January 6 Was Nothing Compared to What We're Going Through Now

But Make No Mistake, This Too is Our Government Being Torn Apart by a Mob of Thugs

Regular readers of “Need to Know” will I hope recall that I have been trying very hard to weed out the distractions and performative nonsense of our current administration in order to focus on what really matters.

Today—this week—we have seen many actions that really matter. The efforts by the Trump team to supplant the role assigned to the Congress by the Constitution and to illegally shutdown federal agencies, fire workers and cancel budgets are no different from trying to use violence to stop the smooth hand over of power in 2021. They do not just nullify the role of the Congress. They suppress and negate the role of the people who elected that Congress to the role the Constitution has ascribed for them to play.

So too does firing civil servants in violation of the law. So to would Elon Musk and his gang of vandals seizing control of the mechanisms by which the U.S. government pays its bills—which they are trying to do. So too are eliminating departments or protections that people have under the Constitution.

Does it matter that they are wiping references to climate change from government websites? Certainly. It matters and is surpassingly stupid—a childish stunt equivalent to a kid putting his hands over his ears and shouting “la-la-la” to avoid hearing news he does not like. Was the president’s ugly effort to politicize an air tragedy disgusting? Absolutely.

But these are just performances for the crowd, efforts to distract from the real damage that is being done.

That those efforts are working, that the media is so overwhelmed by stories they do not know what to prioritize or how, that people can’t take it all in and some are just tuning it out—that’s part of the plot. It is a way to get the space they need to toss their anti-rule-of-law anti-democratic firebombs. It is a way of doing as much damage as possible before the courts step in. (And there is no guarantee they will accept the rulings of courts either—there are early signs they will not.)

All of which is to say the warning lights are all flashing red right now.

I do not recall a 24 hour or one week news cycle with more disturbing news about the state of the presidency and the US government in it than those of today and the past seven days. January 6 was nothing compared to this. But make no mistake, this too is the gov't being torn apart by a mob of thugs.

I think it is fair to say that since the Civil War the U.S. has not seen a greater threat to our system. But I would argue that even during the Civil War the federal government was better functioning, more guided by the rule of law and officials with the interests of the people at heart.

Do not underestimate the historical significance of this lawlessness or the damage that will be done if it is not immediately and resoundingly stopped by the courts and, should they summon even the hint of a pre-vertebrate spine, by the Congress.

And for those of you in the Congress (or anywhere else in the country for that matter), make no mistake what is going on here is precisely the same as what happened on January 6 in that it is an effort to negate the role of both the Congress and the people in our system of government.

In addition, though it will not happen and who knows, it may even soon be illegal to say it, Trump, Musk and their anti-Constitutional coup plotters, planners and implementers should all be relieved of their jobs by whatever legal means available.

Also, finally, note that if that does not happen...and I fear it will not...we will look back on these days of chaos, destruction, hatred, idiocy and lunacy as only prelude. Unchecked, we are on the path not just to autocracy, but to the worst form of malevolent, abusive dictatorship.

It's not hysteria. It's not exaggeration. It's not premature. Where we are is a place we have never been in this country and threat we face is one that is by no means certain that we can survive. But let's do what we can, whatever we can, something precious and fragile is at dire risk of being lost.