Blundo: How will the Jan. 6 insurrection be remembered years from now?
I’ve been reading about the history of coups and attempted coups lately. A lot are remembered with catchy names or portentious phrases.
So “Beer Hall Putsch” is how history remembers Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt at overthrowing the German government in 1923 (he successfully rose to power 10 years later, unfortunately). The “Ides of March” is forever associated with Julius Caesar’s assassination by Roman senators on that date — March 15 — in 44 B.C.
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So how to describe Jan. 6, 2021, in a phrase? After watching hours of the congressional hearings on the insurrection, I have a few suggestions:
The Clown-Car Coup
The words “clown car” have been uttered at least once during the hearings conducted by the congressional committee investigating the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, used the phrase in reference to Rudy Giuliani and associated characters whose tales of sinister thermostats and trick voting machines influenced Donald Trump in his campaign to hold power with false claims of a stolen election.
You might recall that Stephanie Grisham, a top aide in Trump’s administration, also used “clown car” in her description of the Trump White House in general in a 2021 memoir: “Everything was like a clown car on fire running at full speed into a warehouse full of fireworks.”
It proved to be prescient foreshadowing of the testimony to come.
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The View Coup
After inciting a crowd to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Trump went home and . . . watched TV, witnesses say.
Specifically, he watched Fox News coverage of the riot he had spawned while various aides and family members beseeched him to call off the crowd. Which he declined to do for hours.
In years to come, I wonder how this coup attempt will be handled in docudramas — if it’s handled at all. Trump sulking in front of the TV seems less plot-worthy than, say, Oliver Cromwell and his musketeers dissolving the British Parliament, or Napoleon escaping exile to push aside the king of France.
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Merci Beau-coup
In the modern context, the word “coup” to me suggests shadowy plots by rogue intelligence officers, turncoat military generals or calculating business tycoons, all acting swiftly and decisively, with tanks to back them up.
The Jan. 6 attempt — with its cosplayers, self-appointed “militia” commanders and aggrieved president throwing a tantrum in his car — doesn’t really fit the template. And who in the world interrupts a coup to take a selfie?
Not to downplay the rioters’ actions. They were deadly and merit all the punishment the courts sees fit to hand out. But let’s just say the participants weren’t exactly competent at overthrowing democracy.
For that we can be thankful.
Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Joe Blundo wonders how the Jan. 6 insurrection will be remembered
