It was interesting to hear so many Representatives speak about the need to unite the country, to heal our wounds, and to move on, then watch 197 of them vote in support of the man whose actions over the past 4 years destroyed almost every norm involving the presidency and common decency, and whose words last week launched a direct attack on the government itself.
Yes ..l this feels very much like the rapist who tells you "Shut up and quit resisting and I 'll let you live." ... otherwise ..., light a candle and give a prayer for Lisa Montgomery ... poor kid ... only one of so many who remain unnamed ....
So true. I've experienced such behavior in my own life. No amount of explaining will make such people change. You have to walk away or exclude them from access.
Yep, me too. My ex was definitely a narcissist who did that to me all the time. The verbal and emotional abuse was awful. Took almost ten years to extricate myself from that relationship. It has been almost 9 years since I left.
How do we as a country address this mass brainwashing strategy of QAnon and other fringe groups? What is really beneath all of this is fear. How do we as a country address their fears if everything has been covered with propaganda and lies that they truly believe are the real issues? It is like going to couple's therapy where one spouse is willing to do the hard work of self reflection and owning their part while the other spouse points a finger at the one who needs fixing. Ugh. So complicated.
By attacking the sources of their fears; social and economic uncertainties which have seriously harmed their confidence in their ability to do more than survive and have weakened the mutual support mechanisms holding their communities together.
Thank you, Stuart. You always have words of wisdom. Biden's administration has vowed to work for all, and I hope that as his policies are realized and the situations of these people improves, they will be able to extricate themselves from the pull of the cultist groups they have aligned themselves with.
Once their fears have been eased a little, a hand must be held out to them to bridge the gulfs created in society by inequality of means...if not chances...and the often attendant distribution of rewards. The hand must offer both hope and education to allow them a viable and credible way to extricate themselves from the hole they have dug for themselves...with a little help from our 1% friends.
Love it! The oldest excuse in the world still very much in vogue. It would be nice if they realized that the devil in question is stuck far back in their own unconscious...and not in the proverbial "other" .
Not to worry. Taylor Greene's Articles against Biden will be quashed, and once the FBI and Capitol Police examine the surveillance of "guided tours" conducted for Deplorables by "Representatives and staff" in the days prior to the insurrection, Ms. Taylor Greene, Ms. "Glock" Boebert, and others might just be looking at their own sedition charges. Q will probably not be of much assistance.
McCarthy and Moscow Mitch will fail to muzzle her, and given the opportunity all the fascists in the House and the Senate will vote for this kind of thing. Fortunately, the Democrats still (barely) control the House and now the Senate so this stuff will be shut down via a tabling maneuver. That is, it is likely the House will vote to recommit her bill for reconsideration and kill it that way, preventing any vote on her bill on the House floor. In fact, if she's forced to submit it to the House Judiciary committee, her bill will never even make it out of committee.
Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Louie Gohmert stood on the floor of the House last night and danced, rehearsing the moves for the other 194 members who eventually joined in the Trumpist chorus line from hell that continues to support their seditious leader.
Meanwhile in the main ballroom, Mitch hasn’t quite decided if he will join this particular soiree – he’s holding his dance card ever so close to his chest, playing the coy, reluctant young thing, standing at the side of the room gazing at the assembled crowd and wondering whether the time has come to join in or refrain, protecting his sacred honor like a blushing debutante at the ball who spent the afternoon in torrid congress with the family gardener.
He knows the dance - he wrote the tune, choreographed the steps, and has danced it deftly before. But Mitch will not dance with just anyone, he will only dance with the partner that offers him the greatest prize. His choice will have nothing to do with honor - it will be a choice of expediency.
He and his fellows will dance and dance and dance the night away – going nowhere but in circles, until we all tire of the spinning – which is their hope. Let us not be fooled by this swirling, twirling obfuscation. Stop the music, deprive them of their masks – end this charade.
Sounds very much like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice reviewed and corrected by a Horror "B" movie director. All in the course of catching the largest fortune.....perhaps it's not so different.
“Do you dance, Mr. Darcy? "Not if I can help it!"
"What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing, after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies."
"Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world; every savage can dance.”
And as a Cali resident near the Capitol of Sacramento, many are just appalled by this man and other GOP members of Congress who have fallen for Trump like a love sick groupie. His district, and others in Southern, CA are filled with anti-vaxers, anti-maskers, and to hell with rules about gathering in large groups people. The death toll and the number of new cases from Covid in Southern, CA is staggering. He is absolutely complicit due to his lack of leadership around this health crisis.
May I ask ‘What the heck with Lindsey Graham!?!’ First he sounded drunk when he spoke the night of the 6th...‘enough is enough!’ But before the ink was dry he was back in trump’s lap. Who is that man and what does Trump have on him?! He is so unstable, and I am not suggesting it, but I do believe at some point he will ‘do himself in’... there’s really something wrong there...
I agree, I thought finally he has seen the light, or drunk, flailing his arms all over saying ‘enough is enough’.......then he jumps right back into Trump’s embrace. Something out of whack with that man!
If there was anyone in politics I looked at and perhaps thought, "Wow, I'd bet real money that one's a serious drunk," the only one I might have believed to be more likely than Lindsey "HeavenSakesALawdyMercy" Graham was Steve "Flood the zone" Bannon.
It applies to many politicians period. Don’t get me wrong I despise Jordan, Gretzky, Gohmert and all their ilk, but there are many politicians on both sides of the aisle who are suspect. For me the removal from public life of Donald John Trump will be enough
Elected officials who participated in any way in the Jan. 6 uprising, including having fore knowledge, are guilty of treason and felony murder. They must be indicted and tried by the Justice Department in as public a fashion as possible. Their crimes would be worse, far worse, than those of the insurgents; the officials swore an oath and carried the public trust.
In Trump's case it is somewhat worrying as a standard requirement of "sound mind and body" at the time of the act is that the perpetrator is capabale of distinguishing right from wrong. He hasn't been able to tick this box since childhood.
Even though this situation is far from funny, your comment made me chuckle. ( You are right as his absorption of self precludes all other thought processes).
Sometimes his careful wording that flirts with incitement actually does show that he knows the boundaries better than a lot of people want to admit knowing. Then they can't "give him the benefit of the doubt" that he depends on.
Those that can be proved to have participated in planning, supporting, or participating in the 6 January attempted coup/putsch can be, and must be, prosecuted for sedition, but not "treason," because the Constitution defines "treason" as acting with or for a foreign entity with which there is a state of declared war. Currently the U.S. is not in a "state of war" with anyone.
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." Hard to not extrapolate an attack on the Capitol while there was a joint session of congress to count the vote for the next president. Harder still is to be able to prove this in court. To my knowledge (courtesy of the Professor here) is that several people executed for treason in US History were during the civil war; John Brown and Aaron Stevens for their raid on Harpers Ferry. William Mumford was executed for tearing down a US Flag in 1862. Mary Surrat was executed for her role in Lincoln's assassination.
Sedition will be much easier to articulate and prove, although I believe that this act was an act of treason.
Good clarification— a lot of the insurrection it’s were acting on their own passion for patriotism— serving their desperate president— most of them probably still believe he won— one thing we can’t take away from the Donald — his power of persuasion
It is important in prosecution of offenses not to “overcharge” the offender. In cases where offenders are overcharged, they may more easily be found not guilty on a range of “ technicalities.” The penalties for sedition and violent insurrection along with many other offenses clearly committed are more than sufficient to punish those who participated. Even for those charged with relatively minor misdemeanors rather than felonies societal penalties they may experience can be severe. Those societal penalties can include employment challenges as a consequence of unfavorable background checks and negative impact on credit ratings. Those societal penalties can be lifelong and quite debilitating. However, in this case they will be well deserved.
I'm new to Heather's Letters and appreciate their directness and concise reporting. Life is particularly challenging in the USA now. My take is that we are at a momentous time of crisis, our very own American Heart of Darkness. The Army of Trump will not go away; its origins started in the 1980's, perhaps, earlier. The wounds of racism; white supremacy; the seismic changes in the world of work with people losing their jobs, unions, communities and sense of meaning; the greed and individualism (me, myself and I); the transfer of wealth to a very few; failures of government; the disappearance of local newspapers; the accumulation of firearms... it feels as though it is all crashing down on us. Mitch McConnell continues to connive through this collapse of state. Trump has no idea of what he's done.
For those interested in seeing an unusual 40 minutes of video consisting of a rolling shot of the breach on the Western staircase of The Capitol, I recommend Why the Capitol Riot Reminded Me of War by Elliot Ackerman. It contains a link to the video. The author was a soldier Iraq and Afghanistan. His Opinion was published in yesterday's New York Times,. It is a sharp and deeply felt reflection about what is going on.
In such an unsettling time, it is very helpful to communicate and share thoughts with each other. It is good to read Heather's Letters and to learn from you.
I understand; it was difficult for me to watch, too. Stayed with the video to absorb what I could. of what was going on and the people in the mob. It was terrifying to see what the Capitol Police were going through.
Lynell, If you watch until the end, you will see the shooting death of the rioter who jumped through the glass frame of the door protecting our elected representatives. It was one of excruciatingly painful results of the breach, which I thought to prepare you for. Peace.
Just hearing that a woman insurgent was shot was very different from seeing her in action. Ashli Babbit was more than a protester. She was a US Air Force officer who was trained in executing a mission and leading the charge. And so she fearlessly went to jump through the broken glass. She also had been trained in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to which all members of the military are subject instead of civilian laws, and she would have known very well the concepts of treason and sedition. The tragedy is how she got sucked into QAnon and disconnected from her moral compass.
Yes... I was so mortified, waiting for some heroes to appear, but I had to watch the entire thing... the FBI has so much material here... and I am sure there are many other films (surprisingly, still available online) that will provide them with thousands of leads. Don’t know if you heard the one guy say , ‘oh, so what is a little jail time?’ I couldn’t believe that he filmed it all, even when Ashli Babbit was shot. The monsters wouldn’t even get out of the way to get to her quickly and to get her out..
Excellent article...not sure I can watch the video. Still feeling sick just watching what happened on the tv on the 6th. Terrifying, kept waiting for help to arrive.
(Sorry, Becky Phillips. This comment got posted twice, and when the duplicate had not disappeared, my Delete action took out not just the one, but both. Grrrr Substack!)
I watched it yesterday. Yes, he certainly was a participant. (I had never heard the expression, "attention economy opportunist." Seems very useful in these times.)
Actually, it began well over 60 years ago (but who's counting). Google Richard Hofstadter's "The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt" in The American Scholar (unedited, unlike other sites). Back in 1954 he had these people described perfectly citing Theodore Adorno's 1949 study The Authoritarian Personality. It's a good place to start understanding The Enemy. Then Rick Perlstein's trilogy history of the Right: "Before the Storm" (Goldwater), "Nixonland" (you know who), "The Invisible Bridge" (Reagan).
Thank you TC. I am not familiar with 'The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt' and thanks to you I'll read it. When I commented about 'Trump's Army' I had in mind the militias, NRA like members, religious zealots, the working class dislocated by technology, racists (which go back to the beginning, of course); the aggrieved and generally lacking a higher education. I wouldn't throw in The Authoritarian Personality or the conservative movement for the crowd I was trying to encompass.
It's important to recognize the dual insurrectionary forces at work on January 6. The in-person-insurrectionists are the cannon fodder of T****'s army. They are angry, bitter, feel disenfranchised as the result of the decades of gradual dismantling of opportunities to join the middle class (which was created largely through the advances of the New Deal) by the string-pulling-insurrectionists - wealthy individuals and corporations that resent paying taxes, resent regulation, resent participatory democracy. How sad that the Capitol stormers were attacking the very party that at least has paid lip-service to preserving and rebuilding the middle class.
I agree although there are more culprits. The working class felt betrayed by the Democratic Party for not providing the needed opportunities and support when their employers found cheaper means of production overseas and technology took over. The Republican party saw to it that the people's wealth was transferred to the donor class. The Democratic Party is also not innocent on this score. Other democratic countries have their share of billionaires, but they have much stronger safety nets for their citizens than we do. This , too, is not short story. The anti-government movement did not spring up without without the failures of our government.
I agree completely that the Democratic Party has plenty to answer for too (which is why I wrote "lip-service"). I believe a big reason Clinton was not able to sweep the 2016 election is that too many were still feeling the Clinton machine's neo-liberal (so identical to conservatism in too many ways) support of big banking and cutting away at the social programs that allowed so many to claw their way out of poverty and into at least the working class. I know people who would have voted for Sanders who so disliked Clinton that they voted for T****. (They did not do this twice, fortunately.)
I absolutely agree with you, however, there was also a very successful campaign against Hillary concerning Benghazi and her emails. While those accusations were rigged nonsense they worked, like so much of the 'false news'. More reasonably, Blacks were not enthusiastic about her because of Bill's dissembling of support via welfare payments and because of the crime bill, which incarcerated so many Black men with abandon.
Thanks TCinLA for again promoting Perlstein's books. I would add his recent "Reaganland" to the list. They are long and detailed, but easily read like novels--or horror stories, I suppose. When you recommended Hofstadter's prescient article previously (I think early in December in response to escalating Trumpist "stop the steal" agitations), I appended a shout out to his follow-up essay from 1965, "Goldwater and Pseudo-Conservative Politics." After the seemingly resounding defeat of movement conservatism in the '64 elections, Hofstadter was parsing their state of mind and saying that they weren't going to go away. Worth reading, though I do not have an online reference for it.
