One witness described “slipping in blood” as she tried to stop the frenzied lynch mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Others described being hounded relentlessly simply for doing their duty as poll watchers and public officials on Election Day 2020.
If anyone doubted that American democracy – however partial and imperfect – is in danger, the stunning events of June 2022 are a loud wake-up call.
Since they began on June 9, the hearings of the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have proven that Donald Trump and his cronies carefully planned a violent coup to overturn the 2020 election results.
And if that were not evidence enough that this country is headed toward full-blown fascism, just days later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of rulings on guns, abortion, and the environment which destroyed fundamental rights and turned the country backward.
When a president who lost the popular vote in 2016 can stack the Supreme Court with right-wing zealots and then attempt a violent coup in 2020 with impunity, the crisis of democracy has reached the breaking point.
This situation is compounded by a crisis of the two-party system. Open fascists have taken control of the Republican Party while the corporate wing of the Democratic Party refuses to act boldly against fascism. The corporate hacks at the top of the Democratic Party had no plan of how to respond to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They simply issued opportunistic fundraising appeals after the Supreme Court decision.
It’s time for bold action – not “moderation.”
People all over America are demanding that the U.S. Justice Department prosecute Donald Trump and his accomplices for their coup attempt. Trump has to be jailed, and barred from ever running for president again. All members of Congress who supported the coup attempt have to be expelled from Congress. The para-military groups who served as the shock troops on Jan. 6th need to be investigated and broken up, especially their units in the U.S. military.
The American people want to break the stranglehold which right-wing zealots have on the U.S. Supreme Court. Some are advocating, us included, that it’s time to expand the Court. And that all Supreme Court justices who lied during their confirmation hearings about their views on Roe v. Wade or who aided the coup plotters must be impeached.
The Senate filibuster, a shabby parliamentary trick devised by 19th century slave-owners to preserve their domination, has to be abolished completely.
Activists know that none of this will be possible without tremendous pressure from the grassroots. The massive street protests following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade point the way. We also need a massive voter turn-out in November in support of progressive candidates. The only way to thwart the attack on voting rights is to vote. The Republican Party has become an openly fascist party. It cannot be allowed to win control of Congress in November.
Let’s mobilize millions. Let’s block those trying to bring outright fascism to America!
