Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The words do not have to be perfect.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Dump Him ASAP

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Dump Him ASAP

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Thursday Evening Open Thread

(Clay Jones via GoComics.com)
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Turncoats’ chorus cheeps up:

Comic relief, for the bleachers:

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  4. 4.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @germy:

    Like I’ve been saying, he believes all the insane bullshit.  He actually thought Pence could overturn the election.

  6. 6.

    Leto

    “We’re storming the Capitol, it’s a Revolution”

    And they were allowed to just walk out

    Malcom Nance and a retired Capitol Hill officer are MSNBC going over the systemic failures here. So, so many.

  7. 7.

    jc

    Good to see Pelosi clearly pissed off. I’m highly doubtful that Pence will “do the right thing.” He doesn’t have it in him. Just move straight to Impeachment, post haste.

    Nice to see the Dems on top for a change. Something about Augean stables …

  9. 9.

    Punchy

    Isn’t the fear that even attempting to invoke the 25th could send him so far off the edge he attempts to drop a nuke on Mesopotamia?

  11. 11.

    Charluckles

    I can’t get over how many of these a-holes seemed to think that was just a fun lark.

  14. 14.

    The Thin Black Duke

    And deep inside Trump’s skull, Fred is screaming “I KNEW YOU WOULD FUCK IT UP, LOSER!” Again and again, forever.

  15. 15.

    Leto

    @jc:

    Something about Augean stables …

    I was making this point to Avalune earlier tonight and she said, “It only works if you keep the horses out.” Half the country (74M of them) want the horses to keep shitting all over the place. They keep putting the horses back in the stables.

  16. 16.

    MoCA Ace

    Duhhh… “it’s a revolution”

    She should look up the fate of many would-be revolutionaries throughout history. The righteous and the idiots alike. Fucking Trumper should be glad it was just mace!

  17. 17.

    Chetan Murthy

    @planetjanet: In due time, when his or her family is ready, I would hope we patriots can learn his or her name, so we can properly join in mourning a fallen patriot.  Only when their family is ready, though.

  18. 18.

    sab

    @RSA: IANAL, but gives name, address, confesses to breaking and entering activity, and to seditious intent.

    Sweet summer child.

    And five people dead so far.

  20. 20.

    Calouste

    @Chetan Murthy: And strip the pensions from all the Capitol Police officers who took selfies with and held the door open for the insurrectionists, and give them to that family. The others won’t need it anyway, room and board should be provided by the feds for a number of years.

  22. 22.

    Tokyokie

    A dead cop means the whole lot of them could be charged as accessories to capital murder during commission of a felony (sedition). It’s all fun and games until somebody puts an eye out.

  23. 23.

    Yutsano

    HE’S CONCEDING???

    EDIT: In not so many words. But he got forced into back down the rhetoric.

  24. 24.

    Leto

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: again, THEY LIVE STREAMED THEIR CRIMES! They felt emboldened/don’t care. They feel there will be no consequences. We have to, have to disabuse them of that idea.

  25. 25.

    sab

    When in my yoot I went to marches on Washington we approached the Capitol and White House with respect. That was kind of the whole point of going there. We had respect for the institutions and had issues with decisions the current officeholders were making.

    These guys have a completely different mindset.

  26. 26.

    Nicole

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Apparently she lied about where she’s from. She’s been ID’d as someone from Maryland.

    My Nashville-dwelling brother said, “Her alibi was that she was from Knoxville? Never mind, that checks out.” ?

  28. 28.

    Nora

    “We’re storming the capital.  It’s a revolution.  But oh my God, they maced me!  How could they do that?”

    The lack of self-awareness is breathtaking.

  29. 29.

    planetjanet

    @Chetan Murthy: In Mayor Muriel Bowser’s press conference yesterday, acting Chief Contee talked of officers who had fought bravely and who deserve our gratitude.  He mentioned one officer who had fought off the crowd and been seriously beaten and kicked by the mob and taken to the hospital.  Mayor Bowser was asked by a reporter if she was upset with the president and she talked forcefully of having to spend the blood of our officers to defend this country and not have the right to representation.  It was a powerful statement.

  30. 30.

    Gravenstone

    @MoCA Ace: Fucking Trumper should be glad it was just mace!

    Yep. The one who took a round in the 10 ring probably was shocked there were consequences for her idiocy, too.

  32. 32.

