Tom Fulks: Fascists tried to overthrow our government. Moving on is not an option

Move on? No, not yet.

There are still too many unanswered questions, too many people among us we thought we knew but now know we don’t.

Because they remain silent, there are too many local office holders and law enforcement officials whose fidelity to American democracy remains in question.

If “move on” means “disremember” Insurrection Day, Jan. 6, 2021 – when fascists nearly overthrew our republic – then no.

This wasn’t an aberration, an isolated misstep by crazed zealots intoxicated with seditious bloodlust, somehow to be excused and forgotten. No, this was a premeditated attack on our electoral sovereignty incited by Trump.

Insurrection Day was an inflection point, providing clarity and a deeper understanding that many Americans would usurp democracy in service to an autocrat who preaches the gospel of lies.

Falsehoods are the bedrock liturgy to this church of election losers who now threaten obstruction and demand “unity” on their terms.

Imagine Robert E. Lee trying to dictate terms of the confederacy’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant, with Lee threatening “no unity” if he and his clan couldn’t keep their slaves and antebellum ways.

What if Lee had argued the confederacy represented millions of people whose voices must be “honored” and “respected,” therefore they’d refuse the central tenets of emancipation and federal supremacy?

What if Lee demanded equal standing with no consequence for the South’s treason because – in their alternate reality – they’d actually won instead of being militarily crushed?

Preposterous, but that’s what the cosplaying seditionists, armed fascists and overfed Trumpanistas are saying: The losers must share power equally or greater than the winners – or else.

As if the rest of us have Trumpnesia – forget their lies, violence and sedition, appease these losers for the sake of “unity.”

Failure to reject lies and repudiate their source calls into question the fealty of any public official to the constitutional obligations they swore to uphold. Public officials unwilling to embrace truth and civic duty aren’t fit to serve.

Move on? No, not nationally and not in San Luis Obispo County. Not until it’s clear where prominent leaders stand on indisputable matters of fact and reality.

Not until there’s common lucidity about the definition of democracy and “patriotism.” Not until we collectively refuse to concede truth to lies in the pursuit of comity.

There can be no “unity” without accountability, repentance and justice, without a shared understanding of American history and democracy, without a common commitment to our future.

We’re not there, neither as a nation nor a community in SLO County. We need answers first.

Who among our elected class still believes Trump won the election? Those who do must publicly explain themselves as a barometer by which we can measure their temperament and judgment.

County supervisors Lynn Compton, Debbie Arnold and John Peschong, Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham and District Attorney Dan Dow: all have obligatorily denounced the violence of Insurrection Day, yet none have renounced its cause – Trump – or publicly rejected the insurrectionist fantasies that fueled the violence.

Where do they stand? We’re owed answers, stated publicly, not on some members-only “Protect” Facebook page, but openly, where we all can judge.

Cunningham hasn’t the spine to go on record, ducking an Assembly vote on a non-binding resolution calling on Trump to resign. He must explain.

Dow headlined a fundraiser last October in Pismo Beach for a far-right secessionist movement featuring Candace Owens, one of the most insufferable seditionists in the nation.

Does Dow agree with Owens? His appearance there says yes. Does Dow believe Biden won the election? Owens doesn’t. Tell us, Pastor Dan.

What about local law enforcement agencies? Are they peopled by leaders and officers sympathetic to this insurgency?

Can they be entrusted with the lives and freedoms of those with whom they violently disagree, such as Black Lives Matter protesters?

Communities around the nation are disciplining police officers who participated in Insurrection Day, vetting their social media to identify extremist proclivities.

The Arroyo Grande Police Department vetted officers last September after learning current and former department members had promoted violence against BLM protesters on their personal Facebook pages.

The credibility of local law enforcement is predicated on the community’s trust. If we don’t know which officers to trust, how can we trust any?

Joe Biden won the presidency by 7 million popular votes. He took SLO County by 13 points.

Move on? Not until local Trump Party elected and appointed officials publicly disclose their stance on the legitimacy of our president.

Not until they openly state their positions on the root cause of Insurrection Day. Then we’ll move on.

Tribune Columnist Tom Fulks serves on the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee.