Warmongers use Capitol takeover to whitewash their toxic legacies
Speaking out against Trumpism is hardly enough for career warmongers to earn their spot on the right side of history.
Of all the many good reasons Americans could justify storming the US Capitol - seven ongoing US wars and occupations, bare-bones COVID-19 assistance, racial justice and police brutality - loyalty to Donald Trump is among the most ridiculous.
Equally ridiculous has been the blitz of whitewashing going on in the media and the blatant capitalization of a moment by otherwise monstrous individuals desperate to rehabilitate their tarnished images.
It started with Mike Pence, who - up until recently - had been going along with and defending the administration, only to seemingly abort the Trump train two weeks before Biden’s inauguration by refusing Trump’s call to help him overturn the 2020 election results.
On Twitter, Pence has been described with words like “brave” and “hero”, while on cable news, he has been portrayed as some kind of a victim.
Some are even willing to ignore the fact that Pence is a far-right homophobic warmonger and make him President for the next two weeks.
But Pence isn’t the only one eager to bleach his soiled reputation.
In fact, it seems as though every major warmonger - from Hillary & Bill Clinton to Rudy Giuliani to George & Jeb Bush to Mitt Romney to Mitch McConnell to Nancy Pelosi - have also jumped at the opportunity to speak up as if they are somehow bastions of anything resembling a moral compass.
But let me assure you: they are not.
In conjunction with this, many of these same people and their supporters are desperately parroting the “we’re all on the same side” card.
But let me assure you: we are not.
Even serial rapist Bill Cosby has hopped on board, tweeting:
Perhaps one of the most dangerous byproducts of Trumpers storming the Capitol is the perpetuation of a mentality that pretends as though anyone who says Trumpism is bad and displays an open willingness to speak out against it is, by default, somehow immediately absolved of previous wrongdoings.
But this shouldn’t be the case.
Mike Pence spent the bulk of his political career pushing for needless US wars while suppressing LGBTQ rights and being an unapologetic homophobe.
The Clintons and the Bush family are directly responsible for millions of absolutely needless deaths across the Middle East.
Nancy Pelosi and her supporters have made it a point to provide billions to defense companies and other corporate interests while simultaneously dragging their feet on public pandemic relief and healthcare access in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bill Cosby has assaulted more women than one can count on both hands.
And speaking of rapists, the media is also working overtime to paint Joe Biden as some kind of a savior from the chaos - even though Biden’s cabinet is actively being stuffed with special interests while Biden continues backtracking on campaign pledges, including one that would undo Trump-era immigration policies.
The fact that these people - and people like them - are willing to speak out against Trumpism shouldn’t be reason enough to whitewash their toxic legacies, nor should it be sufficient cause to pretend as though they have somehow earned their spot as being on the right side of history.