The Iceberg is Coming into View

There is so much information streaming in from so many directions. I live for news and I'm drowning so can't imagine how overwhelmed others who aren't current event junkies feel. I have found a few pieces that summarize/analyze various aspects of the attempted coup of Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

It was so much worse than we initially thought. The Washington Post, CNN, Slate, and Politico all have frightening timelines of what happened inside the Capitol as the mob broke through.

This compilation of a Twitter thread from Seth Abramson is particularly interesting. He analyzes the rhetoric and timing of Trump's speech to the crowd that became the mob. He brings up some salient points that may be of interest as the investigations move beyond the low hanging fruit of social media numbskulls. The role of Rudi Guiliani and the call for the participation of the military and law enforcement could possibly indicate coordination of the Trump machine and appointees in the military. Remember, several key people in the DoD were purged a few weeks ago and replaced with loyalists. This picture, which seems to confirm the presence of a Putin ground agent at the Capitol that day, also suggests outside coordination, perhaps with Russia? 

We all have family and friends that have gone down the right-wing misinformation rabbit hole.Jillian Kramer of national Geographic (of all places) examines why. There are simple answers, as well as more complex psychological mechanisms at play. “For some people, conspiracy beliefs are the best way to deal with the psychological threat posed by their failure, says Marta Marchlewska, a social and political psychologist who studies conspiracy theories at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Marchlewska’s research also suggests that collective narcissism - a group’s inflated belief in its own significance. - leads them to look for imaginary enemies and adopt conspiracy explanations that blame those figments of imagination. 

The first hand accounts of the activities of the mob outside the Capitol as well as those inside are painting a chilling picture of how close the coup came to at least temporarily succeeding. The harrowing video of the young Capitol police officer being crushed between two doors as the mob attacked the security team guarding an exterior door is indicative of the coordinated, military-style tactics part of the mob used. Danny Gold links to video of the mob attacking AP reporters and threatening to lynch them as they covered the attack. (May require and Instagram account to view. I haven't tested it to see.) 

This analysis of the actions of a lone Capitol police officer suggests that his heroic actions perhaps averted the capture of Pence and other leadership by the mob. When confronted by a portion of the mob, he initiates contact and deliberately leads the mob away from the main chamber, giving cover for those inside to barricade and evacuate. 

Of course, all major social media platforms have permanently banned soon to be ex-POTUS Trump, and Amazon even closed down Parler, the upstart extremist haven. Trump is cornered, humiliated, and angry. He is lashing out and increasingly desperate. As Arnold Schwarzenegger so powerfully lays out in his video statement, we are on the precipice - we have a choice. We must take this coup attempt seriously and hold Trump, his allies, his accomplices, and the rioters accountable.