Five Years Ago
Five years ago today, America was at a turning point. A mob stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Their goal: to stop the legal certification of electoral votes which determined that Joe Biden was President. Over 1500 were ultimately charged with crimes.
In American history, it is the only time that a mob tried to alter the outcome of the Presidential election by disrupting Congress. And, it was only through the courage of the Capitol and Washington Metro Police, and the leadership of both parties in the House and Senate, and the Vice President, that the election certification was completed.
It could have happened before – but it didn’t.
The Election of 1800
The first “change of party” election from Adams’ Federalist to Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans, Jefferson won the popular vote. But there was a complicating tie in the Electoral vote between the President and Vice Presidential candidate from same Party (Jefferson and Burr). That was ultimately clarified by adding an amendment to the Constitution (12th) creating votes for both President and Vice President. Adams left town before the inauguration.
The Election of 1824
The clear winner of the popular vote (Jackson with 40%) did not win a majority of the electoral votes, and the House of Representatives chose JQ Adams (33% of popular vote) in their tie-breaking role. Jackson left home to plan for 2028 when he decisively defeated Adams.
The Election of 1860
A four-way split of votes between candidates for President left no one with a popular majority (Lincoln had 40% of the vote, ahead of Douglas’s 21%). Lincoln did have a clear majority of the electoral vote, and was certified as President. Between certification and inauguration, several states withdrew from the Union, leading to the Civil War. Lincoln won the War.
The Election of 1876
The clear winner of the popular vote (Democrat Samuel Tilden) did not win a majority of the electoral vote, due to contested votes in some of the newly reinstated Southern states. A Congressional committee determined which candidate got the contested votes, and Republican Hayes won by one electoral vote. Democrats in Congress agreed to a “deal” ending the Reconstruction era.
The Election of 1960
The clear winner of the popular vote, Democrat John Kennedy, was rumored to have “cheated” in Northern Illinois to win the state. The loser, Republican Richard Nixon, chose not to pursue the issue. It was rumored that Nixon might have cheated in Southern Illinois.
The Election of 2000
The clear winner of the popular vote, Democrat Al Gore, contested vote counting in Florida that showed a narrow win for the Republican, George Bush. That slim margin (less than 500 votes out of almost six million) gave Bush a majority of the electoral votes. Recounting continued in the state for over a month, and the Republican leadership of the state, including Bush’s own brother the Governor, determined to certify Bush. Gore took them to Court. The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 partisan split, ordered the recounting stopped, and the Bush certification to stand. That confirmed Bush as the President, and Gore graciously called for unity behind Bush on national television.
The Election of 2020
Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won the popular vote, and the Electoral College. Republican Trump claimed that the election was “rigged”, and went to Courts sixty different times to contest the outcome. In all but one case he lost out-right, and the one case he won was on a technicality that did not impact the vote totals. But Trump continues to claim he actually won.
Bully Pulpit
In all of these contested elections, even the one before the Civil War, no one sought to stop the legal change-over of the Presidency. Losing candidates were hurt, angry, frustrated. Some went to Court to contest the decision. Andrew Jackson, known for his hot temper, determined to make sure 1828 had a different outcome. Even Richard Nixon, who twelve years later committed multiple crimes to try to guarantee his re-election, didn’t try to disrupt the legal process in 1960.
Only one tried to use the “bully pulpit” of the Presidency to bring forth “the mob” and stop Congress. Only one threatened his own Vice President for following the Constitution. Unlike Jackson and even Nixon, Donald Trump did everything in his power legally, then went far beyond legal to try to hold onto his Presidency. He called out the mob (“for a wild time”) to overthrow the Congress.
Jack Smith
We spent an entire Saturday listening to Jack Smith’s deposition to the House Judiciary Committee. After over the eight hours of questioning, three things became apparent. Jack Smith, is a seasoned national and international prosecutor with no partisan “axe to grind”. He is completely convinced by the case that Donald Trump is guilty of criminal conspiracy to overthrow the election.
Jim Jordan, the Republican Chairman of the Committee and well-known Trump ally, knew the power of Smith’s findings. First he tried to completely silence Smith’s message. Instead of holding an open hearing, he restricted it to a closed deposition. When the public pressure for information grew too much to bear, Jordan released the video in a full length, raw and un-edited form, making it difficult to watch, and an 800 page document. And, coincidentally of course, Trump started a war with Venezuela.
Who Won?
It’s been five years since the Insurrection. And now, what we thought we won, is lost. Five years later, Trump is President (gosh, no riots on January 6th, 2025 after that close election). The Insurrectionists are now out of jail, in power, and our history is whitewashed. Even in deposition questions to Smith, some Republicans hinted at “FBI undercovers” leading the rioters. (Smith noted that he found no evidence of that. There may have been some “confidential FBI informants”). We are in a time, “Where white is black and black is white”. The forces of misinformation and disinformation seem to have the upper hand.
No one may ever be held accountable for what happened in 2020. But the message of what happened still rings clear: in the words of Jack Smith, the videos of the January 6th Committee, and in the protests and marches that continue to go on today. Our Nation has been “reversed”. But it can be “reversed” yet again. It will take folks of courage: Americans who believe their “lying eyes”: about January 6th five years ago, prices today, and massacres on boats and American “adventurism” abroad.
We must believe in them. We must believe in that America. And we must believe that we can make a difference and “call” the change to come.
