January 6 2021 Insurrection

Joe Biden Goes After “MAGA” Republicans As 2022 Midterm Election Campaign Begins!

President Joe Biden went on the offensive yesterday in Maryland, making clear what the issues are, as the Midterm Elections 2022 campaign has begun.

He attacked the “MAGA” Republicans, those who back and support Donald Trump even after all of the horrors of the January 6, 2021 Insurrection have been exposed!

This is the beginning of a nationwide campaign, and Biden was fired up, and looks in great shape as he speaks, inspired by true commitment to exposing the dangers of “MAGA” Republicans!

Biden said violence and hatred have been promoted by the “MAGA” Republicans, and called them “Semi Fascists”!

He said American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law are in danger.

He made it clear that abortion rights, climate change, voting rights, gun threats, college student loan debt forgiveness, and protection of Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Benefits from proposed Republican desire to phase these “entitlements” out in a five year period, are part of the Democratic Party crusade!

He made it clear he could work with Conservative Republicans such as Larry Hogan, the outgoing governor of Maryland. But he was clearly backing away from the concept of working “across the aisle” with extremist right wing Republicans, and attacked Donald Trump as a “defeated” former President!

A Contrast In Two Republican Women: Day Of Reckoning Tuesday For Liz Cheney, Sarah Palin!

Two Republican women politicians face the voters this coming Tuesday.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney, whose father is former Vice President Dick Cheney, faces what seems like a certain defeat for her statewide Congressional seat in Wyoming, as Harriet Hageman, endorsed by Donald Trump, is up to 30 points ahead in various polls.

This author and blogger does not agree with Liz Cheney on just about anything, except her courageous, principled stand against Donald Trump and his incitment of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, the most dangerous threat to American government institutions since the War of 1812.

She has worked as co-chair, with another Republican, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, on the January 6 House Committee, and has endured vicious attacks and repudiation by her Republican House colleagues.

She is a “Profile in Courage”, as is Kinzinger, and they are on the right side of history, against the great evil of MAGA, the right wing Fascist movement led by the most corrupt and dangerous President America has ever experienced!

It seems likely, assuming she loses her Congressional seat, that Liz Cheney will mount a Presidential campaign, if for nothing else, than to split Republican and conservative votes and insure that Donald Trump, or anyone who runs in his place for President as a Trump supporter, is defeated for the Presidency.

The survival of American democracy is at stake with Liz Cheney’s battle against evil!

On the other hand, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate in the Presidential Election of 2008, is coming out of the “woodwork”, and plaguing us again with her inane, dumb, clueless candidacy for the open House seat in her state, caused by the death of long term Congressman Don Young.

Sarah Palin is part of the extremist right wing, divisive deterioration of the Republican Party in the past quarter century, and as a supporter of Donald Trump, it is hoped she will be repudiated by the voters, as she has nothing positive to offer her state.

If she is elected to the House, she will be an annoying figure such as Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, so hopefully she can be rejected, and returned to private life!

The Situation Facing Attorney General Merrick Garland

There seems to be enough grounds to have Donald Trump prosecuted by the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland for the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

But indictment is the first step, while trial and conviction are much more complicated.

The charges that could be used to indict Donald Trump include:

Obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, the Electoral College vote by the Vice President of the United States

Seditious Conspiracy against the US government

Conspiracy to defraud the US Government, making fraudulent statements

The first two seem the most likely to move forward, but there is no certainty that such a case would be won in Court, and the Supreme Court, controlled by right wing conservatives, could rule in an appeal in favor of Donald Trump.

But if the thought is that prosecution would not succeed is the ultimate decision, then it sends a message to future Presidents that they can escape accountability.

It would set a standard that there are two systems of justice, so there are ramifications of prosecuting, including political turmoil, but also of choosing NOT to prosecute!

Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania Republican Gubernatorial Nominee, Clear And Present Danger!

Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania, is seen as a clear and present danger, were he to be elected.

He is an extreme far right winger, promoting Christian nationalism, the idea that there is no separation of church and state, and he has embraced Q-Anon conspiracy theories.

Additionally, he was involved in the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021, and breached US Capitol police barriers, although claiming not being involved in assault and destruction.

He is Isamophobic, antisemitic, and homophobic, and has promoted September 11 conspiracy theories in the past.

Mastriano comes across as unhinged, and nine Pennsylvania Republicans have repudiated him as too extremist for them to support him, after he won the gubernatorial nomination with only 40 percent of the vote against multiple candidates more moderate than he is in his views.

He has only been a Pennsylvania State Senator since mid 2019, having spent his career in the military, reaching the level of Colonel in the US Army.

He opposed removal of Confederate monuments, and has been a bitter critic of COVID 19 Policies, including opposing masking, and promoting drug treatments that are shown to be sham.

Mastriano has made clear that if elected, he would appoint a Secretary of State who would only accept that the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024 won the state’s electoral votes, no matter what the popular vote demonstrates.

He is against any exceptions for abortion, including rape, incest, and life of the mother; and supports gun rights without restrictions; and is a major critic of the Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Also, Mastriano has said his governorship, if elected, would be much more right wing conservative than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, calling him an “amateur”!

Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro leads in polls, but every effort to prevent this right wing extremist from being elected must be mounted, as Mastriano’s election would be disastrous for Pennsylvania and American politics!

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post And Wall Street Journal Turn Against Trump, But What About Fox News Channel?

Australian Mogul Rupert Murdoch, the infamous figure who owns the NY Post, Wall Street Journal, and Fox News Channel, has had a change of heart regarding Donald Trump, at least in regards to the first two named media sources.

