Not to take the focus away from the matter at hand, but one thing that came to mind as I saw video and images of Congressional members hiding on the floor of their chamber: As they lay there uncertain and afraid of potential violence, did any of them think about the millions of schoolchildren who have regularly practiced this posture, and the thousands who have done it for real?
It also brought to my mind the vision of the many Black men pinned to the ground by the police for relatively minor offenses, and wondering whether they'd live to see their families.
That’s exactly what I kept saying to the TV, and still am, when talking about these people hiding, covering their heads, hearing terrorists in the hallways as they whispered in their offices.
Welcome to every public school in America when we do emergency drills at least once a month. And are taught how to use specially provided baseball bats to take down gun toting perps. Welcome to that feeling. To that PTSD. To that fear.
Exactly how children and teachers feel each time they have to take cover under a desk, or behind cupboards never knowing if it is an actual attack. Well practiced, but terrifying. I watched this unfold in absolute horror and sympathy. Trump must be held accountable for this atrocity!
I had discussed exactly this point with my husband as it was playing out. And will those pro-gun members of congress have a change of heart? Of course they won’t.
Crazy uh? For any Manufacturer or even industry, that is TON of unit sales. Steel and milling is relatively cheap, so profit margins are high. What states does steal come from? It would be a wise business decision to fund the party that is willing to protect your profits! But these are not Hunting rifles, shotguns, or home protection revolvers. These are mostly 40 million new precision made weapons of war. Semi Auto, high capacity. I remember when JH JR shot Reagan and Brady. I have the image of Brady seared into my memory, face down on the concrete in a pool of his own blood. And now, what is going to happen?
If we are not extremely careful, or maybe it is too late? We could see 10,000 deranged arseholes, seething with anger and hatred in the hearts descend into DC with long guns for the Inauguration. How will we have a "normal" ...oops sorry, "post insurgency pandemic Inauguration"?
And where is the Inauguration held? On those same Capital steps. And what is happening now? A purge of incompetence or ill compliance in the DC and Capital police. (who are the traitors in the police we do not know about?) Who are the outer and inner rings of protection. How can they be trusted. I don't see how 2,500 secret service agents could protect in that scenario. The enemy just learned what they are capable of. They will adjust their strategy and tactics. Shamefully, the Inaugural is going to look like a police state further burnishing "deep state final fantasy" into the hearts of these seditious pricks. Agent Orange has thrown a monkey wrench into the transition ceremony by the potential threat of more violence. Even if their isn't any violence, we loose the war of appearances with a heavy military presence.
That is why you do it, immediately, without notice and film it. I like your idea on The Capital Steps. Let's take back our Capital!!
Or a Pandemic inauguration inside the Rotunda Film it live for all of us to celebrate at home. Have a No Traveler Zone pre, during and post, in DC. I still have bottle of Prosecco that I can dust off...I have been waiting to toast with it the moment DJT is out of office.
I mentioned this very thing on the letter from yesterday (while this one hadn't appeared yet). I would hope that the next time this issue (control of deadly weapons) comes up, as it surely will, lawmakers will not forget how they felt when this was happening Wednesday. Imagine a small child, with much less understanding of the world, being subjected to something like this. I mentioned as well how lawmakers and staff in the Capitol, and us out here, have almost gone through varying degrees of PTSD since this happened Again, imagine how children feel when thrust into scary situations not of their own making. I hope we don't soon forget this whole incident.
I was thinking a similar thought about most of them having no idea what its is to be terrorized in war, or mass shooting, or even just gun violence in the many major cities. But everyone should be able to but a gun without any restrictions or background check etc.
Yes. There are also a variety of points on each floor of all the House and Senate office buildings containing protective equipment. This has been the case since 9/11.
Like life vests under your seat on a plane. If that was indeed the case, then someone must have anticipated an attack on the Capitol at some point. Wonder what they think about yesterday.
I wonder if they've been there since, say, 9/11 or only recently, in light of Tя☭mp's incendiary tweets that "something wild" would happen on January 6th. If there was that fear, then there should have been massive protection, and there was not, which was a monumental failure.
A chemical attack, or bio weapon, is a tactic to first disorientate, disorganize, break morale in order to overtake. I see the importance of those gas masks under their desks in order to maintain one's senses for evacuation. The mobers had surplus mace canisters to do just that and break the guards at the choke points. IT is how they broke through interior defenses.
This was so bad. They wanted Pence and Pelosi in handcuffs, a hostage crisis, with thousands blocking all entry and mass supports amassed around the exterior. The more I study it, this was the their plan. You do not need weapons, when you have a human shields, and layers of human shields. The taking of the building was not for occupation, it was for hostage taking, then to delay until..... for one person to take control, resolve the crisis as a hero, and then crown himself king.
DT's Rally outside the WH was incitement. Then Rudy gave explicit instructions, "Trial by Combat". But they all had intelligence about the mobs plot to just that, the handcuffs show it was premediated. Where did that hostage and trial by combat plot originate and with whom first? I dont think the plot was conceived by one of the mob idiots. I speculate it was planted in a chatroom like a seed. Then watered and nurtured like all the other nonsensical delusions these idiots believe. This is madness. This kinda of stuff starts wars.
My point was not to question why gas masks were there but for how long they were. If they were put there specifically in advance of the riot, then my point becomes why weren't the Capitol grounds and building cordoned off before the insurrection, not afterwards. Regardless, the rioters who aren't being identified and arrested (so far, apparently, for charges less serious than their offenses) are still "out there" and scheming more anti-democracy chaos not just in D.C. but around the county, where they stormed capitol buildings in several states on the 6th. What are they planning for the 17th? The 20th? For a later time?
Oh! I see said the blindman( me!) Thank you Mimi and Dang good point.
I was thinking they have been their since 911 or something? Do you mean you think the Republicans put them in their just recently in case they needed them, knowing the mob had mace to use on the few guards in advance? Holy shit, if that is true then the Mob are pawns and 1/2 our elected officials are complicit in the whole damn plot.
I was thinking it was just DT, his closest cronies and most radicalized supporters.
We don't yet know the extent of the complicity, Ted. I don't know if the gas masks have been under the seats since 9/11 or whether the capitol protectors put them there in advance, having read or heard on TV what we all did about the big "wild" event that would be happening on the 6th. But if that was the case, why wasn't at least the building protected from invasion? It didn't occur to me that the R's put gas masks under the seats to protect themselves, since all the legislators seemed to have them. I doubt, or certainly hope, that half of the R legislators are not complicit. But I think the assault was helped along by insiders, whether some legislators or some Capitol police and that reinforcements were delayed because of the DoJ's failure to act promptly when asked. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (?) also had a hand in not muzzling these calls to action months ago.
Agree. Insiders for sure played a part....Angry police because of BLM...old grievances are always exploited by demagogues to further their aims. DOD officials are claiming they were worried about, "Appearances" of too much security forces...bad optics..... really? Why?
News accounts of the FBI offering agents was refused by Capital Police leadership.
Knowingly or unknowingly there was a command failure to organize the defenses. Its most likely a mix of both. Recent changes DT made at DOD are critical. Barr leaving early from DOJ.
DT conspired to threaten the Legislative branch and his VP. This I am certain. I believe his end game was to offer to negotiate with the hostage takers, save the day as a hero, blame it all on Antifa, and declare himself king or just a savior to ride another day.
Usually what happens with events like this is the lawmakers stick to their previous views but make a fix for only themselves. That would mean the right will talk about needing to carry guns for defense, the left will ask for criminal justice reform, and both will increase security at only the Capitol building.
As a very recently retired middle school teacher, I absolutely thought about that. And sadly also thought, even if brought to their attention, after having been through a siege where people were armed and those in military/police tactical type gear actually had slip tie handcuffs (for what purpose one can only imagine), I have little faith that gun regulations that will make any real difference will see the light of day.
Whatever flaws in their planning and leadership, the Capitol police deserve standing applause and a bonus for successfully getting all the members of Congress and their staffers to safety before tactically retreating before the savage horde of mini-Trumps. If even one Senator, House member, or staffer had been caught by that guy with the handcuffs, we would still be riveted to our televisions, watching a hostage situation unfold in the Chambers of Congress.
Yes, they were unprepared for an utterly predictable assault by the Trump-incited mob. But their restraint was, to my mind, admirable. The only reason that woman was shot was because she tried to enter the Chamber before it could be cleared. Even while a Capitol policeman was being beaten to death by the Trump branch of the Republican Party, the rest of his fellow officers concentrated on saving lives, not killing rioters.
While this debacle is a grim example of a right-wing mob being treated more gently than a left one, the answer is to have fewer blood-baths, not more.
I was not at all referring to the Capitol Police in my post. I agree they did their job in protecting our Congressional members, staff, and reporters. I was referring to those that infiltrated our nation's capitol.
So sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were referring to anything else. I was really responding to your observation that some of the insurrectionists clearly had more in mind than posing at the dais or pissing in the hallways. Had the outnumbered defenders lost their focus, the insurrection may still be underway.
No worries! Agree that had the Capitol Police, who were doing their job, had not been there, there would have been a very different ending. The point was that after what members of Congress experienced will unfortunately not impact gun regulations in any meaningful manner forcing our kids to continue to be subject to practice active shooter drills. It is all just so wrong that anyone should have to fear being shot at the hands of people hell bent on destruction.
The heartbreaking massacre at Sandy Hook, as well as every other mass shooting, didn't move the gun control meter one iota. The bill that was brought to Congress by the parents in Newtown and Obama never passed. On Wednesday, none of the congressional people were killed or injured so unfortunately, this horrible episode will have zero impact regarding gun control. As someone else said, Congress may do something to further protect themselves (and federal property) but that is it.
It is interesting that Hawley is taking most of the heat. He deserves it, but Cruz deserves it as much and more. Cruz seems to have disappeared from view like the smarmy rat that he is. Cruz was the more senior senator and should resign his seat along with Hawley. It seems like our news sources are allowing Cruz to hide. Why?
Yes I think the fist in the air outside the Capital is what Hawley is being remembered for as well as his objection of Pennsylvania AFTER the insurrectionists stormed the Capital
You are probably right that Hawley was more visible on the day. On the run to to Wednesday, Cruz had pushed Hawley aside and was more visible, I guess we are seeing political savvy on the part of Cruz. He must have read the tea leaves when Trump spoke in the AM and decided to stay low and watch what was happening. Regardless, Cruz should resign. He is certainly in the crosshair of the Lincoln Project.
These guys are like cockroaches in a kitchen when you turn the light on. They all scurry for cover out of the limelight and hope this will all blow over. They become suddenly silent...like vermin trying to wait out the cat before moving again. I would love it if Hawley's career could be over before it starts, and the same for Ted Cruz and some of the other deplorables. It is the sad nature of politics that it takes a LOT to marginalize some of these self-serving hypocrites. Hawley bitches on about "the Left looking to cancel everyone they don’t approve of.” WTF was HE and these others doing but trying to overturn an election which he and they didn't approve the result of??? The hypocrisy with this one is staggering. Cruz is the lowest of the low, we know that...if there was ever ANYONE to fill the shoes of Joseph McCarthy in terms of his colleagues disliking him, Cruz is #1 bozo.
Notice how fast the "Antifa".... blame them miss-info happened? Was that spontaneous or planned in advance blame strategy. I didnt think of that till just now. the more you study the timeline, this had components of both spontaneity of a mob & coordination (messaging)
It's pretty well documented that this entire situation was planned well in advance, on social media like Parler and others. As for the Antifa reference, that's just a stock answer they use whenever they're accused. During the BLM demonstrations this summer, there was some vandalism. However, a good part of the vandalism was traced to provocateurs from out of state, and much of it was the work of militia and white supremacist groups, hoping to have the protestors blamed for it.
Agree. You know who else planned an insurrection based off of populist hysteria during a crisis, raised nationalistic fervor to seize power and destroy democracy?
I assume you're referring to Hitler. If so, I've been drawing that parallel ever since this moron appeared on the horizon. My intention isn't to minimize the Holocaust - our suffering can't compare in any way - but the methods and mindset had marked similarities. Watching people who have been more than happy to cheer him on, I've found the answer to how he could have perpetrated his evil, and how could anyone have allowed it. There's plenty of the same right here in the Land of the Free. Scary to see so many people sell their souls, and the worst aren't the anarchists - the soul-sellers all wear suits.
