The Army of the Deplorables assaults the US Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
Overheated rhetoric deployed against overheated rhetoric is like spraying gasoline on a fire. The events at the Capitol last Wednesday were awful enough; exaggerating them serves no purpose.
- It was not an attempted coup. A coup seeks to assume the power of government, something these morons were obviously not equipped to do, and to be objective were not trying to do. To the extent they had a strategy it was apparently to delay the certification of the Electoral College vote for president.
- But it is not at all clear that there was a strategy, an overall plan. By appearances they were just a mob, rioting, and mobs have IQs that equal the average shoe size of their members. Clearly, some of them wanted to kill and maim, others wanted to trash, and some wanted to take pictures of the pretty statues and selfies of their grand adventure.
3. It is not at all clear there was collusion by the Capitol Police, as some are alleging. The famous videos purporting to show the police opening the barriers for the mob and an officer posing for a selfie with a rioter are ambiguous at best. On the other hand the videos showing officers being chased, beaten and throttled are quite clear.
4. What is also clear is that there was rampant incompetence among the leadership of the Capitol Police. Their outer perimeter was feeble, their response to rapidly escalating force was bewilderment, and their last-ditch line of defense was simply nonexistent. For long moments the only thing between the mob and the Congress in session was some furniture and a handful of guys with handguns.
5. Much is being made of delays in calling out and deploying the national Guard. These complaints are being made by people such as the chief of the Capitol Police, who should have arranged for reinforcements days before this happened. The Guard is made up of citizen soldiers, who have to be called from their jobs and homes, assembled, outfitted and transported. You don’t wait until the house is fully involved before you notify the fire department. (That being said, the sergeants at arms of the House and Senate, and the Defense Department, are going to have to explain their delays in approving Guard involvement.)
6.While it is outrageous that the mob was allowed to walk away from the carnage and go home, it seems more attributable to the total disarray of the police forces than any intent. And it has been wonderful to discover that we still have an FBI capable of reaching out to the farthest corners of the country to slam cell doors on these goons. Seeing the adjacent photos of the smirking vandals prancing through the Capitol and their subdued mug photos 48 hours later has been a refreshing tonic.
7. Of course Trump was responsible, but trying to prove criminal incitement to riot is going to be extremely difficult using a transcript of what he said to that crowd; he hedged, and used weasel words, and hinted, and winked, but did not tell them to do what they did. Impeach him? Of course. Not to deprive him of a couple days in office but to establish beyond doubt that in this country neither the president nor any other person is above the law. And to disqualify him from ever holding office again.
“One if by land, two if by sea.” Longfellow
Three sides to every story, that side, this side and the truth.
“but at the length truth will out.” Shakespeare- Merchant of Venice 1596
Redress of grievances? Get outta town.
I should preface this by saying that I do not support Trump — but I feel it’s imperative that a populace being subjected to a predatory government — a textbook oligarchy according to the Princeton study — needs to rise up. Ideally, this would not happen through violence, but we all know what JFK said about that, and there’s been an awful lot of peaceful revolution made impossible lately (I’m pointing a finger at the DNC in particular).
The left in this country seems to be particularly skilled at telling themselves that “it’s not so bad — no need for me to put down the remote and go do something, eh?” despite all the blatant election chicanery over the last two presidential primaries.
It should be clear to all involved that our favorite feudal lords will not let us just walk into their gated compounds without a fight. Better to be part of the process when it occurs rather than watching from the sidelines, unless we’d also be happy with a fully fascist government.
OK, dig it; what if the Democrats – lizard people that they are – manipulated the schedules of the various law enforcement agencies in the DC area to make certain that there would be only a skeleton security force assigned to the Capitol on that ill-fated afternoon, thereby making it easy, perhaps even inviting, for the redneck horde there gathered to storm the building? That way, the Dems could gain precious political traction by blaming the hapless Trump for fomenting the resultant ‘insurrection’…Now there’s a conspiracy theory for ya! It all fits, no?
