Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
I was just reading about the criminal charges for the Brazil insurrection in 2022 and was wondering if the 2021 insurrection in the US was at least a partial inspiration. The article was Bolsonaro and Allies Planned a Coup, Brazil Police Say and it starts like this:
Continue reading “Was January 6 insurrection an inspiration for the Brazil insurrection?”
I’ll start by saying this is a frightening book. But then we do live in frightening times. The title is They Want to Kill Americans by Malcolm Nance. When I first saw the title, I immediately thought of foreign terrorists.
But I quickly realized a was wrong. The subtitle (The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency) gives that away. This book is about Americans who wanted to kill other Americans who disagree with them.
Continue reading “They Want to Kill Americans”
Will former President Donald Trump be prosecuted for crimes in his efforts to remain in office despite his clear election loss? I think he should.
There was an article in Just Security a few days ago that lays out the case that his role in the Insurrection of Jan 6 warrants criminal prosecution. It is well worth reading no matter how you would answer my title question.
The official stance of the Republican Party is now that the January 6 committee is persecuting “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse”. Do these look like ordinary citizens to you?
Picture and credit from It’s only the beginning of the Capitol terror hunt
You may want to watch the whole video. It is long but it gives a good idea on what the present Republican Party considers “legitimate political discourse”.
It was a bit over a year ago when a mob attacked the US Capitol to disrupt the electoral count and install their choice as President. This is the first attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in our country’s history. This insurrection was based on a lie, And it is important that we find how it happen and what we can do to prevent a repeat.
The January 6 House select committee was charged to do just that after Republicans blocked a bipartisan commission on this attack. The committee appears to making progress despite Republican opposition and the non-cooperation of some high profile Republicans. Kevin McCarthy is the latest.
Since Rep. McCarthy is the House minority leader I find it unlikely that he knows nothing that could be of interest on the January 6 committee. Is his plan and that of some other non-cooperating Republicans to just stall until Republicans can take the House and kill any investigation? If that seems likely to you, you might want to think twice about voting for any Republican in the election later this year.
Today is the 11th month anniversary of the January 6 attack on our Capitol (It’s only the beginning of the Capitol terror hunt and Insurrection based on a lie.) Let’s call that disgrace #1.
Continue reading “A national disgrace or 6 disgraces”
After Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol and Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected 2 of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy nominees for the House Select Committee (which was her right as Speaker under the terms of the bill establishing the committee), Kevin McCarthy pulled his other 3 members from the committee.
As of now, it looks like the committee will go forward with only the 1 Republican nominated by the Speaker. Kevin McCarthy says he will have his own investigation which is surprising since he and other members of his party seemed opposed to investigating this attack.
Since the Minority Leader will not participate and has threatened any who accept the Speaker’s invitation, perhaps the Speaker will fill those empty slots with reasonable Republicans. In any case I hope this investigation by the House Select Committee will help us better understand this attack on the United States Capitol.
I have taken what I think is or should be a non-controversial position on the January 6 insurrection on the US Capitol. I favor a nonpartisan investigation into what happened when a pro-Trump mob attempted to storm the Capitol to prevent certification of the Presidential election and maybe in the process manage to hang the vice-president and kill a few members of Congress. In the process a number of police officers were killed or injured. Who would oppose such an investigation?
Continue reading “Nancy Pelosi is right”
This flag is our flag. It is the flag of the United States. It belongs to all Americans. Sadly, it is often used by one side who feel they are the true Americans.
All American citizens should see the flag as a symbol of America, not one party. They only citizens who seem to be hypocritical in displaying the flag are those who assaulted our Capital and especially those who used our country’s flag to attack police officers protecting Congress or those who supported that Insurrection.
Speaking of the Insurrection. Has Kevin McCarthy named anyone to committee investigating the Insurrection? It has been 5 days. Is there a deadline or can he stall indefinitely?
Insurrection is defined as “the act or an instance of revolting esp. violently against civil or political authority or against an established government”. Seems to describe well the events of January 6 in our Capitol. And was based on Donald Trump’s lie and his direction to his followers.
An Insurrection based on a lie.
The NY Times put together a video of the attack on our Capitol and it is well worth watching.
Although Republicans have blocked a bipartisan Congressional inquiry into the insurrection, the House has been able to form a select committee to learn what went wrong and how we can fix it.
We need to understand why and how the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol occurred. There is something very wrong and we need to understand it. We also need to know how on how we can prevent future attacks.
Continue reading “January 6 House select committee”
The Republican party used to be highly principled and an important part of our democracy. But now they seem to oppose the very idea of democracy. I liked them better when the were opposing “big D” Democrats, not “little d” democracy. The party now seems to be about retaining power at all costs. See my previous post Are Republicans the enemy of democracy? for more.
Continue reading “Republicans oppose democracy”
Back in September I thought President Trump should be impeached for his refusal to commit to peaceful transition of power if was is not re-elected. Now that his refusal and associated events has lead to a terrorist attack on our Capitol is it time to impeach yet?
Federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia are beginning to find and charge some those who invaded the Capitol on January 6 (1/6 if need a short term). The apparent goal of the terrorists was to overturn the results of the 2020 election. They failed.
Continue reading “It’s only the beginning of the Capitol terror hunt”
I am still trying to understand the recent terrorist attack on our nation’s Capitol. The apparent goal of the mob was to overturn the results of the 2020 election by preventing the counting of Electoral College votes. No matter what your political views, you should find this very disturbing.
Continue reading “Brief history of terrorist attacks on the Capitol”