One Year Ago
It was just a year ago today, that Jenn and I sat down to watch the results of the Georgia Senate runoff. The balance of power was at stake. We were depending on the improbable outcome that both John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would win, two Democrats taking statewide seats in Georgia. But we knew it was possible. If Joe Biden could win Georgia, so could they. We stayed up late that night, cheering when the positive results came out. But that was only the “first act” in politics for those twenty-four hours.
The second, and more important action, was the Congress of the United States certifying the results of the 2020 Presidential election. We were worried. Unlike any other President in our history, Donald Trump denied the election result, claimed the election was stolen, and openly tried to subvert the outcome. And in true Trumpian fashion, much of that subversion was done in the full light of day. So we weren’t sure what the next step would be.
Insurrection
We watched the speeches on the National Mall, and the crowds carrying their Trump flags and chanting “Stop the Steal”. At the same time, Vice President Pence gaveled the joint session of Congress into session, and they began to read the electoral votes. It only took three states to get to Arizona, and objection to Biden’s victory there by both House and Senate members. The Houses adjourned to their chambers, for two hours of debate and what was a pre-ordained vote to accept Biden’s victory. It was the first of seven different objections: we expected the pro-forma certification to go late in the night.
And then the Insurrection started. Security whisked Pelosi from the House dais. Pence, looking a bit confused, was vanished by the Secret Service. The other Congressmen and Senators seemed left to their own devices as the doors and windows were smashed and the halls literally desecrated with human feces. The Confederate flag, kept out of Washington for four years at great cost in blood and treasure during the Civil War, was paraded through the building.
We all know what happened after that.
Lying Eyes
As horrifying and tragic as January 6th 2021 was, not much has really changed. The Congressional leadership and Vice President Pence came back in the middle of the night, and despite even more Congressional objections, Biden was finally confirmed. Trump was impeached by the House again, and tried by the Senate, but not until after Democrats gained Senate control on Inauguration day. Trump was found “not guilty”: though fifty-seven Senators voted to convict. It took sixty-seven.
And for the past twelve months, we have watched folks try to rewrite what our “lying eyes” saw that day. First it was “Antifa and Black Lives Matters” rioters in the halls of Congress, then it was just a few individuals, looking “…just like tourists”. Then the topic kind of went away, submerged into battles about public health measures to save people from Covid. Now it’s back, both because of the anniversary, and also because of the January 6th Committee of the House. Only the House, because Senate Republicans couldn’t be persuaded that the event even needed to be investigated.
False Equivalence
The new talking point is “what about”. What about Hillary Clinton, did she ever confirm the “legitimacy” of the 2016 election? What about the Russia investigation and all the talk of foreign interference? Will Democrats do the same thing if they lose in 2024?
I remember election night of 2016 very well. It was the beginning of a long national and personal nightmare for me, one that merged into the pandemic and won’t seem to end. Hillary Clinton stood on the stage, flanked by her husband Bill, staff and friends. She talked about not breaking the final glass ceiling, and conceded the election. And she spoke of her conversation with President-elect Trump:
“Last night I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a president for all of our country. I’m sorry that we did not win this election for the values we all share.”
She did concede, and urged her supporters to work together for the country.
Democrats did try to object during the certification proceedings in the Congress. The Vice President refused to hear their objections, ruling them as improper. They did not have both a member of the House and Senate signed on. That Vice President was a Democrat, Joe Biden.
Pussy Hats
Many Democrats did go to Washington to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. They went the day after, the “Pink Pussy Hat” protests with hundreds of thousands of women and men exercising the First Amendment rights without violence or destruction. They came to make their point, not stop the government.
The day before there were a few hundred “black-clad” (Antifa) rioters who looked to clash with DC police. It was violent, but it was small, and not likely to disrupt the government. 217 were arrested. By the way, very few (any?) were arrested on January 6th. It took most of the past year to get 727 facing federal charges.
The 2022 and 2024 election results are in jeopardy. Twenty-seven states have passed laws making it harder to vote. Some have even taken the ultimate power to determine the outcome of elections from the voters and given it to the State Legislature. Our future elections are being “rigged”, legally rigged. It’s hard to “Stop the Steal” in the future, when the thief is the government itself.
When Democrats believed that the election might be “rigged” in 2016, they put on their “Pink Pussy” hats and demonstrated. When Trump supporters believed the same in 2020, they tried to overthrow the government. There is no “equivalence” in that.
So “what about” that?
Place Blame
If this were a card game, Democrats still hold a (sorry) trump card. The Federal government can pass the two voting rights laws now in front of the Senate, to control the state changes restricting the vote. It’s all about two Senate Democrats, and whether they will stand for procedure, or stand for justice. I’m still a believer, but more skeptical than before.
We can hope the Senators Sinema and Manchin will “see the light” and allow the voting rights acts to pass. But recognize that the reason that it comes down to those two, is that every, single, Republican Senator is colluding in the states’ legal hamstringing of the vote. Put the blame where blame is due. The “legal steal” is wholly owned by the Republican Party.
So what will happen in 2022, and 2024? Until the rules are determined, there is no way to know. But there is precedent. In 2016, pink pussy hats or not, Donald Trump became President. Republicans controlled the House and the Senate. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell represented the “normal” GOP. Democrats didn’t revolt, there was no “Insurrection”. We went to work, and won back the House in 2018, and the Senate and Presidency in 2020.
Get the Job Done
In this twenty-first century, when most folks don’t even have paper checks to pay bills anymore, it seems more than ridiculous that anyone would have to wait in line for hours to vote. And it’s even more suspicious that those lines aren’t in the suburbs, and are made up mostly of Americans of color. But we Democrats will find a way to “get the job done”.
Our Democracy has an opportunity, right now, to protect itself. We can protect voting rights, nationwide. And we can put those that plotted to overthrow our Constitution in the full public light of day. But if we don’t, if the Senate filibuster “wins” and the results of the January 6th committee are ignored, it doesn’t mean the end of our experiment in government.
Pink Pussy hats are a powerful force. So are the voices of Reverend Barber and Stacy Abrams, and all of those others toiling to make America better for all. The nightmare might last longer, but we will wake up.
So what about that?
