On When Americans Stormed
Thoughts on the Storming of America’s Capitol and the Days After
I write this in the aftermath of the first attack by the American people on our Capitol. It’s been 13 days since a mob stormed the nation’s legislature. Across America, doubt and fear abounds. Detection, investigation and arrest proceeds. But prejudice predominates.
In the District of Columbia, the apoplectic government prejudges that the storming is an act of insurrection incited by President Trump. As the nation’s domestic military, the National Guard, locks the people’s access to our government down in what may be Washington’s single greatest militarization, Silicon Valley and other businesses rush to suspend, purge and punish those who do not conform to state-sponsored apoplexy and orthodoxy. Meanwhile, the incoming Democrat-controlled government considers enacting censorship of the press while enacting speech codes banning certain words and phrases. The world’s largest web site and social media company, under threat of government control, banned the phrase “stop the steal”. Anyone exercising free speech deemed dubious according to this prejudiced view may be targeted for persecution.
As the facts of January Sixth’s storming emerge, the proper question for those asserting that the storming amounts to insurrection is: on what grounds? Storming the Capitol is certainly an assault on the government. Arrests have been made. Is it an insurrection? In fact, no one currently admits, claims to have sought or is arrested for insurrection.
The rally to support President Trump in his bid to contest the election results originated with the goal to persuade Congress to “stop the steal”. The assembly was intended as a plea to Congress to reject certifying the results and let Trump remain president. Trump’s speech encouraged people to march on the Capitol. Trump did not incite insurrection. One can argue that he was reckless. But, in fact, Trump called for a peaceful march. He urged those breaching the Capitol to leave in peace. Within hours of the storming, he rejected it as “heinous”. Within days, he explicitly renounced and denounced the storming—more than once—after he was purged and terminated from the media.
Insurrection means violent uprising against the government. The term originates from the Latin word insurgere, which means to “rise up”. Honest evaluation of insurrection must also account for uprising against America’s government from within America’s government. As the nation’s capital is militarily locked down supposedly to prevent attack, it’s essential to question the proper role of government.
Are destroying a police station, attempting to burn down a courthouse and seeking to “fry” peace officers “like bacon”, blind policemen with lasers and abolish and defund the police — government’s most essential proper function — acts of insurrection? Is indiscriminate surveillance of Americans, including government officials, insurrection? Is prosecuting whistleblowers that disclose this indiscriminate surveillance?
Many of those outraged at the storming, including the incoming vice-president, materially aided, sanctioned or minimized criminal acts to destroy and breach private property and American government. Black Lives Matter and anarchists using the term “antifa” tried to overthrow the government night after night every week for several months while looting property last year. They committed murder, arson and other crimes against Americans and our government.
Despite this glaring double standard and lack of evidence for incitement or insurrection, Congress recently impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection. This means Congress acts to remove the president, who has essentially been sentenced to death by Islamic Iran, which recently threatened 35 U.S. targets, including U.S. naval ships, from the presidency after the president vacates the presidency. This could strip the ex-president of security. Would that constitute an incitement of murder if Iran attempts to realize its threat to execute Donald Trump?
Impeachment contextualizes — which does not mean justifies — the storming of the Capitol as a climax in Congress’ sustained, coordinated attack on rights. If the Capitol storming is an act of insurrection, it is part of a regression that started long ago.
The state enslaving the medical profession—nationalizing health insurance—expropriating wealth and private property—enacting law based on skin color, sex and blood—criminalizing emotions such as hate—violating the Constitutional right to travel unmolested by the state—waging unending war which sacrifices soldiers for the sake of nothing—these are only some of the unconstitutional Congressional acts. Congress fundamentally breached and violated itself long before January Sixth.
“It is a sin to write this,” writes the hero of Anthem by Ayn Rand, who escaped dictatorship to create literature with characters that detonate explosives at a government building, attempt to assassinate a sinister journalist and raid looted wealth. The literary theme of Ayn Rand’s masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged, asks who is the one that defies the state.
Americans ought to do the same. As I write this 13 days after the first attack on the Capitol, I know that the storming is both wrong and that similar or the same acts can recur. I know, too, that a legislature imposing irrational, unjust laws on the people must be rejected and that this is ideally achieved through the free exercise of speech. But I also know that this is only possible if the right to free speech, including a free press to question, detect and report facts, is absolutely recognized.
Censorship is tyranny. But censure and suppression of speech — especially prejudging the Capitol storming — also propels disunity. This puts America and Americans in grave and imminent danger. In the coming days, weeks and years, every American ought to actively study, reflect upon and think about the response of the radical American Thomas Jefferson, writing to James Madison, to the violent Shays’ Rebellion: “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”