The spoiled toddler mentality that predominates among the Jan. 6 defendant
One of the more puzzling aspects of the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks by Donald Trump’s deluded minions on the U.S. Capitol and members of Congress is something that for all intents and purposes shouldn’t be puzzling at all: What exactly did they expect to happen if their plans — to “hang Mike Pence,” to attack, kill (and probably rape) Nancy Pelosi, to “ziptie” and presumably torture and kill other Democrats they found — had actually panned out? Did they see themselves as participating in running the country from that point forward, issuing broad edicts that would refashion it in their image? Did they expect Donald Trump, their unquestioned leader, to wave a magic wand and transform the nation into a white supremacist paradise, with every nonwhite person summarily shoved to the back of the bus? One nation, under MAGA, with them on top?
Seriously, how did they view their own roles in the aftermath of this apocalyptic event? Would they contentedly return to their fields, beat their swords into plowshares and settle back into their (presumably) 9 to 5 humdrum day jobs? Or did they fancy themselves acting the more menacing future role of Trump’s private policy enforcers — a “Christian” militia with Gestapo-like powers — imposing this brave new social order at gunpoint on other Americans, maybe going house-to-house? Clearly their scenario expected no pushback from law enforcement, the military or the criminal justice system. Perhaps these were to be refashioned in their image as well?
We’ll never really know these things because their fantasies (thankfully) went unrealized. And since then, reams of ink have been spilled explaining how the events unfolded on Jan. 6. But the dumb arrogance, audacity and staggering, simplistic immaturity exhibited by these people, as they swaggered through the Capitol prepared to inflict violence on the country’s elected representatives is seldom noted. It should be, because it says a lot about the MAGA population in this country and the nature of what motivates them. For all the planning and calls to action spread on their social media sites, this was, in essence, incredibly stupid, spoiled toddler behavior writ large, motivated by infantile impulses with little to no thought about consequences. Helpfully, many proudly recorded themselves that day for posterity, and what they recorded amounts mostly to a piqued desire to kill, maim or break things, without sparing any thought whatsoever about what would or could occur thereafter.
In that respect, it was a day of dangerous adults, acting like babies.
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nymag.com
