Not a Capitol Idea

I have mixed feelings about paltry amount of news coverage of the armed protesters who stormed into the Michigan state capitol yesterday.  On the one hand, this should be lead story, top of the page news even during a pandemic.  Even though no shots were fired, that's an intended violent threat by a mob on an institution that is the heart of democracy.  On the other hand, it was 200 people in a state of 10 million.  Which breaks down to .002% of the population.  And a side of me is glad to see they didn't get the attention they crave.  If I lean to any side, I think it's the latter.  Especially when it's pointed out how small the mob is. 

Yes, I know very well that small mobs can grow, but when 80% of the country says it thinks stay-at-home rules are proper, because they understand the danger of infection and death, that bodes well for keeping what is small that way.

This is, of course, all on Trump, who has pushed his "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" tweets and sent a "LIBERATE VIRGINIA" tweet with an added reference there to the Second Amendment.  

And it's all a very fascist thing to do.  After all, there are three tenets that are the foundation of fascism --

1. Xenophobia and hatred of foreigners.

2  Efforts to undercut the authority of other power bases, like the press, judicial system and police/intelligence services.

3.  The use of violence.

I saw a ghastly tweet defending the actions of this armed mob that was written by Tony Shaffer, whose bio says he's on the 2020 Trump advisory board, whatever that is. He wrote -- "Let's be clear - this is an Orwellian attempt by the left to create fear. Being an armed citizen is a right & open carry is a reminder that we consent to being governed, we are not sheep. Only tyrants fear armed citizens - that's what we see here."  Again, this is from someone who says he is on a Trump advisory board!

What I wrote back to him was that, no, there was nothing even remotely "clear" in what he wrote, and little that was honest. (Moreover, his attempt to smear others as being "Orwellian" is too pathetically shameless coming from an advisory member of a man who this week said on camera that we'd have 5 million tests a day -- and then denied even saying it the very next day!)  Besides which, owning a gun is a right, not storming a capital with one. That's mob rule by the threat of violence.  That's not Democracy in Action!  It's an attempt to intimidate others by fear.  Democracy is at the ballot box.  That's...well, fascism.  And in the end, if you took a poll, I suspect that most Americans fear "armed citizens" -- and most especially a mob of "armed citizens" who storm a state capital.  During a pandemic.  Hoping to open the doors of society and spread the disease.  I suspect that if most Americans walked into any store, or any office, or any any bus or subway, or in fact into any room in the country -- or the world -- and every other person in it was openly armed, most people would be terrified out of their minds.

It's a very fascist position for him to take.  And so it's not surprising to know he's on a Trump advisory board.  I'm sure he wouldn't like being called a fascist.  But then, he should take up his complaint with the dictionary.  But then, ultimately, if he or the small armed mob or Trump or his cult supporters don't like being called fascists, then  they shouldn't act like fascists.

But this isn't about the mob or Trump or his supporters -- it's about the elected members of the Republican Party who enable him and his fascist administration and are silent through it all and complicit.