They did after all have the encouragement of the commander-in-chief. They were swanning around like tourists on their crime spree, showing their faces on selfies, posing for journalists, taking souvenirs, trashing the place like frat boys at a party.

McConnell did belatedly recognize the election outcome, but had he used his power to recognize it and urge his party members to recognize it when it became clear a few days after the election, the nation might have been spared all this.Īnd these white rioters knew it and counted on it their confidence as amateur beserkers was striking, as was their ease. His policy is that he can have whatever he wants, including whatever facts he wants, and he wanted a win, felt entitled to one, and was trying to fabricate one out of thin air full of the flatulence of his lies and strongarm tactics, from the bullying of election officials to the punishment of anyone who didn’t get on board.Īnd yesterday, soon-to-be-former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans who fed the beast of this stolen-election conspiracy theory felt entitled to fluff up their feathers and huff that they were shocked about the consequences as though the consequences hadn’t been openly plotted and fomented for the last two months, with their encouragement. We saw it yesterday in a mob invasion of Congress that came about because of a man who cannot admit defeat and who fomented this riot in an attempt to drown out that defeat with violent chaos. This is racism as a triumph over history, the history of what you just did or didn’t do today, and it’s white supremacist identity politics. It is not a matter of deeds, because those statuses don’t change because of acts or their absence. Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night. The corollary is that there are others assumed to be committing violent crimes simply for being, their presence itself treated as a kind of menace and transgression. Yesterday’s white riot launched by the president’s incendiary rally was another reminder that there are, in the minds of too many people with too much power, those who are considered to be innocent and deserving of respect even when in the act of committing violent crimes.

Mediocre white male america