During the Presidential speech the Dems tried to be cute….one Dem got tossed for being mouthy and the small cadre held up signs like Musk Steals, Save Medicare, etc and some even filed out of the speech slowly.
To me as I have said it was theatrics only and was not effective only to the media for they had a spectacle they could put on the evening news for a few minutes
This is a video that pretty much echoes what I have already said.
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Veterans have a history of activism….from the Bonus Army to the antiwar protesters of the 60s and 70s…..should they choose to return to the forefront of activism?
I was one of those ‘pinko’ protesters in the 70s….I can think of no better way for a veteran serve its country.
Then I say yes they need to once again become the leaders they should be.
This is veterans that have chosen the ‘path of dissent’……
One of my heroes, Major General Smedley Butler, said “We Americans who will protect our flag should have a voice in where it is flown.” The two-time Medal of Honor recipient and author of War is a Racket exemplifies the model of a dissident soldier.
Voices of today’s soldiers, all veterans of the Global War on Terror, have been collected in a new anthology, Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America’s Misguided Wars, edited by (Ret.) Maj. Danny Sjursen and (Ret.) Col. Andrew Bacevich, President of the Quincy Institute.
The book shares fifteen individual stories of how soldiers — in some ways big, in some ways small — dissented from what their high command, their government, and in many ways society expected of them as they advocated to bring our troops home.
Their perspective should come as no surprise. “War dissent is committed by those with a deep love for the country and its soldiers, for honesty, justice, humanity, and the rule of law. They bring light to situations clouded by secrecy, lies, and propaganda,” relates contributor Kevin Tillman, whose family is intimately familiar with the government’s secrecy, lies, and propaganda.
For several years, polls have demonstrated that veterans support military withdrawals from the Middle East at higher percentages than the civilian population. We witnessed firsthand the failures of nation-building, the ineffectiveness of raw military power to solve political problems, and the lack of coherent strategy or victory conditions.
As contributor Matthew Hoh discloses, “The entire U.S. government, including our military, intelligence, and diplomatic corps, was — and is — full of people who don’t believe in America’s endless wars, don’t believe in our supposed reasons for fighting them, and don’t believe that the sacrifices and costs are worthwhile.”
Meet the veterans who chose ‘paths of dissent’
Since marches and massive protests for the good of the country and its people is not as big thing these days our vets can serve and protect the democracy we all say we love.
With the mid-terms just a mere 2 months away…..vets can get involved.
Vets can begin by becoming volunteers for their local elections….
Our nation faces a critical shortfall of volunteers to administer our elections.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a real dent in election poll volunteerism — especially among Americans 60 years of age and older who have traditionally served as poll workers. In fact, nearly two-thirds of all election poll workers are older than 61 years of age. The pandemic, combined with news reports of election-related political violence and threats to election officials, has made it difficult for many county election boards to find enough people to run election polling sites.
Why should you care? Simply put, American democracy runs on elections, and elections run on volunteers — just like our military and our national defense rely on volunteers.
Since our republic runs on a decentralized and federalized election system, it’s up to the individual states and counties to run elections, maintain voter records, count ballots, and report results.
When secretaries of state and county boards of elections can’t find enough volunteers to serve as election officials, it results in fewer polling stations, longer lines, fewer early voting days, and ultimately, less of an opportunity for you and your fellow citizens to enjoy the rights we all served in uniform to defend — primarily our right to vote. When there aren’t enough election workers, we have less democracy.
So what can you do about it? The solution is simple: Volunteer to serve your country and community again as an election poll worker.
I’ll give you 10 good reasons why you should:
Why helping others vote is a patriotic duty that appeals to US military veterans
Time for our vets to honor the oath they took when they entered the service of their country…..and volunteering to help with elections is an excellent start.
The only problem I can see is that many of our veterans have drank the vile poison of Trump-ism….so would they be good shepherds of our democracy?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
The continuing saga of the idiots that took part in the failed coup of 06 January……
Looks like the Proud Boys are in the news again….this time a document has come to light with directions on how to proceed with the proposed takeover of the Capitol…..
When the former leader of the Proud Boys was arrested last week for his alleged role in coordinating the Capitol riot, prosecutors made reference to a document found in his possession. Now the New York Times is reporting new details, and they don’t appear to bode well for Enrique Tarrio as he fights conspiracy charges. The newspaper describes it as a “specific written plan to storm and occupy government buildings” the day of the Stop the Steal rally. It doesn’t specifically mention the Capitol, but the document lays out strategies to gain control of seven high-profile government buildings, and it generally matches what actually unfolded at the Capitol. From the story by Alan Feuer:
- “Broken into five parts—Infiltrate, Execution, Distract, Occupy and Sit-In—the nine-page document recommends recruiting at least 50 people to enter each of the seven government buildings and advises protesters to appear ‘unsuspecting’ and to ‘not look tactical,'” writes Feuer. “After ensuring that crowds at the buildings are “full and ready to go,” the document suggests that ‘leads and seconds’ should enter and open doors for others to go in, ‘causing trouble’ to distract security guards, if necessary.”
Tarrio, who wasn’t actually in DC the day of the riot and has since stepped down as Proud Boys leader, remains in custody, and Justice Department lawyers argued Monday that he should remain so, reports CNN. In a filing, they provided new details of a meeting between Tarrio and the leader of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, in a DC parking garage on Jan. 5. In the meeting, Tarrio said he had wiped messages from his phone and said it was safely protected anyway. Prosecutors also say Tarrio declared, “We did this” the following day in an encrypted chat, in regard to the storming of the Capitol. When somebody asked what should happen next, he allegedly responded, “Do it again.”
The last statement sums up the feelings among these useless insurrectionists, “Do it again”.
It is possible that some of these convicted insurrectionists will try to get their case heard by the Supreme Court…..and that could work in their favor….
It seems that one of the wives of a sitting judge was ass deep in the insurrection….
Clarence Thomas’ wife, who has already come under scrutiny, reveals to the Washington Free Beacon that she attended the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the mob attack on the US Capitol. However, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas says she got cold and left before then-President Trump even took the stage. “I was disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering of Trump supporters on the Ellipse on Jan. 6,” she says. “There are important and legitimate substantive questions about achieving goals like electoral integrity, racial equality, and political accountability that a democratic system like ours needs to be able to discuss and debate rationally in the political square. I fear we are losing that ability.”
She adds that she had no part in helping to organize the rally, as has recently been alleged in multiple news pieces, and that her political activities have nothing to do with her husband or his position as a Supreme Court justice. “Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America,” she says. “But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.” After much speculation on her involvement in the events of Jan. 6, the Washington Post reports this is the first time Thomas has publicly acknowledged being in attendance.
Time for Thomas to recuse himself from anything that his wife is involved in….like this situation and her work with Big Pharma…..he needs to be challenged….period.
More good news….yet another d/bag goes to trial…..
An elected official from New Mexico went to trial with a judge—not a jury—set to decide if he is guilty of charges that he illegally entered the US Capitol grounds on the day a pro-Trump mob disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. US District Judge Trevor McFadden is scheduled to hear attorneys’ closing arguments Tuesday for the case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, whose trial in Washington, DC, is the second among the hundreds of people charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, siege. (The first ended in Guy Wesley Reffitt being found guilty on all counts.) The judge heard testimony Monday from three government witnesses. Griffin’s lawyer said he doesn’t plan to call any defense witnesses, the AP reports.
The case against Griffin is unlike most of the Capitol riot prosecutions. He is one of the few riot defendants who isn’t accused of entering the Capitol or engaging in any violent or destructive behavior. Smith said prosecutors apparently believe Griffin engaged in disorderly conduct by peacefully leading a prayer on the Capitol steps. “That is offensive and wrong,” Smith told the judge during his brief opening statements. Griffin claims he has been selectively prosecuted for his political views. Griffin, one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico, is among a handful of riot defendants who either held public office or ran for a government leadership post in the 2 1/2 years before the attack. He is among only three riot defendants who have asked for a bench trial, which means a judge will decide his case without a jury.
Griffin, a 48-year-old former rodeo rider and pastor, helped found a political committee called Cowboys for Trump. He had vowed to arrive at the courthouse on horseback. Instead, he showed up Monday as a passenger in a pickup truck that had a horse trailer on the back. Griffin is charged with two misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. A key question in Griffin’s case is whether he entered a restricted area outside the Capitol while Pence was still present on Capitol grounds, a prerequisite for the US Secret Service to invoke access restrictions. In a court filing, prosecutors called Griffin “an inflammatory provocateur and fabulist who engages in racist invective and propounds baseless conspiracy theories, including that Communist China stole the 2020 Presidential Election.”
Guilty!
A federal judge on Tuesday convicted an elected official from New Mexico of illegally entering restricted US Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct during the riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory, per the AP. US District Court Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury on Monday before handing down a verdict in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a 48-year-old former rodeo rider who helped found a group called Cowboys for Trump. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail when sentenced in June.
McFadden, a nominee of then-President Trump, said there was ample evidence that Griffin knew he was in a restricted area and didn’t leave. Griffin crossed over three walls, needing help from others or a ladder to get over them, the judge noted. “All of this would suggest to a normal person that perhaps you should not be entering the area,” McFadden said from the bench. But the judge said prosecutors didn’t meet their burden to prove that Griffin engaged in disorderly conduct. “Arguably, he was trying to calm people down, not rile them up,” he said.
One year?
Hell you get more time for a bag of weed than breaching of the Capitol…..something is wrong with that.
More to come I assume…..
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I know this is a long read….but I refuse to let this act of treason go under-reported.
On 06 January 2021 a pack of rabid in-bred morons breached the Capitol security and went about destruction and theft…….some want to move past that dark day and to that I say “screw you”….we should NEVER move on or forget the traitors that assaulted our way of life with the revisionist bullshit of the defunct president.
I will update my readers as often as I can with the events around those that crapped on the Constitution and our country on that day.
The good news is another traitor has pleaded guilty to his part of the insurrection….
A Florida man who stormed the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 waving a Trump flag has become the second rioter to plead guilty—and his case is being closely watched by lawyers for other riot suspects not charged with violent crimes. The Department of Justice says Paul Hodgkins, 38, pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing a government proceedings, the Hill reports. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but Hodgkins’ sentence is expected to fall within federal guidelines of 15 to 21 months when he is sentenced July 19. Four other charges were dismissed and prosecutors gave him credit for pleading guilty in a timely manner and accepting responsibility for his actions
Prosecutors said Hodgkins entered the building with a mob of other Trump supporters and took a selfie in the Senate chamber. He was arrested Feb. 16 after an acquaintance recognized him in photos of the riot and notified the FBI, WFLA reports. “There’s no justification for January 6. That’s why he is standing up and entering a plea of guilty,” said Hodgkin’s lawyer, Patrick Leduc, per the WashingtonPost. “He acknowledges what he did was wrong, and there’s no excuses for it.” Leduc described Hodgkins, who had no prior criminal record, as a “working Joe who is a crane operator at a steel processing plant.” Hodgkins also agreed to pay $2,000 restitution. Prosecutors estimated damage to the Capitol at $1.5 million.
A slap of the pee-pee is all this toad gets?
The sad news is that one of the insurrectionists has had all charges dropped….
Federal prosecutors have dropped the criminal case against a New York man who was accused of participating in the Capitol riot, in what appears to be the first such move by the Justice Department in its sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution. The dismissal of the case against Christopher M. Kelly was disclosed on Wednesday, the same day prosecutors secured a second guilty plea by one of the more than 450 Capitol riot defendants. US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui agreed to dismiss the case against Kelly after prosecutors said in a court filing on Tuesday that they discussed the merits of the case with Kelly’s lawyer and decided that ending the prosecution “serves the interests of justice” based on “the facts currently known to the government,” the AP reports.
Faruqui agreed to dismiss the charges “without prejudice,” which means the Justice Department could attempt to revive the case. Kelly was arrested in New York on Jan. 20 and faced charges of obstructing an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and unlawful entry to restricted buildings or grounds. In an affidavit, an FBI agent said it appeared that Kelly used a Facebook account to inform “associates” that he had breached the Capitol and was inside the building. Two days before the attack, he told another Facebook user that he planned to be in Washington “with ex NYPD and some proud boys,” the agent said. But the only known photos of Kelly from the day of the riot show him outside the building, with no evidence he was inside, NBC New York reports.
Yet another one that needs to be taught a lesson…..screw him…..make him pay even if it is a misdemeanor…..
Make an example!
Anything thing else is just not acceptable.
It seems the Repubs blame “Leftists” for the insurrection…..
… a full 73 percent of Republicans pin “some” or “a great deal” of responsibility on “left-wing protesters trying to make Trump look bad,” even though both the FBI and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have rejected the falsehood that leftist protesters were involved.
It appears that about 10% of those that breached the Capitol have military ties…..
One in 10 people charged in the US Capitol insurrection are veterans or current servicemembers, according to a CNN review of court documents and Pentagon records.
At least 45 of the approximately 450 overall defendants have ties to the US military, according to the CNN review. The bulk of these 45 defendants are veterans, but a handful are still serving, including an active duty Marine Corps officer from Virginia who was arrested earlier this month.A quarter of the defendants with military ties are also connected to right-wing extremist groups, like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. These groups had a big presence at the January 6 riot, and they’ve attracted significant attention from federal prosecutors investigating the attack and from Pentagon officials who are coming to grips with the problem of extremism in the military.
Chrestman, a 43-year-old unemployed union sheet metal worker, was reportedly arrested alongside fellow Kansas residents Louis Enrique Colon and Christopher Kuehne back in February for their part in the insurrection. The charges, according to the Kansas City Star, included “conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.” Chrestman had the distinction of additional charges for carrying the deadly weapon and threatening law enforcement.
Chrestman was quickly identified in the weeks after Jan. 6. Many of those citizens who sent in tips to the FBI identifying Chrestman were reportedly former high school classmates of “Billy,” who attended Hueneme High School in Oxnard, California, back in 1992. According to one former classmate who spoke to The Star before Chrestman’s arrest, his social media presence was increasingly worrying to those still connected to him: “He was latching onto conspiracies. A few (classmates) stayed in touch with him up until June or so of last year, when he got rid of his social media.” Other classmates told reporters that Chrestman acted like every other shitty libertarian, debate team wanna-be you know in your own social media feed
Maybe this whiny slug should have considered the response to his actions…..I say screw him….let him lose his pension.
More morons try to use “just having fun” as a defense against their actions…..
Cleveland Meredith made threats against specific elected officials online and drove from Colorado with a Glock 19, 9mm pistol, Taver X95 rifle with a telescopic sight, high-capacity magazines and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition, but arrived too late to take part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to charging documents flagged by Buzzfeed’s Zoe Tillman.
“Hauling ass, 3.5 hours from target practice,” he said in one message, according to prosecutors. “Ready to remove several craniums from shoulders. I’m gonna collect a sh*t ton of Traitors heads.”
Meredith’s lawyers argued Wednesday at a detention hearing that he was just joking — “LOL, I’m just having fun,” he wrote at one point — but Judge Amy Berman Jackson wasn’t amused.
https://www.rawstory.com/cleveland-meredith/
Finally this disturbing news……about those already arrested……
At least 70% of people charged in the Capitol riot have been released as they wait for trial, according to a Guardian analysis.
That high pre-trial release rate stands in stark contrast with the usual detention rates in the federal system, where only 25% of defendants nationwide are typically released before their trial.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/28/us-capitol-attack-suspects-jail-trial
Another mouth of Texas is arrested….
Adam Weibling, a 38-year-old Texas man, made no secret in recent months of his contempt for the FBI, likening its agents to Nazis and “terrorists” in a series of conspiracy-laden tweets. His dislike for them surely grew on Tuesday when they arrested him for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
FBI agents arrested Weibling in Katy, Texas, on charges of unlawfully entering restricted grounds and engaging in disorderly conduct inside the Capitol, according to court records. His first virtual appearance in D.C. court is scheduled for June 3.
According to an affidavit filed May 19 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and signed by an FBI task force officer, Weibling can be seen in video recorded by a reporter pushing his way past police in riot gear to get inside the Capitol around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 6.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fbi-arrests-adam-weibling-capitol-riot_n_60ae8e83e4b0a24c4f849ed7
As a defense some of the arrested are blaming news coverage for their actions….
Falsehoods about the election helped bring insurrectionists to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and now some who are facing criminal charges for their actions during the riot hope their gullibility might save them or at least engender some sympathy.
Lawyers for at least three defendants charged in connection with the violent siege tell The Associated Press that they will blame election misinformation and conspiracy theories, much of it pushed by then-President Donald Trump, for misleading their clients. The attorneys say those who spread that misinformation bear as much responsibility for the violence as do those who participated in the actual breach of the Capitol
Trying to avoid accountability…..they made the decision to breach…then make them PAY!
As Yogi once said “It ain’t over until it’s over”…..and this insurrection is far from over….https://www.huffpost.com/entry/insurrection-republican-party-trump_n_60b1217ae4b04ddf13edbe9d
I say screw these traitors and we need to throw the book at them….make an example of each one of the 400+…..
I believe that ALL these defendants should remain in prison until their trials….then if found guilty should pay the maximum fine and receive the maximum sentence for their treasonous acts.
On a side note: It seems that Trump may have had his own ‘militia’….those overweight in-bred morons, the Oath Keepers….
The founder of the extremist Oath Keepers was poised for orders from then-President Donald Trump the day of the Capitol insurrection to seize control of the government, according to the latest conspiracy indictment against several members.
…
The new indictment also provides additional detail about nearby weapons stashes, and the existence of a “quick reaction force” of Oath Keepers outside Washington, D.C., to move in if necessary.
“I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside, and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed, if they have to,” Rhodes said in an online conference call before the Capitol siege, the indictment stated.
“Our posture’s gonna be that we’re posted outside of D.C., awaiting the president’s orders … We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia,” the indictment quoted Rhodes as saying.
Keep in mind that these slugs are still at large and waiting for instructions from the next megalomaniac that wants his own militia…
Watch This Blog!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I apologize this draft has been hiding in my queue…..but it still has some validity.
Final that is unless there is some important breaking news….then I will write.
I let my thoughts be known after the attack on the Capitol with several posts….for those that would like to check those thoughts out……
https://lobotero.com/2020/09/23/the-coming-insurrection/
https://lobotero.com/2021/01/19/insurrection-update/
https://lobotero.com/2021/01/26/insurrection-news/
After all the grief I took during my protest days in the 70s…..all the name calling such insults as ‘pinko’….I nor anyone with my group ever considered storming the Capitol and inflicting damage or harm to the staff and government offices.
I want the readers to ALWAYS remember the insurrection…..
Among the unique characteristics of American politics is our capacity to forget the unpleasant and inconvenient.
After a sitting president burgled his opponent’s headquarters and then tried to sack his entire Justice Department, his successor pardoned him in the service of “unity” and his party went on to thrive in the aftermath. Just over a decade later, there was an enormous scandal involving the secret sale of weapons to America’s top-profile international enemy to fund murderous paramilitaries on our own continent. The criminals involved were pardoned, the president involved feigned ignorance and then got the national capital’s airport named after him. Shortly thereafter, another Republican president lied the country into a costly and devastating war from which there remains no exit, then oversaw the worst natural disaster response in American history before catapulting the nation into the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression. Within a decade, both parties seem to have forgotten that he even existed except to be seen as a respectable elder statesman at funerals and public functions.
Then came Donald Trump. Trump, his catastrophic failures and extraordinary malfeasance have not yet been forgotten because he still dominates the Republican Party. But his most horrific transgression is already receding into the background of the nation’s collective memory. So let’s all remind ourselves of what happened just this month.
Remember: There Was An Attempted Coup Against the U.S. Less Than a Month Ago
Was this a one off situation? Or is there plans for my antics in the works?
The trial is in session….will this be the end of this situation?
I feel there is more to come….especially once Trump steps out of the shadows after the trial.
Please do not let apathy set in….this was more important to this republic than some (especially the GOP) want us to believe.
I want the people that committed this breach to suffer the way they made us protesters from the 70s suffer.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
With the protests these days there has been a turn for law enforcement and the protesters as well….
We all have heard the stories about the police handling of the protests….well there is a new twist to these events….
When people took to the streets this year to protest racial injustice and police brutality against Black people, they faced a repressive, violent response from local police and federal agents. Some of these agents arrived with militarized uniforms, riot gear, and weapons, but, notably, no visible name labels, badges, or even insignia marking their government agency. Congress just put a stop to this corrosive and undemocratic secrecy, requiring federal agents to identify themselves.
Tucked inside the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 6395), which just became law, is a new requirement for federal military and civilian law enforcement personnel involved in the federal government’s response to a “civil disturbance” to wear visible identification of themselves and the name of the government entity employing them. That’s good news, because requiring such identification should be a no-brainer in a democracy. When government employees are interacting with members of the public and exercising government authority, such as the power to arrest people, the public should have the right to know who the employees are and which agency employs them.Furthermore, when government personnel engage in wrongdoing, such as attacking protesters, one of the first steps in holding them accountable is knowing who they are. It’s no surprise that rights-violating law enforcement would want to obscure their name plate and badge number before committing some unethical or even illegal act. Impeding transparency blocks oversight and accountability.
Will be interesting to see how they find to circumvent this new law.
Leran Stuff!
Know Stuff!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
The events on 06 January 2021 has been labelled an ‘insurrection’ and the situation is rolling along with the FBI identifying those criminals and arresting and charging them with a wide array of charges.
And the conspiracy to commit insurrection is running deeper than many of us thought.
Of course the words of Trump are most mentioned then followed by the antics of congressional members like Sen Cruz and Hawley……who face ethic charges…..
(Newser) – Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz face an ethics investigation over their roles in fighting the certification of President Biden’s electoral victory and the Jan. 6 rally that turned into an attack on the US Capitol. “By proceeding with their objections to the electors after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley lent legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely,” a group of Democrats wrote Thursday to the Senate Ethics Committee. Hawley, of Missouri, called the complaint in a statement “a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge,” Politico reports. Cruz, of Texas, didn’t issue a response. Seven Democratic senators signed the letter.The Democrats want the committee to look into whether Hawley and Cruz encouraged the mob attack on the Capitol; coordinated with organizers of the rally supporting President Trump that preceded the riot; received donations from anyone or any group that also supported the pro-Trump rally; and “engaged in criminal conduct or unethical or improper behavior.” Both Republican senators have faced demands to resign from the Senate since they voted against accepting the electoral results of Arizona and Pennsylvania that night. Hawley and Cruz have said they didn’t incite the riot, and both denounced the violence after it happened, per CNBC.
The new leader of the Senate, Schumer, is being pressured to punish those two Senators…..
Progressive advocacy group MoveOn is calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to deny committee seats to Sens. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and other Republicans who attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and incited the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol Building earlier this month.
“Elected officials like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and other senators who sought to use their power to promote the big lie to overturn the results of the 2020 election—and who incited a deadly insurrection—have no place in the U.S. Senate and most certainly should not be rewarded for their deadly attacks on democracy with seats leading important committees in the next Congress,” Rahna Epting, MoveOn’s executive director, said in a statement late Thursday.
“Senate Majority Leader Schumer must work to ensure that any power-sharing agreement with Mitch McConnell keeps these insurrectionist senators from committee positions where they can use their influence to further undermine our democracy,” Epting continued. “Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and their allies in the Senate must be held accountable for their attacks on our democracy.”
Good idea….but it does NOT go far enough. There needs to be punishment And accountability.
It seems that new breaking news comes out every day……
Here is a scary thought…..about 20% of those that participated in the insurrection have military experience.
Nearly 1 in 5 people charged in connection to the violent Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol has some form of a military history, according to an NPR analysis.
Of the more than 140 individuals charged in the attack thus far, at least 27, or nearly 20 percent, have served or are currently serving in the U.S. military, NPR found.
The numbers are startling as only 7 percent of all American adults are military veterans, according to the Census Bureau.
Organizers of the Trump rally prior to the breach were paid handsomely…..
Former President Trump’s campaign had paid out more than $2.7 million to several individuals and firms behind the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that devolved into a violent insurrection at the Capitol, the Center for Responsive Politics reported on Friday.
Several organizers listed on the event permit granted by the National Parks Service (NPS) and posted online by the Center for Responsive Politics previously held positions within the Trump campaign or had ties to those who did.
Federal Election Commission filings show that the former president’s reelection campaign made payments to several of those individuals through Nov. 23, the most recent day for which financial disclosures are available.
We all are appalled at the events on 06 January and most of us want them punished and future ‘incidents’ quelled before they do any damage to the nation.
Well Biden has seemed to make ‘domestic terrorism’ a policy focus.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that President Biden ordered three US intelligence agencies to review the threat of “domestic violent extremism.”
Since pro-Trump demonstrators stormed the US Capitol building on January 6th, calls to combat “domestic terrorism” have been growing. Before January 6th, Biden’s transition team had said they were planning to pass laws against domestic terrorism, and the Capitol incident has made it a top priority.
“The January 6th assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known. The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,” Psaki said.
Psaki went on to outline the first steps the Biden administration is taking. She said Biden ordered the newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to conduct a threat assessment along with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Psaki said the assessment will produce a “fact-based analysis on which we can shape policy.” In addition to the intelligence analysis, the National Security Council is being tasked with finding ways to disrupt “extremist networks.”
It’s not clear if the assessment will lead to US government agencies being granted new authorities to counter domestic terrorism.
Congress is onboard with prioritizing domestic threats. Earlier this week, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act was introduced in the House with bipartisan sponsors. The bill would establish offices within the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department to combat domestic terrorism.
(antiwar.com)
An excellent idea!
I will watch this promise and write on the outcome in the future.
Watch This Blog!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
A Putsch?
An attempt to violently overthrow a government.
It appeared to me…I know that some will not agree with my assertion…..this was what occurred in DC on the 6th of January 2021.
It is not the first time such an event has happened….
The mos famous “Putsch” was when Hitler and the Nazis tried to take the Bavarian government in 1923 with the Beerhall Putsch.
For those unfamiliar with history…..
From November 8 to November 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and his followers staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. Since 1921, Hitler had led the Nazi Party, a fledgling political group that promoted German pride and anti-Semitism and was unhappy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement that ended World War I (1914-18) and required many concessions and reparations from Germany. In the aftermath of the failed “putsch,” or coup d’état, Hitler was convicted of treason and sentenced to five years in prison. He spent less than a year behind bars, during which time he dictated “Mein Kampf,” his political autobiography. The putsch and Hitler’s subsequent trial turned him into a national figure. After prison, he worked to rebuild the Nazi Party and gain power via legal political methods.
That would not be the first nor the last attempt to subvert a government.
The melée in Washington looked like the early stages of what in the Latin American context would be described as an attempted “self-coup” or autogolpe. That’s defined as an interruption of the constitutional and democratic order by means of the closure of congress and suspension of the constitution, typically followed by rule by decree and the perpetuation in power of an autocratic ruler. Variations on this script have been played out in Peru (1992), Russia (1993) and Guatemala (1993).
Reaching further back into history, examples of ambitious politicians disrupting established institutions to retain power can be found in the coup of the 18th Brumaire by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (the nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte) in France (1851), Oliver Cromwell’s dissolution of the Rump Parliament in 1653 and the rebellion of the Gracchi brothers in Rome (133-121 BCE.
In my younger days being a so-called “radical” there are reasons that I might have joined these people in DC.
If those people stormed the Capitol because their government had abandoned them for nearly a year while an unprecedented pandemic ravaged the country.
If they stormed the Capitol because the government shut down their jobs and asked them to stay home but didn’t provide stimulus to replace their lost income, didn’t provide rent relief, mortgage relief, debt relief during an unprecedented pandemic.
If they stormed the Capitol because they were recently evicted or on the edge of eviction or their children were going hungry because the government abandoned them during an unprecedented pandemic.
If they stormed the Capitol because they couldn’t afford healthcare in the midst of a health crisis. Because they saw family, friends, coworkers die needlessly because the government abandoned them during an unprecedented pandemic. I would have supported them.
If the people who stormed the Capitol were part of the anti-war movement, disgusted that our military is still in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, and still in Iraq, a war predicated on lies and misinformation that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced over a million.
None of that was the reason for the situation.
The truly bizarre thing about this whole fiasco. The devotion to Trump would be more understandable if he had made the average Americans life materially better while he was in office. But he didn’t.
They stormed the Capitol for a lie, to fight for a president that is a fraud, while all of the real problems this country faces remain unresolved.
All in all it was a pointless exercise in stupidity.
“Pointless?
I am not convinced that it was a pointless exercise…..as many of the other so-called “putsch” it set up the climate for change to come….and I believe that is what this act accomplished.
Now we wait for the stupidity that will surround the swearing in ceremony on 20 January.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Just a few thoughts about the breaching of the Capitol building….after this I will attempt to stay away from this subject unless there is major events breaking.
I was a radical in my younger days….I went to protests and even was arrested….but in my wildest radicalized days I never considered the actions that were perpetrated on this day.
There a few things to consider…..things that would have made me attempt such an afront to the American republic….
If the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, and eventually overtook the Capitol, quite easily by the way, with police literally opening gates for them, snapping some selfies, and participating in a few friendly shoving matches before ceding the building completely.
If those people stormed the Capitol because their government had abandoned them for nearly a year while an unprecedented pandemic ravaged the country.
If they stormed the Capitol because the government shut down their jobs and asked them to stay home but didn’t provide stimulus to replace their lost income, didn’t provide rent relief, mortgage relief, debt relief during an unprecedented pandemic.
If they stormed the Capitol because they were recently evicted or on the edge of eviction or their children were going hungry because the government abandoned them during an unprecedented pandemic.
If they stormed the Capitol because they couldn’t afford healthcare in the midst of a health crisis. Because they saw family, friends, coworkers die needlessly because the government abandoned them during an unprecedented pandemic. I would have supported them.
If the people who stormed the Capitol were black and indigenous and fed up with the state violence and oppression and systemic racism they endure every day.
If they stormed the Capitol demanding justice, equality, and reparations for how they and their families and their ancestors have been brutally treated since before this country was a country. I would have supported them.
If the people who stormed the Capitol were environmental activists demanding the government finally act on climate change. Something the government has known was a real crisis for decades and has done nothing to combat.
If they stormed the Capitol because the oceans are warming, the forests are on fire, the coral reefs are bleaching, insects are disappearing, birds are falling out of the sky, and much more disaster will follow if the government doesn’t act now. I would have supported them.
If the people who stormed the Capitol were part of the anti-war movement, disgusted that our military is still in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, and still in Iraq, a war predicated on lies and misinformation that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced over a million.
If they stormed the Capitol because our military is supporting with weapons and logistics the Saudi-led genocide in Yemen which has been deemed the World’s worst humanitarian crisis by the UN, where an estimated 24 million people – close to 80 percent of the population – need assistance and protection.
If they stormed the Capitol for any of those reasons, I would have supported them.
The Pointless Putsch
Even in the most radicalized days of the 60s and 70s….this was NEVER considered (I am sure that there were some wishful thinking back in those days)
I have seen nothing that has happened to warrant such destruction…..I have heard words that were the driving force behind the breach of the Capitol building…..
This was a dark day for Americans….those responsible should be held accountability for their culpability for the violence. ALL OF THEM!
Is there a possibility that there could be something that can be done about this domestic terrorism?
Yep and it is entitled as the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019….maybe it is time for this to come out of committee and do something about this violence….
Text of bill–S.894–Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act…….https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/894/text
Let’s Make It So!
Be Smart!
Learn Stuff!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
These are those Senators and Representatives that violated their oath of office predicated on lies and bullshit.
Take good look…is your elected official among those traitors?
These are the House Repubs……
These are the traitorous Senators…..
Is your Official in of list of traitors…..
My Representative, Palazzo, was one of the traitors…..
One of My Senators was also a traitor, Hyde-Smith…..the other Mississippi Senator Wicker was the only true American ……
These people should be censured and banned from government for the rest of their miderable lives. PERIOD!
Learn Stuff!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”