In Plain Sight
Historians generally agree the hardest history to write is modern history. Our experience over the last four years arguably provides demonstrable evidence to the contrary. Today pundits are baffled — how could this happen? The answer is simple — in plain sight.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump bragged “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, okay, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Prescient, a Freudian slip, or a telegraphed punch? Big hint, the answer is neither metaphysical or psychological. All Trump’s punches are telegraphed, the storming of the Capitol being no exception, and we’ve all witnessed this together on television and twitter — in plain sight.
January 6th will be wild; Russia, if your listening, find Hillary’s emails; I fired Comey because of the Russia investigation; white supremacists are very fine people; security, rough em up; Proud Boys stand by; AG, investigate my political enemies; find me 11,780 votes; I need a favor though.
How can pundits be confused today about why the Federal Government failed to protect the Capitol when they know the fox running our government is guarding the henhouse? Apparently the ramifications of the preview event didn’t sink in last April — the storming of the state capital of Michigan with loaded AR-15s egged on by their Great Leader. It happened in plain sight.
What went wrong? How about what went right? The good news is in both Michigan and DC, the police didn’t shoot their fellow citizens despite being threatened. This is how civil wars start. Escalation would have ensued and many more, including elected officials, would have likely been hurt or killed. God bless the Capitol Hill Police. Proud Boys, you’re welcome!
The cultural context here is also in plain sight. What would have the response been if these were brown people? A local Los Angeles show Pocho Live best captured the gestalt of this moment; “We’re not asking you to shoot them like you shoot us. We’re asking you to NOT shoot us like you don’t shoot them.” The events in Lansing and Washington are both proof that white lives matter, but for many there is still a question mark at the end of BLM.
A post-truth world is not inevitable and blaming technology — social media — is not the answer. Mark Zuckerberg didn’t invent propaganda and it doesn’t work because it’s believable, it works because it speaks to peoples’ beliefs.
The First Amendment is the foundation of our Democracy and limiting speech will only suffocate much-needed dialog. What we need to do is stop debating obvious lies and start litigating truth. That’s what a country of laws does. Libel and slander are crimes. There is no difference between yelling fire in a crowded theater and telling Americans to storm the Capitol because of false claims about a rigged election. The theater we watched last night was our house lit on fire by our President. He did it in plain sight.
The biggest lies are those of Trump’s political enablers. Like Putin, they saw an opportunity to exploit the useful idiot. Tax and regulations cuts and a couple of new Supremes were bright objects too shiny for them to walk away from regardless of Trump’s defamation of every Republican who dared to get in his way. They turned a blind eye to pussy grabbing, dozens of sexual assault and harassment suits, emoluments, nepotism, perjury, suborning perjury, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and fraud, and finally election fraud and violations of the Logan Act.
Even after Trump twice unabashedly solicited foreign interference in our elections, Republicans scoffed at their Democratic counterparts’ warnings about his likely attacks on the 2020 election. During the impeachment hearings, the enablers helped Trump obstruct the investigation by not calling wittnesses like John Bolton. Hypocritically, they ignored their sacred Founders’ warnings in the Logan Act regarding foriegn interference. Their final act has been to market Trump’s fraudulent accusations of massive voter fraud, the very propaganda that informed the beliefs of Trump’s base in the first place. They did it in plain sight.
Progress will only be possible if we confront our truth. Not your truth or my truth, but America’s truth. The first truth is that this IS who we are (see Civil War) and historian Barbara Fields captured best our on-going dilemma: “…the Civil War is still going on. It’s still to be fought and regrettably it can still be lost.”
The rest of the world looks in the mirror of America, sees every shade of itself, and prays the American experiment can still work. An affirmative answer to these prayers is the only thing that will make America exceptional.