On January 6, 2021, a violent mob, incited by then-President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election, stormed the U.S. Capitol. Rioters breached security, assaulted police, and endangered lawmakers, including Vice President Mike Pence, whose life was explicitly threatened.
As the chaos unfolded, Trump ignored urgent pleas from congressional leaders, aides, and even close friend Sean Hannity to deploy the National Guard. Watching the violence on television, he delayed action, tweeting instead about election fraud and later urging rioters to “go home with love.” The Pentagon, led by Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, received no immediate order, stalling the Guard’s response for hours.
By the time troops arrived, five people had died, including a Capitol Police officer beaten by the mob, and 140 officers were injured. Investigations, including the January 6 Committee’s findings, confirmed Trump’s inaction exacerbated the crisis, undermining the democratic process and exposing vulnerabilities in federal response mechanisms.
In a striking contrast, in June 2025, the Trump administration deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to a peaceful immigration protest in Los Angeles, with reports of Marines on standby. The demonstration, composed of nonviolent activists demonstrating immigration raids, posed no threat to public safety or infrastructure. California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, criticised the move as federal overreach, noting that no state request for such forces was made.
The deployment, ordered directly from the White House, sparked concerns about the militarisation of responses to free speech and assembly. Some suggest this aggressive response was a calculated effort to project strength, possibly to counter lingering criticism of Trump’s 2021 inaction. The suggestion of Marine involvement has heightened fears of disproportionate federal power, with civil liberties advocates warning of a chilling effect on protest rights.
This stark disparity reveals a troubling pattern in Trump’s use of federal authority. In 2021, his refusal to act swiftly during a deadly assault on democracy left the Capitol vulnerable and eroded public trust. In 2025, his administration’s heavy-handed response to a peaceful protest risks stifling dissent and escalating tensions in an already polarised nation.
These incidents highlight a selective application of power, driven not by consistent principles but by political expediency and optics. The January 6 inaction fuelled accusations of negligence, while the California crackdown raises alarms about authoritarian tendencies. Together, they threaten democratic norms and the delicate balance between security and liberty. As the nation grapples with these events, the contrast underscores a broader erosion of trust, with lasting implications for democracy.
Welcome to Trump’s America. It’s all going to plan: he’s got you just where he wants you.
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Analogous with his alliance with Putin and corrupt authoritarian pals inc. Abbott’s Hungarian PM ‘mini Putin’ Orbán versus Zelenskyy, Ukraine, NATO, EU and Europe*.
Trump is clearly afraid of or rattled by the perceptions of power, and weakness, hence his new moniker TACO…..
*Much -ve chatter about another indie outlet publishing right wing agitprop & Kremlin talking points (as Fox News does) masquerading as left or centrist anti-imperialism, that criticises (not Trump or Putin), but Ukraine, the west etc.; Orwellian gaslighting by US faux geopolitic experts, but grifters?
To follow such agitprop requires much averting of gazes and empathy bypasses to adopt the views of US RW grifters & Kremlin vs. Ukraine, EU etc.?
Under the guise of ‘realism’ (see Koch & Putin’s Mearsheimer a la Kissinger II) or geopolitical and sociopolitical eugenics; see Nazi’s jurist Carl Schmitt, very similar views, the powerful should prevail over the weak……survival of the fittest?
I see Trump has declared civil war on the state of California and is ranting against the Governor of California calling him names: Gavin Newscum instead of Newsom.
Isn’t it about now that somebody calls the men in white coats who will place Mr Trump in an asylum with a nice, padded cell somewhere in Connecticut ?
California needs to build a wall around itself to keep Tru mp out. Not that Dementodon would have any qualms having the state bombed.
We learned up to 1945 that the only good nazi was a dead one; those committed ones, the murdering swine, had to be eliminated, exterminated, finalised. It did not fully work, for Trump types turn up and we say “not again”, and must repeat the actions. Now is the time…
All it’s going to take is for a single protestor, or more, to be shot (whether by accident or intentionally) by some cop or guardsman for the shit to really hit the fan. I can also see Trump sending in more troops to inflame…oops, help sort out the problem.
We must remember that in Germany after the democratic elections of 1933 and until 1945 that the N@Z1 party membership was only about 30% of the national population, that generally was better educated than the current generations of Americans.
Think ”Fahrenheit 451”scenarios and that looks like the foreseeable future for the working class that got suckered into voting for the Republican candidate in the POTUS elections. Remember that this chronic geriatric, demented, misogynist, adulterer, sexual harasser, and convicted felon cannot be employed by the US Department of Defence, but can be Supreme Commander of ALL US military forces. But POTUS Trumpery is only a distraction for the changes being implemented behind the scenes by other of the billionaire club.
Everyone keeps on talking about “democratic norms” when talking about what trump and his henchmen are doing.
I think everyone is missing the point. Trump cares not a whit about norms or democracy, I believe that in trumps mind, and certainly in the minds of those who are behind him and using him to change US society, democracy is just a hindrance to their take over of the country to further increase both their bank balances, this is especially relevant to trump as I think he wants to leave more money than his father did, and the need of the oligarchs for unlimited power.
I don’t believe that we can assess trump and the trump administration on the same basis that we would assess democracies in other western countries.
Democracy in the US has always been a thing with feathers, and while it is loudly proclaimed by various administrations, history shows that democracy has taken a seat far back in the theatre when it comes to most presidents and their administration efforts of taking the country to the place that they want it to be for themselves, this is especially true of Republican administrations, and if selling the idea of a democracy to the people who vote, gets their votes then they will push that barrow to hell and back while paying only lip service to it.