As I watch footage of Trump-crazed rioters bullying their way into the United States Capitol, sporting their Q-Anon merchandise and MAGA gear, and flying their confederate banners, I find myself wondering what their endgame looks like. What do they want? This was decidedly not a peaceful protest. Nor was it merely civil disobedience. Instead, enraged by the proceedings of elected government officials within the chambers of the legislature, the mob seemed focused only on breaching the building because …Trump. Yet, once they bullied their way into an international, earned media spotlight, but for all their bluster, they proved they had nothing to say.
Intense and angry, many seemed willing to die for their love of President Trump. One woman was, in fact, shot and killed during their brief occupation of the Capitol Building. What did she die for? Because it looked to me like once they infiltrated the premises, they resorted to petty theft, minor vandalism, and celebratory selfies. It was as if the President’s constant egomaniacal, schoolyard antics and criminal activities, committed without clear objectives or consequences, were reflected in the thuggish behavior of his followers. They wanted to scare and anger non-believers because it made them feel better. And a woman died for these thugs to feel powerful and win attention, and to make Donald Trump feel better about himself. Donald Trump’s track record with women is not stellar.
Over the days and weeks to come, we will assuredly hear speculation about motive and outcome. If the, let’s say, woven receptacles of inexcusables who battered their way into the rotunda truly aspired to change the outcome of the election, they might have taken action before December 14, when the states fulfilled their Constitutional mandate to certify their slates of electors. They might have focused on their respective state capitols to pressure them to send alternate electors to be counted because that is what the Constitution says is supposed to happen today: counting of the Electoral College ballots. If the frothing-mawed throngs brought with them into the legislative chambers a shred of evidence of electoral theft, or even so much as a testimonial in ideological opposition to the wickedness of arithmetic, it would have made more of a statement than what ultimately amounted to a temper tantrum. Their seditious and violent actions managed to earn them national media from which they could have spread their message if they had one.
But, like Dear Leader - Vanguard - Supreme Truth - Orange Crush - Etc., their master plan is nothing beyond desecration and destruction and making themselves feel better at the expense of everything else and by any means necessary. They sat in the chairs of members of Congress with their feet on their desks, assuming the postures of dominance. They took mail addressed to the villains of their Newsmax narratives. They celebrated their God given freedom of irony while marching through the halls of democracy crying, “traitor!” while brandishing the stars and bars of the Confederacy. And, they proudly did it all on camera.
Comparisons will undoubtedly be made (by white people who so “have Black friends”) to Black Lives Matter protests of the seemingly endless murders of Black people by law enforcement and the subsequent acquittals of the uniformed perpetrators. Notwithstanding the reality that hundreds, if not thousands of BLM protests have been organized across the country without any incident of violence or rioting, and only a few that included rioting, had BLM protesters stormed the seat of the United States Congress, the response by law enforcement would have been swiftly and blindingly violent. But more importantly, BLM has never attempted an act of violent federal insurrection because BLM has a clear objective and a long-term strategy. BLM has a message. They can point to a documented history of substantive grievances and a specific list of legislative demands to remedy injustice.
For Trumpledore’s Army, however, the injustices are democracy, equity, and reality. If Trump himself, as the figurehead of the coup, were a more tactical, calculating, and long-game type of leader, his followers’ actions might be able make a better argument — or any argument at all. Instead, what we witnessed was more or less football hooligans trashing the city after losing the match, but with more treason. Let’s hope there are charges brought against those brash enough to commit their crimes on camera. For the rest, let’s hope they sober up and move on.