TODAY at the Capitol was the totally foreseeable result of a political movement with apocalyptic rhetoric + an utter unwillingness to have a realistic plan for success. “Trust the Plan” or arcane, last moment slight-of-hand was never going to succeed.
For 3 months, good people were conned into believing the most absurd things imaginable—and then radicalized into believing that anyone who questioned these absurdities or doubted the effectiveness of a January 6 revolution were enemies.
I don’t think what happened today at the Capitol was the worst thing ever, nor do I think it was even 1/10 as bad as your average BLM or Antifa riot.
But it was pathetic. It was pathetic because there was no concept of a path forward. It was an impotent spasm.
As I’ve said many times, Trump could’ve salvaged what happened on Nov 3. He could’ve delivered the speech he gave today right after the election—on the steps of the PA, GA, AZ capitols. He could’ve built a Comms infrastructure that identified then put out credible evidence fraud.
He did not do that. He allowed the momentum to evaporate—and his supporters’ attention to turn to people who were either maniacs or indulgent of nonsense theories that wind people up, but are insane and also unprovable.
He and others calculated that, if they spin enough people up with craziness, maybe they can sustain or recapture the energy of the last days of the campaign (which was real and amazing).
What they ended up doing was pushing themselves into a corner—the Republic was doomed if they didn’t figure out a way out of a jam that literally had no exit that would be satisfactory for their supporters.
THIS is the big crime, and an unforgivable one: You cannot put your people into a corner they cannot get out of. They’re good people, and you’re fucking with them. People deserve the truth—not grifters begging for dollars or politicians too proud to admit there’s no path.