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Est. April 5, 2002
 
           

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The failed coup was well planned and well telegraphed. It will go down as the most blatant act of domestic terrorism ever orchestrated by a sitting U.S. president who wants to continue being president. The country is on high alert for the next round of insurrection, which is scheduled for say, on January 20.

The attack was publicized for weeks by trump and his traitorous gang over social media. We know that Capitol security was warned that the threat was real. The National Guard and Pentagon forces offered their services but they were turned down. The mob had full reign of the premises and from all indications, were prepared to take hostages. After they did their dirty work, they were allowed to leave without incident or arrests. We know if those had been Black Lives Matter protestors, their bodies would have been piled up all around the perimeter of the Capitol grounds and the use of lethal force easily justified.

The mob of angry, confederate flag-waving extremists were not just a bunch of country bubbas. They included West Virginia Republican, Derrick Evans (who has since resigned), CEO Brad Rukstales, off-duty police (who posed for selfies with the rioters) and former military officers repelling off walls.

The sickening part is how trump’s monster-making enablers and financiers are distancing themselves from what they’ve created. Thousands of hate-filled tweets later, the social media geeks want to suspend his accounts. These platforms made millions of dollars from trump’s disinformation and outright lies. The Mark Zuckermans of the world must count themselves as trump co-conspirators.

We can’t leave out the corporations who are having revelations about the constitutional crises they helped to bankroll. Corps like Amazon, Comcast, Walmart and a cast of other characters are suspending donations to the 147 GOP legislators who united to question the results of the Electoral College. Life was good when trump was giving them tax cuts and demolishing regulations.

Their collective actions have fueled the rancorous voices wailing of stolen election allegations. They all bear responsibility for inciting the seditious behavior of the crazed throng whose aim was to overturn a hard-fought election to overthrow a crazy man who had no business being in control of a country.

As we stumble into the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, I’m reminded of one of his most poignant quotes: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

I believe the majority of white America agrees with some elements of trump’s twisted view of the world on race, women, immigrants, Muslims, the economy and power. It’s the reason this wanna-be dictator received little condemnation or censure along the way. America, always refusing to tackle its deep-seated roots of white supremacy and racist systems, found comfort in a man who spoke on their behalf.

Between the pandemic and this betrayal of democracy, the King commemorations will look and feel quite different. Black and Brown people have been put in harm’s way by trump, his noisy collaborators and his quiet abettors. In the days ahead, we’ll be thinking about self-defense.

While the investigations continue on the failed coup and the casualties are mourned, I’m totally in favor of another impeachment process, invoking the 25th Amendment and any other methods at our disposal to hold trump and his thugs accountable. What took place on January 6 must be punctuated by condemnations and prosecutions of all forms from all quarters to make this a memorable history lesson.


BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member and Columnist, Jamala Rogers, founder and Chair Emeritus of the Organization for Black Struggle in St. Louis. She is an organizer, trainer and speaker. She is the author of The Best of the Way I See It – A Chronicle of Struggle. Other writings by Ms. Rogers can be found on her blog jamalarogers.com. Contact Ms. Rogers and BC.

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is published Thursday
Executive Editor:
David A. Love, JD
Managing Editor:
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Publisher:
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