1. The final full week of Donald Trump's presidency ended with America in disarray. Today, America is a country fearful about the
threats surrounding Inauguration Day in a capital city that has become
a fortress; unsettled by
new details of the harm that rioters could have inflicted on lawmakers during the 6 Jan 2021 insurrection. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser
urged Americans to avoid the city during Biden's inauguration. Speaking at a news conference, Bowser, a Democrat, stressed that she was concerned about more violent actors potentially coming to the city in the run-up to the inauguration, saying:
"If I'm scared of anything, it's for our democracy, because we have very extreme factions in our country that are armed and dangerous."
2. IMO, the more capable the extremist group, the more dangerous they are. IMHO, extremist idiots with poor trigger discipline are a greater danger to their own fellow extremist than to:
(a) the Biden admin (from 20 Jan 2021 onwards);
(b) the current state government run by Governor Jay Inslee; and
(c) the citywide curfew declared by Muriel Bowser as the Mayor of Washington.
3. The right wing groups have a PR problem that I have no sympathy for. The left wing groups have a PR problem that I also have no sympathy for. If you look at U.S. history broadly, you see quite a few “rebellions” in which armed groups proclaimed themselves the true and legitimate source of governance – “self-created” bodies, as their opponents denounced them.
4. Early American history is rife with such revolts: events like the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s, or the Dorr Rebellion of the 1840s. And, of course, the most violent and widespread rebellion of all, Southern secession. In that sense, perhaps, it was appropriate that many of the 6 Jan 2021 invaders in the Capitol were carrying Confederate flags; given the specific meaning tied to that flag on secession:
Stedman *1: Part of Donald Trump’s strategy since 2016 was to cast doubt on our electoral legitimacy. This strategy was amplified during the pandemic when so much of the country implemented early voting and vote by mail, which Trump and his acolytes relentlessly criticized as fraudulent methods. His strategy was aided and abetted by Fox News and its commentators, as well as by various social media personalities and websites.
Wednesday was the culmination of that strategy. The electoral count was the last possible chance for Trump to keep power. The strategy was shamefully supported by senators like Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, as well as key members of the Republican House leadership. This all ratcheted up the stakes of yesterday’s electoral count, and Trump’s supporters were there yesterday to pressure Republicans to bend to the President’s will, and failing that to prevent the count from taking place.
Sklansky *2: There is a strong and straightforward argument for treating Trump’s words and conduct over the past several weeks, and especially on Wednesday, as grounds for impeachment. The standard for impeachment is “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which is a term meaning, essentially, abuse of power. And it is hard to think of a clearer violation of office, or a more dangerous abdication of duty, than refusing to acknowledge the result of an election voting you out of office, encouraging your supporters to prevent the lawful transfer of power and congratulating them for their violent efforts to do just that.
5. Not sure if the Americans can find a cure but it’s their own problem to solve. How it is solved is a domestic political choice. However this problem is to be solved, it will not be by Trump or with his input. Trump’s political capital has cratered. A
Pew Research Center poll showed that 54% of Americans want to see Trump removed from office and 68% said they don't want to see him continue to be a major national political figure in the years to come. His overall approval rating fell to 29%, the lowest it has ebbed during his presidency.
6. Combined or at war with each other, these left and right wing groups or nut-jobs present an internal security problem that is becoming more mainstream in America. Only the stupid cannot recognise the obvious:
America is a country diminished by stupidity and internal armed dissent.
*1 Stephen Stedman, senior fellow at FSI
*2 David Sklansky, Stanley Morrison Professor Law; faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center