"He (Donald Trump) is the Bodyguard of Western Civilization and the defender of our freedoms and the American Way of Life.”
– GOP activist Charlie Kirk, in the first speech of the Republican Convention (August 24, 2020)
National Republicans started their 2020 convention week on August 24, 2020, with repeated warnings about the course for America if Democrats won the White House in November. Supporters of Trump said his re-election was the only way to insure a prosperous future.
"Joe Biden and Democrats are still blaming America first," said former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.
Other objects of ridicule mentioned by various GOP speakers that day were familiar – socialism, communism, California, recent unrest around the nation, the “cancel culture,” cosmopolitan elites, those who “blame America first,” and much more.
"Mr. President, lead the way," said Sean Parnell, who faced an uphill fight for a U.S. House seat in Pennsylvania.
And, in perhaps the most revealing warning associated with their unequivocal support of a narcissistic, divisive leader, Patricia McCloskey – a St. Louis woman who was photographed along with her husband holding firearms and warding off Black Lives Matter protesters in June – said this at the convention …
"The mob and the media will try to destroy you.”
(Jamie Dupree. “GOP opens convention warning Democrats will ruin US future.” WGAU. Athens. CMG Washington News Bureau. August 24, 2020.)
By the way, Mark and Patricia McCloskey pleaded not guilty to two felony charges with the weapon violation. The indictment stated that the pistol held by Patricia McCloskey was altered before it was handed over to investigators.
Their attorney, Joel Schwartz, says President Trump took an interest in the McCloskeys' case.
"They have spoken with the president," Schwartz said after Wednesday's hearing, The Associated Press reports. "The president contacts them semi-frequently." Oh, really?
Guess what? The McCloskeys own a personal injury law firm together. And, according to court documents and other media reports, the McCloskeys' residency on Portland Place has, at times, been contentious.
In a piece for the St Louis Post-Dispatch, investigative journalist Jeremy Kohler detailed a long list of alleged legal battles Mark McCloskey has waged against his neighbors, colleagues, and even his own father and sister, mostly over matters to do with property.
In one court filing, they are said to admit using a gun to force a fellow resident of Portland Place off a patch of grass they claimed to own because he "refused to heed the McCloskeys' warnings to stay off such property".
According to Kohler's reporting, the McCloskeys also sued the trustees to enforce the neighborhood rules that said only married couples could live there.
In one of the stranger reported conflicts, Kohler found the McCloskeys destroyed beehives along the outside of their northern wall, placed there by the neighboring synagogue as a part of its children's programming. "The children were crying," the rabbi told Kohler.
(Jessica Lussenhop. “Mark and Patricia McCloskey: What really went on in St Louis that day?” BBC News, Washington. August 25, 2020.)
Looking Back
Now, post-January 6, 2021, it appears the Republicans should have been warning others about themselves, not about “socialistic Democrats” or president-elect Joe Biden. The attempted coup on the Capitol and the nation's lawmakers – leaving five dead and more than fifty police officers injured – was a direct result of Trump's refusal to accept defeat.
True, some Republicans in Congress did condemn Trump's senseless accusations of election fraud; however, a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House Republicans challenged the Electoral College vote to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 win in a misguided attempt to undermine Americans’ faith in democracy. The flame was Trump, and he manipulated his followers to spread the blaze.
That is exactly what the GOP did call upon their “leader” to do on January 6 – the party pushed Trump front and center while aiding and abetting their mob of right-wing terrorists to undermine the people's faith in democracy. Their “dog and pony” show predictably turned ugly as these sanctioned terrorists desecrated the Capitol, causing death and destruction as they sacked the sacred hall, the very symbol of American democracy. Then, just before 4 a.m. the next day, Congress certified the election results – figures that had already been finalized – and brought to a close one of the ugliest days in American politics.
The mayhem that day all escalated as Trump, standing on a stage in front of the White House, told thousands of his supporters he would “never concede,” and urged them to walk down from the National Mall to the Capitol with him to give Congressional Republicans “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
Probably fearing injury to himself, Trump decided not to walk to the Capitol with his bold and angry crowd. Instead, he retreated to the West Wing where he watched news coverage of the riot, reportedly delighting in the mayhem that exploded at the site.
