The January 6th Committe’s Hail Mary

Today, the January 6^th Committee subpoenaed Donald Trump demanding his testimony in front of the committee by November 14^th.  For more than a year now, the central theme of this committee has been that an insurrection took place at the US Capitol on January 6^th, 2021 and that Donald Trump was the instigator of that unprecedented atrocity.

For just one moment, set aside all the passion, disgust, and emotion over what happened at the Capitol building on January 6^th, 2021 and look at the event logically in the context of history. Was this really an insurrection as the January 6^th Committee, much of the political establishment, and nearly all the news media claims it to have been?

Here is the definition of an insurrection from the Cambridge Dictionary¹:

 An organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government or ruler and take control of the country, usually by violence.

Applying this definition to the events of January 6^th, we therefore must assume that the people gathered at the Capitol building that day were genuinely attempting to defeat the sitting government of the United States, or its President, and take control of the country.

Does this make any logical sense? The Executive branch of our government on the day of the supposed insurrection was held by the Republican Party. The President of the country, or “ruler” as in the Cambridge definition, was Donald Trump. The Republican Party and Donald Trump would constitutionally remain in control of our government until January 21^st of that year, 14 days after the January 6^th protests.

The protesters at the Capitol were most certainly not trying to defeat Donald Trump. Nor were they attempting to take over the command structure of the (Republican controlled) Executive branch of our government. The worst that can realistically be stated about the intentions of the protestors is that they were trying to infiltrate the Capitol building and halt the business of Congress.

That comes nowhere near the definition of an insurrection. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate has any executive authority in our government. They are legislative bodies. Temporarily pausing the business of Congress could never be reasonably equated to taking control of the country.

Nor does what occurred that day meet the first part of the definition of an insurrection – “an organized attempt…”. Only a tiny fraction of the rally attendees at the Capitol on January 6^th took it too far and stormed past guards into the building. Those who did make it inside obviously had no plan beyond just entering the building and disrupting things. That’s why their behavior inside the Capitol turned to random acts of thievery, selfie photography, and general commotion. It’s also why it only went on for a few hours before Congress was fully back in session later that evening.

What would this small group of malcontents have done next if somehow, they successfully took complete control of the Capitol building? They had no supplies, no outside help, and not nearly enough force to maintain their position for very long. Oh, and as stated before, they had no plan.

A genuine attempt at insurrection (by Trump supporters in this case) would’ve had the following characteristics at the very least:

• It would not have taken place until the executive authority opposed by the insurrectionists (Biden) had been sworn in and in control of the government. That didn’t happen until January 21^st. On January 6^th, there was no ruler in opposition to overthrow.
• The target would have been the command structure of the government, which is in the Executive branch. Not Congress, which is the Legislative branch.
• There would have been an organized plan for what to do next had the initial actions of the insurrectionists been successful. A plan to take control of a country’s government must go far beyond entering a building, taking pictures, and stealing some souvenirs.

We know some readers of this article will think we are making light of what happened on January 6^th and are possibly condoning the activity. We absolutely do not. Those who pushed past guards, entered restricted areas, and damaged or stole anything should be prosecuted. Most importantly, any protester who injured a guard, or tried to, should be dealt with harshly.

That being said, we also strongly believe it is high time that people see an event for what it actually is and not what certain groups of people want it to be in order to suit an agenda or ideology. Also, in addition to mischaracterizing what happened on January 6th as an insurrection, the media, politicians, and the January 6^th Committee want you to believe this was an “unprecedented attack on democracy” (to use their words). Hardly.

There have been numerous attacks at the Capital building throughout our history, with many of them much more dangerous and deadly than what happened on January 6^th, 2021. Examples:

1. August 12, 1814 – US Capitol Building set ablaze by British troops in the war of 1812.
2. July 2, 1915 – A bomb exploded in the Senate chamber, planted there by a Harvard professor.
3. May 1932 – 25,000 US veterans marched up the steps of Capital building to lobby for early payment of a salary bonus. Some set up camps outside the Capital and remained there for several months. Ultimately, President Hoover ordered them to be driven out of the Capital area by military force under the command of General McArthur. 55 Veterans were injured in the ensuing skirmish.
4. March 1^st, 1954 – Puerto Rican nationalists armed with semi-automatic handguns made their way into the Capitol building, entered the House floor, and fired 30 rounds wounding five Congressmen.
5. March 1^st, 1971 – two bombs exploded at the Capitol building planted there by members of the Weather Underground.
6. November 1983 – a bomb exploded in the north wing of the Capitol building planted by protestors upset with US military actions in Grenada.
7. July 1998 – an armed assailant rushed through security and entered the Capitol building. Two Capitol Police officers died in the line of duty trying to stop the gunman.
8. September 2001 – letters laced with anthrax were mailed to Senate office spaces on Capitol Hill targeting two US Senators, Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. They were unharmed. Five media corporations were also targeted in this attack. A total of 22 people were infected and 5 died.

As bad as these events were, none of them meets the definition of an insurrection either.

Our country has only ever had one true attempted insurrection and it happened in 1861. The insurrectionists were defeated after a four-year conflict that left more than a half-million Americans dead. If, God forbid, there is ever another attempted insurrection here in the US, it will be painfully and brutally obvious to everyone.

¹ The Cambridge Dictionary is published by the Cambridge University Press, the oldest publishing house in the world (1584).