Along with the fist in the air, Hawley put out a fake story just days before that there were violent protesters at his home trying to break his door down. There is video and a police statement that refutes this. Also, Missouri has come out strongly to condemn him. Texas continues to back Cruz. I haven’t seen one Texas newspaper that has spoken out against him and the corrupt state politicians back him.
Along with them Marco Rubio went into hiding. He made a few Twitter statements but changed his account so you can only only comment if he follows you.
The Houston Chronicle is no fan of Ted Cruz. They call him out quite often. In yesterday's paper they did not shy away from laying much of the blame for this fiasco at his feet. Every letter to the editor mentioned his name, and not in a nice way! Many, many of us cannot wait to rid ourselves of him, along with our State Attorney General!
Agreed. Cruz should be front and center. If nothing else he is more seasoned and should know better...they both should but Cruz most especially. Their states should impeach both of them. Can they do that?
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who is the number three Democrat in the Senate in her role as assistant Democratic leader, on Friday urged both Republicans to resign from the U.S. Senate for breaking their oath of office.
Yes I agree completely. Political opportunists and professional dirtbags. The kind of people you won’t even listen to, because you know it will be BS. You tune out everything they say.
Cruz is the dumbest fucking moron in the Senate (after "coach" Tuberville) and also Most Disliked Senator. He even looks like Joe McCarthy. Hawley, on the other hand, is slick and smooth and willing to say anything and look like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He's the candidate of the Fundamentalist Scum already. Hawley is the one we need to worry about, the one who needs what Hitler should have gotten in 1928 when his threat was obvious.
Halfway through reading your message I was already going there. Hawley is exactly the perfect candidate for a Hitler Wannabe Club. Of course DT is the president of that club.
I recall that Cruz was the most disliked member of the Senate and he has just provided another reason for this status. (I reckon that Trump will now honor both him and Hawley with Medals of Freedom.)
Well I missed seeing the newsletter and comments in my email first thing this morning. So instead, I found the newsletter on Facebook and read it. Then I listened to your interview with Bill Moyers, then I listened to your post from Thursday which I missed yesterday. I think I am hooked on hearing/ reading honest and intelligent information on what we have experienced this week and the last four years! Thank you Dr. Richardson for all your thoughtful words. I have learned so much. 💙❤️💙
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called Vice President Mike Pence to urge him to begin the process of removing the president through the 25th Amendment, but after keeping them on hold for 25 minutes, PENCE'S STAFFERS TOLD THEM HE WOULD NOT TAKE THEIR CALL." WTF?!?!? (oops, sorry but not sorry) Color Mike Pence fully complicit in sedition, in spite of the efforts to canonize him for making a phone call re calling in the National Guard. If I keep writing here, I'll set this page on fire. Oh. Good morning, everyone.
IDK. I don't like Pence at all but he took a stand against Trump's public "orders" to refuse to allow the electoral votes to be approved. He informed Trump that he would not follow Trump's order to invalidate the Electoral Votes and that he had no power to do so. I think he, though a vile little man, understood the issues and took a difficult stand in the midst of the Trump tornado of lies and the screams of Trump's followers.
Pence only did the right thing (finally) when he had no choice. There were so many opportunities for Pence to demonstrate character and principle, but he never once did. When he should have resigned in 2016 when the "p*ssy tape" came out, he stuck with Trump. When Trump praised racists in Charlottesville, when Trump denigrated McCain, when Trump attacked Gold Star families, when Trump made the Ukraine calls, when Trump cozied up to Putin, when Trump tear-gassed Americans for his Bible photo-op, when Trump...the list is long, I could go on for a long time. The point is Pence never once took a principled stand, never once showed courage, never once stood up to his loathsome boss. He had no choice on Wednesday, the law and the Constitution were clear. Pence didn't demonstrate courage, he did what he was forced to do.
There's no question that Pence was an enabler. I understand the destructive alliance he formed with Trump. But when push came to shove, he took, literally, a deadly stand against Trump's "orders". He could have equivocated, minced and corrupted the process royally. He wins no medals but I value what he did by refusing Trump's orders. He stands as the the crappiest, enabling VP ever, but he did begin the end of Trump's influence.
Michael Pence wants to be president. That desire overcame all principles. He served a corrupt master, corrupt in more ways than I can count, and he is not worthy of any respect. Don’t turn this weasel into a hero
Weasels sometimes do the right thing under difficult circumstances. Heroes can screw up. Even the worst child abuser I personally know about, sometimes took those kids out for ice cream treats and it's a good memory for them. We can call out evil and still see the complexity of the real world.
Spot on JR. exactly what I was thinking. he stayed on the gravy train collected all his paychecks. he was out of a job in two weeks anyway and he reverted to playing the good American to put on his resume
Yes, Pence did that. And in so doing, briefly tilted toward nation above trump. The outcome of which is that trump will probably not decorate him with a Medal of Freedom. Apparently I am constitutionally incapable (!) of cutting Pence any slack at this late date.
I'm afraid I don't agree. When he first pushed back against Trump, I sent him a congratulatory email. A few days later, he announced that he was moving to restrict absentee ballots to include only those who had a "reason" to request one, and that it was an avenue for voter fraud - although he is on record saying that it an effective means of voting, and poses little fraud threat. Then he tried to purge thousands of (mostly minority) voters from the roles, but that was blocked by Stacey Abrams' sister, a judge. As Stacey said in an interview (Rachel Maddow?) the other day, Raffensperger and Kemp pushed back because they were protecting the narrative on their newly-purchased voting apparatus, but they are both unrepentant suppressants, and that hasn't changed. It needs to!
Agreed. Stacey Abrams in that interview could hardly contain her old anger against Kemp for making sure he, as secretary of state monitoring his own election, became governor and not her. But she wisely turned that anger and disappointment into something remarkable and praiseworthy: Fair Fight.
Perhaps internally he IS frightened. What we see externally is a humanoid AI devoid of all perceptible feelings...except those occasional, downward-slanted eyebrows when he might be trying to think...or perhaps he is just needing to find the WC. ( I cannot believe just wrote that!). Forgive me, peeps!
Beautifully said Penelope. Incontinent or constipated, take your pick, Pence could be either one. It is so so emotionally and spiritually rigid and unable or unwilling to express anything that I would lean towards severe constipation.
Europe is a much older culture with much older buildings. Before toilets and indoor plumbing were invented (1800s), it was chamber pots under the bed. There were no bathrooms. So they had to retrofit the toilets into any available space, which was usually a closet. Hence water closet.
While I would rather Pence invoke the 25th, after 5 years of servility it's a bit much to expect of him. Color him cowardly for not even taking the call, but that is hardly new.
I respectfully submit that refusal to talk to the majority leader of the House and the minority leader of the Senate in the midst of a national security crisis is new and is, at best, dereliction of duty!
... at best ... Pence is a finger puppet. If IDJT is impeached, and Pence assumes the office, even for a couple of weeks, Trump still will influence his decisions - which would do little or nothing to reduce the threat of further violence and disruption of due process. I would impeach Pence along with the "President" - although, that might fail if Repos balk at the thought of Pelosi in charge - even for a couple of weeks. So ... what to do ...?
Dereliction of Pence's duty during a national and Constitutional crisis. She is in the third line of the presidency (in my opinion second now). Gob-smacked on this one.
Pence is a finger puppet. If IDJT is impeached, and Pence assumes the office, even for a couple of weeks, Trump still will influence his decisions - which would do little or nothing to reduce the threat of further violence and disruption of due process. I would impeach Pence along with the "President" - although, that might fail if Repos balk at the thought of Pelosi in charge - even for a couple of weeks. So ... what to do ...?
I’ll bet he spent that entire 30 minutes talking to his staff about the ramifications of taking that car. He’s spineless. Trump magnetically attracts spineless people to do his bidding. A real man would’ve taken that call and dealt with the consequences. I’m sorry if there are any Republicans reading this, but the Republicans are really a wishy-washy and spineless group. Steve Schmidt, the Lincoln project people, and others excepted of course. Moral vacuums.
While it sounds reasonable and logical, the 25th is the messiest way to get T**** out of office. Of course Pence is a showstopper but to get a majority of a cabinet filled with "contractors" is Constitutionally questionable and murky.
Still, I think invoking the 25th Amendment sends a powerful message, even more powerful than impeachment. It says that Trump's own people, the people he chose for his administration, think he is unfit for office. Even if it is unsuccessful, invoking it says unequivocally that Trump should not be president, and that anyone who supports him is a fool or complicit.
DeVos and Chao's resignations have not only shielded them from having to take a stand on 25ing 45, but set themselves up for ongoing business deals for their intertwined empires. They and trump are business people, deal makers for making money, before they are politicians for the common good of the people.
25th would enable him to run again. Impeachment/conviction written within it "Can't hold public office ever again" makes impeachment/conviction the better option, IMHO.
conviction is impossible. He will sit out his term, but like Nixon, he will not have any public buildings named after him, including his much desired airport, and his visage will not be added to Mr Rushmore. His name will go down in history ignominiously as the worst president in America. (It will be extremely difficult for anyone to exceed his record.)
He won't be remembered for cutting taxes, killing regulations and packing the courts. He will be remembered for the carnage in the Capitol and the deaths of 5 Americans including a Capitol Police officer.
Thank you for this link. In the article I found the answer to the question I asked on Wednesday- Can tRump pardon the rioters who desecrated the Capital?
“ Every crime perpetrated in Washington yesterday is a federal crime. Many U.S. attorneys, all appointed by Trump, are lining up to say they will prosecute seditionists, but Trump can end that immediately through the pardon power. Everyone in the Capitol yesterday can be absolved, if they were ever at risk at all.”
Pardon must be nominative = admission of guilt for federal crime.....ergo....criminal records! I'm sure that they contravened a state crime or two as well and......
Well he can remove the punishment but the crime is still there. If he pardons them all he puts a yoke on the GOP's neck that cannot be removed, much let lifted. It would only serve him but in doing so turns what's left of the GOP into a vast wasteland void of anything even resembling being American.
The insurgents are scarred for life regardless of what he does.
After the comments Trump made today, it would be even more hypocritical than usual for him to issue a pardon to any of these disgusting insurrectionists.
They keep suggesting that it would take too long to remove Trump using the 25th Amendment. If this is true something needs to change. Let’s say the president falls into a coma, or his plane goes down, or he is captured by another country. It should only take moments to enact. We should consider this occasion just as dire because today Trump could start exploding and attacking things. The staff inside the White House describes him as unstable.
I am quite sure when Reagan was shot, the 25th was quickly invoked, so there must be a mechanism. But that's not gonna happen (invoking or shooting) while tRump's stoogies are holding the Cabinet reins.
Yes, I believe the 25th can be implemented very quickly. However, that is usually if the prez temporarily incapacitated, resigned or died. Perhaps when you are dealing with a such a clever "jeanious" as Donald, who is perverted, incompetent, narcissistic, racist, misogynistic, is a pathological liar, a wannabe king and a terrorist, thug leader backed by of party of complicit seditionists and sycophants, you have to have a majority vote to remove him. Nearly impossible when you have republicans who are adherents to party over country.
Obviously, it is one more thing that needs to be updated into this century. We might have to add something about ousting a leader who is choosing golfing over working for the nation in crisis and the whilst the people are dying by the thousands per day.
Typical of this administration's arrogance and rudeness to keep the leaders of the House and Senate on hold for 25 minutes and then advise that Pence will not take their call. I thought only people like the Airlines and Utilities did that.
Good morning! I've been on fire since 2016 and I'm still burning! I think our best path forward is to ignore Republicans, as they have ignored Democrats. Just ignore them. Don't take their calls. Don't allow their legislation to come to the floor. Don't include them in the big decisions (if possible). Don't argue with them. Don't compromise with them. Shut them out. Let's see how they like it for 4 years (or perhaps longer, if we are lucky). The Republican Party has abdicated their responsibilities to this country. I'm not sure why we should listen to them at all in the future. The GOP is essentially a dead party. Someone recently said that the Democratic Party is the party of the future and conservatives and independents who are committed to keeping this democracy alive would eventually wind up in that big Democratic Tent, which would expand to include them. I like that idea. In the meantime, we have the majority. Let's use it for the good of all.
Is not the attack on the Capitol one more compelling reason to grant statehood to D.C.? It was the absence of a governor with the ability to call in the National Guard that helped to allow the travesty to happen.
