Double Standard Governing

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

This is the military oath of office. I affirmed it when I joined the Army. My uncle affirmed it many years before me when he joined the Marines. My brother, my sister, my son, and other members of my family affirmed it. We have served in peacetime and during times of war. I remain in touch with colleagues from my days in the military and later as a military spouse. They are like family to me. The military is a tight community that has communities within communities. Bigotry exists within the military along with corruption and even criminal activity. It is no paragon of virtue but it does seek to do one thing well: defend the Constitution.

The insurrection on Capitol Hill was horrible. I viewed it both as a Black woman and as a veteran. I didn’t need yesterday to prove America’s double standard when it comes to adjudicating its laws. The American judicial system - including its police forces - consistently and aggressively discriminates against Black people while turning a blind eye or giving a mere slap on the hand - if that - to white criminals. One has but to look at Donald Trump’s tenure as president to see the way our system practices a double standard of governing. Black people have responded - rightly so - to his criminal behavior by stating the obvious, “If Black people did this…”

This double standard of governing has been most apparent in the way Black people have been treated by the police. The Black Lives Matter movement arose out of centuries of torture, trauma, and the extrajudicial killings of Black people by corrupt and racist police under the cover of laws and union contracts that give them cover and ensure their continued employment. Back the Blue and Blue Lives Matter became the counterprotest slogans because of course, white supremacists needed to portray a “noble” front to their racist interventions. They created a palatable theme capable of flowing with the longstanding trope that the police must protect and serve white America against the Black savage brute. In this 21st century, that trope was shaped by describing the call of Black people for justice against excessive police force as dubious at best and immoral at worst. To challenge the integrity of any police officer in America was viewed as an unwillingness to follow the rule of law.

Against this backdrop, Republicans won the 2016 election with a law and order platform, championed by Donald J. Trump, an unethical leader spewing a back to the great old days rhetoric. Over his tenure, he’s used the military as a show of force against Black Lives Matter protests. This attitude that white people will be hurt whenever Black people gather in large numbers to protest injustice has always been dangerous. That is the way of bigotry. It is always dangerous; always life-threatening. It almost always preys on white fear of others. Four years after Trump’s election, his followers had soaked up large doses of propaganda telling them to fight, to protect their president even if in doing so they would lose their lives. While they were standing up for their president, he was sitting down on the job, vacationing at every opportunity, and spending vast amounts of taxpayer money for his lavish lifestyle. Our tax dollars were also used to cover up the crimes he committed prior to the election and to pay for crimes he openly committed while in office.

January 6, 2021, was the culmination of a 4-year crime spree by a white man elected to the highest office in the land. He has done as he pleased, harmed whomever he pleased, all while thumbing his nose at Democratic leaders of the House and Senate as they have tried to hold him accountable. He has done this with impunity and with the support of Republicans. For 4-years, he has incited extremists. He has stoked the flames of racism, hatred, and division. He has lied incessantly and has compelled others within his administration - a cadre of spineless bootlickers eager for their turn at the helm of power - to lie.

Yet, what happened on January 6, 2021, was more than a culmination. It was a marker on a timeline across American history. It’s been cooking in the blood of all those who stormed those halls and those who nurtured them to become the people they have become. People so full of hatred and fear that they could so easily be incited by Trump, his family members, and politicians who have sold their souls in hopes of one-day becoming leaders of this tyranny. None of this will be solved after Trump is no longer president. Others are already lining up in hopes of leading this flock of unmoored and violent deplorables. One of our initial tasks is to remember that day and remember it well.

“Fight for Trump,” roared the mob of people intent on acts of violence. Rudy Giuliani declared, “Let’s have trial by combat.” After speeches from Trump and his team of traitors to the Constitution, this crowd of mostly white Trumpsters easily breached security. Capitol Hill police were not prepared for that day because the image of thousands of majority white people descending upon the city to stop the certification of the electoral votes was never seen as a threat even with weeks of evidence pointing to the contrary. They destroyed property. Urinated and defecated in the halls of Congress. Threatened Black police officers calling them niggers. They felt no ignominy on that day and will not likely feel it in the days to come. Among them were not only police officers but also active duty and military veterans. Traitors to the oath they affirmed. They have been emboldened by a ruthless, autocratic leader. Rather than care for the lives of the people whom he leads, the “law and order” president, Donald J. Trump refused to call out the National Guard to guarantee the safety of American citizens. Even as members of Congress were in hiding, fearing for their lives, even as at least one of his followers was shot dead in her attempt to seize Capitol Hill, even as one police officer was being murdered, and even as 3 others were losing their lives in this insurrection which he incited - Trump betrayed his oath of office. There was no law and order on that day because it has never been about law and order. The Blue Lives Matter movement has always been a racist response to calls for equality and liberation for Black and Brown people. It is this movement that has proven to be a terrorist organization.

In June, I wrote that Trump was a threat to national security. I saw it coming. It remains true. Now, calls for impeachment or removal by the 25th Amendment are being floated by politicians. There are reports “of concerns from high ranking military officials that Trump is unfit for office.” We are in unchartered territory the likes of which we have never seen before and hopefully will never see again. One thing is clear: The military must not obey unlawful orders from Trump. Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) clarifies the induction oath in that way. The military must defend the Constitution, not a tyrannical leader. It must hold accountable those within its ranks who in any way participated in the insurrection. Those members of the military who were part of the insurrection MUST be punished to the highest extent of the applicable law. We must find them, hold them accountable, and never forget how deep the seeds of corruption were on that day.

Sadly, Americans tend to have short memories. Already people are debating whether democracy will be harmed if Trump is arrested and made to stand trial for the many criminal allegations against him. Members of his cabinet are scurrying to find jobs to tuck themselves away into obscurity. Inciting an armed and deadly insurrection was their “had enough” moment. Not the kidnapping of immigrant children from their parents; not the Muslim ban, not pictures of children and adults sleeping on cold concrete floors in overcrowded detention facility cages; not describing African countries as shithole countries; not the holding out military aid to Ukraine while he solicited election assistance. How tragic that they will likely be reintegrated into society with no criminal record - though their souls are scarred to eternity.

A new government has been elected. One whose leader promises to “build back better.” Well, I’m of the mind that some things need to be demolished with no building back, not even with hopes of renovation. America deserves a government that strips away unequal justice in our nation. Biden MUST NOT lead this country with that stain on the books and that pain in the hearts of Black, Brown, and Native Americans. End it! Then build healthy and true relationships with our communities not based on lies. There is much that can and should be accomplished in the majority Democratic political order. Biden cannot do everything, but in the first two years, he needs to govern like he intends to build the “more perfect Union” that benefits the very citizens who have given him the highest gift a democracy can give a politician: the consent of the governed.