What 'insurrection' or 'coup'?

I watched the full opening remarks of Jan. 6. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson. “Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup,” he said. And, “Jan. 6 and the lies that led to insurrection have put two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy at risk.” This actually is supposed to be a republic, but never mind.

Here’s the key: The U.S. government isn’t the Capitol or another building, but the people in the buildings. VP Pence and the members of Congress easily could have been evacuated to the Pentagon, a military base, or a local high-school gym to conduct their procedures of ratifying the election.

Did the events of Jan. 6 resemble the Russian Revolution, Castro’s Cuban Revolution, Pol Pot’s takeover of Cambodia? Obviously not. Revolutions are conducted by young men heavily armed and who start killing people. On Jan. 6, the only killing was of unarmed Ashli Babbitt by a Capitol Police officer.

The protesters also weren’t young. Even in the pictures shown by the Jan. 6 Committee, we see the protesters largely were overweight Boomers. Some were a little younger.

Then there’s the military. Thompson never was in the military. Like almost all Members of Congress. He doesn’t know much of the indoctrination is about how civilians control the military. In the U.S. Army it’s even called Training and Doctrine Command — TRADOC. That means the idea the 1/6 protesters somehow were going to gain control of the military and take over the government is ridiculous.

Trump, whom Thompson and the others on the Committee excoriated for leading the “coup,” never even attempted to order the military to take over Congress and the rest of the government.

Which brings us to: the real government. Which is the federal bureaucracy and its state and local subsidiaries. Did the 1/6 people try to take over HHS, DoT, DeEd, Commerce and the numerous other alphabet-soup agencies? Obviously not.

Even for Congress, most of each office’s time is spent dealing with constituent services: lost Social Security checks, Medicare cutoffs, etc. Or making sure the “earmarks” for road repairs or unneeded weapons go to local businesses, who then fund campaigns. American government isn’t a “democracy,” but a “bureaucracy.” I’m sure Thompson knows that part of government, as his office deals with constituent complaints like any other office in the Capitol.

This Show Trial is just a hissy fit to try to get Trump banned from running again because he supposedly led an “insurrection.” The longer it goes on, the more Trump will gain in power, as his accusations the Left is out to get him will gain currency. Look what happened when Biden coined the phrase Ultra-MAGA. It soon was appearing on t-shirts at Republican rallies.

Americans obviously are more concerned about real things, such as rising gas prices. I’m dreading later today having to fill up with gas costing close to $7 a gallon. The total will be more than $100. Unlike Debbie Stabenow, the ditzy U.S. Senator from by home state of Michigan, who boasted driving her new electric car for free from Michigan, I can’t afford a battery-powered flivver. Nor a house with a charging port. Nor the expensive lifestyle enjoyed by her, Thompson and the other members of the Washington Elite, who are the real ones leading an insurrection — against us.