Hey, Christopher. I listened to Mayor Bowser's briefing yesterday. She is a no-nonsense, dispassionate individual, not disposed to reactionary statements. During questioning, one press member asked her how upset she was with what took place the day before. At first she demurred, not seeming to be willing to directly answer the question. Then, and this is not an exact quote but: "I am upset about what this president did to this city and to democracy. I am upset that MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) was put in harm's way. I am upset that somebody died in a building that they broke into. I am heartened that MPD got control of the building so that the law makers could go back inside to count the votes. And I am upset that 706,000 residents of the District of Columbia did not have a single vote in that Congress despite the fact that 'our people' put their lives on the line to protect our democracy." So, yes, D.C. statehood now! DC51.us
Another echo of the end of the 19th C when the creation of States became a political football in the battle for control of the Senate. The Republicans will not agree new state formation if it disadvantages them......and I think DC would be Dem most of the time. Which way would Peurto Rico turn?
Probably Democratic but there must be conservative Puerto Ricans among the very religious. In the end what matters is the quality of their lives and options for the future. PR should be the Hawaii of the Atlantic imho.
GOP and Trump did much better than was thought possible with Spanish speaking citizens throughout the south and in Texas. They addressed them more intelligently than Biden taking into account their cultural and recent historical biases.
Actually,IMHO, it was the absence of a sane POTUS who has been inciting insurrection and, more than likely, instructed those who would have truly protected our Capital and officials to stand down. All Americans know the Proud Boys, the Klan, Qanon and neo-Nazis, are ripe for violence. These terrorist acts are direct result of a terrorizing president. And after they did their deed, 45's message was— he loves them. Fine people again. All seditionists and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including 45.
I do not actually have a stance on D.C. governorship or not, but we need to look hard at the trumplican party and its' financial backers that is truly responsible creating this dangerous nexus of seditionists. The republicans and their republican-based media full of outright lies and propaganda for the past 5 years created this. I look squarely in the faces of every guilty republican who has participated in supporting this anti-democracy travesty of a seditionist, so-called "presidency." We need to nip this in the bud right now and they all need to resign in absolute disgrace.
I made calls to the Sedition Caucus members yesterday requesting their resignations. There are still 148 more to go who signed on to overturn our fair election. I can tell you, it feels really good to give each one a metaphorical slap aside the head. If their voicemail is full, just send an email. It takes a little time, but is very therapeutic. https://www.senate.gov
Yes! Yes! But should not all our "sovereign" tribes have a representative seat at the table? And that brings up: should we not explore the concept of the "sovereignty" myth and any treaties that might have been, um... "overlooked."
We do we owe lot love and attention to our native people as we move forward
to create a better, healthier nation. They certainly deserve a place at the country's table. Who benefits by their oppression? Who benefits by ANYONE'S oppression? As you so oft-repeat here, Stuart, follow the money. It is our foundation's shadow. We must be brave and look at it in order as we make new choices evolving forward.
Can't happen with the Senate divided as it is. Wish it could. Another reason to keep all efforts at Maximum between now and 2022, so The Traitors don't get that "mid-term bounce" and return to power.
I am disturbed by the comments by both Democrats and Republicans who are looking at the over-running of the Capitol building saying "That's not who we are. " Sadly, that IS who we are, just not who we aspire to be.
You are actually correct Claudia...it is who we are and until we come to grips with that and address it this behavior will just continue. These may be brainwashed individuals but they are also our sisters, brothers, colleagues. It is who we are. That needs to be considered.
Uh oh. Both sides, huh? Nope. I don't think so. I would never break into our nation's Capitol, roam through private offices stealing laptops and GAVELS, throwing papers in the air, sitting in the chairs of Senators and others as though I belonged there, and then going out in the halls and smearing shit on the walls before strolling out and going back to the hotel for a round of drinks and a little debriefing--untouched, unharmed, unstopped. I don't know who those people are, but I am not one of them. I refuse to be held responsible for them. I can only hope to change things (laws, rules, education, norms, expectations) to keep them from happening in the future. I hope WE have learned that lesson at least. Stay engaged in politics, because to become cynical or apathetic is DANGEROUS for everyone.
I understand your passion. Years ago, when some pack of bigots gave us another horrid display of racially-tinged violence (and they do so quite regularly in our country), I realized that I was no longer embarrassed to be an American. Instead, I was embarrassed that THEY were Americans.
This is a really good conversation to have! While I have compassion for my brethren, I repel hanging with people who think they superior to others. The rise in huge propagandist cult-tification and misinformation machines make this incredibly challenging nowadays. I find it difficult to identify with certain fellow humans. And as I am older (and hopefully wiser), I don't want to waste time trying to understand and converse with someone that is "happy to drink my lib tears." I constantly question "unconditional" love. There are indeed certain qualities and behaviors of up with which I will not put with those in my sphere. There are certain people I can love unconditionally— IF— they stay way over there somewhere. ;-) !!
What I meant to convey is that maybe you, certainly I am not going to storm the capital, riot, try to overturn a vote or any of those other behaviors. But we must remember that all these folks are someone's sister, brother, the police man, the teacher, the scientist, the bus driver, the executive. It was shocking to me, until Trump, that such a large number of individuals would sympathize with him. I knew we had racists, anti-semites etc. I did not imagine that it was so widespread and proud that they would publicly identify with someone as horrid as Trump. To suggest, however, that we do not know these people or even love them politics aside I think is disingenuous. I don't think it is me. I hope it is not me. But we all know them.
I live in Texas. I get that. I'm surrounded. Because I lived and worked in Houston, I did not realize the extent of the problem until 2017, after I'd moved to West Texas, and I was talking impeachment. Everyone looked at me like I was from Mars. Still, I refuse to accept the notion that both sides are somehow the same. Democrats AND Republicans should ... NOPE. Republicans have forfeited the right to compromise with me. I have no rights, as a woman, according to most of them, and they would be just as happy to lock me up in an attic somewhere to keep me quiet. I see that now very clearly. We must move on and try to address the real problems facing this earth on which we are so precariously perched. I don't think the GOP wants to help with that project much. . .
This is an excellent thought. The amount of money spent on politics is sinful. We are in this contemptible situation because our people are so easily inculcated by charismatic and celebrity leaders. (I fail to see any aspect of DJT as charismatic but each to their own type of messiah). We must invest money on our people so that they learn from very young on how to be critical thinkers and researcher of truth and facts. For 5 years it has given me "Pence eyebrows" to try to figure out how any Americans could believe the lie that Mexico would pay for the wall? Especially after the President of Mexico said he would not. But fantasy always beats reality around this regime.
I would say that "we" are "they," too. It's a word game but it implies that we are all human and driven by differing drives. I feel, as the oceans rise and the sixth extinction takes place, when heat waves strike, and droughts force millions into migration paths in which families are turned back or are met by terrifying mobs, where families trying to reach safety are in camps all over the US, where fires rage across the US and the planet, where the glaciers are disappearing, where fossil fuels flow as if there are no consequences, where a future is driven by viruses, and the environment degrades more each month, that we too should storm the Capitol. When no route appears possible for something as massive as environmental issues our own children will suffer, I wonder what it is we could do to effect change because nothing is working. Even though these people with little insight into what is before them, "storming the Capitol" for all the wrong, stupid reasons, causing mayhem and terror, "storming the Capitol begins to look like the only way to effect real change. I get it.
I would picket the Capitol for all those good, fact-based existential reasons you enumerate. I would not storm it and cause mayhem, injury and death as did those insurrectionists, who were operating in a different, non-fact-based reality. That, I do not condone.
This is one morning I can begin to believe our democratic republic can be saved. 🇺🇸
It does seem, however that Trump, Bannon and the other Seditionists have achieved what they started over 4 years ago. News out of Israel states:
“The Russian campaign’s goal was never to push out a coherent, pro-Trump message, but instead to subvert America’s democratic institutions and sow distrust. President Donald Trump was just a means to that end.”
Kari, I'm interested to see a comment bringing in the Russia angle. Thanks for the link. I'm on the west coast, and so just woke up WAY too early, with a disturbing thought that I haven't seen covered in the media anywhere yet.... We know that Trump is Russia's chaos agent - whether coordinated or just coincidental doesn't really matter. If you were the Russians, and you had just hacked all of the US's most important technology/military/infrastructure/communication systems - what would you do with this moment of chaos that Trump has just created? What will get slipped through our defenses while senior officials are resigning (during an already busy and normally somewhat chaotic moment of transition)?
I want to know two things: Has the Biden team started receiving their full security transition briefings again (remember last week when the pentagon stopped doing that because the Biden team was asking too many questions)? Second, who is responsible for the (fully functional) pipe bombs found at the DNC and RNC headquarters?
Russia/Putin has worked for at least a decade to misinform and destabilize our democracy. Without using weapons they have suckered citizens into their nets. There must be a full investigation into their hacking and their bots spewing disinformation across the US with astonishing effect.
My guess is that Netanyahu wasn't asked to approve this piece. On the other hand, after being cozy with Trump for four years, perhaps he's trying to soften up Biden with this. Still wants our cash and military equipment.
"no one could have predicted that the president would egg on the rioters" You've got to be kidding, predicting that Trump would egg on his ignorant mob is about as difficult as predicting that the sun will rise tomorrow. That's maybe the stupidest statement out of all the stupid statements made these past two days.
Elaine Chao resigns, but never mentions Trump? She is such a coward.
My guess is that Mitch instructed her to resign, only because she could be asked to invoke the 25th, and he'd be in the crosshairs if that happened. Remember, the Republicans prefer their "women" to be keeping the homefires burning.
Now the "little boy trump" will cry crocodile tears to be protected by "mamma", victim of the nasty people who are blaming him when he, of course, never intended such things.....the victim of all those opposed to him who "don't understand".......then he'll sulk a while and bit by bit test the waters to put a foot out of the door that'll be hiding behind.....then he'll have rewritten the story according to his own sauce saying that he has been right all the time......unless he gets put away for a very long time!
I’m sick and tired of hearing “ no one could have predicted...”. Everyone saw this coming, for months. I myself—and plenty of others, I’m not special—have been saying since spring the most dangerous period will be between November 3 and January 20.
While we’re on the subject, terrorists are discussing going to Washington on the 20th with weapons. We are not out of the woods yet.
Dr. Richardson, thank you especially for Wednesday. You were a beacon of clarity on a murky day.
Agree! Ur right. HCR did! Tim Snyder did. Many did, and not enough listened. Republicans, focused only on winning, not eh quality of their leadership.
Now we are going to have a lot of these supporters a 2nd wave of delusion armed people next week in DC. And we know we have cops (not saying all cops, just some bad cops) that sympathize with them and are also part of the delusion.
“If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
I still believe that this man cannot and will not submit to impeachment, the 25th, or calls for resignation. It is not in his personality, especially not now! I believe he will hang on, his enablers allowing that, and either pardon himself at the last minute or resign late on Jan 19th and have Pence pardon him.
Also, I don't think he just bullies people, I fully expect he has legions of lackeys to "dig up dirt" on those who cross him so he can threaten them with exposure if they don't agree to his demands. Nothin is too low for that man to do so that he doesn't have to look at himself in the mirror and accept what is reflected back.
I sincerely hope someone responsible has the nuclear codes. He is NOT to be trusted. Now, ask me how I really feel... :)
He doesn't necessarily have to do, or have done, all that tiresome and expensive digging. He understood a long time ago that he can invent dirt and throw it into the media and/or social crcles and then repeat, repeat, repeat...and the damage is almost as good as if it was real such is often the role of "rumours". For imagining "dirt" he has all the necessary cognitive capacity.
Agree. Ur Right. 100%. Authoritarians drag dirt to discredit opponent's either true or false. In Authoritarian regimes there is no private life. There is no respect for privacy. Truth dissolves like sugar.
In 2017, Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock was arrested AND HANDCUFFED for quietly praying in the Capitol rotunda. This week, white nationalist terrorists invaded the Capitol and were allowed to walk out.
The police continue to prove racism is alive and well in the USA.
First, continued thanks, Prof. Richardson, for all your hard work in distilling and contextualizing all this grim and infuriating news. For the past 2 days I found it hard to concentrate on anything, but your newsletter helped bring me back down to terra firma. You are a godsend.
