For the last few years, the Democrats have been using the events of January 6th to wield as both shield and sword against Republicans, and specifically against Donald Trump.

Now, I’m going to say this again for the people in the back. January 6th was a riot. It was awful. It was not a good day for this country by any stretch of the imagination. But it was not an “insurrection” or an “attack on democracy.” It was a riot that was under control within a few hours – unlike, say, Minneapolis or Kenosha – and while police were assaulted, there were no deaths from those assaults, despite the media’s narrative.

But between prosecutions and internal investigations and committees and an admission by Nancy Pelosi that there had not been the appropriate security measures taken, the Democrats have seized upon the narrative that they have carried onward for years at this point. The first narrative is that Donald Trump “incited” the riot on January 6th, and then didn’t do enough to stop it. Second, that Trump is a distinctly unique “threat to democracy” because January 6th happened. That is why they have continued to go back to the January 6th well, even though it has long run dry in the imagination of the American public. To most people, it was a riot that was badly handled. There have been prosecutions, but some have had excessive punishments. There was a committee, but they destroyed or withheld evidence. The American people have moved on. Democrats need January 6th to stay fresh, because they need to justify their own exercise of power in order to “save democracy.”

This is why Liz Cheney (who for all intents and purposes is a Democrat now) has said that she expects another January 6th “every four years.” The specter of another January 6th must be omnipresent, otherwise how can Democrats try to convince the public that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy? But if the polls are any indication, the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is a dead heat – which means that Trump isn’t coming off as the scary boogeyman that the Democrats need him to be. This is why Kamala Harris pulled a hamstring during the debate by claiming that January 6th was THE WORST THING EVER – something deeply warped to say on the eve of September 11th, when hijackers deliberately targeted buildings that symbolized America’s strength in business, military, and government (remember, Flight 93 was likely headed to either the Capitol Building or the White House) – and directly blamed Donald Trump for it.
https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1833943103423873222

So why not remind everyone that January 6th could happen all over again by pre-emptively declaring January 6, 2025 a “National Special Security Event” that will be handled by the Secret Service?

Inbox: “The 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, 2025, has been designated a National Special Security Event by the Secretary of Homeland Security.” @SecretService pic.twitter.com/S0mqegkpIm

— Sam Lisker (@slisker) September 11, 2024

I’m sure there’s absolutely no ulterior motives involved here. (That was sarcasm.)

The Department of Homeland Security has designated the Jan. 6 count as a national special security event, affording it a level of security similar to events like the State of the Union address and the Super Bowl. The Secret Service will oversee planning.

The designation, a first for the certification of electoral votes, marks an effort to avoid a repeat of the chaos nearly four years ago when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol to disrupt that year’s count affirming Joe Biden’s victory.

“National Special Security Events are events of the highest national significance,” Eric Ranaghan, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Dignitary Protective Division, said in a statement Wednesday. “The U.S. Secret Service, in collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”

The designation has typically been reserved for special events like the Republican and Democratic national conventions, the United Nations General Assembly and presidential inaugurations.

The Secret Service said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser had requested the designation. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.

The Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, also cited reports from the former House Jan. 6 committee and the Government Accountability Office, which had asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to consider the enhanced security measures.

The designation will unlock federal, state and local resources to be used in its security plan, the Secret Service said. It added that a panel of representatives from various levels of law enforcement will meet “in the coming weeks” to work on planning.

Um, did anyone think about the optics of having the Secret Service – an agency currently not held in the highest regard after its colossal f**k-up that nearly got Donald Trump killed, which still has a LOT of answers to provide regarding what happened at the Butler rally on July 13th, not to mention their cover-ups during the Biden administration regarding dog bites and cocaine in the White House – was maybe not the BEST choice to have plan this “National Special Security Event”? No?

As much as Democrats are trying to wishcast another January 6th into existence, they have to know that something like that will never happen again. Even if there is another organized rally (remember, they had permits for the original rally in 2021), does anyone really think anyone organizing would be dumb enough to plan it for January 6th and take that risk? And even if someone was that dumb to do that, would anyone look at it and NOT think it was a set-up by law enforcement?

Look, Secret Service and Homeland Security can plan for next January 6th by putting up fences and bulking up security and making all sorts of grandiose plans for multiple contingencies. Go for it, knock yourselves out. This will be like planning a party that no one shows up for – and if anyone does, then they are likely deliberately baiting law enforcement. Democrats want another January 6th. They NEED another January 6th. They want it because they are desperate to prove to themselves and everyone else that Donald Trump is the problem and the threat. It’s all they’ve got. And if the mob that they are preparing for never shows up, then what?

The truth is that no matter which way the election goes, this will be the last presidential election where Donald Trump is a candidate. After that, Democrats will need to find a new boogeyman. But they’ve built up Trump as this super-duper danger to democracy, someone who is just the WORST THING EVER. And they forgot they said that about George W. Bush. They forgot they said that about John McCain. They forgot they said that about Mitt Romney. They forgot that’s how they ended up with Donald Trump in the first place. And the minute there’s a new Republican presidential nominee in 2028, they’ll forget that they called Donald Trump anything, because the current candidate is, to Democrats, ALWAYS “the worst one” they’ve ever seen. And if the next one is always the worst one, then they can keep pretending that another January 6th is just around the corner.

Featured image: Crowd on January 6, 2021 at US Capitol via TapTheForwardAssist on Wikimedia Commons, cropped and modified, CC BY-SA 4.0