The people who assaulted the Capitol will still exist on Jan. 21
Yesterday was the culmination of the fears that the President’s candidacy was enough to spark in me back in 2015. But I had no plans to write. I know we live in the Deep South, but I thought, probably naively, that seeing the confederate flag being paraded in the Capitol building ought to have been enough, that it was so obvious. And saying “I told you so” would not have helped at all.
But then I learned that a lot of people were blaming the takeover of the Capitol Building on Antifa. Apparently, the truth was not obvious to everyone, after all.
If you take the time to check legitimate news sources – not Facebook or your Twitter feed, but a legitimate media (Fox News would have been sufficient) – the picture should become clear. I sincerely doubt the President would release a video telling Antifa that he loves them and that they are special. After all, he, with help from Rudy Giuliani, was the one who urged them to go. That’s all on camera.
Some Republican senators came to their senses afterwards and reversed their earlier decisions to object to the Electoral College. Shamefully, our own Senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, was not among them. Perhaps she felt safe under the cover of darkness. Seems to me the political winds are more than she can handle.
I do suspect a lot of Trump voters were disgusted as those Senators who changed their minds. They know Trump owns this, as do Giuliani, and in my view, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.
But what about the rest of us? The ones not yet sufficiently outraged. If you are one of the latter, what will you do now? What proof do you need to recognize the danger this president poses? Do you support violence against Congress even as you condemn the violence that occurred in some BLM protests? Putting the lives of congresspersons at risk? Because that’s what the president instigated amongst his supporters.
The next 12 days are extremely dangerous; I hope appropriate action is taken. But they are just the most dangerous days ahead. The people that assaulted the Capitol will still exist on January 21st.
So, what will you do now?
Paul Mack
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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