Today marks the 3rd anniversary of defeated, former President Trump and his supporters attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by their assault on Capitol Hill to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election victory.
According to the DOJ, more than 1,200 arrests have been made thus far resulting in nearly 750 convictions resulting in imprisonment or home incarceration. Many of these convictions pertained to assault of Capitol Police officers and the use of weaponry. But according to Trump, the people who had weapons and attacked police officers are "hostages, not prisoners."
Naturally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Trump is facing four charges pertaining to the events of January 6, 2021.
We all know what happened on January 6, 2021, despite attempts from the Tucker Carlsons of the world to whitewash the public record. The question is what will happen one year from today on January 6, 2025.
Well, a lot of that will depend on who we choose on November 5, 2024.
If we choose Trump, then we will have chosen authoritarianism. I expect that one of Trump's first acts of office would be to pardon the January 6th defendants. It will come as no surprise if Trump also issues a formal apology and bestows many of these people with Presidential Medals of Freedom including Stewart Rhodes of The Oathkeepers who is serving an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy. Needless to say, Trump will also absolve himself of any wrongdoing by issuing a pardon of his own and might award himself a Presidential Medal of Freedom while he is at it..
However, if we choose Biden, then Trump and his supporters will have a second bite at the apple. Should Trump lose he will again claim the election was rigged and stolen. While D.C. will be better prepared for violence on January 6, 2025, it might not come to that should Republicans control at least one House of Congress.
If Republicans are in charge of either the House or Senate neither body will certify Biden's re-election. In which case, it will fall to the House of Representatives to decide the election. Even if Democrats should regain control of the House chances are Republicans will have a majority in most state delegations. In which case, Congress would deny the will of the voters and install Trump as President.
In other words, America might get Trump whether we want him or not.
Those who do not want Trump would take to the streets. As soon as Trump would take the oath of office, he would invoke the Insurrection Act and rule by decree thereby putting an official end to democracy in the United States.
It is a bleak prospect, but we must prepare for the worst-case scenarios. Yet it is also incumbent upon us not only to re-elect President Biden, but to thwart any schemes of sedition to prevent him from serving a second term.
Above all else, it falls upon us to choose democracy over Trump.
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