S02E02 – Was the January 6th attack on the US Capitol a threat to American democracy?

In this episode, we discuss the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. We largely agree. Josh initially disagrees with Ryan’s claim that it was an attack, instead preferring the term “riot” instead. However, Josh recognizes that there was a small minority that planned to attack the Capitol. Josh also agrees with the intent behind the attack and that it may have succeeded in making legislators fearful. Ryan agrees with Josh that progressives don’t want to stop talking about this issue because it makes conservatives and the right look bad. There is some disagreement over what percentage of conservatives actually support the violence that took place – Josh says it’s a very small percentage while Ryan thinks it’s a larger percentage. They also agree that the Republican National Committee never should have called it “legitimate political discourse” but recognize that the RNC is doing everything it can to try to shove the attack under the rug because it was conservatives who attacked and they did so to try to overturn a democratic election. Finally, Josh and Ryan agree that it was a threat to democracy, but it failed. Long live the democratic republic of the USA!