July Fourth Flag Waving
"Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace."
From Eve of Destruction, 1964 protest song
Donald Trump was trying to overturn the election to stay in power. He was serious and literal.
It was a failed coup d'état. About one third of Americans are OK with that.
Former Attorney General William Barr is giving context to the behavior of the Justice Department in the aftermath of the 2020 election. He said they did their own investigations, looking for evidence of election fraud, and said so publicly. Barr said he had no reason to try to cover up election errors, if any were present. He says he thought it unlikely they would find much but it was a good thing to say they looked. They didn't find anything meaningful. In December he said so publicly. Donald Trump was furious with him.
Barr says he told Trump in he Oval Office that his claims were all "bullshit." Barr now joined the other targets of Trump's disdain and threats. There is a pattern. If a Republican refuses to go along with Trump's claims of a stolen election, Trump erupts in fury and threatens revenge.
On June 28, Trump issued this statement.
Had Mitch McConnell fought for the Presidency, like he should have, there would right now be Presidential Vetoes on all of the phased Legislation that he has proven to be incapable of stopping. Not to mention, he lost two Senatorial seats in Georgia, making the Republicans the Minority in the Senate. He never fought for the White House and blew it for the Country. Too bad I backed him in Kentucky, he would have been primaried and lost! Based on press reports he convinced his buddy, Bill Barr, to get the corrupt (based on massive amounts of evidence that the Fake News refuses to mention!) election done, over with, and sealed for Biden, ASAP!
A Legislative Oversight Committee led by Republicans in Michigan looked closely at the Michigan election and reported that the claims of irregularities in Michigan were examined closely and found to be untrue. Trump called their investigation "a cover up, and a method for getting out of a Forensic Audit for the examination of the Presidential contest." Trump published the office phones of the GOP senators who issued the report and urged people to "call those two Senators now and get them to do the right thing, or vote them the hell out of office!"
Former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has been critical of Republican efforts to overturn Biden's election, calling it "anti-democratic and anti-conservative." Trump responded by issuing a statement saying,
Paul Ryan has been a curse to the Republican Party. He has no clue as to what needs to be done for our Country, was a weak and ineffective leader, and spends all of his time fighting Republicans as opposed to Democrats who are destroying our Country.
Trump's telephone calls to the Arizona Governor and the Georgia Secretary of State are on the record. We saw him cajole leaders of the Michigan and Pennsylvania legislatures urging that they simply ignore the popular vote and name their own slate of electors. Trump issued a statement saying
The PEOPLE of Georgia should SUE the State, and their elected officials for running a CORRUPT AND RIGGED 2929 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
In Tweets, in speeches in Georgia prior to the January 6 Congressional vote certification, and in D.C. immediately prior to the insurrection riot, Trump called on Mike Pence to refuse to accept electoral votes cast for Biden. If Pence "does the right thing, we win this election" he told the "Stop the Steal" crowd.
American have been advised to take Trump seriously, but not literally. One could imagineTrump doesn't mean any of this. The word in punditry circles is "performative," with Trump doing the current version of his schtick, a tycoon political rock star doing material that keep crowds cheering. In a serious-but-not-literal paradigm, Americans have a giant excuse for letting Trump be Trump: It's just an act.
In that understanding of Trump, there wasn't a coup d'état, not really. It was and is a gesture, a symbol of frustration. Our democracy was never at risk any more than it is in a movie about an invasion of space aliens.
Trump's private Oval Office fury with his Attorney General makes clear that this isn't a game. In his real-life role as the president, Trump expected Republicans to help him void the election to stay in power. Americans need to confront that reality. Key people at key times refused him, but this was a failure, not a false alarm. Trump's wrath at people who defied him is serious and literal, too. It is ongoing and it shapes public policy today. People who might oppose Trump are lying low. Silence is consent.
They need to speak up. It isn't enough to defend democracy by waving a big flag.