by B. R. GOWANI
Mark Twain once said:
“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
On January 6, 2020, the place where US Congress meets- the US Capitol- was stormed and vandalized by President Trump supporters while President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory was being confirmed.
The only other time the Congress building was attacked was during the 1812 War when the British set the Capitol, the Presidential Mansion (as the White House was known then), and other government buildings on fire.
Trump falsely claimed he won the 2020 election, and incited his supporters to storm the Capitol building.
His supporters were, one could say, a decent bunch of people compared to the US military. They stormed the building; did some damage; took some pictures; stole certain things, including a computer with sensitive information; and so on.
However, they didn’t took any hostages, didn’t set off any bombs, didn’t set fire to the building that houses the criminal class. Five people lost their lives, of them was a Capitol Police officer and other four were attackers and protestors. The attackers also injured several police officers.
Now, compare this bunch with the US military who, when it invades any country, terrorizes the people, blows up bridges, bombs electric and water supply stations so the people under attack couldn’t get water and light, humiliates the people, loots precious artifacts, etc.
This was a mild sample for the US lawmakers as to how victims of the US wars feel when attacked. The US Congress passes resolutions allowing US presidents to indulge in wars to display US power, impose its hegemony, and make room for US corporations to exploit the labor and resources of other countries – that is almost free.
So why are the dominant news media, Democrats, many Republicans, and others so angry and mad at President Trump and his supporters?
It’s always fine and profitable to attack and devastate Guatemala, Vietnam, Iraq, Serbia, Nicaragua, Libya, Somalia, and dozens of other countries but is a definite no-no to attack home turf especially, the center of power which houses people who work for and shield corporate criminals that provide them with bread and butter, factually steak and big corporate dollars.
It would have been another level of news if these “patriots” had taken House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell hostage and forced them to declare on live video that they support universal health care and free education for all, heavy taxes on businesses making insane amount money …
Trump’s support for these “patriots” provided great excuse for the like of Vice President Mike Pence, McConnell, US Attorney General William Barr, Senator Lyndsey Graham, and many others, all of them despicable characters, to leave Trump’s drowning ship – all due to their own reasons. Pence and Graham may be thinking of running for president in 2024.
Many politicians, news media, and corporate biggies have made great noise regarding democracy crisis within the last 36 plus hours. Pelosi warned:
“Those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of democracy, American democracy, justice will be done.”
The Capitol is not a temple of democracy but is more like a barter house. The exceptions are progressives who don’t take corporate money and try to work for common people but they are not very many hence not too strong. The others work for big corporations. make sure the common people stay in a permanent state of wretchedness and unable to raise their voice to demand decent pay, good working condition, and strong unions which could represent their grievances. Pelosi ended her speech with a prayer:
“So on this holy day of epiphany, let us pray. I’m a big believer in prayer. Let us pray that there will be peace on earth and that it will begin with us. Let us pray that God will continue to bless America with that. Let us proceed with our responsibilities to the constitution, to which we have just, within 72 hours, taken the oath to uphold.”
Peace on earth? Is she serious? Peace on earth doesn’t require a prayer to a non-existent God, what it requires is simply a halt to US arms being sold to other countries. US is responsible for one third arms sold around the world.
The former living presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, all with blood on their hands, criticized Trump for inciting his followers and endangering democracy. Warring with other countries is no problem, but, there should be no trouble in the homeland!
The tech companies jumped on this bandwagon. Mark Zuckerberg, who once aspired to be US president, suddenly woke up from a long deep sleep and brainstormed ways to prevent violence and save the democracy. Now as Rashad Robinson of Color of Change put it, “They [the tech companies], no longer have to fear Donald Trump,” so Zuckerberg banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram:
The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.
Zuckerberg has nothing to do with democracy or human rights or life. Ask the Rohingya Muslims, the victims of Myanmar’s Buddhist fanatics and its military. Yanghee Lee, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, once said:
“Everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar.” “I’m afraid that Facebook has now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended.
Zuckerberg, like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, is pleasantly comfortable with India’s semifascist and extremist Hindu Premier Narendra Modi. Modi’s grabbing of premiership in 2014 made Ankhi Das, the Public Policy Director of Facebook India, very happy:
“It’s taken thirty years of grassroots work to rid India of state socialism finally.”
She also lets Hindu hate to go on unhindered because
“Punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi’s party would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.”
The Storming of the Bastille in Paris, France in 1789, resulted in reduced power of the monarchy and nobility. In the US, Trump’s power has declined substantially due to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol. Unsurprisingly, the power of Democrats has increased.
William Blum’s website has the following question and answer:
Q: Why will there never be a coup d’état in Washington?
A: Because there’s no American embassy there.
Well, the closest the US came to a coup was this lite-riot by Trump supporters in the Capitol. Also, in this instance, police can’t be accused of racist brutality as they did not treat the rioters harshly, some even opened doors and took selfies with them!
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com