The Jan. 6 Capitol attack has been dubbed terrorism by Republicans and Democrats alike. Now the extent of the damage Trump has done to America is becoming clearer. Trump has radicalized his base in a dangerous way that will not be easily changed. After 9/11 we united as a country to fight a foreign enemy. Now after 1/6 we have become divided by a radicalized internal enemy. As a former conservative Republican, I was appalled to see the President incite his brainwashed mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, but I am not surprised. This is a predictable culmination of the GOP’s march over many years into right wing extremism.
A poll on the night of 1/6 showed that 45% of Republicans condoned the Capitol riot. Over 140 Republican members of Congress voted to overturn the votes of the people, and they are still defiant. These are indicators of the dangerous radicalization of America that Trump has visited on us. It seems the Republican Party leaders and their constituents are devolving into a toxic split. On the one hand is the Radicalized Trump-Supporter contingent. On the other are the Complicit Enablers like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham who marched in lockstep with Trump for four years and failed to impeach him. On the day of the 1/6 vote they finally decided to break with him, but this is a hollow attempt to distance themselves and save their own careers after years of supporting Trump’s assault on our democracy.
Now President Biden will make a determined effort to unify and heal America. We the people must stand with him. This includes forever denouncing the divisiveness of Trump as the threat that it is, and reaching out to others with whom we disagree to seek common ground. For their part the Republicans now say if the Democrats do not give Trump a pass and impeach him, the Dems will be responsible for divisiveness. Thinking Americans must see through this unbelievable hypocrisy, make Trump and his enablers pay, and move forward to a new day.
Howard Jennings
Bristol