I had come back to this day's comments to agree with and respond to Fern's comment (on my own post above). Then I clicked and opened this article and read it all the way through without paying attention to when it was written. Everything meshes so seamlessly with what is happening right now in America that I assumed it was written within the last couple of years. Then I scrolled back up to the top and see that it was originally published the winter I was born 66 years ago! Last week's attack on the Capitol has, indeed, been a long time coming.
Oh, my. This is so loaded with goodies to be picked out and looked at more closely. I am fairly new to politics, being much more interested in science, psychology, and art. Trump did this do me. And lately I'm fascinated by -- well, I see this all in two ways: a great game of chess (Heather sums up the previous day's moves every morning, and we all digest her summation and discuss what will likely happen next); and as an elaborate tapestry, with this thread and that thread twisting around each other, pulling the mass into forms and patterns. This essay, written 66 years ago (in the year of my birth) explains so much to me about our politics today.
My poor husband just jumped up from the couch and dashed around behind my chair to what used to be our dining alcove and is now his office, late for a "meeting" because I have been reading this aloud to him, and we have been discussing it. As a native of the UK, he helps with an outsider's perspective. So very interesting. This will be my study for today.
Thank you and welcome! I've been playing a broken record for quite some time now: "Trump is just a symptom." Too many people seem to think by removing him things will get back to "normal." The German author Tupoka Ogette calls this normal "Happyland" - the place white folks live in before we understand the impact of white supremacy on our lives. I worry that the lure of Happyland will pull too many people back - instead of ensuring that ALL the Republicans face consequences and accountability.
Thank you, Rachel. Denial is always one of the obstacles to truth and solving problems as well as, literally, being part of the cycle. Trump's big lie was 'election fraud' and the our BIG Lies are systematic racism, not knowing who we are, scapegoating, tribalism....
We need to learn to talk the 33% of the electorate that thinks that but for fraud Trump would be looking at a 2nd term. Not lecture at them. Talk with them. I've written about that here
As the illusion that Trump is the only impediment to normal? The "normal" before Trump is only the beginning - we all need more than normal - we need better and improved! Just saw news that the Apache tribes are suing, I think, to attempt to prevent a mining company from "exchanging" Arizona lands in order to start up a mining operation on land that was "given" to them thru a treaty. It was on MSN this am. I know it has been ongoing because I get news from a couple actual conservation organizations. I believe there has been very little or no public comment opportunities. This administration trying to push it thru before Wed.
There's been a lot of hoopla about the Democrats' rationale for congressional Democrats unusual speed in drafting new Articles of Impeachment, and this past afternoon, voting to eject President Trump from the White House for the second time in roughly a single calendar year. I don't blame them in the slightest, and I think the arguments against impeachment are totally self-serving and unworthy of even the slightest consideration. Nobody on the House Republican side can seriously contend that it was others than a howling mob of Trump supporters that overpowered police and then proceeded to ransack our national Capitol.
Among the arguments that have been raised, and repeatedly so, justifying the Democrats' reflexive action to impeach Trump has been the idea that only through impeachment, the specter of Donald J Trump again running for the presidency at some future time between now and the 2028 presidential election. Indeed, our 'Disruptor in Chief' undoubtedly revels in the thought that his enemies are quivering in their Birkenstocks and tie-dyes over the thought of him running for president again.
This time, however, House Democrats drafted Articles of Impeachment with a real 'poison pill' buried inside in the form of a direct invocation of the Fourteenth Amendment which has an absolute prohibition against anyone being are the elected or appointed to a federal public office if that person has engaged in insurrection, rebellion, or offered aid and comfort those who engaged in seditious or treasonous acts or advocacy. The operative language is found in Section 3. It is too long to quote here; and, in Donald Jake Trump's case, given the unique circumstances under which he is being impeached, that would be an absolute bar to him taking public office again that will most likely be highly effective. Here's why.
Two nights ago, on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show, one of his guests, a law professor, offered his opinion about the quantum of evidence that would be sufficient to make the ban against holding public office stick. The question turned on the quantum of proof that would be necessary to derail any future bid by Donald Trump to regain political office by running again for president. The same inquiry can and should be made about every one of Trump's hangers-on who participated in, aided or abetted Trump's effort to overturn the recent presidential election. The question essentially boils down to, 'How far could they go without exposing themselves to a charge of sedition', and who gets to decide.
That law professor, as well-trained as he is, waffled around the question about whether an acquittal in the Senate would upend the hope that a future Trump run for the presidency could be derailed because Trump had been acquitted by a complacent Senate that could not muster the two-thirds majority to convict him, expel him from the White House, and deny him the legal capacity to hold public office again. When asked, the man just couldn't say, muttering something about having to look at all of the evidence that might be relevant to the case. It was a lawyerly, professorial answer that looked to the vagaries of constitutional law rather than a straightforward reference to the Law of Evidence. Seriously.
I'm not trying to be snarky, but this is not all that difficult if you know something about statutory construction, and the evidentiary rules regarding burden of proof. If you read the operative language in the third section of the Amendment, you would notice that nowhere in that serpentine language is there any mention of the word 'impeachment'. None whatsoever. That's important, because the language of this amendment is a great deal broader than the language in Article II that talks about the President and officers of the Executive Branch of government who are appointed by the President. The prohibition also applies to those prospective candidates for elected seats in the Senate or the House of Representatives who might also have engaged in seditious or treasonous acts, subversion, or who offered aid and comfort to those who did by encouraging them and urging them on, as did Trump a week ago yesterday. And, in contradistinction from the two-thirds majority of the Senate needed to convict and oust a President, the language of the Amendment states that both houses of Congress must vote by two-thirds majorities to relieve in eligible persons from that constitutional disability incurred by them. You can see which people the drafters of the 14th Amendment had in mind, former politicians who had joined the Confederacy; and having lost their war to secede from the Union, now wanted to reenter the halls of Congress again.
What we have here today is an Article of Impeachment, voted on and approved by the House of Representatives that incorporates a set of facts justifying impeachment, considered by the House, and found to be true. In other words, these are legislative facts that Congress and state legislatures routinely incorporate into the statutes they enact which reflect the philosophy and purpose of the act, based upon specific facts found by those legislative bodies and for the purposes of that legislation are deemed to be true. Those facts set forth in the Article of Impeachment, bolstered by contemporaneous news reports, witness testimonies, news videos, and amount of other evidence, lends credence to the evidentiary value of the factual recitals that accompany the impeachment declaration set forth in the adopted Article. In effect, it is not a judicial trial, but it has the same effect, and it ends up in a judgment against the President based upon the underlying facts of his misconduct.
The fact that the Amendment does not require senatorial confirmation of a judgment that certain persons are in eligible to hold public office or to sit as members of Congress or the Senate has the effect of making that judgment provisional as to any body accused of the prohibited acts; but a provisional judgment has the same legal effect of a prima facie case of wrongdoing brought into the civil or criminal court. We know that a prima facie case is one in which all of the elements of an action or crime are present in the action, and the party against whom the evidentiary presumption of their validity and force operates is required to bring forth another set of facts that negates the presumption created by the statute. It is a little known fact that law school courses in the Law of Evidence sometimes give these matters short shrift, much to the eventual dismay of practitioners who suddenly find themselves out of court because they cannot overcome a statutory presumption embedded in the law. Shame on them, because some of them never do learn.
So, what I am really saying is that this particular constitutional amendment has the effect of shifting the burden of proof to the party burden by the presumption that such person is not fit to be in public office because they engaged in sedition or rebellion at some time in the past; and the only way to overcome that presumption is to prove that they are completely innocent of the charge that prevents them from holding office. If this matter were to go to court, Donald Trump would need to have the judge hearing the case make an affirmative finding of factual innocence. Oh, and by the way, all of this argument is either at sidebar, or in the judge's chambers, and it never gets to the jury. It is strictly a question of law. This is done all the time when persons claiming that they were wrongfully convicted of crime petition a court under habeas corpus to convince that court that the original trial court got it wrong, and that they were actually, factually innocent. That's a real tough hole to get out of, and that's the hole that Trump finds himself in now.
Thank you for this legal review. But, this is politics, not a qualified court. If it was run like a court, members would not be allowed to lie, endlessly, and fabricate defenses. The Republican Senators will launch a stiff defense of the President, presenting "evidence" that denies his culpability. They can then vote together to deny a conviction. This will not happen at a sidebar or in chambers. It will happen like an showtime extravaganza and publicly. Three Presidents have been impeached but none have been convicted. Rather, it would require, after two-thirds of senators present voted to remove Trump, a simple majority of senators present would have to approve an additional vote to bar him from the presidency in the future. That's my understanding.
The whole idea of having a written Constitution is to subordinate politics to the rule of law. What I'm also telling you is that Trump's lifetime ban is effectively a done deal because Trump will never be allowed to be on a presidential election ballot again. His campaign lost some 60-odd court cases to overturn the election results, and he'll never win another one again, regardless of the impeachment trial outcome.
This is my understanding too. As I was reading about this yesterday I found an excellent flow chart explaining it. After reviewing it I decided right then there is very little likelihood he will be convicted and/or be stripped of lifetime perks or running for office again. The GOPs will turn it into a circus again and we just won’t get 2/3rds.
Unless the FBI uncovers and / or shares the 'chilling information' that they know and start naming names that were involved (inside people), GOPs don't have anything to lose by not convicting. Part of me wants to believe this is why Mitch is waiting to schedule the hearing. Many of discussed that if the hearing went forward today, for example, in an emergency session, there would not be a conviction. Just look at yesterday's vote.
Don't we need Ossoff and Warnock's votes to be certified. They are going to drag them out to the last minute which will be too late to remove Trump from office but before, gives McConnell an edge.
As a nation, we have not experienced an attack on our nation's capital since 1864. But as we all know, history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Right now (and we know Washington leaks like a sieve), the word is out that a good portion of the damage could be attributable to an inside job with certain Republican congressmen or their staff members giving in-house tours to people wearing MAGA hats. It's gone beyond rumor and speculation, because some of the intruders apparently had advance knowledge about where things were within the Capitol building. This is beginning to look more like 9-11 every day. Stay tuned…
The panic buttons were all torn out of the walls in Rep. Ayanna Pressley's office before the rioters arrived. That could only have been done from the inside.
Meanwhile certain of my relatives who live in evangelical MAGA-land are so inundated with 'blame the Democrats and the BLM protesters' that they aren't even upset about their man Pence nearly being murdered.
Sir, I thank you for the discourse. And thank you also for your final paragraph. That final paragraph allowed me to untwist my brain and truly understand your point.
Heather, you were too kind about Jim Jordan. He is positively the most obnoxious, unprofessional hunan in the House. He yells! I always hope that his blood pressure will pop his head off. Alas, it hasn’t happened yet.
If some Democrats had listened to the warnings about Fake 45 and Russia that Hillary made, we would not be a witness to these crimes. Alas, that didn’t occur.
One of the major instigators to this uprising, is black, which astounds me. His first name is Ali. He is now in hiding but somehow revealed three names of Congress members who gave him information about the inner workings of the Capitol. One of them is Gosar whose family members want to see him removed from office. It also should be pointed out that Mikie Sherrill, a former Air Force pilot and prosecutor bad-ass, from New Jersey, observed tours being given one day before the insurrection, by members of Congress. Mind you, no tours were permitted at all since March 2020 because of Covid. Sherrill made note of these members but, of course, because of pending investigation, she cannot reveal their names...alas.
We also heard from the QAnon lady, Greene, who announced that she is going to file articles of impeachment against Biden. Mind you, she only recently got a GED. Alas, she is an ass.
Good ole Matt Gaetz got applause for yelling out stupid comments. He and Jordan are competing for the Most Annoying Voice award. Alas, he is an ass too.
Last but not least, was Steny Hoyer’s reading of Liz Cheney’s letter stating her reasons why she is voting for impeachment. Her life has been threatened and she chose him to read it.
Alas, our country has reached new lows..on sacred grounds.
I've taught on BAs like Greene's and been appalled at the ignorance of history and geography. Students who had no idea about how the world really was and why.
Yes but! European schools are going the same way too these days. Mad scramble for a highly "progressive" equality of results rather than of chances and an encouragement of excellence. This is how you dumb down the workers and lessen resistAnce to the 1%.
Excuse my ignorance, but now that Greene has her "GED" does that mean she can leave kindergarden and enter the junior school? If so, somebody should close the Kindergarden that gave it to her and revise the qualifications for being elected in the US.
Stuart, she didn't leave kindergarten. She has now entered the Kindergarten we call Congress with all its childish squabbling and not knowing how to share, etc. I feel I'm being generous calling it a Kindergarten when it more like a pre-school of 3 year olds.
Yes, toddlers and children are sponges and eager to learn. The only thing people are interested in learning is political calculus needed to keep their job.
Revising the qualifications seems like a good thing to me. Our pols could use geography classes. Perhaps they could use their new found knowledge to find their moral compasses.
As has been said before, anyone filing to run for elective office, or appointed to the judiciary or the executive branches of government, should be required to take in public and pass with high grades, the same test required for applicants for citizenship. (Then make them rewrite that last sentence for ease of understanding..)
Thanks, Lynell! Saw Sherrill on Rachel’s show last night. We are so lucky to have her in Congress. She cones with all the right equipment and good sense!
The Independent is reporting that the panic buttons in Ayanna Pressley's office had been torn out before the attack. It seems beyond doubt that there was inside help for the insurrection.