Second: one of the more important reasons for removing Trump NOW is his exercise of the pardon power. One of those whom it can be safely assumed will be pardoned is Rudolph Giuliani, who, even if it is hard to believe, was even more incendiary in his remarks to the crowd than was Trump. He exhorted the crowd to settle the dispute over the election through "trial by combat." That's about as explicit as you can get: no "plausible deniability" there. He should have been arrested and charged with sedition already. Since he wasn't, it's imperative for Trump to be removed so he cannot torpedo the stark need for those, like Giuliani, who were involved in this putsch to be held accountable.
Third, the night of the coup attempt, my local public radio station (WNYC) scheduled a program with the theme "Time to Come Together?" It was hard to stay on topic given the day's events, but they tried. But the answer to that question is an emphatic "No". There is a lot of blame to go around relating to how we got here: the Republican "southern strategy" which has now born its strange fruit, Democratic feckessness, income and wealth inequality, the badly-repressed racism and sexism in "good, moderate (neo)liberals." But make no mistake: what we saw yesterday was the advancing front of the home-grown fascism that Sinclair Lewis warned us about in the 1930's, wrapped in the American flag and carrying a cross. After the reports of children in cages, children separated from "missing" parents, and forced sterilizations, I have been pretty much unmoved by the "grievances" of Trumpists, whether justified or not (mostly not). If you are cool with the aforementioned, and cool with the coup attempt (and that is what it was), then I am not prepared to "come together" and deliberate with you, holding hands and singing "This land is your land . . .). None of us should be eager to "come together" just yet, for Wednesday was clear evidence that hardcore Trumpists are hellbent on replacing Liberal Republican Democracy with an ethno-nationalist oligarchy that elicits their love because they are white, straight, cisgender (largely) males of any economic stratum and religion -- as long as it's Christian and preferably Evangelical and Protestant. I can share no sense of solidarity with them unless they admit to the peaceful transfer of power when they lose. That was not in evidence AT ALL on Wednesday. They need to be fought tooth-and-nail at the ballot box. And if the "saner" wing of the Republican party doesn't disavow them, they are enablers who likewise have to be voted out and face the loud and ceaseless music of majority public opinion, which is NOT with them.
The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that "modern politics is civil war by other means." His argument was that the rational resolution of moral and political problems was impossible because there is no shared vision of the common good nowadays. As is the case with MacIntyre, he vastly overgeneralizes his case and exaggerates, and is blind to the very real achievements of modern societies in achieving the common good. But here, at least, his point hits home. Trumpists vs. everybody else IS civil war by other means. We have to hold Trump and his minions accountable before it decays into civil war by the usual means.....
My father, who died in 1996, was a closet racist. He would have been a Trump supporter. He and I fought about his racism, bigotry and antisemitism from the time I was 14 until he died. It never made one bit of difference. He was a frightened, weak, alcoholic man who could not face that the only men who caused him harm in his life were white. What I learned from him and his friends is that there is no coming together with small, frightened men. There is no "power with" there is only "power over". Oh, I grew up in Lafayette, California,
my father was a fourth generation Californian--I am fifth.
"My father, who died in 1996, was a closet racist. He would have been a Trump supporter. He and I fought about his racism, bigotry and antisemitism from the time I was 14 until he died. It never made one bit of difference. He was a frightened, weak, alcoholic man who could not face that the only men who caused him harm in his life were white. What I learned from him and his friends is that there is no coming together with small, frightened men. There is no "power with" there is only "power over". Oh, I grew up in Lafayette, California, my father was a fourth generation Californian--I am fifth."
My father is 87 and disabled and also a closet racist and sexist. Born and raised in Nazi Germany and never moved on. My father is not frightened or particularly weak, but weak-minded, certainly. So slight differences. He sees the world like Trump sees the world: money comes first, above all else, including the things that money can buy, status symbols. Dress well, look good all the time, don't look "low-class" (Trump's assessment of the rioters would be identical to my dad's assessment), big houses expensive cars, look like a million bucks all the time.
But change his mind about racism and sexism? Never. Not in a millions years.
I grew up SF and Concord and Frankfurt Germany, 1st generation American. Now I live in Grass Valley. When you are writing about your dad, it feels so close to home.
Hi Roland, thank you for taking the time to write about your experiences. I think the hardest thing for me is what you also noted--no movement. The beliefs and superiority are permanent as is the emotional distance. I took comfort in the fact that I have never embraced his views which helped with the sadness that he continuously choose them over his love for me. I will think of you as you grapple with your dad and and I want you to know, you have someone out here who knows what this is like.
It's just that a large number of people supporting Trump are historically a little backward and as such out of place and time......they would have felt very comfortable 150 years ago. They took a wrong turn in their incarnation this time around! Pity we can't send them back.
I'm re-reading "Spook Country" by William Gibson, a kind of modern, cybernetic/mass marketing kind of espionage story, where one of the characters, an elderly Cuban spy well-trained in the old U.S.S.R., comments that America has been in a Cold War with itself for the past 60 years. Let's pray that it doesn't go "hot."
Well, it's more than 24 hours later and he still is President. There is fear among Cabinet members that gettting rid of him by accelerated impeachment, 25th Amendment or othewise would "stoke ill-will from his supporters," according to HCR. Well, that's just too bad. By sunset tonight (Friday), he ought to be gone and if he isn't, we are facing another very serious defect in our democratic process, its inability to deal with domestic terrorism. And that includes the visible support Trump supporteres have given to law enforcement over the years, making some of them unreliable in dealing with insurrectionist rioters which is what happened Wednesday.
Yes his supporters would probably be violent if he was let go but they’re going to be anyway, let’s face it. As soon as or before Biden is inaugurated. This ain’t over. This time grab em all and lock them away!
In addition to his crazed supporters' reaction, the ineptitude of the Capitol police, and other domestic concerns, remember that he still has the nuclear football, and has been spoiling for a fight with Iran since he took office. That was my main concern prior to the Capitol debacle. If he makes it to the 20th, his deranged mind could use the opportunity to get all of the attention from Biden.
It seems to me from what I read that there was some additional, and intentional restraint, put on the Capitol police from within the ranks and/or by the Office of the President and possible infiltration of the police by right-wingers. The Capitol Police are there to guard the lives of the members of Congress, which they did ably to the point of aiming guns at mobs outside the chamber doors. One was beaten to death. I am hopeful that the investigation of the events will reveal the issues and people that allowed this travesty and how the protection of the Capitol building was compromised. I wait.
I don't think there should be procedural or clerical delays. This is a failure. He should be out by now. Once again, America fails to come together to do the right thing.
I had hoped the Cabinet would invoke the 25th immediately, instead we get some resignations (moral cowards!), I thought the articles would drafted by now. I thought the SC would send letter, signed by each SC Justice asking for resignation. I thought 100% of Governors would do the same. WHY? Those in power are still trying to sift through what their constituents are saying, as if they do not understand themselves the dangers of continuing to be lead themselves by a delusional constituency, made irrational and immoral by DT's demagoguery.
I honestly don't understand. They found pipe bombs and molotov cocktails. Read a report that said numerous people heard they wanted to execute VP Pence. There were Police and military who were part of this insurrection. What if they had gotten hold of Pence or Pelosi or whoever.... and yet nothing has happened? They brok3 into the building, stole articles and damaged and defaced Our House. So what exactly will it take?Trump put in the people at the Pentagon who refused help and refused National Guard for, what close to two hours? And the video before the rally of Don Jr, girlfriend, Trump and Mark Medows all gleefully partying in the Command center? They knew what was planned, why didn't the FBI since it was on Parler. People from all over the states coming to storm the capital and the FBI wasn't on top of this?
Why weren't the insurrectionists arrested? Why won't they be prosecuted? Is the nation going to be held with their knives at its throat for the next four years? Everyone who can be identified as participating in the insurrection, the Capitol police who turned their back on what was happening, perhaps seven Senators and at least 100 Representative, along with the President, must face justice. Otherwise they will have won. If they want "combat" as Rudy puts it, let them have it. We have the intelligence as to who, what, when and where from video, internet and telephone monitoring, and now, the new DOJ must act on it with weapons that are not for show, but ready to fire.
Not to take the focus away from the matter at hand, but one thing that came to mind as I saw video and images of Congressional members hiding on the floor of their chamber: As they lay there uncertain and afraid of potential violence, did any of them think about the millions of schoolchildren who have regularly practiced this posture, and the thousands who have done it for real?
It also brought to my mind the vision of the many Black men pinned to the ground by the police for relatively minor offenses, and wondering whether they'd live to see their families.
Excellent point, Nancy!
That’s exactly what I kept saying to the TV, and still am, when talking about these people hiding, covering their heads, hearing terrorists in the hallways as they whispered in their offices.
Welcome to every public school in America when we do emergency drills at least once a month. And are taught how to use specially provided baseball bats to take down gun toting perps. Welcome to that feeling. To that PTSD. To that fear.
And welcome to the life of every black or brown person. 🤬
Content warning: disturbing visuals
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/pictures-from-capitol-vs-2020
That is very powerful...and sickening. Trump's terrorists compared to BLM peaceful protest. Ugh...
My students and I have been in this position more than once. That was the only satisfaction I experienced on Wednesday.
Me too!
Exactly how children and teachers feel each time they have to take cover under a desk, or behind cupboards never knowing if it is an actual attack. Well practiced, but terrifying. I watched this unfold in absolute horror and sympathy. Trump must be held accountable for this atrocity!
I had discussed exactly this point with my husband as it was playing out. And will those pro-gun members of congress have a change of heart? Of course they won’t.
You're right, Ginger. They'll probably say, "If only I could have had my gun, I could have protected the chamber."
Uh-huh.
How come the “good guy with a gun” is never there when you need him?
40 Million. That is how many new gun sales there were in 2020 Mother Jones reports from FBI data.
https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2021/01/gun-sales-surged-in-2020-so-did-gun-violence/#:~:text=Nearly%2040%20million%20firearms%20were,Background%20Check%20System%20in%202000.
Get 'em while they're hot!
Crazy uh? For any Manufacturer or even industry, that is TON of unit sales. Steel and milling is relatively cheap, so profit margins are high. What states does steal come from? It would be a wise business decision to fund the party that is willing to protect your profits! But these are not Hunting rifles, shotguns, or home protection revolvers. These are mostly 40 million new precision made weapons of war. Semi Auto, high capacity. I remember when JH JR shot Reagan and Brady. I have the image of Brady seared into my memory, face down on the concrete in a pool of his own blood. And now, what is going to happen?
If we are not extremely careful, or maybe it is too late? We could see 10,000 deranged arseholes, seething with anger and hatred in the hearts descend into DC with long guns for the Inauguration. How will we have a "normal" ...oops sorry, "post insurgency pandemic Inauguration"?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/opinion/what-happens-on-nov-4.html
Surprise them. Have the Inauguration tomorrow and get rid of the terrorists in our White House.
Hey Penelope, I like your idea. Taking the initiative almost always works.
And where is the Inauguration held? On those same Capital steps. And what is happening now? A purge of incompetence or ill compliance in the DC and Capital police. (who are the traitors in the police we do not know about?) Who are the outer and inner rings of protection. How can they be trusted. I don't see how 2,500 secret service agents could protect in that scenario. The enemy just learned what they are capable of. They will adjust their strategy and tactics. Shamefully, the Inaugural is going to look like a police state further burnishing "deep state final fantasy" into the hearts of these seditious pricks. Agent Orange has thrown a monkey wrench into the transition ceremony by the potential threat of more violence. Even if their isn't any violence, we loose the war of appearances with a heavy military presence.
That is why you do it, immediately, without notice and film it. I like your idea on The Capital Steps. Let's take back our Capital!!
Or a Pandemic inauguration inside the Rotunda Film it live for all of us to celebrate at home. Have a No Traveler Zone pre, during and post, in DC. I still have bottle of Prosecco that I can dust off...I have been waiting to toast with it the moment DJT is out of office.
I mentioned this very thing on the letter from yesterday (while this one hadn't appeared yet). I would hope that the next time this issue (control of deadly weapons) comes up, as it surely will, lawmakers will not forget how they felt when this was happening Wednesday. Imagine a small child, with much less understanding of the world, being subjected to something like this. I mentioned as well how lawmakers and staff in the Capitol, and us out here, have almost gone through varying degrees of PTSD since this happened Again, imagine how children feel when thrust into scary situations not of their own making. I hope we don't soon forget this whole incident.
