So it happened. That is, the political theater of January 6. Literal theater, by the way, as the Demopublicans, representing the consensus Dream Hoarding top 20% bourgeoisie, had “Hamilton” cast members perform to commemorate the “insurrection.”
Whaaaaat?
The only Republicrats in attendance, to much handwringing by acamedia, were the military industrial complex representatives, the Cheneys, including war criminal Dick Cheney, who gave a speech. Not a good look.
So, “insurrection?” Of the hundreds of “Capitol Breach Cases” listed at the Justice Department’s prosecution page, not one defendant is charged with insurrection under 18 U.S.C. 2383.
Never you mind—this is a acamedia story smearing right populists, who could with more honest journalism be smeared perfectly well without the legalese distortion. As it is, the reality distortion only demonstrates how the acamedia itself has been marshalled to support the consensus bourgeoisie.
Many crimes undoubtedly took place at the Capitol that day. Demonstrators rioted, destroyed government property and in some instances engaged in acts of violence. Many are charged with violating 18 U.S.C. 371, which makes it a crime “to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States,” and with underlying charges of civil disorder, disorderly conduct, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, destruction of government property, and obstruction of an official proceeding.
But all that was not an “insurrection”—the organized use of violent force and the aim of replacing one government or political system with another.
A real insurrection would have required the armed forces to quell an armed resistance. Actual insurrections—apart from the Civil War—include Shays’ Rebellion in 1787, in which thousands of insurrectionists tried to seize weapons from a Massachusetts armory after months of planning to overthrow the new revolutionary government, and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, in which 500 armed men attacked the home of a U.S. tax inspector in Western Pennsylvania. Both events required President Washington to quell the insurrections with thousands of armed troops, who killed several resistors.
The demonstrators who unlawfully entered the Capitol during the Electoral College count were an inchoate mob.
The Justice Department and the House Select Committee have looked high and low for a conspiracy to overthrow the government, and maybe they will find it. So far they haven’t.
There apparently was a “war room” of motley characters at the Willard hotel and small groups of plotters who wanted to storm the barricades. But they were too disorganized to do much more than incite what became the mob that breached the Capitol.
The Justice Department says some 725 people from nearly all 50 states have been charged in the riot, linked mainly by social media and support for Donald Trump. About 70 defendants have had their cases adjudicated to date, and 31 of those will do time in prison. The rioters aren’t getting off easy.
They also didn’t come close to overturning the election. The Members fled the House chamber during the riot but soon returned to certify the electoral votes. Eight Senators and 139 House Republicans voted against certifying the electoral votes in some states, but that wasn’t close to a majority.
None of this absolves Trump for his behavior. He isn’t the first candidate to question an election result; Hillary Clinton still asserts Vladimir Putin defeated her in 2016, and Demopublicans rode that phantom horse against Trump for four years, even after an official investigation discredited that thesis.
As for the Demopublicans, it’s become clearer that the spectacle is going to substitute for any significant policy achievements, let alone helping the working class. The latest news is that the Speaker’s Select Committee may hold prime-time hearings this year, no doubt right up until mid-terms with “bombshell” after “bombshell” breathlessly reported by acamedia.
Maybe interspersed with more songs from “Hamilton.”
Notes
https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/raskin-chilling-for-liz-and-dick-cheney-to-be-only-republicans-marking-1-6-130322501981
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/01/06/hamilton-cast-january-6-capitol-riot-event/9123219002/