OMG! WTF! A whole year since the storming of the Capital building and what, if anything, has happened? That very same night of January 6, 2021 after the insurrectionists were finally removed from the building by force, with the whole world watching it all unfold, the members of Congress reconvened to carry out their constitutional duty of counting the electoral college votes. And still, despite all that had just transpired during the day, 147 Republican members of the Congress actually voted to disregard the electors from some states, particularly Pennsylvania and Arizona. Their efforts proved unsuccessful in stopping the certification of Joe Biden as President-elect of the USA, but their actions gave fuel to the Trumpian ‘Big Lie’ that the Presidential election was stolen from him.
In less than a week, the Trumpists and their right-wing media friends began the weaving of an alternative narrative to what had happened on that day. Since then, the ‘Big Lie’ has metastasized throughout the Republican Party and become a symbol of loyalty to the cult leader Trump who now has an even tighter death-grip on the party than he did before the election. A recent poll by NPR/Ipsos demonstrated that 66% of Republicans believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and that Biden is not the legitimate President. Indeed, some of the most lunatic cultist followers of Trump like Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn have claimed that he would be ‘reinstated‘ by no later than August [of last year]. Guess that didn’t happen, oh well just keep making shit up!
Lest you think that all of this is harmless partisan politicking, consider the fact that several states controlled by Republican lawmakers have already passed voter suppression laws, changed electoral processes to empower state legislatures to overturn voter preferences and select their own slate of Electoral College electors, as well as other measures to ensure that Democrats cannot possibly win in future elections. Current state election officials, many of them Republicans, who oversaw the 2020 elections with integrity are now the victims of escalating harassment and threats of physical violence to the point where many have chosen to simply quit than continue to suffer such abuse or the threat of being electorally contested by Trumpian loyalists.
Immediately condemned for blatantly inciting an insurrection in plain sight – Mitch McConnell said
- “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
- “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president, and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”
but then quickly exonerated by Republican Senators during the second impeachment trial, Trump left office unrepentant, unscathed, and apparently without any further repercussions retreating to his fortress at Mar-a-lago in Florida.
Festering in his own bile of insecurities [I am not a loser!] and violent vengeful recriminations against an endless parade of RINO’s and others, Trump plots and plans his second coming. Effectively silenced from major social media outlets by his permanent ban, Trump and his acolytes stoke hatred and resentment through a myriad of right-wing media outlets which in turn gets them additional coverage in the mainstream mass media – free coverage ensuring that he does not fade from the public’s consciousness. He once said that any media coverage is a good thing even if it does not paint you in a favourable light, at least the public continues to hear your name!
Trump is not just a catalyst for all the pent-up anger and frustrations of many Americans who have felt abandoned and left behind in a globally morphing post-neoliberal capitalist world but more importantly, he is an unstable narcissistic firebomb with a predilection for violence and revenge. His lifelong practice has always been “One of the things you should do in terms of success: If somebody hits you, you’ve got to hit ’em back five times harder than they ever thought possible. You’ve got to get even. Get even. ” Trump’s embrace of and advocacy for the use of violence has perversely granted it a level of legitimacy in the public realm as an appropriate means to resolve issues. At a recent meeting of the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA one person asked,
At this point, we’re living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny,” he said. “When do we get to use the guns?”
Members of the audience applauded.
“No, and I’m not — that’s not a joke,” he continued. “I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?”
One of the key features of fascism is the manipulation of the sense of victimhood by the deliberate scapegoating of others within society who are portrayed as destroyers of one’s culture and institutions, and therefore, who need to be repressed or removed preferably by violent means. Since descending that escalator in Trump Tower way back in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy, Trump has relentlessly used unsubstantiated but very emotive language to tarnish others and cement his claim to be the only one who can solve the problems.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said, as he claimed the country was dispatching immigrants to the US. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us [sic]. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! They can’t stand the fact that this Administration has done more than virtually any other Administration in its first 2yrs. They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
“The new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America’s economy after Venezuela.”
“I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” [Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC in 2016]
The resounding victory of Joe Biden in the Presidential election, 306 -232 Electoral College votes and 7 million more votes in the popular count, along with Congressional wins for the Democrats puts a delicious irony to that Trumpian claim that I alone can fix it! No, you are a loser! What is depressing this past year is the wholehearted leaning in by the Republican Party to becoming a cult wedded to a fascistic wannabe dictator. This reality does not bode well for the future of American democracy. And what you well might ask have the Democrats who control the executive and legislative branches of government in America done this past year to protect and enhance democracy and deliver on their bold bigger agenda that helped them gain [perhaps] a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to alter the fortunes and future of millions of Americans. Stayed tuned for more on that subject next.
In the meantime, Canadians should reflect on the seemingly prophetic words of that great homegrown band, The Guess Who,
American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama let me be
Don’t come a hangin’ around my door
I don’t want to see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
Now woman, I said stay away
American woman, listen what I say
Speak up! But since I cannot hear you, tell me what you think in the comment field below.
Yes, indeed. The situation south of the border is volatile to say the least. Who knows where it’s about to go. Beau of the Fifth Column argues that an American civil war is highly unlikely at this stage although anything is possible. He also discussed what Canada could do in the event that things south of the border went south, so to speak. Interesting perspective. NATO would get involved and would probably use Canada as a staging area. Immigration would be huge with millions of people trying to get out of the states. Beau sees all of this as an interesting mind exercise, but nothing more.
Write on, Paul. We want to hear more from you.