On January 6th, 2021 the President of the United States gave a speech that inflamed an already passionate crowd into an angry mob that then conducted an armed insurrection into our nation’s Capitol. This insurrection resulted in the death of five U.S. citizens, including a Capitol police officer.

During that speech, Donald Trump told the crowd that it was their duty to “save our democracy.” “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “Our country has been under siege for a long time,” he said. He repeated the same conspiracy theories and falsehoods regarding voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election that have been disproven and dismissed in courts across the country and by his own Justice Department.

As the crowd chanted “Fight for Trump, fight for Trump,” the President of the United States told U.S. citizens that “our media is not free” and accused the media of suppressing both thought and speech, and accused journalists across the country – once again – of being “the enemy of the people.”

He assured the crowd that he would be there with them when they went to confront their senators and representatives.

“…if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told them. “We’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness they need to take back our country.”

And then he got into his armored vehicle and went back to the White House to watch the hornet’s nest he had stirred erupt on TV, while he hid away, safe and sound.

This is the man that The Advocate wants to quietly go away.

“Is disgrace not punishment enough,” the newspaper published in an editorial this morning, even as they affirmed that yes, the President of the United States “primed and inspired” an insurrection into the nation’s Capitol, disgracing himself and the office of the Presidency.

“America needs to turn the page,” the editorial states.

It is our views here at Big Easy Magazine that it is impossible to turn the page on this dark chapter of our nation’s history until the perpetrators, instigators, and those complicit in this atrocity have been duly punished. We must learn the lessons of history:

In 1923 Adolf Hitler presided over the failed “Beer Hall Putsch” coup in Munich. Though he was sentenced to five years in prison, he was pardoned after serving a little over a year so that Germany could “turn the page” and move on from that moment.

We all know how that turned out. If we are to continue to say “never again,” we must take a stand when we see fascism taking root in our own country.

Even staunch Republican Trump supporters were shocked out of their complacency by the events of Jan. 6th. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel has said that he believes that impeaching Trump is the right thing to do – if for no other reason than to rid the Republican party of “Trumpism.”

When your strongest supporters begin to oppose you as a fascist, it is time to recognize that you are on the wrong side. But Trump will never take responsibility for his actions.

“We will never give up. We will never concede,” he said.

We take him at his word. Donald Trump must be impeached, he must be found guilty, and he must be held accountable for his actions.