For this cadre of the fascist type, January 6 may be seen as a rehearsal. It also took place in large parts of the United States, where state parliaments and other public buildings were threatened by armed Trump supporters. In Arizona’s capital Phoenix, a guillotine was placed in front of the State House. In Atlanta, Georgia’s secretary of state and staff must be evacuated as hundreds of gunmen gather. In Ohio and California, Black Lives Matter supporters and others were attacked. Similar reports come from New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Of course, Trump’s promise never to give up but to build his movement for future battles is similar to the pure wishful thinking of the defeated. But here are those who take the words bloody seriously and systematically work to make them a reality.

The Republican establishment may now be torn to pieces and most of its representatives in the Senate approved the election, several have openly distanced themselves from Trump. But there are also right-wing radicalized parts that form the bridge between the street’s fascist militias and stormtroopers and institutional power at various levels.

At the time of writing, it is not clear why the Washington Congress building with its 2,000 regular police and security devices was so unprotected or why the National Guard was not called in despite the openly declared threats of mass protests to disrupt the electoral roll. But it is hardly a far-fetched guess that the police and military United States have many allies of Trump.

It is precisely in historical moments that these developments can be reversed. The Democratic Party is a wing of the country’s bourgeoisie and it has not lifted Biden to the presidency to pursue a policy in the interests of the majority. He represents large companies and the financial sector and is in the process of filling his future government with representatives from there. But with the far right temporarily sprained after the storm in Washington and with the presidential power and Congress in their hands, Biden has no excuses for continued right-wing politics if he is put under pressure from below.

And there is no time to lose here.

American society must be urgently put on its feet by both the millions of people who hope for a brightening after the Trump years and the broad working class people who have been misled by the right-wing agitation. Continued disintegration of neoliberalism, mass poverty and social impoverishment along with indecision towards Trumpism and its allies will give the stormtroopers we saw in action on January 6 just the time they need to transform the rehearsal into the real show. That fight will also be waged against Biden and the leadership of the Democratic Party, the last thing they want is popular movements with self-confidence that demand equality, justice and welfare. Our hope is for the forces that in recent years have shown that the United States is so much more than the banner of big business and imperialism, from politicians of Bernie Sanders’ cut to activists in Black Lives Matter, it abounds in campaigns for health care reforms and other social reforms to the socialist currents that have smelled morning air in the tracks of these movements.

7 January 2021

Socialistisk Politik (Sweden)