Rebuilding Rob

After having watched the 9/11 attacks unfold in almost-real time; after seeing Donald Trump get elected President; after experiencing the Covid lockdowns; even after the civil unrest stemming from the murder of George Floyd, I though I had seen it all.

Then I watched the events of January 6, 2021 unfold on live TV.

It was to be the day that Congress certified the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Michigan schools were back on a “Covid pause” meaning teachers were holding classes virtually again. I taught classes that day from the Batcave and was preparing for our weekly staff meeting – which was also being held virtually.

It was no secret what was being planned. It was all over the news. For weeks, Donald Trump had encouraged his supporters to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington DC on January 6th.

Then, outside the White House, Trump gave this speech to those attending the rally:

“We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol” he said. Similarly, he has repeatedly offered to pay anyone’s legal bills for them should they resort to violence in order to silence his dissenters. And just like every other empty promise Trump has made, he hopped into his limousine and left; like a man who would shout fire in a crowded theater, and walk out, leaving chaos in his awake.

The scene at the Capital was surreal. It looked like something out of some third-world banana republic…

I couldn’t walk away from my TV. As much as I despise Trump, I have an almost trainwreck-like mentality when it comes to him. I feel compelled to see what he’s going to do next. During the 2016 election, I watched all 5 nights of the Republic National Convention, even though I never have and never will vote Republican. I have never done that before with any other politician.

The whole time this unfolded, I kept asking myself “Where the hell is the President?”. Not by name mind; but by title. Where was the leader of our country when nation’s capital was literally being broken into? It turns out he was watching the whole thing on TV. Like a couch-potato Nero, he was holed up in the White House while a riot unfolded in his backyard.

I have been fascinated by cults and cult of personality figureheads for years. In most of those situations, there’s at least one quality in these cult leaders that i can look to almost understand how they appeal to certain people. Some of them are intelligent. Others are powerful public speakers. Many are people pleasers. Virtually all of the are passionate about their beliefs. I see NONE of these attributes in Trump; so I have trouble understanding how people develop such a strong devotion to him.

But I think I get it. For much of white America, Donald Trump is the anti-Obama. Like so many other things in American society, our politics exist, almost on a pendulum of sorts. When people feel that we are falling too far to the left, or to the right, someone comes along, and bring the pension swing back in the opposite direction.

For those who rallied behind Trump , he represented very much the antithesis of everything that Barack Obama stands for. Unfortunately, for our country, Trump is also very much, the opposite of intelligent, articulate, and empathetic.

What scares me about him is that he adopts mottos like “America first”. He calls the media “the enemy of the people” and claims that immigrants our tainting “the blood of America”.This is the exact same verbiage used by Hitler during the rise of Nazi Germany.If you don’t believe me, go read some of Hitler’s speeches, Mein Kampf or watch film of him speaking. It’s there.

I remember in days and weeks following the suggest that the insurrectionist were actually Biden supporters who merely wore Trump paraphernalia. That is the most preposterous attempt at backpedaling I’ve ever heard in my life.

I heard in the news this morning that a Florida venue canceled a “January 6 commemorative event“ that was going to be headlined Marjorie Taylor Green. That Republicans are trying to commemorate January 6 tells us all we need to know about who was really responsible for it.

Just a few minutes ago, the news broke that the Supreme Court is going to hear Donald Trump‘s appeal to being removed from the state of Colorado’s presidential primary ballot.

In case I haven’t made it clear, I believe that Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy in the United States. In my opinion, not only mostly not be allowed to be elected president again; but he must answer for the crimes that he has been charged with. I don’t need a jury to decide if he incited an insurrection on January 6. I saw it.

This is going to be a very interesting year, in more ways than one.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier related posts:

• Teacher Armor and the Saturday Clearing
• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
• Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
• The Muscle of Empathy

The article “Reflections on an (Attempted) Insurrection” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.