Showdown

The classic Western movie features a showdown between the good guys and the bad guys. High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, is probably the most classic of the classics in this genre. Wednesday January 6th we’ll see a showdown in Washington, as the most Trumpian of the Trumpians in Congress force a prolonged mock debate that may last as long as two or three days, in which they try to create the impression that Joe Biden’s election should be reversed because of fraud and election irregularities, which about sixty lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies have frivolously alleged, eventuating in all of them being withdrawn, sidelined,  or thrown out of court. Accompanying this baleful charade in Congress, a showdown in the streets will take place featuring the band of thugs who call themselves “The Proud Boys,” and were summoned by Trump to produce a big enough riot to give him a pretext for proclaiming martial law. The goal is to destroy our Constitutional democracy and replace it with one-party authoritarian rule, or, failing that, to fool as many people as possible into thinking that Biden is not, or may be not, a legitimate president. 

Those participating in this project may never be convicted of crimes, but they will be remembered in history as the bad guys of the worst sort.  It’s a tragedy of our times that their conduct will occur  in the realm of reality. In a rational world it would be confined  to where it belongs –- the plot of a pathetically bad grade B Hollywood film.