Bruce, good points, I agree. Do we even have to ask kids why they don’t trust us, when we fail to protect them? 40 million more reasons in 2020.
I was thinking a similar thought about most of them having no idea what its is to be terrorized in war, or mass shooting, or even just gun violence in the many major cities. But everyone should be able to but a gun without any restrictions or background check etc.
That was exactly my thought.
I was wondering whether gas masks are always under their seats.
Yes. There are also a variety of points on each floor of all the House and Senate office buildings containing protective equipment. This has been the case since 9/11.
Interesting question indeed.
Like life vests under your seat on a plane. If that was indeed the case, then someone must have anticipated an attack on the Capitol at some point. Wonder what they think about yesterday.
I wonder if they've been there since, say, 9/11 or only recently, in light of Tя☭mp's incendiary tweets that "something wild" would happen on January 6th. If there was that fear, then there should have been massive protection, and there was not, which was a monumental failure.
A chemical attack, or bio weapon, is a tactic to first disorientate, disorganize, break morale in order to overtake. I see the importance of those gas masks under their desks in order to maintain one's senses for evacuation. The mobers had surplus mace canisters to do just that and break the guards at the choke points. IT is how they broke through interior defenses.
This was so bad. They wanted Pence and Pelosi in handcuffs, a hostage crisis, with thousands blocking all entry and mass supports amassed around the exterior. The more I study it, this was the their plan. You do not need weapons, when you have a human shields, and layers of human shields. The taking of the building was not for occupation, it was for hostage taking, then to delay until..... for one person to take control, resolve the crisis as a hero, and then crown himself king.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/officer-crushed-capitol-riot-video/index.html
I think you give them too much credit. They’re just apes looking for something to create chaos around.
No. The mob yes/sort of. They are useful idiots to a bigger plot against democracy.
DT's Rally outside the WH was incitement. Then Rudy gave explicit instructions, "Trial by Combat". But they all had intelligence about the mobs plot to just that, the handcuffs show it was premediated. Where did that hostage and trial by combat plot originate and with whom first? I dont think the plot was conceived by one of the mob idiots. I speculate it was planted in a chatroom like a seed. Then watered and nurtured like all the other nonsensical delusions these idiots believe. This is madness. This kinda of stuff starts wars.
My point was not to question why gas masks were there but for how long they were. If they were put there specifically in advance of the riot, then my point becomes why weren't the Capitol grounds and building cordoned off before the insurrection, not afterwards. Regardless, the rioters who aren't being identified and arrested (so far, apparently, for charges less serious than their offenses) are still "out there" and scheming more anti-democracy chaos not just in D.C. but around the county, where they stormed capitol buildings in several states on the 6th. What are they planning for the 17th? The 20th? For a later time?
Oh! I see said the blindman( me!) Thank you Mimi and Dang good point.
I was thinking they have been their since 911 or something? Do you mean you think the Republicans put them in their just recently in case they needed them, knowing the mob had mace to use on the few guards in advance? Holy shit, if that is true then the Mob are pawns and 1/2 our elected officials are complicit in the whole damn plot.
I was thinking it was just DT, his closest cronies and most radicalized supporters.
We don't yet know the extent of the complicity, Ted. I don't know if the gas masks have been under the seats since 9/11 or whether the capitol protectors put them there in advance, having read or heard on TV what we all did about the big "wild" event that would be happening on the 6th. But if that was the case, why wasn't at least the building protected from invasion? It didn't occur to me that the R's put gas masks under the seats to protect themselves, since all the legislators seemed to have them. I doubt, or certainly hope, that half of the R legislators are not complicit. But I think the assault was helped along by insiders, whether some legislators or some Capitol police and that reinforcements were delayed because of the DoJ's failure to act promptly when asked. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (?) also had a hand in not muzzling these calls to action months ago.
Agree. Insiders for sure played a part....Angry police because of BLM...old grievances are always exploited by demagogues to further their aims. DOD officials are claiming they were worried about, "Appearances" of too much security forces...bad optics..... really? Why?
News accounts of the FBI offering agents was refused by Capital Police leadership.
Knowingly or unknowingly there was a command failure to organize the defenses. Its most likely a mix of both. Recent changes DT made at DOD are critical. Barr leaving early from DOJ.
DT conspired to threaten the Legislative branch and his VP. This I am certain. I believe his end game was to offer to negotiate with the hostage takers, save the day as a hero, blame it all on Antifa, and declare himself king or just a savior to ride another day.
Usually what happens with events like this is the lawmakers stick to their previous views but make a fix for only themselves. That would mean the right will talk about needing to carry guns for defense, the left will ask for criminal justice reform, and both will increase security at only the Capitol building.
As a very recently retired middle school teacher, I absolutely thought about that. And sadly also thought, even if brought to their attention, after having been through a siege where people were armed and those in military/police tactical type gear actually had slip tie handcuffs (for what purpose one can only imagine), I have little faith that gun regulations that will make any real difference will see the light of day.
Whatever flaws in their planning and leadership, the Capitol police deserve standing applause and a bonus for successfully getting all the members of Congress and their staffers to safety before tactically retreating before the savage horde of mini-Trumps. If even one Senator, House member, or staffer had been caught by that guy with the handcuffs, we would still be riveted to our televisions, watching a hostage situation unfold in the Chambers of Congress.
Yes, they were unprepared for an utterly predictable assault by the Trump-incited mob. But their restraint was, to my mind, admirable. The only reason that woman was shot was because she tried to enter the Chamber before it could be cleared. Even while a Capitol policeman was being beaten to death by the Trump branch of the Republican Party, the rest of his fellow officers concentrated on saving lives, not killing rioters.
While this debacle is a grim example of a right-wing mob being treated more gently than a left one, the answer is to have fewer blood-baths, not more.
I was not at all referring to the Capitol Police in my post. I agree they did their job in protecting our Congressional members, staff, and reporters. I was referring to those that infiltrated our nation's capitol.
So sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were referring to anything else. I was really responding to your observation that some of the insurrectionists clearly had more in mind than posing at the dais or pissing in the hallways. Had the outnumbered defenders lost their focus, the insurrection may still be underway.
No worries! Agree that had the Capitol Police, who were doing their job, had not been there, there would have been a very different ending. The point was that after what members of Congress experienced will unfortunately not impact gun regulations in any meaningful manner forcing our kids to continue to be subject to practice active shooter drills. It is all just so wrong that anyone should have to fear being shot at the hands of people hell bent on destruction.
The heartbreaking massacre at Sandy Hook, as well as every other mass shooting, didn't move the gun control meter one iota. The bill that was brought to Congress by the parents in Newtown and Obama never passed. On Wednesday, none of the congressional people were killed or injured so unfortunately, this horrible episode will have zero impact regarding gun control. As someone else said, Congress may do something to further protect themselves (and federal property) but that is it.
Robin, what you say is part of the focus IMHO.
That was exactly what a letter to the editor in today's Tampa Bay Times said!
Yes, absolutely. I thought the same thing as I read about what they experienced on Wednesday. I hope images of this week never leave them.
and not to mention all these people have been responsible for not passing sensible gun law restriction which almost came home to bite them
Robin, great point! Thank you!
It is interesting that Hawley is taking most of the heat. He deserves it, but Cruz deserves it as much and more. Cruz seems to have disappeared from view like the smarmy rat that he is. Cruz was the more senior senator and should resign his seat along with Hawley. It seems like our news sources are allowing Cruz to hide. Why?
Yes I think the fist in the air outside the Capital is what Hawley is being remembered for as well as his objection of Pennsylvania AFTER the insurrectionists stormed the Capital
You are probably right that Hawley was more visible on the day. On the run to to Wednesday, Cruz had pushed Hawley aside and was more visible, I guess we are seeing political savvy on the part of Cruz. He must have read the tea leaves when Trump spoke in the AM and decided to stay low and watch what was happening. Regardless, Cruz should resign. He is certainly in the crosshair of the Lincoln Project.
These guys are like cockroaches in a kitchen when you turn the light on. They all scurry for cover out of the limelight and hope this will all blow over. They become suddenly silent...like vermin trying to wait out the cat before moving again. I would love it if Hawley's career could be over before it starts, and the same for Ted Cruz and some of the other deplorables. It is the sad nature of politics that it takes a LOT to marginalize some of these self-serving hypocrites. Hawley bitches on about "the Left looking to cancel everyone they don’t approve of.” WTF was HE and these others doing but trying to overturn an election which he and they didn't approve the result of??? The hypocrisy with this one is staggering. Cruz is the lowest of the low, we know that...if there was ever ANYONE to fill the shoes of Joseph McCarthy in terms of his colleagues disliking him, Cruz is #1 bozo.
Their righteous indignation is always aimed at the left. At least Hawley's publisher was able to mete out some punishment.
Notice how fast the "Antifa".... blame them miss-info happened? Was that spontaneous or planned in advance blame strategy. I didnt think of that till just now. the more you study the timeline, this had components of both spontaneity of a mob & coordination (messaging)
It's pretty well documented that this entire situation was planned well in advance, on social media like Parler and others. As for the Antifa reference, that's just a stock answer they use whenever they're accused. During the BLM demonstrations this summer, there was some vandalism. However, a good part of the vandalism was traced to provocateurs from out of state, and much of it was the work of militia and white supremacist groups, hoping to have the protestors blamed for it.
Agree. You know who else planned an insurrection based off of populist hysteria during a crisis, raised nationalistic fervor to seize power and destroy democracy?
I assume you're referring to Hitler. If so, I've been drawing that parallel ever since this moron appeared on the horizon. My intention isn't to minimize the Holocaust - our suffering can't compare in any way - but the methods and mindset had marked similarities. Watching people who have been more than happy to cheer him on, I've found the answer to how he could have perpetrated his evil, and how could anyone have allowed it. There's plenty of the same right here in the Land of the Free. Scary to see so many people sell their souls, and the worst aren't the anarchists - the soul-sellers all wear suits.
Hey, Bruce. Great comment; and BTW: Congratulations!
Along with the fist in the air, Hawley put out a fake story just days before that there were violent protesters at his home trying to break his door down. There is video and a police statement that refutes this. Also, Missouri has come out strongly to condemn him. Texas continues to back Cruz. I haven’t seen one Texas newspaper that has spoken out against him and the corrupt state politicians back him.
Along with them Marco Rubio went into hiding. He made a few Twitter statements but changed his account so you can only only comment if he follows you.
The Houston Chronicle is no fan of Ted Cruz. They call him out quite often. In yesterday's paper they did not shy away from laying much of the blame for this fiasco at his feet. Every letter to the editor mentioned his name, and not in a nice way! Many, many of us cannot wait to rid ourselves of him, along with our State Attorney General!
Hawley is such a schmuck. I fear he will bounce back with alacrity and sleeze.
I was wondering that myself...maybe because there was no picture of him with fist in air?!!
Agreed. Cruz should be front and center. If nothing else he is more seasoned and should know better...they both should but Cruz most especially. Their states should impeach both of them. Can they do that?
From Raw Story just now:
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who is the number three Democrat in the Senate in her role as assistant Democratic leader, on Friday urged both Republicans to resign from the U.S. Senate for breaking their oath of office.
Cruz is a opportunistic chameleon.. like Graham
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/ted-cruz-touts-courageous-record-of-opposing-trump-for-past-two-minutes
Yes I agree completely. Political opportunists and professional dirtbags. The kind of people you won’t even listen to, because you know it will be BS. You tune out everything they say.
Hawley started the ball rolling, then Cruz followed suit.
Cruz gave Hawley an impression of legitimacy.
Cruz is the dumbest fucking moron in the Senate (after "coach" Tuberville) and also Most Disliked Senator. He even looks like Joe McCarthy. Hawley, on the other hand, is slick and smooth and willing to say anything and look like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He's the candidate of the Fundamentalist Scum already. Hawley is the one we need to worry about, the one who needs what Hitler should have gotten in 1928 when his threat was obvious.
Cruz is evil, not dumb.
Halfway through reading your message I was already going there. Hawley is exactly the perfect candidate for a Hitler Wannabe Club. Of course DT is the president of that club.
I recall that Cruz was the most disliked member of the Senate and he has just provided another reason for this status. (I reckon that Trump will now honor both him and Hawley with Medals of Freedom.)