    Geminid

    In NY 22nd Congressional District race, judicial review of hundreds of disputed ballots proceeds slowly but surely in the Oswego courtroom of Judge Scott Delconte. The contest between Democratic Congressman Anthony Brindisi and Claudia Tenney is a rematch of their 2018 fight. The case is being covered closely in local media, and probably will not be finished untill well into next week. So far the lead has shifted from one candidate to the other, at never more than 30 votes.

    Yesterday improperly sealed ballots from Oneida County were at issue. Judge Delconte has not been inclined to let technical defects disqualify otherwise good ballots, while the Tenney campaign has tried to get as many disputed ballots thrown out as possible. At one point, the judge cautioned Tenney’s people: “I will not tolerate fraud. And I will not tolerate baseless allegations of fraud.”                           I kind of like Judge DelConte.

  34. 34.

    DMcK

    @Nora: I’ve come to think that a lot of these maniacs honestly believe that the vast majority of the country is on board with them, thus their “revolution” would come to pass largely unopposed. Utterly delusional.

  35. 35.

    Leto

    This woman on Joy Reid’s show just called the insurrectionists Vanilla ISIS and I can’t stop laughing

  36. 36.

    Leto

    @Baud: That’s the third Monday of every month, correct? I think it’s also 2 for 1 muffin day at the coffee shop…

  42. 42.

    gwangung

    @DMcK: Without a doubt. They think they are in the vast majority. So do most Republicans. Which is why they are convinced there was fraud in the election.

  45. 45.

    Gravenstone

    @TaMara (HFG): Not only have the horses fled and the barn burned down behind him, but a new one is being built in its place he’s so fucking late with this “concession”.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    @TaMara (HFG):   Fucker did not ad lib one syllable.  He seemed tempted when he got to “election laws.”

    He does not believe a word he is reading, and he has been forced to do so.

    That might be on purpose.  “Hey — protesters.  I am in a hostage video.  We’re all cool.”

    His ass has to go.

  52. 52.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: Look, he only needed 2 months, several dozen lawsuits, one storming-the-Capitol attempted insurrection, and a pending impeachment threat. Was that too much to ask?

  56. 56.

    Brachiator

    @Punchy:

    Isn’t the fear that even attempting to invoke the 25th could send him so far off the edge he attempts to drop a nuke on Mesopotamia?

    No.

  58. 58.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TaMara (HFG):

    What.  The.  Fuck.

    Okay, like Adam always says, this is an Active Asshole Situation.  Wait 48 hours and see what develops.  Trump has a long history of walking back his few moments of decency.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    @germy:

    Trump has stopped speaking to Pence, according to CBS.

    Weird way to say “Pence experiences 95% reduction in getting yelled at.”

  64. 64.

    Calouste

    @mali muso: The Guardian has one. Note that the fucker can’t be bothered to congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, or even mention their names.

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    @Tokyokie: 

    A dead cop means the whole lot of them could be charged as accessories to capital murder during commission of a felony (sedition).

    I would have thought that was already the case because of the MAGA woman who was shot and killed. You can be charged with felony murder when the police kill your accomplice.

  68. 68.

    RSA

    @TaMara (HFG): 
    For 2 minutes and 41 seconds, Donald Trump is an amazing simulacrum of a President. I’ve seen more convincing portrayals of gravitas in community theater.

  69. 69.

    Damien

    Exactly which patriots did that moron think would be watering the tree of liberty?

    Either she knows she’s not a patriot, or she reaaaaaally didn’t know how these things go down.

  70. 70.

    Mike in NC

    A Friday afternoon impeachment party would be just what the doctor ordered (but not Birx). It might even send him so over the edge he’ll check into the bunker with a cyanide capsule.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    Notice that there’s a cut between “now Congress has certified the results” and “a new Administration will be inaugurated on January 20th.” Wonder how much “but I really won; it was stolen” had to be clipped out.

  75. 75.

    Benw

    @dmsilev: fine with me. The House passing a single straightforward article of impeachment for sedition is a way bigger problem for the Republican senate and party than 25A anyway, IMO

  76. 76.

    mali muso

    @Calouste: Thanks, just read it. Looks like a forced statement written to avoid prosecution for incitement. Full of lies. As per usual.

  78. 78.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Elizabelle:

    So were all the others.  It is stunning that he would reach a point where he does this.  With that in mind, let’s see if he isn’t back to screaming he’s still president in two days.

