What If?
No Me Digas. Op-Ed: Keith Price
I appreciate the Democrat-led January 6th Committee and their attempts to “appear” nonpartisan while exploring all of the shenanigans that surrounded the modern coup attempt, but since the insurrection attempt, the thought that stays on my political brain constantly is “What If it worked?” ? We certainly would be seeing more trials and harsher punishments, if any of these congressional leaders in denial would honestly answer, “What if the coup succeeded?”
With all of the information that seems to be trickling into the public, will it ultimately connect the dots and show what we already assume to be true? To the defenders of using the filibuster to block legislation regarding voting rights and ignore it when it is time to raise the debt ceiling, “What if THEY had impeached and removed Trump the first time?” Happy Anniversary, by the way.
While watching the HBO documentary, 4 HOURS AT THE CAPITOL, it is insulting to hear some of the “tourists being interviewed” try and somehow justify their behavior. I also feel as if we know the answers regarding the Capitol Riots, but we are too afraid to accept the reality that a real life attempt to overthrow Democracy and install some authoritarian knock off government, happened in front of our eyes. And from within the top elected and appointed ranks of this nation, the former president’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, has been recommended to the Department of Justice for contempt of Congress, because he refuses to testify about his seeming role as an obvious liaison.
We already know and have identified the paramilitary energy that managed to move through crowds. We saw the noose. We heard the chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and witnessed the hunt for Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. Thanks to every “tourist’’ and their thirst to be insta-famous, video and photo evidence of their visit to the Capitol is readily available. Also, what tourist brings zip ties and nooses on a tour?
I also watched the New York Times’ video and the same chilling question overtook me, “What if they had been successful?” and then the question rabbit hole opens: “What kind of ruling government would we be enduring right now?” “How beneficial would it have been for Donald Trump to stay in office?” “Which committees get gutted in the first wave?” The abuse of the many oversight committees would be rampant and the lining of political pockets would be ridiculously pervasive.
He would have also mitigated or simply eliminated pending legal issues, assuming his stacked courts didn’t save him first. The political darkness that we endured during the Trump years would have seemed like a day at Disney by now. Trump’s behavior since not winning has worked out to be a profitable grift of gullibly racist people, including those investing in his social media company. He’s still making feeble attempts at hiding his potential paper trail of obvious crimes behind Executive privilege and court delay tactics.
I am not a lawyer, judge, nor cop, and I am not sure how much more “investigation” has to happen before an actual trial in a court of law will occur, but I know that my paranoia is not completely 420 driven and baseless. The flagrant disregard for the rule of law by white male privilege is not going unnoticed. My fear is that the minority party in this country is going to turn back the hands of time through sheer manipulation of the willfully ignorant. They will use their lack of critical thinking, racism, and misinformation as fuel for reckless stupidity. You notice that they are also the ones in front of the camera talking about a civil war.
I am not the only person feeling somewhat fearful as an intersectional member of a few marginal groups: Black, Latinx, and LGBT to start. Women who want to have control of their regular and reproductive health are now targets, too. Poor people always remain a target. Now include voters rights that are currently being violated by many draconian state legislations, and the fight for Democracy continues.
Here are some truths that do not need a fact check: The current Republican party is not operating with good faith on any level. The last few pronouncements from Mitch McConnell, along with the recent aid and actions of Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, prove that very fact. Time and time again, Democrats have tried operating on good sportsmanship, and at every turn they are bested by the Republicans. Let’s face it: Republicans have a knack for enriching themselves and ruining others’ lives when they are in the majority. They also have this uncanny knack to gum up progress while also in the minority. How is that possible?
You notice that our current Attorney General and the Department of Justice are moving at a snail’s pace when dealing with all of the legal shenanigans unfolding in front of us. Now that Mark Meadows has been added to the contempt list, I hope that Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, The My Pillow Guy, the Flynn Brothers, Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmer, Rudy Giuliani, Lauren Bobert, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, Sen. Kennedy of Louisiana, Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, and ultimately Trump, to name a few, are added soon. The way that many low end insurrectionists are being handled with organic food and slaps on the hand sentences, almost leaves me with no confidence that anything will happen. Until we fry some of the bigger fish in that party, there really is never going to be a normal democratic representative republic again. Although, the most recent person got 5 years for his part in actually putting his hands on a policeman, the fact that the Department of Justice has filed suits against The Proud Boys and The Oath Keepers does give me hope that a perp walk featuring some of our government’s most despicable will happen.
As the DOJ and the January 6th Commission break for the holidays, the country will return with neither the promised social safety net for Americans, protected voter’s rights, nor promised police reform. We already can feel what America is like after four years of Trump and his alleged failed coup attempt. It is very clear that the slow moving coup is gathering new forces and stepping up speed to undermine Democracy. Another grand attempt is imminent. They’ve already trained and practiced for one. What if the next one works?
