Even God can't change the past—but Trump is trying

The ancient Athenian poet Agathon wrote that “Even God cannot change the past.” President Trump is attempting exactly that—rewriting history—through policy and rhetoric.

Testifying about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Officer Caroline Edwards described a scene of “carnage” where injured officers bled and vomited amid relentless hand-to-hand combat. There were more than 140 injuries to police officers on January 6, and a comprehensive review of police bodycam video revealed "approximately 1,000" assaults on law enforcement on that day.

In one instance, Andrew Taake, who has been pardoned by Trump, pleaded guilty to assaulting police with bear spray and a metal whip. One of the officers he sprayed in the face described the pain as the worst he'd ever experienced—“like living death.”

Notably, the U.S. Department of Justice recently deleted news releases from its website detailing Jan. 6 charges, convictions, and sentences—including those involving violent assaults on law enforcement—with the DOJ calling the records “partisan propaganda."

George Orwell, author of the dystopian novel 1984, wrote, "If the Leader says of such and such an event, 'It never happened' – well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five – well, two and two are five."

Timothy Snyder, author of "On Tyranny," argues that democracy cannot exist without history because it depends on citizens who can recognize patterns from the past, accept responsibility for what their nation has done and choose better paths for the future.

Let's heed the words of Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: “The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie." We should refuse to participate in efforts to rewrite January 6 as anything less than a violent assault on democracy and the rule of law.

By Terry Hansen

References:

• Trump's DOJ removes Jan. 6 records from website, citing 'partisan propaganda'
• Trump White House attempts to rewrite history of Jan. 6, accuses Capitol Police of escalating tensions
• Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?