WASHINGTON — Our town awaits with bated breath as a beautiful autumn falls on the midterm campaigns and the sedition trial of five "Oath Keepers."

And we miss the murdered Rose Garden.

The 2022 election for Congress is a real tug of war — some even say "civil war."

What happens in close races will affect the air we breathe in the capital. If the Democratic Senate stays blue and the House tips Republican red, then divided government will have a whole new toxic meaning.

The battleground would likely be House hearings versus the Biden White House or family. It won't be pretty, especially if bulldog Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, becomes Judiciary Committee chairman.

Because the country, after all, needs further tearing apart.

The extremist Oath Keepers champion civil war. They're the pro-Donald Trump outfit that marched into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, in military "stack" formation. One carried bear spray into the building and threatened Capitol police officers, the indictment charged.

Their founder, Stewart Rhodes, is a former Army paratrooper and Yale Law School graduate. In the weeks before the deadly Capitol riot, Rhodes was in contact with a friend of then-President Trump, Roger Stone, according to the court case.

Court documents show a chilling obsession with keeping the defeated Trump in power, even if relying on violence and bloodshed. The Oath Keepers kept a stash of weapons across the river for a "quick reaction force."

I went to the courthouse to see these characters face justice, a judge and jury. Charged as co-conspirators, the five face long sentences, but the damage they did lingers long after the mob stormed the Capitol.

Jan. 6 was the day the Oath Keepers' dreams of an anti-government coup almost came true. They trained and traveled from all points — like Florida and Texas — to overthrow the congressional ritual to certify Joe Biden as the winner in the 2020 presidential election.

Rhodes, 56, wears an eye patch and cuts a somewhat squat figure for one in the line of fire that day. (I was in the House chamber.)

Rhodes invoked "1776" in his online messages, urging members on as if he were George Washington leading a new American revolution. He built the organization with zeal, influencing swaths of followers.

Interestingly, four of the five on trial are military veterans. One was a Navy intelligence officer; the other three joined the Army.

That raises the question of whether an all-volunteer military is a good idea for democracy. It suggests the military self-selects, attracts and trains some men predisposed to militias once out of the armed services.

(Jessica Watkins, a defendant from Ohio, is a trans woman.)

The Anti-Defamation League tracks extremist groups. The mob of tens of thousands besieging the Capitol was no surprise, the League said. The mob made plans on the internet and had a "wanted" list of lawmakers and Mike Pence, the vice president.

Trump loved the three-hour show of violence, gloating over the crowd size that day. He was no doubt pleased with the highest TV ratings he ever had, as the nation watched the siege in horror.

Meanwhile, back at the Capitol: "You are in danger," my sister said from California.

The House committee on the Jan. 6 attack on democracy holds a final hearing Thursday. More news may be broken, but one thing is sure.

By defying the peaceful transfer of power, Trump sowed seeds of election deniers in the Republican Party. They are on the ballot right now, concentrated in Florida and Texas, but all over America.

That may be his greatest gift to the American people in the end.

His wife Melania Trump sowed seeds in the Rose Garden, by scuttling the original Kennedy vision (Jack and Jackie's.) The sulky Mrs. Trump had blossoms, shrubs and trees pulled up for pavement so her husband could walk over it. This was done shortly before the election he lost.

Under a bright sun, people flocked to the White House fall garden — now under new ownership — near the Oval Office. The Rose Garden looked denuded of crab apple trees and colorful flowers.

It's just one more insult with Trump fingerprints on the scene.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieStiehm. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit Creators.com

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