Jan 6

I want to discuss why Jan 6 was so bad, because it doesn't really fit in a short meme or picture. Unfortunately that means this will get kind of long, but if you're curious here we go.

The heart of our Constitution is that who rules is decided by elections. 

There's other things about the separation of power (people often look at the president, but laws are passed by Congress so when the House or Senate is controlled by the other party they're often quite limited) and various checks and balances, and there are things like the electoral college that complicate it, but for the most part elections are what truly matters. 

And that means accepting the results of an election. 

If you didn't get the result you wanted, you campaign harder and try to persuade more people in the next one. (The alternative of actually fighting out quickly gets bloody and ugly, so this benefits everyone).

For 200+ years, for the most part it worked. Sure the second president stayed up all night before leaving office appointing the midnight judges, but he still left office. 

And then came the election of 2020.

Now, I'd like you to think about how you would expect a president to act if they honestly think there was enough voter fraud to change the results. 

Not Trump or Biden. Imagine your  favorite or even imaginary ideal president. 

Most, I suspect, think they would collect the evidence and go to court. 

Here's the first thing - Trump and his allies lost over 60 cases alleging fraud. And if you look at the court cases (which I have) a funny thing happened. 

See, lawyers can get disbarred and be unable to do their job if their caught lying, so quite a few of those court cases were about absolutely NOTHING like what they claimed in the press and on social media. 

It's all stuff you can look up yourself if you want. 

It wasn't because of some grand conspiracy either. Judges tend to be conservative, and the idea that 60 of them all colluded is pretty ridiculous. 

I don't care what videos you find online saying different. Anybody can make a video and claim it's showing something it's not. 

It needs to be evidence that holds up in court. 

All of which means Biden won in 2020.

Trump. Lost. 

And then came Jan 6.

Now, first of all... Would anyone have even been there that day of Trump and his allies hadn't been lying (for months) about the results? 

I think not. 

Even more importantly, we have known for centuries how important it is to have faith in our elections. 

It's why the Electoral Count Act of 1887 was written. 

It's why there are Dec 8 is the safe harbor deadline.

I will try not to bore people with the details, but basically any disputes or questions about the election are supposed to be resolved well before the pretty much ceremonial counting of the electoral college votes. 

Especially as technology has gotten better. Used to be they needed a lot more time to count the votes (it still isn't actually something that happens the night of, experts just can predict the result because of you've counted 7000 out of 10000 votes and have a pretty good idea of how the remaining areas vote, if enough votes go to a certain candidate they can predict the final winner. It's still faster now than back then, unless someone disputes the results and calls for a recount by hand ).

They also had to travel by horse or train to get to Washington, which is part of why Jan 6 is months after the actual election day. 

But I digress. 

The states certify the elections, and are supposed to do it before Dec 8.

Jan 6 is just pomp and ceremony.

Normally. 

In 2020, however, Trump made the absolutely ludicrous claim that Pence, who oversaw the ceremonial count, could change the results. 

They also sent a bunch of fake electors NOT designated by the states to represent them, to try to pretend they could change them. (Court cases against the fake electors are still in progress).

I know most people don't know all this xrt and boring stuff... I'm also just giving the highlights here. 

That brings me to Donald Trump. 

He swore an oath of office to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'

It's honestly not to different from the oath I swore when I was commissioned as an officer in the Army 

I do not know how pretending a vice president can change the results, lying about the results, and sending fake electors to try and cast doubt on those alerts, can be anything but an attack on that very Constitution. 

I would leave it to the courts to determine whether it's treason, sedition, rebellion, or whatever else you want to call it. That all depends on the legal system and evidence. 

I can tell you, though, that he broke his oath of office. 

If the Construction was a bridge, he took a giant sledge hammer to it. 

And he's still doing it. 

I do not know how any veteran can vote for him and not break their own oaths. 

I was shocked that his impeachment wasn't bipartisan, and am frankly disgusted with the entire Republican party for caring more about political power than defending the Constitution. 

I am glad that quite a few of my friends and neighbors also see it, and that many principled conservatives were horrified enough to leave the party. 

And yet that oathbreaker is still the Republican nominee for 2024.