Posts
For the first time ever, the certainly of violence has led to the public being warned to stay away from the presidential inauguration on January 20. Also, the FBI is warning states to prepare for armed invasions of their capitols. One such an invasion succeeded in Michigan last April, while another failed in Oregon in December.*
The coming of last week's D.C. attack was so well-advertised that the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) called it the best predicted terrorist attack in American history, yet the capitol police--despite having all the intelligence resources of the federal government at its disposal--professed ignorance. Once the assault started, some capitol cops even sided with the Trumpians, the most notorious of them putting on a MAGA cap and directing the terrorists while a fellow officer was murdered.
During the DC occupation, many Republican legislators smirkingly refused to wear the required Covid masks as they hid packed-together (the count of those who contracted Covid as the probable result is in progress). When the invasion was finally over, 147 Republican Congressmen calmly and cheerfully continued their attempt to overturn Biden's victory by un-Constitutionally giving the presidency to Trump. Clearly, even if they didn't know that the assault was coming, they would have known that all those zip-ties weren't intended for them. For Pence, the outcome might have been less agreeable because Trump had tweeted during the occupation that Pence had refused to hand him the election. "Hang Pence!" cried the invaders, and at least one of them had thought to bring a rope.
If there's a bright side to recent events, it is that both the House and Senate are now Democratically controlled, and a Democrat is about to assume the presidency. In other good news, Trump's role in the attempted insurrection has led to numerous resignations by high ranking appointees.** In fact, Trump has come to be so detested that many Republicans now view his campaign endorsements as a liability in hotly contested races (such as the two Georgia run-offs that Republicans recently lost despite a personal appearance by Trump). Finally, it has become impossible for fence-straddlers to argue that Trump only pretends to be violent in order to reach his hardcore base. How they ever pulled it off in the first place is a mystery given the scores, if not hundreds, of times that he encouraged, demanded, or praised violence.*
* https://www.thedailybeast.com/heavily-armed-far-right-mob-descends-on-oregon-capitol
** https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-who-resigned-from-trumps-administration-after-riot-at-the-capitol-11610061311
*** https://www.vox.com/21506029/trump-violence-tweets-racist-hate-speech
12 comments:
This whole debacle is heart=breaking. The thing that puzzles me the most is why these people are so blindly following him.
this was planned for months with some republican legislators being involved. they had maps of the tunnels and the building itself. one republican rep gave a tour of the non-public areas to some of the soon to be insurrectionists the day before. I read that some 600 of the capitol police were told not to come in that day (don't know how true this is) but at least some of them were involved in the planning. the new rep from Colorado was tweeting during the attack the whereabouts of Pelosi. the DoD refused 6, I think, requests for the National Guard under Trump's orders. the panic buttons had been ripped out of at least one of the dem rep's offices in advance. this is just a tiny bit of the info that has come out with more to come and still the republicans refused to support the 25th or impeachment, at least until some of their big donors announced they would no longer give money to republicans and the private sector started disengaging from Trump. now McConnell is 'happy' about the impeachment. and still republican reps are crying foul, pissed that they can't bring their guns to the chamber with some either refusing to go through the metal detector or doing so, setting it off, and continuing on. They won't even respect and follow the rules of their own chamber. why should we expect them to honor and follow the laws and the constitution.
"The thing that puzzles me the most is why these people are so blindly following him."
The best predictor of whether a given person will support Trump is whether that person identifies with Christian nationalism, a worldview, that: (a) is based upon what its followers call faith, but which I view as wishful thinking, and (b) is unmoved by any amount of logic and evidence. Faith-based religion paves the way for faith-based politics. This is why 75% of Republicans continue to believe that Trump won a "landslide victory" that the Democrats stole from him, a belief which is not hampered in the least by a paucity of evidence, hand recounts in battleground states, pronouncements to the contrary by the US Attorney General and FBI director, and unfavorable court rulings in over fifty lawsuits.
The same mindset that allows people to accept faith-based religious and political beliefs also enables them to insist that Covid, too, is Democratic lie. This is why many Republicans refuse to wear masks on the floor of the House and Senate, and it is also why Republicans refer to masks as "symbols of shame" and to mask-wearers as "mindless sheep."
Given that millions of Americans really do believe that the election was stolen and that Covid is a lie told by "radical socialist Democrats," whose goal is the creation of a totalitarian state akin to that of North Korea, it makes sense that they would turn to violent resistance as the remedy. This is why one of the capitol occupiers (an Oregonian) screamed, "You're making us do this!"
What, then, is the basis of Biden's optimism, of his determination to "reach across the aisle" for the good of all? I think that, here too, the answer is faith, in his case faith in the intelligence and goodwill of the American people and their elected officials. He and I couldn't be further apart because what evidence can one present to people who are impervious to evidence, and with what logic can one reach those who have no use for logic? Still, I hope the day will come when I can say that his faith was justified.
When he first invited people to a "wild party" the 6th, the way he said it, I know he was planning something. Today one representative said she told law enforcement three of her colleagues (other representatives) were giving the insurgents walking tours (showing them where things were) the day before the takeover. She wants them investigated and charged and out of there. It's incredible that this would take place in America, with so much support, a complete breakdown of democracy. The news said it was incredible 10 house republicans voted to impeach. What is incredible is that they all didn't. They're so fricking pathetic---blind followers or complete cowards. History will not remember any of this kindly.
