Wednesday’s violent attack on Congress by a mob was the antithesis of the republican system of government established by our founding fathers.
The Founders were well aware that the lawless mob rule so characteristic of ancient democracies had made them unstable and short-lived. They firmly rejected the idea that the United States should be a democracy, instead creating a constitutional republic, governed by elected officials, with protections for minorities and for the civil liberties of all.
Our Constitution provides procedures for carrying out and contesting elections. Interruption by mobs cannot be tolerated – ever. That would mean the end of our republic, and its degeneration into the classic democracy feared by the founders.
Those constitutional procedures have been tested by crisis in the past and have proven that they allow for peaceful resolution, even if not everyone is happy with the outcome. In 1801, Virginia governor James Monroe was preparing to call out the militia and march on Washington when it appeared the Federalists might succeed in overturning the election results and replace John Adams with another Federalist instead of Thomas Jefferson. That became unnecessary when some Federalists in the House of Representatives withdrew their opposition to Jefferson. In 1876, bipartisan fraud threatened to plunge the nation into civil war, but the crisis was averted by compromise. In 2000, with neither Bush nor Gore a clear winner, the nation endured more than a month of uncertainty and controversy until the Supreme Court settled it.
Why was this incident at the Capitol allowed to occur?
I had hoped that Washington, DC and other cities had learned from the mistakes in their handling of last year’s protests and riots. The soft-hearted treatment in places such as Portland and Seattle should have left no doubt that appeasement does not work. Given that law enforcement knew that some of the protesters were openly talking about going beyond peaceful methods, they should have been prepared.
However, President Trump is to be commended for ignoring President-elect Joe Biden’s implicit plea that Trump declare an “insurrection” and bring in military forces other than the National Guard. Once the police and National Guard were allowed to act, they were able to bring the situation under control, as they almost always are.
The mayor of Washington must now, finally, learn the necessity of being ready to meet force with force. In less than two weeks, Joe Biden will be inaugurated as President at the very place where today’s violent protestors were allowed to run wild. That must not happen again. The peaceful transfer of power must not be interrupted, not even by the sort of violent protests that we saw four years ago during the Trump inauguration.
While being firm with lawbreakers, we must still remember that our Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, assembly, and petition. Peaceful protests must be allowed, and even protected from hate-filled mobs ready to attack the protestors. The minority must be allowed to have its say, however much the majority dislikes hearing it. Indeed, one reason for bringing violence to a quick end is to allow peaceful protests to continue without disruption.
We must also remember that while more than 74 million Americans voted for Donald Trump, only a few hundred were involved in the attack on the Capitol. This event should not be used to smear Trump’s other supporters. They bear no more blame for what happened than do Democrats and liberals for the shooting of Republican congressman Steve Scalise.
Let us learn from the sad events of Wednesday. Let us unite in support of the Constitution wisely handed down to us and learn to work peacefully, even in disagreement, within its boundaries.
Peter J. Thomas, Chairman of The Conservative Caucus, served in the Reagan and both Bush administrations, reaching the position of Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration in the Department of Agriculture under George W. Bush.
