In the weeks after the January 6 insurrection, one of the things that struck me as an odd political calculation was how quickly Republican lawmakers fell back into line behind former president Trump. Anyone watching could see that the information about Trump’s involvement in that insurrection that would come out by, well, right about now—about a year before the midterm elections—was going to be bad.
The report concludes: “Trump was the driving force at every turn as he orchestrated what would become an attempted political coup in the months leading up to Jan. 6, calling his supporters to Washington, encouraging the mob to march on the Capitol and freezing in place key federal agencies whose job it was to investigate and stop threats to national security.” It notes that the former president did not make any effort to stop the attacks until it was clear they wouldn’t succeed, and that lawmakers assumed he was backing the rioters.
Stop calling it an "insurrection." That word implies a popular uprising, undirected and unplanned, of people who are "mad as hell and not going to take any more."
It was an act of Treason. Treason! Treason, as defined in the Constitution:
Article III, Section 3, Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
And I think there will be enough witnesses. Charge Trump with what he did: TREASON.
I was one of the architects of the Financial Institution Development Program funded by the World Bank for the capitalization and modernization of the Russian banking system back in the early 1990s. We analyzed/assessed approximately 350 banks across Russian to determine which 125 would receive World Bank funding/capital infusion. I was the architect of the Scorecard used to qualify and rank these banks. This team of dedicated international development experts, hired and directed by World Bank "management" objectively scored and identified the 125 banks. In the eleventh hour, World Bank "management" added two banks - which did not even yet exist - to the list of awardees. Both of these "banks" were directly linked to Putin. Alpha Bank was one of these banks. This is VERY TELLING....
The only way that WaPo story gets enough traction to mean something is if they quick turn it into a Netflix series. As a country reading, especially reading like this, that requires our brains to comprehend and analyze, is not something we do particularly well.
In his October 31st newsletter Jeet Heer called John Eastman "Mob Lawyer."
Heer is absolutely correct, for Eastman's scheme is central to the attempted coup on January 6th, and-astonishingly-no disbarment proceeding have begun to remove this traitor.
And since the GOP is no longer a governing partner but an extension of Trumpism, I don't expect Republican politicians to grow a spine and oppose Trump's nihilism.
I'm just wondering how GOP voters can bring themselves to support a political party that-for all intents and purposes-hates them?
Local elections are tomorrow. If anyone is still voting for a candidate with an (R) after their name, this is what they're voting for. I don't care if it's for dogcatcher.
Hollywood could write this script; take a lifelong white collar criminal, promote him to a place of power, surround him with corrupt and/or complicit individuals and watch what happens. the post-hoc exposure of the details is like peeling an onion. With each layer, you cry a little more...
"In the weeks after the January 6 insurrection, one of the things that struck me as an odd political calculation was how quickly Republican lawmakers fell back into line behind former president Trump."
Funny how that works, insurrection didn't work, ok, so back to work and being friendly with the opposition till the next time. Game over, we lost.
This is not like Nixon acting by himself. If trump goes, they should join him also. No neighbor of mine would do this.
Except I can not forget and more than trump's head should roll.
This morning's report by HCR is absolutely chilling, – one more nail in the coffin of our precarious democracy!
Why in God's name isn't AG Merrick Garland and the entire Department of Justice enforcing the bedrock of our Democracy: The RULE OF LAW ? Trump and his minions should have been indicted and prosecuted many, many months ago. There is a MOUNTAIN OF CRIMINAL EVIDENCE to draw upon, and yet the DOJ is sitting with its thumb of its ass doing nothing!
This is how Democracy dies: Cowardly people who have the authority to act but sit there and do nothing, "Waiting or Godot . . ."
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows:
“No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
It is clear that it is now time to invoke these provisions and the January 6 Investigation Select Committee is the body to make a report to Congress identifying every individual to whom these provisions should apply. The wording of this section of the 14th amendment makes clear what both the crime and its penalty should be. Let's not waste time unnecessarily arguing about the appropriate measures should be. The only remaining question should be how long the list of those charged should be and who's name should appear on the list along with the first name on the list, that of Donald John Tя☭mp.
Grim reading but one small note of caution. I have just finished Landslide by Michael Wolff. It is an entertaining account of Trump's last days, but one of his themes is that Trump, with his short attention span, really does not have the mental capacity to organise anything as complex as an insurrection (or its preferred alternative: TREASON). If so, who then was pulling the strings?
As more is unraveled, this Country looks worse, not for what happened, but for how it was permitted to happen. Were there no safe guards in place to stop Trump and his accomplices? Apparently not.
It deeply troubles me that there will not be a proper response from this Administration to the misgivings of the last bad actors.
So where do we go from here? What is happening is very clear. How long it's been happening is coming into focus...Eric Prince and his army, his sister Betsy, the Tea Party, the Koch brothers, Putin, the Murdochs, McConnell (and his Secretary wife)...birds of a feather..cue Billy Joel. Add in the easy marks for compromise...Bannon, Trump, and Rudy. We are in interesting, scary times. All that is left to see is how fast they throw Trump under the bus. Will he be tried on TV like OJ in a public court? Will we resurrect the special counsel of Watergate for sitting members of Congress? The only way to put our house in order is to bring this to trial so the democracy is not dead.
The GOP has nothing to offer but obstruction, obfuscation and disruption. That they may take us all down with them as they try harder and harder to hold onto power simply for the sake of power is their ultimate goal. They have no policies to offer except to make themselves and their cronies more and more wealthy. They excuse their actions under the self-assumed mantle of patriotism when the actions are anything but patriotism. Get out tomorrow and vote people. It is from the local elections that those who will try their hardest to destroy us will arise.
