The Insurrection, A Year Later
– By Ed Kociela –
A year ago we sat in the cold morning chill of the new year.
Standing in the light of a brand new year, a little more cautious, I hope, than the one we just disengaged from, we await the future headlines and soundbites as the news cycle resets and readies for another round of drama, intrigue, and, of course, the unknown.
For some context, a year ago we were starting to breathe easier, aware that it was only a matter of weeks before we rid ourselves of the biggest mistake in United States history — the election of Donald J. Trump. Today, we have our ear to the ground, waiting to hear the claptrap of hooves of justice which are painfully moving at a gentle lope instead of a heady gallop.
I hope we learned something from last year. Despite the clear-cut election results, the propagandists were still yawking about illegal votes, voters, and results, yammering about how the election was rigged, how what was billed as the largest conspiracy in the history of the world left their guy holding the bag, how it would all be turned around and their guy would remain on the throne for another four years at least.
Better minds, of course, knew it was all lies, that it was nothing more than noise from the rabble of wannabe militiamen and women throwing a major hissy fit.
Still, we believed that all we had to do was make it to Inauguration Day and, by God, it would be over.
Most of us were in the throes of massive relief and gratitude as we watched the seconds tick away from the most corrupt and evil administration in the nation’s history.
All we had to do was wait it out and maybe, just maybe, the dumpster fire set in the Oval Office would finally be put out for good.
Less than a week into 2021, however, the pulse of democracy went limp, revived only by some brave police officers and a little bit of luck as thousands marched on the Capitol, trashed it and the Constitution, and called for the heads of Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and anybody else who stood in the way of their demand that the election results be nullified and Trump reseated in the Oval Office. The legal filings, the charges of impropriety, the opinion polls started collapsing around the wingnuts who had taken permanent custody of the Republican Party, which was rapidly falling apart in the miasma of fetid politics.
So, fat guys in camo and armed with powerful bear spray and crude weapons assembled near the White House, where they literally received their marching orders from a manic, narcissistic interloper who claimed an allegiance to a Constitution that he, I would bet, has never read.
And, just like that, the fight was on.
During the subsequent year, a number of the domestic terrorists who participated in the senseless violence have been sentenced, with more coming. We are now in ceremonial hearings taking place in the House as Congress supposedly peels away the layers of deceit and treachery that fueled the rabid crowd that day. Where the scraps of this lead depends on the courage and tenacity of the House and the Department of Justice. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurgence is knee-deep into its work, with some of the perpetrators remaining loyalists and continuing co-conspirators with Trump while others are bailing to save themselves from prison.
And, let’s not quibble, Trump was a co-conspirator, from his arrogant dismissal of his oath of office to his threats and the heavy push to coerce election officials in Georgia and Arizona to lie, cheat, and steal the election.
We were beaten up at the time having barely survived the embarrassing four years of the Trump administration and fighting the ravages of a COVID-19 pandemic that continues to be crippling. Although we had all been hoping for a resolution to both of these inflictions, we knew, deep down, that they would follow us into 2022, even though we would have loved to drop them into the trash bin to start with a cleaner slate in our new year. That bit of housekeeping is likely to take us through at least half of the new year with residual effects lasting longer.
We feel a little better, I am sure, as a result of vaccinations and boosters and social distancing as practiced by those with some gray matter between their ears and, in the case of the investigation, a dogged determination to make an airtight case against the perpetrators, from top to bottom, and that includes the former president who continues to drop millions into dead-end court filings that even his stacked Supreme Court will reject.
My gut tells me that despite the ignorance of the unscrubbed who remain unvaccinated and unmasked, we will get a handle on all of this.
And, my gut tells me that even though it is quite probable that even if charged and convicted, Trump will never spend a minute in prison because it would just not look good for a former POTUS to walk around the prison yard in orange, no matter how indecorous his behavior. At least if charged and convicted, he will be ineligible to run for office again, a good thing for all of us, to be sure.
I swear, I had truly hoped that at this point, we would never, ever have to write that man’s name again, that he would disappear behind some distant mountain. That, unfortunately, has not happened…yet.
But, there is hope.
Now that the holidays are behind us, I expect the House to go full-court medieval with its investigation, turning over not only all of those rocks and pebbles of deceit and treachery left behind in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Capitol, but the boulders and sludge of Trump and his cabal. The midterms are coming up and nothing would benefit the Democrats more than having the goods on this band of thieves and liars.
Call me naive, that’s fine.
But, there is enough left inside of me to believe that good eventually triumphs, that
decency is its own best reward, and in forgiveness we find the path to grace and salvation.
But, it would be easier to offer decency and forgiveness if only the perpetrators of this hate and violence would show penitence.
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