Fits, but like almost all conspiracy theories, is far beyond the capabilities of the accused.
https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/pramila-jayapal-surviving-capitol-riots.html
Jayapal was hiding with unmasked Republicans — now has tested positi9ve for COVID. Good to hear from you, Gail, miss your blogging.
Thanks Tom. I always enjoy reading your opinions but in this case I think you are wrong. In fact one of the reasons I don’t blog anymore is that our society is hurtling towards full blown fascism and I don’t fancy being in the vanguard of camp inmates. This is a very good article cautioning against the sort of appeasement rationale you delineate. https://eand.co/america-needs-to-break-the-back-of-its-fascist-movement-now-or-else-d415b4b75a3f
I have never, and will never, advocate anything close to appeasement for these morons. To point out that they are far weaker, more disorganized and dumber than they appear is not the same thing as saying we ought to give in to them. I want every sonofabitch who violated the Capitol last week in prison, and if they try anything similar at the inauguration I’m all for opening fire.
I assume you have the same opinion of all the rioters throughout America for the last couple of years. Lock up every single one of them – yes?
Your nation is failing because the energy is running out. Promises and standards are impossible to keep up. Best make up learn to tolerate each other or get busy killing each other. Time is running out.
Yes, all rioters who break the law should be prosecuted. However, the right to peacefully assemble to redress grievances is not only legal, but specifically protected by the Constitution.
“Yes, all rioters who break the law should be prosecuted. However, the right to peacefully assemble to redress grievances is not only legal, but specifically protected by the Constitution.”
Good to hear.
You know, there was this rather hirsute gentleman in the Capitol riots who wore a horned helmet and painted his face with all the colors of the American flag. Thought he was rather good-looking. Pity he wasn’t more well-built, or he’d definitely be Hollywood or WWE material. :P
(I know this comment isn’t exactly all that pertinent, but with all the depressing suckage weighing down on us these days, I think a joke ought to lighten the mood at least a little…)
Oh yes, Jake Angeli of Arizona, the QAnon shaman…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/jake-angeli-qanon-shaman-stormed-capitol-b1784091.html
I thought he was quite entertaining. I don’t think he actually engaged in vandalism — he just shouted and ranted, and pretended to be the Speaker of the House.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/01/08/why-trumps-mob-capitol-hurt-his-legacy/6588791002/
I saw the dude you are talking about. I could have flipped him on his back with my pinky finger.
Then I would’ve helped him up, being as I am, a nominal Buddhist.
I thought Officer Daniel Hodges (the officer who as almost crushed to death in a metal doorway) was pretty fine. Though in the subsequent interview of him by the media, he was wearing a mask and his eyes suggested he hadn’t been sleeping well lately.
I’m a bit concerned about the reaction of facebook, twitter, and amazon in banning Trump and tens of thousands of other accounts from their plaforms/removing Parlor. Looks like quite the crackdown on voices the mainstream don’t like.
I’m not a Trump supporter, a right-winger, a twitter or facebook user, or even an American, but the implications for freedom of speech worry me.
Yes. Me, too.
Not quite the Big One, but “a” big one anyway. “And who could have predicted… ” – anybody who woke up that morning could have predicted this. The rioters were broadcasting their plans; the president told them to go ahead. And miracle of miracles! Security was at a minimum.
Incompetence is a first-line explanation for many things, but the special force that guards DC was already activated, and the FBI had already intercepted the “leaders.” Many people saw this coming, yet most of the 2,000 members of the Capitol Police were not on duty. I suppose we’ll be told they were hoping for the best?
It’s also clear the rioters had inside help. They found offices the average person would never know existed. Some went straight to the media suite, probably hoping to broadcast a coup on live TV or something. How did they know what was there?
I do expect some of the truth to come out, after the right people sit in jail for long enough.
Also, I suspect Trump and his cronies has something to do with the inadequate police-presence at this demonstration-turned-riot-turned-borderline-insurrection.
After The Sacred Landslide by David Roth
This one really says it all, albeit with an overabundance of purple prose.
Really good article. Thanks!…Also, a little purple prose never hurt anyone.