I watched her interview. This is true. She stated her office had more than one panic button. After they locked and barricaded themselves in, she went to each panic button, only to find wires. They had been pulled out. Disarmed.
Both Pressley and AOC left the large group 'secure area' because they were afraid that white supremacist colleagues would turn them over to the mob. Given that Loren Bobert tweeted about Speaker Pelosi's location during the mob attack, those fears make sense to me. (Bobert defends herself by saying Pelosi leaving the room was on TV. The rioters were not watching TV. They were watching Twitter. She knew that.)
I hope she is expelled from Congress. Watching her speak yesterday—very unhinged person. No respect or decorum for where she was at and to whom she was speaking. Just anger and rage. And used soft foul language as well.
The Independent got it from the Boston Globe. This was the section of the long article about it:
"As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic. [Pressley's chief of staff Sarah] Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office.
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,” she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then. As they were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh and Pressley and her husband tried to remain calm and vigilant — not only of rioters but of officers they did not know or trust, she said."
As well as the usual suspects for who did this....we might add Bret Kavanaugh who she tried to impeach (or even in the realms of fantasy, 10 times Rep. Mike Capuano who she displaced in Mass..... but he's fighting on the same side......Tut, tut what a thought!).
We know who the radical Republicans are. We know they will lie, they will blame, they will claim victimhood, while they go about sabotaging our government through their dangerous parliamentary games which are now hollowing out the trust of citizens in our political institutions. When that trust is fully gone, rebuilding it will be very difficult if not impossible.
The current Republican party in congress, with only a few exceptions, is an immediate threat to national security and our democratic way of life. These are people with power who have neither the moral right nor the necessary wisdom to hold it.
There can be no backing down from the truth of what damage they have done to our republic. It is not business as usual no matter how hard these seditious minds try to spin it.
Every citizen in this nation has an immediate interest in bringing these dishonorable people to justice.
Given that these people have already declared themselves The Enemy of America, it's time to start treating them as they wish to be treated. Termination - "with extreme prejudice."
The chapter titled "I Can't Breathe" continues to be written. A shamefully small number of Republican members of Congress had the moral fiber to stand up and say Enough! They, along with Democrats, corporate donors and those of us who have been appalled for far too long by the behavior of President Trump and those who align themselves with him must continue the steady march toward justice. With every step, reminding all that we are a nation of laws and of truth. Calls for unity from those who would undermine our principles and our Constitution should be treated as what they are: a desperate attempt to escape responsibility for wrongdoing.
AOC has stated in an hour-long Instagram video that her life and the lives of "many other members" were in serious jeopardy at one point of the intrusion. She said she was not sure she was allowed to make specifics public.
As long as it is only AOC making these statements, they must be treated as unsubstantiated allegations.
AOC's story had the ring of truth to me. I am now hoping that other representatives will come forward to confirm what she has said. If these allegations are true, the public needs to know the details sooner or later, and sooner would be better.
So very very scary that their panic buttons were ripped out! I swear, I pray we find out who did their heinous egregious acts and that they pay the price!!
It was other representatives reporting their own fears and experiences. Several called their husbands and wives, while they were hiding. One called her husband to tell him where her Will was. I don't remember their names. They were on interview shows and speaking with reporters.
Actually the point is not whether we believe her. The point is what we are going to say when opponents are vociferous in pointing out that they do not. To have an answer ready, we need corroboration.
My underlying point is that opponents are immune to facts, to science, and to objective truth. No matter how much you attempt to corroborate, they will refuse to believe it is true - even if they were in the roving packs of seditious terrorists who were trying to hunt down both Democrats and Mike Pence. So, don't waste your time trying to satisfy their demands for "evidence."
Those are excellent points. Nevertheless, I have two reasons to want to hear from others:
1. So I will have something to say when they claim AOC is lying or exaggerating (which would certainly be true if they were telling the story! Funny thing about that).
2. I also want to hear from others what happened, preferably to get several versions, and also just to be sure myself. I would want corroboration even if the person telling the story was a member of my own family -- in fact, even if that person was myself.
We have allowed a culture of intimidation against f our elected officials. It is never ok, whether chasing Lindsey Graham through an airport or threatening to kidnap the governor of Michigan. People act as if receiving death threats is just part of the job. It is not. Dehumanizing our representatives as if they are not people with families and gardens and dogs they walk just like the rest of us is just bizarre. Along these lines, while it is clear that Graham is hitching his star to the Trump train AGAIN because it is the only way he can win an election, there are many reports that others are in fear for their lives. This is unconscionable. I also wonder what people are doing about their own Trump-supporting friends? I have called out one on his social media after posting some seriously deranged memes, another for copy-pasting one of those stupid lists that point out every slight against the President, and now my high school best friend is in on the game. Yes, high school was decades ago and I live halfway across the country now, but do I want to go there? On one hand I had decided not to sit idly by while people repeat stupid stuff, on another I might as well kiss any happy reunions at the Big Ten Pub goodbye.
Why, when so many rats are leaving the sinking ship, are people blindly supporting this grifter? Even after the events of Wednesday?
It is interesting that, when told by a Republican House member that he was in fear for the physical lives of his family and his own life as he was describing why he might not vote for Impeachment, a Democrat responded, "Join the club!" Many (most/all?) Democrats in elected office have been living with death threats for the whole Trump term.
I think that Trump has given a green light for people to behave badly and I guess there are a lot of people who are enjoying this license to act as badly as he did. I can’t imagine what it would be like these days to try and teach middle schoolers civility. He broke the social norms in such a bold and public way that I think our country will never be the same.
I keep rehashing the idea of one’s culture and 'tribe', as the path to today. In the broad context. So many people have identified with Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan and Limbaugh et. al., then FOX, Koch Brothers, born again pastors, DIck Cheney and now trump. Here’s a lineage, and a large family. I learned yesterday that something called ‘Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum’ is still around, to some degree.
But let’s also see the defections from this tribe: Dick’s daughter Liz Cheney led a significant charge. There are massive changes in Georgia and Arizona. Have you heard of Charles Koch’s offer to help the incoming Biden admin? Corporate America is demanding a refund, and declares no more allowances to their kin (conservatives). The Bush family, Cindy McCain and so many other other patriarchs and matriarchs are abandoning their tired old robes.
I sense this dynamic within the tribe pretends one last, dramatic grasp to hold onto privilege, and the way things were. Divorces are most often very, very messy. People will need support, and our encouragement.
Who would have thought that in the early days of 2021 corporate America would become the conscience of our nation. The mere thought of loosing their financial support has forced some Republicans to temper their words. Now they’re forced to calculate between Trump supporters and corporate donors. This is what passes for governance these days.
I would suggest that corporations and the Manufacturers Association are not doing this out of a love of democracy. They are doing it because Trump and his ilk are unconscionable destabilizing the economy and reducing their profits. Their abiding anger over the failure of Trump to do much of anything to prevent the massive death and disruption of the pandemic and therefore the economy is clear. They waited so long to speak out against the reckless President / Republicans that we can only conclude that this "withholding" is a sad, clear measure of the power of their money to the whole electoral process, and also a validation of their base concern for their dividends, bonuses, and profits.
My best friend since kindergarten posted recently that liberals don’t believe in facts and that their beliefs are all based on emotions. Where does one go forward from there? I’m trying not to be emotional about it.
I read all this as projection started by TЯ☭💀p. Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. Psychological projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings. Projection is TЯ☭💀p in a nutshell.
Fair point - anytime the Corona Don accuses someone of doing something awful, it's because he's already doing the very same thing. This has been true throughout his "career."
You block them on whatever platform they're using to spout that nonsense and move on. Also, given they probably aren't being virus-safe, make sure you never meet them in person. Just wait them out.
It’s hard not to be emotionally affected when a dear friend has been brainwashed— but we all have times when we’re blindsided by parts of life and that doesn’t erase our goodness.
Mary, I would approach them about science in the following manner. Ask them what kind of tech devices they have, such as laptop and cell phone. Do they have a newer car, with tech options. Have they travelled recently, by plane especially. Then, have a conversation with them about the very same tech being used to determine the amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, or acid in the public waterways, such as lakes, rivers and ocean. The very same technology.
The VERY same technology that allows us to tap into news from around the world, allows us to measure the detrimental affects of industry and capitalism. It is very easy to measure, anything. Lee the ingredients in a recipe - and the ingredients in our air, water, lungs and blood. As a cancer surviver, I know the value of modern science!
O, about capitalism. Have a conservation about responsibility. Do their neighbors have a responsibility to prevent spilling toxic and noxious materials onto their property, and the air above your home. Then, here is a lead into the discussion about the responsibility of every commercial enterprise from destroying neighborhoods, cities and waterways. Why do European countries have much stricter standards around toxins than America, and yet have a higher standard of living.
We can get into taxes and taxation, if you would like.
So HCR would say, particularly in regards to the fairness of the recent election, that people can say anything in a public forum or through the media whether or not what they are saying is truthful. But in a court of law, evidence must be produced to verify that a statement is true. tRump's team has won only 1 out of 64 court cases regarding the recent election and that one win was only on a procedural technicality. So the truth is that there is no proof of fraud in the recent election. That conclusion is not based on emotion, but on actual verifiable facts.
That really concerns me. This despicable human being (barely human) has been force fed to every child in our country. And those whose parents have supported him, with Fox blaring all day long, have planted seeds that will not be easy to uproot. The stain on minds will continue for generations. Thank God that our education system will be thoroughly overhauled... but so much damage has been done. So very sad.
Oh yes. This is why I stopped visiting my family in Idaho 2 years ago -- something I used to really enjoy and look forward to on a regular basis. The last visit, my great nephew and nieces mother started talking about keeping the 'Messicans' on the other side of the wall. And said to her 4 children (ranging in ages of 6 to 13) 'Isn't that right kids?' And they all gleefully replied yes and with slang and other racist type memes. I said: 'You know my son, your cousin, is marrying a Mexican woman next summer? And whose parents were migrant workers but now naturalized citizens who own a beautiful little organic produce farm?' 'Oh we didn't mean her.' I never went back. And they will not receive a wedding invitation for the future.
I wrote a polite and carefully crafted response to a post on Rob Portman’s Facebook page a few days ago. The sea of vitriol and personal attack it unleashed is shocking. This stuff works - I will likely never post again on a public forum. It is far too disturbing. Although the funniest comment accused me of being a Commie politician who should be arrested as a Russian spy. Uh, what?
Fun trick on FB: block every profile that spouts Corona Don's fascist nonsense. All of them. One way to really irritate them is to make an intelligent reply to their idiotic comment so others can see it, and then immediately block the person to whom you replied. They will be notified of the response but will never see it and cannot respond. ;)
I intend to do this, but haven’t come up with the best closing comment before I block. Ideally, a comment from me that has at least the potential to cause the person to pause and consider their beliefs, information sources and posts ... all in a couple of sentences. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I do think that somehow we have to break through to these people, many who really are becoming radicalized, to move them in the direction of starting to question their own beliefs or, at a minimum, to broaden their sources of information to include some that are credible and factual. Perhaps a link to an alternative article or an article about how people are becoming politically radicalized... I keep drafting my potential comments, ranging from outrage to a calmer, more thoughtful response, but haven’t come up with a response/closing comment that seems on point and plants a seed that might prompt more rational thoughts. I welcome suggestions! In the meantime, for the few far-right people with whom I am still connected online, their posts are a window into the irrational beliefs and disinformation that are fueling this right-wing outrage, and I am reporting their posts to FaceBook and hoping that their posts will be flagged or blocked.
I like that. I have said, “Would you please share your sources for this information?” Crickets.
Today, I posted this in response to someone who was ranting repeatedly about how the election was rigged, stolen, fraudulent, etc.:
“You are evidently getting your information from sources that are invested in perpetuating The Big Lie. At a minimum, please check your information for factual basis. Here are a few resources:
Also, install News Guard as an extension on your browser. For info go here: https://www.newsguardtech.com Like anything, you may not always agree with its ratings, but at least you know their criteria for making their ratings of news sources.“
They are idiots, but extremely dangerous idiots in far too many cases. I just finished watching the 39 minute video on YouTube that was referenced in Elliot Ackerman’s oped in today’s Times. It was filmed by a maniacal revolutionary in Trump’s ‘army’ and followers this insane mob through the Capitol and he doesn’t stop filming until Ashli Babbit is dying at his feet. His name is John Sullivan, a.k.a. Jayden X. It is so excruciating long and shocking. These people?! Horrifying ! I can’t think, can’t attempt to write a meaningful word. Watch it with caution as it will surely leave you stunned. You are in the middle of a war.
I’m just waiting for the investigations of those in the White House and other staffers who can , under oath, tell us what did go on ‘behind closed doors’! I am sure there’ll be some, or many, who will sing like canaries and that will be the end of his pathetic charade depicted in yesterday’s appearance...
He is the Republican senator from Ohio, and one of the ones who appears reasonable but has been a toady. He is quite powerful, could have made a huge difference, but did not.
Ohhhh. I watched AOC on Rachel last night and could cry that these people are afraid of THEIR COLLEAGUES. We have allowed this to fester with our politeness. I will not sit idly by. I do sometimes call people out on my Congressman’s page (Seth Moulton, he has a lot of weirdos that harass him, too), but that’s like spitting in the ocean. I am more concerned with my friends. How dare they! I think the previously mentioned “What if you are wrong” response and am thinking of ways to use it.