It has taken a year and a half since the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection for Murdoch and his publications to condemn Donald Trump for the criminal actions that took place, in denial of zero evidence of an election that was a clearcut win for Joe Biden.

But one wonders: what about Fox News Channel, and its major hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and others?

Will they continue to be in strong support of Donald Trump as time moves on?

It will be interesting if there is a backing away of support, but it would not be surprising if contradictions would occur, as Rupert Murdoch is a man of no decency or principle or conscience!

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley: Traitor, Seditionist, And Coward On January 6!

Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was the first Senator to challenge the Electoral Vote count on January 6, 2021, with that famous image of him showing his fist in support of the US Capitol Insurrection.

Now we have seen that Hawley fled the rioters in panic, after having provoked their violence by his gesture, and refusal to accept the results of the Presidential Election of 2020!

There is no debate that he is a clearcut traitor and seditionist, as well as demonstrating that he acted in cowardice!

Hawley has disgraced his oath of office, and should be expelled from the US Senate, and face prosecution and imprisonment!

Instead, however, he is defiant, and plans to continue his treasonous behavior, and it is clear he intends to run for President.

The reaction on Twitter to Hawley’s cowardice on January 6, 2021, is blistering and constant, as well it should be!

Hawley will not have a restful, calm day after what he demonstrated by his behavior on January 6!

Every public place where he appears, he should be booed and jeered at, and the media need to continue to demonstrate that he is a dangerous demagogue who will stop at nothing to gain power!

Former Republican Senator John Danforth, a distinguished mainstream conservative, who had enthusiastically supported Hawley for the Senate race in 2018, condemned him immediately after the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, and many other reputable Republicans and conservatives have called him out as well.

Hawley should be opposed for reelection to the Senate in 2024, if he has not been forced out by Senate action before then, and any Presidential campaign seems likely to be an utter failure.

Josh Hawley will go down in history in infamy, for certain!

The Secret Service Reputation Lies In Tatters With Revelation Of Deleted January 6 Evidence!

The Secret Service, founded in 1865, to track counterfeit money, became the security agency for the President of the United States in 1902, upon the assassination of President William McKinley on September 14, 1901.

It gained a reputation as an excellent agency with the highest standards, protecting every President since Theodore Roosevelt, as well the Vice Presidents, their families, and other top government officials over the years.

They were thought of as reliable, professional, and incorruptible, but in recent years, we have learned about their shortcomings and foibles.

Now, the agency’s reputation lies in tatters, with the revelation of deleted January 6, 2021 evidence at the time of the US Capitol Insurrection.

There is clearly a coverup of the interaction of the Secret Service in the protection of the Vice President, Mike Pence, on that fateful day, when he faced great danger from the mob incited by President Donald Trump.

It is clear that the agency was politicized with so called Trump “loyalists” willing to serve the evil intentions of Donald Trump.

So there is an investigation occurring, which will lead to prosecutions of agents who have not done their jobs in a proper fashion, and reform of the agency is urgent for public confidence to be restored!

From Nelson Rockefeller (1963) To The January 6 2021 Insurrection: Right Wing Threats

Sixty years ago this week, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller denounced the Right Wing threat working to gain control of the Republican Party, and he fought against Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1964.

Goldwater lost massively against President Lyndon B. Johnson, but the seeds had been planted in a movement that now has become a menace to America under Donald Trump, leading to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

But even Barry Goldwater was not as extreme as right wing Republicans now are!

If Trump or a Trumpite follower ends up as the Republican nominee in 2024, the concept of American democracy could be dissolved, as the threat of Barry Goldwater sixty years ago has been far surpassed by many Republicans since the 1990s.

Leading potential Republican nominees besides Trump in 2024 include such as Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, and Rick Scott, among others.

The alarm bell has rung, and the question is whether the diminishing band of mainstream Republicans–such as Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Larry Hogan, Chris Sununu, Chris Christie, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger–many of them far from ideal–can mount a campaign and take the Republican Party back to the center of American politics!

Electoral Count Act Of 1887 Needs To Be Modernized To Avoid Another January 6!

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 needs to be updated and modernized, to avoid another January 6 situation.

Fortunately, a bipartisan group of Senators is at work on this project.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, with the backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is leading a group of Senators, including Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Chris Coons of Delaware to prevent a repeat of the nightmare created in 2021.

It would clarify the Vice President’s role so that there would never be doubt again about the counting of Electoral Votes.

The law of 1887 came ten years after the contested Presidential Election of 1876, where Republican Rutherford B. Hayes became President by a margin of one vote–185-184–over Democrat Samuel Tilden, who had won the popular vote by about 250,000!

The House January 6 Committee Makes It Clear: Donald Trump Promoted Sedition And Revolution, And MUST Be Prosecuted!

If there was any doubt about the criminal involvement of former President Donald Trump in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, yesterday’s hearing of the House January 6 Committee, settled the issue.

Donald Trump conspired with the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys and other domestic terrorists (racist and white supremacist) to provoke violence and bloodshed and stage a coup, endangering the lives of Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and all members of Congress and law enforcement and other staff on Capitol Hill.

Donald Trump is a criminal, the worst since Jefferson Davis and the Confederate States of America, and MUST be prosecuted for sedition and treason by the Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland!

If he is not held accountable, then the danger of further domestic terrorism by extremist right wing groups will flourish, and America could face the loss of its democracy!

And all those around Trump, including family members, and staff and advisers who went along with what he provoked, must also face prosecution!

And members of Congress who helped promote the conspiracy and violence must also be prosecuted, and barred from ever holding public office again!