It’ll happen again.
The events that made television airwaves on January 6th, let’s make no mistake, will be seared into the political memory of this nation for decades to come. On January 6th, 2021, the United States Capitol building was held hostage by populist contempt. Its borders were breached. Flags, flags that were not America’s, or American, flew into the very corridors in which the country that those flags bore, were corridors that had, in victory, banished its existence for the good of the nation, and for the good of history. It was a violent siege to undermine the democratic process and a seige nonetheless, pre-empted by the elected leaders of the free world. Elected leaders of the free world, who were elected to protect and uphold the word of the constitution, the spirit of the constitution, and ultimately, the message of the constitution. To carry freedom. Defend its spirits. To give the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the representation to give them a voice. Voice to combat tyranny. Those elected leaders.
Nowhere is this betrayal to the United States more stinging than it being inflicted upon by its very own leader, the President of the United States. Upon losing an election, he constructed an investigation, which he was legally entitled to do, to oversee the possibility of election fraud occurring from every swing state, every, overnight-flipping seat that he lost. Again, he had every legal right to do so. And he exercised that same right, to the full extent of the law. (NBC, 2020)
Then, the results of these investigations flooded in. Appeals were denied. Court arguments were rejected. The number of fraudulent votes was a meager fraction of what it would take to overturn a seat, state, or the opinion of a judge. Nearly all of those same lawsuits were rejected or dismissed. Yet despite this, the President, full of whatever starry-eyed energy it is that energizes delusion, kept crying “fraud” as a means to tear herds of sheep, all while crying wolf . Whether it be political or egotistical, those same cries, were cries of political rallying. Political opportunity. An escalator of electoral gain. Senators tramped on, fueling the fires that lit the passions of voters across the world, some of which, decided that it would be a good idea for mob rulership to overpower a nation of democracy, to unlawfully keep, a once democratically elected President, into power. (NBC, 2020)
Nothing can really be said more about that event, then what is said out of shame, fear, anger, and pure disbelief. There’s nothing that I can say, that can be said out of anything other, than shame, fear, anger, and pure disbelief. So, now, I won’t. I’ve said enough, there. Now, I’ll ask the question that needs to be asked- a question that still has not found an answer to tenant. Where do we go from here?
Before the attack, the President of the United States was the proud owner of a meager 43% approval rating. Before the attack, the Republicans campaigned as the party of Law and Order. Around the nation, they barraged on defunding the police as the platform of the left- a policy that 58% of this nation opposes. A campaign platform, that, not 48 hours previous- was already struggling in deep water, when Donald Trump attempted to coerce the Georgia Secretary of state to find votes. Not recalling, not re-looking. A request to find, those same votes. In those same 48 hours, Republicans lost a majority in the Senate. On the same day that they lost the Senate, the first son of the free world was provocatively overusing the term RINO, in an attempt to derogatorily re-define, what they had already re-defined, as Republicanism. (FiveThirtyEight, 2020)
In 48 hours, the victory that the Republicans had won, starting all the way back in 2012, tumbled down an avalanche consisting of a coup, a phone call, an electoral loss, and political trench-warfare in between the civil war crashing upon the party that got into power by moving far enough to the right, that populistically, entirely isolated the moderate and liberal republicans that, historically, defined what the party had stood for- the American style of conservatism that idolized the democratic process as the best possible means to forward progressive change in the US. (Brittanica).
So, what you have is a political party in the middle of an identity crisis, because, in an attempt to grow itself stronger and strong, the party- whether or not it’s symbolically accurate, may have just shattered whatever public confidence it had left, in front of the entire world to see.
This isn’t to say Republicans, Trump supporters, or the American right are all domestic terrorists- those were the people that promted the terror. Like any group that takes matters into its own hands through extremist, violent measures, the actions of a few cannot be a symbol of an endorsement of the masses. The difference this time, though, is that the party that introduced the mindset of a few symbolizing the mass to the US, is now facing the possibility of being the victim of it. It’s something that’s often undercut, but a populistically nationalistic, right-winged, cultural style of conservatism, thrown into a direction of menace, will inevitably become prey to itself. Too many lines need to be drawn, and the only way to keep winning is to draw more and more, until there’s nothing left.
