Hi friend,
There was an attempted coup in my country today. People with guns stormed the capitol building -- for the first time in my country's history -- demanding that the results of a free election be overturned in favor of racist, oppressive minority rule.
The enormity of that is settling in and I'm gonna need a minute.
Black lives matter. Anti-Semitism is unacceptable.
One of the ways I've been processing this week's events is by reading viewpoints from outside the U.S., from people whose views and writing aren't tilted by living in the middle of our so-called exceptionalism.
The following two quotes, one from inside the U.S. and one outside, mesh in a way that's really important to understand right now. Tl;dr: This isn't over. The fragile egg of our democracy has been cracked.
Part 1:
"Itâs absurd, because the whole thing seems like a clown show. Coups are supposed to be orderly, authoritarian, not this dumb shit. It honestly seems like a grift to bilk supporters out of more money. You can just roll it back, right? Right?
No. No no no. Oh God no.
The tragic thing which you do not understand â which you cannot understand â is that youâve already lost. You cannot know exactly what â thatâs the nature of chaos â but know this. You will lose more than you can bear.
What I can tell you â what anyone whoâs experienced this can tell you â is that itâs going to be bad. I didnât know that churches and hotels would blow up on Easter Sunday, but I know now. Iâm trying to tell you in advance. Youâve opened up a Pandoraâs box of instability. All kinds of demons come out.
I have lived through a coup. It felt like what youâre feeling now. Like watching something stupid and just waiting for it to go away. But it doesnât go away. You can forget about it, but it doesnât go away.
Thereâs a ticking bomb at the heart of your democracy now. Your government, the very idea of governance is fatally wounded. Chaos has been planted at its heart. I donât know what this chaos will grow into, but I can promise you this. It wonât be good."
Part 2:
"On one screen, Trump is shriveling into a buffoonish, pathetic figure. His violent and destructive fantasies remain unchecked and dangerous, but news accounts are depicting an increasingly isolated figure whose advisers are deserting him, even as he rages ineffectually over his inability to reverse his election loss.
On the other screen, a different picture is emerging: For the loose network of groups and lone actors that carried out Trumpâs calls for violent disruption of the lawful conclusion of the election, itâs becoming clear that the siege was a huge and momentous success, a propaganda coup that will energize them for a long time to come.
Think of it like this: The attack on the Capitol captured the news cycle and riveted the countryâs attention for a full day, projecting imagery of a country seeming to teeter on the edge of civil collapse.
They succeeded in disrupting the lawful conclusion of the presidential election, even if temporarily. This imagery (and remember that far-right groups have gone international) was broadcast all around the world.
âHis supporters pulled off a violent, armed insurrection attacking the U.S. Capitol,â Maddow noted. âAnd then they all just walked away to tell their war stories about it.â
Recommended reading and listening: Historian Dr. Heather Cox Richardson's daily news updates, plus her two videos and podcast discussing this week's events in a historical context.