I finally deleted all of my social media accounts and it’s been Heavenly. I realized about many of my high school friends that they never grew up. Still talking and acting the same way. Still cliques and bullying. At 55 years old! It was awful when a dear old friend of mind asked if I was Muslim or a rag head since I lived and worked in the Middle East.
On the previous day's letter (Jan 12), a reader by the name of Patrick Munson, from NC, wrote a very good post about his thoughts on why his area is so full of Trump supporters, even at this point. It's worth checking out for his insight.
There’s a great open by Lisa McGirr today in Nytimes which puts this past week in a very rational context that helps me understand where these republicans are coming from.
The opinion essay by Katherine Stewart, "The Roots of Josh Hawley's Rage," explains the religious authoritarianism as one of the sources for Republican's war with both truth and democracy.
Because it is clear that many, if not most, Republicans no longer believe in democracy, if only because their only remaining source of big money has forced an agenda that is not popular with most American citizens. Thus their support for gerrymandering and its equivalents in the Constitution, of the Electoral College and the Senate.
To me, the most telling indication of Trump's real time state of mind, is his behavior in the hours after he ducked out of the assault on the Capitol and fled to the safety and comfort of the White House. I have seen no report or evidence so far that he lifted as much as his little finger to intervene and attempt to stop the mayhem. He does not appear to have made any attempt to contact key cabinet members, military leaders or security officials. By all indications he was fixated by the events as they played out on TV and is said by some to have been delighted by the spectacle.
His behavior was at best immoral and a clear dereliction of his Constitutional duties as chief executive and commander in chief. That alone is sufficient cause for impeachment and conviction. In addition, I see Trump's unwillingness to act and to intervene in an ongoing attack on the Capitol building, the legislative bodies gathered within it, and the counting of votes from a duly certified presidential election as contemporaneous evidence of his unmistakable intent to overthrow our constitutional form of government and declare himself president. This is the monarchical tyranny that the writers of our Constitution correctly feared.
Did anyone else notice the gaffe in Trump's speech last night in which he claimed to "unequivocally condemn" violence? Quote: "I cannot emphasize that there must be no violence, no law breaking and no vandalism of any kind."
This is what he actually said. Various media outlets report it as such. But leaving out "enough" after "emphasize" entirely changes its meaning. Another dog whistle? Freudian slip?
If he truly condemned the violence, he could have done so at any time since it began. Told the rioters "unequivocally" to stop while they were attacking the Capitol. Instead, he was allegedly enjoying the scenes on TV, and later told them "we love you." (I note his frequent use of the "Royal we".) He is careful with his words when he wants to send a message; his followers a rabid about routing out his buried messaging - like his reference in a previous "disavowal" to his "first" presidency. "Read this carefully!" I saw emblazoned on FaceBook from one of his unabashed enablers (a man whose bid for Congress failed at the primary level).
So I can't help wondering about that missing "enough".
Two lawyers, including Pat Cipollone, and Stephen Miller, wrote it. (Source: NYT). Interesting that he now has to rely on lawyers and not speech writers.
I'm sure it was very well vetted. The printed version includes the word "enough". He missed it out - whether deliberately, or as a (conscious, or unconscious) slip, who knows?
I don’t think he’s as dumb as a lot of people would like to think. He may very well have worded that the way he did on purpose. I think he knows exactly what he is doing (exception: covfefe!) and is likely blaring a dog whistle to his base as his usual social media platforms/megaphones have been made off limits. We are in exceptionally dangerous times. Do not underestimate the level of risk we face from him and his supporters/followers. To do so increases their chances of success and the loss of our nation and democracy forever.
He often repeats cliches, catchphrases, and the like. Sometimes he gets words in the wrong order or leaves out word. He is a lazy speaker and a lazy thinker.
I think it was a Freudian slip in the way Trump can’t really communicate clearly because deep down he’d love people to continue to fight for him— it’s all about him.
If you want an update on the continuing of the gobsmackingly awful Josh Hawley's descent into Trumpian mendacity, more large corporate MO donors are refusing to support him financially and he has the chutzpah to write an Op-Ed in a little local paper called the Southeast Missourian claiming that his support of Trump's lies about the election has NO RELATION AT ALL to the attempted coup last Wednesday. https://wsiltv.com/2021/01/13/more-companies-pause-contributions-to-hawley-others/ Claire McCaskill had a great interview on one of my local NPR station's programs where she laid out the many ways his corruption has served him. She was a little giddy about his sudden dive from what he assumed would be the top of the heap. https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2021-01-13/claire-mccaskill-on-the-insurrection-trump-and-hawley
Btw, for anyone who wants to know: Hawley uses his sister's home address as his "place of residence" in order to claim to be living in Missouri, but he actually lives in the White-Squared enclave of Fairfax County, VA and does not own a residence in the state he claims to be representing. He's always been a lying liar who lies.
The only way to keep up the pressure on these people is to:
1. Arrest the Congresspeople who colluded with the insurrectionists and operated as the coup-plotters. They are guilty of sedition and treason. In particular the ones who are menacing their colleagues by bringing guns into the Capitol, such as Gohmert and Boebert.
2. Pressure--through petitions, constant phone calls, whatever it takes--corporations that give money to Republicans to stop doing so or lose financially.
3. Overturn the Citizens United case with appropriate election reform passed by both houses of Congress.
4. Start a very public and transparent re-education program that reaches into the Fox News, Gamergate, etc. communities.
5. De-nazify the military, the police departments, and the Fraternal Order of Police.
We have to be absolutely vigilant about this and we cannot let up.
I agree 100% with everything you said here, Linda. Brava! And it makes my blood boil. That Hawley has a newborn baby gives me the willies. People with a complete lack of morals should not parent. I hope he is completely shunned by the people of Fairfax Cty, his wife can't take it and leaves him, and he will come to his senses and act like a decent human being, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
The situation’s reminiscent of that in Italy in 1924, following the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti, who had spoken out constantly in Parliament against the Fascist Party’s use of fraud and violence, especially in recent elections, and was on the point of exposing serious corruption on the part of Mussolini, his family and the Fascist leadership, bribed by a US company, Sinclair Oil, to obtain exclusive drilling rights in Italy and its colonies.
For a while, the survival of the Fascist government was in the balance. In the end, Mussolini pulled through, abandoned the legal forms observed during its first years and installed a totalitarian dictatorship.
Now, the balance of power in America is unfavorable to Trump and the Republican Party, the president is a deluded old man who has always resembled Mussolini gone to seed, rather than the able political operator who made himself Duce, yet the danger to America remains as real as ever. The would-be dictator has done a great job for those conspirators who’d had the bright idea of taking over a respectable political party and who used him as a demolition ball to shatter the country’s institutions. Systematic cheating and a rolling barrage of lies enveloped America and the world in a cloud of toxic dust and confusion. Above all, President Trump has built up a mass movement of angry, resentful and heavily armed followers who believe his every word—even when it contradicts his last one, even, it seems, when he has thrown them under the proverbial bus.
Now, both those politicians who propagated the lie and those who went along with it live in terror of the mob, the Frankenstein monster they themselves created.
It was interesting to hear so many Representatives speak about the need to unite the country, to heal our wounds, and to move on, then watch 197 of them vote in support of the man whose actions over the past 4 years destroyed almost every norm involving the presidency and common decency, and whose words last week launched a direct attack on the government itself.
All abusers tell you not to make them do it.
Yes ..l this feels very much like the rapist who tells you "Shut up and quit resisting and I 'll let you live." ... otherwise ..., light a candle and give a prayer for Lisa Montgomery ... poor kid ... only one of so many who remain unnamed ....
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/1/12/lisa_montgomery_blocked_federal_execution
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/1/13/headlines/us_govt_executes_lisa_montgomery_after_scotus_sides_with_trump
I was thinking the same thing. Corona Don and his cronies represent an abuser who says, "Just stay quiet and don't make me beat you again."
That is chilling me to the bone.
That just gave me such a chill.
Standard perversity imposed inversion of fault......accusing your intended victim of your own crimes.
DARVO - Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim and Offender.
Exactly
So true. I've experienced such behavior in my own life. No amount of explaining will make such people change. You have to walk away or exclude them from access.
Yep, me too. My ex was definitely a narcissist who did that to me all the time. The verbal and emotional abuse was awful. Took almost ten years to extricate myself from that relationship. It has been almost 9 years since I left.
How do we as a country address this mass brainwashing strategy of QAnon and other fringe groups? What is really beneath all of this is fear. How do we as a country address their fears if everything has been covered with propaganda and lies that they truly believe are the real issues? It is like going to couple's therapy where one spouse is willing to do the hard work of self reflection and owning their part while the other spouse points a finger at the one who needs fixing. Ugh. So complicated.
By attacking the sources of their fears; social and economic uncertainties which have seriously harmed their confidence in their ability to do more than survive and have weakened the mutual support mechanisms holding their communities together.
Thank you, Stuart. You always have words of wisdom. Biden's administration has vowed to work for all, and I hope that as his policies are realized and the situations of these people improves, they will be able to extricate themselves from the pull of the cultist groups they have aligned themselves with.
Once their fears have been eased a little, a hand must be held out to them to bridge the gulfs created in society by inequality of means...if not chances...and the often attendant distribution of rewards. The hand must offer both hope and education to allow them a viable and credible way to extricate themselves from the hole they have dug for themselves...with a little help from our 1% friends.
And for the couple...if both aren't willing to change, it breaks the couple.
"The devil made me do it"?
Love it! The oldest excuse in the world still very much in vogue. It would be nice if they realized that the devil in question is stuck far back in their own unconscious...and not in the proverbial "other" .
The devil in the white house made me do it. Double ugh.
Please....spare me any BS about unity. Have you heard as of 9:30 this morning, that Marjorie Taylor Greene, that Qanon nut job is planning on introducing articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on January 21st? Something about Hunter Biden and being bought by China, Ukraine, yada, yada, yada. Kevin McCarthy had better muzzle her quickly. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/14/trump-impeachment-biden-transition-live-updates/#link-IMW5BEMWU5F4JARVT7PUISVPJQ
Not to worry. Taylor Greene's Articles against Biden will be quashed, and once the FBI and Capitol Police examine the surveillance of "guided tours" conducted for Deplorables by "Representatives and staff" in the days prior to the insurrection, Ms. Taylor Greene, Ms. "Glock" Boebert, and others might just be looking at their own sedition charges. Q will probably not be of much assistance.
A thing devoutly to be wished!!
I have this funny feeling that Ms. Glock is going to jail. That’s not an opinion or a hope, it’s a sense.
Please be right, Roland
I like your sense-ability...
I'd buy tickets to that!
Righty-roo, Nancy!
McCarthy and Moscow Mitch will fail to muzzle her, and given the opportunity all the fascists in the House and the Senate will vote for this kind of thing. Fortunately, the Democrats still (barely) control the House and now the Senate so this stuff will be shut down via a tabling maneuver. That is, it is likely the House will vote to recommit her bill for reconsideration and kill it that way, preventing any vote on her bill on the House floor. In fact, if she's forced to submit it to the House Judiciary committee, her bill will never even make it out of committee.
I can only hope she refers to it as the kraken bill and threatens to release the kraken.
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-55090145
Sounds like you know your onions about procedure. Thanks!
She snd Bohbert are a pair of nuts
OMG, she's come to save the Party and democracy itself!
😅😂🤣😰😨😱🤢
That will actually be fun to see. She is wasting no time cementing her reputation as only passingly familiar with agreed upon reality.
Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Louie Gohmert stood on the floor of the House last night and danced, rehearsing the moves for the other 194 members who eventually joined in the Trumpist chorus line from hell that continues to support their seditious leader.
Meanwhile in the main ballroom, Mitch hasn’t quite decided if he will join this particular soiree – he’s holding his dance card ever so close to his chest, playing the coy, reluctant young thing, standing at the side of the room gazing at the assembled crowd and wondering whether the time has come to join in or refrain, protecting his sacred honor like a blushing debutante at the ball who spent the afternoon in torrid congress with the family gardener.
He knows the dance - he wrote the tune, choreographed the steps, and has danced it deftly before. But Mitch will not dance with just anyone, he will only dance with the partner that offers him the greatest prize. His choice will have nothing to do with honor - it will be a choice of expediency.
He and his fellows will dance and dance and dance the night away – going nowhere but in circles, until we all tire of the spinning – which is their hope. Let us not be fooled by this swirling, twirling obfuscation. Stop the music, deprive them of their masks – end this charade.
Sounds very much like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice reviewed and corrected by a Horror "B" movie director. All in the course of catching the largest fortune.....perhaps it's not so different.
“Do you dance, Mr. Darcy? "Not if I can help it!"
"What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing, after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies."
"Certainly, sir; and it has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world; every savage can dance.”
"corrected by a Horror "B" movie director"? Interesting observation.
Good writing.
Thank you, TC.
Mitch McConnell always plays for advantage. So says Steve Schmidt of the Lincoln Project.
Mitch is the most political genius since LBJ
... if they put it off until the last minute, it leaves more time for BigMoney gamblers to place their bets and amplify the odds ...
Very eloquently said
Thanks Paul.
😆😅😂🤣🤧
I can't get this out of my head. Simply perfect. Mind if I share this?
Thanks so much, Lynn. You’re welcome to share it, but I’d prefer that it not be on Facebook.
I hear you. Ty, will email to a few close friends
No matter what we say or do I think their delusional dancing will carry on and on.
