Deferring to the economic and political elites that have set the stage for this carnage will only the embolden the far right to continue to provide a kind of reactionary framing to the feelings of abandonment, isolation and betrayal.
By Joe Lowndes
Donald Trump’s political fortunes may indeed be at an end. Abandoned by his allies, facing a possible second impeachment, and stripped of his most effective tool of popular mobilization – his Twitter account, he leaves office in a matter of days only to face multiple lawsuits and possible prosecutions when he returns to private life. But the political forces that produced the January 6th Capitol takeover haven’t disappeared, nor have the groups and networks that have nurtured its growth. Indeed, the moment seems to have given the far right a coherent sense of purpose and identity, galvanizing yet more dangerous future actions.
There was no sense of pessimism, for instance, among the more than one hundred Trump supporters who rallied last Saturday on the steps of the Federal Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon for an “Anti-Socialism” protest. On the contrary, they were ebullient and aggressive, visibly armed with long guns, side arms, and knives. Unmasked, they protested the presidential election results, demanded the arrest of Governor Kate Brown for the state’s Covid restrictions, and denounced BLM and Antifa. When a phalanx of Proud Boys in helmets and Kevlar arrived in formation, the emboldened crowd menaced journalists, and pounded on passing cars. Video from the scene showed a group of them beating a counter-protestor to the ground, jabbing him with the end of a flagpole. This was no ending.
Read the full article here: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/01/12/will-more-dangerous-far-right-spring-corpse-trumpism
