I get it. There’s not much time left in Trump’s presidency. But that’s no excuse not to hold him accountable for his part in the attack on the Capitol on January 6.
And make no mistake. It was an attack. Many of the insurgents like to claim that it was their house. That they were fulfilling their patriotic duty. They had the right to be there.
Which, to be fair, that last sentence is basically true.
But it’s not just their house. It belongs to every United States citizen, not just one select side.
And smashing windows, stealing furniture, and ransacking offices? Nothing gave them the right to do that.
Besides, what good was any of that supposed to do anyway?
Oh wait. I know. Instill fear because their idea of power is intimidation.
Deplorable.
So is the two-faced, hypocritical conduct of all those lawmakers who continue to publicly condone the violence but refuse, again, to take Trump to task and hold him responsible.
They sit by and do nothing and beg the Democrats to do the same. They could at least offer up some other alternatives for disciplinary action, but nope. The best they can say is, “Well, what’s the harm? He’s only got a few more days left. Why bother?”
It’s reprehensible on every level. They’re proving to be nothing but partisan cowards.
Which is why it’s so refreshing to see heroes emerge from unlikely sources…ones that can really hit Trump and his backers in the legislature where it hurts: their wallets.
But before we get there, let’s talk about the ones that are finally taking away his bully pulpits: the social media companies.
Late last year I made the decision to stop using Facebook and Twitter. Part of it was because I was sick of all the negativity, but the other part was I just didn’t like their practices. I didn’t like how other people (both the right and the left) could say similar vile things like Trump and get silenced, but there were no repercussions for Trump. Well, eventually they started flagging his posts, but it took years.
Overall I felt they weren’t doing enough, gave him special privileges and enabled Trump to perpetuate lies and conspiracy theories, not to mention encourage violence, racism and hate.
I’ve been shocked, but pleasantly surprised, to see so many social media and big tech companies take the actions that they have to suspend Trump’s accounts and make it harder for extremists to spread their poisonous gospel.
Those folks claim that’s unfair and in violation of their 1st Amendment rights, but it’s not. The 1st Amendment prevents the government from dictating what citizens can and can’t say, not private companies.
Ironically, this is part of why I made the decision to quit FB and Twitter: social media companies control the rules of the game. They decide who sees what and how many eyeballs your content gets. And they can arbitrarily change their rules to benefit them whenever they want, while gathering your personal data to use who knows how. No thanks.
Anyway, the other super unexpected and fantastic heroes that have suddenly emerged to punish Trump is Big Business.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “a growing wave of big businesses are deciding to suspend or review their campaign donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol, with many saying they would stop donating to Republicans who objected to the election’s certification.”
Perfect!
Among the companies are:
- AT&T Inc.
- ConocoPhillips
- Dow Inc.
- Facebook Inc.
- United Parcel Service Inc.
- JPMorgan Chase Inc.
- Citigroup Inc
- Marriott
- American Express
- Microsoft
- Comcast
Hallmark even took it a step further and asked Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to return their contributions after their parts in the Capitol attack. (ie. Objecting to the legal certification of electoral ballots.)
PGA is hitting the Trump Organization in the belt by pulling the PGA Championship from his Bedminster Golf Course. It’s actually the second time the PGA’s pulled an event in the last five years from one of his golf courses.
But one of the biggest kickers is that Deutsche Bank has decided not to loan Trump any more money.
Uh oh. That may be the one that screws Trump himself the hardest because it follows on the heels of Signature Bank starting to close his personal accounts.
Without Deutsche Bank’s loans, how will Trump fund personal business going forward? Maybe his supporters will start another GoFundMe for him?
Who knows?
And who knows what fallout these companies will face. Likely boycotts at least, but on the other hand, they might also gain lifelong supporters who appreciate they had the cajones to step up and deliver some justice when no one else was.