Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
American Justice Must Precede American Unity
The insurrection that led to the death of a Capitol Police officer on Wednesday is the latest in a sad series of events that demonstrate that a large swathe of the Republican Party has given up on democracy and on the American system. Their definition of freedom is the right to do what Donald J. Trump orders. Now that a vast majority of Americans believe Mr. Trump needs to leave office ahead of January 20, some in the GOP and elsewhere on the right are calling for reconciliation and are expressing a desire to turn the page. This journal is inclined to agree, once those responsible for what has happened to America are punished. If American democracy does not fight back now, it is doomed.
The prime target for outrage is Donald Trump himself, a failed casino-owner and con man, who has no instinct for decency let alone the values of liberal democracy. He has most likely cheated on his taxes for years, committed all types of financial fraud and has probably embezzled business funds for personal use. For those crimes alone, he should spend the rest of his life in jail. However, as president, he went much further, ultimately, inciting a mob to attack the US Capitol, to stop the counting of electoral college votes and to try to kill Vice President Pence and Speaker of the House Pelosi. His immediate removal from office is vital to the preservation of America. He still has the power of the presidency for 9 more days otherwise, and he can use that position to cause more chaos.
Next, those who entered the Capitol illegally must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That means not just a simple charge of criminal trespass. Federal law is clear that anyone taking part in a crime in which a person is killed is an accomplice to that killing (murder, manslaughter whatever the charge). Stated differently, the blood of Officer Brad Sicknick in on their hands, and they must all pay for it.
These yahoos, however, did not just turn up on Wednesday because they had nothing to do, and Mr. Trump could not have been in office to gin them up without the collaboration of the elected members of the Republican Party in Congress all these years. Indeed, they had a chance to get rid of him this time last year with the impeachment trial. The Republican Senate chose not to even call witnesses. Except for Mitt Romney (who has been an exception on the right most of the time during the last 4 years), every US Senator in the Republican Party bears some blame. In the House, it is even worse, with idiots like Mo Brooks and Louis Gohmert plain lying on the floor of the House about Antifa, Black Lives Matter and their Democratic colleagues. Kevin McCarthy, the Minority Leader, not only failed to rein in his caucus, he led much of its lying and conniving.
Few if any of these people would be in Congress were it not for the right-wing media machine led by Fox News and supported across the right of the political spectrum. Propaganda works. It always has, and what they have been doing since the death of the Fairness Doctrine is simply telling the American people that 2 + 2 = 5. While this journal is second to none in support a free press, one must bear responsibility for what one says in the press. The fact that these outlets were threatened with lawsuits for lying about Dominion's voting machines says it all. They immediately backed down and retracted their stories. Every lie they tell should result in legal action until they either become responsible or go broke.
Finally, there are the 73 million people who voted for Donald Trump. They will not go away. The members of the NSDAP and the Partito Nazionale Fascista didn't vanish in 1946. De-Trumpification of America will be trickier because there are still civil liberties in the US. Nevertheless, countering propaganda by truth and social pressure to abandon anti-American views will work.
Once that is done, by all means, let there be unity. But not one second before.
© Copyright 2021 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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