We just saw an attempted coup d'etat. Blame Trump. Blame his Republican enablers.

[Zorro]

Opinion by Eugene Robinson

Let's be clear: What happened Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol was an attempted coup d'état, egged on by a lawless president desperately trying to cling to power and encouraged by his cynical Republican enablers in Congress.

It was perhaps inevitable that President Trump's chaotic and incompetent tenure in office would end with riots and tear gas. Not since British Major Gen. Robert Ross set fire to the president's residence and the Capitol building in 1814 have we seen such a scene at the hallowed citadel of our democracy, as an angry and disillusioned mob — whipped into a frenzy by Trump himself — forced its way into the Capitol to disrupt the official certification of Trump's electoral defeat.

Images from this shameful day will endure forever: Crowds storming the security barricades, overwhelming outnumbered and seemingly unprepared Capitol police, and breaking windows to pour into the seat of American power. Police officers inside the House of Representatives chamber, guns drawn and aimed at the main doors, where protesters threatened to force their way inside. A scarf-draped rioter sitting smugly in the chair where, an hour earlier, Vice President Pence had presided over the Senate.

The central act of our democracy — the peaceful and orderly transfer of power — was not allowed to take place. Blame the rioters themselves, who must take responsibility for their own actions. But blame Trump above all. And blame the Republican members of Congress who sought to boost their own political fortunes by validating Trump's self-serving paranoid fantasies.

I mean you, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. And you, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. And you, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana. And all the rest who thought that the way to succeed in GOP politics was to pretend to believe Trump's lies rather than tell the nation the truth.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-wounded-this-country-it-will-take-a-long-long-time-for-us-to-heal/2021/01/06/c9f74102-5068-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

[C_U_L8R]

1. They said they're coming back with guns.

Why wouldn't they be arrested as soon as humanly possible?

[Bobstandard]

3. You haven't seen a lot of arrests yet, have you?

There is something menacing about the way the police have responded, first not at all, and then with tender hands as they move out the rioters.

I'm guessing reporters get attacked by police soon for not abiding by police orders.

[Bobstandard]

2. The coup isn't over yet

Trump continues to egg on his supporters. Police have taken over the Capitol and there is no sign of senior governmental officials like Nancy or Kamlala. Are they being guarded in secure locations, or being detained?

State capitols are being moved on by trumpists in other states. The coup isn't just in DC.

We won't know for a while where we stand, but make no mistake, the coup isn't over.