Politics and Such

David Bernell   The end of Trump and Trumpism are likely be the biggest result of the attack on the Capitol on January 6. People will disagree on what to call this: coup, riot, mob violence, sacking (the term “putsch” might work). But the actions are clear: Donald Trump called for a rally on the day that Congress was set to certify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the winners of the presidential election; he and other speakers that day called for action to be taken to stop Congress; he directed the crowd to go to the Capitol and put a stop to the election certification; and then people stormed the Capitol and stopped the Congressional action while it was in process (though only for a few hours). People died.   Imagine if this had been done by ISIS or al-Qaeda or another country. We would clearly recognize the threat it posed to the country and our democracy. Because the President of the United States orchestrated this event doesn’t make it any less signifi...

David Bernell   President Trump's term in office is coming to an end, and it cannot come quickly enough. The Trump era today descended into violence and an attempted coup. It's dishonest to sugarcoat the storming of the US Capitol building as the work of protestors or demonstrators. They are insurrectionists, criminals and domestic terrorists who sought to stop the process of certifying the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice-President. They were sent by the President. Democracy was attacked. People died. Since election day, Trump has been spouting the lies that he won the election, that the Democrats engaged in fraud and stole the election. And millions of people are buying what he's selling. He tried stopping the count of mail-in ballots. He tried going to court. He tried holding press conferences (the famous Guiliani hair-dye-Kraken-fiasco was the most notable, but the Four Seasons Landscaping debacle was a worthy second place). He encouraged uno...