Trump's Coup

 A lot is being written about the riot at the Capitol last January 6^th, and I think a lot of it misses the point. The real attack on the republic was the stuff Trump did after December 14^th  to try to stay in office. The real attempted coup on January  6^th was not anything the poor, deluded people he sent over the Capitol did. It was Trump’s order to Pence block the final certification of the results of the election. The house impeached him for the wrong thing.  He should have been impeached and convicted in the days after January 6^th and before he left office for trying to overthrow the government and constitution of the United States. From December 14^th on and especially on January 6^th, he was an enemy of the republic.

He’s also to blame for the riot. A reasonable person with some experience in life would have been able to see  that if the president of the United States stirred up a mob of his ardent, angry, frightened  followers with talk about his reelection having been illegally overturned by his criminal opponents and then told them to go over to the Capitol and do something about it, things would get out of hand. His remark about staying peaceful might protect him legally, but it does not change his guilt.  

The suckers who broke into the Capitol are guilty too, but, unlike him, they deserve some compassion. They had been duped by a vicious con man. They should be punished, but theirs should be condign punishment. Their crimes were trespass, vandalism, petty larceny, and perhaps brawling with some cops. Probably most are first offenders. They should have been treated in the same way as others committing similar offenses instead of being locked up for a year without bail or trial and in some cases receiving long, unjustified sentences. They are getting politically motived excessive punishment. That is both wrong and foolish. The Dems should not want to help Trump and his gang by manufacturing martyrs for them.  

Meanwhile Trump has had no consequences at all.  Officials  should  be thinking about correcting that. His behavior was criminal. Garland and company should spend some time deciding if it was also illegal.