No move forward without accountability
Another day and yet more turmoil, as America attempts to come to terms with its own president inciting insurrection and the storming of the Capital Building. There are some
bizarre things going on in response to this act of insurrection. Republicans are running around like headless chickens trying to defend the indefensible. The threat of expulsions is absolutely a proportionate response. It really is simple. Cruz and Hawley should do the honourable thing and resign. The reality is, they have no honour or integrity. Even worse, the Republican message machine is overheating trying to diminish their seditious actions and implore us to come together. This is the moment for Democrats. To stand firm and prove to the American people, that extensive investigations will follow to ensure every member of either Senate or Congress who were complicit in this well coordinated act of insurrection incited by POTUS are held to account. No exceptions. Let’s say it out loud. ‘The President of the United States was complicit in the murder of a police officer and 4 other citizens’ There can be no clearer example of joint enterprise. As a measure of the Republican response, they are more concerned about the loss of social media access and the limiting of what they term 1st amendment rights. There is no comparison between the loss of followers and the loss of a police officer caused by their actions. There must be nowhere to hide for these individuals. Enough is enough.
If I have to listen to any more republicans suggesting this was no different to the Black Lives Matter Rioting, I will scream. Let me try and spell this out in a way that even these intellectually deficient lunatics can understand. This soundbite rhetoric attempting to shift the narrative is wrong on so many levels. Republicans are the self professed party of law and order. The central tenant of the rule of law is accountability. Yet now, they are saying 'let's move on in the interest of unity'. Maybe it's time to say unity is not required in the building of a fair equitable society? The Democrats DO NOT need the help of seditious actors or leaders that put corporate interests ahead of hard working Americans. Maybe it's time to aggressively assert fairness, decency and integrity. To do this, the Democrats need no help from the Republicans, who since Reagan, have tiptoed further and further to the right, to the point that they are now in a ditch.
As Edmund Burke said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”. The Democrats must not remain silent. A felonious sociopath, has held the highest office in the world for four years. In that time, even to a blind man, his actions have been nothing but self serving and indifferent to the most vulnerable in society. He
celebrated the separation of children from the parents of immigrants. Has shown total indifference to the ever expanding death rates, as a result of his gross incompetence in dealing with the pandemic. Indeed I would even go so far as to say he is guilty of reckless negligent homicide. Every move he's taken, has been in pursuit of power and personal enrichment. This has been music to the ears of many Republicans who as a result, were prepared to walk through fire for him and his agenda, because it aligned with their objectives. This is not only unconscionable, it's inhumane. Make absolutely no mistake, democracy has a stage 4, cancerous right wing racist growth at the heart of government. Left untreated, it will kill democracy as we have just witnessed. These are not the rantings of a left wing extremest, they are the rational observations of a left leaning progressive thinker. Trump has learned his supporters, that the best form of attack is relentless and uncompromising offence and don't worry if you have to lie or incite violence. A banner willingly taken up by the likes of Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley.
I listened to Alice Stewart on CNN do it again and say this mob was not representative of the Trump base. She also said that Trump represented Republican values . There it is, she said it out loud. If 'Trump represents Republican values', then America has just rejected them at the ballot box. She said he carried out Republican policy and had the audacity to use the words 'fiscal responsibility'. There can be no question, that this administration has been one of the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history. They exploded the deficit, all in the service of tax giveaways for corporate America. I disagree with the premise of her entire argument. Over 60% of Republicans believe the election was rigged and there is a growing indication, that the majority of Republicans simply refuse to accept the will of the people and these include members of Congress and the Senate.
It is really important NOT to let Republicans liken the seditious events of 6 January to the events arising from the abhorent killing of George Floyd. These protests were the outpouring of decades of racial injustice, a matter addressed by Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was America saying no to injustice, it WAS NOT people attempting to overthrow the will of the people. This is a scurrilous attempt by the right, to defend the indefensible. Another important thing to note, is the radical difference between the limited riotous incidents in June. Cities were NOT on fire, as right wing media constantly portrayed, it amounted in may cases, to opportunist thieves who used the cover of the protests to steal from shops. Let's be clear, there can be no toleration of any such behaviour and I for one, supported the prosecution of anyone found guilty of these acts of property violence. In contrast, the mob at the Capital so called protests, came with the express intent of doing whatever it would take to meet their objectives of overturning the results of a legitimate election. If that meant storming the seat of democracy and killing lawmakers, then so be it. Shouts to 'hang Mike Pence' weren't bravado, had Mike Pence been there, I beleive they would have done it. Whether Cruz and Hawley want to admit it, they poured gasoline on this fire of hatred. If only for this, they should resign.
Another interesting dynamic about the events of January 6, is the average age of the protesters. There were many middle aged angry men, who clearly like dressing up as soldiers. It was as if there had been a calling to the militia of the land to gather together to overthrow the will of the people. This was POLITICAL, no question and Trump thought he could use them to force Mike Pence into overturning the results of the election. The fact that a newly elected member was telegraphing the whereabouts of the House Speaker is chilling and she is another member who must resign. Another clear example of joint enterprise in action. In seeking at best to harm the Speaker, if not murder her, this was surely an action and warrants criminal charges. So how can Republican surrogates on news networks even begin to suggest we move past this with no accountability. The Democrats should seize this opportunity, to totally disrupt the makeup of the GOP and make every attempt to remove the likes of Cruz and his gang. There is no place for them in a modern American democracy.
As for their first Amendment rights, this isn't about rights, its about protecting the nation from seditious messaging. The social media platforms are all owned by private companies and there is nothing more damaging to corporations than reputational damage. They have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, not to diminish revenue streams by association with these seditious actors. These platforms by removing and limiting their ability to communicate, has taken the oxygen out of the room of dangerous political propaganda and it is to be applauded. Moves by corporate American to remove access to server space, payments systems is highly effective mechanism to disrupt their activities and there should be no government intervention to prevent it. Once Corporate America sees the Republicans as a threat to their reputation, the wind is starting to blow in the right direction for change. Also some corporation's hold on PAC funding, is another constructive step, to allow a firebreak in which campaign financing can be examined in more detail. If Joe is to live up to his objective of building back America better, then it can't happen a moment too soon.
Biden and his team have a colossal task ahead and I for one, don't envy them. I was going to talk about Covid today, but as I have a short film being released later in the week, which is a tribute to healthcare workers, I thought I might leave that subject until then. I hope I haven't got too heavy today, but there's no way to lighten up these historic times. Have a great day and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Stay safe out there.