The Big Lie

While comfortably soaking in the tub early this morning, a parade of thoughts and images kept marching through my head about the events of the past two weeks.

I can't help it. Apparently, it's what happens when you're a writer with an abiding interest in American history.

So while the warm, soothing water wrapped around me, I was thinking about the Big Lie. The Big Lie, of course, is that the results of last November's general elections were fraudulent and because they were, Republican Donald Trump is the true president of the United States and not Democrat Joe Biden. 

That's what Trump says, anyway. But he says so without citing proof. He can't, because there is no proof. Just accusations, which are not proof.

Chris Krebs, the former United States Director of Cybersecurity (and a Republican) which oversaw the electoral process, said the elections were the most secure in American history. He said that just before Trump fired him.

Bill Barr, the embattled Attorney General of the United States (and a Republican), said there was no fraud just before he resigned.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority leader (and a Republican), said there was no fraud, even after he became minority leader after the elections.

So why was the Capitol ignominiously stormed 11 days ago by thousands of Trump supporters intent on challenging (and changing) the Congressional count of the electoral vote, as mandated by the Constitution? "Stop the steal" became a Trump-approved mantra that fueled the new-born insurrectionists and self-styled patriots as they made their own attempt to steal the election results.

It was in actuality an assault on democracy by many armed insurgents.

Then I got to thinking what is democracy? It's not something that you can touch. You can't hold it. You can only believe in it. It's an ideology that requires faith that the system is just, truthful and that it works. It's manifested by free and fair elections and a law-and-order judicial system. Otherwise, in the absence of democracy, other ideologies wait to fill the vacuum. Most likely anarchy. Or perhaps fascism. History shows us this.

As days passed, the horror of the mob revealed itself: urine and feces decorated the Capitol walls; according to the FBI, at least seven white nationalist groups were identified in breaching the halls of Congress; and, ironically, numerous Capitol police officers were assaulted – and one was killed – by the mob that celebrates Blue Lives Matter.

There's also a scary side note to this. While it's safe to say not all the Trump supporters gathered on the Ellipse that day were insurrectionists, subsequent arrests have uncovered numerous military veterans and law enforcement officers who did participate in storming the Capitol building. That's disturbing. What happened to the oath they took to defend and protect the Constitution? Was that just a formality to collect a government paycheck and pension? Or was their oath a big lie, too?

These are the people that Trump said he loves in an insincere video attempt later that day to squelch the insurrection that nearly consumed Trump's own Vice President, Mike Pence, who was presiding over the electoral count in the Senate chambers.

Something else was revealed that day: American racism.

Nearly all the domestic terrorists were white. Consequently, there were almost no real-time arrests. Even by the end of the day, there were only 69 arrests made, mostly for violating a 6 p.m. curfew. Even now, 11 days later, there are perhaps 300 charges in the books. But this contrasts to the 350 or so arrests made by mostly peaceful marchers in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations on the capital streets in a single day back on June 1.

There's your definition of white privilege. Imagine the carnage if the Capitol had been stormed by unarmed BLM?

And consider this: the racial demographics of America is about to change. The nation will be majority minority within the next 20 years, meaning Whites in this country better learn to share the power instead of controlling it. Voter suppression tactics, such as gerrymandering and reduced polling sites, has a half-life. If you have a grievance, get over it.

There's a now iconic image of a sole Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, fending off rioters with a truncheon (and not a gun) in the halls of Congress, luring them away from the Senate floor. Goodman is Black. The rioters are white. And Pence, just seconds before, was in the Senate chamber.

A friend of mine noted that America was built on the backs of slave labor. Indeed, the White House, the Capitol, Monticello, Mount Vernon, even Wall Street, not to mention infrastructure in general, were built by Black people. But in a larger sense, so was the essence of what's right with this country: the 14th and 15th amendments and the civil rights movements and legislation dating from the 1960s come to mind.

My friend also suggested that it might be Black people who ultimately save our democracy.

He might be right. No lie.