This is foolish bravado. Millions might have voted for Trump but only thousands have taken to the streets. The crowd might have had sympathizers in the government: Republican legislators and certainly Donald Trump himself. They might even have had sympathizers in the police force that they confronted. But they are not the only ones this surprise "win" has energized. It has galvanized their opponents who, in truth, are much stronger than they are.
If and when Trump's insurrectionists do show up again in Washington, or any other major state capital, things are likely to be different: most of the local police sympathizers will have been weeded out, the rest will be actively backed up by the National Guard and, if needed, the regular military; the people in charge on the government side will be different and not at all sympathetic. And if anyone tries to initiate a shootout, they will likely be wounded or killed. If they survive, they're like to be put in jail for a very long time. In other words, as things stand now, this assemblage of rightwingers cannot win.
Some Republican politicians know the above prognosis is true. That is why they are trying to head off any strong reaction to the January 6 event. Take, for instance, South Carolina's Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's assessment that "it is past time for all of us to try to heal our country and move forward." Then there is Republican Representative Ted Budd of North Carolina who, after trying to overturn the presidential election, complained of the Democratic reaction to the insurrection, "if Democrats say they want unity, this isn't the way to show it." Actually, unity with the January 6 crowd is not what the Democrats have in mind.
Part IV -- Conclusion
Whatever the ultimate fate of the insurrectionists, it will not be the end of the story. Trump's base will not just go away. It will still have influence. A 14 January 2021 New York Times article is entitled "Deep in the GOP Ranks, the MAGA Mind-Set Prevails." The piece goes on to explain that "While some Republican leaders and strategists are eager to dismiss these [Trump] loyalists as a fringe element of their party, many of them hold influential roles at the state and local level. These local officials are not only the conduits between voters and federal Republicans, but they also serve as the party's next generation of higher-level elected officials, and would bring a devotion to Trumpism should they ascend to Washington." As indicated above, some of them are already there.
Yet it is unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future, that Trump's blatant form of authoritarianism will prevail. As suggested, the majority of those who presently command the use of force are still loyal to the system as it stands. The corporate elites, while favoring low taxes and little regulation, are not yet willing to support neofascism in exchange for those benefits. They are as of yet tied to a socially corrosive neoliberalism, even as Trump's hijinks reveal that its efficacy is in decline. For the present, all the major power players will stay with the nation's democratic political system.
It should be noted, however, that in the longer run, no one can ignore the 74 million who voted for a neofascist leader with whom they had four years' experience. That was followed by the debacle of January 6. All of this suggests that an American-style neofascist authoritarianism has become acceptable to millions of Americans. Indeed, it is quickly taking on a prophetic appeal. And that makes this apparently well-rooted anti-democratic form, the most likely successor of American democracy.
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