The Capitol Incident, And How Republican Hypocrisy Endangers Tradition
A Frightening Future Prospect of American Democracy
Until the election on November 3rd, I could see the reasons why Trump is so popular among conservatives. He is blunt in his words and boorish in behavior but he is not like other DC politicians, and that has been his charm. He conveyed a sense that he had been the president of the “forgotten men and women” who supposedly had been ignored by the “corrupt” politicians for so long. He had been very specific about his strict immigration policies, got out of the Paris deal, and had been overall pretty conservative in his tenure. He appointed three conservative judges on the highest court of the land, and hundreds on the federal courts. He repeatedly tried to throw out the Obamacare and although failed, I believe the effort counts at least. But what Trump had been doing after the election, I don’t think anyone who consider themselves conservatives could support them. Yet, we saw thousands of them vandalizing the sacred temple of democracy, the US Capitol.
After the election, I think nobody expected Trump to just concede. It wasn’t going to happen, all knew. Yes, Trump is going to fuss about it for a while, but he will come around. Or to put it more clearly, he had to come around. The election process of the United States had been the backbone of American democracy for more than two centuries. In every single election until now, there had been a peaceful power transaction. It is something that Americans had been proud of. When countries all around the world were dealing with kings and queens, American presidents had been yielding power peacefully. This hallow tradition of centuries cannot be broken by a single man, or so everyone thought.
When Trump refused to acknowledge the state-certified election results and basically requested Pence to declare the election in his favor, in this pandemonium, I think everybody actually failed to comprehend properly what Trump was doing. His team repeatedly tried to undermine the election by spreading misinformation, yet unable to show any real evidence. When he lost his claim in multiple federal courts and in the Supreme Court, Trump tried to disenfranchise 81 million votes by just illegally overturning the election result in the house. Denying the election, and giving the Vice President the power to declare the winner is so absurd and undemocratic, it does not take an expert to understand why it is illegal.
These acts are unprecedented for a President. But as it is Trump, all seemed pretty textbook. But it became a valid concern for democracy when his party stood behind his baseless claims, giving them a sense of credibility. Several Republican lawmakers both in the house and in the senate supported his cause vehemently and raised objection in the electoral vote counting proceeding. The party vocal for individual rights, wanted to steal peoples’ votes. Trump is surrounded by conservative politicians who claim to protect everything Trump is currently fighting against: The state rights, the balance of power, and most important of all, peaceful power transactions. Yet, the party for limited government wanted the Vice President to wield dictatorial power. It didn’t matter to them that, by doing this they not only denying democratic rights, but also risking riots all over the country. The division it would have created would be incurable. Republicans were ready to severe the pillars of democracy the country so proudly stand on.
Actually, the riots at the Capitol building depicts something that the American founders had been greatly frightened of, mob rule. Hamilton once said, “There is no road to despotism more sure or more to be dreaded than that which begins at anarchy.” Hamilton’s fear resonates exactly with the incident at the capital, as Ron Chernow revealed in his book Alexander Hamilton, this fear of the ten-dollar founding father, “Hamilton’s besetting fear was that American democracy would be spoiled by demagogues who would mouth populist shibboleths to conceal their despotism.” Demagogue inciting the people for personal gain… Does it sound familiar?
The party known for deferring to the original intent of the founders, decided to scrap it all just to taste power. If it isn’t hypocrisy then I don’t know what is.
The riot in the capitol hill indicates a frightening future. It shows how fragile democracy actually can be. As it may happen in the future elections, the claim of fraudulent election will be more commonly used. Denying the results of the election sets a dangerous precedent, in which the losing side never concede and accusations are made about election being fraud and rigged. Somehow the same thing is happening to the land of freedom itself, shattering the age-old tradition set by the founding fathers.
Trump’s actions after the election damaged peoples' faith in the democratic process, which had been intact for more than two hundred years. According to a poll by Reuters, now 39% American at least “somewhat agree” that the election had been unfair, and another NPR survey shows, almost 75% of the Republicans believe it was fraudulent, and it happened due to the Republican propaganda. This incident shows, it doesn’t matter, whether the country has a long democratic history or an ironclad constitution, at the end of the day, it takes only one man at the top to throw centuries of old traditions into jeopardy.
