Today is the fourth anniversary of the worst act of insurrection in our nation’s history. Urged on by President Donald Trump, who insisted that he actually won the election of 2020, a large mob stormed the United States Capitol in hopes of stopping the certification of the election of Joe Biden.
To be clear, Trump is a world-class liar and a very sore loser. He simply refused to admit that he lost the election, fair and square. Biden won the electoral vote and the popular vote. Trump’s lawyer challenged the voting results in multiple states. They filed more than 60 lawsuits, appealed twice to the U.S. Supreme Court, and lost every time. They lost in courts where the judge was appointed by Trump, as well as by other Presidents.
Still, he refused to concede his loss. He spent the past four years claiming that he had been cheated, even though he never produced a scintilla of evidence to support his lies. Several of his lawyers were disciplined or disbarred. His personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was disbarred and also fined $148 million for defaming two election workers in Georgia. Although he had declared that he is bankrupt, Giuliani continues to turn over his assets to the women he defamed. Trump cannot pardon civil judgments, so Giuliani is likely to lose not only his law license but all of his assets.
Yet Trump survived, having persuaded his faithful base that he had been cheated in 2020, despite his lack of evidence and multiple indictments and convictions.
History will say this about Trump:
He was the first President who refused to participate in the peaceful transfer of power to the winner of the election.
He was the first President to inspire an insurrection against the government.
He will be the first convicted felon ever to serve as President.
His insurrection and his name will live forever in infamy.
Quite an ignominious legacy.
To read an excellent article by Robert Reich on the same topic, open this link.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
A side note: Vice President Harris must preside over the certification of her opponent, to culminate in her having to announce his victory. Too cruel for words.
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With Trump, there are so many days of infamy that it’s hard to keep count. He’s a serial liar who has no respect for the truth, the Constitution, decency or the rules and laws that maintain our democracy.
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Of greater import, once Trump leaves the scene, is what this says about us as a country. If we come to our senses and overcome MAGA it will be hard to regain meaningful relationships with other democracies or countries with reasonable economic and political policies. The wounds will be deep. We are already seeing countries throughout the world struggle with the autocratic allies who are so intent of bringing down democracy. The news about Trudeau makes this quite clear. Trump’s ability to promote chaos with no accountability means that we are probably headed towards something worse than January 6. Once he pardons those who participated in the assault the potential for profound political violence will grow. This won’t be limited to right winged attacks on blue cities, minorities, or migrants. There will be some leaving prison who will be angry with Trump and MAGA. The two assassination attempts and the recent bombing in Las Vegas are evidence that the right has created an environment that threatens many in the Trump camp as well. I hope I am wrong, but much of the country has lost its way.
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There is no longer any doubt about the country. It has lost its way.
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pabonner: I hate to think what will occur when the U.S. Military gets involved in any way. Would they revolt or go along?
Also, it must look to others in other countries that Trump is about to follow Putin’s plan of taking over border countries (at least). CBK
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International Law says it is illegal to invade a sovereign nation. Will the military refuse to follow Trump’s illegal orders? This so called “peace president” just refused to say he wouldn’t fight NATO countries. He and Marjorie Taylor Green want to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He thinks he can do whatever he wants and not one seems willing to stand up to the guy.
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pabonner: Trump seems to be modeling his thinking (at least) after Putin–invade, invade, invade. And he seems to think he’s president already. CBK
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Question: why is Trump stirring up fights with our allies? He is a bad neighbor.
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I think he and Putin are tied at the hip both in perspective of the world order and in financial/global interests. Since Russia is into annexing by force, why not the US.
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Diane and Pabonner, (even if this could happen) if Trump thinks we need Greenland for national security, and if he is so buddy-buddy with Putin, then who and what are “we” defending against? CBK
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Trump and Putin aren’t defending, but collecting…
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pabonner: That’s the point of my question–why a need for “national defense” if Putin is “our friend”? CBK
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I think both countries could soon be terribly isolated. While some conventional thinkers here in the US see Ukraine eventually losing, I am not so convinced. When the USSR invaded Afghanistan, they lost tens of thousands in soldiers and left with their tail between their legs after ten years. So far it is estimated that Russia has lost 600,000 troops in just over two years. Russia’s anti-immigrant policies are also creating tensions with Persian countries that were formerly in the USSR orbit. There is also evidence that China is not so enamored with Putin’s shenanigans. Meanwhile, here in the US Trumps petulance over Greenland, Panama, and Canada will distance further from Europe and friendlies in Asia. Maybe Putin and Trump want to dominate the arctic circle. Who knows?
