Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
by Kevin D. Williamson
The Trump presidency began in shame and dishonesty. It ends in shame, dishonesty, cowardice, and rebellion against the Constitution. For the past few weeks, the right-wing media, including the big talk-radio shows, has been coyly calling for a revolution. Of course they never thought they’d actually get one: That kind of talk is good for business — keep the rubes riled up and they won’t change the channel when the commercials come around on the half-hour. I never had much hope for the likes of Sean Hannity, tragically born too late to be a 1970s game-show host, but to watch Senator Ted Cruz descend into this kind of dangerous demagoguery as he jockeys to get out in front of the Trump parade as its new grand marshal has induced despair.
On May 4, 2016, I posted a little note to the Corner, headlined: “Pre-Planning My ‘I Told You So.’” It reads, in part: “Republicans, remember: You asked for this.” The path that the Republican Party and the conservative movement have taken in the past four years is not one that was forced on them — it is the product of choices that were made and of compromises that were entered into too willingly by self-interested men and women seeking money, celebrity, and power.
Of course it ends in violence — this is, after all, America.
Kevin Williamson is a top-shelf Conservative Republican. Really what you’re supposed to be to gain entrance to THE NATIONAL REVIEW. A truthful sort, realistic, he knew from the gitgo how worthless Trump was…and is. His presidency would match. So this cogent middle – to a longer piece – is worth checking out and signifying to the hypocrites, Ted Cruz, et al, still holding court as imitation leading conservatives in the GOP.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump tweeted, making formal what many had long assumed: that Trump would eschew the traditional step of personally demonstrating the peaceful hand-off of power.
It came as Trump faces an uncertain final stretch in office. His top aides delivered a blunt warning to him Thursday as he sat sullenly in the West Wing and watched as his Republican allies, Cabinet secretaries and former senior staffers criticized or denounced him one by one. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/politics/donald-trump-next-steps/index.html
A poll during the siege found that 45% of Republicans support the mob attack while more than two-thirds of the GOP believe the violence and looting pose no threat to our democracy. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/01/06/US-capitol-trump-poll
“Speaking on “behalf of the entire White House” for a grand total of two minutes, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany attempted to rewrite history on Thursday afternoon by denying all responsibility for the Trump-fueled deadly riot on the U.S. Capitol the day before.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/kayleigh-mcenany-runs-from-podium-after-denying-responsibility-for-capitol-riot
U.S. Records More Than 4,000 Dead In 1 Day From COVID-19, A Grim New Record (NPR January 8, 202112:48 PM ET) https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/08/954848161/u-s-records-more-than-4-000-dead-in-1-day-from-covid-19-a-grim-new-record
(Jan 7, 2021): Attorney for Trump campaign in Pennsylvania lawsuit files motion to withdraw: “the client has used the lawyer’s services to perpetrate a crime. and the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant” https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/show_temp.pl_-8.pdf
See also “Trump and his allies tried to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results for two months. Here are the highlights.” (Philadelphia Inquirer 1/7/21) https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-2020-election-lawsuits-timeline-20210107.html