I loved Adam Schiff's description tonight of Kevin McCarthy (R-Dumbfuckingokiefornia): "unlimited ambition unmoored to any principles or conscience."
I love Adam Schiff
Nah . McCarthy represents a House district that encompasses the Counties of Calibama and Calissippi.
And as a Cali resident near the Capitol of Sacramento, many are just appalled by this man and other GOP members of Congress who have fallen for Trump like a love sick groupie. His district, and others in Southern, CA are filled with anti-vaxers, anti-maskers, and to hell with rules about gathering in large groups people. The death toll and the number of new cases from Covid in Southern, CA is staggering. He is absolutely complicit due to his lack of leadership around this health crisis.
Watching the Covid numbers in LA has been heart wrenching. I’m so sorry! Should never haven gotten this bad!
Demagoguery has consequences
https://apple.news/ABiUxug_PQau8fJdg34LOGg
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2029812
Too funny.
May I ask ‘What the heck with Lindsey Graham!?!’ First he sounded drunk when he spoke the night of the 6th...‘enough is enough!’ But before the ink was dry he was back in trump’s lap. Who is that man and what does Trump have on him?! He is so unstable, and I am not suggesting it, but I do believe at some point he will ‘do himself in’... there’s really something wrong there...
I agree, I thought finally he has seen the light, or drunk, flailing his arms all over saying ‘enough is enough’.......then he jumps right back into Trump’s embrace. Something out of whack with that man!
He had finally seen the light? Lindsey? Not a chance.
Really...he is n to well...
If there was anyone in politics I looked at and perhaps thought, "Wow, I'd bet real money that one's a serious drunk," the only one I might have believed to be more likely than Lindsey "HeavenSakesALawdyMercy" Graham was Steve "Flood the zone" Bannon.
I agree on both of them. I was waiting for Lindsey to fall down the other night.
They only listen to the Libertarian billionaire club.
Yeah he is *almost* as wonderful as Katie Porter. But TC: I am totes stealing your attribution of McCarthy's House seat. Brilliant!
LOVE Katie porter!
Yes! ~ It was so perfect I wrote it in my journal so I wouldn't forget it...
Reminiscent of Tom Magliozzi's assertion of being "unencumbered by the thought process".
That applies to most Republicans.
It applies to many politicians period. Don’t get me wrong I despise Jordan, Gretzky, Gohmert and all their ilk, but there are many politicians on both sides of the aisle who are suspect. For me the removal from public life of Donald John Trump will be enough
I have to remember that one! It has wide application.
A great description of many in congress.
Didn’t George Wallace hold that seat long ago?
Elected officials who participated in any way in the Jan. 6 uprising, including having fore knowledge, are guilty of treason and felony murder. They must be indicted and tried by the Justice Department in as public a fashion as possible. Their crimes would be worse, far worse, than those of the insurgents; the officials swore an oath and carried the public trust.
In Trump's case it is somewhat worrying as a standard requirement of "sound mind and body" at the time of the act is that the perpetrator is capabale of distinguishing right from wrong. He hasn't been able to tick this box since childhood.
Even though this situation is far from funny, your comment made me chuckle. ( You are right as his absorption of self precludes all other thought processes).
Sometimes his careful wording that flirts with incitement actually does show that he knows the boundaries better than a lot of people want to admit knowing. Then they can't "give him the benefit of the doubt" that he depends on.
He's not short of "lawyers" around him...Mr litigation!
Those that can be proved to have participated in planning, supporting, or participating in the 6 January attempted coup/putsch can be, and must be, prosecuted for sedition, but not "treason," because the Constitution defines "treason" as acting with or for a foreign entity with which there is a state of declared war. Currently the U.S. is not in a "state of war" with anyone.
Thank you for the correction. I believe Jan. 6 was indeed home grown, though I think Qanon has "Made in Moscow" stamped all over it.
Agreed. It’s exactly the kind of cultural rift the Putin cabal is so adept at exploiting.
It is certainly endorsed and amplified by Moscow.
Agree completely
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." Hard to not extrapolate an attack on the Capitol while there was a joint session of congress to count the vote for the next president. Harder still is to be able to prove this in court. To my knowledge (courtesy of the Professor here) is that several people executed for treason in US History were during the civil war; John Brown and Aaron Stevens for their raid on Harpers Ferry. William Mumford was executed for tearing down a US Flag in 1862. Mary Surrat was executed for her role in Lincoln's assassination.
Sedition will be much easier to articulate and prove, although I believe that this act was an act of treason.
..with anyone but within herself...
Good clarification— a lot of the insurrection it’s were acting on their own passion for patriotism— serving their desperate president— most of them probably still believe he won— one thing we can’t take away from the Donald — his power of persuasion
It is important in prosecution of offenses not to “overcharge” the offender. In cases where offenders are overcharged, they may more easily be found not guilty on a range of “ technicalities.” The penalties for sedition and violent insurrection along with many other offenses clearly committed are more than sufficient to punish those who participated. Even for those charged with relatively minor misdemeanors rather than felonies societal penalties they may experience can be severe. Those societal penalties can include employment challenges as a consequence of unfavorable background checks and negative impact on credit ratings. Those societal penalties can be lifelong and quite debilitating. However, in this case they will be well deserved.
I'm new to Heather's Letters and appreciate their directness and concise reporting. Life is particularly challenging in the USA now. My take is that we are at a momentous time of crisis, our very own American Heart of Darkness. The Army of Trump will not go away; its origins started in the 1980's, perhaps, earlier. The wounds of racism; white supremacy; the seismic changes in the world of work with people losing their jobs, unions, communities and sense of meaning; the greed and individualism (me, myself and I); the transfer of wealth to a very few; failures of government; the disappearance of local newspapers; the accumulation of firearms... it feels as though it is all crashing down on us. Mitch McConnell continues to connive through this collapse of state. Trump has no idea of what he's done.
For those interested in seeing an unusual 40 minutes of video consisting of a rolling shot of the breach on the Western staircase of The Capitol, I recommend Why the Capitol Riot Reminded Me of War by Elliot Ackerman. It contains a link to the video. The author was a soldier Iraq and Afghanistan. His Opinion was published in yesterday's New York Times,. It is a sharp and deeply felt reflection about what is going on.
In such an unsettling time, it is very helpful to communicate and share thoughts with each other. It is good to read Heather's Letters and to learn from you.
link to "Why the Capitol Riot Reminded Me of War" which has link to participant's video inside the Capitol on 1/6/2021:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/opinion/capitol-attack-war.html
The article is excellent. The video is horrid,
Can’t watch it
“Do not look away”-Tim Snyder
Go and spread the truth of it.
Shocking
Thank you Ellie.
Watched the video. No words.
I am just 3 minutes into the video. I had to pause it. Not sure I can proceed to the end. I agree, the article is excellent.
I understand; it was difficult for me to watch, too. Stayed with the video to absorb what I could. of what was going on and the people in the mob. It was terrifying to see what the Capitol Police were going through.
I am sure I will watch it later, after I brace myself!
Lynell, If you watch until the end, you will see the shooting death of the rioter who jumped through the glass frame of the door protecting our elected representatives. It was one of excruciatingly painful results of the breach, which I thought to prepare you for. Peace.
Just hearing that a woman insurgent was shot was very different from seeing her in action. Ashli Babbit was more than a protester. She was a US Air Force officer who was trained in executing a mission and leading the charge. And so she fearlessly went to jump through the broken glass. She also had been trained in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to which all members of the military are subject instead of civilian laws, and she would have known very well the concepts of treason and sedition. The tragedy is how she got sucked into QAnon and disconnected from her moral compass.
Thanks, Fern. I had read and watched a lot already today, so want to give it a rest before taking this video on. Peace to you as well!
Yes... I was so mortified, waiting for some heroes to appear, but I had to watch the entire thing... the FBI has so much material here... and I am sure there are many other films (surprisingly, still available online) that will provide them with thousands of leads. Don’t know if you heard the one guy say , ‘oh, so what is a little jail time?’ I couldn’t believe that he filmed it all, even when Ashli Babbit was shot. The monsters wouldn’t even get out of the way to get to her quickly and to get her out..
Excellent article...not sure I can watch the video. Still feeling sick just watching what happened on the tv on the 6th. Terrifying, kept waiting for help to arrive.
For the record, the participant videographer is John Sullivan, a Black attention economy opportunist.
https://theintercept.com/2021/01/14/capitol-riot-john-sullivan-ashli-babbitt/
(Sorry, Becky Phillips. This comment got posted twice, and when the duplicate had not disappeared, my Delete action took out not just the one, but both. Grrrr Substack!)
I watched it yesterday. Yes, he certainly was a participant. (I had never heard the expression, "attention economy opportunist." Seems very useful in these times.)
Actually, it began well over 60 years ago (but who's counting). Google Richard Hofstadter's "The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt" in The American Scholar (unedited, unlike other sites). Back in 1954 he had these people described perfectly citing Theodore Adorno's 1949 study The Authoritarian Personality. It's a good place to start understanding The Enemy. Then Rick Perlstein's trilogy history of the Right: "Before the Storm" (Goldwater), "Nixonland" (you know who), "The Invisible Bridge" (Reagan).
Just read "Eisenhower's Letter to My Brother Edgar" for evidence of the wealthy supporting attacks on FDR's "New Deal," etc.:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-edgar-newton-eisenhower/
for substantiation this movement began much more than 60 years ago, and that what Gouverneur Morris said at Constitutional Convention:
"History proves, I admit, that the men of large property will uniformly endeavor to establish tyranny."
indicating that it has no recorded origination.
Such an interesting letter. At least Eisenhower had the correct concept.
Revived of course from 60 years previously and they took it from 60 years even earlier. This has been part of America since the beginning.
Thank you TC. I am not familiar with 'The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt' and thanks to you I'll read it. When I commented about 'Trump's Army' I had in mind the militias, NRA like members, religious zealots, the working class dislocated by technology, racists (which go back to the beginning, of course); the aggrieved and generally lacking a higher education. I wouldn't throw in The Authoritarian Personality or the conservative movement for the crowd I was trying to encompass.
It's important to recognize the dual insurrectionary forces at work on January 6. The in-person-insurrectionists are the cannon fodder of T****'s army. They are angry, bitter, feel disenfranchised as the result of the decades of gradual dismantling of opportunities to join the middle class (which was created largely through the advances of the New Deal) by the string-pulling-insurrectionists - wealthy individuals and corporations that resent paying taxes, resent regulation, resent participatory democracy. How sad that the Capitol stormers were attacking the very party that at least has paid lip-service to preserving and rebuilding the middle class.
I agree although there are more culprits. The working class felt betrayed by the Democratic Party for not providing the needed opportunities and support when their employers found cheaper means of production overseas and technology took over. The Republican party saw to it that the people's wealth was transferred to the donor class. The Democratic Party is also not innocent on this score. Other democratic countries have their share of billionaires, but they have much stronger safety nets for their citizens than we do. This , too, is not short story. The anti-government movement did not spring up without without the failures of our government.
I agree completely that the Democratic Party has plenty to answer for too (which is why I wrote "lip-service"). I believe a big reason Clinton was not able to sweep the 2016 election is that too many were still feeling the Clinton machine's neo-liberal (so identical to conservatism in too many ways) support of big banking and cutting away at the social programs that allowed so many to claw their way out of poverty and into at least the working class. I know people who would have voted for Sanders who so disliked Clinton that they voted for T****. (They did not do this twice, fortunately.)
FERN MCBRIDE19 hr ago
I absolutely agree with you, however, there was also a very successful campaign against Hillary concerning Benghazi and her emails. While those accusations were rigged nonsense they worked, like so much of the 'false news'. More reasonably, Blacks were not enthusiastic about her because of Bill's dissembling of support via welfare payments and because of the crime bill, which incarcerated so many Black men with abandon.
Thanks TCinLA for again promoting Perlstein's books. I would add his recent "Reaganland" to the list. They are long and detailed, but easily read like novels--or horror stories, I suppose. When you recommended Hofstadter's prescient article previously (I think early in December in response to escalating Trumpist "stop the steal" agitations), I appended a shout out to his follow-up essay from 1965, "Goldwater and Pseudo-Conservative Politics." After the seemingly resounding defeat of movement conservatism in the '64 elections, Hofstadter was parsing their state of mind and saying that they weren't going to go away. Worth reading, though I do not have an online reference for it.
Wow.
I recall FDR being called "a traitor to his class" for supporting and instituting social safety nets for Americans.
thank you for recommending!!!! really helps
https://www.progressives.blog/politics/the-pseudo-conservative-revolt/
Thank you so much for posting this link.
I had come back to this day's comments to agree with and respond to Fern's comment (on my own post above). Then I clicked and opened this article and read it all the way through without paying attention to when it was written. Everything meshes so seamlessly with what is happening right now in America that I assumed it was written within the last couple of years. Then I scrolled back up to the top and see that it was originally published the winter I was born 66 years ago! Last week's attack on the Capitol has, indeed, been a long time coming.
Wow. This is good.
Oh, my. This is so loaded with goodies to be picked out and looked at more closely. I am fairly new to politics, being much more interested in science, psychology, and art. Trump did this do me. And lately I'm fascinated by -- well, I see this all in two ways: a great game of chess (Heather sums up the previous day's moves every morning, and we all digest her summation and discuss what will likely happen next); and as an elaborate tapestry, with this thread and that thread twisting around each other, pulling the mass into forms and patterns. This essay, written 66 years ago (in the year of my birth) explains so much to me about our politics today.
