This is an issue that we all should be thinking about…..it happened once and there is a good chance it will happen again unless we are prepared to do what is necessary to prevent any success.

For those that are trying to forget the fateful of 06 January…..

American democracy, in particular, is in an increasingly fragile position. The catalyst of Jan. 6, the lie that President Biden did not win the 2020 presidential election, has now become a political litmus test for Republican politicians, who largely refuse to say that Biden won. The lie extends beyond mere rhetoric, too, as a number of Republican-controlled states have consequently passed laws that not only make it harder to vote, but also introduce the possibility of partisan inference in our elections. But perhaps most troubling, given the violence on display last Jan. 6, is the gulf in perception between Democrats and Republicans as to the seriousness of the attack and the sobering reality that more Americans than ever think such violence toward the government can be justified.

This collection of essays and reflections examines where we are as a country one year later, including what has — and hasn’t — changed since the attack on the Capitol.

Reflections On The Insurrection

We all should be thinking about what it will take to stop the next coup attempt.

Most commentary informed by concern about the threat to US democracy focuses on countering voter suppression and strengthening voter rights across the country. For example, in a recent article the New York Times editorial board argued that the Democratic Party should end the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation, and admonished Republican leaders to respect the republic by combatting the extremists in their midst. These arguments are a response to the recent behavior of the Republican Party: following Trump’s insistence that the vote was stolen, the party has spent the last year advancing voter suppression laws and gerrymandering voting districts to ensure Trump’s return to power.

Despite the continuing threat of a conservative overthrow of constitutional democracy in the US, most liberal political commentators continue to cling to democratic majoritarianism. This belief is based on the idea that whomever wins the elections is legitimate and has a political mandate. Yet we do not think that democratic majoritarianism is an effective antidote under the current circumstances. Electing a candidate who has campaigned for violating and perhaps overthrowing the constitutional government of the US is unacceptable—even if they win an election.

Democratic party leaders have shown no inclination to override the filibuster over the last year, and Republicans show few signs of disavowing Trump’s anti-democratic arguments and his sway over the party more broadly. Moreover, even without Republican efforts to suppress voting, elections in the US are structurally weighted to privilege predominantly white, conservative, and rural portions of the country by institutions such as the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the Electoral College.

Rather than replacing these institutions with a more genuinely representative democracy, the country is being pushed ever-deeper into rule by a minority of the electorate. As a result, Trump may very well win the election of 2024 – even without a replay of the January 6 coup.

How to Fight the Next Coup

While the young are laser focused on this social media influencer or that they are slowly losing the country that is around them….but they are too goddamn busy with the console to see what is happening.

We need to explore every avenue of coup suppression….but one.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”