My Children's 9/11

     This is Pearl Harbor. This is the JFK assassination. This is 9/11.

    And what exactly is this? I'll let Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the number three Republican in the United States House of Representatives speak: "We just had a violent mob assault the capitol in an attempt to prevent those from carrying out our Constitutional duty. There is no question that the President formed the mob, the President incited the mob, the President addressed the mob. He lit the flame."

    For only the second time in U.S. history -- and the first since 1814 -- a heavily armed violent mob invaded our nation's capitol. The first time, the British did it, and they burned much of the federal district. This time, American citizens brought violence, breaching and desecrating our seat of government, forcing the Secret Service to ferry away Vice President Pence to safety, and driving the entire House and Senate into hiding.

    Did BLM or Antifa mobs wreak such havoc today? No. Another prominent Republican, 2012 Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Senator from Utah, put it similarly when he said, with remarkable succinctness, "What happened at the U.S. Capitol today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States."

    Mob. Insurrection. These are strong words, wielded by sober leaders only under extreme circumstances. And Cheney and Romney did not direct them toward radical socialists, communist revolutionaries, or other leftwing boogeymen. Just as the entire legislative branch and a major player in the executive branch of our government had had to flee as potential targets, they now pointed their ire at the incumbent President of the United States, the leader of the Republican party, Donald Trump, and his followers.

    Or, rather, his cult. Trump, having lost what (suddenly) outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R - KY) described as an election that was "not unusually close," urged his more rabid followers to come to Washington, D.C., on January 6, the date assigned for the assembled houses of Congress to ratify the results of the electoral college. 

    Trump promised the cult a "wild" protest on this date. When the protestors arrived, he addressed them, repeating baseless claims that Joe Biden, RINO's, or the "Deep State" had stolen the election from him. "We will never concede," he bellowed, encouraging the cultists on toward the capitol, where they swarmed and then invaded.

    Proclaiming themselves "Patriots," the MAGA invaders waved Trump flags, including one that they raised on scaffolding after they removed the American flag from the pole. They also paraded around carrying Confederate flags, which the United States Army had never allowed into the Capitol during the bloody American Civil War. Even Nazi emblems made an appearance.

    With various members proclaiming loyalty to the Confederate States of America, the Third Reich, and Donald Trump, the cult identified themselves forever with a trifecta of losers whom patriotic Americans have eventually defeated. And make no mistake: those who love our Constitution and our republic must never mistake these losers for patriots, for they are not.

    Amazingly, only one person, a protestor, appears to have died today, and not many more face arrest. Given the many "selfies" taken during this seditionist stunt, more arrests should follow. More yet will likely lose jobs and friends back home once more people learn of their perfidy. Some will regrettably gain new friends among their armchair followers.

    As I type these words, the Senate has just finished the roll call in response to the objection to Arizona's electoral votes. The measure has failed, 93 - 6, with a good half dozen senators who had announced their support retracting it. 

    Six senators, however, maintained and voted for their opposition to accepting the duly elected Arizona slate. Among the six were 2024 presidential prospects Ted Cruz (R - TX) and Josh Hawley, (R - MO). New senator Tommy Tuberville (R - AL), the former Auburn University football coach, and three others joined them.

    Cruz and Hawley must next face their voters in 2024. Hawley may have bigger problems before then, however. Shortly before the riot began, Hawley posed with his fist raised in support of the mob. This gesture earned Hawley the ire of his local newspaper, which declared he had "blood on his hands." 

    Expulsion from the Senate is not beyond the realm of possibility. Hawley deserves it. He has brought dishonor on his cause, his party, and his state. Patriotic Republicans must denounce his refusal to slough off his habit of caving to the cult by ostracizing him and stripping away any plum committee assignments. They may also refuse to let him rejoin the caucus in the new congress. 

    During the insurrection this afternoon, several networks called the final of two Georgia United States Senate races that went to January runoffs, declaring  Democrat Jon Ossoff the winner. This election, in my home state, will elevate Charles Schumer to Senate Majority Leader and hand the gavel for every committee to a Democrat.

    Sending Josh Hawley into senatorial exile, if not expelling him, will take a step toward restoring the reputation of the Republican party. The 42 Republicans who voted against the objection he would have sustained took an important step tonight. Expulsion would be another and, with the Governor of Missouri a Republican, would not cost the GOP the seat.

    A graver, more immediate problem lies in the damage lame duck Donald Trump can still do in the two weeks he has to quack or whine or bellow. Ambitious Republicans, non more so than Ted Cruz, have lived in fear of Trump and the MAGA cult for four years. That must stop.

    The executive and legislative branches have two potential solutions at their disposal, impeachment and conviction and the 25th Amendment. Our entire country's safety and our political future will be more secure if the Vice President, the cabinet, and the congress remove this demagogue from office tomorrow rather than January 20.

    Patriotic Americans will be watching. And the only flag we'll wave will be Old Glory.