My poor husband just jumped up from the couch and dashed around behind my chair to what used to be our dining alcove and is now his office, late for a "meeting" because I have been reading this aloud to him, and we have been discussing it. As a native of the UK, he helps with an outsider's perspective. So very interesting. This will be my study for today.
There is a lot to think about in this article. Thanks for sharing.
It was good to learn you found the article worthwhile. Thank you for your comment.
This is quite an eye opener!
Thank You. Amazing.
Solid!
Thank you and welcome! I've been playing a broken record for quite some time now: "Trump is just a symptom." Too many people seem to think by removing him things will get back to "normal." The German author Tupoka Ogette calls this normal "Happyland" - the place white folks live in before we understand the impact of white supremacy on our lives. I worry that the lure of Happyland will pull too many people back - instead of ensuring that ALL the Republicans face consequences and accountability.
Thank you, Rachel. Denial is always one of the obstacles to truth and solving problems as well as, literally, being part of the cycle. Trump's big lie was 'election fraud' and the our BIG Lies are systematic racism, not knowing who we are, scapegoating, tribalism....
We need to learn to talk the 33% of the electorate that thinks that but for fraud Trump would be looking at a 2nd term. Not lecture at them. Talk with them. I've written about that here
https://cogitamus.substack.com/p/trump-supporters-among-us
As the illusion that Trump is the only impediment to normal? The "normal" before Trump is only the beginning - we all need more than normal - we need better and improved! Just saw news that the Apache tribes are suing, I think, to attempt to prevent a mining company from "exchanging" Arizona lands in order to start up a mining operation on land that was "given" to them thru a treaty. It was on MSN this am. I know it has been ongoing because I get news from a couple actual conservation organizations. I believe there has been very little or no public comment opportunities. This administration trying to push it thru before Wed.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Welcome!
Welcome to the "tribe"
Thank you, Sharon. It is a benefit.
Welcome. Sounds like you've found a new home from home.
Thank you, Stuart. It is good place to be.
Welcome Fern 👍
Thank you, Ted. It is a benefit to be with you.
There's been a lot of hoopla about the Democrats' rationale for congressional Democrats unusual speed in drafting new Articles of Impeachment, and this past afternoon, voting to eject President Trump from the White House for the second time in roughly a single calendar year. I don't blame them in the slightest, and I think the arguments against impeachment are totally self-serving and unworthy of even the slightest consideration. Nobody on the House Republican side can seriously contend that it was others than a howling mob of Trump supporters that overpowered police and then proceeded to ransack our national Capitol.
Among the arguments that have been raised, and repeatedly so, justifying the Democrats' reflexive action to impeach Trump has been the idea that only through impeachment, the specter of Donald J Trump again running for the presidency at some future time between now and the 2028 presidential election. Indeed, our 'Disruptor in Chief' undoubtedly revels in the thought that his enemies are quivering in their Birkenstocks and tie-dyes over the thought of him running for president again.
This time, however, House Democrats drafted Articles of Impeachment with a real 'poison pill' buried inside in the form of a direct invocation of the Fourteenth Amendment which has an absolute prohibition against anyone being are the elected or appointed to a federal public office if that person has engaged in insurrection, rebellion, or offered aid and comfort those who engaged in seditious or treasonous acts or advocacy. The operative language is found in Section 3. It is too long to quote here; and, in Donald Jake Trump's case, given the unique circumstances under which he is being impeached, that would be an absolute bar to him taking public office again that will most likely be highly effective. Here's why.
Two nights ago, on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show, one of his guests, a law professor, offered his opinion about the quantum of evidence that would be sufficient to make the ban against holding public office stick. The question turned on the quantum of proof that would be necessary to derail any future bid by Donald Trump to regain political office by running again for president. The same inquiry can and should be made about every one of Trump's hangers-on who participated in, aided or abetted Trump's effort to overturn the recent presidential election. The question essentially boils down to, 'How far could they go without exposing themselves to a charge of sedition', and who gets to decide.
That law professor, as well-trained as he is, waffled around the question about whether an acquittal in the Senate would upend the hope that a future Trump run for the presidency could be derailed because Trump had been acquitted by a complacent Senate that could not muster the two-thirds majority to convict him, expel him from the White House, and deny him the legal capacity to hold public office again. When asked, the man just couldn't say, muttering something about having to look at all of the evidence that might be relevant to the case. It was a lawyerly, professorial answer that looked to the vagaries of constitutional law rather than a straightforward reference to the Law of Evidence. Seriously.
I'm not trying to be snarky, but this is not all that difficult if you know something about statutory construction, and the evidentiary rules regarding burden of proof. If you read the operative language in the third section of the Amendment, you would notice that nowhere in that serpentine language is there any mention of the word 'impeachment'. None whatsoever. That's important, because the language of this amendment is a great deal broader than the language in Article II that talks about the President and officers of the Executive Branch of government who are appointed by the President. The prohibition also applies to those prospective candidates for elected seats in the Senate or the House of Representatives who might also have engaged in seditious or treasonous acts, subversion, or who offered aid and comfort to those who did by encouraging them and urging them on, as did Trump a week ago yesterday. And, in contradistinction from the two-thirds majority of the Senate needed to convict and oust a President, the language of the Amendment states that both houses of Congress must vote by two-thirds majorities to relieve in eligible persons from that constitutional disability incurred by them. You can see which people the drafters of the 14th Amendment had in mind, former politicians who had joined the Confederacy; and having lost their war to secede from the Union, now wanted to reenter the halls of Congress again.
What we have here today is an Article of Impeachment, voted on and approved by the House of Representatives that incorporates a set of facts justifying impeachment, considered by the House, and found to be true. In other words, these are legislative facts that Congress and state legislatures routinely incorporate into the statutes they enact which reflect the philosophy and purpose of the act, based upon specific facts found by those legislative bodies and for the purposes of that legislation are deemed to be true. Those facts set forth in the Article of Impeachment, bolstered by contemporaneous news reports, witness testimonies, news videos, and amount of other evidence, lends credence to the evidentiary value of the factual recitals that accompany the impeachment declaration set forth in the adopted Article. In effect, it is not a judicial trial, but it has the same effect, and it ends up in a judgment against the President based upon the underlying facts of his misconduct.
The fact that the Amendment does not require senatorial confirmation of a judgment that certain persons are in eligible to hold public office or to sit as members of Congress or the Senate has the effect of making that judgment provisional as to any body accused of the prohibited acts; but a provisional judgment has the same legal effect of a prima facie case of wrongdoing brought into the civil or criminal court. We know that a prima facie case is one in which all of the elements of an action or crime are present in the action, and the party against whom the evidentiary presumption of their validity and force operates is required to bring forth another set of facts that negates the presumption created by the statute. It is a little known fact that law school courses in the Law of Evidence sometimes give these matters short shrift, much to the eventual dismay of practitioners who suddenly find themselves out of court because they cannot overcome a statutory presumption embedded in the law. Shame on them, because some of them never do learn.
So, what I am really saying is that this particular constitutional amendment has the effect of shifting the burden of proof to the party burden by the presumption that such person is not fit to be in public office because they engaged in sedition or rebellion at some time in the past; and the only way to overcome that presumption is to prove that they are completely innocent of the charge that prevents them from holding office. If this matter were to go to court, Donald Trump would need to have the judge hearing the case make an affirmative finding of factual innocence. Oh, and by the way, all of this argument is either at sidebar, or in the judge's chambers, and it never gets to the jury. It is strictly a question of law. This is done all the time when persons claiming that they were wrongfully convicted of crime petition a court under habeas corpus to convince that court that the original trial court got it wrong, and that they were actually, factually innocent. That's a real tough hole to get out of, and that's the hole that Trump finds himself in now.
Thank you for this legal review. But, this is politics, not a qualified court. If it was run like a court, members would not be allowed to lie, endlessly, and fabricate defenses. The Republican Senators will launch a stiff defense of the President, presenting "evidence" that denies his culpability. They can then vote together to deny a conviction. This will not happen at a sidebar or in chambers. It will happen like an showtime extravaganza and publicly. Three Presidents have been impeached but none have been convicted. Rather, it would require, after two-thirds of senators present voted to remove Trump, a simple majority of senators present would have to approve an additional vote to bar him from the presidency in the future. That's my understanding.
The whole idea of having a written Constitution is to subordinate politics to the rule of law. What I'm also telling you is that Trump's lifetime ban is effectively a done deal because Trump will never be allowed to be on a presidential election ballot again. His campaign lost some 60-odd court cases to overturn the election results, and he'll never win another one again, regardless of the impeachment trial outcome.
I sure hope so!
“American Abyss”: Fascism Historian Tim Snyder on Trump’s Coup Attempt, Impeachment & What’s Next
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/1/13/capitol_insurrection_historian_timothy_snyder
Thank you for sharing this.
This is a powerful op Ed!
This is my understanding too. As I was reading about this yesterday I found an excellent flow chart explaining it. After reviewing it I decided right then there is very little likelihood he will be convicted and/or be stripped of lifetime perks or running for office again. The GOPs will turn it into a circus again and we just won’t get 2/3rds.
You know. I absolutely hate hearing this.
Unless the FBI uncovers and / or shares the 'chilling information' that they know and start naming names that were involved (inside people), GOPs don't have anything to lose by not convicting. Part of me wants to believe this is why Mitch is waiting to schedule the hearing. Many of discussed that if the hearing went forward today, for example, in an emergency session, there would not be a conviction. Just look at yesterday's vote.
Mitch needs to break the lie now. That he hasn’t means more violence. He’s gonna have mo blood in his turtle fin hands.
Don't we need Ossoff and Warnock's votes to be certified. They are going to drag them out to the last minute which will be too late to remove Trump from office but before, gives McConnell an edge.
The full text of the article of impeachment: https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-effort-live-updates/2021/01/11/955631105/impeachment-resolution-cites-trumps-incitement-of-capitol-insurrection. As artsilen points out, the inclusion of reference to the 14th amendment provides grounds for keeping not only DJT, but also anyone else who participated in the planning or execution of the attack on Congress, from public office. Let's keep making noise to that effect.
As a nation, we have not experienced an attack on our nation's capital since 1864. But as we all know, history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Right now (and we know Washington leaks like a sieve), the word is out that a good portion of the damage could be attributable to an inside job with certain Republican congressmen or their staff members giving in-house tours to people wearing MAGA hats. It's gone beyond rumor and speculation, because some of the intruders apparently had advance knowledge about where things were within the Capitol building. This is beginning to look more like 9-11 every day. Stay tuned…
The panic buttons were all torn out of the walls in Rep. Ayanna Pressley's office before the rioters arrived. That could only have been done from the inside.
Meanwhile certain of my relatives who live in evangelical MAGA-land are so inundated with 'blame the Democrats and the BLM protesters' that they aren't even upset about their man Pence nearly being murdered.
Sir, I thank you for the discourse. And thank you also for your final paragraph. That final paragraph allowed me to untwist my brain and truly understand your point.
I still have a crush on your brain, but tell your wife of 45 years she is one lucky woman.
Thank you. My question is: how many Republicans can this marvelous democracy saving hole hold?
Thank you. Excellent exposition. Encouraging. ❤️🤍💙
Thank you for your careful explanation.
Thank you.
Heather, you were too kind about Jim Jordan. He is positively the most obnoxious, unprofessional hunan in the House. He yells! I always hope that his blood pressure will pop his head off. Alas, it hasn’t happened yet.
If some Democrats had listened to the warnings about Fake 45 and Russia that Hillary made, we would not be a witness to these crimes. Alas, that didn’t occur.
One of the major instigators to this uprising, is black, which astounds me. His first name is Ali. He is now in hiding but somehow revealed three names of Congress members who gave him information about the inner workings of the Capitol. One of them is Gosar whose family members want to see him removed from office. It also should be pointed out that Mikie Sherrill, a former Air Force pilot and prosecutor bad-ass, from New Jersey, observed tours being given one day before the insurrection, by members of Congress. Mind you, no tours were permitted at all since March 2020 because of Covid. Sherrill made note of these members but, of course, because of pending investigation, she cannot reveal their names...alas.
We also heard from the QAnon lady, Greene, who announced that she is going to file articles of impeachment against Biden. Mind you, she only recently got a GED. Alas, she is an ass.
Good ole Matt Gaetz got applause for yelling out stupid comments. He and Jordan are competing for the Most Annoying Voice award. Alas, he is an ass too.
Last but not least, was Steny Hoyer’s reading of Liz Cheney’s letter stating her reasons why she is voting for impeachment. Her life has been threatened and she chose him to read it.
Alas, our country has reached new lows..on sacred grounds.
Greene has a BA in Business Administration from UGA. Lauren Boebert Is the QAnon eejit who just got a GED.
I've taught on BAs like Greene's and been appalled at the ignorance of history and geography. Students who had no idea about how the world really was and why.
Yeah. Welcome to the knowledge base of the average American. I spent half my school years in Europe, you know where I’m going with this.
Yes but! European schools are going the same way too these days. Mad scramble for a highly "progressive" equality of results rather than of chances and an encouragement of excellence. This is how you dumb down the workers and lessen resistAnce to the 1%.
Every time I see Lauren Boebart I read Lorena Bobbit....sorry, I have a weird brain....
😂😂😂
Hi Jim! I like your post. An eejit? The woman who takes her Glock to work every day. 🙄
I stand corrected.