Dear Snowbrush and Friends, Hoping for sunny weather, nationwide, for the 19th through the 21st. That way the Patriots can get to and from the capitol cities, without being too hassled by snowflakes ;). Have a great day.
"this was planned for months with some republican legislators being involved."
It WOULD have been an incredible coincidence for right-wing lawmakers to have innocently given private tours of the capitol to the very insurrectionists who raided it the very next day, and that during those tours, the insurrectionists were told the whereabouts of unmarked offices that they later targeted. I also find it extremely interesting that no one in the raid (at least no one that I've spotted) other than the pipe bomb planter was at all reluctant to show his or her face (the bomber wore a mask and a hoodie to plant the bombs, but was identified in later photos by his distinctively colored jacket). Many people streamed the event live and later boasted of their participation, that Texas mayoral candidate being a case in point. She said that she was proud of what she did, that she looked forward to participating in other such raids, and that she would be celebrating that day's raid with champagne.
She also posted, "I want to let you know what actually happened today. When Pence betrayed us is when we decided to storm the Capitol... We didn't vandalize anything but we did, as I say that, break down Nancy Pelosi's office door and somebody stole her gavel and took a picture sitting in the chair flipping off the camera" (That man also stole some of Pelosi's mail which he displayed to the camera after leaving the building). I mention these things to illustrate why I am in a state of open-mouthed wonder that these people exhibited no concern whatsoever of being held responsible for their actions. Perhaps they imagined that the country as a whole would approve, or maybe they believed that Trump would pardon them...
"They won't even respect and follow the rules of their own chamber. why should we expect them to honor and follow the laws and the constitution."
Because the Republican president and lawmakers have long demonstrated their contempt for the law and their willingness to rule by fear, I think it likely that if psychologically intimidating Democrats isn't their primary reason for bringing guns to work, it's an added benefit. So what happens when some nutjob like Boebert (who has been boasting that she will bring her Glock into the House chamber) shoots a Democrat? Will her fellow Republicans just sit there...
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentuckian said that he and other gun-toters were very pleased to have brought their guns to work on January 6, and that if the advisability of guns in the workplace ever comes before the House again, its supporters will be laughed out of the chamber.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez included the following in her description of the fear she felt on January 6: "I suppose you heard that there were QAnon and white-supremacist sympathizers and, frankly, white-supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point who I know and who I have felt would disclose my location and would create opportunities to allow me to be hurt, kidnapped, et cetera."
I can scarcely imagine anything more absurd than Massie's implication that not only should Democrats trust that no harm will come to them from legislators whose worldview is shaped by Q-Anon and white nationalist churches, they should be comforted by the fact that people who hate them--and praise violence--come to work armed to the teeth.
"When he first invited people to a "wild party" the 6th, the way he said it, I know he was planning something."
Or at least happy that it was being planned, some of the planning having been done in private chatrooms, but much of it occurring right out in the open. "Trial by combat," Juliana called the attack on the capitol just before he and Trump sent the mob to do Trump's dirty work, upon which Trump repeatedly told the mob that he would be marching to the capitol with them (some examples: "...we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue... And we’re going to the Capitol...So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue"), but Trump didn't go with them, and when Juliana said "trial by combat, he clearly meant that it would be someone else's trial--someone like the outnumbered and unarmed cops, one of whom was killed. What Trump did do was to get into his limo and return to the White House where he watched the whole thing on TV (and from which he tweeted the following to the rioters: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution..." whereupon they began chanting, "Hang Pence!" How interesting that Republicans take NO note of his lies--any of his lies. It's as though when he lies, he flips a switch in their brains to the off position.
"History will not remember any of this kindly."
If it doesn't, the enemies of democracy will have won.
Glad to see you are doing well
What puzzles me is why people are blindly supporting traitors to America, the Biden Crime Family. So perplexing...like those Lemmings, Democrats are: Lemmings are the locusts of mammals, and they will strip a habitat bare. Democrats are now the equivalent of domestic terrorists since they cheated, aided by China, billionaires, and Silicon Valley oligarchs. Brave New World, indeed...
"Glad to see you are doing well."
Thank you, Joe. I hope you are also well. I don't recall how much of an update I wrote following my last post, but Peggy's latest test showed nothing; the doctor didn't order more tests; and since it seemed that she might be improving, we took a wait-and-see attitude. However, she is now back to throwing up and dropping weight, so I'm not sure what to do. Normally, she will only see a doctor when nagged (if she goes in without being nagged, it means that she's scared out of her mind), and I'm reluctant to nag her until we've had our Covid vaccines, which I hope will happen within a month or so (when we get a president who doesn't spend his days sulking and playing golf).
As for me, I will be a bit better when the inauguration is over. The Trumpers have already staged several violent attacks at--or against--Oregon's capitol of late, and at least two of those traitors attacked our nations' capitol on the 6th (one of them was the man who kept screaming, "We're law-abiding citizens, but you MADE us do this!") A couple of days ago, I went over my family tree and found ten people (among my grandfathers and uncles) who betrayed their nation in 1961 (in the name of their Constitutionally guaranteed freedom to enslave others), and I'm pretty sure that, had I looked, I would have found more (it having been common for families to have 8-15 children). Their treachery used to seem remote, but current events have made it seem modern.
I do hope you meant 1861.
Good riddance to the whole clan moving out and on and away from the rest of us, I hope, for a long long time. It's been so peaceful since he got banned from Twitter. Just kind bird chirping silence. I love it. I hope that continues. Be such a change.
Post a Comment