The stain of January 6 clings to Republicans decrying LA protests.
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January 6 was a terrible day for the United States. As odd as it may sound, the worst part wasn’t even the violent insurrection itself, or that Americans lost their lives because of Donald Trump’s lies, but rather that it did not end the political career of the man who sparked it or those of the Republicans who didn’t condemn the attack on Congress in the strongest terms.
It was a harbinger of things to come as it not only demonstrated that the GOP had become a cult but also that Republicans were suffering from a severe case of democracy fatigue.
Therefore, it wasn’t terribly surprising, although extremely disappointing, that, just four years after his failed coup, Trump rose to power again and immediately put the country on a fast track to authoritarianism.
And, as if to show democracy and the rule of law the finger, he began his second term by pardoning his fellow felons.
In other words, apart from serving as a warning that the nation didn’t heed, there has been very little positive about January 6… until now.
This week, however, the GOP’s cowardly response to that day not only exposes the hypocrisy of Republicans, but it also allows us to ignore everything they have to say about the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere around the country.
Of course, that doesn’t make it right for the protesters to attack law enforcement officers, destroy property, and loot.
Anybody who does these things should face arrest and prosecution, and Democrats have said so.
In other words, they have already done more to condemn the violence in Los Angeles than most GOP officials did after January 6.
And yet, Republicans are now wringing their hands, talking about a “rebellion” and an “insurrection,” saying that violence against law enforcement officers is unacceptable (even though there has been much less in Los Angeles than on the Capitol grounds), and condemning looting and acts of vandalism.
How dare they!
By the way, Republicans are mocking the description of the protests as “mostly non-violent” and, on social media, use images of burning vehicles as “evidence” that this isn’t the case.
However, the Los Angeles Police Department announced on Tuesday that only two of its officers had been injured over the past 24 hours, and that both of them were treated and released the same day.
That is as non-violent as this type of demonstration can be.
The truth is that what is happening in Los Angeles now is no different than hundreds of protests across the US over the years. In fact, until Trump escalated the situation and sent in the National Guard and hundreds of Marines, it wasn’t different from most Super Bowl or World Series celebrations.
In the first couple of days, it was just people getting together because they were outraged by the actions of ICE deportation squads and the tactics they used.
While there are always some people in large crowds that want to cause chaos, most of the protesters didn’t want to break any laws, bones, or property.
That is very different than what happened on January 6.
Yes, most of the people there were peaceful as well. However, they went to Capitol Hill with the purpose of preventing the certification of the duly elected president.
And they were a lot more violent.
So, Republicans can just save themselves their faux outrage because they ceded the moral high ground on this issue four years ago… and nobody should ever let them forget about it.
Finally, just imagine what would happen if Democrats started calling the few people that did get arrested for assaulting police officers “patriots” or “hostages.”
Everybody on the right would collectively lose their mind.
However, that’s unlikely to happen… because the actual party of law and order is the one not led by a felon who violates the Constitution on a daily basis.