Excuse my ignorance, but now that Greene has her "GED" does that mean she can leave kindergarden and enter the junior school? If so, somebody should close the Kindergarden that gave it to her and revise the qualifications for being elected in the US.
Stuart, she didn't leave kindergarten. She has now entered the Kindergarten we call Congress with all its childish squabbling and not knowing how to share, etc. I feel I'm being generous calling it a Kindergarten when it more like a pre-school of 3 year olds.
"With apologies to toddlers and children everywhere."
Yes, toddlers and children are sponges and eager to learn. The only thing people are interested in learning is political calculus needed to keep their job.
..people in Congress are ...
Yes. And crossed with a snake pit!
Comparing them to a pit of snakes is an offense against both snakes and their pits, haha.
Revising the qualifications seems like a good thing to me. Our pols could use geography classes. Perhaps they could use their new found knowledge to find their moral compasses.
As has been said before, anyone filing to run for elective office, or appointed to the judiciary or the executive branches of government, should be required to take in public and pass with high grades, the same test required for applicants for citizenship. (Then make them rewrite that last sentence for ease of understanding..)
A little euclidian geometry perhaps to measure the depth of the hole they are in or the height of the mountain that they must climb.
Can we revise the qualification to hold the office of the president while we're at it??
Mikie's a Naval Aviator - the Chair Farce can't claim her. :-)
Hey, Marlene. Thank you for your comments. Here's a link re Mikie Sherrill's very short comments. Earlier I saw something similar from Politico. https://www.bing.com/search?q=rep+sherrill+nj&form=ANNTH1&refig=8d3b7910722642519c03a57687d7b262&sp=2&qs=SC&pq=rep+sherill&sk=PRES1SC1&sc=8-11&cvid=8d3b7910722642519c03a57687d7b262
Thanks, Lynell! Saw Sherrill on Rachel’s show last night. We are so lucky to have her in Congress. She cones with all the right equipment and good sense!
COMES! Grrrrrr
LOL!
... assk, and ye shall resieve ...;
Steny Hoyer spoke well ....
*Human* not hunan...sheesh!
Don't worry. you are amongst thinking beings!
Why thank you, Stuart!
Marlene..Just remember you can not correct typo errors in this forum....
I know and it’s so irritating. My fingers work faster than my brain.
Phooey. I am disappointed. I thought hunan was a new insult. (Twinkle in my eye) 😉
The Independent is reporting that the panic buttons in Ayanna Pressley's office had been torn out before the attack. It seems beyond doubt that there was inside help for the insurrection.
I watched her interview. This is true. She stated her office had more than one panic button. After they locked and barricaded themselves in, she went to each panic button, only to find wires. They had been pulled out. Disarmed.
Both Pressley and AOC left the large group 'secure area' because they were afraid that white supremacist colleagues would turn them over to the mob. Given that Loren Bobert tweeted about Speaker Pelosi's location during the mob attack, those fears make sense to me. (Bobert defends herself by saying Pelosi leaving the room was on TV. The rioters were not watching TV. They were watching Twitter. She knew that.)
I hope she is expelled from Congress. Watching her speak yesterday—very unhinged person. No respect or decorum for where she was at and to whom she was speaking. Just anger and rage. And used soft foul language as well.
The Independent got it from the Boston Globe. This was the section of the long article about it:
"As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic. [Pressley's chief of staff Sarah] Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office.
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,” she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then. As they were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh and Pressley and her husband tried to remain calm and vigilant — not only of rioters but of officers they did not know or trust, she said."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/13/nation/it-was-like-looking-evil-capitol-attack-through-eyes-massachusetts-delegation/
As well as the usual suspects for who did this....we might add Bret Kavanaugh who she tried to impeach (or even in the realms of fantasy, 10 times Rep. Mike Capuano who she displaced in Mass..... but he's fighting on the same side......Tut, tut what a thought!).
Nah, Mike Capuano represented a district near me. He is a grown-up, fully capable of losing an election without going batshit evil.
I cannot find an emoji to express my horror, anger, fear, disbelief...I now see why humans beheaded people.
Totally agree— the conservatives hate her.
We know who the radical Republicans are. We know they will lie, they will blame, they will claim victimhood, while they go about sabotaging our government through their dangerous parliamentary games which are now hollowing out the trust of citizens in our political institutions. When that trust is fully gone, rebuilding it will be very difficult if not impossible.
The current Republican party in congress, with only a few exceptions, is an immediate threat to national security and our democratic way of life. These are people with power who have neither the moral right nor the necessary wisdom to hold it.
There can be no backing down from the truth of what damage they have done to our republic. It is not business as usual no matter how hard these seditious minds try to spin it.
Every citizen in this nation has an immediate interest in bringing these dishonorable people to justice.
Given that these people have already declared themselves The Enemy of America, it's time to start treating them as they wish to be treated. Termination - "with extreme prejudice."
The chapter titled "I Can't Breathe" continues to be written. A shamefully small number of Republican members of Congress had the moral fiber to stand up and say Enough! They, along with Democrats, corporate donors and those of us who have been appalled for far too long by the behavior of President Trump and those who align themselves with him must continue the steady march toward justice. With every step, reminding all that we are a nation of laws and of truth. Calls for unity from those who would undermine our principles and our Constitution should be treated as what they are: a desperate attempt to escape responsibility for wrongdoing.
These days the GOP thinks that moral fibre comes with the cereal that you eat for breakfast.
If it weren't so true it would be funny.
🤧😖😫
AOC has stated in an hour-long Instagram video that her life and the lives of "many other members" were in serious jeopardy at one point of the intrusion. She said she was not sure she was allowed to make specifics public.
As long as it is only AOC making these statements, they must be treated as unsubstantiated allegations.
AOC's story had the ring of truth to me. I am now hoping that other representatives will come forward to confirm what she has said. If these allegations are true, the public needs to know the details sooner or later, and sooner would be better.
So very very scary that their panic buttons were ripped out! I swear, I pray we find out who did their heinous egregious acts and that they pay the price!!
Their "fellow Republican members" are the guilty parties.
AOC's account was confirmed by other representatives. They have received threats before the breach of the Capitol, and are now very shaken and afraid.
Thank you. Do you know which representatives confirmed her account?
It was other representatives reporting their own fears and experiences. Several called their husbands and wives, while they were hiding. One called her husband to tell him where her Will was. I don't remember their names. They were on interview shows and speaking with reporters.
... oh, but djt wants no violence and is all about peace ... must have nothing to do with him ...?
Adam Schiff also reported being warned he was in danger, by Republican memembers.
I’ve watched that and read about it. I believe her and hope the details come out.
I believe the woman. She's a serious voice in the House, roundly hated by the fascists, and she should be taken seriously in this context as well.
Actually the point is not whether we believe her. The point is what we are going to say when opponents are vociferous in pointing out that they do not. To have an answer ready, we need corroboration.
My underlying point is that opponents are immune to facts, to science, and to objective truth. No matter how much you attempt to corroborate, they will refuse to believe it is true - even if they were in the roving packs of seditious terrorists who were trying to hunt down both Democrats and Mike Pence. So, don't waste your time trying to satisfy their demands for "evidence."
Those are excellent points. Nevertheless, I have two reasons to want to hear from others:
1. So I will have something to say when they claim AOC is lying or exaggerating (which would certainly be true if they were telling the story! Funny thing about that).
2. I also want to hear from others what happened, preferably to get several versions, and also just to be sure myself. I would want corroboration even if the person telling the story was a member of my own family -- in fact, even if that person was myself.
We have allowed a culture of intimidation against f our elected officials. It is never ok, whether chasing Lindsey Graham through an airport or threatening to kidnap the governor of Michigan. People act as if receiving death threats is just part of the job. It is not. Dehumanizing our representatives as if they are not people with families and gardens and dogs they walk just like the rest of us is just bizarre. Along these lines, while it is clear that Graham is hitching his star to the Trump train AGAIN because it is the only way he can win an election, there are many reports that others are in fear for their lives. This is unconscionable. I also wonder what people are doing about their own Trump-supporting friends? I have called out one on his social media after posting some seriously deranged memes, another for copy-pasting one of those stupid lists that point out every slight against the President, and now my high school best friend is in on the game. Yes, high school was decades ago and I live halfway across the country now, but do I want to go there? On one hand I had decided not to sit idly by while people repeat stupid stuff, on another I might as well kiss any happy reunions at the Big Ten Pub goodbye.
Why, when so many rats are leaving the sinking ship, are people blindly supporting this grifter? Even after the events of Wednesday?
It is interesting that, when told by a Republican House member that he was in fear for the physical lives of his family and his own life as he was describing why he might not vote for Impeachment, a Democrat responded, "Join the club!" Many (most/all?) Democrats in elected office have been living with death threats for the whole Trump term.
I think that Trump has given a green light for people to behave badly and I guess there are a lot of people who are enjoying this license to act as badly as he did. I can’t imagine what it would be like these days to try and teach middle schoolers civility. He broke the social norms in such a bold and public way that I think our country will never be the same.
I keep rehashing the idea of one’s culture and 'tribe', as the path to today. In the broad context. So many people have identified with Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan and Limbaugh et. al., then FOX, Koch Brothers, born again pastors, DIck Cheney and now trump. Here’s a lineage, and a large family. I learned yesterday that something called ‘Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum’ is still around, to some degree.
But let’s also see the defections from this tribe: Dick’s daughter Liz Cheney led a significant charge. There are massive changes in Georgia and Arizona. Have you heard of Charles Koch’s offer to help the incoming Biden admin? Corporate America is demanding a refund, and declares no more allowances to their kin (conservatives). The Bush family, Cindy McCain and so many other other patriarchs and matriarchs are abandoning their tired old robes.
I sense this dynamic within the tribe pretends one last, dramatic grasp to hold onto privilege, and the way things were. Divorces are most often very, very messy. People will need support, and our encouragement.
Who would have thought that in the early days of 2021 corporate America would become the conscience of our nation. The mere thought of loosing their financial support has forced some Republicans to temper their words. Now they’re forced to calculate between Trump supporters and corporate donors. This is what passes for governance these days.
I would suggest that corporations and the Manufacturers Association are not doing this out of a love of democracy. They are doing it because Trump and his ilk are unconscionable destabilizing the economy and reducing their profits. Their abiding anger over the failure of Trump to do much of anything to prevent the massive death and disruption of the pandemic and therefore the economy is clear. They waited so long to speak out against the reckless President / Republicans that we can only conclude that this "withholding" is a sad, clear measure of the power of their money to the whole electoral process, and also a validation of their base concern for their dividends, bonuses, and profits.
Absolutely! Follow the money.
Right - Money is the big concern - as it is with the politicians.
Rather fond of it myself, to be honest.
And when the dust clears, they will go back to funding whomever will advance their economic and political goals.
As happens in an oligarchy.
Indeed.
They do to some degree have a stake in the middle class, their biggest customer base.
Thank you for pointing out some bright spots.
Cindy McCain is being put down by the Repubs in her state. As if she had done something wrong!!
Disgusting.
My best friend since kindergarten posted recently that liberals don’t believe in facts and that their beliefs are all based on emotions. Where does one go forward from there? I’m trying not to be emotional about it.
I read all this as projection started by TЯ☭💀p. Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. Psychological projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings. Projection is TЯ☭💀p in a nutshell.
Fair point - anytime the Corona Don accuses someone of doing something awful, it's because he's already doing the very same thing. This has been true throughout his "career."
You block them on whatever platform they're using to spout that nonsense and move on. Also, given they probably aren't being virus-safe, make sure you never meet them in person. Just wait them out.
Odd ..., I have that exact impression about Trumpublicans ...
It’s hard not to be emotionally affected when a dear friend has been brainwashed— but we all have times when we’re blindsided by parts of life and that doesn’t erase our goodness.
Mary, I would approach them about science in the following manner. Ask them what kind of tech devices they have, such as laptop and cell phone. Do they have a newer car, with tech options. Have they travelled recently, by plane especially. Then, have a conversation with them about the very same tech being used to determine the amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, or acid in the public waterways, such as lakes, rivers and ocean. The very same technology.
The VERY same technology that allows us to tap into news from around the world, allows us to measure the detrimental affects of industry and capitalism. It is very easy to measure, anything. Lee the ingredients in a recipe - and the ingredients in our air, water, lungs and blood. As a cancer surviver, I know the value of modern science!
O, about capitalism. Have a conservation about responsibility. Do their neighbors have a responsibility to prevent spilling toxic and noxious materials onto their property, and the air above your home. Then, here is a lead into the discussion about the responsibility of every commercial enterprise from destroying neighborhoods, cities and waterways. Why do European countries have much stricter standards around toxins than America, and yet have a higher standard of living.
We can get into taxes and taxation, if you would like.
So HCR would say, particularly in regards to the fairness of the recent election, that people can say anything in a public forum or through the media whether or not what they are saying is truthful. But in a court of law, evidence must be produced to verify that a statement is true. tRump's team has won only 1 out of 64 court cases regarding the recent election and that one win was only on a procedural technicality. So the truth is that there is no proof of fraud in the recent election. That conclusion is not based on emotion, but on actual verifiable facts.
That really concerns me. This despicable human being (barely human) has been force fed to every child in our country. And those whose parents have supported him, with Fox blaring all day long, have planted seeds that will not be easy to uproot. The stain on minds will continue for generations. Thank God that our education system will be thoroughly overhauled... but so much damage has been done. So very sad.
