Insurrection


Reading time – 2:49; Viewing time – 3:49  .  .  .

Updated 1/9/21 – see Last Question above the end photo.

Hatred and distrust of government didn’t start with Ronald Reagan saying, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'” There was plenty of ill feeling about government long before then, but he did a great job of fanning the flames to ensure there were a lot of pissed off people who would vote for the Republicans who fed their biases.

That pattern has continued all the way to today, but there are stark differences. Now there is no facet of reality that is safe from attack and denial if it feeds a politician’s self-interest. Now there is no lie too obscene to tell if it feeds a politician’s self-interest. Now there are politicians lying their asses off in supplication to the Insurrectionist-In-Chief. They do that because that’s how they think they’ll keep their jobs, retain a sense of power and inflate their egos.

And their refusal to stand up to what they know with certainty is wrong encourages more and worse destruction of our democracy and our national safety.

Hate-filled, angry mobs stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. The felons trespassed, rioted, vandalized, threatened, disrupted democracy, planted at least one bomb in the Capitol Building and four people died in their insurrection. I just have a few questions about all that.

  1. Trump invited angry mobs to show up that day, including the Proud Boys and neo-Nazis. Their arrival was no surprise to anyone. The authorities had days – perhaps weeks- to prepare. Why were they totally unprepared and grossly short of manpower to deal with the lawbreakers? Note that this happened on federal property, so it wasn’t a DC Police issue. Somebody in the federal government failed us all.
  2. Why wasn’t the DC National Guard stationed around the Capitol Building by 6:00AM? Everyone knew an angry mob was going to show up.
  3. Where were the Homeland Security thugs who terrorized Portland, Milwaukee and other cities last summer? The excuse given for sending them to those cities was to protect federal property. By that logic, there was no better place for them to be on January 6 than at the Capitol Building, but they were nowhere to be seen.
  4. Why were there so few arrests made? Most were for curfew violations, not insurrection. Why aren’t the DC jails jammed full of perps?
  5. What do you think would have happened if that same number of protesters showed up, but instead of being right wingnuts they were Black Lives Matter protesters, like the peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square Park last summer that Trump brutalized and excoriated?
  6. Where are the cops in riot gear with the scary black SWAT vehicles to intimidate the bad guys?

There is a lot to learn and there are new procedures to establish, but the most urgent, critical action is:

Impeach Donald Trump immediately so that
he can never again hold federal office.

Oh, wait: that would require Senate Republicans to find a spine.

Never mind.

In a different moment of far right hate and bile spewing, John Lewis implored, “We’re better than this.”

In his address yesterday Joe Biden said, “This is not who we are.” I have news for both of them.

We are not better than this. But we could be.

And this is exactly who we are. But we don’t have to be this way.

Last question (for now)

Just suppose that Russia participated in this insurrection and had agents in the crowd. Given their years of cyber invasion, that seems likely. On a lower level of the Capitol Building are vaults containing some of America’s most critical and vital secrets. So,

Did the Russian bad guys access our national security information? And if so, what would you like to say to the flag waving insurrectionists who assaulted democracy, made way for the foreign spies, yet who stunningly believe themselves to be true patriots?

“When fascism comes to America it will be wearing a flag and carrying a cross.” – Henry Wallace, FDR’s second Vice President

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4 Responses to Insurrection

  1. Daniel Giallombardo January 7, 2021 Reply

    Jack,

    As usual, you are right smack on the center of the target. I think the man needs to be removed from office IMMEDIATELY and sent to a locked-down psychiatric hospital. He is sick and he needs to be taken out of office.

    When the Declaration of Independence was written it spoke eloquently of our ideals as a nation. Often we fail to live up to those ideals; often we fail so badly we cannot even see what was our intended goal. The Constitution makes a remedy for the kind of being that Trump is. I say “being” because I cannot in good conscience call him a man. Men walk upright; they don’t slither in the mud and work evil on the very people who they are elected to represent. What do you think Putin is doing right now? Wringing his hands in despair? Let’s try that again, whet do you think Putin is doing right now? I’ve an idea that part of this demonstration originated in the Kremlin and part in the Oval Office. Trump, in MY estimation, isn’t smart enough to think of it himself.

    –Dan

  2. Amy Tucker January 7, 2021 Reply

    You asked me for examples of white privilege the other day. This is one of the most poignant examples of it!!!!!

  3. Jim Altschuler January 7, 2021 Reply

    Why were the wingnuts who violently assaulted the Capitol bldg. and democracy on 1/6/21 treated relatively gently (no extra officers, practically no body armor, tear gas rarely used even when the police were being pushed back from their ‘defensive’ positions’, etc.) as compared to the peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters who were met by 1,000’s of police and National Guard who clubbed, gassed, assaulted, and arrested (like goon squads)? Could it be that the Federal government and its policing forces, whatever names they may be rightfully called by, are racists? Racists who automatically treat white folks (like neo-Nazis, skinheads, etc.) who are threatening Federal buildings and personnel and congressional representatives more gently and cautiously, some might say with kid gloves? No white folks being beaten into submission or having their necks knelt on. No siree! Kinda makes me say, “Hmmm”.

  4. JOAN E LINDGREN January 7, 2021 Reply

    Apparently, that mob had been broadcasting their intensions on social media for a long time. The police, National Guard, Capitol police were PART OF THE BREAK IN!! I think the security failure was because Trump got rid of the usual people who have protected these buildings in the past……because Trump replaced them all with those “secret militias” who showed up in Portland, Michigan and elsewhere.