Capitol Riot

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  8/2/2021
  

  How to Make Jim Jordan Talk about January 6? Ask Jefferson Davis

  by Sidney Blumenthal

  Jefferson Davis compelled the testimony of his Senate colleague William Seward about whether he had prior knowledge of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. Rep. There's no reason why Jim Jordan shouldn't be likewise made to answer questions. 

• 
• SOURCE: Salon
  7/12/2021
  

  Annette Gordon-Reed: January 6 a Turning Point

  "The notion of multiracial American democracy is very new and very fragile, and people are still fighting about it."

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  

  The Story of January 6 Will be Told

  by Julian Zelizer

  Republican obstructionism makes it likely that the full story of the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the election certification will be told in popular culture. 

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• 6/6/2021
  

  The New Meaning of "The Loyal Opposition"

  by Glenn C. Altschuler

  The concept of a loyal opposition depends on the deference of non-governing parties to the authority of democratic institutions and the normative framework in which they operate. That deference seems to be collapsing. 

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• 6/6/2021
  

  Whataboutism Didn't Get Nixon Off the Hook. It Shouldn't Stop Investigation of the Capitol Riots

  by James Robenalt

  There's a long and ignominious tradition of playing "whatabout" to thwart investigations into official misconduct, so it's no surprise the move was part of Republicans' rejection of a January 6 commission. 

• 
• 5/23/2021
  

  Political Riots are an All-American Phenomenon (But Ignoring them Shouldn't Be)

  by Ron Steinman

  The partisan resistance to the formation of a commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection echoes the official indifference to the race riots that overthrew Reconstruction; the nation needs the truth and needs accountability.

• 
• SOURCE: Perspectives on History
  5/12/2021
  

  Cliché and Caricature: Why January 6 Was Not Like a Banana Republic

  by Dario A. Euraque

  Describing the January 6 assault on the Capitol and Congress as fit for "banana republics" ignores the way that American businesses and politicians supported the same kind of antidemocratic violence in Latin America. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/6/2021
  

  Fears of White People Losing Out Permeate Capitol Rioters’ Towns, Study Finds

  Political scientist Robert Pape's work suggests that the prime driver of participation in the Capitol Riots was a sense that the election result reflected a threat to the power and influence of whites in American culture, with familiar echoes to racist and nativist movements of the past. 

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  3/3/2021
  

  The Capitol Riot is an Eerie Repeat of this Tense Era in American History

  Historian Brian K. Mitchell tells the story of Oscar James Dunn's service as the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction; Kate Masur also comments on Reconstruction era politics. 

• 
• SOURCE: Democracy Now
  2/25/2021
  

  “Decades in the Making”: How Mainstream Conservatives & Right-Wing Money Fueled the Capitol Attack

  Author Brendan O'Connor says the Capitol riots were decades in the making, and discusses the history of ideology and institution-building on the right that organized the riots. 

• 
• 2/21/2021
  

  Don't Defend Democracy With Half-Truths About the Past

  by Brook Thomas

  Although the Capitol riots raised deep concern about the rule of law, there is a deeper challenge ahead of the nation: to understand and change the undemocratic aspects of our foundational law and refuse half-measures in the name of unity.

• 
• 2/21/2021
  

  January 6, 2021: A Day of Populist Transgression

  by Robert A. Schneider

  The Capitol riot included a small core of actors bent on destruction, with many more along for the ride reveling in a moment of transgression. In this way, it was a microcosm of the Trumpian movement that, now unleashed, will be difficult to contain.

• 
• 2/21/2021
  

  Cynicism and Political Blunder: A Postscript to “The January 6th Assault on Congress and the Fate of the GOP’s Faustian Bargain"

  by Jeffrey Herf

  Mitch McConnell's decision to condemn Trump after voting for his acquittal wasn't just an act of cowardice. The acts taken together constitute a major tactical blunder in the emerging battle for control of the Republican Party. 

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• 2/14/2021
  

  Political Violence: Still as American as Cherry Pie

  by Alan J. Singer

  SNCC leader H. Rap Brown declared that violence was "American as cherry pie" in 1967. Though his remarks were scorned then, he was correct, and no movement for justice can succeed without acknowledging it.   

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  2/9/2021
  

  January 6 Was Just One Day in a Sustained Campaign

  by Richard H. Pildes

  A constitutional law professor argues for a broad perspective in the Senate trial; the questions at stake for the rule of law and Trump's accountability for a months-long effort to undermine democracy are too important to focus only on January 6. 

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• 2/7/2021
  

  You Call This a Peaceful Transfer of Power?

  by Philip Gerard

  "If we watched this scene play out in Argentina, Turkey, Ukraine, or Thailand, we would bemoan the failure of democracy, write about a fragile government battling rebel insurgents in its own capital, make dire predictions about how long such a government could stand."

• 
• 2/7/2020
  

  Unforgettable Images, and Something New in TV News

  by Ron Steinman

  A month past the Capitol Riots, a veteran television news journalist observes that the coverage of the chaotic protest and breach of the Capitol relied on something new: masses of journalists and citizens (including the rioters) recording video on their phones where TV cameras couldn't operate, forming a rich and important composite of the day's events. 

• 
• SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel
  2/4/2021
  

  Senate Must Punish Trump For Capitol Riot: Commentary

  by David Marks

  "Inciting lethal violence against the government, based on lies and selfish goals, has grave consequences. And considering the likelihood that some angry devotees will continue to be violent in the wake of Trump’s ongoing unwarranted assertions, legal action is obligatory."

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  1/28/2021
  

  Did Trump and His Supporters Commit Treason?

  Carlton F.W. Larson has studied the legal history of treason. Until January 6, he argued that critics of Donald Trump were off base in leveling that charge. 

• 
• SOURCE: Keeping Democracy Alive
  2/1/2021
  

  January 6: Not Who We Are?

  Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson discusses the Capitol riots, arguing that violence has long been a part of the battle for political legitimacy and authority in America.