The January 6th "Insurrection"

It, January 6th, is still with us. The Congressional hearings are ongoing. The Justice Department is doing, well, who knows what it is doing? Aren't about three-quarters of those arrested, incarcerated, still awaiting trial? With so much talk about the threat to our democracy, what about the threat to these people's Constitutional rights to a speedy trial? But that's a topic for a future blog. We are still hearing it. "It" is this. That January 6th "insurrection" on the the Capitol building was "the greatest assault/threat on our democratic government since the Civil War." If I recall correctly some fools claimed this was a bigger threat than that Civil War. Such stupidity doesn't deserve a response. But even the modifying claim "since the Civil War" has come from unexpected sources, ones I thought were a little sharper than this. To start, from the dictionary, an insurrection is defined as "a rebellion of citizens or subjects of a country against its government." I suppose people can have their own views, but I don't see January 6th as "a rebellion." Certainly it was reprehensible and embarrassing to the majority of us. But, seriously, does anyone really believe several hundred protesters led by Viking Helmet Man were going to overthrow the federal government or its civil authority? Where was its revolutionary army? I favor criminal actions against these perpetrators--with quick due process as guaranteed by the Constitution. I also favor criminal actions agains the BLM and Anti-fa rioters, er, "peaceful protesters," who rioted, looted, burned and otherwise destroyed public and private property, not to mention assaulted people. But, again I digress, a topic for a future blog. My intent here is to address the very ignorant view that January 6th was "the greatest threat on our Democracy." Hmmm. Where to start? Maybe Viking Helmet Man didn't pose as great a threat as liberal icon (and autocratic wannabe) Franklin Roosevelt. It was FDR's Executive Order 9066 that interned 120,000 people, about two-thirds of whom were US citizens, during the Second World War because they were of Japanese ancestry. (Please spare me, "But that was different. We were at war." It doesn't fly. The 120,000 were no threat. Check out the history of the 442nd Regimental Combat Unit.) It seems to me that such an abuse of federal government power is a far greater threat to Americans than January 6th. What about the various Alien and Sedition Acts that have been enacted over the course of our history, from the 1790s to the Cold War? Isn't stifling perhaps the most fundamental of our Constitutional rights, freedom of speech not to mention freedom of the press and assembly, quite a threat? And these stemmed not from Viking Helmet Man, but from various Congresses and Presidents. Why wasn't Lyndon Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War a bigger threat? He deliberately lied to the American people. As if that weren't enough, he was aided and abetted in the dishonesty by top military leaders and Congress. January 6th resulted in one death. (That four or five law enforcement officers were killed is a lie that continues to find life more than a year later.) The dishonesty/lies surrounding Vietnam led to the deaths of 58,282 Americans. (Ask Mike Bowen, who ran a mile with a 25-pound POW/MIA flag for each of his fellow soldiers who died. https://www.runmichigan.com/view.php?id=20734 ) Is that Trump and many of his followers still push the idea that the election of 2020 was rigged, which sparked January 6th, a threat? More generally, what about the incredible amounts of money in American politics? It is not too hard to see that money counts for much more than the interests of many US citizens. What about the so-called "power elite," the intersection of large corporations (their leaders), the extremely wealthy, and policy makers? Perhaps I am misguided, but I think these elites and their money are far bigger threats to American democracy than Viking Helmet Man. I could go on with more examples, but you I hope get the picture. January 6th was not "the greatest threat to American democracy since the Civil War." It is a misguided and reprehensible event that has been turned into a political football.