What Trump Meant By ‘Make Your Voices Heard’

Convincing people they need to prevent a coup when no such coup exists is a recipe for violence. 

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The president of the United States incited a mob. It was a disgraceful, inexcusable, impeachable act. 

Donald Trump’s defenders offer any number of excuses in order to shave off the shame. The media didn’t condemn riots last summer by left-wing groups, and therefore this was inevitable or just desserts or something.

Others simply spread more lies. The people waving Trump flags and shouting “Fight for Trump” who ransacked the U.S. Capitol were actually members of Antifa, they claim with no evidence. Some even argue that most of the intruders were peaceful tourists who simply didn’t realize that bum-rushing the police and breaking down doors isn’t how you visit the Capitol.

It’s an insult to our collective intelligence. But there is one argument worth engaging: Trump supporters just want to be “heard.” 

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  1. Avatar photo
    JCroz

    I came to believe (in my graduate-level classes in history) that the right way to understand someone is to endeavor to understand him or her as they understand themselves. It’s tricky, and maybe not really possible in the end, trapped as we are within our own perspectives. But the question of how to reach a mind that inhabits a separate worldview from one’s own is something that perhaps only religious missionaries have ever managed. Even professional apologists seem to spend most of their time teaching fellow believers rather than engaging the ‘other.’ It’s HARD. But it becomes even harder when the difference of worldview is a matter of heated public controversy. Each worldview develops self-preservation mechanisms that grow harder to penetrate or evade in parallel with outside attempts to persuade. “All I want...” or “I just...” are part of the defense mechanism for the worldview—presenting as the bailey in a motte-and-bailey pair or as a dissembling excuse (which they might be)—whose primary function is to shield the core belief from being undermined. In some cases, things that really aren’t big enough to be worldviews take on the character of world-encompassing narratives, as the belief in Donald Trump as savior seems to have done. Its attendant untruths, wild speculations and unfounded claims are all part of the worldview’s outer layers as it gets fleshed out in response to various pressures, and the “We just want to be heard” is only one of them. I think Yuval Levin’s argument that the Capitol riot reveals a rebellion against reality puts a fine point on what’s really going on. I have intelligent and decent friends who inhabit a completely enclosed alternate worldview, leaving me with the burning question: how are we supposed to inspire them to embrace something that is at once messy and unsatisfying, as the truth usually is? “Please leave your tidy narrative and enter a world where it’s hard to know many things with certainty, where you often must be content with half a loaf, where compromise and inconsistency are unavoidable.” It’s...a tough sell, you might say.

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    L L Cool A

    I think their logic is this: if they were getting their message across (not being shadow banned or ignored by the msm) then the rest of the country would be agreeing with them. The fact that there is a majority of Americans who believe the election is legit means we haven't been exposed to the "facts".

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  3. JEllis

    You can bet that Trump will continue to mention his election was stolen, even years after the event, for he has become the Stacey Abrams of the right (using the term loosely, since he is not really a conservative).

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    Octávio Lima

    The worst part of it is how many people actually believed, and still believe, what the President says. Even more disturbing is the fact the default answer is "what about". What about the Democrats? What about the summer riots? What about Portland? What about the non-prosecution of the previous rioters?

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      rlritt

      Really I saw a poll today that said 55% of Americans don't think Trump excited this riot. Unbelievable.

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        Octávio Lima

        Indeed.

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    2. Avatar photo
      Narwhal

      “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”

      https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

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    3. Avatar photo
      Narwhal

      From the article, “Donald Trump’s defenders offer any number of excuses in order to shave off the shame. The media didn’t condemn riots last summer by left-wing groups, and therefore this was inevitable or just desserts or something.”

      But, Mom he started it! Do two wrongs make a right or not? I’m not a parent, but I remember being a child.

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        Octávio Lima

        I too remember being a child, Narwhal. And my mother did not take it too kindly to these excuses...

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          Narwhal

          Mine either.

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      Pat Riot

      The bottom line from Trump supporters is: no, we won't hold Trump accountable for what happened and never will.

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        rlritt

        Sad.

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  5. VcL

    This is a question for those who are old enough to remember what things were like during the race riots and Vietnam protests. I was born in 1966, so I wasn't old enough to be aware of any of it. I guess what I'm asking is were people worried then that our system of government would fall apart? This is the first time in my life that I have felt that fear.

    9/11 was horrible, but I felt proud and patriotic about our response. I stood in line for 9 hours to give blood, and local businesses went up and down the line handing out food and water. People from all walks of life were united in their outrage and desire to do something - anything - to help.

    As I have reflected on the last few weeks and the events of Wednesday, I wonder if we will ever feel united again. I just don't think we can continue as a nation when we can't even agree on basic facts. Looking for someone to tell me I'm overreacting...

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      Pat Riot

      Hello. Optimism Man here...

      You correctly point out that in previous nationwide times of crisis we at least had one notion of how to solve the problem--or even that there was a problem.

