Five Years Ago, Was the Beginning of the End of American Democracy

And the unleashing of the The Orange Menace upon the world

Trump devouring Greenland image created by AI

Five years ago, along with the rest of the world, I watched a Trump-incited mob attack the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and keep him in power. I watched as Trump supporters desecrated our Capitol building, viciously attacked members of the Capitol Police, and marauded through the halls in search of Democratic members of Congress to kill and to find and lynch Vice President Pence.

I was not the only one watching. Trump himself was in the White House, watching in support as the coup unfolded, defying repeated demands from his staff and Republican members of Congress, including the Speaker of the House,to stop the insurrection.

Six hours after his MAGA mob attacked our seat of government, resulting in the deaths of five people and the injury of hundreds of law enforcement officers, police finally managed to regain control of the Capitol. But this was only the beginning.

People often refer to the insurrection as an attempted coup, but that is not entirely accurate. It was only the opening act of a coup. In the years following January 6, Republicans, many of whom were in real danger of losing their lives that day, have, out of fear of alienating Trump, denied that the insurrection was anything more than a “peaceful demonstration.” They have cowardly fallen in lockstep behind Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.

An incompetent and weak Attorney General, Merrick Garland, failed to aggressively investigate Trump’s role in the insurrection because he did not want to appear partisan. In response, Congress formed the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack to investigate the insurrection. Yet all but two Republicans refused to participate and did everything they could to undermine the investigation. Their obstruction strongly suggested that numerous members of the House and Senate were involved in the attempted coup in some capacity.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, a Republican, was appointed to investigate both the insurrection and Trump’s mishandling of classified documents. Just as Smith was making substantial progress in both cases, staunchly pro-Trump federal judge Aileen Cannon dismissed all charges and prohibited the release of any evidence against Trump to the public.

The conservative majority on the Supreme Court, three of whom are Trump appointees, granted him near-total immunity from prosecution for illegal acts committed while in office. They have continued to side with Trump in most cases brought before them.

In the first year of Trump’s second term, he has turned the Department of Justice into a weapon to seek revenge against political enemies and anyone who dares to criticize him. With his appointment of the most unqualified conspiracy theorist, RFK Jr., as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, he has damaged one of the world’s most respected public health institutions, one that protects citizens’ health while advancing medical research and public health knowledge.

Trump has also contributed to the deaths of millions of impoverished and starving people in Africa by dismantling USAID and other federal programs that provided food and medical assistance. At the same time, he has cut food assistance at home and stripped affordable health insurance from millions of Americans.

He appointed a former Fox News host as Secretary of Defense, someone better known for drunkenness, racism, and extremist sympathies than for military expertise. Installing Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon was the first step in turning Trump’s fantasy of himself as a strongman and dictator into reality. This has allowed him to deploy the U.S. military as he sees fit, beginning with sending National Guard troops into major blue cities to intimidate immigrants and political opponents.

Emboldened by the weak response from Democratic members of Congress and the continued support of cowardly Republicans, Trump has escalated his delusions, invading Venezuela to kidnap its leader, threatening to seize Greenland by military force, and calling for regime change in Mexico, Colombia, and Iran.

What began as an “attempted” coup is rapidly becoming a full-fledged and successful one with each chaotic passing day. The demise of our democracy is no longer hypothetical if Trump is allowed to continue unchecked by America and the world. The January 6 insurrection permanently changed this country and unleashed the Orange Menace on the rest of the world.

The only hope we have left lies in the midterm elections this November. Republicans are going to extraordinary lengths to prevent free and fair elections by suppressing votes, particularly those of Democrats and people of color. We cannot allow millionaires and billionaires to decide who represents us, what information we are allowed to see, who receives healthcare, or who lives and who dies. Nor can we allow our longtime allies to be threatened by a greedy mob of grifters interested only in plundering natural resources for personal enrichment.

We owe it to ourselves, and to the world, to vote out every Republican who has enabled this Trump malignancy. Those who aided and abetted him over the past five years should be held accountable and permanently barred from public office. We may never fully recover from the damage Trump and his Republicans have inflicted on our country, but holding them accountable is a necessary start.

Check out my newer publication, Stephen Sovie’s Blog, the Other Side of My World