  79. 79.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Ari Melber has a photo of Capitol Hill cop helping a terrorist flush pepper stray from his eyes, during the riot.  (photo)  Heartwarming.

  80. 80.

    dmsilev

    I didn’t think it was possible, but Trump has lost the WSJ Editorial Page.

    WSJ editorial calls for Trump to resign or be impeached. “In our view it crosses a constitutional line that Mr. Trump hasn’t previously crossed. It is impeachable” https://t.co/HgS7iUo1PA
    — Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) January 8, 2021

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    @Frankensteinbeck:   This is the only Trump speech I have ever watched in full.  I’ve never watched him for more than about 45 seconds in the past.  Mostly because he was saying such ugly things.

    They show him, I mute or close the tab.

  86. 86.

    VOR

    @DMcK:  I’ve told Trumpees that Trump is historically unpopular because he rarely exceeds 40-45% approval and his disapproval numbers have been over 50% for pretty much his entire time in office. They look at me as if I was speaking gibberish. Everyone on Fox News approves of Trump. All their feeds on Facebook think he’s awesome. And Trump tells them he’s extremely popular, he wouldn’t lie about something like that, would he?

  87. 87.

    Alison Rose

    @TaMara (HFG): Someone send that man a case of Metamucil because he is stunningly full of shit. That sounded like a fucking proof of life speech or something. But this was basically him saying PLEASE DON’T IMPEACH ME LOOK I’M BEING NICE NOW

  88. 88.

    JanieM

    @Elizabelle: Me too. I can’t stand to hear his voice. I haven’t typed his name, maybe ever. He’ll always be Clickbait to me. Although that’s far too mild, really.

  89. 89.

    Aziz, light!

    He’s not a president but he plays one on TV. Script just came in from rewrite. Show cancelled so show runners had to drop the season cliffhanger.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    @planetjanet:

    One Capitol police officer who was assaulted and dragged into the crowd yesterday has died.

    Any police officers who aided or approved of what the domestic terrorists did also have blood on their hands.

  95. 95.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: The camera angle changes a bit and there’s a noticeable gap in the audio. Now, maybe they were switching between cameras and someone was clumsy with the video splicing; God knows “incompetence” is not a disqualifier for this White House, but similarly “benefit of the doubt” is not something they deserve. So yeah, I’m sticking with “cut out two minutes of whining about non-existent vote theft and fraud.”

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    @dmsilev:   Reading the editorial and — fuck the WSJ editorial board.

    It’s more an attack on Democrats with a spoonful or two of advice to Trump.  Fuck ’em.

    Was going to pull out some excerpts but why give it oxygen.

  98. 98.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I watched 5 seconds, literally. Hearing him claim to disapprove of the riot he ordered was enough of a signal that there was nothing worth hearing there.

  99. 99.

    catclub

    @Punchy: Isn’t the fear that even attempting to invoke the 25th could send him so far off the edge he attempts to drop a nuke on Mesopotamia?

     

    Is that the land between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers?

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s not exactly subtle; they changed to a different camera!  We’re used to seeing jumps between cameras to get a different view on something, so it’s a good way of hiding that you’re cutting between takes or editing something out. I don’t know which of those is happening here.  It’s quite possible that he flubbed part of the speech and they had to do two or more takes to get it right.  I think that’s at least as likely as him breaking into a rant they edited out.

  102. 102.

    moonbat

    We are all Ingrid Bergman now, trying to parse this madman’s nuances in search of pitfalls and Catch 22s. I don’t care what he says, he needs to go to jail. And so do everyone of those insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol yesterday.

  103. 103.

    Danielx

    Note: spousal unit and I tested negative for Covid, daughter unit tested positive and o is she pissed. Throwing things earlier, but it was pointed out that her cat buds are freaked already because everybody is wearing masks. That calmed her down.

  105. 105.

    lamh36

    They so stupid. All of DC and the Capitol is on 24/7 circuit security cameras! And big chunk of the idiots are anti-maskers. So all of’em o camera, bare faced just waiting for law enforcement, facial recognition software and regular old social media detectives to ID and find them

  107. 107.

    unique uid

     

    @planetjanet:

    One Capitol police officer who was assaulted and dragged into the crowd yesterday has died.  The tragedy continues to unfold.

    Does this mean all the traitors can be charged with murder?  I thought there was some legal idea that all participants could be charged at the highest level (like a bank robbery get-away driver is responsible for what happens inside the bank)

    Anyone know what the penalty for trespassing (sounds like that might be the low end) there might end up being?

