OPINION:
Calling the Capitol invasion of Jan. 6 an attempted coup is an insult to self-respecting coups everywhere.
That piece of anarchistic buffoonery was a tragic embarrassment to the nation in front of the world. It was a mass temper tantrum instigated by a president who refuses to admit defeat, but who has managed to turn a November electoral setback into a full-fledged debacle for the conservative movement in general and the Republican Party in particular. It overshadowed the unnecessary loss of two Senate seats in Georgia, and it will make it much more difficult for conservatives and Republicans to regain the House and Senate in 2022.
The Washington Post, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are pushing for impeachment and calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Mr. Trump from office before his term is complete in a couple of weeks.
That would be a great mistake. First, it would reinforce some deep state conspiracy theories, and could incite Mr. Trump’s most loyal supporters to real violence. Second, it would constitute a real coup which is one small group of elites replacing the existing leadership. It would trigger a constitutional crisis if not civil war. While not admitting defeat, Mr. Trump has agreed to a peaceful transition of power on Jan. 20. It is time to move on.
In Georgia, Mr. Trump screwed up. He should have had the Department of Justice send a massive task force to the state to examine every mail-in ballot and monitor every polling station with U.S. Marshals to ensure against any cheating. Instead, he undermined public confidence in the election process and probably convinced conservative and Republican voters not to come out in critical numbers.
Regarding the chaos at the Capitol, Mr. Trump acted more like a street agitator than a national leader, and his actions overshadowed much of the good he did or at least tried to do during his presidency. Much of his record of keeping taxes low, fighting illegal immigration, making deadbeat allies ante up with defense burdens and keeping us out of unneeded wars will all be overshadowed by the events of Jan. 6.
Many conservative Republicans are furious with Mr. Trump’s actions since the election. He has made the road to 2022 harder. Digging out of the rubble will be difficult, but the Republicans need to dust themselves off and get down to business of moving ahead. The moderates in the Democratic Party are justifiably concerned that radical progressives among them will try to hijack the Biden administration and will look for Republican allies to ward off the worst of it.
Many of Mr. Trump’s most loyal MAGA supporters will likely sit out 2022 due to either pique or lack of confidence in the process. That means that Republicans and conservatives will have to try to forge alliances with Blue Dog and moderate Democrats as well as independents. All of this will have to occur at the local and state levels.
Republicans and conservatives in Congress will also have to tactically hold the line against radical progressive initiatives. This means that they will have to pick their battles carefully. The progressives will go after national defense, immigration and push an increase in ruinously expensive entitlement programs. Again, Republicans will need to reach across the aisle to craft a legislative resistance movement.
The nation’s divisions are stark, and there are violent factions on both sides of the political spectrum, but the republic can ill-afford another Jan. 6. Those who broke into the halls of Congress should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. President Trump has already suffered the defection of some of his most loyal supporters due to his foolishness in inciting the mob. Mr. Trump has some legitimate gripes with the Washington establishment and the mainstream media; he declared war on them, and they were relentless in trying to bring him down. Unfortunately, there is a difference between draining the swamp and destroying it.
The U.S. Constitution is being attacked by both extremes of the political spectrum. A clear message must be sent to MAGA true believers, Antifa and the more violent members of Black Lives Matter. The Constitution allows free expression, but it does not countenance the destruction of private property, the desecration of the halls of Congress or violence against political opponents. I spent two-and-a-half years as a governance adviser in Iraq trying to teach constitutional democracy. One of my Iraqi colleagues recently emailed me asking “WTF?” There will be life beyond Mr. Trump.
• Gary Anderson was a special adviser to the deputy secretary of Defense and served as a senior governance adviser in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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