A Coup By any Other Name

A Coup By any Other Name

They are called Disaster Capitalists. They don't need to create disasters. They only need to be able to mobilize swiftly when one does occur. They are ready to pour money into rebuilding beachfront property in the image of casinos and resorts after the storm has washed away the local residents and fishing villages. What was a long established community who resisted the developers is now a clean slate for the transformation.

The same concepts apply to political movements. On January 6th 2021 there were thousands of people converged on Washington, DC for rallies in support of the out-going President. They were there demonstrate their position.

Not everyone was on that same page. There were factions who were being mobilized by the "Disaster Capitalists" whose agenda was to flip the presidential election in favor of The Former Guy at all costs. For those antagonists it was a do or die situation. They needed to disrupt the transition process by any means possible.

Many of the people who gathered in DC on that day of infamy had no intentions of mounting a coup or insurrection against the US Government. But there were those who were there for that very purpose. What started out as rhetoric and a rally ignited into the frenzied movement and assault on the Capitol.

Congress was in session for the purpose of finalizing the 2020 election results and confirming Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. From the provocateurs came the cry to stop the process and take hostages. The people who came with that on their agenda and the people who came to simply protest became indistinguishable one from the other.

Of the thousands of people who traveled to DC for the activities, only a relative few breached the Capitol buildings. Those who did committed heinous crimes against the Nation. For many in attendance it was a party atmosphere. But embedded within the rank and file protestors were the people who came with the intention to foment a coup to actually overturn the election results and therefore, overthrow the government itself.  The only measure of who was whom is the documentable actions of each person. Yes, some otherwise unsuspecting revelers got caught up in the melee and ultimately will serve prison time for their acts.

There were a lot of people present whose intentions were insurrectionist, who were positioned and funded to fulfill their agendas, but many more were hapless dupes, the "useful idiots" mentioned many decades earlier in another time of coups and insurrections.

For the unsuspecting participants the insurrection was indeed a surprise. It was a historical event for into which they were drawn. But it must be understood the way the day developed was exactly what the promoters wanted. Who were the promoters?

First and foremost there was the out-going President. He needed to hold on to power mainly for himself. Without the privilege of the office he would be unprotected from investigation, indictments trials and possible convictions for far too many crimes and misuses of office to be enumerated here. Dozens of GOP House Representatives and Senators had hitched their careers to that President and what he could do either for their support or to them as punishment for non-support. Many financial interests owed their expanded wealth to GOP voting in Congress. Far-right conservative interests were not finished transforming America from a Democracy into a Dominionist theocracy.

Russian and Chinese state interests need America in disarray in advance of their imperialist moves on their neighbors and former territories. A politically solid America has the ability to lead its allies in resisting the military advances of authoritarian regimes as long as it is not itself one of the authoritarian regimes.

Not knowing one is being manipulated by anti-American and anti-Democracy entities is no excuse for the actions one takes during civil unrest.  Developing and expressing an opinion is ones constitutional right in this country. But engaging in violent and deadly riotous movements is criminal and is only excused if their side wins the Executive and/or Legislative Branch such that they can be pardoned. Otherwise, they can expect to do their time for their crimes.

An ordinary protest is mostly general in nature. It is sentiment against the system, the administration, a war, or some other injustice. The Jan 6th 2021 actions were targeted at specific individuals. There were calls for bloodshed and murder of Representatives and Senators. The rioters brought a gallows and rhetoric to arrest, try and execute members of Congress. The acts were to breach the walls of the buildings and occupy the halls of government to specifically disrupt the regular business of Congress. In every detail it was an attack on the institutions of Democracy; our Democracy itself. That cannot be characterized as anything but an insurrection by disgruntled people. The nature of the day as being coup d'état stems from who was to benefit from the insurrection and his specific blessings. He was both an instigator and the primary beneficiary of the crimes. For his participation he is guilty.

He did not act alone. There were his handpicked accomplices in every nook and cranny of all three branches of our Constitutional government. Even if specific persons did not act on explicit orders, they acted in concert with the out-going Chief Executive. They are culpable too. They like the Disaster Capitalists were ready to move in on day's events and derive value from it.