Actions Have Consequences

Last week the president of the United States incited an angry mob to storm our nation’s Capitol. The most obvious and widely accepted goal of the mob was to disrupt the constitutionally mandated ceremony in which the state certified electoral college votes are basically rubber stamped. The mob was led to believe the results of the election were fraudulent and could be altered at this stage, whether by preventing the votes from being counted or by a declaration that certain states’ results were invalid.

The mob believed this because they have been told this over and over again. They were told this by the president, they were told this by politicians such as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, and they were told this by news pundits on outlets such as Fox News. The fact that none of the accusations of fraud were demonstrated or proven in a court of law, even in front of Trump appointed judges, and after 60 cases were brought, is meaningless when public right wing figures continue to perpetuate lies.

In the wake of the violence of the day, as Capitol staff were sweeping up the glass, and cleaning up the trash and shit; Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz moved forward with their previously scheduled political theater. They contested the results of Arizona and Pennsylvania. Their efforts failed, as they knew they would fail. They would argue that they were fighting within the system to…