Steven, while I don't disagree, but Rand Paul? That guy is....
Didn’t that get scheduled for Monday?
That’s just my sarcastic way of agreeing with you. Don’t fall for it, I’m just making a rhetorical point
YES!!!
Cruz was Robert Mercer's fav prior to DT. Mercer's got deeeep pockets.
Well I missed seeing the newsletter and comments in my email first thing this morning. So instead, I found the newsletter on Facebook and read it. Then I listened to your interview with Bill Moyers, then I listened to your post from Thursday which I missed yesterday. I think I am hooked on hearing/ reading honest and intelligent information on what we have experienced this week and the last four years! Thank you Dr. Richardson for all your thoughtful words. I have learned so much. 💙❤️💙
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called Vice President Mike Pence to urge him to begin the process of removing the president through the 25th Amendment, but after keeping them on hold for 25 minutes, PENCE'S STAFFERS TOLD THEM HE WOULD NOT TAKE THEIR CALL." WTF?!?!? (oops, sorry but not sorry) Color Mike Pence fully complicit in sedition, in spite of the efforts to canonize him for making a phone call re calling in the National Guard. If I keep writing here, I'll set this page on fire. Oh. Good morning, everyone.
Pence couldn't take the call. He was hiding under his desk, afraid that duty and responsibility would track him down.
IDK. I don't like Pence at all but he took a stand against Trump's public "orders" to refuse to allow the electoral votes to be approved. He informed Trump that he would not follow Trump's order to invalidate the Electoral Votes and that he had no power to do so. I think he, though a vile little man, understood the issues and took a difficult stand in the midst of the Trump tornado of lies and the screams of Trump's followers.
Pence only did the right thing (finally) when he had no choice. There were so many opportunities for Pence to demonstrate character and principle, but he never once did. When he should have resigned in 2016 when the "p*ssy tape" came out, he stuck with Trump. When Trump praised racists in Charlottesville, when Trump denigrated McCain, when Trump attacked Gold Star families, when Trump made the Ukraine calls, when Trump cozied up to Putin, when Trump tear-gassed Americans for his Bible photo-op, when Trump...the list is long, I could go on for a long time. The point is Pence never once took a principled stand, never once showed courage, never once stood up to his loathsome boss. He had no choice on Wednesday, the law and the Constitution were clear. Pence didn't demonstrate courage, he did what he was forced to do.
I agree, JR. McConnell and Pence weren't suddenly protecting our democracy, they were protecting their asses.
Totally.
...And only reached out when HIS life was in danger 😠
There's no question that Pence was an enabler. I understand the destructive alliance he formed with Trump. But when push came to shove, he took, literally, a deadly stand against Trump's "orders". He could have equivocated, minced and corrupted the process royally. He wins no medals but I value what he did by refusing Trump's orders. He stands as the the crappiest, enabling VP ever, but he did begin the end of Trump's influence.
I am sorry, what was the "deadly" part of his stand?
I think it was deadly because it may killed his chances of ever being elected to any office that Trump's follower have any voting power.
The insurrectionists were looking for Pence in order to lynch him.
Michael Pence wants to be president. That desire overcame all principles. He served a corrupt master, corrupt in more ways than I can count, and he is not worthy of any respect. Don’t turn this weasel into a hero
Weasels sometimes do the right thing under difficult circumstances. Heroes can screw up. Even the worst child abuser I personally know about, sometimes took those kids out for ice cream treats and it's a good memory for them. We can call out evil and still see the complexity of the real world.
Spot on JR. exactly what I was thinking. he stayed on the gravy train collected all his paychecks. he was out of a job in two weeks anyway and he reverted to playing the good American to put on his resume
Yes, Pence did that. And in so doing, briefly tilted toward nation above trump. The outcome of which is that trump will probably not decorate him with a Medal of Freedom. Apparently I am constitutionally incapable (!) of cutting Pence any slack at this late date.
Too little, too late. He is the federal version of Georgia's Raffensperger and Kemp.
Raffensperger should probably get a pass. His principled stand protected Georgia.
I'm afraid I don't agree. When he first pushed back against Trump, I sent him a congratulatory email. A few days later, he announced that he was moving to restrict absentee ballots to include only those who had a "reason" to request one, and that it was an avenue for voter fraud - although he is on record saying that it an effective means of voting, and poses little fraud threat. Then he tried to purge thousands of (mostly minority) voters from the roles, but that was blocked by Stacey Abrams' sister, a judge. As Stacey said in an interview (Rachel Maddow?) the other day, Raffensperger and Kemp pushed back because they were protecting the narrative on their newly-purchased voting apparatus, but they are both unrepentant suppressants, and that hasn't changed. It needs to!
Agreed. Stacey Abrams in that interview could hardly contain her old anger against Kemp for making sure he, as secretary of state monitoring his own election, became governor and not her. But she wisely turned that anger and disappointment into something remarkable and praiseworthy: Fair Fight.
I tend to agree. Not a fan of Pence but he did the right thing and he had the courage to tell Trump.
He’s such a frightened weasel.
I'm not sure that's fair to the weasels!
That sound like my dad (Mississippi - born 1919) who called shifty ppl weasels. Don't hear that often. My terms (asswipe) is much more indecorous. :)
There’s also pantyload.
You hit my funnybone, Elaine! Thank you!
Perhaps internally he IS frightened. What we see externally is a humanoid AI devoid of all perceptible feelings...except those occasional, downward-slanted eyebrows when he might be trying to think...or perhaps he is just needing to find the WC. ( I cannot believe just wrote that!). Forgive me, peeps!
Beautifully said Penelope. Incontinent or constipated, take your pick, Pence could be either one. It is so so emotionally and spiritually rigid and unable or unwilling to express anything that I would lean towards severe constipation.
Well, I cannot think anything other than the latter as well.
What’s WC? Old school here.
Europe is a much older culture with much older buildings. Before toilets and indoor plumbing were invented (1800s), it was chamber pots under the bed. There were no bathrooms. So they had to retrofit the toilets into any available space, which was usually a closet. Hence water closet.
Sorry, it is British for toilet: Water Closet. Has a nicer ring to it, no?
While I would rather Pence invoke the 25th, after 5 years of servility it's a bit much to expect of him. Color him cowardly for not even taking the call, but that is hardly new.
I respectfully submit that refusal to talk to the majority leader of the House and the minority leader of the Senate in the midst of a national security crisis is new and is, at best, dereliction of duty!
Going out for more crayons...be back shortly...
Is he allowed to talk to women on the phone unsupervised?
... at best ... Pence is a finger puppet. If IDJT is impeached, and Pence assumes the office, even for a couple of weeks, Trump still will influence his decisions - which would do little or nothing to reduce the threat of further violence and disruption of due process. I would impeach Pence along with the "President" - although, that might fail if Repos balk at the thought of Pelosi in charge - even for a couple of weeks. So ... what to do ...?
I remain incredulous that a Vice President refuses to take a call from Speaker if the House after leaving her on hold for 30 minutes!
Dereliction of Pence's duty during a national and Constitutional crisis. She is in the third line of the presidency (in my opinion second now). Gob-smacked on this one.
Pence is a finger puppet. If IDJT is impeached, and Pence assumes the office, even for a couple of weeks, Trump still will influence his decisions - which would do little or nothing to reduce the threat of further violence and disruption of due process. I would impeach Pence along with the "President" - although, that might fail if Repos balk at the thought of Pelosi in charge - even for a couple of weeks. So ... what to do ...?
I’ll bet he spent that entire 30 minutes talking to his staff about the ramifications of taking that car. He’s spineless. Trump magnetically attracts spineless people to do his bidding. A real man would’ve taken that call and dealt with the consequences. I’m sorry if there are any Republicans reading this, but the Republicans are really a wishy-washy and spineless group. Steve Schmidt, the Lincoln project people, and others excepted of course. Moral vacuums.
While it sounds reasonable and logical, the 25th is the messiest way to get T**** out of office. Of course Pence is a showstopper but to get a majority of a cabinet filled with "contractors" is Constitutionally questionable and murky.
Impeachment is the best and only path forward. Rather than trying to explain I refer you to: https://prospect.org/politics/why-is-trump-still-president-democracy-at-risk/
Still, I think invoking the 25th Amendment sends a powerful message, even more powerful than impeachment. It says that Trump's own people, the people he chose for his administration, think he is unfit for office. Even if it is unsuccessful, invoking it says unequivocally that Trump should not be president, and that anyone who supports him is a fool or complicit.
His cabinets members are resigning so they aren’t put in a position of having to vote. Suddenly they got religion.
That’s the only reason they are resigning. Especially DeVos. But thank God, really, we are finally rid of her.
DeVoss' motivation were the pardons given to her brother's employees who mass murdered innocent bystanders.
DeVos and Chao's resignations have not only shielded them from having to take a stand on 25ing 45, but set themselves up for ongoing business deals for their intertwined empires. They and trump are business people, deal makers for making money, before they are politicians for the common good of the people.
Isn't that what mercenaries normally do?
Rats deserting a sinking ship....
I agree.
25th would enable him to run again. Impeachment/conviction written within it "Can't hold public office ever again" makes impeachment/conviction the better option, IMHO.
conviction is impossible. He will sit out his term, but like Nixon, he will not have any public buildings named after him, including his much desired airport, and his visage will not be added to Mr Rushmore. His name will go down in history ignominiously as the worst president in America. (It will be extremely difficult for anyone to exceed his record.)
He won't be remembered for cutting taxes, killing regulations and packing the courts. He will be remembered for the carnage in the Capitol and the deaths of 5 Americans including a Capitol Police officer.
Understood...but I've read impeachment is possible. So history would be able to say "twice an impeached president."
It still would be worth impeaching, as it would deny his pension, and ongoing support/protection after his term ends.
Worth it.
Also he could apply to be reinstated if checked out to be mentally stable.
Thank you for this link. In the article I found the answer to the question I asked on Wednesday- Can tRump pardon the rioters who desecrated the Capital?
“ Every crime perpetrated in Washington yesterday is a federal crime. Many U.S. attorneys, all appointed by Trump, are lining up to say they will prosecute seditionists, but Trump can end that immediately through the pardon power. Everyone in the Capitol yesterday can be absolved, if they were ever at risk at all.”
This makes me sick!!!
Pardon must be nominative = admission of guilt for federal crime.....ergo....criminal records! I'm sure that they contravened a state crime or two as well and......
Well he can remove the punishment but the crime is still there. If he pardons them all he puts a yoke on the GOP's neck that cannot be removed, much let lifted. It would only serve him but in doing so turns what's left of the GOP into a vast wasteland void of anything even resembling being American.
The insurgents are scarred for life regardless of what he does.
After the comments Trump made today, it would be even more hypocritical than usual for him to issue a pardon to any of these disgusting insurrectionists.
If that is true, he will definitely do it.
Thank you.
They keep suggesting that it would take too long to remove Trump using the 25th Amendment. If this is true something needs to change. Let’s say the president falls into a coma, or his plane goes down, or he is captured by another country. It should only take moments to enact. We should consider this occasion just as dire because today Trump could start exploding and attacking things. The staff inside the White House describes him as unstable.
I am quite sure when Reagan was shot, the 25th was quickly invoked, so there must be a mechanism. But that's not gonna happen (invoking or shooting) while tRump's stoogies are holding the Cabinet reins.
Yes, I believe the 25th can be implemented very quickly. However, that is usually if the prez temporarily incapacitated, resigned or died. Perhaps when you are dealing with a such a clever "jeanious" as Donald, who is perverted, incompetent, narcissistic, racist, misogynistic, is a pathological liar, a wannabe king and a terrorist, thug leader backed by of party of complicit seditionists and sycophants, you have to have a majority vote to remove him. Nearly impossible when you have republicans who are adherents to party over country.
Obviously, it is one more thing that needs to be updated into this century. We might have to add something about ousting a leader who is choosing golfing over working for the nation in crisis and the whilst the people are dying by the thousands per day.
Typical of this administration's arrogance and rudeness to keep the leaders of the House and Senate on hold for 25 minutes and then advise that Pence will not take their call. I thought only people like the Airlines and Utilities did that.