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I wonder how all his followers are going to feel about this speech.  I suspect they will say that he’s only saying those things because they are making him do it, and that he doesn’t really mean any of it.

    Something we can finally agree on?

  109. 109.

    mesmer a la carte

    @Roger Moore: It’s pretty standard procedure to film interviews with two cameras to allow for editing, usually it’s a wide shot and closeup.  What strikes me as odd about this one is his tone.  He can barely contain his anger at having to say the words that were clearly written for him.  Listen to how he raises his voice at several key moments in a speech ostensibly about healing.  My take, which many have echoed is that this is an effort at ‘plausible deniability’ in the face of serious legal exposure.

  110. 110.

    Martin

    4 years ago I said Trump would have to be carried out of the WH.

    The reason I predicted that is that narcissists do some things that healthy people don’t. I have some beliefs about my character, that may or may not be accurate. But either way, I accept that’s how I am, and I can work on changing them, but I’m always gauging that from my self-assessment. Narcissists don’t do that. They can’t accept those beliefs about their character. They believe them deeply, but they can’t accept that’s who they are, so they build this alternate persona that they’re constantly projecting outward. That alternate projection is designed to seek external feedback that contradicts the internally held belief. It’s a really kind of weird feedback loop because every time the external feedback reinforces that deeply held belief, they need to compensate by increasing the magnitude of the external projection. They’re unable to sufficiently attenuate the external feedback, block out the haters, build on the praise, because deep down they truly believe the haters, and their way of coping is to erect ever stronger edifices to fight it. It’s not a choice to do this by the way – it’s necessary to not self-destruct. It’s an existential thing.

    Trumps deeply held belief is that he’s a loser. And he can’t cope with it. If he can get the people around him to sort of trick him into believing he’s really winning when he’s losing, he can manage, but  there is no ‘come to terms with’ moment for him and an election. Maybe if he lost in 2016 he’d look at how much money he raised and could now earn and claim that was his plan all along, but the Presidency doesn’t springboard you to a better gig. If you lose, you lose, and there’s no spinning that.

    So, the stuff he says he truly believes. He has to believe. He can’t face his true self, which is a loser. He may not have believed todays projected lie yesterday, but today he does, and tomorrow he’ll believe a lie even more fabulous, just to cope. The end-game for an untreated narcissist is really fucking ugly. They turn on everyone who isn’t projecting back to them what they need to cope as traitors. They lash out violently. They take their own lives. You can treat them, but 60 years is a long fucking time for it to go untreated, and now that everyone is trying to stay out of prison, nobody is there to project back what he needs. Ivanka and Hicks have always been the ones who best understand this, but he’s way past that stage now.

    Don’t buy into his ability to project on camera for 2 minutes. He’s a ticking bomb and it’s way, way, way too late to defuse him. He needs to be contained so he doesn’t harm any more people than necessary.

  111. 111.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    “We’re storming the Capitol, it’s a revolution, and boo-hoo, I got maced!”

    TRULY the daring, powerful spirit embodied by our founders fighting off the British!

  115. 115.

    planetjanet

    @unique uid: It certainly means that the Capitol police will be motivated to actually investigate and prosecute, as widely as possible.  Otherwise, they would probably treat the whole episode as a prank.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @Danielx: Yay and yay for you and your wife.  Do you have to be tested again in a few days?

    Oh, no!  for your daughter testing positive.  If she’s pissed, she must be older than I thought she is.

    Have you guys been wearing masks since you heard about the SIL?

  120. 120.

    The Moar You Know

    Awesome hostage video Trump put out there.

    I was willing to let him march off into the sunset before yesterday.  I’ve changed my mind.  I want him arrested, prosecuted to the absolute maximum possible, and if found guilty (he will be) sent to the Supermax in Colorado.

  121. 121.

    RSA

    @moonbat:

    I don’t care what he says, he needs to go to jail. And so do everyone of those insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol yesterday.

    I’m thinking that a lot of those folks have a sinking feeling in their stomachs this evening.

    “Insurrection, rioting, and assault are serious crimes, you know.”

    “But the President said to do it!”

    “And now he’s saying, ‘Fuck you, criminal.'”

  122. 122.

    NotMax

    @Misterpuff

    Now, if it had been him facing a mirror and shouting “You’re fired!”…

    Whole thing could have been finished and in the can in 20 seconds.

