The burning of the Reichstag in 1933 gave Hitler a path to power. He did it and got away with it. Did the Jan 6 insurrection fail? No, actually it succeeded. Trump’s army came together, largely because he asked them to and they could and did. The conspiracy was not so much to stop the count as it was a real, actual and unmistakable coup d’etat organized to overthrow our government. Think about it.
Those TV pictures are indelibly stamped on our minds and memories - an open, armed, hostile and lethal breach of our Capitol, the center and sanctum of our democracy. The undeniable thing about it is that it was a traumatic inflection in the history of our precious republic. It was our burning of the Reichstag, one that can never be walked back.
Just as it was demoralizing for us, it was a huge boost in morale for them. Can Jan 6 happen again? I suppose in some sense we learned to defend ourselves. At the same time, Trump’s army has learned, too, to be more aggressive, more strategical, more determined and more nuanced in the attack. Their success encourages a continuation of their effort. Everyone in the world saw and heard that evidence, but still he’s paid no price. No impeachment, no indictment, as yet no nothing. Nearly two years gone by, and he remains teflon. Our bad.
Will it happen again? Yes, but not in the same way. When will it happen? Some say it’s happening right now. It won’t be limited to the Capitol or Washington; it could be elsewhere or in many places. It is not as likely to be violent, at least at first, although Trump’s powerful dog-whistle calls are still with us, just like the possibility of nuclear war in Europe is with us. You raise the fear of extraordinary danger, and it sticks. We worry, we are intimidated, traumatized, we are the deer in the headlights.
The huge Trump conspiracy is still busy like beavers - it continues to burn our democracy every day. Crazy election laws, fraudulent fund raising, dredging up completely unqualified Trump candidates, lying at unhinged rallies, scaring off poll workers, and replacing honest officials with conspirators, These are not coincidences or random acts - they are part of an active, ongoing, willful conspiracy, organized and led by Trump. It’s the same playbook, the same outrageous lies, cult-loyalty mechanisms, the same dark money, it’s all still there
For the moment, the resurrected insurrection has a kind of legal imprimatur, but still built on hate and divisiveness. Is that less of an insurrection? If you do all these things to destroy the country on Election Day, you don’t need to repeat Jan 6. If you thought the hanging chads created confusion, wait til you see the litigation of all those close races in November. Some MAGAs say we’re in a civil war right now. They’re really saying the insurrection is still going on, and thus the attempts at a coup are still going on. Is there a difference?
The damage Trump has done to the country is incalculable and probably permanent. Look around. The insurrection has had and is having a huge effect on every aspect of our society, our perception of ourselves and who we are, and the world’s perception, too. Can you really say it isn’t still happening? Can you say it isn’t having the very same Reichstag burning effect that Trump and his co-conspirators have sought to achieve? Think again.
Stay tuned, stay informed, stay concerned.
ThinkTech
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