Opinion: Republicans Want Americans To Forget the January 6 Attack on Democracy

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:28 pm

Conservatives just can’t handle the truth that their cohort incited a deadly insurrection and failed coup d’état that President Biden rightly labeled the worst attack on democracy since the American Civil War.

Republicans are well aware that Americans have as short a memory as they do a collective attention span. That fact is manifest every time the people forget that Republican administrations regularly leave a total mess for a Democratic Administration to clean up. And after the Democrat gets the nation back on course, Republicans can count on the people giving them another opportunity to create a disaster. It was the case after two separate Bush Administrations and it is true after Trump’s catastrophic tenure in a place he never belonged.

When President Biden addressed a joint session of Congress this week, he correctly summed up the state of the nation he inherited from a Republican-led government that included an insurrection incited by Republicans that became a failed, but deadly, coup d’état. That inconvenient truth sent the right-wing punditry and Trump acolytes into a rage. President Biden said:

“As I stand here tonight — just one day shy of the 100th day of my administration. 100 days since I took the oath of office, lifted my hand off our family Bible, and inherited a nation in crisis. The worst pandemic in a century. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” (author bold)

It is likely that when President Biden said America suffered the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War, Republicans and their conservative operatives knew he was telling the truth.

However, they were angry that the Americans people were reminded that just a few months ago most Republicans joined Trump’s attempt to destroy democracy by attacking the integrity of what creates our democracy – free and fair elections. In fact, Republicans in the states are still attacking democracy with flagrant voter suppression tactics targeting voters who typically vote for Democrats.

Some of the reactions from right-wing cretins were beyond bizarre and demonstrate just how ignorant Republican supporters with an audience really are. For example, a Trump campaign moron, Steve Cortes said:

“So…Pearl Harbor, presidential assassinations, 9-11…all less threatening to our democracy than a bunch of unarmed fur hat hooligans?” 

Disgraced Trump spokesman Jason Miller agreed with Cortes and tweeted:

“Worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War? Not 9/11? Not Pearl Harbor???”

One can elucidate the glaring differences between a terrorist attack, a murder, and pre-emptive military strike and how they were never a threat to “our democracy,” but readers of this column are savvy enough to work those differences out in their sleep. Although those attacks were horrid, they were not close to being a Republican orchestrated domestic attack on the democratic process.

Another Trump loyalist, and profound idiot, uber-conservative radio personality Eric Metaxas said:

“FACT: The ‘worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War’ was when Democrats STOLE AN ELECTION from #WeThePeople–and then dared to pretend WE were the threat to democracy. Shame on them. They will not get away with this. Many are praying. God sees.”

There is little mystery why Republicans and their conservative talking heads are attempting to downplay the GOP’s attack on democracy on January 6. They do not want Americans to be reminded that Republicans were part of a concerted effort to subvert democracy like the filthy fascists they are. And yes, every Republican who questioned, or denied, the results of what Trump’s national security people and DOJ said was a fair and “most secure election in history” are culpable for the insurrection and failed, but deadly, coup d’état to keep Trump in power illegally.

Americans can never be allowed to forget precisely what the events of January 6, 2021 constituted – a direct attack on the seat of government to subvert democracy. Neither can they ever forget that the insurrection and attempted coup d’état was incited by a sitting president and his Republican co-conspirators over a three month period. For dog’s sake, Republicans in state after state still claim they must enact fascist voter suppression legislation to avoid a repeat of the fraud committed in the 2020 election, even though there was no fraud.

This is horribly sad, but Republicans will be successful because Americans do have a short memory as well as because there seems to be no will in the Biden Administration to direct the Department of Justice to seek seditious conspiracy charges against Trump, his filthy operatives, and Republicans who continually claimed the 2020 election was either stolen or fraught with fraud and misdeeds on the part of Democrats; even Democrats in states controlled by Republicans.

It is a travesty, but it is highly likely that the conspirators responsible for inciting insurrection against the United States’ democracy, including dirty don Trump,  will never face justice any more than the majority of congressional Republicans who were part and parcel of the conspiracy to commit the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War.

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Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.

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