ArcaMax

The simple truth about Jan. 6: The mob attack on the Capitol was the best day of Donald Trump's life.

Before you cast your ballot for president, you need to know that. And it's my fate to tell the tale again.

Trump loved every moment of the deadly riot, which is why he refused to call off the rampage for three hours and counting.

Look, what loyalty! What a crowd size on the National Mall! And what high ratings (compared to his sparsely attended inaugural promising to stop "American carnage")!

These are the three things that matter most to Trump.

The seditious spectacle was a nightmare for almost all Americans. For Trump, it was a glorious vision, a dream come true, a unique place in the American story. Nobody can take that away.

That's my message as a witness to that dark day and journey into night, starting inside the august House chamber. There we heard breaking glass, pounding footsteps, frenzied howls and gunfire. Members of Congress and the press were trapped.

The president invited and incited the mob's brutal violence on scores of police officers and the lightly guarded building, with Congress captive inside. That was an extremist plan hatched to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election victory by violence -- any means necessary.

Far from a spontaneous uprising, this was a carefully orchestrated conspiracy. The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers coordinated the blueprint for "the war within," as I call it.

"Insurrection" is too good a word.

The whole world was watching this rough crowd lay siege to the temple of democracy. The scene was unthinkable -- until it happened. For authorities, it was a true failure of imagination. The FBI did not heed the open chatter on the internet of sharing hotel rooms and rides to Washington.

Congress was carrying out a constitutional ritual, certifying the Electoral College count. This is why the date was cunningly chosen, knowing the House and Senate would be in session.

As a reporter, I covered the streets of Baltimore, but nothing prepared me for this. Everyone froze in silence as we saw a gun standoff in front of our eyes, through the chamber's main door's jagged glass. These were the longest moments of our lives before we made it to lockdown, all at work in the Capitol.

American democracy won, but not by much, faced with Trump's last stand to hold onto power. Such mass political violence by Americans against the government had never happened before. The Capitol was never touched by the Confederates in the Civil War.

In grim bliss, Trump ignored pleas from White House aides, lawyers and family all afternoon. Nobody could stop his beautiful day of revenge. "Will be wild!" he'd promised his followers.

"If you don't fight like hell," Trump, wearing sinister black gloves, threatened in a warmup high-noon rally, "you won't have a country anymore."

The armed throng of 30,000 showed up from all corners of the country. They eagerly took Trump's marching orders to head for the Capitol dome in the distance, swarm the steps, scale white marble walls and jam the elegant Olmsted terrace. They ransacked the place, the beloved citadel.

Several hundred rioters have since been sentenced to prison, which I hope chills plots of future violence. Yet how remarkable that the instigator, Trump, walks the streets a free man, by the grace of Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The nation's top law enforcement officer proved a pussyfoot in pursuing Trump's indictments. A New York trial judge and jury showed courage in convicting the ex-president of 34 (unrelated) felony counts.

At the end of the day, the FBI was last to know the mob had a list of whom they wanted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Mike Pence and others barely escaped grave danger.

My point is, the events of Jan. 6 could have been worse, bad as they were. The Duke of Wellington said winning the Battle of Waterloo was a near thing.

The 800 Metropolitan Police officers who rushed to the crime scene saved us.

As we cast our ballots, I'm sending out a clarion call not to embolden Trump by rewarding his bloodstains on our history's hands.

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The author may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

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