History Chat - January 7, 2021

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Summary: Summary of Coup event that occurred on 1/6/2021 which was a result of 63 failed lawsuits fighting “voter fraud” and the fabrication of evidence of voter fraud which created its own reality based on suspicion of rumors and hearsay. This is the same method that was utilized in Russia and Ukraine, of sewing public distrust in the government, and these people were invited, provoked, and praised by President Trump.

Timestamp 10:01: During the counting of the electoral votes, in which Mike Pence is a presiding officer, this was simply a counting ceremony of sorts for the certified electoral votes. This presented an opportunity for the Trump supporters to contest the votes one last time.

Timestamp 13:24: Trump is determined not to lose this election, possibly in fear of a democratic president coming in and seeing what was done. This is in reference to arms deals and 5G technology. There are videos of Donald Trump Jr riling up the rioters, which contradicts the President’s statement that he doesn’t support the actions of the rioters.

Timestamp 15:21: Trump supporters are truly convinced that Trump is saving American democracy, Rudy Giuliani suggested Trial by combat. The House and Senate were evacuated, which gave the insurrectionists full reign of the building for hours, when you should NOT be able to just walk into the Capitol.

Timestamp 17:35: The mobilization of the National Guard was discussed with the chiefs of staff, including the Vice President, but suspiciously not the President. Rudy Giuliani was recorded on a phone call requesting to slow down the counting. After congress reconvened and the counting resumed, Arizona was counted which is crucial as that was a state he contested. The representatives were going to hold together and contest the votes, but many backed out after the riot. This created a fault line between Trump supporters and the Republican party. Sane republicans don’t want to associate with the White supremacists and rioters who follow Trump to salvage their career and doubled down on their support.

Timestamp 24:12: Many members of Trump's staff resigned, most notably Nick Mulvaney, who was highly involved in the Ukraine scandal.

Timestamp 25:26: In the middle of the night, the votes are officially counted, which is followed by an official statement by Donald Trump stating that he didn’t agree with the results, but would agree to a peaceful transfer of power. Some have faith in the peaceful transition of power, but there is a movement to impeach or invoke the 25th amendment.

Timestamp 28:53: There are many ways to remove someone in the executive branch. Impeachment can be pursued on the ground of high crimes and misdemeanors, although high crimes and misdemeanors are never defined. Impeachment can be based on essentially “I don’t trust you”.

Timestamp 34:09: Eisenhower comes up with the idea of the 25th amendment as a failsafe in the scenario the President is no longer capable of safely Running the country. This is to assure the country is Ok. Nancy Pelosi tried to get the 25th amendment going before the election began. Impeachment would be the ideal option because it would present an opportunity for the Legislative branch to show itself as equal to the Executive branch, which is traditionally seen as the greater among equals.

Timestamp 36:53: Pence’s Chief of Staff is barred from the white house, and Trump's nomination for the department of homeland security is retracted.

Timestamp 40:40: When people claim Tyranny, they reference 1776. More accurately, it is akin to Civil rights, where buzzwords were key. In the declaration of principles of the Klu Klux Clan, the first page is all about America etc. The second page is where the rhetoric against African Americans begins. This belief system can be used for good or bad, and this is an example of how it was used for bad.

Timestamp 42:38: Understanding our history and the role ideology plays in is crucial. We have a combination of white male supremacy and the inability of the average American to rise. The insurrectionists claim to be defending a revolution, but that poses the question what revolution.

Timestamp 46:59: American Exceptionalism is a term that implies the United States is special and better than other countries. This comes from John Winthrop addressing the Puritans to let them know they are going to be watched. They sold the idea of “you’ll have all these people” With the acquisition of 6 new states in the Western territories, came new Senators. These senators would be republicans who would pack the senate and electoral college, to assure the Republicans would never lose again. The 1890 census was extremely corrupt, and the Census director claims there is no longer any frontier after the most recent expansion Westward. This is why Americans believe they’re better as they continually reinvent democracy with the founding of new Frontiers.

Timestamp 58:07: In the Milwaukee Agricultural fair in 1859, the American Democracy is criticized for not representing the “All men are created equal” stance. It was claimed that the framers got this wrong, and the way to move society forward is by concentrating wealth and power amongst a few white leaders, who would promote enslavement while the white rulers make political connections. This ideology paired with the parading of the confederate flag in the capital promotes the few governing the many as was the Civil war era, the question is whether we will follow a Lincoln Democracy or not.

