Bastille Day, Then and Now

[XLFD]

1789

Built in the 1300s during the Hundred Years’ War against the English, the Bastille was designed to protect the eastern entrance to Paris, France.  The formidable stone building was repurposed as a prison whose massive defenses included 100-foot-high walls and a wide moat, plus more than 80 regular soldiers and 30 Swiss mercenaries standing guard during most of its operation.  Over the years, it held political dissidents (such as the writer and philosopher Voltaire and the infamous Marquis de Sade), many of whom were locked away without a trial by order of the king.

Despite inheriting tremendous debts from his predecessor, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette continued to spend extravagantly, such as by helping the American colonies win their independence from the British. By the late 1780s, France’s government stood on the brink of economic disaster.  Sound familiar?  A famine in 1788 exacerbated this further, political unrest followed as the ruling caste turned a deaf ear.

The Bastille on July 14, 1789 was less a prison (housing only seven) and more of a symbol of the callous tyranny of the French monarchy.  Nevertheless, after an unruly mob seized about 32,000 muskets and some cannons at a nearby military hospital, they were drawn to the Bastille which was purported to have plenty of ammunition inside its walls.  

After circling the prison, the governor of the Bastille held an audience with the mob's leaders.  The conference took longer than many in the mob had the patience for and they were also concerned that their spokesmen may have been imprisoned.  

Eventually, a group of men climbed over an outer wall and lowered a drawbridge to the Bastille’s courtyard, allowing the crowd to swarm inside. When men began attempting to lower a second drawbridge, the governor broke his pledge and ordered his soldiers to shoot. Nearly 100 attackers died in the onslaught and dozens of others were wounded, whereas the royalists lost only one soldier.  The tide turned, however, when a detachment of French Guards sympathetic to the mob arrived and began blasting away with cannons at the Bastille. 

The governor who lacked adequate provisions for a long-term siege, waved the white flag of surrender.  The few prisoners were released, the Bastille would be eventually leveled.  The day would become, to the French, synonymous to our Fourth of July, as the French Revolution would ensue.

2022

Over 800 people among tens of thousands of Americans who protested irregularities in the 2020 election cycle, stormed the Capitol Building without muskets or cannonades on January 6, 2021 – and were arrested.  Over eighteen months later, these people and others arrested since have remained imprisoned.  One has no need to relitigate the protest or election, that's immaterial to the overall matter regarding these prisoners' rights to due process by the rule of law.  

Family, friends, and responsible officials have reported that these detainees are isolated, forced to live in poor conditions, unable to meet with reporters, and are increasingly invisible, forgotten people.

How can this happen in a nation which promises “no person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” and “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor." 

These are rights guaranteed by the Fifth and Sixth Amendment but are they being given to these prisoners potentially guilty of sundry misdemeanors akin to trespassing and vandalism?  Objectively, no.  No criminal of any sort should be held and hidden from the world and the media for one and a half years without benefit of access to due process and a speedy trial.   

What can be done to assure that America – unlike France 300 years ago and unlike current despotic regimes over the world – does NOT hold, detain indefinitely, mistreat, forget, or otherwise leave an impression that political prisoners exist in America as part of a nefarious “two-tiered system?”

The exact status, including legal counsel retained, of all J6 cases should be made public now, and every succeeding day, just as our local courts maintain dockets of their cases.  The media, friends, family, and concerned citizens should be allowed to meet with these indefinitely detained individuals in the same manner allowed to 'regular' prisoners.  The federal and DC justice system under Democratic control must become swifter and fairer, providing the "equal justice under law" our system is supposed to provide to anyone.  

Will an unruly mob of Americans be forced one day to storm the gulags we have permissively allowed to exist over the last 18 months detaining hundreds that participated in a mostly-civil protest in and around the Capitol Building?   Likely not, but on Bastille Day we can at least dream of freedom and justice and how we have fell short in our country's grand experiment in 2022.

[Willy]

Thanks for the post and  historical information X. The left is treating Jan 6 as if it was the French Revolution and Bastille Day combined. Throw in the Russian Revolution to make their message complete. The truth is that the Jan 6th protest was just that, a protest. Some people got somewhat out of hand but there were no weapons, fire, or people killed as there were during the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots that took place all over America including here in Michigan for almost a year. We know the Democrats and the left are anti American and are out to destroy this country. My question is where the Hell are the Republicans? The Republicans are worse than the Democrats because they sit back and allow the insanity of the left to continue to devour our liberties and freedoms. Below are links comparing the few hours of protesting at the Capital on Jan 6 to the year long rioting, destruction and killing of the Democrat supported riots. Again on social media there are few mentions of how insane the BLM and Antifa protests were but Jan 6 has almost all negative reporting on that.

Jan 6 protests - no fires, killings - lasted several hours

https://nypost.com/2021/07/30/no-libs-the-jan-6-events-werent-a-coup/

BLM - Antifa  riots with fires, killings, weapons, looting - lasting months.

MAY
–MSNBC Reporter Describes Minneapolis “Protest” as “Not, Generally S...

JUNE
–Mob Throws Statue of Hans Christian Heg, Abolitionist, Into Lake Mo...
–It’s Going Down: Seattle Surrenders a Police Station and Four City ...
–America Under Attack: Riots and Looting Nationwide

JULY
–Portland Rioters Set Fire to Bloody Pig’s Head With Cop’s Hat on U....
–Man Violently Attacked in Portland: “I was stabbed for being a cons...
–Media, Portland Mayor Mischaracterize Assault on Federal Courthouse...

AUGUST
–Sen. Rand Paul and others attacked by DC mobs after leaving Trump s...
–Kenosha, WI Under Siege By Antifa/BLM Rioters
–Riot First, Asks Questions Later: Minneapolis Looting Sparked By Fa...
–DC BLM Mob Harasses White Diners, Demanding They Raise Fists In Sol...
–Portland Rioters Wheel Guillotine Through Suburbs, Execute American...
–Report: Seattle Rioters Tried to Burn Police Officers Alive By Seal...
–Portland: BLM Mob Causes Man to Crash, Beats Him Unconscious
–‘Peaceful Protesters’ in Portland Set Fire to County Government Bui...
–Chicago Looters Attack Ronald McDonald House
–Over 100 People Arrested in Chicago Overnight Amid Rampant Rioting ...

SEPTEMBER
–Louisville, Other Cities Struck by Violence, Riots for Second Night...
–BLM Protesters Target Georgetown CVS Because Employees Called Polic...
–Two Los Angeles County Deputies Shot; BLM Chants “We Hope They Die”...
–Black Lives Matter Rioters Ransack Rochester, NY
–‘Peaceful Protests’ Push St. Louis, Portland Mayors Out of Their Homes

OCTOBER
–National Guard Deployed to Philadelphia After Violence, Looting Exp...
–Pro-Trump Rally Attacked In Liberal Ithaca (NY)
–BLM Rioters Damage Homes, Stores in Wisconsin After DA Won’t Charge...

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