      Today, Rush Limbaugh commended the violence. He correctly point out that, if the election was stolen and the courts won't do anything about it, then the only alternative is violence.

      We've got a much bigger problem than we ever have before...

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      1. Very Old Grumpy Guy

        Not to be a jerk, but isn't the clock about to run out on Rush?

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          Pat Riot

          He will be replaced by somebody else the minute he's gone. The Pillow Guy still has lots of pillows to sell.

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    2. Very Old Grumpy Guy

      I am optimistic. I think this was the wake up call needed to purge Trumpism from the Republican party. I am only a little older than you, but the 60/70's were worse than today. We have no credible external existential threat. This replay, the violence will be much reduced and it will come from the right.

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        Pat Riot

        Or purge the Republican party of non-Trumpism. They made a very conscious decision to pick Trump voters over moderates in Georgia and they would do it again: they would have lost by a lot more had they told the Trump voters to stuff it.

        Non-Trump Republicans should be thinking in terms of a new party and also making due with the Democrats for the short term...

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        1. Very Old Grumpy Guy

          I hear you. I used to think similarly -that Trump would maintain control of the Republicans until he died, lost interest or was incarcerated. The mechanism was that he would control enough primary voters to decide almost all Republican primaries. I now think that ship has sailed. I think this action was repulsive enough that he can be mostly, safely ignored. I hope I am right as a one party system is very unhealthy.

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            Pat Riot

            I one party system wouldn't last even a full cycle--things would equalize pretty quickly with a third party if the GOP started losing elections like crazy.

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      2. VcL

        Thanks....I pray you are right. This will sound strange, but knowing the 60/70s were worse gives me hope.

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  6. James Bennett

    It's sad that Trump has turned the GOP into nothing more than white working class grievance politics. He's not Benito Mussolini, he's Al Sharpton.

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    rlritt

    Thank you. I have always hated the term real Americans. I dislike Trump, I don't listen to Fox news because I hate partisan news shows whether right or left. I truly believe Biden will be a much better president than Trump on his best days. By extention that must mean I'm not a real American. My father's family is from Virginia and has lived there since the early 1700's. My mothers side was from Nebraska via Wisconsin in the early 1800's. How can I be a more real American? My husband's ancestor brought the first printing press to the the Colonies in the 1600's. How are we not Americans? Because we respect the law and the Constitution? Because we are educated? Because we're not racists? Because we don't worship Rush Limbaugh or Trump. Because we refuse to vote for folks that talk about "real Americans" ?

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    David Chen

    I'm halfway through 'Divided We Fall'. I feel like David French is going to get optioned for a sequel soon.

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    1. Counterpoint

      Let’s hope the sequel isn’t “Divided we fell.” I’m feeling ok though - for some reason I was really encouraged by Garland for AG. A wide choice to back away from putting someone hyper political in that role.

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        Bayesian

        Yes, a Garland for the AG :) I'm cool with it, although it probably wouldn't be my first choice if I had to choose (and had a whole array of people pressing opinions on me). It's also tactically smart in that it open Garland's seat for Ketanji Brown Jackson, as part of the, err, grooming (of KBJ) for the next SCOTUS seat (given that Biden promised to nominate a Black - and most preferably AfAm - woman to SCOTUS, the options available are somewhat limited).

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  9. Ron Barry

    Jonah - You are spot-on with this assessment. I also appreciate the thoughtfulness and insight reflected in NotOpie's comments below. Common sense is not yet completely dead.

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    Amanda

    By the way, as someone that *has* visited the Capitol (journeying from New York), it is just another feeling that the Before Times are not just marked by the pandemic (or its absence). We felt at our ease, safely admiring, and sharing friendly remarks with a Capitol policeman. I really feel for all that went through the trauma of the siege, and I'm appalled at K. Harris for blaming the officers, when they apparently did everything they could despite being overrun by the hordes. And we must also ask why EARLY reports for reinforcements were NOT forthcoming. How long did Trump refuse to send in the National Guard and who in fact decided to send it in? Instead of accusing police of 'allowing' in extremists -- does Harris live in the real world, or were they supposed to wave magic wands? -- how about condemning the extremists? Why were the insurrectionists not immediately set upon by a large deployment of servicemen?

    We need to secure the Capitol, and indeed all state capitols, first. We need to remove the president from power. And then we need to investigate, thoroughly and completely, what happened at the Capitol and in the chain of command on January 6th.

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    1. Anonymous

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        Amanda

        Well, considering that the DC mayor reportedly refused reinforcements and didn't want the National Guard present to protect the Congress before or on 6th January, I don't think even the commanders bear the main fault. Quite clearly, neither Trump nor the mayor wanted Washington any better protected than it was. Attacking the police at any level seems, from what we can know as of now, is absolutely uncalled-for.

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          Amanda

          Pardon the typo: should be 'seems absolutely uncalled-for': a slight hedge but not much : )
          I do wish we could edit our comments!

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