January 6, 2021: More questions than answers

By Patricia H Kushlis

What did Trump know and when did he know it?  Why was Trump reportedly passively watching on television the events unfold on Capitol Hill yet refusing to order the DC, Maryland and Virginia National Guards to help the overrun Capitol and DC police forces stop the violence as his angry and deluded mob attacked Congress? 

Why didn’t he accompany the people on their march to the Hill as he had promised?

And why is Trump so desperate to remain in office when he makes it so obvious that he doesn’t like the job, that he is in way over his head and his performance has been an abject failure? 

Who were the primary organizers?

What role did certain members of Congress play?

What role did Moscow play in promoting and instigating the insurrection at the Capitol? 

Why weren’t the DC National Guard allowed to defend the Capitol and reinforce the vastly outnumbered Capitol and DC Metropolitan police until almost too late? Why and how were calls from Pence, Pelosi and other Congressional leaders finally able to get the Pentagon to release the National Guard? 

Why did the Pentagon refuse to allow Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to respond to calls to send the Maryland National Guard in to help deal with the Trump incited angry mob on January 6 as they attacked the Capitol?  Why did the Pentagon only allow the DC National Guard to direct traffic for hours after the attack had begun?

Did a few Capitol police allow rioters to breach the barricades or were the policy so outnumbered they had no choice?  Who spread the false rumor to the mostly white insurrectionists that the police were on their side? When this failed to transpire, the mob became sorely disappointed and turned on them.  One policeman was brutally killed and others injured as a result. 

Why did Trump’s GOP Congressional supporters object to the results particularly for states other than their own after those results had been recounted, verified and adjudicated in multiple courts? 

Could this, perhaps, have been a delaying tactic to give time for Trump’s mob to disrupt Congress to stop the vote  count so that Trump could enact emergency powers, retain control, establish a dictatorship and nullify the election of Joe Biden as the next president?

Why did Trump fire his chosen Secretary of Defense Doug Esper and others in line of succession at the Pentagon  as well as the Defense advisory board just last fall and replace them with his cronies who he thought would support him regardless of what he said or did?

Where was Secretary of State Pompeo during all of this. What did he know - or does it matter?  He had tried to be out of the country when this occurred so its possible he knew something was up but  his European trip to Brussels and Luxembourg was cancelled because the Europeans refused to meet with him. 

Why has it taken the social media companies so long to ban Trump from Tweeting lie after lie with little or no attempt to stop the spread of his malicious  and unfounded claims?  Freedom of speech is one thing in this country.  Shouting fire in a crowded room is illegal and must be stopped immediately.