As the occupation of the U.S. Capitol by Trump dupes unfolded two days ago, I noted, as many did, that planning for the security of the building clearly had been inadequate to the need. This must have been an error of leadership and planning; it's entirely appropriate that the head of the U.S. Capitol Police Force has now resigned. But that is not to denigrate the members of the force, who (mostly) performed their duties quite well under the circumstances.
The much-played video of a single police officer left to block the stairs as the mob began to make its way up was instructive. I sympathize with the officers who were injured as a result of our President's reckless disregard for truth, especially of course with the officer who died on January 7 as a result of his injuries the day before. Much less sympathy, incidentally, can be offered concerning four others who died during the melee (one shot, the others from medical causes) - all four of those were part of the mob, and presumably they came knowing there was a risk.
One interesting sidebar on this whole mess is to contemplate things the role that almost certainly would NOT have occurred if the Capitol Building had not been breached, vandalized, and terrorized. The most obvious is that almost all those Trump allies in the Senate and House would not have been induced to abandon their plans drag out certification of the electoral votes. Pete Buttigieg, during his run for president, memorably observed that many Republicans seemed unable to locate their consciences. Boy, they found them in a hurry, didn't they, when they were fearing for their lives?
Other topics that would never have come up without the physical occupation of the Capitol were the suggestions that Pence and the Cabinet should use the 25th Amendment to oust Trump from office, even a few days before his term end; or that he should be impeached again. And in turn, without those threats, Trump would never have conceded, even as muddily as he did, that Biden and Harris had won the election. Finally, Trump's very clear role in fomenting the developments of January 6 may actually cause the scales to fall from the eyes of at least some voters across the country. Even the Proud Boys may learn a lesson from having foolishly let themselves be incited and exploited by Trump to raid the Capitol, believing his promise that he would accompany them [which he did not!] and, only two days after hearing him say he loved them, to hear themselves being described in very different terms.
Will any of these consequences of the night of January 6 have any lasting effect? Time will tell. And chaos theory suggests we'll never really know for sure.
Incidentally, the title of this post refers to Gavrilo Princip, the man who shot the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and set off World War I. He only succeeded in doing so because, having missed his chance once due to a route alteration, he happened to be standing on a different corner slightly later when the Archduke's coach driver took a wrong turn and passed right in front of good ol' Gavrilo!
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