But while the nation reels in shock, partisan politics is no longer an option to heal this nation from an attack that, in many ways, it inflicted upon itself, by letting the egos of liberals and conservatives get to such a point, where “owning” each other became emblematic of leadership genius. People fell in love with the candidates that could “clap back”, insult, and ravage pettiness as a virtue. Trump Jr, calling people “Heros” or “Zeros”, whether or not it’s humorous, in front of the Capitol, incites audiences. (Fox, 2021) The President’s lawyer, referring to trial by combat, incites audiences. Rallying the forceful idea on the eve of a democratic process, in front of the Capitol, “Not giving up”, incites and incited, audiences. (Bloomberg QuickTake, 2021) Such pettiness can do the same to the left- and it did, when in 2016, the humorizing of the Trump voter, lost them the election. Populism needs an accomplice. It does not work on its own- it has to curtail enemies, and the snark of Democrats in 2013, calling republicans “Anarchists”, was the matchstick to the anti-establishment, anti-educated, anti- “I’m better than you movement”, that prompted Trump to power in the first place. (Buzzfeed News, 2013) (Harvard, N/A)
That being said, right now, half of the major American political parties in the US, are reeling from one of the harshest blowbacks of modern times, nearly having to remove its own sitting president for the sake of the party-and nation.
Yet, as the movement Trump sparked sees a moment of tremendous weakness, it’s not unheard. 8 Senators and 139 Republican House members objected to the certification of the election, and it’s not without coincidence. Whether or not we want to admit it, American Politics runs on elections, and the decisions of these Senators clearly contained a key influence on their constituents. (Vox, 2021)
So, what do they know that others don’t? What do they know about the direction of the party-of American politics, that, prompts them to continue lighting broken matchsticks?
What they see, is a Republican Party that is not ready to face the next administration. Donald Trump might have been great at rallying voices, but the time to rally voices is now over. A majority of Americans want cornerstones of what will likely be passed by the next administration. 60% of Americans want stricter gun laws, 68% for legalizing Marijuana. 62% believe the government needs to do more on the environment. (Gallup, 2020)(Gallup, 2018) (NPR, 2019) At the same time, there’s a great likelihood that the U.S will soon begin seeing its first driverless cars, which will require federal regulation. SpaceX plans to send its first cargo-only spacecraft by 2022. (Bloomberg, 2020) (CNBC, 2020) At the same time, in the next decade, the US is projected to replace nearly 20 million more jobs due to automation. (US News, 2019) While a great amount of legislation may pass with overwhelming support from citizens, citizens are going to keep facing discontent. As the government continues to rack in legislative victories, the less educated, rural, and working-class, will still be losing jobs.
What happened at the Capitol will not fix the national inferiority complex. In fact, it’s only going to grow stronger. The victories of the left will be countered with remembrances of how the Trump presidency- nearly literally, in flames. Caused by himself, and the party that rallied him to victory. Those right-winged politicians may very well be seeing this opportunity turn it’s head, offering a more moderate tone, but bearing the same language and reach to the same voters, and establish an early record that gives them a headstart with discontented independents, and in a way, a restart. Just with a different politician behind it.
The contempt for Congress isn’t going away. That’s the direction it’s going to take, so long as people lose their jobs. So long as the income gap continues to grow, and so long as the land of opportunity, seizes the opportunity, and inflicts the fear of well-being to the voters that will swing states like a pendulum on a clock. For both parties to get a headstart- for both parties to prohibit contempt- a partisan moderation will almost definitely have to occur. A vast majority condemnation of all of the populistic rhetoric that led to the Capitol in smoke, bipartisan approval of the most popular voter issues, a collective, united front against the growth of tech, and highlighting differences in approach, and the priority for opportunity vs. outcome.
If the administration coming into power doesn’t realize this, and takes it seriously, it will only be a matter of time before a far more strategic and powerful, authoritarian figure comes into power- one that may even scare the right and left of today. Then, an article like this- one hastening warning of the potential of a much stronger repeat happening again in the next decades to come, may not so easily find the way among audiences.
The Senators that voted against certification are telling us what needs to happen now- a partisan reset. A relief from petty quarrel, and a dedication to the solution. On every side. Because, while Republicans- no matter the condemnation, will always have to bear the responsibility of what happened on this land, in some way shape, or form. But that responsibility will not change what got us here in the first place. It’s time for politicians to make themselves lead politics and policy- not destroy it.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-self-driving-car-race/
https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22218058/republicans-objections-election-results
