21A003 Deplorable Revolt by Jim Davies, 1/19/2021 

A large minority of the US population is, according to the High and Haughty Hillary, "Deplorable." That attitude to this group, typically not educated at Harvard or Wellesley but working with trade skills or operating small businesses, is exactly in line with the remark attributed to Marie Antoinette; informed that the people had no bread, she advised "Let them eat cake."

On January 6th 2021, enraged that the election had been stolen from under their champion Donald Trump, a million of them stormed the US Capitol and struck terror into the hearts of the complacent occupants who were busy endorsing that theft. It was one of the most glorious events in American history; a "shot heard around the world" to compare with the rebels of 1775 at Concord Bridge. Note the determination of the climbers here, taking risks to enter; note the boot on the ledge at top-right. There were yet greater feats of climbing its vertical face.

In some ways it was more impressive than Concord Bridge; for the crowd, while deeply angry, set out to kill or injure nobody. They expressed disgust (by despoiling some of the offices) at the betrayal being carried on in the building that very day, but they showed no intent to harm people. There was one eccentric guy (already arrested!) who dressed in a bear skin topped with some Viking horns who carried a ceremonial spear, but who used it to threaten nobody and was seen engaging some CapCops in friendly banter; otherwise, the plan was evidently just to puncture the Congresscritters' pomposity.

Five people are reported to have died. Three were said at once to be victims of medical problems, untouched by the stormers. Another was Brian Sicknick, a CapCop who evidently attacked an invader, who responded by grabbing a fire extinguisher and bonking him on the head; sadly, too hard. That wasn't murder, but at the worst manslaughter; and since Sicknick started the scuffle, I'd say he (or she) has a good defense against even that. The fifth was Ashli Babbit, who threatened another of them, so far un-named, with nothing heavier than a US flag draped around her person, yet was deliberately shot dead at short range. The Press was not outraged, as it normally is when cops kill unarmed civilians like George Floyd; instead it painted Mrs Babbit as an "extremist."

So clearly, none of the rebels entered with intent to kill.

If the angry Americans had been invading the Capitol in order to sack it, clear out all the trash and close down government for ever, that would have been better yet; but they were not. They were just expressing fury that democracy had been destroyed (for if one election can be stolen with impunity, so can any and all future ones) and that is a rather minor objective. The election theft brought matters to a head, but their fury had been building over decades, as the Establishment in government had systematically ignored their concerns and deprived them of jobs by subsidizing foreign competitors with their own, confiscated money. The Establishment seems determined to go on ignoring this deep source of resentment.

Those normal occupants of the building reacted to all the righteous anger by cowering in their offices, evidently scared to face the people they spend every day ruling but pretending to serve; a few days later they had recovered their nerve and set about the urgent task of wreaking savage vengeance. What a pathetic bunch.

I've been wondering whether there is any way to reach this enthusiastic and brave million-person set, to reason with them that the deadliest enemy is not just the Democrats but the whole arrogant establishment of government - and by extension, the other 73 million whom that subset represents. I've not found one (have you? - please suggest it, if so!) other than the tried, true and relentless one of bringing one friend at a time to learn the basics of liberty in TOLFA. That can't be done quickly, but it will be done very thoroughly.