Nightmare Scenario #2: Imminent Assassination Attempts on Democratic Senators and Representatives? Also on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

Are Democratic senators and representatives in imminent danger of being assassinated, in order to prevent a second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13? Are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in danger of being assassinated before their inauguration on January 20?

There is much speculation of the Capitol being surrounded by a couple of thousand heavily armed Trump supporters to prevent Democratic senators and representatives from entering and instituting impeachment proceedings. But there may well be plans to assassinate them at their homes or on their way to the Capitol. Are adequate precautions being taken? Are Biden and Harris being protected by only a small number of bodyguards who could easily be overwhelmed?

There is a real risk of a fascist/communist, Hitler/Lenin style violent takeover attempt, which appears to be Trump’s last chance at remaining in power and avoiding multiple indictments, prison, and financial ruin. Sedition and the Mueller indictments are looming. Hitler was given more than one chance to take over as Germany’s dictator. He eventually succeeded. Giving Trump and his followers more than one chance may be their ticket to improbable success. The storming of the Capitol on January 6 was their first try, possibly intended as a dry run, a precursor to a full-fledged paramilitary attack.

The United States should never find itself in the current risky situation, not even remotely. It is the fault of decades of deficient public school education leaving large numbers of Americans severely undereducated, angry and frustrated at being left far behind economically and socially, and mentally disturbed. That is the fault of decades of unqualified, incompetent presidents, senators, representatives, governors, and mayors who did nothing to ensure that every single American youth got, at a minimum, a truly excellent public school education.

A truly excellent public school education requires having an enlightened curriculum, providing a “Renaissance” education which serves as a solid base for having an interesting and enjoyable life, for understanding how the world works, and for understanding one’s self and others. Such a curriculum would include high school courses in 1) logic and critical thinking; 2) economics and investing; 3) analysis of domestic and world history in great detail from 1900 to the present; 4) ethics and empathy; 5) the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the history of human rights violations; 6) introductory law and Constitutional law; 7) comparative religion; 8) history of art, architecture, and design; 9) history of music; 10) the major mistakes in economic, social, and foreign policy of the past 100 years and which would have been the correct policies; 11) a four-year course in psychology accompanied by indispensable “group therapy” and “good parenting” workshops.

Of critical importance is to provide individual assistance to students having academic or psychological difficulties, in order to prevent them from falling behind and dropping out. For uniform public school excellence nationwide, we need an enlightened national core curriculum and a serious national high school graduation exam, with federally funded college scholarships for low-income students. A well-educated citizenry being in the national interest, public schools should be financed by the federal government, particularly since not all states and localities have sufficient means to provide excellent public schools. And to ensure complete equal opportunity, all public schools should provide well-organized after-school activities in the arts and sports, on all weekends and holidays, including over the entire summer break.

All the above is essential to have a socially and economically prosperous society, with serene, satisfied citizens and minor political disagreements. When will we have political leaders who realize this? Only when we require all our political candidates to be truly qualified, which means being capable of explaining the major mistakes in economic, social, and foreign policy of the past 100 years, and which would have been the correct policies.

© Edward Sonnino 2021

January 13, 2021