By John Rowerdink
As an American and especially as a Republican, the events of January 6 in Washington, D.C., make me sick in the pit of my stomach. It was a jarring reminder of the unrest and turmoil that exists in our country and the extreme partisanship that infects our political system these days.
It’s easy to see and even easier to say that President Trump incited this reaction among his supporters. That is no doubt true. But that’s also the easy answer, the one that sits on the surface where anyone can see it. But there is a deeper problem. Remember that the reason Donald Trump was elected in the first place was because millions of Americans were fed up with politicians and their failure to address the real problems facing our country and everyday Americans.
For the huge throng that traveled to Washington for this protest, their current anger was directed at an election they feel was corrupt and stolen. But it’s deeper than that. The protest had its genesis in Democrats’ refusal to accept the 2016 election and that they pursued non-stop resistance for four years. It has its genesis in an unholy alliance between Democrats, the media and members of the government bureaucracy to unseat a president duly elected by the people. It has its genesis in the witch hunt that became the Mueller investigation, which tied our government in knots for two years. It has its genesis in the impeachment of the president on the flimsy “evidence” of a phone call. It has its genesis in the image of the Speaker of the House ripping up a president’s State of the Union speech on national television. It has its genesis in the former president unlawfully using the FBI to investigate a rival political campaign. And it has its genesis in vicious attacks on a Supreme Court Justice nominee for a vile charge that could not be verified. These things all contributed to the anger that erupted in Washington today.
So blame President Trump for inciting the violence in Washington. He might deserve that criticism. But that’s the easy answer. It’s deeper than that.