Good morning! I've been on fire since 2016 and I'm still burning! I think our best path forward is to ignore Republicans, as they have ignored Democrats. Just ignore them. Don't take their calls. Don't allow their legislation to come to the floor. Don't include them in the big decisions (if possible). Don't argue with them. Don't compromise with them. Shut them out. Let's see how they like it for 4 years (or perhaps longer, if we are lucky). The Republican Party has abdicated their responsibilities to this country. I'm not sure why we should listen to them at all in the future. The GOP is essentially a dead party. Someone recently said that the Democratic Party is the party of the future and conservatives and independents who are committed to keeping this democracy alive would eventually wind up in that big Democratic Tent, which would expand to include them. I like that idea. In the meantime, we have the majority. Let's use it for the good of all.
Now the Republican party will start talking about bipartisanship, working together for the good of the country, etc.
Morning, Barbara! I'm not sorry you're not sorry! Got my crayons out to start coloring😁
Barbara, Agree. And no need to apologize. We all feel same as you. WTF is perfectly fine.
Is not the attack on the Capitol one more compelling reason to grant statehood to D.C.? It was the absence of a governor with the ability to call in the National Guard that helped to allow the travesty to happen.
D.C. statehood now!
Hey, Christopher. I listened to Mayor Bowser's briefing yesterday. She is a no-nonsense, dispassionate individual, not disposed to reactionary statements. During questioning, one press member asked her how upset she was with what took place the day before. At first she demurred, not seeming to be willing to directly answer the question. Then, and this is not an exact quote but: "I am upset about what this president did to this city and to democracy. I am upset that MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) was put in harm's way. I am upset that somebody died in a building that they broke into. I am heartened that MPD got control of the building so that the law makers could go back inside to count the votes. And I am upset that 706,000 residents of the District of Columbia did not have a single vote in that Congress despite the fact that 'our people' put their lives on the line to protect our democracy." So, yes, D.C. statehood now! DC51.us
Thanks Lynell for sharing that. What goes for D.C. goes for Puerto Rico too.
Another echo of the end of the 19th C when the creation of States became a political football in the battle for control of the Senate. The Republicans will not agree new state formation if it disadvantages them......and I think DC would be Dem most of the time. Which way would Peurto Rico turn?
Probably Democratic but there must be conservative Puerto Ricans among the very religious. In the end what matters is the quality of their lives and options for the future. PR should be the Hawaii of the Atlantic imho.
GOP and Trump did much better than was thought possible with Spanish speaking citizens throughout the south and in Texas. They addressed them more intelligently than Biden taking into account their cultural and recent historical biases.
Actually,IMHO, it was the absence of a sane POTUS who has been inciting insurrection and, more than likely, instructed those who would have truly protected our Capital and officials to stand down. All Americans know the Proud Boys, the Klan, Qanon and neo-Nazis, are ripe for violence. These terrorist acts are direct result of a terrorizing president. And after they did their deed, 45's message was— he loves them. Fine people again. All seditionists and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including 45.
I do not actually have a stance on D.C. governorship or not, but we need to look hard at the trumplican party and its' financial backers that is truly responsible creating this dangerous nexus of seditionists. The republicans and their republican-based media full of outright lies and propaganda for the past 5 years created this. I look squarely in the faces of every guilty republican who has participated in supporting this anti-democracy travesty of a seditionist, so-called "presidency." We need to nip this in the bud right now and they all need to resign in absolute disgrace.
I made calls to the Sedition Caucus members yesterday requesting their resignations. There are still 148 more to go who signed on to overturn our fair election. I can tell you, it feels really good to give each one a metaphorical slap aside the head. If their voicemail is full, just send an email. It takes a little time, but is very therapeutic. https://www.senate.gov
Rant over.
I did not realize that the DC residents do not have representatives in Congress. If that is true, then heck yes, why are they NOT a state???
What about the Native American reservations and the Treaty guarrantteed seat in Congress for the Cherokee nation?
Yes! Yes! But should not all our "sovereign" tribes have a representative seat at the table? And that brings up: should we not explore the concept of the "sovereignty" myth and any treaties that might have been, um... "overlooked."
We do we owe lot love and attention to our native people as we move forward
to create a better, healthier nation. They certainly deserve a place at the country's table. Who benefits by their oppression? Who benefits by ANYONE'S oppression? As you so oft-repeat here, Stuart, follow the money. It is our foundation's shadow. We must be brave and look at it in order as we make new choices evolving forward.
The Mayor of Washington DC today called on Biden to grant statehood for The District within the first 100 Days. She is really impressive.
Can't happen with the Senate divided as it is. Wish it could. Another reason to keep all efforts at Maximum between now and 2022, so The Traitors don't get that "mid-term bounce" and return to power.
I am disturbed by the comments by both Democrats and Republicans who are looking at the over-running of the Capitol building saying "That's not who we are. " Sadly, that IS who we are, just not who we aspire to be.
You are actually correct Claudia...it is who we are and until we come to grips with that and address it this behavior will just continue. These may be brainwashed individuals but they are also our sisters, brothers, colleagues. It is who we are. That needs to be considered.
Uh oh. Both sides, huh? Nope. I don't think so. I would never break into our nation's Capitol, roam through private offices stealing laptops and GAVELS, throwing papers in the air, sitting in the chairs of Senators and others as though I belonged there, and then going out in the halls and smearing shit on the walls before strolling out and going back to the hotel for a round of drinks and a little debriefing--untouched, unharmed, unstopped. I don't know who those people are, but I am not one of them. I refuse to be held responsible for them. I can only hope to change things (laws, rules, education, norms, expectations) to keep them from happening in the future. I hope WE have learned that lesson at least. Stay engaged in politics, because to become cynical or apathetic is DANGEROUS for everyone.
I understand your passion. Years ago, when some pack of bigots gave us another horrid display of racially-tinged violence (and they do so quite regularly in our country), I realized that I was no longer embarrassed to be an American. Instead, I was embarrassed that THEY were Americans.
This is a really good conversation to have! While I have compassion for my brethren, I repel hanging with people who think they superior to others. The rise in huge propagandist cult-tification and misinformation machines make this incredibly challenging nowadays. I find it difficult to identify with certain fellow humans. And as I am older (and hopefully wiser), I don't want to waste time trying to understand and converse with someone that is "happy to drink my lib tears." I constantly question "unconditional" love. There are indeed certain qualities and behaviors of up with which I will not put with those in my sphere. There are certain people I can love unconditionally— IF— they stay way over there somewhere. ;-) !!
What I meant to convey is that maybe you, certainly I am not going to storm the capital, riot, try to overturn a vote or any of those other behaviors. But we must remember that all these folks are someone's sister, brother, the police man, the teacher, the scientist, the bus driver, the executive. It was shocking to me, until Trump, that such a large number of individuals would sympathize with him. I knew we had racists, anti-semites etc. I did not imagine that it was so widespread and proud that they would publicly identify with someone as horrid as Trump. To suggest, however, that we do not know these people or even love them politics aside I think is disingenuous. I don't think it is me. I hope it is not me. But we all know them.
I live in Texas. I get that. I'm surrounded. Because I lived and worked in Houston, I did not realize the extent of the problem until 2017, after I'd moved to West Texas, and I was talking impeachment. Everyone looked at me like I was from Mars. Still, I refuse to accept the notion that both sides are somehow the same. Democrats AND Republicans should ... NOPE. Republicans have forfeited the right to compromise with me. I have no rights, as a woman, according to most of them, and they would be just as happy to lock me up in an attic somewhere to keep me quiet. I see that now very clearly. We must move on and try to address the real problems facing this earth on which we are so precariously perched. I don't think the GOP wants to help with that project much. . .
This is an excellent thought. The amount of money spent on politics is sinful. We are in this contemptible situation because our people are so easily inculcated by charismatic and celebrity leaders. (I fail to see any aspect of DJT as charismatic but each to their own type of messiah). We must invest money on our people so that they learn from very young on how to be critical thinkers and researcher of truth and facts. For 5 years it has given me "Pence eyebrows" to try to figure out how any Americans could believe the lie that Mexico would pay for the wall? Especially after the President of Mexico said he would not. But fantasy always beats reality around this regime.
Me too. I want to say, don’t look now but yeah, it IS who we are! Let’s stop the denial and get busy.
I'm sorry, WE are who we are. They are who THEY are.
I would say that "we" are "they," too. It's a word game but it implies that we are all human and driven by differing drives. I feel, as the oceans rise and the sixth extinction takes place, when heat waves strike, and droughts force millions into migration paths in which families are turned back or are met by terrifying mobs, where families trying to reach safety are in camps all over the US, where fires rage across the US and the planet, where the glaciers are disappearing, where fossil fuels flow as if there are no consequences, where a future is driven by viruses, and the environment degrades more each month, that we too should storm the Capitol. When no route appears possible for something as massive as environmental issues our own children will suffer, I wonder what it is we could do to effect change because nothing is working. Even though these people with little insight into what is before them, "storming the Capitol" for all the wrong, stupid reasons, causing mayhem and terror, "storming the Capitol begins to look like the only way to effect real change. I get it.
I would picket the Capitol for all those good, fact-based existential reasons you enumerate. I would not storm it and cause mayhem, injury and death as did those insurrectionists, who were operating in a different, non-fact-based reality. That, I do not condone.
There's that difference. But "they" are neighbors, relatives, coworkers and preachers. All conned - con-able for reasons we must help amend.
Having a pandemic, creepily, may be the best thing we've done for the environment in centuries.
Yes, you can hear most of the planet's life forms cheering on Covid-19.
Correct. It might not be who many of us are, but there's a huge swath of "us" that have promulgated this insanity.
Is not Senator Cruz as complicit as the now disgraced Senator Hawley?
Can we impeach Cruz and Hawley too? F these libertarian f sticks. Can anyone name any Libertarian that did anything good for this country, like ever?
This is one morning I can begin to believe our democratic republic can be saved. 🇺🇸
It does seem, however that Trump, Bannon and the other Seditionists have achieved what they started over 4 years ago. News out of Israel states:
“The Russian campaign’s goal was never to push out a coherent, pro-Trump message, but instead to subvert America’s democratic institutions and sow distrust. President Donald Trump was just a means to that end.”
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-putin-s-disinformation-campaign-claims-stunning-victory-with-capitol-hill-coup-1.9432690
Heather, you are correct...”The tide has turned”. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, the work to repair the damage lies ahead.
Thank you for your late nights, early mornings, and dedication to this democratic republic 🇺🇸 We are so much better because of you. ❤️
Kari, I'm interested to see a comment bringing in the Russia angle. Thanks for the link. I'm on the west coast, and so just woke up WAY too early, with a disturbing thought that I haven't seen covered in the media anywhere yet.... We know that Trump is Russia's chaos agent - whether coordinated or just coincidental doesn't really matter. If you were the Russians, and you had just hacked all of the US's most important technology/military/infrastructure/communication systems - what would you do with this moment of chaos that Trump has just created? What will get slipped through our defenses while senior officials are resigning (during an already busy and normally somewhat chaotic moment of transition)?
I want to know two things: Has the Biden team started receiving their full security transition briefings again (remember last week when the pentagon stopped doing that because the Biden team was asking too many questions)? Second, who is responsible for the (fully functional) pipe bombs found at the DNC and RNC headquarters?
Russia/Putin has worked for at least a decade to misinform and destabilize our democracy. Without using weapons they have suckered citizens into their nets. There must be a full investigation into their hacking and their bots spewing disinformation across the US with astonishing effect.
These are good questions.
Putin watched the mob Wednesday, and cracked open a bottle of champagne.
My guess is that Netanyahu wasn't asked to approve this piece. On the other hand, after being cozy with Trump for four years, perhaps he's trying to soften up Biden with this. Still wants our cash and military equipment.
"no one could have predicted that the president would egg on the rioters" You've got to be kidding, predicting that Trump would egg on his ignorant mob is about as difficult as predicting that the sun will rise tomorrow. That's maybe the stupidest statement out of all the stupid statements made these past two days.
Elaine Chao resigns, but never mentions Trump? She is such a coward.
My guess is that Mitch instructed her to resign, only because she could be asked to invoke the 25th, and he'd be in the crosshairs if that happened. Remember, the Republicans prefer their "women" to be keeping the homefires burning.
I think Mitch is on his way out, with his loss of power.
That would be wonderful, but the slimy rascal might wait until '22, when this country will surely want to get rid of all of us radical socialists.
and following the money, to preserve their various business enterprises.
