“What we’re all about”

Via Jamelle Bouie, here’s a summary of yesterday’s fascist insurrection from one of the participants:

It was growing dark. Park lights along the Mall had switched on, illuminating the monuments. On the ground, in the hands of so many retreating protesters, American flags beat in the wind. Atop the Capitol building, now aglow under low-hanging clouds, the same flag flew.

“This is not America,” a woman said to a small group, her voice shaking. She was crying, hysterical. “They’re shooting at us. They’re supposed to shoot BLM, but they’re shooting the patriots.”

A man, possibly her husband, comforted her: “Don’t worry, honey. We showed them today. We showed them what we’re all about.”

Meanwhile, as Max Kennerly points out, we’re nearing the first anniversary of this Bret Stephens joint:

Third, the argument ignores the likely effect that a Sanders or Warren presidency would have on the right.

Chastening? Probably not. Neither candidate is any bit more interested in finding common ground with Republican-leaning voters than Trump was interested in finding it with Democratic-leaning ones. And an assertively left-wing presidency would spark a right-wing backlash that would have all of the fear and rage of the left’s Resistance — but none of its restraint.

Democrats can, and hopefully will, nominate a candidate capable of attracting middle-of-the-road support. They can eschew polarization for persuasion and ideology for pragmatism. They can offer themselves as a sober alternative to a reckless president.

What they can’t do is nominate a reckless candidate of their own and insist it’s the only moral choice. For some of us, none-of-the-above is a viable option. For far too many others, it’ll be the devil they know.

If only the Democrat Party had nominated Joe Biden we wouldn’t have had any of these problems.