The counter-revolution has been televised

Submitted by AWL on 2 November, 2021 - 10:34 Author: Barrie Hardy
US Capitol attack

I have never been a fan of Halloween horror movies like Nightmare On Elm Street and would rather watch anything else when 31 October comes around. However, this year I sat through Four Hours at the Capitol, a documentary account of the 6 January assault on the United States Congress which provided far scarier viewing than anything Freddie Kruger come up with.

The film graphically documents the attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government by storming the building holding its legislative branch. A misguided belief that such an event could never happen in the USA provides a partial explanation as to why the building was so poorly defended by the Capitol police, who weren’t expecting an invasion by thousands of Trump supporters.

We will never know how many of the assailants were armed, but some certainly had guns, knives and various gas and pepper sprays, plus of course a noose for VP Mike Pence. Pitchforks were apparently also present - a nice reminder of what those superstitious outraged villagers wielded in various Frankenstein movies.

Some participants were straight out of freak show central casting. There was a pot head who boasted he smoked weed in the Rotunda and naturally shared this remarkable feat on line, earning 6.7 million hits. He was convinced that 800,000 children had been kidnapped to be used as sex slaves.

The QAnon Shaman also put in an appearance, declaring Donald Trump “anointed by god.” We were also treated to a representative of Cowboys for Trump. He was all in favour of capital punishment and hard labour, but didn’t like his own treatment in prison, because he was denied the opportunity of taking a shower. Another participant chanted “Free the People!”, but precisely from what it was impossible to ascertain.

And then there was the blatantly fascist outfit styling themselves “The Proud Boys”. They had come organised for the occasion, as had many other far right racist and fascist groupuscules. Whether or not their efforts were coordinated or connected with Trump personally has yet to be determined, although Steve Bannon’s refusal to testify on the matter, putting him in danger of another jail term, suggests a strong likelihood.

The whole day started with a rally at which Trump fired up his supporters “to be wild” and “fight like hell,” telling them “walk down and I’ll be with you at the Capitol.” Trump didn’t know exactly how things would turn out, but it was certainly one of a few stratagems to be used to hold on to power. When buses turned up to take away besieged legislators, they refused to go. They feared that would mean handing over the building to the insurrectionists, enabling Trump to declare martial law and invalidate the election.

Numerous questions still arise concerning the events of 6 January and Trump’s personal role in it. The Republican Party is doing its best to stymie questions and minimise the importance of the event. Many continue to propagate the lie that the election was fraudulently stolen from Trump.

Darker days are indeed ahead. Trump has elevated Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot at the Capitol, to heroine status. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has encouraged talk of civil war. The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse case - he shot dead two demonstrators using an illegally held firearm - has said the defence can call them rioters and arsonists, but his victims can’t be called “victims”! Election officials in numerous states have been trolled and issued death threats if they dare again to claim a Trump election defeat can happen other than by fraud.

Disappointment at the Biden government’s failure to do anything much for the working class could see a return of a Republican administration. This time it is unlikely to be a return to “normal”, but instead lead to the entrenchment of a right wing racist authoritarian regime.

Four Hours at the Capitol is available to view on BBC iPlayer

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