By Frederick A. Hurst

Dear John, are you satisfied?!
You may recall, John, that just before elections in November, you asked me, “What harm can it do?” to re-elect Donald Trump for a second term as President of the United States of America. And I told you – in somewhat more elaborate terms – that our imperfect Republic that has been steadily, though slowly, improving since its creation by imperfect but very capable men, was at stake. (See my “Dear John” article on p. 24 of the November 1, 2020 issue of Point of View.)
Maybe, after the events of January 6th, you have a better understanding of what I meant…that is, of course, if you were not among the White insurrectionists that invaded our Capital building with the misguided (for some very much guided) intention of overthrowing our legally elected government and government to be. I know that you were not among them but that doesn’t make you and many others who supported this rogue president, who would turn our democracy into an autocracy, any less complicit.
But for the loss of the election that Donald Trump lost very decidedly to Joe Biden, our country would have suffered four more years of Donald Trump stirring up the cauldron of discontent among those whose inclination toward violence against legitimate government had already reached its irrational breaking point. Can you now imagine how much more damage four more years and many more lies attracting many more misguided believers would have done to America? Maybe not. But what you think, John, no longer counts. Trump lost! And America’s alarm bell has been tripped by the events of January 6th and most Americans now understand the danger of Donald Trump and Trumpism and the existential threats they pose to our Republic. And they even seem to understand more about the racial and ethnic historical underpinnings that fed the rage of so many who embraced Trump and Trumpism. History will not be on your side, John, unless events have reformed you.
And, John, unity, which so many like you are now belatedly proposing, is not the first solution–President Joe Biden’s similar call notwithstanding. Unity before and without accountability is dangerous for people like me…and for the nation for that matter. I don’t know where you stand on it since January 6th, but people like you must first admit publicly that Joe Biden won the election rather than perpetuate the obvious-on-its-face lie that Trump won, which must also include the admission that the Trumpian claim that Black votes are fraudulent is a racist lie.
Furthermore, before unity can be considered, every single person who participated in the assault on our government must be hunted down and punished to the full extent of the law, including those who planned the assault, instigated the assault and actively participated in it. And that must be only the beginning of the rooting out of White nationalism in America, which a conscientious, unified America can relatively easily manage over time…if it chooses to do so. Anything less is a compromise that anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of American history knows will only lead to more intractable problems.
“What harm can it do,” John, to re-elect or even so much as follow this man called Trump who would ignite an insurrection against America? I never believed I could answer your question to your satisfaction because your belief in the man is all but hardwired. Thank God, 80 million Americans felt otherwise, and the Republic held against the onslaught of people who felt entitled to destroy it.
And, one last thing, John. If you haven’t learned your lesson from January 6th and still require more convincing, it won’t come from me. I won’t ever waste another word on you as you become more and more entrapped within a minority of distempered Americans who will soon become marginalized and irrelevant as will become your Republican Party if it doesn’t change course.
But I must admit, John, though I remain disturbed by recent post-election events, as do so many Americans, I feel a guttural delight at the turn of events in this country and thorough vindication…and I genuinely hold out a bit of hope that you and the many others who helped play Trump’s crooked hand will eventually re-enter a new American mainstream free of delusion, vitriol, hate and lies. ■