Friday, January 08, 2021

What Wednesday Was

      This will cost me readers.  Since they'll all be people who can't face the truth, I won't miss them.

      The events of Wednesday, 6 January 2021 were an attempted coup.  It failed.  Poorly planned, poorly executed, helped along by a police force whose chief and senior officers decided to treat the counting of Electoral College votes as just another day, but a coup nevertheless.

      The insurrectionists beat one policeman to death with a fire extinguisher.  They murdered him while their fellows waved "thin blue line" and "law and order" flags.  Update: while officers were assaulted by rioters that day and one policeman later died, early reports of an officer having been beaten to death with a fire extinguisher were incorrect.  More information on the deaths and the reporting here.

      And they came directly from a rally where the President of the United States and other speakers riled them up and then pointed them at the Capital.  Oh, he never came out and said, "Storm the place!"  He started by saying, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," but that lead into repeating disproven claims of election fraud and telling the crowd, "We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore," and "So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, [...], and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… The Democrats are hopeless. They’re never voting for anything, not even one vote. But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country."

      Nope, he never told them to break into the Capitol and rush into the House and Senate chambers.  He didn't have to.  He aimed them at Vice-President Pence: "I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope so. I hope so because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election. All he has to do. [...] All Vice-President Pence has to do is send it back to the States to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people."  Of course, Mike Pence had already said he would follow the Constitution (which gives him no such power) and not kowtow to the President's whims.

      The President of the United States (and his allies) incited a coup on Wednesday.  It was inept, ham-handed, and his mob lost despite Pearl-Harboring an unprepared Capitol police force. 

      Mr. Trump should be removed -- resignation, Article 25 or impeachment.  He's a traitor hiding behind a screen of only slightly plausible denial.  The only thing that kept events from being worse was that he and his most fervent followers are incapable of effective organization.  

     Thanks to Mr. Trump's efforts to undermine faith in Georgia's elections, the GOP has lost control of the Senate and Mr. Biden's Administration is coming in with a compliant Congress, a discredited opposition and a worried Washington.  Whatever bad laws and policies result, conservatives will have helped provide renewed impetus for them.  I hope you're very happy with the damage you have done in the service of a cult of personality.

13 comments:

mostly cajun said...

You mis-read what happened.

Antibubba said...

It won't cost you THIS reader. You're one of the few rational bloggers remaining.

Roberta X said...

So, mostly cajun, did I "mis-read" this, or is it a call to arms at the rally that preceded the attempted overthrow of the legitimate U. S. government?
https://twitter.com/eshap/status/1347335408783413249?s=20

Take your time. And don't forget to consider 1933-45 when composing your reply.

Comrade Misfit said...

Well said, Bobbi.

RandyGC said...

Not losing me as a reader, but I do disagree with you on this point.

What happened was stupid, counterproductive to the stated goals (such as they were)of the group, and dangerous to The Republic for reasons you stated, but I don't believe that "coup" is an accurate term. I'm much more prepared to accept "insurrection", but I'm not even that far at this point.

Which doesn't mean that I might not change my view.

While I disagree, I don't think your interpretation is out on the fringes, and see how you came to it. And reading you helps keep me honest.

So,if you don't mind, I'll stick around.

Glenn Kelley said...

Trump exploits the ability of people to have two opposing beliefs at the same time .

You have a great skill for pointing out discrepancies .

Anonymous said...

I'll go with RandyGC's position.

Can't help but wonder if that bunch of loons actually thought they could influence the counting of the votes and reverse the election . . . before the cavalry arrived in force.

Guess it's fortunate that they did believe it, because it sure made the ultimate resolution considerably easier and predictable.

I'll hang around. Keep it up. :-)

Eck! said...

When FUD meets conspiracy theory that is the result.

I think you nailed it the best basement dwellers that could be
drawn out. it was an attempt by the inept with mad skillz.


Its the after we have to deal with and again I do agree, it's
going to be a hot mess. Maybe it won't, we shall see.

I keep reading, why because you work to see and stimulate
ideas. Keep writing.

Eck!

Ed Jones said...

BS. Bye

Roberta X said...

Thanks to everyone who is sticking around.

Ed Jones, bye, and remember that you called quotes from a Presidential speech "BS." It seems disrespectful, but hey, you do you.

waepnedmann said...

RandyGC +1

I come here for reasoned thought.
You do not disappoint.

Denise L. said...

I appreciate you being a breath of fresh air. My politics are my own. I am more of a moderate. I have even voted Republican if the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. No more. Oh my goodness, no more.

What is sad is that I may be buying fewer books this year from people I used to really like. As much as I love what these folks write, some of what has come out on the blogs from folks has made it difficult to support them financially. It really sucks.

Please, keep doing you. Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Haven't checked in since Insurrection Day, so I'm just getting caught up.

I've been registered GOP since 1980, but I've never been a straight-ticket guy. I have a brain and use it once in awhile.

The insurrection finally knocked me off my dead ass and switched to No Party.

Populism and demagoguery usually have bad outcomes. We've been relatively lucky.

Keep on keeping on!