As for the rest of you…
Yesterday, brothers and sisters, I published an article (and produced a YouTube video) called “Dear Trump Supporter.” It was written and filmed as a final appeal to whatever shred of rationality remained in the breast of some Trump supporters. You may be assured that in a population of 75 million people, some of them are reachable with reason. No matter how tempting it may be to say otherwise, you cannot paint a single mass of humanity that large with a single red brush. There are still a few left amenable to sane discourse.
For those Trumpists whose eyes were opened by the actions of January 6th, who saw it for the act of domestic insurrection that it was, go and sin no more. For those who remain and now threaten violence to members of Congress who have impeached and are about to try the monster who inspired that January 6th treason, he will be tried. You will not stop us with threats. We will try him.
If there exists enough Senators with courage (or at least enough clear-eyed sense to understand the damage an acquittal vote could do to their legacy), we will convict him. Should that happen Donald Trump will never be able to run for office again and he will almost certainly go to prison in any case. The United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists, and you that remain are not patriots, you are terrorists.
Each of the 25,000 national guard troops coming to Washington tomorrow to protect the inauguration of the real President of the United States had to be vetted by the FBI. So thoroughly has the rot of Trumpism infected and corrupted the character and sanity of America’s troops that they cannot be wholly trusted. This is America’s great shame. It must not be allowed to continue.
The year 2020 (and the first 20 days of this year) has been defined by chaos, death, racial strife and treason. The year 2021 must be defined by justice. Donald Trump is gone. It is now up to us to eradicate the poison that remains. Many Trumpists are beyond reason and reclamation. But none of them are beyond justice and the reach of social power that will render their voices impotent once again. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.