Brian Bennett of Time summarized the anarchistic chaos …
“Those 24 hours provided what will be the defining images of Trump’s disruptive presidency: mobs assaulting police and breaking windows to storm the halls of Congress, protestors taking selfies on the Senate floor, blood smeared on marble statues, police barricading the door to the House chamber with guns drawn. All of his hostility toward Washington, his disregard and contempt for the country’s democratic traditions, culminated in a violent display of Trump supporters laying siege to the Capitol.”
(Brian Bennett. “After President Trump Incited a Riotous Mob, Will He Face Any Consequences?” Time. January 7, 2020.)
As Bennett relates … for four years, Republicans endorsed Trump's misguided words and actions while defending his tirades and his bigoted character as “just part of his way.” They put up with all the lies, the erratic decisions, and the egotistical rulings. They packed federal courts, gave tax cuts to the wealthy, and allowed Trump to spread disinformation about many vital concerns … including the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which his administration “gave up on” during its deadliest days.
The party cannot deny culpability in the ruin of January 6. Bennett explains …
“As the pro-Trump rally in front of the White House got started early Wednesday, the President’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani called for 'trial by combat' to overturn the election result. Trump’s oldest son, Don Jr., said that the large cheering crowd on the Mall should send a message to the GOP: 'This isn’t their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.'”
(Brian Bennett. “After President Trump Incited a Riotous Mob, Will He Face Any Consequences?” Time. January 7, 2020.)
Pressured by his administration and numerous resignations, Trump held a televised speech on January 7 in which he finally committed to an orderly transition of power. On January 9, The New York Times reported that Trump had told White House aides that he regretted committing to an orderly transition of power and would not resign from office.
And, the Trump Minions Fan the Flames
Let's looks at just two of the Trump supporters' words and actions on January 6. Mo Brooks, U.S. Republican Representative for Alabama's 5th congressional district since 2011, spoke to the crowd of people at the Washington, D.C. rally for President Trump and told them it was time to start “taking down names and kicking ass.”
In fact, Brooks repeated the call for kicking Democrats’ “ass.” Brooks said. “For emphasis, an ‘ass’ is a donkey, the socialist Democrat’s mascot and symbol. I call again for kicking that ‘ass’ all the way back to the communist dictatorships that ‘ass’ now worships.”
Brooks had planned for weeks to take a stand against the election’s results on the day the electoral votes were counted, saying some electoral votes should be cast aside over allegations by President Trump of voter fraud. Brooks even attended a meeting on the subject in which the president was involved. The Trump’s campaign’s lawsuits alleging fraud in the election were rejected by every court that heard the arguments.
In his rally speech, Brooks said other Republicans were making a simple choice with their vote on the electoral ballots. Brooks said …
“Today, Republican Senators and congressman will either vote to turn America into a Godless, amoral, dictatorial, oppressed and socialist nation on the decline, or they will join us and fight against voter fraud and election theft, and vote for keeping America great.”
Then, predictably after the attempted bloody coup and facing fallout for his remarks, Brooks – the first lawmaker in Congress to announce plans to challenge the Electoral College result – said his speech, though, did not advocate for violence.
“The radical left’s absurd claim that I called for violence is pure bunk,” Brooks said. “I called for exercise of freedom of protest at the Capitol and for fighting for our cause at the ballot box in the 2022 and 2024.”
(Paul Gattis. “Mo Brooks on ‘kick ass’ speech: ‘I make no apology’ for inspiring patriotic Americans.” al.com Alabama. January 08, 2021.)
In addition, Donald Trump, Jr. took the stage in D.C. on January 6 and told the angry crowd …
“These guys better fight for Trump. Because if they’re not, guess what? I’m going to be in your backyard in a couple of months!” Donald Trump Jr. said, suggesting he would support primary campaigns against Republicans who did not side with his father on Wednesday.
In his expletive-filled, shouting speech, Trump, Jr. continued …
“The rally itself should be a message to all the Republicans who have not been willing to actually fight. The people who did nothing to stop the steal. This gathering should send a message to them: This isn’t their Republican Party anymore! This is Donald Trump's Republican Party!”
Junior, during his meandering address, thanked the "red-blooded, patriotic Americans" in the crowd "for standing up to the bulls---,” lamented that his personal Instagram account is “being censored to hell right now,” and complained that transgender women have a competitive advantage in all-female sporting events. “No s---!” he said.
Fox News, which had been carrying the remarks live, dropped its feed of the rally after the expletives uttered by the president's son aired uncensored.
