78. January 6: Could It Have Been Worse?

The testimony before the January 6 select committee on Donald Trump's attempted coup d'etat has been shattering. Only a few honest officials stood between the President and his push to get approval of alternate (that is, fake) slates of electors in key sates. But could it conceivably have been worse?

Yes. Testimony shows that violent rioters came within forty feet of Vice President Mike Pence, whom they had threatened to kill (members of Pence's security detail were phoning home to say good-bye). Testimony of the leaders of the Proud Boys, shown in the committee's videos, confirms that they would have hung Pence had they captured him. A gallows erected for this purpose is prominent in videos of the event.

In perspective -- let's look at this not in the long sweep of history, or in broad comparison, as is customary in this space. Let's look at this in the framework of an imagined alternate history, considering what might have happened with slight changes of circumstances.

Let's imagine that the Proud Boys managed to navigate those forty feet, seize the Vice President, and carry him to the gallows. The Capitol police, already overwhelmed, are unable to intervene. The riotous crowd, both those who had been chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" and others, stand transfixed by the spectacle of the Vice President being rushed to the noose.

At this point, the President of the United States is glued to the television in the White House dining room. What does he do?

We have reliable testimony that, at about the time this would be taking place, Donald Trump complained to Mark Meadows about Pence being whisked to safety by his security detail. For Donald, apparently, forty feet was too far.

The President was also quoted as saying that maybe those chanting "Hang Mike Pence" had the right idea. At the height of the riot, he sent out a tweet saying that "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

So it is not at all certain that, seeing his Vice President being dragged to the gallows, the President would have intervened -- or would have done so in time to prevent the Proud Boys from accomplishing their mission.

But if the worst happened -- if a political assassination were carried out on national television by a mob inspired by a rogue president -- what would have followed? At this point, maybe the shock of such an ugly scene would restore sanity?

The National Guard would have finally intervened with force sufficient to squelch the insurrection. The murderers would be seized and put on trial. Replacing the Vice President, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, Senator Charles Grassley, would have presided over the certification of Biden's victory. (Grassley is on record in opposition to what Trump wanted Pence to do).

And Trump? Swept aside by a firestorm from a nation finally awakened to the corrosive forces at its very core -- the only positive side of what was otherwise one of the nation's very darkest moments.