Seditionists — a term used by one television network; also called domestic
terrorists by another — acting in support of President Trump, stormed Congress one
year ago today while a joint session was working to ratify the electoral college vote,
which was expected to confirm President-elect Joe Biden as the 46th President of United
States.
U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), "who is vice chair of the House select committee
investigating the Jan. 6 attack, said the committee has gathered first-hand testimony that
Trump was watching the violence unfold on television at the White House and did nothing
to stop his supporters." Cheney was intereviewed on NBC's TODAY show this morning. "A year
[later], there are pending laws in 16 states that would change election rules to give more
power to the state legislatures rather than election officials and governors, and there
are least 18 Trump loyalists and election deniers who are running for secretary of state
to oversee elections at the state level." 1
Representative Cheney has been a very outspoken opponent of Trump loyalists within the
Republican party, and has endured well-publicized threats of censure, committee removal,
and other political actions from those same loyalists.
VANITY FAIR reported recently that "11 people associated with the right-wing
extemist group Oath Keepers were charged with seditious conspiracy" as part of a story
titled "That Whole Not-an-Insurrection Business Really Blew Up in Fox News' Face." Their
point: Some of Fox' biggest names have worked very hard over the past year to downplay
the insurrection, and their arguments are running out of fuel.
Personally, I've been very affected by the event. A year on I'm still amazed by the
division and rancor. It hasn't gone anywhere. Just the other day I saw a vendor selling
banners and flags on a street corner. The flags were all pro-Trump rhetoric, "TRUMP WON"
and so forth. Seeing those flags shot me straight back into a funk about the state of our
nation.
A few years ago I read about a "playbook" of sorts for breaking down democracy — I think
the author alleged that Trump was following it closely. One of the first things it mentioned
was the idea of exhausting the public — removing the public's interest in government by
beating them down. Trump did it with drama; with outrageous antics and with the assistance
of like-minded people in Congress. Together with the FOX network, they split the country
very deeply: Trump, et al. created a following and orchestrated and conducted the attack;
but he also created disinterest among people like me — Regular Joes and Janes who became
overwhelmed by the audacity, the frequency, and the incredible and formerly inconceivable
bullshit. I soured on watching news, I stopped reading the books, and
I even replaced browser default news pages with links to emergencykitten.com to put some space between me and the
never-ending Trump headlines. For a while, I even took a break from political news and news
junkies on Facebook. Facebook had become fertile loam for political rancor and seemingly
little else.
Many left Facebook for exactly that reason. Conservatives left because they accused
the platform of suppressing their ideals, fleeing to Parler and other forums. Others left
because they were just tired of all the constant political arguments. I confess, I created
a list of friends who became combative and just wanted to argue everything — I mean in an
aggressive way, not through reasoned discourse — and I isolated them from future posts.
My wall would appear as though I hadn't posted anything since the day I created the list,
but in reality, they've been excluded from everything forward from that date. I don't feel
our political differences warrant anything as drastic as unfriending, but their price of
admission has gone up. "YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CHANGE THE PRICE OF WHAT IT COSTS TO ACCESS YOU"
is a phrase I found on the Internet some time ago that really resonated with me. I didn't
intend to apply it to social media "time-outs," but, if the shoe fits... Being friends on
Facebook and following people on Facebook are two separate things. I "snoozed"
some friends when I needed to break from a barrage of political posts; but getting attacked
by people I'd served our nation with because I'd posted a news article — without commentary —
well, that's a horse of a different color in my eyes, and perhaps warrants banishment into
my Facebook "Phantom Zone" described above.
Socially, I mean, I think we all lost. People I used to keep in touch with over Facebook
aren't there anymore, and we've lost touch. It leaves me feeling sad and empty. These were
people who I served with — there should be a bond there more important, more sacred, than
political differences. I don't blame them, however. I blame Trump et al. and conservative
media for broadcasting their absurd narrative. I've one friend — a contractor at a company
I used to work for — who absolutely adored the conservative media. He was a HUGE fan of the
Drudge Report. Then I shared with him an article that showed the Drudge Report was actually
forwarding Russian propaganda
2 and he went "radio silent." This is a guy for whom I actually
bought a MAGA hat when I stayed at a Trump hotel property back in 2016, I think. I still really
like the guy and say "hi" every so often. But there are others I haven't heard from at all
since the election, and doubt I will again. I've got great memories of them, and I'd prefer to
just remember those, if I can.
p.s. — I'm a little proud of myself for working a Superman reference into the
paragraph about Facebook. It's way out of my nerding comfort zone.