[From wikipedia] Richardson’s first book, The Greatest Nation of the Earth (1997), stemmed from her dissertation at Harvard University. Inspired by Eric Foner’s work on pre-Civil War Republican ideology, Richardson analyzed Republican economic policies during the war. She contended that their efforts to create an activist Federal Government during the Civil War marked a continuation of Republican free labor ideology. These policies, such as war bonds and greenbacks or the Land Grant College Act and the Homestead Act, revolutionized the role of the Federal Government in the U.S. economy. At the same time, these actions laid the groundwork for the Republican Party’s shift to Big Business after the Civil War.

In this 2001 book, Richardson "focused on the “Northern abandonment of Reconstruction.” Building on the earlier work of C. Vann Woodward, she argued that a more complete understanding of the period required appreciation of class, not only race. As Reconstruction continued into the 1870s and especially the 1880s, Republicans began to view African Americans in the South more from a class perspective and less from the perspective of race that had driven their earlier humanitarianism. In the midst of the labor struggles of the Gilded Age, Republicans came to compare “the demands of the ex-slaves for land, social services, and civil rights” to the demands of white laborers in the North. This ideological shift was the key to Republican abandonment of Reconstruction, as they chose the protection of their economic and business interests over their desire for racial equality." [From wikipedia]

In this 2007 book, "Richardson presented Reconstruction as a national event that impacted all Americans, not just those in the South. She incorporated the West into the discussion of Reconstruction as no predecessor had. Between 1865 and 1900, Americans re-imagined the role of the federal government, calling upon it to promote the well-being of its citizens. However, racism, sexism, and greed divided Americans, and the same people who increasingly benefited from government intervention—white, middle-class Americans—actively excluded African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and organized laborers from the newfound bounties of their reconstructed nation." [from wikipedia]

In this book, published in 2010, Richardson "focused on the U.S. Army’s slaughter of Native Americans in South Dakota in 1890. She argued that party politics and opportunism led to Wounded Knee. After a bruising midterm election, President Benjamin Harrison needed to shore up his support. To do so, he turned to The Dakotas, where he replaced seasoned Indian agents with unqualified political allies, who incorrectly assumed that the Ghost Dance Movement presaged war. The Army responded by sending one third of its force in order to avoid spending cuts from Congress. After the event, Republicans tried to paint the massacre as a heroic battle to stifle the resurgent Democrats." [wikipedia]

In this 2014 book, Richardson "extended her study of the Republican Party into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book studied the entire life of the GOP, from its inception in the 1850s through the presidency of George W. Bush. The party’s founders united against the “slave power,” a small group of wealthy white men who controlled all three branches of government. These Republicans articulated a new vision of an America in which all hardworking men could rise. But after the Civil War, Republicans began to emulate what they originally opposed. They tied themselves to powerful bankers and industrialists, sacrificing the well-being of ordinary Americans. A similar process took place after World War II, when Republicans sought to dismantle successful New Deal policies and prop up the wealthy. However, in both cases, reformers within the party were able to return the GOP to its founding vision of equality of opportunity, first Theodore Roosevelt during the Progressive Era, and then Dwight D. Eisenhower, who enforced integration and maintained the New Deal. The Nixon and Reagan administrations have represented yet another fall from the GOP’s founding purpose. It's ironic, Richardson points out, that Republicans treated Barack Obama with an unprecedented level of disrespect, as Obama's rise from humble beginnings to the highest office in the nation embodied the vision of the original Republicans." [wikipedia]

In her most recent publication, Richardson argues "that America was founded with contradicting ideals, with the ideas of liberty, equality, and opportunity on one hand, and slavery and hierarchy on the other. United States victory in the American Civil War should have settled that tension forever, but at the same time that the Civil War was fought, Americans also started moving into the West. In the West, Americans found and expanded upon deep racial hierarchies, meaning that hierarchical values survived in American politics and culture despite the crushing defeat of the pro-slavery Confederacy. Those traditions--a rejection of democracy, an embrace of entrenched wealth, the marginalization of women and people of color--have found a home in modern conservative politics, leaving the tremendous promise of America unfulfilled." [wikipedia]