Never Forget January 6th 2024

A Day of Infamy

Today is the fourth anniversary of the insurrection and assault committed by the radicalized supporters of Donald Trump, and the day that his 2024 election victory was certified by Congress.

My Cartoon on the First Anniversary of the Attack

It was not like anything we have ever seen in United States history. A sitting President refused to acknowledge his electoral defeat and after he failed in 60 lawsuits to void his defeat engaged with his henchmen to overturn the election by force and violence. Five police officers died in the attack and another 140 were injured. A number Senators and Representatives had close calls trying to escape the attackers, including Mitt Romney, while others were forced to hide in secure locations in the Capitol as the attackers sought to kill them. Vice President Mike Pence was a high priority target as the attackers and other protesters chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”, with a gallows on the Capitol lawn.

But on 5 January, despite many warnings very few people expected an attack on the Capitol, maybe other violence, but not anything so brazen, but they didn’t really understand the mind of Donald Trump.

On 6 January 2021, thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters, many violent stormed the U.S Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden as President of the United States. It occurred just six days after I retired from over 39 years of service in the United States military.

But, I fully believed that the attempt would occur even writing this on the night of 5 January:

Over the past five years the President has made multiple threats to unleash his followers on opponents. Trump’s statements to that effect are so numerous that I have lost count of them. They began during his campaign and haven’t stopped, in fact they have only gotten worse and on June 1st 2020 he led a violent attack on peaceful protesters by officers of a number of Federal police agencies in Lafayette Park and the historical Saint John’s Church for a photo opportunity outside the Church. It was one of the most lawless acts ever committed by an American President against the American people.

Now we stand at the precipice of violence and insurrection incited by a lame duck President. If Vice President Pence whose life has been threatened by these people had a single working testicle or a couple of solid vertebrae in his back he would move to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from power, but Pence is not a man of courage or honor…

A coup to overthrow the Constitution of the United States, overturn a free and fair election that Donald Trump lost, and to overthrow the Republic is gaining momentum.

It happened, and despite the revisionist propaganda spewed by Trump, much of the GOP, and Right Wing media, it was a violent attack, not just peaceful tourists being attacked by the police. Over 1000 people have been convicted of crimes committed during the attack and 300 were felony convictions. Only through numerous legal delays and the subterfuge of the Supreme Court, did Trump himself escape prosecution for his involvement in the attack.

Likewise, few of the GOP Senators or representatives who condemned the attack remain in office, and of those who do, almost all now stand side by side with him, congratulating him on his return to office following their certification of his election victory in 2024, exactly four years after fleeing or hiding from Trump’s violent mob.

But what I wrote just five days after the attack remains true today. Even though he escaped prosecution for the attempt to overturn the election and the attack on the Capitol, Trump is guilty.

In the classic film about the Nuremberg Judges Trial, Judgement at Nuremberg, Spencer Tracy, playing Judge Dan Haygood made this comment in the declaration of guilt concerning the Nazi Judges in the trial: “The principle of criminal law in every civilized society has this in common: Any person who sways another to commit murder, any person who furnishes the lethal weapon for the purpose of the crime, any person who is an accessory to the crime — is guilty.”

Perilous times are upon us. We must resist, but be smart about it. We must learn the lessons from those who successfully and unsuccessfully resisted tyranny before us. So, be safe, but do not ever stop resisting. Even small acts matter.

By the way, I am extending a special subscription offer. Any new subscriber who makes a year subscription, or current free or monthly subscriber who upgrades to a one year subscription, or who has a one year subscription that upgrades to Founding member subscription can receive an autographed copy of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. If you do this make sure that you send me a message with your name and address so I can get it shipped. The one year subscription is $50 a year, less than 12 months at the monthly rate. The publisher price is $37.99.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that we can grow together in the looming peril of the new year.