A "Bipartisan Commission" and the 1/6/21 Capitol Riot

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Written by Steven Jonas   
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 06:24

By Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

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"Either this nation will kill racism, or racism will kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)

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For the two or so months following the Capitol Riot of 1/6/21 (otherwise known as "The Trumpsurrection2021©") there had been talk about establishing a "bi-partisan commission" to investigate it. The virtual impossibility of such a commission being “bi-partisan” --- which is what his column is about --- has certainly diminished such talk in recent weeks.  According to its proponents, it would have been set up along the lines of the commission that investigated the 9-11 Disaster, the latter often being referred to as "successful."

There are two issues here. The first is, how can one possibly establish a bi-partisan commission, that is one presumably consisting of Republicans and Democrats in equal numbers, with a bi-partisan chairmanship, presumably consisting of a Republican and a Democrat, when the riot was carried out on behalf of the Republican candidate for the Presidency in the Election of 2020?  How do we know that the latter was the case? Well for one thing the large signs and flags prominently displayed in large numbers had the name of one of the candidates prominently displayed on them. (One has to wonder where all those signs and banners, which also appeared in large numbers in Trumpist demos. during and after the Presidential campaign, were/are made, and who funds the operation. Among other things, it would appear to be a very profitable business, as well as one for which the manufacturing, distribution, and sales are very well organized. But that is a matter for another time.) For another thing, the caps worn by large numbers of the rioters displayed a particular Trumpist slogan, usually abbreviated, MAGA. Then the rioters frequently shouted the name of one of the candidates, but not the name of the other. So, it would appear to be pretty clear on whose behalf the riot occurred.

Second, there is the primary question of could the events of the day be characterized as a "riot" when, according to a prominent leader of one of the parties, that is Senator "Ronanon" (the name given to him by Joe Scarborough of MSNBC's "Morning Joe") Johnson of Wisconsin, as he assessed it, the crowd consisted largely of peaceful protesters including many mothers with small children as well as elderly and overweight people. So even the question of whether the event(s) can be characterized as a "riot" is not subject to "bi-partisan" agreement.

Third, consider the following. There is the photo of (Republican --- yes, he is) Sen. (!) Josh Hawley appearing to lead persons (of whom at least some subsequently engaged in violent behavior) towards the Capitol with a raised fist (usually a sign that expresses the intent to commit real or threaten to commit violent behavior). And it was he and Senator Cruz who, leading up to the riot (presumably a name for the events of the day with which, as noted above, at least some Republican members of the Commission would take issue) were floating an idea for a vote recount (of certain [Black --- shhh!] votes) with a system nowhere to be found either in the Constitution or then-existing Federal law.

After the riot Hawley was (and is) still proclaiming that the election was at least likely to have been "stolen." And of course, as of this time of writing, the Republican candidate who lost is still claiming that he had won. Since to most observers, even including the then Senate Majority Leader (a Republican), the riot was caused at its source by that candidate, Donald Trump, a Republican.  At the same time, as is well-known many Republican voters who, despite what about 60 Courts had to say about the matter, think that Trump won.  Again one must question how there could possibly a bi-partisan commission to investigate both the events of the day and what led up to them, when the “Stab-in-the-Back/Rigged Election” myth has been firmly established in the minds of the self-same Republican voters.

(Ah yes, the "Cruz-Hawley"/"Stop the Steal" legislative initiative, considered by many to have been a major factor in stimulating the riot --- a consideration of course with which the Republican members of a bi-partisan commission would surely disagree --- might well lead to a major period of partisan U.S. political unrest.  It could well be characterized in part by intermittent acts of violence by the Right. It might then come to be remembered just as the Smoot-Hawley protective Tariff Act of 1930 was, as it played a major role in bringing on the Great Depression, an opening to disaster.)

And so, "a bi-partisan commission like 9/11?" Fuhgeddaboudit. In any case, we already have much evidence of Trump's active or passive complicity collected and vividly shown by the House Impeachment panel. We have the preliminary results of the investigation initiated by Speaker Pelosi, under the leadership of retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honore. Much more will be coming from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. And there are the ongoing Congressional investigations. The events were clearly partisan, and so will be the investigation(s) (and yes, when the results of the non-partisan FBI/DHS investigations come out, you can be sure that the Trumpublicans© will screaming that they are "partisan," because of course they will indict --- figuratively and literally --- Trump and his collaborators). It's the results of those investigations that count, not that by their very nature they cannot be "non-partisan." And indeed, when the time for political reckoning against the instigators comes, let's just hope that those results are counted.

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