Oh yes. This is why I stopped visiting my family in Idaho 2 years ago -- something I used to really enjoy and look forward to on a regular basis. The last visit, my great nephew and nieces mother started talking about keeping the 'Messicans' on the other side of the wall. And said to her 4 children (ranging in ages of 6 to 13) 'Isn't that right kids?' And they all gleefully replied yes and with slang and other racist type memes. I said: 'You know my son, your cousin, is marrying a Mexican woman next summer? And whose parents were migrant workers but now naturalized citizens who own a beautiful little organic produce farm?' 'Oh we didn't mean her.' I never went back. And they will not receive a wedding invitation for the future.
Yes sad for our whole country.
Far worse than sad.
The most dreadful thing about evil is how it stains the souls of the innocent, even the unborn.
This is what worries me too. The rudeness we see now, zero decorum, little social etiquette to be found.
I love that you are here Trish!❤️
Awwww! Thank you. Glad to be here!
I wrote a polite and carefully crafted response to a post on Rob Portman’s Facebook page a few days ago. The sea of vitriol and personal attack it unleashed is shocking. This stuff works - I will likely never post again on a public forum. It is far too disturbing. Although the funniest comment accused me of being a Commie politician who should be arrested as a Russian spy. Uh, what?
Fun trick on FB: block every profile that spouts Corona Don's fascist nonsense. All of them. One way to really irritate them is to make an intelligent reply to their idiotic comment so others can see it, and then immediately block the person to whom you replied. They will be notified of the response but will never see it and cannot respond. ;)
They are far too scary to engage with.
I intend to do this, but haven’t come up with the best closing comment before I block. Ideally, a comment from me that has at least the potential to cause the person to pause and consider their beliefs, information sources and posts ... all in a couple of sentences. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I do think that somehow we have to break through to these people, many who really are becoming radicalized, to move them in the direction of starting to question their own beliefs or, at a minimum, to broaden their sources of information to include some that are credible and factual. Perhaps a link to an alternative article or an article about how people are becoming politically radicalized... I keep drafting my potential comments, ranging from outrage to a calmer, more thoughtful response, but haven’t come up with a response/closing comment that seems on point and plants a seed that might prompt more rational thoughts. I welcome suggestions! In the meantime, for the few far-right people with whom I am still connected online, their posts are a window into the irrational beliefs and disinformation that are fueling this right-wing outrage, and I am reporting their posts to FaceBook and hoping that their posts will be flagged or blocked.
I like the question "What if you're wrong?"
I like that. I have said, “Would you please share your sources for this information?” Crickets.
Today, I posted this in response to someone who was ranting repeatedly about how the election was rigged, stolen, fraudulent, etc.:
“You are evidently getting your information from sources that are invested in perpetuating The Big Lie. At a minimum, please check your information for factual basis. Here are a few resources:
https://www.snopes.com
https://Factcheck.org
https://www.Politifact.com
Also, install News Guard as an extension on your browser. For info go here: https://www.newsguardtech.com Like anything, you may not always agree with its ratings, but at least you know their criteria for making their ratings of news sources.“
Blessed silence from this person since then.
Awesome, thank you.
They are idiots, but extremely dangerous idiots in far too many cases. I just finished watching the 39 minute video on YouTube that was referenced in Elliot Ackerman’s oped in today’s Times. It was filmed by a maniacal revolutionary in Trump’s ‘army’ and followers this insane mob through the Capitol and he doesn’t stop filming until Ashli Babbit is dying at his feet. His name is John Sullivan, a.k.a. Jayden X. It is so excruciating long and shocking. These people?! Horrifying ! I can’t think, can’t attempt to write a meaningful word. Watch it with caution as it will surely leave you stunned. You are in the middle of a war.
Horrid. Just Horrid. And picture tRump watching it and gighling with glee.
I’m just waiting for the investigations of those in the White House and other staffers who can , under oath, tell us what did go on ‘behind closed doors’! I am sure there’ll be some, or many, who will sing like canaries and that will be the end of his pathetic charade depicted in yesterday’s appearance...
Should I know who Rob Portman is?
He is the Republican senator from Ohio, and one of the ones who appears reasonable but has been a toady. He is quite powerful, could have made a huge difference, but did not.
Ohhhh. I watched AOC on Rachel last night and could cry that these people are afraid of THEIR COLLEAGUES. We have allowed this to fester with our politeness. I will not sit idly by. I do sometimes call people out on my Congressman’s page (Seth Moulton, he has a lot of weirdos that harass him, too), but that’s like spitting in the ocean. I am more concerned with my friends. How dare they! I think the previously mentioned “What if you are wrong” response and am thinking of ways to use it.
I saw her too. It was heartbreaking. And she is marvelous. I’m fairly centrist, but I love her.
I have been mulling sending that heinous comment thread to Portman along with a “look what you have wrought” letter.
YOU SHOULD
I finally deleted all of my social media accounts and it’s been Heavenly. I realized about many of my high school friends that they never grew up. Still talking and acting the same way. Still cliques and bullying. At 55 years old! It was awful when a dear old friend of mind asked if I was Muslim or a rag head since I lived and worked in the Middle East.
On the previous day's letter (Jan 12), a reader by the name of Patrick Munson, from NC, wrote a very good post about his thoughts on why his area is so full of Trump supporters, even at this point. It's worth checking out for his insight.
There’s a great open by Lisa McGirr today in Nytimes which puts this past week in a very rational context that helps me understand where these republicans are coming from.
The opinion essay by Katherine Stewart, "The Roots of Josh Hawley's Rage," explains the religious authoritarianism as one of the sources for Republican's war with both truth and democracy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/opinion/josh-hawley-religion-democracy.html
Because it is clear that many, if not most, Republicans no longer believe in democracy, if only because their only remaining source of big money has forced an agenda that is not popular with most American citizens. Thus their support for gerrymandering and its equivalents in the Constitution, of the Electoral College and the Senate.
I appreciated one of the sumerizing lines, this is "what happens when callow ambition meets the grotesque inequalities and injustices of our age."
Great article. Insightful and disturbing. Thanks
Yes and it’s very difficult for any of us to give up loyalty to a way of thinking and the close people in our lives
Checking now! Thanks
Yes, I, too, thought that would have an impact on trump supporters. It has not.
To me, the most telling indication of Trump's real time state of mind, is his behavior in the hours after he ducked out of the assault on the Capitol and fled to the safety and comfort of the White House. I have seen no report or evidence so far that he lifted as much as his little finger to intervene and attempt to stop the mayhem. He does not appear to have made any attempt to contact key cabinet members, military leaders or security officials. By all indications he was fixated by the events as they played out on TV and is said by some to have been delighted by the spectacle.
His behavior was at best immoral and a clear dereliction of his Constitutional duties as chief executive and commander in chief. That alone is sufficient cause for impeachment and conviction. In addition, I see Trump's unwillingness to act and to intervene in an ongoing attack on the Capitol building, the legislative bodies gathered within it, and the counting of votes from a duly certified presidential election as contemporaneous evidence of his unmistakable intent to overthrow our constitutional form of government and declare himself president. This is the monarchical tyranny that the writers of our Constitution correctly feared.
And the mob that they feared as well.
He was reveling in his power to motivate his followers, they who were attacking our democracy.
Did anyone else notice the gaffe in Trump's speech last night in which he claimed to "unequivocally condemn" violence? Quote: "I cannot emphasize that there must be no violence, no law breaking and no vandalism of any kind."
This is what he actually said. Various media outlets report it as such. But leaving out "enough" after "emphasize" entirely changes its meaning. Another dog whistle? Freudian slip?
If he truly condemned the violence, he could have done so at any time since it began. Told the rioters "unequivocally" to stop while they were attacking the Capitol. Instead, he was allegedly enjoying the scenes on TV, and later told them "we love you." (I note his frequent use of the "Royal we".) He is careful with his words when he wants to send a message; his followers a rabid about routing out his buried messaging - like his reference in a previous "disavowal" to his "first" presidency. "Read this carefully!" I saw emblazoned on FaceBook from one of his unabashed enablers (a man whose bid for Congress failed at the primary level).
So I can't help wondering about that missing "enough".
It would be interesting to know who actually wrote that “speech” for him.
Two lawyers, including Pat Cipollone, and Stephen Miller, wrote it. (Source: NYT). Interesting that he now has to rely on lawyers and not speech writers.
Wish I could edit! It was Cipollone, his deputy Pat Philbin, and Miller. Just to be clear.
I'm sure it was very well vetted. The printed version includes the word "enough". He missed it out - whether deliberately, or as a (conscious, or unconscious) slip, who knows?
I don’t think he did that deliberately. He’s so dumb, he misspeaks often. #covefefe....
I don’t think he’s as dumb as a lot of people would like to think. He may very well have worded that the way he did on purpose. I think he knows exactly what he is doing (exception: covfefe!) and is likely blaring a dog whistle to his base as his usual social media platforms/megaphones have been made off limits. We are in exceptionally dangerous times. Do not underestimate the level of risk we face from him and his supporters/followers. To do so increases their chances of success and the loss of our nation and democracy forever.
That doesn't rule out a Freudian slip, though. The truth is often revealed in people's "accidental" wording.
He often repeats cliches, catchphrases, and the like. Sometimes he gets words in the wrong order or leaves out word. He is a lazy speaker and a lazy thinker.
I noticed that too. I'm sure it was no accident, it's not like he's memorizing his speeches or anything, he's reading them right off the teleprompter.
I think it was a Freudian slip in the way Trump can’t really communicate clearly because deep down he’d love people to continue to fight for him— it’s all about him.
Stephen Miller writes everything he says when he is scripted so there is no mistake in choice of words.
ewww... that clever monster...
It is a constant feature of Trump-speak that he never speaks in complete, coherent sentences, it is the slippery language of a boardwalk huckster.
If you want an update on the continuing of the gobsmackingly awful Josh Hawley's descent into Trumpian mendacity, more large corporate MO donors are refusing to support him financially and he has the chutzpah to write an Op-Ed in a little local paper called the Southeast Missourian claiming that his support of Trump's lies about the election has NO RELATION AT ALL to the attempted coup last Wednesday. https://wsiltv.com/2021/01/13/more-companies-pause-contributions-to-hawley-others/ Claire McCaskill had a great interview on one of my local NPR station's programs where she laid out the many ways his corruption has served him. She was a little giddy about his sudden dive from what he assumed would be the top of the heap. https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2021-01-13/claire-mccaskill-on-the-insurrection-trump-and-hawley
Btw, for anyone who wants to know: Hawley uses his sister's home address as his "place of residence" in order to claim to be living in Missouri, but he actually lives in the White-Squared enclave of Fairfax County, VA and does not own a residence in the state he claims to be representing. He's always been a lying liar who lies.
The only way to keep up the pressure on these people is to:
1. Arrest the Congresspeople who colluded with the insurrectionists and operated as the coup-plotters. They are guilty of sedition and treason. In particular the ones who are menacing their colleagues by bringing guns into the Capitol, such as Gohmert and Boebert.
2. Pressure--through petitions, constant phone calls, whatever it takes--corporations that give money to Republicans to stop doing so or lose financially.
3. Overturn the Citizens United case with appropriate election reform passed by both houses of Congress.
4. Start a very public and transparent re-education program that reaches into the Fox News, Gamergate, etc. communities.
5. De-nazify the military, the police departments, and the Fraternal Order of Police.
We have to be absolutely vigilant about this and we cannot let up.
I agree 100% with everything you said here, Linda. Brava! And it makes my blood boil. That Hawley has a newborn baby gives me the willies. People with a complete lack of morals should not parent. I hope he is completely shunned by the people of Fairfax Cty, his wife can't take it and leaves him, and he will come to his senses and act like a decent human being, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Thank you for action points. And I love the ‘lying liars that lie’ descriptor. Going to start using that!
Thank you for these action points.❤️🤍💙
I am most interested in the re-education program, as I strongly feel that is necessary.
But the details will be interesting. Has anything been written on that, or do you have your own sketch of how that might work?
Good podcast.
The situation’s reminiscent of that in Italy in 1924, following the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti, who had spoken out constantly in Parliament against the Fascist Party’s use of fraud and violence, especially in recent elections, and was on the point of exposing serious corruption on the part of Mussolini, his family and the Fascist leadership, bribed by a US company, Sinclair Oil, to obtain exclusive drilling rights in Italy and its colonies.
For a while, the survival of the Fascist government was in the balance. In the end, Mussolini pulled through, abandoned the legal forms observed during its first years and installed a totalitarian dictatorship.
Now, the balance of power in America is unfavorable to Trump and the Republican Party, the president is a deluded old man who has always resembled Mussolini gone to seed, rather than the able political operator who made himself Duce, yet the danger to America remains as real as ever. The would-be dictator has done a great job for those conspirators who’d had the bright idea of taking over a respectable political party and who used him as a demolition ball to shatter the country’s institutions. Systematic cheating and a rolling barrage of lies enveloped America and the world in a cloud of toxic dust and confusion. Above all, President Trump has built up a mass movement of angry, resentful and heavily armed followers who believe his every word—even when it contradicts his last one, even, it seems, when he has thrown them under the proverbial bus.
Now, both those politicians who propagated the lie and those who went along with it live in terror of the mob, the Frankenstein monster they themselves created.
Good one Peter.
Chilling parallel.
It's interesting to read how the Italians at the "bottom" of society lived through this in Elena Ferrante's Napolitan novels.