The Consequence of Lies
This is my nationally syndicated column by Creators, out today.
— Erick
Not since the British stormed the United States Capitol has it been invaded by those out to end the American constitutional system. But it happened last week at the hands of American citizens. Encouraged by President Trump, and let’s not mince words here — he told them to march on the Capitol, a mixed group of rabid, malcontented supporters stormed through barricades, smashed windows, and took up residence in the chair belonging to the President of the Senate who also happens to be the Vice President of the United States.
The insurrectionists, having constructed a gallows and hung a noose, entered the Capitol calling for Vice President Pence to show himself. They did so after the President tweeted Pence had lacked the courage to throw out the Electoral College. Then the protestors, various members of Congress, television hosts, and others lied and said it was probably Antifa. The man with the painted face and horned hat calling for the Vice President to show himself, a key organizer of the insurrection, was a well known Trump supporter. He had his picture taken standing next to a few Neo-Nazis. Surely there were some leftwing anarchists there too. But this was organized by Trump supporters and egged on by the President.
Why were they there? For two months, the President, various talking heads, news networks, pundits, grifters, charlatans, and conmen had perpetuated a lie. They claimed, with no real or credible evidence, that the presidential election had been stolen. They have not yet offered the names of anyone who actually voted fraudulently. The President’s legal team went to court in multiple states and denied any fraud under oath. Trump appointed judges themselves threw out the frivolous claims. Now some of the loudest voices are being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation One might hope Dominion bankrupts some of these fledgling propaganda networks that fanned the flames of conspiracy and lie.
In the United States Capitol, a woman died after being shot while storming the building. She died because she had been duped into believing the election was stolen. A patriot and Air Force veteran who had served multiple tours, she wanted to defend her country from what she believed was a stolen, rigged election that undermined both the will of the people and the democratic processes of the nation.
It was actually her undermining the will of the people and the democratic processes of the nation, but she died believing the lies and that her cause was noble. The whole thing was tragic, unnecessary, and based on the irresponsible lies of a group of sore losers and their abettors. Those losers, then ashamed of what they did, tried to blame Antifa or “what about” the media coverage of the summer riots.
“What abouting” what the nation saw on Wednesday is itself shameful. As someone who condemned the summer riots and criticized the media coverage, we should at least acknowledge the summer rage came from outrage over the deaths of citizens at the hands of the police and the Wednesday rage that led to deaths was based on outrage fueled by lies.
Like the truth or not, but the truth is that the President of the United States stoked the passions and fanned the flames of a mob that stormed the United States Capitol in a physical attack on the separation of powers designed to disrupt the democratic processes and institutions of our republic. If the Congress will not act because of partisan passions, the partisans and politicians have failed and our system is as broken as those storming the Capitol claimed.
If the first branch of government will not act to remove the President who sent the mob to shut them down, the first branch of government is shutting itself down and rendering itself irrelevant. This is a bigger issue than a single President, but big issues require big moments of leadership and we are now a nation of small spines in our political class. Small spines do not lead, they are led, and they are being led by a mob of malcontents more comfortable wrapped in lies than truth.
To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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Rick Williamson4 min ago
That picture, of US law enforcement officers, pointing guns at US citizens, is one of the most troubling I've seen in a long time. Violence should be met - and resisted - in every instance. It must be condemned - loudly and repeatedly - in every instance.
But is it "Whataboutism" to point out the complete hypocrisy of much (if not most) of the TV networks that said nothing when federal courthouses were being firebombed nightly? Or that protests were "mostly peaceful" while standing in front of burning buildings and burned-police vehicles? Or that protestors were killing and looting from the very same folks whose live they claimed matter?
They were either silent - or excused the behaviors (actually helping to bail those people out of jail) - saying we needed to look more closely at why the riots happened. They told us the riots were a symptom, not the actual problem. They told us the few bad apples aren't reflective of the whole group.
There's been no such behavior this time. This time they tell us that the rioters are representative of ALL Trump supporters. (They also said the few bad cops were reflective of all officers.)
This President was treated more horribly than any in my memory (I'm 60.) "Resistance" fomented before he was even sworn in. Phoney investigations based on falsehoods and outright lies told on TV that directly contradicted sworn testimony. Impeachment just for the sake of it. Failing to pass legislation that would help millions of Americans just to hurt Trump politically. And yet, no one has been (nor likely ever will be) held accountable.
And now, with millions of ballots cast that violate the Constitution, (that should have been the legal argument made long before the election - not after) no wonder the roughly 75 million who voted for the president feel angry/robbed/cheated.
But make no mistake... what happened in DC was wrong, disgusting and immoral. Trump bears a YUUUUGE share of responsibility for it.
But if (as some have said) the halls of Congress are "sacred" - they aren't any more. They were defiled for the first time the other day. They've been defiled for years. It's LONG past time to overturn the tables of the money changers and throw the whole lot of them out.
Thank you, Erick, for not having a small spine, but rather a large one of steel. Subscribing to your column was the best Christmas present I gave myself. Your column is the first thing I read in the morning, and your WSB show is the first thing I tune into in the afternoon. Thank you for being the voice that backs the truth even though many "Republicans" wish to have you silenced.