Three terms are being bandied around the internet with respect to yesterday’s storming of the US Capital by Trump supporters: Insurrection, Sedition, and a failed coup — coup d’état. All, in their own right, are correct. Insurrection, the act of rebellion or revolt, is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 2383 and holds up to ten years in prison. Sedition is a little bit more complicated as it requires two or more people to conspire to prevent, hinder, or delay by force the execution of any law of the United States, at its appropriate legal section, and is located at 18 U.S.C. § 2384. And finally, a coup — or a failed one here — generally pertains to the overthrow of an existing government by a small or fringe group. It is more of a description than a law. All of these characteristics we witnessed — as did the world — yesterday in Washington DC.
Sedition differs from treason (defined in Article III of the U.S. Constitution) in a fundamental way. While seditious conspiracy is generally defined as conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state, treason is the more-serious offense of actively levying war against the United States or giving aid to its enemies. Another way of looking at it is that seditious conspiracy often occurs before an act of treason.
With this in mind and building upon the irony of ironies that the Trump Administration just signed legislation requiring a mandatory 10 year prison sentence for anyone destroying government property, by and through both 18 U.S.C. § 1361, buttressed by Trump’s Executive Order issued on 26 June 2020 on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence, certainly sets the stage for the Trials of the Century. In totality, The Daily Beast summed up the potential criminal charges as such,
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- 18 U.S.C. § 2385. Seditious Conspiracy. If “two or more people… conspire… by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof,” penalties are fines and twenty years imprisonment.
- 18 U.S.C. § 1361. Destruction of Government Property. If the damage exceeds $100, penalties are fines up to $250,000 and ten years imprisonment.
- 18 U.S.C. § 111. Assaulting Federal Officers. Fines vary, 20 years imprisonment.
- 18 U.S.C. § 351. Assault on Members of Congress. One year imprisonment.
- 41 CFR 102-74.380. Creating a Hazard on Federal Property. Penalties vary.
- 36 CFR 2.34 (and elsewhere). Disorderly Conduct. 90 days imprisonment, $300 fine.
That addresses the actual participants whom physically participated. What is going to prove to be far more interesting, though, is whether or not the newly seated and Democratically controlled Congress and White House, under the Biden Administration, have the stomach to take to task those within their own ranks whom spurned on this abomination. Donald Trump aside — his reign of terror has been self evident as its own record for 4 years — I am curious about statements such as those from Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s henchman, whom had this to say as he fired up the angry mob and pointed them towards the Capital,
“Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent. And if we’re wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we’re right, and lot of them will go to jail. So — let’s have trial by combat” — Giuliani
And as Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz hopped up the masses, prepping them for the Gladiator event of the Century overseen by the Emperor Whom Wore No Clothes Trump, the reality is their play for rebellion has now been seen for what it is. These Trumpian hacks are now no more glamorous than the same pedestrian scum they co-habitate with in their White Nationalist gutters.
Early on the play was to lay the blame off on Antifa. It was the age old playbook of octogenarian white men whom, to this day, stroke their Bibles like pedophiles groom children.
The Washington Post completely debunked the arguments submitted by Rep. Matt Gaetz and other democracy hating Republicans that Antifa was responsible. All the usual media pundits had gathered, like the Klan burning crosses, to pontificate on how no Trump supporters were involved in the storming of the Capital. In fact Gaetz, when asked about the Washington Times article he quoted from — and has since issued a retraction — stated he did not even know if the article was true. In fact, a simple perusal of all available social media and photos well document the fact that Trump flags, Confederate flags, and neo Nazi regalia were all that was seen — not a single Anarchist flag to break the monotony.
For the first time since 28 March 2020, the wanna be tin pot dictator Trump has decided to scurry away to Camp David. In fact this is only the third time he has visited. And much like how Rome burned down as Nero fiddled away, Trump himself has attempted to burn down the Hallowed Halls of Democracy; however, he didn’t have the stomach to watch it, in person. Since his indefinite ban on Facebook, Instagram, and his partial ban from Twitter, Trump has been watching his Cabinet burn down around him. Albeit token resignations, many such as Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao have resigned. Even Mike Mulvaney, Trump’s Reichmarshal, whom destroyed any semblance of democracy at half a dozen federal agencies, had no stomach for the Trumpian rebellion. Fact of the matter is that these are all simply rats jumping ship. And there is no soft peddling of this. Much like his meteoric rise, Trump’s burning out is #Epic.
There can be no aid and comfort to the enemy; there can be no equanimity between those whom support a democracy and those whom foment violent revolution.
The scene of what appeared to be vestal virgins escorting the mahogany boxes — click the link to see the photo as it is surreal — containing the State’s Electoral Votes, as Trump’s violent mob descended, is a photo that should make the cover of Time Magazine. And as those mahogany boxes are much like the containers of the holy sacrament of our democracy, one begins to truly understand how sacred our experiment in government is. We are just a blip on the radar when compared to a global history and yet we have a commanding control over the world. Like Druids orderly evacuating as the Romans were at the Gates, the Electoral Votes were saved. And Congress knew that. That is why they knew that they must conclude their sacred duties the same day much like a sacrifice, once begun, must come to a conclusion.
While Trump’s hope to pit the masses against themselves so that they would never hope to come together to overthrow his yoke of tyranny, the opposite transpired.
It was a day that will forever live in infamy. Moreover, though, investigations are sorely needed to take a long, hard look at how the most powerful Nation on Earth was incapable of protecting its legislators. And that investigation needs to be transparent — none of the classified or non public bantering. No last minute report redacted. We need a brutal excoriation and we all need to suffer it. We must embark upon — and complete in the first 100 days of the Biden Administration — this journey for the healing to begin. Anything less is a travesty and will ultimately doom our young Nation. We must not become preoccupied with penalties before we know the crimes. We must, penultimately, experience this as Americans together and not divided by ethnic, gender, or religious affiliations.
Were there orders to stand down the Capital Police? Were there orders to not conduct a comprehensive threat assessment? And most importantly, which heads need to be publicly displayed upon the pike of public sentiment to ensure that this never happens again?
Unto the next generation, there will be no removing the stain of which the Republicans have left by and through the vocal few and the deafening silence of the many. To say that the Democrats could not have bought this kind of PR is an understatement. The tragedy is that many Republicans may very well be good people. The analogy, though, is not dissimilar to how the German people embraced Nazism by remaining silent as they witnessed the atrocities committed by the few. Rage Against The Machine puts it most eloquently in their song entitled, The Cult Of Personality. And whether it is right or wrong; whether or not America’s sordid history of slavery, brutality, and violence are horrific, it is immaterial. I say this because this is a rallying cry which will be heard for decades. And make no mistake that the US Government — which has nothing to do with Political Party — will make the most of it.
While all are praising the social media giant’s banning of Trump from their platforms, it most assuredly is a dangerous and slippery slope.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes is a Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires. In essence, it means And Whom Will Watch The Watchers. It is a good question. And if you want any indication how bad it is going to get, look no further than witnessing whether or not only the rioters are prosecuted. If we do not purge those within the Halls of Power whom either overtly or through deliberate indifference allowed these actions to build up and ultimately transpire, then, I submit, we are all doomed and America, that Great Beacon of Light, has sadly begun to dim on the distant horizon.
