The Media's Promised, Violent Uprising in DC Today Dispelled by Press Outnumbering 'Rioters'

What if they held a violent riot, and no one showed up?

A few weeks ago, I covered how the press was assuring us that we were on the cusp of another serving of Trump-inspired mayhem. One of these days, the press’ guarantees of MAGA violence will come true.

But, as predicted, their guarantees have fizzled out like a bottle rocket in a shower stall.

Today is the highly touted Justice For January 6 Rally, the gathering meant to show support for those people being held after arrests were made in the wake of the Capitol riot. Highly touted — but sparsely attended. Today’s protest is proving to be a rather lightly regarded affair, and yet another example of a media-fueled hysteria leading to very little in the form of promised pandemonium. As I said in August, this would be of little consequence.

I might beg for a small dose of clarity here as I take exception with CNN on one detail; it may not be so much a case of renewed fear, as it is continued fear. This is because ever since the Capitol riot, the press has been in a perpetual cycle of delivering these heart-arresting warnings that another uprising from election-denying Trump sycophants was on the verge of boiling over into a bloodbath.

One other detail — the press has also been in a perpetual cycle of being completely wrong about these outbursts.

Last month, CNN declared the city was consumed with panic over this gathering, blaring in their headline, Fears of political violence grip Capitol Hill.

Politico was no less hysterical, saying the town braced for the rally. Also, D.C. has been on alert, NPR stated it serves as a large-scale security test, as it presented a challenge to our Democracy.

Imagine if the people felt the same way — because this was, in fact, all in the imagination of the media.

Weeks of advanced intonations of a violent mob scene were followed this week by the reinstallation of protective barriers and fencing around Beltway buildings. It is now looking to be a case of assured sociopathic behavior, but somebody failed to notify the members of society.

That’s why today, instead of capturing violent imagery and recording monologues of outrage, the media are taking pictures of a lot of empty, green grass, and left to interview not unhinged MAGA-truthers, but each other.

The Dispatch:

Attendance at the Justice for January 6 rally is almost all press, very few actual rally attendees pic.twitter.com/unzjG9hjKV

— Audrey Fahlberg (@AudreyFahlberg) September 18, 2021

Bloomberg News:

A few dozen protesters turned out for the “Justice for J6” rally in Washington D.C.

Organizer Matt Braynard, a former member of the Trump presidential campaign, said the event was to support those arrested after the January 6 Capitol riot pic.twitter.com/J7GHbamR7M

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) September 18, 2021

The New York Times:

Strike that. It might be closer to 1:1. A journalist with what sounded like a French accent just tried to interview me.

— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) September 18, 2021

Those protesters who did show up…weren’t all that scary-looking:

Nothing screams MAGA Nation like Brooks Brothers Casual. https://t.co/BGSMY0Lsex

— Brad Slager – Focused On Lasers (@MartiniShark) September 18, 2021

Of course, this deeply underwhelming turnout will not generate near the number of headlines as seen in the previous weeks. This follows the course of this year, when numerous claims and promises of these election-deniers rising up in insurrectional hordes to spill blood have been delivered on the regular. Repeatedly, it has been predicted that mobs would gather on specific dates for Trump’s reinstallation as president.

And, like today, those quivering anxiety-infused headlines have been proven to be the work of mythmakers. There is no denying there exists a component of the electorate still clinging to wisps of hope that Trump can be recognized as our nation’s true leader. But what we are witnessing is the media making a strained effort to mainstream this thought process.

They want to insist this unhinged zealotry is the prevailing mindset of the Republican Party, as well as most conservatives and, as part of the effort to ostracize a political party, they would denigrate all those as being violent truth-deniers. This is a desperate attempt to denigrate a vast swath of the voters in the country as unworthy of notice and political pariahs.

Yet, once again, the assurances of the wise and superior media figures get it wrong. Despite this recidivist practice by the press, they continue to insist on what is not so, and the fact-checkers are completely unbothered by the lack of evidence. They just know how these people behave — we simply have to take them at their word on the matter.

This refusal to fill out the violent prognostications almost appears to be another reason for the press to impugn these devotees. “One day, these damned Trump loons will follow through and fulfill the predictions!” they insist. But at least this rally serves one purpose for the press; it allows them to continue ignoring a far more serious issue taking place in southern Texas.