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Jan 7, 2021Liked by Line Editor

This was a mob that the authorities failed to control. Like other mobs we have seen over the last year. Sometimes lasting days. This time the only thing they achieved was to delay democracy for a few hours and put the final nail in any hopes that Trump might have had for 2024.

Both parties now have the challenge to shut down the extremist elements among their folliwing. And to demonstrate that can deliver solutions to ordinary people. Otherwise the dissatisfaction with Washington will continue.

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my favorite line came from the guy who tweeted that the US, with its 750bn defence budget, had its Capitol overrun by Duck Dynasty and a guy dressed as Chewbacca.

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Yesterday definitely feels like a turning point.

Some of Trump's enablers in the Republican Party (like Mitch McConnell) have now backed away. Inciting a mob attack on the Capitol was Going Too Far. There's even been talk of cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment and removing him from office immediately, instead of leaving him in command of the military and hoping that he doesn't provoke a new crisis.

Others continue to support Trump. A YouGov poll yesterday found that 45% of Republican voters supported the attack on the Capitol (43% were opposed). Fox News pundits don't appear to be distancing themselves. Last night 120 Republicans in the House (including the minority leader) demonstrated their fealty to Trump by voting to contest the election results. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/01/07/US-capitol-trump-poll

The problem for Republican officials who think Trump has Gone Too Far is that Republican voters feel more loyalty to Trump (49%) than to the party (19%). https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/poll-republican-party-trump_n_5f4bfb18c5b697186e37936a

Assuming the crisis ends and Trump leaves office in a couple of weeks, it seems likely that there'll be a fight for the future of the Republican Party. But Trump Nation seems likely to win. Even if Trump himself faces criminal charges, it seems that others (like Josh Hawley) are eager to claim his mantle.

Now that the Democrats hold a bare majority in the Senate, the Biden administration has an opportunity to overcome the paralysis and drift that have plagued US political institutions - one of the driving forces behind frustration with the status quo and Trumpism. But they'll face a hostile Republican Party and right-wing ecosystem, as well as the immense challenge of overcoming the unchecked spread of Covid in the US.

In Canada, we're not immune to frustration and Trumpism. In Alberta the issue is pipelines (Keystone XL, Northern Gateway, the Trans Mountain expansion). In Vancouver and Toronto, the issue is that home ownership has soared out of reach.

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