Reminder that many people on this very forum cited that poll earlier about how 45% or so of Republicans seemingly supported the attacks, and in the process acted prematurely before things settled.
Using this poll is also "premature." Recall how opinion shifted in the weeks after the Floyd killing - what matters far more than where public opinion stands is (a)how salient an issue is and (b)how easy it is to change the stance held by a critical mass.
If an initial putsch had somehow succeeded, or otherwise played out differently, I do wonder how many people would have ultimately accepted it as just. I still wouldn't rule out partisans increasingly backing the protesters as polarisation sets in, especially if Trump et al. choose to dig their heels in over it.
As with the rest of this presidency, it is crappy execution providing a useful learning experience for future, competent authoritarians.
And just like after the Floyd killing the media and other forces have once again taken a moment where there is (mostly) a consensus of outrage and a recognition that a system or a current way of doing things is broken and has, instead, turned it into a situation where they chose to paint with too broad a brush in an attempt to paint those who don’t fit into their cultural or ideological bubble as degenerate enablers.
Before we saw the case where the recognition that police reform and racial injustice was a problem that we as a nation either ignored or swept under a rug. That wasn’t good enough. In the weeks after it became silly season where wearing certain sneakers meant you failed to acknowledge your white privilege. And, once again, the media folks overplayed their hand and people went back to their tribal holes.
Now, instead of focusing on the events of Wednesday and the troubling words those who instigated the acts, we once again have a situation where certain actors and institutions want to shame everyone they can tangentially associate with those responsible. Instead of encouraging and welcoming the evolution of people who were perhaps once supportive of Trump or the GOP who now say “you know what, this is it for me, this isn’t what I want and things do need to be different”, I’ve seen a lot of shaming of these people with “why now? Where have you been for four years?”. While it may have a basis in truth, it’s unhelpful. And, once again, I’ve already started to see people slink back to their traditional partisan posture.