(Quint Forgey. “'I’m going to be in your backyard': Trump sons threaten primaries for GOP lawmakers.” Politico. January 06, 2021.)
The Truth
The riots and storming of the Capitol were described as treason, insurrection, sedition, domestic terrorism, and an attempt by Trump to carry out a coup d'état or self-coup.
The Republicans' “Bodyguard of Western Civilization and Defender of Freedoms and the American Way of Life” has now been fully exposed as a usurper to his own self-proclaimed throne. The GOP has seen the stark nakedness of the Emperor's new clothes – what is revealed with no doubt is that the loser adorns himself in lies and dangerous policies.
Leonard Garvey Pitts Jr. – American journalist and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary – aptly stated:
“His (Trump's) psychopathy is nude, his disconnect from reality is disrobed, his toxic narcissism stands bare-cheeked before us all.
“And you wait for the whispers to begin, wait for the toadies and lickspittles who have long enabled him to at last blurt the obvious. And you wait. And you wait.
“And there is silence.”
(Leonard Pitts. “Trump's behavior akin to Emperor's New Clothes.” Associated Press. November 15, 2020.)
Republicans continue to spread lies that Antifa, the anti-fascist movement, was responsible for the uprising. The conservative-leaning news outlet The Washington Times reported: "A retired military officer told the paper that the firm XRVision used its software to do facial recognition of protesters and matched two Philadelphia Antifa members to two men inside the Senate.
Yet, after further review, members of antifa were not identified among rioters at the U.S. Capitol by a facial recognition company, as claimed in a now-retracted story by The Washington Times. Facial recognition technology firm XRVision publicly refuted the story and demanded a retraction and an apology.
(Chelsey Cox. “Fact check: False claim of facial recognition of antifa members during U.S. Capitol riot. USA TODAY. January 07, 2021.)
The truth didn't stop members of the GOP – particularly those from Texas – from spreading false rumors. Republican Party of Texas sergeant-at-arms Walter West II of Montgomery County, posted a series of volatile comments including one labeled “Wild Protest” with the comment: “You Accepted ANTIFA burning down your cities... Now Deal with them taking back OUR HOUSE!”
Co-founder Julie McCarty of the Grapevine-based True Texas Project, the old NE Tarrant Tea Party, wrote Thursday: “I keep hearing, ‘Violence is never OK.’ Is that true? ... A war was fought for our independence, and if I was a gambler I’d bet on that happening again.”
McCarty added later, “I’m ok with our Congressmen feeling a little fear of the people!”
(Bud Kennedy. “In Texas, some tea party Republicans celebrate the riot: It’s ‘taking back OUR HOUSE!’” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. JANUARY 07, 2021.)
Republicans in other areas of the country followed suit. Reps. Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz have all promoted the idea that left-wing extremist group Antifa sneaked in with Trump supporters during Wednesday's rally to provoke the mob.
"Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics," Brooks, an Alabama Republican, tweeted.
"This has all the hallmarks of Antifa provocation," wrote Gosar, an Arizona Republican.
Right-wing figures like Sarah Palin, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and commentator Brit Hume have peddled similar theories of left-wing infiltration.
(Holmes Lybrand and Tara Subramaniam. “Fact checking Republicans' unsubstantiated claims that Antifa infiltrated Capitol riot.” CNN. January 08, 2021.)
No matter their fabricated excuses, the GOP stands complicit in the attempted coup. They provided oxygen after the election to feed Trump’s fantastical claims that Joe Biden stole the election. They did so to delegitimize Joe Biden’s presidency and fire up the Republican base against him. The party continually indulged Trump’s lies while dismissing the danger he posed. The terrible events of January 6 occurred on their watch – plain and simple.
Trump is not a “bodyguard” of anything except his own narcissistic vanity. Republicans have depended upon Trump to “lead the way.” That he has done. He has selfishly led them in riotous efforts to overturn the will of the people and to derail democracy.
Just as Trump did when he ducked into the White House on January 6 after he set the violence and destruction in motion, he continues to cower in his bunker and attempt to sow seeds of deep division in this country. Unless Republicans join Democrats to silence and to punish this autocrat, Trump will call again and again upon his shameless minions to poison our government. The future depends upon whether or not better angels of our collective nature prevail and we unite to preserve the our democratic union.
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
–
Abraham Lincoln, Great Speeches / Abraham Lincoln: with
Historical Notes by John Grafton
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