After Trump’s rally turned to riot Wednesday, my in-box exploded: media reports of “the darkest day” in US history, a liberal calling my party a “sinking ship,” and fellow Republicans ashamed of Trump. I get the hyperbole, but unconscionable behavior always requires context. Was it the “darkest day” ever? Did the petulant miscreants ruin Republican hopes for 2022? Is Trump now forever regrettable? Above all, what’s behind the fear and loathing?
Let’s agree that no candidate’s supporters should leave a rally and storm the Capitol, no matter what “truths” they believe. At the individual level, the fiasco began as a political panty raid and ended with lost lives. As an historic moment, Wednesday was more December 16, 1773 (Boston Tea Party) and less July 29, 1775 (first shots fired in Lexington). January 6 was the bad EKG that foreshadows much worse to come. Joe Biden had better bring good health to the Oval Office.
Twenty years from now, Wednesday’s death toll won’t be mentioned in the same breath as December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) or September 11, 2001 (Al Qaeda attacks). Our government wasn’t disrupted as it was on November 22, 1963 (JFK assassination) and August 8, 1974 (Nixon resignation). The day was not a point of no return, like April 12, 1861 (Fort Sumter) or December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor again). Point 1: it undermines “darkest” to overstate the import of January 6.
Democrats and their media allies wrongly conflate Wednesday’s MAGA outliers and the GOP. Wednesday’s seeds were sown by Ross Perot, when he warned of a “great sucking sound” that would hurt America’s middle class. Still, Washington never thought middling whites might arise in rebellion. GOP pundits dumped on Antifa: Republicans don’t riot after lost elections, and Democrats carelessly taunted (“cling to your bibles”) and name-called (“homophobes, xenophobes”).
Is Washington so focused on political power, it doesn’t see the middling majority? Yes. Fox News reported Trump rally size and passion only in context of the election – even after armed open-up folks (mostly white) stormed Michigan’s capitol and a middle-class white kid shot and killed someone on the other side. And, after Gallup reported in December approval of Congress was at an all-time low (16%), no politician urged bipartisanship, except Joe Manchin. Point 2: this isn’t just a GOP problem.
The default response to Wednesday’s violent protests was to blame and excoriate President Trump. Yes, he did say, “You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. Our country has had enough. We’re not going to take it anymore.” But, was it, as Democrat Ted Deutch claimed, “an attempted coup by Trump supporters at his encouragement” or a pointless pep rally? Hard to say for sure, but I’m going with pointless pep rally – because I stopped caring in November about what Trump had to say.
I voted for Trump, doubted Biden swing-state totals, and now look forward to 2022. Common sense requires citizens to ignore lame-duck advice and theories. After Jimmy Carter’s 1980 concession (“I can’t say it doesn’t hurt”) proved presidents are people too, I just assume losers are at emotional tipping points. To wit, Ms. Clinton’s loss triggered a 4-year pity party. Point 3: every man has a breaking point, Donald Trump is past his, and it’s nuts to “obey” him.
The great risk of hyperbole, extrapolation, and blame is to miss the big movement; i.e. MAGA. Making America Great Again is not Trump’s to ruin because it has tenets even Democrats can love. As Tucker Carlson rightly cites, MAGA voters are the “decent folks” that paint your house, serve in your armed forces, and answer your 911 distress calls. MAGA is not going away, and to ignore it invites far worse than hundreds of outliers crashing a Biden celebration.
On Wednesday evening, Part II will dive into the reasons behind Wednesday’s riotous behavior.