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Pabonner: I’m watching Carter’s funeral. Seeing Trump is like a finding a turd in the soup. For him, it’s a foreign land where he doesn’t understand the language that flows around Carter remembrances. CBK
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The day will live in infamy if the people who support representative government hold to power and maintain relevance in a country that gave a tiny plurality to a convicted felon. Otherwise, we could devolve into a place where the oligarchies vie for power and the difference between leaders is decided by Putinesque assassination.
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With Trump in control, Jan 6 will be memorialized as “a day of love.”
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Diane, maybe while he’s in charge of things, but history will forever label it as a day of infamy, and him as a traitor for encouraging the insurrection & violence, and then watching it while not doing anything to stop it for hours. Also, by communicating to his followers that Pence was not doing what Trump wanted & therefore was not being patriotic, it incited those attackers to chant, “Hang Mike Pence”. Why hasn’t there been more pressure on those attackers to drill down & demand that they answer what they would have done if they had captured Pence, Pelosi, AOC, Adam Schiff, and any other Dems whom they deemed as traitors? Who put up the hangman’s noose? How was that never uncovered? Who placed bombs at both party headquarters? Why does the press not stress how many cops were injured, rather than only those who died during & after the episode? All of these things, plus many more will be the reasons that Jan 6 will go down in infamy. It may take years after Trump is out of the picture & MAGA is a distant memory, but it will happen someday. Let’s just hope that the Republic survives these next 4 years and we don’t have a 1984 Orwellian outcome where history is re-written and the masses are controlled.
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LovedtoTeach,
Well said. We survived the McCarthy era. This will be worse because McCarthy was not president. But this too shall pass. Maybe working people who voted for him
Will realize that they were the victims of a hoax. Just like the white Southern politicians who fooled poor whites by scapegoating Blacks, Trump created imaginary enemies. And got away with his lies.
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Absolutely, totally correct. “Day of infamy” is an accurate description.
And, here’s the really weird thing. I was recently talking to someone who has been a Trump supporter. And, this person went off on a rant about D.E.I., which I took to mean a dig against efforts to foster diversity. And, they KNOW how I feel about Trump… about racism….about how I vote.
And, I was, like, wait! You won. Your side won the election. You control the federal government, come January 20.
Why are you STILL so angry?
Of course, the reality is there were all sorts of Trump voters on November 5.
But some of them still seem really mad. And a subset of those folks are truly miserable, hate-filled people. And, I have to wonder….what will it take for them to ever be happy? For me and other Kamala voters to disappear from the face of the planet?
Not gonna happen.
But this situation is truly scary.
One thing I’m sure of….I am not going to be miserable and hate-filled and angry. Nope.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was always a hero of mine when I was a kid. What a coincidence that inauguration day is also Dr. King day.
I’m going to immerse myself again in Dr. King’s words on that day. It’s one of best responses I can think of.
Thank God I have him and lots of other wonderful people to focus on, including you “regulars” here on Diane’s blog.
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Thank you, John.
We will not let his malevolent presence define our lives.
We will find multiple ways to enjoy the things that make us smile or feel better or gratified. He and his ilk are not among them.
We will not ignore his evil-doing. We will resist in every way we can to preserve this fragile experiment.
Yes, we will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and spend time remembering his inspiration.
The day will come when Trump is gone and his memory will be a curse.
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The fact that FELON47 may be moving back in the White House this month after being convicted of rape and fraud and becoming a documented traitor with hard evidence and none circumstantial, on January 6, 2021, there has to be a deep plot driven by too many powerful and wealthy individuals behind the scenes over a period of years or decades, signaling an end to the United States as a Constitutional democracy, or they would have never gotten this far.
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Lloyd,
Occam’s Razor: I will go to my grave believing that Putin or Musk or both rigged the vote.
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Diane: I’m not finished with that thought either. The election was too-too close in too-too many of the too-too borderline states.
The death and burial of the good man Carter at this time in our lives becomes more and more metaphorical. CBK
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Cap cop i knew supports trump. Great.
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