A late news dump tonight: the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed from the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) the text messages between agents on January 5 and January 6, 2021, that it learned Wednesday had been deleted. Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told Secret Service director James Murray, who recently announced his upcoming resignation, that the committee wants all the texts by July 19, 2022.
I live in Boston but am a native Southerner, and it has never made a shred of sense to me that people like Davis, Lee and Forrest were not prosecuted. The last of the three, in particular, went on to do considerable damage as a Klansman. I hope Garland will be every bit as bold as Fani Willis and bring Trump and every last one of the people who were involved in the planning of the insurrection to trial. To do any less than that is tantamount to acquiescence.
Your sentence yesterday about Ken Paxton being indicted 7 years ago with no trial yet still haunts me. Have politicians ever gone to jail? Or just Martha Stewart?
"They [Confederate symbols] have made a spectacular comeback since the 1980s until finally, on January 6, 2021, the Confederate battle flag flew in the U.S. Capitol."
Of course this is a result of Reagan's institution of Nixon's Southern Strategy. And the Republican embrace of racist right wing religious extremism. And the Reagan/GOP assault on the legitimacy of the United States government in service of plutocrats who paid them the big money to be unburdened of government regulation and taxation. Money funneled also to Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society to be filtered through corrupt shell corporations to fund the corruption of the judiciary. And some of which may have helped fund a Ginni Thomas/Leonard Leo allied entity involved in facilitating participation in the Republican Jan 6 insurrection.
Thank you, Professor Heather Cox Richardson for your historical perspective on a story that did not end even with the Civil War. And the devastation and loss of life on both sides. For many in the South today, the Civil War lives on. Consequences and prosecution for 1/6 Insurrectionists must be today’s story if we are to ever prevent future acts of Terrorism against the People, the Constitution and the Nation, the United States of America. You wrote what every citizen must hear: “While U.S. leaders after the Civil War thought their best hope of building a nation based on racial equality was to avoid prosecutions, scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.”
Heather is saying (and has said in greater detail in two of her books) what I SAW and heard for 24.5 years in the Army, surrounded by a large number of peers from the South and West who believe the truckload of guano that is The Lost Cause. At least partially they do. I absolutely believe if the U.S. military is not quietly but dutifully looking at its ranks in these years and reinforcing oaths to the constitution (and yes, looking for ANY ties to any of this seditious crap), yes, we will have the seeds for THE EXACT SAME THING. Make no mistake--if we have any sort of second civil conflict, it will be in large part because we never fully reckoned with it to begin with. We killed each other to the tune of 620,000 people (and yes, because of slavery) but couldn't look in the mirror and truly RECKON with all we'd done (or finish the necessary purging of the source of it all. Nope--we merely transformed it into ANOTHER era of shameful history). Here we are again now. Whatever comes to pass, this insidious aspect of our culture must be extirpated. Yes, acknowledged, learned about etc (like Naziism), but never allowed again. It's a lie (the original Big Lie), it's poison and we're STILL paying for it.
Wow, what a day, indeed! We must see rule of law enforced here or we are doomed as a democracy. No more playing nice-y nice, we must make treason and sedition real crimes with clear consequences, anything less only ensures the takeover of our country by these very same republican terrorists.
It is clear the President of our country led the revolution against this country. These people answered the President’s call. The leaders of the revolution Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Giuliani, Flynn, all need to go to trial and held accountable as well as the minions who answered the call to the uprising. What about the congress people who supported and contributed to the insurrection. They are in positions of power and supported people partaking in the insurrection. I am amazed we allow our congress people to promote violence overtly and covertly. Are there no code of ethics for these people? Most professional people need to adhere to a code of ethics. Of course then we have Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas part of this. Time for him to step down. When are we going to stop confirming Supreme Court justices who have a history of abusing woman?
Glad to read this letter from HCR, particularly about how our nation's failure to address the insurrection, costs, death and authoritarian ideas of the Confederacy. We are still living with the damage today.
I recommend reading "Race and Reunion" by David W. Blight. Published in 2001. It means even more today, 21 years later. You can see the ghosts of the Confederates walking our nation at will today. Imposing themselves. Their spirits have recently inhabited the White House. They sit in Congress and have taken over the US Supreme Court. They must be exorcised from our nation. It's rather auspicious that they wore "gray", living on as ghosts and spirits, haunting the nation, while the Union wore "blue" now used to describe Democrats. "Red" of course is for all the blood.spilled over these many years of conflict and crimes against blacks and civil and voting rights activists.
We’re in a heap of trouble because so many members of Congress took part in the coup. This is one of the reasons the GOP continues to double down with the Big Lie and with an authoritarian takeover attempt at every level, including subverting elections going forward. Every good prosecution of criminal enterprises starts by flipping minor players to testify against those higher in the food chain. Trump and his immediate co-conspirators must be prosecuted. But I don’t readily see a way to prosecute all involved members of Congress that won’t harden their resistance. They won’t allow their political party or power base to be destroyed, either. And there are big money and media dominance fueling their efforts. South Africa found a way, at least for awhile, to build a new form of nationhood beyond apartheid with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Our situation is unique. I would love to see historic instances in some ways comparable to ours to show a way out.
