Roll out the red carpet for...
... Congress to cry NIMBY
Why has the democratic controlled House of Representatives decided to hold a “primetime” congressional hearing AND hire a former tv executive to “produce” the hearings? Did you even know that the January 6th (of 2021) Congressional hearing was starting tonight? What is going on?
To me, the reaction from our politicians to January 6th is best understood through NIMBY regulations. Before I get to NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard), let’s review the purpose of the January 6th hearing.
January 6th Riot timeline -
120,000 - supporters who showed up for the rally
12 p.m. - Trump speaks to supporters outside the White House
1 p.m. - First wave of protestors breach barriers around the Capitol
1:05 p.m. - Nancy Pelosi begins process of counting electoral ballots
1:30 p.m. - Protestors get inside the Capitol
2:00 p.m. - Damage to windows, etc of Capitol begins
Before 6 p.m. - police start to clear Capitol (about 5 hours of “rioting”)
7 p.m. - Facebook and Twitter start removing Trump from social media
8 p.m. - Congress resumes electoral ballot counting to begin process to declare Joe Biden the new President
January 6th Riot arrests and damage -
775+ = people who had been arrested as of March 2022
Approximately $1.5 million in damages to U.S. Capitol building
No armed weapons - this is the most interesting fact to me that comes from the arrests. Not one protestor brought an armed weapon. Shays’ Rebellion would be ashamed by this unarmed insurrection.
Summary of January 6th -
Many Trump supporters believed Donald Trump won the election and went to Washington D.C. for a pre-planned protest. Crowds can easily turn into mobs without any premeditation. Trespassing into the Capitol and damaging buildings are violations of the law that need to be punished (unless you live in San Francisco).
The Congressional hearings will try to show evidence of insurrection that was pre-planned and tying it to the actions of Donald Trump. It is believed the Democrats want to make sure Donald Trump can never run for President again. To me, it feels like a nasty divorce between Mom (Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden) and Dad (Donald Trump) who are using the children (us) as pawns in their game.
What does this have to do with NIMBYs?
NIMBY definition: Ever wondered why housing prices are so high in places like California, but not in Texas? Yes, living near the ocean and weather matter, but it is really because of land use regulations. Thomas Sowell explains it best -
Housing prices in San Francisco, and in many other communities for miles around, were once no higher than in the rest of the United States. But, beginning in the 1970s, housing prices in these communities skyrocketed to three or four times the national average.
Why? Because local government laws and policies severely restricted, or banned outright, the building of anything on vast areas of land. This is called preserving “open space,” and “open space” has become almost a cult obsession among self-righteous environmental activists, many of whom are sufficiently affluent that they don’t have to worry about housing prices.
These local land restrictions prevent a supply of housing/building which causes prices to rise because demand goes up. One name for these land restrictions has become - NIMBY - Not In My BackYard. For example, this is one reason why you will not find Walmarts in certain areas around the country. Residents are free to determine what is in their backyard (within Constitutional limits), but they will have to deal with rising home and land prices that correspond with restricting the supply.
Congress’ NIMBY: After the Capitol riot, Congress was furious that this happened in their backyard. They were terrified that uninvited people came into their work space without permission and destroyed certain parts of their work environment.
Congress said Not In My BackYard and responded by -
Building a wall around their place of work
Bringing in the National Guard (police) to protect their place of work for nearly 5 months
FBI uses phone and bank records to search for each person who entered the Capitol building
Congress did not spare any resource to protect themselves. What was their response when “protestors” from around the country were burning cities during the summer riots of 2020?
Summer 2020 racial riots
May 2020 - George Floyd died while in police custody which set off a chain reaction of protests that turned into riots from May 26 - June 8th. More riots occurred throughout the year, but I am just choosing to focus on these 5 months for brevity’s sake.
What was the reaction to cities burning? According to CNN, it was “mostly peaceful”. I remember watching this live when he was saying these words. I could not believe it.
At this time, the US shut down because of the pandemic so people were mainly at home and had finished binging Netflix with "Tiger King” out of their system. Therefore, the majority of Americans were watching tv, playing video games and being active on social media. It was probably one of the most socially damaging eras in American history, in my opinion.
I say this because of what I witnessed next from watching these riots. I knew we were in trouble with American culture when I would go to Instagram and see my average American friends proclaim support for the protests and say nothing about the riots. I do not think they need to speak out about the riots, but I found it interesting that nobody would. I would talk to people around me to understand what they were thinking about everything and people, overall, understood why destroying property was justified because of what had happened to George Floyd.
I knew we were in trouble when average Americans were not horrified by this behavior. Instead, they posted black squares throughout social media to show support for Black Lives Matter. I make not judgments on social media posts or personal feelings of others. I am simply explaining my observations. Therefore, the above CNN report did not look so ridiculous to me anymore because it was reflecting the mood of the country.
May to June Cost of Riots:
These riots occurred across 20 states in about 140 cities
Lasted longer than 5 hours
Totaled over $1 billion dollars
Damage to 1000s of business and properties = many minority owned
In Minnesota where George Floyd was killed, 1,500 businesses were damaged with approximately $500 million in damage to the Twin Cities
Democracy in danger: Is it not just as dangerous to democracy to allow cities to burn, businesses to be damaged and people to feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods? Democracy is not just about voting, but living in a land that protects you, your rights and your property. If any of those things are damaged, the individual has the option to seek recourse for those damages. I am sure the people living in those 140 cities feel less secure in their lives now than they did before the Summer of 2020.
Does the safety of their workplace not matter as much as the Capitol building?
January 6th Hearings Invites Comparisons
I believe this “primetime” produced congressional hearing invites these comparisons that I am making. Congress is so out of touch that they do not realize how good they have it. Let me list a couple of reasons -
They live in one of the most protected work environments in the world.
They have the Capitol police and the FBI at their disposal.
They never miss a paycheck even when everything is shut down.
They do not have to pay for insurance for any damage that might occur to their workplace.
These are some reasons why I believe the hearings that start tonight will fall on deaf ears. Congress is outraged that something happened in their own backyard and is swiftly moving to punish anyone involved.
Some might argue… no this was an assault on our Constitutional system and thus an insurrection. I just do not agree. It was trespassing and damage to property without any armed weapons. Every person violating laws should be prosecuted. Just because violence happened in the halls of Congress does not make it more of a threat to democracy than riots being allowed to happen throughout the country over many months that has the effect of destroying our social fabric and individual human rights.
How can I end this more positively?
One of my favorite pictures from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last week came on the final day of the celebration. Her great grandson, Prince George, looks on her surprise visit with adoration. I love his facial expression for so many reasons because it shows a love for his great grandmother as well as an admiration for her.
Maybe I am projecting too much because I know how much I admire her. I admire Queen Elizabeth II because she has been consistent and resilient in representing her people for 70 years. Unreal!
I really hope “God Saves the Queen”, at least for a little bit longer because her human character is inspiring!
Sincerely,
Me
Thoughtfully written as always. God save my queen, Hilary!!
Wow, this was an awesome post. I wish I could put it on Facebook (but I'm trying to stay off that stuff anyway). You make some really good points that, strangely, I really have not heard others make. I did not realize there were no weapons on Jan 6. I believe there are still ppl in DC jail awaiting their trials. Some have been held in solitary. It's like hunger games or something. Unreal. Congress is such a joke.