I've been trying to post something about this since the 6th, but whenever I think about it, I get too angry to type. I'm still pissed off enough to be incoherent, and I might jump around a lot. But IDGAF, it's my blog.
January 6th was frightening. By the end of the day, my Republican friends were split into two groups: Those who said it must have been Antifa in disguise, and those who felt the whole thing was no big deal because it's a public building.
Both sides are idiots. The Antifa angle is laughable - I mean, just check social media. These fools are proud of what they've done, and they even posted selfies on Twitter. Their Facebook feeds show years of supporting Trump. To be fair, there was a Washington Times article early on that claimed some people had been identified as Antifa, but that claim was retracted later. Funny how the correction didn't get spread as far as the original article. It's almost like people believe what they want to believe.
Besides, the Antifa theory falls apart when you follow Trump's timeline - He invited them to DC, he held a rally, he told them to head for the Capitol. This isn't up for debate. We have the tweets, we have the video. Even if every one of the crowd was really Antifa, they were still following Trump's orders.
And why would Anitfa rush the Capitol? Their guy won the election. Was it just to make Trumpers look bad? Trumpers already look bad. Dressing shit up like shit doesn't make it look more like shit.
But the "no big deal" crowd pisses me off more. Here's a hint - if you have to break a window to get in, you're probably not welcome. But the people who committed the crime bragged about it on Facebook, like they were unaware of having crossed a line. I have family members who support them. Everybody glosses over the deaths and the bombs, and claims that BLM caused more damage in their riots.
To anyone who thinks "no harm done", shame on you. Four people died, more murders were attempted, bombs were found, and the perpetrators might be gearing up to do it again on inauguration day.
Now, you can argue that Trump didn't specifically tell people to break into the Capitol. All he did was rile up an angry mob and tell them where to stand. But here's the thing - As President, you can't say things like that. There are 328 million people in this country. That is a huge number. When you're dealing with that many people, you can't just imply strong-arm tactics and expect all of them to know it's a metaphor. If even 0.1% take you seriously, that's still 328 thousand people who think you just asked them to take the Capitol by force.
My Republican friends also argue about whether the Capitol riot was worse than the BLM riots. Before we get into that, let's get a couple of things straight. The majority of BLM protests were peaceful, and for the most part, only the violent ones made the news. Of the violent ones, the police usually threw the first punch.
But of the remaining BLM riots, the ones where BLM/Antifa/whatever were actually at fault - if any - I have thoughts about that. I'm not going to say those riots were good or bad. I'm not going to say they were justified, but I am going to say they were inevitable. There's only so long you can poke someone with a stick before they retaliate.
As a white person, I will never know what it's like to be that afraid of police. To get pulled over for no reason, and then spend the next few minutes worried that any move you make will get you shot. If I reach to get my registration out of the glove compartment, will the officer think I'm reaching for a gun? Black people tell us their stories, but too many white people dismiss them. "If I didn't see it, it didn't happen."
They live in a different country than we do. Privileged white Americans talk in hushed tones about other countries, where jackbooted officers spread fear instead of the safety you would expect from the police. But they never realize it's also happening in their own country. And they refuse to believe it, because they've had nothing but pleasant interactions with police.
I don't think all cops are bad, but I do think the system is structured in a way that gives the bad cops too much power. The good cops are afraid to stand up to the bad ones, and over the years, some of them become corrupted as well. It's not a character flaw, so much as an aspect of human nature that is exploited by the power structure.
And that's what I mean by riots being inevitable. People like to think that they're above their baser instincts. But at our core, we are still animals, and mob mentality is a real phenomenon. You put enough angry people in a crowd, and one or two break a window, then suddenly you have hundreds of people breaking windows. Sometimes the ones who break the first window aren't even part of that movement, and are just exploiting mob mentality to start a riot.
So when Trump riled up his followers and put them where they could do the most damage, it wasn't coincidence. You can claim he didn't know what would happen, but he also understands mob mentality. Charles Manson was one of the worst killers in history, but as far as we know, he never killed anyone with his own hands. Trump is the same way. He knows that if you put the right people in the right place, it just takes a little push. He didn't know exactly what would happen, but he knew there was a good chance something would, and that he was far enough removed to deny it later.
Who was the first one in the Capitol crowd to cross the line? How did it go from "let's stand around and chant" to "let's head on in?" Was the first one to advance secretly Antifa? I doubt it, but again, it doesn't matter. Because Trump is the one who poisoned people's minds then told them to head for the Capitol.
Besides, given the bombs and whatnot, it's pretty obvious that the event was premeditated for at least part of the crowd. So if that imaginary Antifa agent hadn't started the riot, someone else in the crowd would have. Some of those Trumpers had an agenda, and to deny that is insane.
I'm currently reading the manga adaptation of the Star Wars novel "
Lost Stars". I know I said this five years ago when I read the actual novel, but it does a great job of showing how bad guys can think they're the good guys. It shows how minds can be changed through misinformation, and how once an ideology takes root, it's hard to weed it back out.
One of the Imperial characters is from Alderaan. When the Death Star blows up his homeworld, it only strengthens his resolve. Yes, he's distraught and angry, but he focuses his ire on the Rebellion for forcing the Empire to take such drastic measures. And if Trump were to personally blow up California tomorrow, his followers would praise him for eliminating the Liberal threat.
My mom and my brother argued on Facebook about why it isn't fascism for Twitter to ban Trump's account. Seriously? Trump spent four years violating Twitter's terms of service. He only got away with it because Twitter was afraid of him. I've had friends on Twitter get suspended for ridiculously small violations; why should the president be above the rules?
I love how Twitter and Facebook have been putting disclaimers on certain memes lately. "This is Disputed" and whatnot. But this feature came years too late. The ideology has taken root, and people only want to believe what their candidate says.
Here's what I want from the next four years:
From the Republicans, I want them to separate the Trumpers from the real Republicans. I've been saying for four years now that Trump isn't Republican, and that the best thing Republicans can do is to distance themselves from Trump. That has become a necessity. If the Republicans want their party to survive, they have to cut all ties now.
From the Democrats, I want a war on disinformation. The seeds of this insurrection started when Obama was elected. Racists were so angry that this black man - a man so obviously beneath them - was in charge of the country and actually doing a good job. So they turned to Fox News, who always had some "Obama is evil" story that made them feel better about themselves.
It didn't matter that half of Fox's reports got debunked by Snopes. Fox viewers turned it around, claimed that Snopes itself had been "debunked" somehow, despite Snopes always posting their sources. Other fact-checking sites joined the fight, but Fox watchers ignored them and kept on lying.
Then Trump ran for president. The first time he labeled a reputable news source as "Fake News", it was the beginning of the end. After years of having their brains turned into mush by Fox News, Republicans were highly susceptible to the idea that "only news I agree with is accurate."
I'm tired of Fox News and similar programs being allowed to spread misinformation. I'm tired of websites that use loopholes to present opinions as facts. I'm tired of people reposting memes that support their argument, while refusing to make sure the meme is accurate.
If Biden accomplishes nothing else in the next four years, I want him to make the news accurate again. I want news outlets to be required to vet their sources. I want more libel and slander lawsuits. I want severe punishments for news programs that refuse to do fact checks.
And yes, I know. To a Republican, what I'm saying probably sounds like I want Liberals to control the information. But I'm not encouraging news programs to follow any particular slant. I just want them to be required to tell the truth. If that sounds like silencing Conservative voices, that's only because reality skews Liberal.