Boy, this Letter was like music to my ears! Thank you, Heather, for the uplift. I certainly needed it and I bet others do too.
Bannon is sure tiring, isn’t he? Tries to work all of the angles to get out of being in court but his whining is catching up to him. It will be nice to see him in stripes.
I’m exhausted and have missed reading and responding to your posts for a week or so. That said, this evening’s post provided a glimmer of hope.
“… scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.“
Another issue is connected to this analysis i.e.January 6, 2021 comparison to post-U.S. Civil War/Post-Reconstruction clemency: If Black people ever had attempted the acts of the January 6th attackers, on the Capitol, not many would be alive to stand trial. Our nation needs to acknowledge the difference in treatment of rightwing whites vs people of color and progressives.
IT’S A DO OVER. HERE WE GO AGAIN. ONCE WASN’T ENOUGH!
After the Civil War ‘___there was never a legal reckoning for even the leaders of those who had tried to destroy the nation…’
‘…scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.”
“This time, though, there is a chance to change the story.” (Letter)
It has been 556 days since the attempted insurrection at The US Capitol. When did we start asking… and then screaming where’s the Department of Justice? Merrick Garland is our ‘Waiting for Godot’.
The lawyers –Laurence Tribe, Adam Schiff, Andrew Weissmann. --have been screaming, too!
How long are Trump and the rest of traitors going to run free through our teetering democracy?
While we wait:
'Idaho Republicans poised to reject 2020 election results'
'BOISE — The Idaho Republican Party will consider 31 resolutions at its three-day convention starting Thursday, including one already adopted by Texas Republicans that President Joe Biden isn't the legitimate leader of the country.'
'The Idaho resolution in the deeply conservative state that Donald Trump won with 64% of the vote in 2020 is nearly identical to the Texas resolution that was passed last month, stating: "We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election; and we hold that acting president Joseph Robinette Biden was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States."
'Both the Idaho and Texas resolutions contend that secretaries of state circumvented their state legislatures, even though both states have Republican secretaries of state.' (AP) See link below.
So, while we are waiting for 'Godot', the Republican Party keeps rolling on and Trump threatens us with another reign.
Justice Ketanji, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the fabulous Cass Hutchinson and Heather Cox Richardson PhD will lead the women that just may save us from the Confederacy, the Confederate Flag totting racists that hate felling the white supremacists that kill.
I live in Boston but am a native Southerner, and it has never made a shred of sense to me that people like Davis, Lee and Forrest were not prosecuted. The last of the three, in particular, went on to do considerable damage as a Klansman. I hope Garland will be every bit as bold as Fani Willis and bring Trump and every last one of the people who were involved in the planning of the insurrection to trial. To do any less than that is tantamount to acquiescence.
Your sentence yesterday about Ken Paxton being indicted 7 years ago with no trial yet still haunts me. Have politicians ever gone to jail? Or just Martha Stewart?
Thanks professor.
"They [Confederate symbols] have made a spectacular comeback since the 1980s until finally, on January 6, 2021, the Confederate battle flag flew in the U.S. Capitol."
Of course this is a result of Reagan's institution of Nixon's Southern Strategy. And the Republican embrace of racist right wing religious extremism. And the Reagan/GOP assault on the legitimacy of the United States government in service of plutocrats who paid them the big money to be unburdened of government regulation and taxation. Money funneled also to Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society to be filtered through corrupt shell corporations to fund the corruption of the judiciary. And some of which may have helped fund a Ginni Thomas/Leonard Leo allied entity involved in facilitating participation in the Republican Jan 6 insurrection.
Thank you, Professor Heather Cox Richardson for your historical perspective on a story that did not end even with the Civil War. And the devastation and loss of life on both sides. For many in the South today, the Civil War lives on. Consequences and prosecution for 1/6 Insurrectionists must be today’s story if we are to ever prevent future acts of Terrorism against the People, the Constitution and the Nation, the United States of America. You wrote what every citizen must hear: “While U.S. leaders after the Civil War thought their best hope of building a nation based on racial equality was to avoid prosecutions, scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.”
Heather is saying (and has said in greater detail in two of her books) what I SAW and heard for 24.5 years in the Army, surrounded by a large number of peers from the South and West who believe the truckload of guano that is The Lost Cause. At least partially they do. I absolutely believe if the U.S. military is not quietly but dutifully looking at its ranks in these years and reinforcing oaths to the constitution (and yes, looking for ANY ties to any of this seditious crap), yes, we will have the seeds for THE EXACT SAME THING. Make no mistake--if we have any sort of second civil conflict, it will be in large part because we never fully reckoned with it to begin with. We killed each other to the tune of 620,000 people (and yes, because of slavery) but couldn't look in the mirror and truly RECKON with all we'd done (or finish the necessary purging of the source of it all. Nope--we merely transformed it into ANOTHER era of shameful history). Here we are again now. Whatever comes to pass, this insidious aspect of our culture must be extirpated. Yes, acknowledged, learned about etc (like Naziism), but never allowed again. It's a lie (the original Big Lie), it's poison and we're STILL paying for it.
