Politicians with courage (in Spain). In the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, February 9th-13th, video footage was shown of events in the 
Capitol building during the January 6th protests.
I had things to say about that video footage in my February 12th podcast. They were not very kind things. I spoke of the congressfolk "scampering off to safety under the guidance of armed Capitol Hill cops while an un-armed mob filled the corridors."
I quoted a friend's email from earlier in the year, one that had made such an impression on me, I'd posted it here on VDARE.com at the time. Here it is again.
Not a single person had the courage to go out and confront a man wearing buffalo horns flanked on either side with what looked like cast tryouts for Duck Dynasty. Had one person done so, he would now be the frontrunner for the presidency in 2024.
That February 12th podcast brought in an email from a different friend, reminding me of a real attempted coup forty years ago this month.
This was in Spain, February 23rd 1981. Francisco Franco had died five years previously after almost forty years of authoritarian rule. His chosen successor was Juan Carlos of the old Spanish royal family, who set about liberalizing Spain in the direction of a constitutional monarchy. Juan Carlos appointed 43-year-old Adolfo Suárez as Prime Minister in mid-1976.
A free election was held a year later, the first since the civil war of 1936-39. Adolfo Suárez' party won a plurality and he continued as Prime Minister. The following year a new constitution was approved, fulfilling Juan Carlos' goal: Spain had become a democratic state under constitutional monarchy. In the next election in 1979, Adolfo Suárez' party again won a plurality and he again continued as Prime Minister.
It's an uplifting story of an old, proud nation making the transition from authoritarian rule to representative, constitutional democracy in just four years, 1975-79. It was a rocky road, though, as I guess it was bound to be. There were some seriously disgruntled factions in the new Spain, especially on the political right.
In February 1981 one of those factions staged a coup: a real, armed coup, not just some comedians in buffalo horns committing trespass. Antonio Tejero of Spain's Civil Guard (approximately a uniformed equivalent of the FBI) with armed colleagues entered the lower chamber of Spain's parliament while it was in session.
What they were in session about was the swearing-in of a new Prime Minister. Adolfo Suárez had resigned a month earlier, facing a revolt in his party and plagued with health problems. The swearing-in roll call was being taken when Tejero and his pals stormed into the chamber.
Quote from Adolfo Suárez' 2014 obituary in the London Guardian:
Suárez displayed remarkable physical courage, being one of only three parliamentarians who refused to obey Tejero's order to lie on the floor.
One of the other two was Deputy Prime Minister and former army General Gutiérrez Mellado; the other was Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo. Concerning the former, the coup's Wikipedia page records that:
