Updated January 21, 2021 What was that all about on January 6? There will be many words written, but it was mostly about white supremacy because the symbolism of their flags and the words they shouted exposed what they were about. There was a reason this insurgency was done under the banner of the battle flag of the Confederacy and a noose was strung on crossbars on the Capitol grounds. They are the symbols of their racist movement. What counts: The future of democracy still lies in the ballot box and, so long as we still have a democracy, we the people, not some despots, still have the ability to shape our destinies and vote out those who do not support our power to do it.
Those who invaded and looted the Capitol are not the only ones who should be held accountable. Those who turn their heads the other way and open the gates and doors to the Capitol also count in any reckoning. The GOP''s mammoth lie counts, that there was widespread fraud and the election was stolen. What counts. too, is the Trump loyal media who spread that great lie. Both still promoted their lies even after 50 lawsuits and 80 judges and the president's own attorney general found no widespread fraud. The proponents of " the steal" had every opportunity to provide the evidence in court to back their rhetoric, and they could not. The GOP reaped what it sowed, and its lies were the ultimate rationale and slogan of the terrorist thugs who claimed it was patriotic to invade the Capitol with incendiary devices, weapons to kill, gear to take hostages, and nooses prepared to hang those not loyal enough to their hateful cause. What counts is this was a coup attempt by Trump's terrorist supporters with their announced and insinuated purpose of keeping Trump in power, overturning the election and the electoral college, and setting him up as a dictator who would carry out their hateful agenda.
What should happen to those who led and participated in the mob violence and terror attack? They need to pay for their actions It starts at the head, Donald Trump himself. Imagine if he had indeed won the election on Nov. 3? Four more years of this is unimaginable. We narrowly dodged his bullets. He will be gone from the White House no matter what happens. But just losing an election is not enough punishment for sedition or for his years of incitement. He cannot get off scot-free. We must deter any wannabe dictator in the future. A slap on the hand or condemning words would not hurt enough to stop anyone.
What he deserves for breaking the law as spelled out in federal statutes for the offense of sedition, is 20 years in prison. The general consensus is that will not happen, though it could be attempted. The most likely results of holding him accountable are not punishment enough, but at least they will get him out of our sight short term but will leave him, though, free to foment more sedition Under the threat of a second impeachment, he could consider a transaction he understands, the Nixon solution: resign and his VP Pence pardons him before January 20. The risk he takes if he does not leave of his own volition is the Senate may come close to finding him guilty even after he leaves, and he loses his pension, secret service protection, and the ability to run for office again. There is talk that the impeachment will be delayed until later to give the Biden administration space to get the business of governing and their most pressing agenda underway. Whatever happens, Trump must pay a price that hurts him. Otherwise, we have just given a blueprint for any future wannabe dictator who thinks he has a way to get away with a power grab. Passions may cool with delay, but impeachment action should never be canceled. He must be held accountable in some way and impeachment is the only power Congress has been given to do that. What he will experience in the meantime is constant reports of his Trumpist terrorists facing justice and sentenced to jail and he will not be in office to pardon them if they are found guilty.
Perhaps, though not for sure, enough Americans who once supported Trump's lies and attempted coups will come to their senses and vote out the elected officials who supported him and lied to them. The Mark of T will be on the public and official records of those trumpist enablers for years because their words and deeds have been recorded in social media and with their votes in Congress.
These are Trump's bullets we just dodged, the end of democracy, and a tumultuous future. Once democracy is gone, it will be too late to get it back easily. Peaceful transitions of power are a rarity. History is instructive of how this can play out in violent revolution and counter-revolution. It is not a pretty outcome. Mr. Guillotine in the French Revolution, the inventor of the more "humane" mechanics of beheading, himself was executed by the guillotine in the Reign of Terror that followed. What goes around can come around. What stands as a barrier to the cycle of bloody violence is adherence to our Constitution and the rule of law which was established by our country's founders a few years before the French Revolution. However, as we witnessed on January 6, the country saw how fragile democracy is. Its survival will still depend on the power of the people to continue it peacefully. It is not too late.
Parts of our democracy remained firm. In that I find some optimism. The military joint chiefs and the judiciary, a number of governors from both parties, the FBI did not wobble from their allegiance to the Constitution. On the backs of them we can rebuild and continue with democracy. It just takes our will to do it.
Trump Supporters' Main Problem Was Never The Economy | HuffPost
January 21, 2021, Why have a trial in the Senate and or have a commission to report on the January 6 insurrection? Trump is no longer president. An impeachment trial or a commission might answer some questions. , Puzzling was what role did Trump think the military would play in overturning the Nov. 3 vote?. Did he have a plan and conspired with others, or did the riot just erupt organically after Trump uttered his inciteful words? The latter is hard to believe since the rioters who came to the preceding rally were well equipped for violence, helmets, body armor, lethal and non-lethal weapons, and plastic ties for use as handcuffs to hold people as prisoners or hostages or worse. Earlier, Trump had replaced civilian control of the military with his unqualified yes men with the ability to order the active military into action into civilian streets.. Why was the decision by the Pentagon to permit calling out the national guards delayed two hours after the first frantic calls from officials besieged or alarmed by the rioters.? . The various secretaries of the armed forces had made it clear earlier they would not call out the active military unless it was an insurrection, but to approve the national guard mobilization still required Pentagon approval. Would the chaos in the Capitol really result in the disruption of the electoral college vote, or would it have sparked a reason for Trump to declare martial law:, Was it realistic to expect holding a gun to the head of Pelosi and a noose around Pence's neck force them to sign a document that Trump won the electoral vote? In short, what was the end game other than simply disrupting the Congressional vote on the certification of the electoral college? Was it all an excuse to declare martial law, rush in troops to "save" Pelosi and Pence, and keep Trump in power? If the goal was to disrupt the certification, they failed. Congress reassembled five hours later and held the vote. Capturing Pelosi and Pence, failed, too, because of the quick action of the Capitol Police. The martial law angle is no fantasy of an imaginative mind since General Mike Flynn, pardoned by Trump and a reported follower of QAnon, had advocated for Trump's declaration of martial law to keep the President in power for a second term by holding another election. QAnon ideology and supporters believed that martial law would be declared by Trump. Flynn's brother, a Pentagon general, was in on the debate meetings of whether to OK the intervention of the national guards, though his role in this or his political affinity is not clear. The Pentagon brass did OK the calling up of the national guards, though their actual intervention was many hours away and too late to deal with the rioters.
Michael Flynn: Trump should impose martial law to overturn election - Business Insider
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/brendan-hunt-guilty-threatening-assault-murder-members-congress/index.html
Update: January 23, 2021
- The outgoing secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday decried multiculturalism as un-American.
- "Our enemies stoke these divisions because they know they make us weaker," he said.
Words from me: an old white woman. So now we learn his true self and what an awful representative to the world he is as a secretary of state. Good riddance. America is for all,, not for old white men...Thank goodness he is a fossil. We are in the midst of a great demographic shift, and white Americans have the choice of accepting it, working with it, or fighting it. Demographics march on and those fighting it will lose to arithmetic and numbers, but those fighting it will only make the transition more difficult for my children and grandchildren. We saw the violent manifestation of that on January 6
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