Wow, what a day, indeed! We must see rule of law enforced here or we are doomed as a democracy. No more playing nice-y nice, we must make treason and sedition real crimes with clear consequences, anything less only ensures the takeover of our country by these very same republican terrorists.
It is clear the President of our country led the revolution against this country. These people answered the President’s call. The leaders of the revolution Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Giuliani, Flynn, all need to go to trial and held accountable as well as the minions who answered the call to the uprising. What about the congress people who supported and contributed to the insurrection. They are in positions of power and supported people partaking in the insurrection. I am amazed we allow our congress people to promote violence overtly and covertly. Are there no code of ethics for these people? Most professional people need to adhere to a code of ethics. Of course then we have Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas part of this. Time for him to step down. When are we going to stop confirming Supreme Court justices who have a history of abusing woman?
Glad to read this letter from HCR, particularly about how our nation's failure to address the insurrection, costs, death and authoritarian ideas of the Confederacy. We are still living with the damage today.
I recommend reading "Race and Reunion" by David W. Blight. Published in 2001. It means even more today, 21 years later. You can see the ghosts of the Confederates walking our nation at will today. Imposing themselves. Their spirits have recently inhabited the White House. They sit in Congress and have taken over the US Supreme Court. They must be exorcised from our nation. It's rather auspicious that they wore "gray", living on as ghosts and spirits, haunting the nation, while the Union wore "blue" now used to describe Democrats. "Red" of course is for all the blood.spilled over these many years of conflict and crimes against blacks and civil and voting rights activists.
We’re in a heap of trouble because so many members of Congress took part in the coup. This is one of the reasons the GOP continues to double down with the Big Lie and with an authoritarian takeover attempt at every level, including subverting elections going forward. Every good prosecution of criminal enterprises starts by flipping minor players to testify against those higher in the food chain. Trump and his immediate co-conspirators must be prosecuted. But I don’t readily see a way to prosecute all involved members of Congress that won’t harden their resistance. They won’t allow their political party or power base to be destroyed, either. And there are big money and media dominance fueling their efforts. South Africa found a way, at least for awhile, to build a new form of nationhood beyond apartheid with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Our situation is unique. I would love to see historic instances in some ways comparable to ours to show a way out.
Dumbassed roper of goats Reffitt got turned in by his kids.
Boy, this Letter was like music to my ears! Thank you, Heather, for the uplift. I certainly needed it and I bet others do too.
Bannon is sure tiring, isn’t he? Tries to work all of the angles to get out of being in court but his whining is catching up to him. It will be nice to see him in stripes.
Thank you for this. It is always so illuminating to see the reference of historical events
Thank you Heather.
I’m exhausted and have missed reading and responding to your posts for a week or so. That said, this evening’s post provided a glimmer of hope.
“… scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.“
Boy, have we some catching up to do.
Another issue is connected to this analysis i.e.January 6, 2021 comparison to post-U.S. Civil War/Post-Reconstruction clemency: If Black people ever had attempted the acts of the January 6th attackers, on the Capitol, not many would be alive to stand trial. Our nation needs to acknowledge the difference in treatment of rightwing whites vs people of color and progressives.
IT’S A DO OVER. HERE WE GO AGAIN. ONCE WASN’T ENOUGH!
After the Civil War ‘___there was never a legal reckoning for even the leaders of those who had tried to destroy the nation…’
‘…scholars who study the restoration of democracy after an authoritarian crisis are very clear: central to any such restoration is enforcing the rule of law.”
“This time, though, there is a chance to change the story.” (Letter)
It has been 556 days since the attempted insurrection at The US Capitol. When did we start asking… and then screaming where’s the Department of Justice? Merrick Garland is our ‘Waiting for Godot’.
The lawyers –Laurence Tribe, Adam Schiff, Andrew Weissmann. --have been screaming, too!
How long are Trump and the rest of traitors going to run free through our teetering democracy?
While we wait:
'Idaho Republicans poised to reject 2020 election results'
'BOISE — The Idaho Republican Party will consider 31 resolutions at its three-day convention starting Thursday, including one already adopted by Texas Republicans that President Joe Biden isn't the legitimate leader of the country.'
'The Idaho resolution in the deeply conservative state that Donald Trump won with 64% of the vote in 2020 is nearly identical to the Texas resolution that was passed last month, stating: "We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election; and we hold that acting president Joseph Robinette Biden was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States."
'Both the Idaho and Texas resolutions contend that secretaries of state circumvented their state legislatures, even though both states have Republican secretaries of state.' (AP) See link below.
So, while we are waiting for 'Godot', the Republican Party keeps rolling on and Trump threatens us with another reign.
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-biden-donald-trump-united-states-texas-74470f52173627eba7692821d0182308
Justice Ketanji, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the fabulous Cass Hutchinson and Heather Cox Richardson PhD will lead the women that just may save us from the Confederacy, the Confederate Flag totting racists that hate felling the white supremacists that kill.