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Witnessing
the admittedly disturbing, sadistic, and violent behavior of hundreds
of Trump supporters on January 6 that resulted in the deaths of at
least five people - Brian Sicknick, Benjamin Phillips, Ashli Babbitt,
Kevin Greeson and Roseanne Boyland and similar fascist-minded acts over the past few years has been
nothing short of alarming.
Armed
to the teeth with AKA rifles, guns, bayonets, confederate and altered
Nazi flags, and other-wing paraphernalia under the perverse guise of
patriotism, right-wing protesters and Trump supporters from across
the nation descended upon the US Capitol, storming the building,
belligerently demanding that a democratic election be forfeited and
overturned in a manner that was crude, vile, unapologetic, and devoid
of any sensitivity.
These
so-called “patriotic rebels,” more aptly domestic
terrorists, have garnered the support of numerous men and women on
the political, social, and cultural right, the groups ranging from
social media bloggers, and Republican politicians to rank-and-file
conservatives. Allies aside, their most influential cheerleader (at
least for the time being) has been President Trump who belatedly,
later in the day, called for rioters to cease with their violence.
Reminiscent
of a frenzied dictator, Trump, along with members of his family,
greeted his largely delusional supporters and enticed them with
verbal red meat. He deceptively reassured them that, with their help,
he (Trump) would be rightfully rewarded the “win” in the
supposedly “stolen election” and remain in office until
2024. He eventually conceded on that same Wednesday evening, and
promised a peaceful transition on January 20th.
Not
surprisingly, however, earlier in the day, the rogue wannabe dictator
was adroitly able to tap into the delicate, vulnerable, and unhinged
psyches of his political base as he frantically and wickedly incited
their uncontrollable frenzy. The truth is that Trump was/is not alone
in his manipulation of this segment of voters. For many years, vast
segments of the right-wing media have lauded the increasingly
abrasive activity that has occurred among the more aggressive sectors
of the cultural right, particularly the varied elements of the far
right, who have been increasingly and passionately agitating for a
racial civil war.
After
ginning up the emotions of his cult-like flock, Trump returned to the
White House. But his supporters, overdosed with adrenalin by this
point, feverishly marched to the Capitol and stormed the barricades,
unleashing all sorts of havoc. Sporadic acts of violence erupted, and
things quickly spiraled out of control. Sensing what was occurring,
the police quickly ushered legislative leaders to safety. They
barricaded doors to the House chamber and drew guns to protect the
lawmakers sheltered inside.
They
fired tear gas at the attackers. Shots were fired inside the Capitol;
Ashli Babbitt, a far right Q’Anon supporter
was shot
and killed
in the melee. Muriel Bowser, District of Columbia mayor, declared a
citywide curfew and even then it took Trump nearly three hours to
release a video asking those ransacking the Capitol to “go
home” - even as he glorified the violence by saying “these
are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide
election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away
from great patriots.”
While
some law enforcement officers were on the job, protecting and serving
citizens, what was notable and, quite frankly, distressingly
disturbing, was the fact that there were other officers on hand who
harbored no apprehension in allowing these renegade terrorists and
thugs (and that is what they are - terrorists and thugs) to maraud
about the US Capitol, brazenly brandishing weapons, shouting
obscenities, roughing up opponents, ransacking the offices of
congress people, seeking out specific politicians such as Nancy
Pelosi , Jim Clyburn and vice president Mike Pence to inflict
violence upon and possibly murder them as well as engaging in all
sorts of despicable behavior.
In
fact, some officers were chatting up, taking selfies with, and
allowing many of the vandals in question to leave without being
apprehended for committing crimes. What an incredulous scene! It was
as if such untoward behavior was permissible and even lauded by more
than a few of these police officers. A sad state of affairs.
While
I was shocked by such benign police reaction, I cannot say, in all
honestly, that I was all that surprised. What the American public
witnessed was the classic intersection of White supremacy and White
privilege on display.
Just
as disturbing is the fact that many of these protesters
(overwhelmingly, if not all, White) appeared to have no compunction
in engaging in blatantly disrespectful and menacing acts. Let’s
be honest, to paraphrase president elect Joe Biden and a number of
other public figures and political commentators, does anyone with any
degree of sanity and residing in the real world believe that a group
of rabidly undisciplined Black, non-White, Hispanic, and people of
color who
defiantly
brandished assault rifles, racist flags, and other weapons;
arrogantly
yelled obscenities and screamed in the faces of law enforcement
officials;
fired
off tear gas, Molotov cocktails, and other explosives;
violently
stormed the US Capitol and directly confronted police officers;
publicly
shouted and displayed racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic rhetoric
and symbols
openly
denounced and issued thinly veiled and, in some cases, publicly
directed threats to specific politicians;
smashed
windows;
entered,
ransacked, and defaced the offices of congress people
brazenly
called for the overthrow of an election that was fairly decided
would
have been allowed to engage in such brutal lawlessness? Please! We
all know the answer! Hell no!
Only
those of you whose minds reside in a deep, deranged, depraved, and
delusional world of denial would believe such a fallacy. Truth be
told, such groups would have been denounced in acidic terms by many
across the political spectrum for being unpatriotic and troublesome
anarchists.
Indeed,
a group composed of hundreds of people of color aggressively
protesting would not have gotten anywhere near any state capitol
building, let alone the US Capitol, and been granted permission to
enter the halls of Congress, brandishing weapons!
Such
high levels of disruption would have very well culminated in heavy
gunfire.
Indeed,
one could only imagine the intense amount of rabid gunfire and rivers
of blood that would have flowed through the corridors of the US
Capitol. It would have resulted in a bloodbath of epic proportions.
On the contrary, in essence, these predominately White, so-called
patriots, defiantly attempted to stage an insurrection to overthrow
the government!
Despite
expressions of shock and disillusion, the truth is that law
enforcement and other related agencies cannot feign ignorance. They
had ample information about such a possibility occurring and yet
declined to act upon such potential threats that turned out to
materialize. Moreover, they, like much of the nation, were highly
aware of the fact that protests by these extremist groups had been
planned weeks in advance. To be so embarrassingly caught off guard
raises healthy suspicions and questions that demand immediate
answers. That must be forthcoming and soon!
Similar
levels of scorn must be directed toward former Trump allies and
administration officials who have suddenly had an “on the road
to Damascus” “seen the light”, “turned a
corner,” experience and have distanced themselves from the
godfather of inflammatory speech. TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE! You sold
your souls and there must be consequences! PERIOD!
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