break apart. In fact it did, for four bloody years. At that point a way of life was at stake — not just for the right to own slaves, but for an entire economic system. Ironically, people see a way of life at stake now as well, though today it's more a perception of a way of life than a reality. And this is the 21st century — people don't cane each other anymore, don't shoot each other on the street . . . well, actually they do sometimes. What exactly are we doing to each other?
It is always presumed that the country is not coming apart because it hasn't come apart up 'til now. That's a bit like saying the space shuttle booster seals won't leak white hot gasses onto the fuel tank and blow it up because they haven't up until now. But we haven't taken a baby step; we've taken a giant step on the evolutionary road to a different kind of republic — one with feet of clay, more akin to that of India, where there might always be a democracy, but they are never quite certain what that means, or any number of South American nations, where periodically transformative events redefine what democracy means in ways that make people wonder if they're living in the same country.
On 6 January Trump's mob blasted the United States through a firebreak. The attack on the Capitol, organized by the President and his supporters, apparently aided and abetted by his supporters in the Congress, showed not just the Trump faithful, but all opponents of the party in power at any point in the future, that violently attacking the seat of government, whether the Congress itself, or other nodes of our democracy such as the White House or Supreme Court, that our Republic, with its three branches of checks and balances, could be thrown over if it pleased a dissatisfied mob egged on by the right political leader.
The fact that the leader was not held to account means that the Republic now walks on eggshells, forever wondering when the next adolescent President will throw a tantrum and attempt to kick over the table. The “climb proof” fencing surrounding the Capitol Building stands in mute testimony to that tragic change.
So, in the words of Lenin: “What is to be done?” All must not be lost. If predicting the future were that easy, we could just roll over and die in despair, but the thugs who perpetrated this assault upon our country represent a dying segment of the population. The issue for us is that they do represent a serious weakness in our republic, and the forces in opposition to them may be too weak to save the republic. The result may be a much diminished United States unless leadership arises that can steer the ship of state in a direction that can unify a sufficient number of factions to strengthen the country against the forces of chaos. That means stepping beyond placating the kooky woke children who seem to be driving the country through the mainstream press. It might even mean breaking some woke cohorts like the currently crazy New York Times in favor of more sane elements such as the Washington Post. The current administration has little vision beyond the discredited old school Democratic “free stuff” vision. It owes too much to too many constituencies, and it even seems determined to abandon the few foreign policy successes of the Trump administration either just because Donald Trump achieved them, or because they were politically incorrect in the Democratic playbook.
If I hear the phrase “good union jobs” one more time from the Biden Administration I'm going to vomit. What they really need is an industrial policy to beat the shit out of China. They can't do that until they really understand what China is doing, so everyone who's anyone in the administration needs to read the first three chapters of Michael Pillsbury's highly politically incorrect book “The One Hundred Year Marathon.” I know Joe Biden is a big China booster, but he needs to swallow his pride and read it. That's the beginning of a strong America. Not attacking China — simply building a stronger country over here. When China set out to surpass the US, they didn't mention it, they just took a steady strain . . .
Part II will be published later. Thanks for reading. glm
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