Some things need to be said out loud.
What happened on Wednesday, January 6 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. was high treason, an attempted coup. For the first time since the Civil War, there was significant armed interference with the peaceful transition of power that is the hallmark of American democracy. It must be prosecuted to the fullest if that democracy is to be preserved. Otherwise, this will inevitably serve as a test-run for an even more serious attempt at overthrowing the government on Inauguration Day –or indeed, at any other point in the future.
It took place at the instigation of, and under barely veiled orders from, the sitting president as part of his ongoing attempts to overturn the results of a legitimate election. This cannot be excused as “Trump being Trump.” Nor can it be conveniently forgotten in the wake of his subsequent reversal of position, and eventual concession. Otherwise this may well become the new norm for American elections –that if you cannot win them legitimately, you attempt to overturn them, first by trickery, then by force. The elected officials who supported, promoted and, in some cases, took place in this, must be impeached, removed from office, and charged with crimes, as is the proscribed process for treason. That must take place from the highest level, the president, down to those state and local officials who boasted about their participation in the mob.
We cannot overlook or ignore the differential response of the police both in Washington, D.C., and locally, at the Ohio Statehouse, as well as at statehouses across the country, as compared and contrasted with their previous responses to Black Lives Matters protesters. Those literally attacking the nation’s government with force were treated with a professionalism, a restraint, and arguably a deference that contrasted with the easy brutality displayed against last summer’s peaceful protesters. It is a vivid demonstration of the racial loyalties of the police, and the way those shape the way they perform their duties. It cannot be left unaddressed without delegitimizing the entire profession.
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