Release the Hostages!

03/22/2024

Back in 1980, after President Jimmy Carter lost his bid for a second term to former governor of California and former Hollywood heart throb Ronald Reagan, we witnessed live on television, the power of the presidency. Just mere minutes after Reagan was sworn in, 52 American hostages were released. The images of these weary but happy people getting off that Boeing 727 and stepping onto Algerian soil meant one thing, they were out of the hands of their Iranian captors. I was just a teenager but remember my mother saying, wow, that new president really means business! It wasn’t until years later that I found out that Reagan’s election campaign worked hard to prevent the hostages from being freed before election day. They brokered some kind of deal to make Carter look weak. Boy, poor Carter sure suffered the consequences those last few weeks in office. But my mind focused on those heartbreaking hostages, suffering mentally and at times physically, away from family and familiarity by a foreign adversary. Waiting for a deal to be made for their lives. So why was I shocked to hear that our former, failed, twice impeached, president had decided to christen the January 6 insurrectionists as hostages? The same people who broke through the Capitol building, broke windows and doors, forced themselves inside, called out senators and congress people, chanted to hang the vice president while smearing feces on the walls, these honorable and righteous citizens were now hostages???

Trump has hit many lows throughout his career as a politician, but he’s been reaching new levels the past couple of years. Mainly out of desperation to keep out of jail due to the impending court cases against him but also because of the absolute pleasure he derives from being a man of power. Like any true dictator, or dictator wanna be, he also loves the throngs of people cheering his name, idolizing him, providing him the god-like status that feeds his massive ego. These are the same people who follow him from rally to rally, like he was The Grateful Dead and gushing about how extraordinary he is and how much we need him back as our leader. The newer campaign rallies have a different tone now. More sinister than before, his rallies start with an ominous voice booming over head:

“Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages!”

The crowd rises to their feet, Trump stands up proudly as the National Anthem starts. He raises his hand to salute (who he’s saluting, I don’t know) as they sing in unison a song that represents history, the nation and its’ beliefs. All this in honor of a group of criminal defendants? After this patriotic song, and much applause, Trump takes the mic, thanks the crowd and then thanks the January 6 insurrectionists/rioters/felonious outlaws, rebranding them hostages in only a way that Lord Trump can rebrand anything. “That’s what they are, hostages. They’ve been treated terribly and very unfairly – you know that, and everybody knows that,” he breathlessly claims. Who is this everybody, Mr. Trump?

Hello? Did we witness the same insurrection? I’m sorry but like most Americans I was glued to the TV via C-SPAN for most of that day. My intention was to watch Congress certify the results of the 2020 election. There was talk of a few senators who were planning on objecting the certification and I wanted to watch the gutter snipes in action. But it went horribly wrong. The mob outside of the Capitol broke through barriers, attacked DC police, and poured inside looking for the Speaker and the Vice President. A gallows were built right outside as the crowd chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!” I sat there; mouth open, totally aghast. Who unleashed this unhinged crowd? Why were they trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power? Why were they tearing down a building that was the meeting place of the nation’s legislator, the U.S. Congress?

In the ensuing months, many of the insurrectionists were caught, arrested and brought to justice. Most of these people were charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. There were others who were charged with more serious charges such as assaulting law enforcement officers, trespassing, disrupting Congress, theft or property crimes, weapons offenses and making threats. These are actual crimes that these Trump groupies committed. Crimes. They were adjudicated. They suffered the consequences.

Suffice it to say, these people are in no way, shape or form, hostages. They weren’t taken by force, had their liberty stripped from them, yanked from their loved ones and used by one party as a negotiating tool. Trump supporters knew what they were doing. They went to DC willingly. They joined in the melee with reckless abandon. They scaled the Capitol with the skill of mountain climbers. They proudly wore their MAGA hats and waved their Confederate flags in some bizarre act of solidarity. They were brainwashed by their Fuhrer into believing that the election was stolen, and it was up to them to do something about it. Like good foot soldiers, they obliged. A jail cell is what they got in return. Trump will always keep his hands clean if there are people around him to do his dirty work. That’s the price you pay for being MAGA.