Not for the first time, we are reminded that American democracy was saved by Team Trump’s buffoonery. They had the will, and possibly the means, to overthrow the 2020 election, but the would-be coup was attempted by clowns: Sidney “Kraken” Powell, the MyPillow guy, Rudy Giuliani of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, and now one Jovan Hutton Pulitzer.
Yes — the only thing that saved the country was Team Trump’s buffoonery. It’s true that We, the People, voted Trump out, but the events of January 6th made crystal-clear that’s not enough — we have to be prepared to use force to defend and enforce our will; we cannot assume honorable conduct by the loser.
That is especially the case now that Trump’s cheap demagoguery came so close to succeeding; we will see it again. I think it is most likely to come from the Right, rather than the Left, but that hardly matters; we will see it again. And we need to think carefully, now, about what we are going to do when that happens.