Of course, which is what any staunch Republican would do.
And now they've got "egg" all over their faces!
Now the "little boy trump" will cry crocodile tears to be protected by "mamma", victim of the nasty people who are blaming him when he, of course, never intended such things.....the victim of all those opposed to him who "don't understand".......then he'll sulk a while and bit by bit test the waters to put a foot out of the door that'll be hiding behind.....then he'll have rewritten the story according to his own sauce saying that he has been right all the time......unless he gets put away for a very long time!
On the other hand, his desperate back-pedaling now is causing feelings of betrayal among his minions.
But they were just a bunch of "suckers" and "losers" anyway
1. Create civil unrest by exploiting past grievances true and false based on irrational/emotional prejudices
2. Blame some "other" group for their shared suffering to create "us" cohesion
3. Disguise the lie with Nationalism, telling the people they are the best people in the world
3. Encourage their worst behavior
4. Create a spectacle to capture and focus their attention
5. Motivate them to immoral action
6. Deny you had anything do with it
7. Repeat
This is the way of the demagogue.
Unfortunately, I think you're right, Stuart.
I like, and pray for, the "put away" part.
I confess that I panicked when your "briefing" was not in my inbox this morning. Relief came @ 8:28!
Had the Movement Conservatives taken over the airways? No, you're here, truth reigns, we are still a democracy.
A thousand thanks!
I’m sick and tired of hearing “ no one could have predicted...”. Everyone saw this coming, for months. I myself—and plenty of others, I’m not special—have been saying since spring the most dangerous period will be between November 3 and January 20.
While we’re on the subject, terrorists are discussing going to Washington on the 20th with weapons. We are not out of the woods yet.
Dr. Richardson, thank you especially for Wednesday. You were a beacon of clarity on a murky day.
Agree! Ur right. HCR did! Tim Snyder did. Many did, and not enough listened. Republicans, focused only on winning, not eh quality of their leadership.
Now we are going to have a lot of these supporters a 2nd wave of delusion armed people next week in DC. And we know we have cops (not saying all cops, just some bad cops) that sympathize with them and are also part of the delusion.
“If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
I still believe that this man cannot and will not submit to impeachment, the 25th, or calls for resignation. It is not in his personality, especially not now! I believe he will hang on, his enablers allowing that, and either pardon himself at the last minute or resign late on Jan 19th and have Pence pardon him.
Also, I don't think he just bullies people, I fully expect he has legions of lackeys to "dig up dirt" on those who cross him so he can threaten them with exposure if they don't agree to his demands. Nothin is too low for that man to do so that he doesn't have to look at himself in the mirror and accept what is reflected back.
I sincerely hope someone responsible has the nuclear codes. He is NOT to be trusted. Now, ask me how I really feel... :)
He doesn't necessarily have to do, or have done, all that tiresome and expensive digging. He understood a long time ago that he can invent dirt and throw it into the media and/or social crcles and then repeat, repeat, repeat...and the damage is almost as good as if it was real such is often the role of "rumours". For imagining "dirt" he has all the necessary cognitive capacity.
I agree 100%. And your 2nd paragraph, Sally, is spot on. I believe that's how he has operated all his life.
I agree.
Agree. Ur Right. 100%. Authoritarians drag dirt to discredit opponent's either true or false. In Authoritarian regimes there is no private life. There is no respect for privacy. Truth dissolves like sugar.
In 2017, Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock was arrested AND HANDCUFFED for quietly praying in the Capitol rotunda. This week, white nationalist terrorists invaded the Capitol and were allowed to walk out.
The police continue to prove racism is alive and well in the USA.
I saw this and I love his dignity. This is a good man.
First, continued thanks, Prof. Richardson, for all your hard work in distilling and contextualizing all this grim and infuriating news. For the past 2 days I found it hard to concentrate on anything, but your newsletter helped bring me back down to terra firma. You are a godsend.
Second: one of the more important reasons for removing Trump NOW is his exercise of the pardon power. One of those whom it can be safely assumed will be pardoned is Rudolph Giuliani, who, even if it is hard to believe, was even more incendiary in his remarks to the crowd than was Trump. He exhorted the crowd to settle the dispute over the election through "trial by combat." That's about as explicit as you can get: no "plausible deniability" there. He should have been arrested and charged with sedition already. Since he wasn't, it's imperative for Trump to be removed so he cannot torpedo the stark need for those, like Giuliani, who were involved in this putsch to be held accountable.
Third, the night of the coup attempt, my local public radio station (WNYC) scheduled a program with the theme "Time to Come Together?" It was hard to stay on topic given the day's events, but they tried. But the answer to that question is an emphatic "No". There is a lot of blame to go around relating to how we got here: the Republican "southern strategy" which has now born its strange fruit, Democratic feckessness, income and wealth inequality, the badly-repressed racism and sexism in "good, moderate (neo)liberals." But make no mistake: what we saw yesterday was the advancing front of the home-grown fascism that Sinclair Lewis warned us about in the 1930's, wrapped in the American flag and carrying a cross. After the reports of children in cages, children separated from "missing" parents, and forced sterilizations, I have been pretty much unmoved by the "grievances" of Trumpists, whether justified or not (mostly not). If you are cool with the aforementioned, and cool with the coup attempt (and that is what it was), then I am not prepared to "come together" and deliberate with you, holding hands and singing "This land is your land . . .). None of us should be eager to "come together" just yet, for Wednesday was clear evidence that hardcore Trumpists are hellbent on replacing Liberal Republican Democracy with an ethno-nationalist oligarchy that elicits their love because they are white, straight, cisgender (largely) males of any economic stratum and religion -- as long as it's Christian and preferably Evangelical and Protestant. I can share no sense of solidarity with them unless they admit to the peaceful transfer of power when they lose. That was not in evidence AT ALL on Wednesday. They need to be fought tooth-and-nail at the ballot box. And if the "saner" wing of the Republican party doesn't disavow them, they are enablers who likewise have to be voted out and face the loud and ceaseless music of majority public opinion, which is NOT with them.
The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that "modern politics is civil war by other means." His argument was that the rational resolution of moral and political problems was impossible because there is no shared vision of the common good nowadays. As is the case with MacIntyre, he vastly overgeneralizes his case and exaggerates, and is blind to the very real achievements of modern societies in achieving the common good. But here, at least, his point hits home. Trumpists vs. everybody else IS civil war by other means. We have to hold Trump and his minions accountable before it decays into civil war by the usual means.....
My father, who died in 1996, was a closet racist. He would have been a Trump supporter. He and I fought about his racism, bigotry and antisemitism from the time I was 14 until he died. It never made one bit of difference. He was a frightened, weak, alcoholic man who could not face that the only men who caused him harm in his life were white. What I learned from him and his friends is that there is no coming together with small, frightened men. There is no "power with" there is only "power over". Oh, I grew up in Lafayette, California,
my father was a fourth generation Californian--I am fifth.
You wrote:
"My father, who died in 1996, was a closet racist. He would have been a Trump supporter. He and I fought about his racism, bigotry and antisemitism from the time I was 14 until he died. It never made one bit of difference. He was a frightened, weak, alcoholic man who could not face that the only men who caused him harm in his life were white. What I learned from him and his friends is that there is no coming together with small, frightened men. There is no "power with" there is only "power over". Oh, I grew up in Lafayette, California, my father was a fourth generation Californian--I am fifth."
My father is 87 and disabled and also a closet racist and sexist. Born and raised in Nazi Germany and never moved on. My father is not frightened or particularly weak, but weak-minded, certainly. So slight differences. He sees the world like Trump sees the world: money comes first, above all else, including the things that money can buy, status symbols. Dress well, look good all the time, don't look "low-class" (Trump's assessment of the rioters would be identical to my dad's assessment), big houses expensive cars, look like a million bucks all the time.
But change his mind about racism and sexism? Never. Not in a millions years.
I grew up SF and Concord and Frankfurt Germany, 1st generation American. Now I live in Grass Valley. When you are writing about your dad, it feels so close to home.
Hi Roland, thank you for taking the time to write about your experiences. I think the hardest thing for me is what you also noted--no movement. The beliefs and superiority are permanent as is the emotional distance. I took comfort in the fact that I have never embraced his views which helped with the sadness that he continuously choose them over his love for me. I will think of you as you grapple with your dad and and I want you to know, you have someone out here who knows what this is like.
It's just that a large number of people supporting Trump are historically a little backward and as such out of place and time......they would have felt very comfortable 150 years ago. They took a wrong turn in their incarnation this time around! Pity we can't send them back.
We do appear to be different strains of humans with perceptual chasms.
I'm re-reading "Spook Country" by William Gibson, a kind of modern, cybernetic/mass marketing kind of espionage story, where one of the characters, an elderly Cuban spy well-trained in the old U.S.S.R., comments that America has been in a Cold War with itself for the past 60 years. Let's pray that it doesn't go "hot."
Well, it's more than 24 hours later and he still is President. There is fear among Cabinet members that gettting rid of him by accelerated impeachment, 25th Amendment or othewise would "stoke ill-will from his supporters," according to HCR. Well, that's just too bad. By sunset tonight (Friday), he ought to be gone and if he isn't, we are facing another very serious defect in our democratic process, its inability to deal with domestic terrorism. And that includes the visible support Trump supporteres have given to law enforcement over the years, making some of them unreliable in dealing with insurrectionist rioters which is what happened Wednesday.
Yes his supporters would probably be violent if he was let go but they’re going to be anyway, let’s face it. As soon as or before Biden is inaugurated. This ain’t over. This time grab em all and lock them away!
In addition to his crazed supporters' reaction, the ineptitude of the Capitol police, and other domestic concerns, remember that he still has the nuclear football, and has been spoiling for a fight with Iran since he took office. That was my main concern prior to the Capitol debacle. If he makes it to the 20th, his deranged mind could use the opportunity to get all of the attention from Biden.
It seems to me from what I read that there was some additional, and intentional restraint, put on the Capitol police from within the ranks and/or by the Office of the President and possible infiltration of the police by right-wingers. The Capitol Police are there to guard the lives of the members of Congress, which they did ably to the point of aiming guns at mobs outside the chamber doors. One was beaten to death. I am hopeful that the investigation of the events will reveal the issues and people that allowed this travesty and how the protection of the Capitol building was compromised. I wait.
I just saw in the news that Lindsey Graham and Joe Manchin both say no to impeachment.
The F$#@s
Flip! Graham = human pancake!
These people are so weak
I don't think there should be procedural or clerical delays. This is a failure. He should be out by now. Once again, America fails to come together to do the right thing.
I had hoped the Cabinet would invoke the 25th immediately, instead we get some resignations (moral cowards!), I thought the articles would drafted by now. I thought the SC would send letter, signed by each SC Justice asking for resignation. I thought 100% of Governors would do the same. WHY? Those in power are still trying to sift through what their constituents are saying, as if they do not understand themselves the dangers of continuing to be lead themselves by a delusional constituency, made irrational and immoral by DT's demagoguery.
"YOU CAN NOT LIE YOUR WAY TO FREEDOM"
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/-you-can-t-lie-your-way-to-freedom-timothy-snyder-on-truth-and-accountability-99125829524
I honestly don't understand. They found pipe bombs and molotov cocktails. Read a report that said numerous people heard they wanted to execute VP Pence. There were Police and military who were part of this insurrection. What if they had gotten hold of Pence or Pelosi or whoever.... and yet nothing has happened? They brok3 into the building, stole articles and damaged and defaced Our House. So what exactly will it take?Trump put in the people at the Pentagon who refused help and refused National Guard for, what close to two hours? And the video before the rally of Don Jr, girlfriend, Trump and Mark Medows all gleefully partying in the Command center? They knew what was planned, why didn't the FBI since it was on Parler. People from all over the states coming to storm the capital and the FBI wasn't on top of this?
Why weren't the insurrectionists arrested? Why won't they be prosecuted? Is the nation going to be held with their knives at its throat for the next four years? Everyone who can be identified as participating in the insurrection, the Capitol police who turned their back on what was happening, perhaps seven Senators and at least 100 Representative, along with the President, must face justice. Otherwise they will have won. If they want "combat" as Rudy puts it, let them have it. We have the intelligence as to who, what, when and where from video, internet and telephone monitoring, and now, the new DOJ must act on it with weapons that are not for show, but ready to fire.