The report concludes: “Trump was the driving force at every turn as he orchestrated what would become an attempted political coup in the months leading up to Jan. 6, calling his supporters to Washington, encouraging the mob to march on the Capitol and freezing in place key federal agencies whose job it was to investigate and stop threats to national security.” It notes that the former president did not make any effort to stop the attacks until it was clear they wouldn’t succeed, and that lawmakers assumed he was backing the rioters.
Stop calling it an "insurrection." That word implies a popular uprising, undirected and unplanned, of people who are "mad as hell and not going to take any more."
It was an act of Treason. Treason! Treason, as defined in the Constitution:
Article III, Section 3, Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
And I think there will be enough witnesses. Charge Trump with what he did: TREASON.
I was one of the architects of the Financial Institution Development Program funded by the World Bank for the capitalization and modernization of the Russian banking system back in the early 1990s. We analyzed/assessed approximately 350 banks across Russian to determine which 125 would receive World Bank funding/capital infusion. I was the architect of the Scorecard used to qualify and rank these banks. This team of dedicated international development experts, hired and directed by World Bank "management" objectively scored and identified the 125 banks. In the eleventh hour, World Bank "management" added two banks - which did not even yet exist - to the list of awardees. Both of these "banks" were directly linked to Putin. Alpha Bank was one of these banks. This is VERY TELLING....
The only way that WaPo story gets enough traction to mean something is if they quick turn it into a Netflix series. As a country reading, especially reading like this, that requires our brains to comprehend and analyze, is not something we do particularly well.
In his October 31st newsletter Jeet Heer called John Eastman "Mob Lawyer."
Heer is absolutely correct, for Eastman's scheme is central to the attempted coup on January 6th, and-astonishingly-no disbarment proceeding have begun to remove this traitor.
And since the GOP is no longer a governing partner but an extension of Trumpism, I don't expect Republican politicians to grow a spine and oppose Trump's nihilism.
I'm just wondering how GOP voters can bring themselves to support a political party that-for all intents and purposes-hates them?
Thanks for the post.
Local elections are tomorrow. If anyone is still voting for a candidate with an (R) after their name, this is what they're voting for. I don't care if it's for dogcatcher.
Hollywood could write this script; take a lifelong white collar criminal, promote him to a place of power, surround him with corrupt and/or complicit individuals and watch what happens. the post-hoc exposure of the details is like peeling an onion. With each layer, you cry a little more...
"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?"
Credit to Mr. Rodgers
"In the weeks after the January 6 insurrection, one of the things that struck me as an odd political calculation was how quickly Republican lawmakers fell back into line behind former president Trump."
Funny how that works, insurrection didn't work, ok, so back to work and being friendly with the opposition till the next time. Game over, we lost.
This is not like Nixon acting by himself. If trump goes, they should join him also. No neighbor of mine would do this.
Except I can not forget and more than trump's head should roll.
This morning's report by HCR is absolutely chilling, – one more nail in the coffin of our precarious democracy!
Why in God's name isn't AG Merrick Garland and the entire Department of Justice enforcing the bedrock of our Democracy: The RULE OF LAW ? Trump and his minions should have been indicted and prosecuted many, many months ago. There is a MOUNTAIN OF CRIMINAL EVIDENCE to draw upon, and yet the DOJ is sitting with its thumb of its ass doing nothing!
This is how Democracy dies: Cowardly people who have the authority to act but sit there and do nothing, "Waiting or Godot . . ."
This link to the Washington Post article should be this side of a pay wall. If not, let me know.
https://wapo.st/3w5qgOk
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows:
“No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
It is clear that it is now time to invoke these provisions and the January 6 Investigation Select Committee is the body to make a report to Congress identifying every individual to whom these provisions should apply. The wording of this section of the 14th amendment makes clear what both the crime and its penalty should be. Let's not waste time unnecessarily arguing about the appropriate measures should be. The only remaining question should be how long the list of those charged should be and who's name should appear on the list along with the first name on the list, that of Donald John Tя☭mp.
Grim reading but one small note of caution. I have just finished Landslide by Michael Wolff. It is an entertaining account of Trump's last days, but one of his themes is that Trump, with his short attention span, really does not have the mental capacity to organise anything as complex as an insurrection (or its preferred alternative: TREASON). If so, who then was pulling the strings?
Thank you Heather.
As more is unraveled, this Country looks worse, not for what happened, but for how it was permitted to happen. Were there no safe guards in place to stop Trump and his accomplices? Apparently not.
It deeply troubles me that there will not be a proper response from this Administration to the misgivings of the last bad actors.
Be safe. Be well.
The Republican Party has ceased to exist as a legitimate alternative to the Democratic party. It's an embarrassment to the nation.
So where do we go from here? What is happening is very clear. How long it's been happening is coming into focus...Eric Prince and his army, his sister Betsy, the Tea Party, the Koch brothers, Putin, the Murdochs, McConnell (and his Secretary wife)...birds of a feather..cue Billy Joel. Add in the easy marks for compromise...Bannon, Trump, and Rudy. We are in interesting, scary times. All that is left to see is how fast they throw Trump under the bus. Will he be tried on TV like OJ in a public court? Will we resurrect the special counsel of Watergate for sitting members of Congress? The only way to put our house in order is to bring this to trial so the democracy is not dead.
The GOP has nothing to offer but obstruction, obfuscation and disruption. That they may take us all down with them as they try harder and harder to hold onto power simply for the sake of power is their ultimate goal. They have no policies to offer except to make themselves and their cronies more and more wealthy. They excuse their actions under the self-assumed mantle of patriotism when the actions are anything but patriotism. Get out tomorrow and vote people. It is from the local elections that those who will try their hardest to destroy us will arise.
Will this finally be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Will AG Garland finally make a positive move? May all the stars align in that direction!