Excellent piece. I don't remember a single GOP legislator going out to meet with the Jan 6 people. They were running down hallways in terror (Josh Hawley), texting their families while escaping via back hallways and elevators, or pouring whisky before composing their floor speech about how they were so done with Trump (Lindsay Graham). Shameful chapter.
Truth. The aftermath is mind boggling. I remember seeing historic photos of Nazi rallies, wondering how the fuck the people let that happen. This is it in real time.
The detail about bike racks versus riot fencing captures the entire preparedness failure in one visual. That contrast in threat assessment between BLM protests and Jan 6 wasn't just operational, it revealed assumptions baked into security planning. I was tracking similar divergences in how different movements get framed and policed, and the prepositioning (or lack thereof) always telegraphs who authorities see as legitimte versus threatening, regardless of actual risk indicators.
Exactly. I've seen those preparations play out over decades, and this smashcut was the starkest -- so much to be said about American culture in the prep for those two events. Thanks for the smart(er) way of saying this!
Excellent piece. I don't remember a single GOP legislator going out to meet with the Jan 6 people. They were running down hallways in terror (Josh Hawley), texting their families while escaping via back hallways and elevators, or pouring whisky before composing their floor speech about how they were so done with Trump (Lindsay Graham). Shameful chapter.
Truth. The aftermath is mind boggling. I remember seeing historic photos of Nazi rallies, wondering how the fuck the people let that happen. This is it in real time.
The detail about bike racks versus riot fencing captures the entire preparedness failure in one visual. That contrast in threat assessment between BLM protests and Jan 6 wasn't just operational, it revealed assumptions baked into security planning. I was tracking similar divergences in how different movements get framed and policed, and the prepositioning (or lack thereof) always telegraphs who authorities see as legitimte versus threatening, regardless of actual risk indicators.
Exactly. I've seen those preparations play out over decades, and this smashcut was the starkest -- so much to be said about American culture in the prep for those two events. Thanks for the smart(er) way of saying this!