How Close We Came

I was struck by a comment from a member of the Capitol Hill Mob as they skulked away from the temple of democracy they had just dominated. "You didn't take it back. We gave it back."

He was right. The mob cleared out when Trump told them to, not before. One can only surmise that if Trump told them to stay, they would have done that too.

Let's face it.

Trump's coup failed because Trump lacked the heart to see it through. Otherwise, he'd be our dictator now, and we'd all be sitting around scratching our heads and praying our 401(k)s don't tank.

Think about it.

What if Trump pulled himself away from his TV and took a motorcade to the Capitol?

What if he arrived––lights flashing, sirens blaring––exited his presidential limousine like Caesar and quieted his minions with a wave of his hand?

What if he marched up the Capitol steps, through the Rotunda, and onto the floor of the House, where he declared himself the Imperial President, the so-called "Unitary Executive" Bill Barr always claimed he was?

Who would have stopped him?

The Secret Service? Of course not. They're hired to take a bullet for the president, not give one for the country.

The Capitol Police? D.C. Metro? They'd already given up or were complicit.

The National Guard? Trump held the reigns.

The Supreme Court? With whose Army?

Oh, and speaking of the Army, on at least two occasions before January 6, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley stated unequivocally that the military has "no role" in deciding elections. 

Got that? No role. Nada. 

So, what about Congress? Nancy Pelosi? Mitch McConnell? Mike Pence?

They were all cowering in a not-so-secure location, praying the mob didn't find them and string them up. The powers-that-be were powerless that day and would have begged Donald Trump to save their skins, even if it meant acquiescing to the coup.

And what about Joe Biden? Hah! He couldn't even get through a locked front door at the White House on Inauguration Day.

So, who does that leave? The Media? Our fellow citizens? Us?

I'm laughing as I write this. Why? Because half the country voted for Trump, and the majority of them still think the election was stolen. And the rest of us were glued to our TVs, waiting to see what happened next. We had no agency and no power. The revolution was being televised, after all. And it was damn good TV.

The sad fact is, no one could have stopped Donald Trump on January 6––except Donald Trump. And the only reason we still have a democracy, for the time being, anyway, is because Donald Trump was too much of a coward to ride the beast he summoned to Washington to another term, or two, or three.

Thankfully, Trump screwed the pooch on January 6. But the pooch is still hungry and looking for a new master.

And that's how close we came––to the dictatorship of Donald Trump.