The evil and foolish attack on America’s Capitol Building destroyed any chance of upholding the Constitution and the rule of law with regard to the presidential election.

Those who broke the law during the election have won. Those who wrapped themselves in the flag while breaking things at the Capitol have done more damage to the cause of liberty than those who have been burning cities while desecrating that flag over the last seven months.

It does not matter what percentage of that crowd were anarchist agitators embedded with Trump supporters, or actual Trump supporters pushed to the brink by the lack of peaceful resolution to disputes, or even peaceful Trump supporters naively swept into the chaos. It does not matter. This plays right into the cultural Marxist playbook. The narrative is set. The Reichstag Fire of the 20th Century has just been lit.

Is that fair? Of course not.

Is it just? Not by a long shot.

But it is the reality we now face.

Every liberty loving Constitutionalist who speaks up for the next decade will be labeled with the images of the mob overrunning the Capitol. That’s why so many of the Senators and Congressmen who had promised to object to unconstitutional electors changed their vote based on the violence, not based on the debate.

What Should We Do Now?

So, what now?

Historical perspective can help.

Reverend A.D. King and Reverend M.L. King faced a biased media, unjust laws and enforcement, evil spinmeisters twisting their words and actions. Yet they responded with peace and changed the world.

We must do the same. It will take years, not just one election. It will take wisdom and discernment. It will require intellectual strategy, tactics, and organization. It will require effective, tangible ways to channel the righteous anger of millions of Americans who want to save our Constitutional Republic.

Civic Literacy

It must begin with replacing civic ignorance with civic literacy in our own homes and churches, seeking truth and equipping ourselves intellectually on how to live out our rights and responsibilities as law-abiding citizens. And then taking action at the local and state level to peacefully take back our institutions through the legal, constitutional means we have at our fingertips.

It requires us listening to the other side, assessing the lay of the land, and responding intellectually. Before the violence yesterday, as Congress began debating the electors, I said during a television interview that I wished everyone would listen to the speeches of both sides and then make a reasoned decision about the electors. I took my own medicine and watched every speech in both the House and the Senate. I sincerely wanted to understand arguments from all sides and the outrageous actions of the rioters made me want to genuinely check my own positions, tone, and rhetoric.

What I Learned

Here’s what I learned listening to the debate:

Democrats and Republicans alike share my respect for the Capitol Building and grieved with me as it was desecrated by thugs.

The Democrat Socialists are extremely good at rhetoric and framing the debate. Far better than the Republican Constitutionalists. That is why they are winning the culture war.

Seven months of violence and murder and billions of dollars of destruction of private property by BLM and Antifa was not enough for Democrats to join us in condemning thuggery, but once thugs carrying a Trump flag and wearing a MAGA hat appeared on their doorstep, they suddenly agreed with us. The Senate speeches included language describing the thugs that I agree with. But these same people refused to say the same thing about the thugs throughout 2020 who did far, far worse than what we saw at the Capitol.

Mike Pence is a statesman who did what he sincerely believed was right after looking at all the ambiguity and conflicting historical and legal arguments. He did not take the action I advocated based on the historical and constitutional precedents, but he pushed for a fair hearing of objections made by Members of Congress and did his best to follow the 1887 law that has not yet been ruled unconstitutional, though it should be.

The consensus of most Senators is that transparency and sunlight is dangerous, rather than healing. This must change, especially in our elections.

A Presidential Election Dispute and Our Duty as Citizens

There is genuine disagreement about how to deal with a presidential election dispute and we need a bipartisan constitutional amendment to resolve this for future elections. Democrats supported objections and an active role for Congress during the counting of electors for the last three Republican presidents, but suddenly found such a process to be an existential threat to peace when the objections involved electors for a Democrat. Some Republicans took the extreme position that Congress could NEVER reject electors, no matter how illegal or unconstitutional they were. As I’ve said repeatedly, the ambiguity of the 12th Amendment and the unconstitutionality of the 1887 Electoral Count Act must be resolved and both parties must come together to amend the 12th Amendment in a reasonable way.

Each of us are faced with a major decision. Knowing that our nation is quite literally at stake, will we give up and wash our hands of the conflict, or will we lean in and do our constitutional duty as citizens?

Rick Green is a former Texas State Representative, national speaker, author, and radio host.