Stringer/Sputnik via AP
Police officers stand near the fencing that now surrounds the U.S. Capitol Building, January 8, 2021.
After the insurrection at the Capitol, one is hesitant to look for silver linings. But Trump’s instigation of mob rule did produce important secondary benefits, beyond the final disgrace of Trump personally, the splitting of the Republican Party, and the spine of Nancy Pelosi (which are no small achievements).
One is that the FBI and other domestic intelligence agencies will face little resistance from chagrined Republicans as they go after domestic terrorists—who nearly kidnapped or killed Republican legislators as well as Democrats.
The plans and names of these groups and people are hidden in plain view, all over social media. Under Trump, law enforcement stood down and gave them a free pass. The siege of the Capitol was only the most extreme example, but it was prefigured by violent events of murderous intent from Charlottesville to Lansing.
A civil libertarian must be wary of unleashing police agencies. The USA Patriot Act of 2001 gave law enforcement more domestic surveillance powers than they needed.
But there is a time for those powers to be used in defense of the Republic. The attack of 1/6 was in a class with the attacks of 9/11.
These groups do not represent dissent. They are a clear and present danger. They need to be shut down and their militants prosecuted, convicted, and put away.
A second silver lining is that now there will be no Republican fishing expeditions about Ukraine, no challenges by House or Senate committees to the legitimacy of the Biden presidency.
It’s too easy to forget that Republicans in Congress, had Hillary Clinton been elected president, were prepared to make her life investigative hell even before her presidency began. As recently as a week ago, had they held the Senate, Republicans had similar plans for Joe Biden.
Now, courtesy of Trump, all they can do is try to hide their shame and help President Biden repair the extensive damage to this Republic.
A third silver lining is that Congress or even the Supreme Court could act to limit the president’s pardon power, where corrupt intent is shown. It’s hard to imagine this court upholding Trump’s power to pardon himself.
None of this is adequate consolation for the immense damage wrought by Trump and his Republican enablers, but we will take silver linings where we find them.
