The Insurrection Happened

 

Despite the efforts of many on the right to revise, rewrite, and cover over the actual events of January 6^th, 2021, that day’s violence was real. Those were not patriots visiting their seat of government, it was a mob sent by the president to disrupt the certification of a free, fair, and legal election because he lost. There were armed groups of thugs, carrying clubs, zip ties, bear spray, and hidden weapons. The groups were, in some cases, parts of militia organizations formed previously in opposition to the Federal Government and called to DC by the president to defend his election lies. Shouting “Hang Mike Pence” some members erected a gallows on the Capitol grounds. Others broke the equipment used by TV crews and threatened those covering the event. Still others used flagpoles, fence posts, and batons to attack police officers defending the grounds and the building. Many officers were severely injured with concussions, loss of an eye and poisonings, heart attacks, and suicides. The GAO reported 174 police officers were injured and seven deaths resulted from the riots.

The Capitol architect reported that damage to the Capitol itself was expected to exceed 30 million dollars while the General Accounting Office (GAO) noted an ultimate expense of 2.7 Billion dollars in estimated costs if the damage to the Capitol, costs borne by police and federal agencies, and the expenses to add security to the grounds and investigate these crimes were all calculated. The GAO further estimated that between 2000 to 2500 mob members entered the Capitol, although there were thousands more around the building façade and on the grounds.

At no time during the height of the insurrection did the man who encouraged their rage, the president, attempt to calm them down, encourage a retreat, or ask them to back off. Staffers report he watched the events on TV and enjoyed the show. In her book, Cassidy Hutchinson reported, in her Congressional testimony, that he wanted to join them at the Capitol after his speech, but the Secret Service would not allow the trip.

Even today, the conspiracy theorists on the right and their Maga friends claim that Antifa (anti-fascists) attacked the Capitol. Others claimed that members of the FBI orchestrated the entire event to make the president look bad. Those claims are not true and the arrest data confirms this. They have charged over 1265 in all 50 states, according to a Department of Justice report. 213 individuals have pleaded guilty to felonies. 505 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. 130 defendants have pleaded guilty to assaulting or obstructing law enforcement during a civil proceeding. Four of the above have pleaded guilty to charges of seditious conspiracy in addition to the felony charges. To date, 749 individuals have been convicted and received incarceration or home detention. Other court proceedings are ongoing as the public continues to help identify the rioters. Three known fugitives were arrested as recently as this week. Not one of those admitting guilt is an Atifa member.

Still, when he received copies of the January 6^th tapes from the Select Committee, House Speaker Michael Johnson said he would blur the faces of those in the Capitol before he released the tapes, to make it more difficult for the FBI to identify them. Republican members of Congress who narrowly escaped the marauding horde, as they ran to their secret hide-a-way, and condemned the actions broadly, now are pretending it was all a walk in the park. There is a saying that if a lie is repeated often enough, it is accepted. This is what the Maga folks and their surrogates are trying to do. Right-wing media is promoting this packet of lies so much that many voters in Iowa, where the first Republican votes are scheduled next week, can parrot out the same claims, no matter how fantastic they seem. They don’t ask the obvious questions, such as why would over 1000 individuals plead guilty to crimes they did not commit? If it wasn't true, why would many defendants testify under oath that they came to the Capitol that day because their president urged them to come and "stop the steal"? (I know using logic to destroy these lies does not work, as a reporter noted tonight. He tried telling an Iowan voter that he was at the Capitol that day and could vouch for the fact that Antifa was not there.)

Because DJT has perfected the art of lying, his tactics baffled many of us who rely on truth-telling for our daily lives. But they are tactics in his war on truth. He just makes up stuff and uses whatever seems to work. An example is the tale about the two election workers in Georgia discussed previously. The lies made for a good story. The ladies were black women ‘whom no one cared about’, so they made good victims to pick on. It mattered little to him or Giuliani that these lies subjected them to threats, destroyed their usual lives, and cost them their jobs.

So, as the campaign season gets into full gear, we will hear more and more lies, some more preposterous than others. President Biden gave a speech this week where he spoke about the threats to democracy from DJT and his refusal to live by the rule of law and respect the Constitution. The next day, they accused Biden of being ant-democratic and against the Constitution in tweets from the Maga crowd and DJT. Projection is a known psychological ploy. The next several months promise to be a rocky roller-coaster ride for the American public. I just wish that the media would stop giving this the “both sides” treatment and speak out more on how aberrant it is to have a major candidate for president of the US, just make stuff up and not care to speak the truth.

“Til next week-Peace!