    //

  124. 124.

    Ruckus

    @Alison Rose: 
    Isn’t that pretty much the way an abuser talks when they get caught, say on video, and they get in court? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, it was, I had a cold – and it is bullshit.
    I won’t listen to him lie about what he meant, or anything else. He’s caused so much damage to this country and to the world over the last 4 yrs, mainly because his ego is bigger than he is and his intellect is smaller than a gnat’s.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    @planetjanet: From the way Biden talked this afternoon, the Capital Police may do some investigating, but I think it has gone way past that now and there’s gonna be a whole lot of investigating that is way over their heads.

  126. 126.

    moonbat

    @RSA: Not to mention murder, which is now also on the list of charges. To think one of the few Captitol Police who were actually doing their job was killed in this stupid coup attempt enrages me no end. We need some law and order in this country alright and we need it on white folks. Stat!

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    @cain: Fuck.  I googled to see if I could find a photo to answer your question, but what I found was much worse.

    A source confirmed to NewsNation D.C. Bureau reporter Alexandra Limon the officer was taken off life support and died after they were hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by a rioter.

    More than 50 Capitol and D.C. police were injured, including several who were hospitalized, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said in a statement before the death was reported.

    Sund will resign next week, after calls from top Congressional leaders over his agency’s response.

    Chief Sund, in his first public comment on the mayhem from Wednesday, said in a statement that rioters “actively attacked” Capitol police and other law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants and “took up other weapons against our officers.”

    Details on the officer were not released.

    Someone fucking hit him in the head with a fire extinguisher, and they said it caused a stroke.

    edit: why the hell is this guy still in place?  He should have either resigned immediately or been fired

    edit 2:  they are using the pronoun “they”, so it’s not even clear whether the officer was male or female.

  131. 131.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Did this come out before or after the announcement that the capital police office had died?

    Does it matter, as far as the law that a death during commission of a felony is first-degree murder, and all persons involved in the commission of the felony are equally culpable? And aren’t there additional penalties when a member of law enforcement is killed?

    (I was reminded of that law tonight by the episode “Night Fever” of the old Alfred Hitchcock Hour, so it’s not something new invented just to hurt Trump.)

  132. 132.

    Citizen_X

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Immediately after that, he claims that ordered the National Guard to secure the Capitol—which we already know is a lie!

     

    He tells his supporters “our journey is only beginning.” Yeah, whatever. It ends at the Federal penitentiary!

  133. 133.

    RSA

    @moonbat:

    Not to mention murder, which is now also on the list of charges.

    Yes. Too many people, mostly conservatives I think, are downplaying the violence.

  134. 134.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: No, from that perspective it doesn’t matter. If he’s liable, he’s liable.

    But I was curious about whether it was the police officer dying that made someone say “holy shit, you had better get out there and say this was all just a big misunderstanding” – in an attempt not to be held liable for the death.

  136. 136.

    Ken

    @NotMax: Now, if it had been him facing a mirror and shouting “You’re fired!”… Whole thing could have been finished and in the can in 20 seconds.

    Not from what I’ve heard about the production of “The Apprentice.”  Several sources say that he had trouble getting even that much right.

  138. 138.

    Elizabelle

    OK, so the WSJ editorial encouraging Trump to resign was the suck.  It was really, really bad.

    But — and this amazed me — I checked out the reader comments, expecting to see a lot of butthurt and — just the opposite.  Ranked by “most liked”, they’re not far from what jackals would say.  They’re all from subscribers.  There are virtually no pro-Trump or even pro-GOP top responses.  I kid you not.

    Most liked comment:

    Congrats to the WSJ opinion board for providing 5 years of intellectual cover for this sycophant and helping radicalize half of the population to his outrageous lies. It’s been a numbing experience reading WSJ ed’s pages egregious falsehoods, then turning the page to the news section refuting those very falsehoods. The world and US is in a remarkably worse position than it was, directly attributable to him, aided by this exact opinion page. Absolute shame.

    second:

    Oh, this is funny, WSJ editorial board. You helped make this monster.

    third:

    I will give credit to the EB for at last coming partially to grips with the situation, but still find this editorial maddening to read. Firstly, it muddies how we have gotten to this point – yes, Trump’s character flaws WERE apparent, which is why so many of us have been loudly yelling of the dangers in elevating him. And it whitewashes the actions of the “Conservative Establishment” like the EB. You gave him a mantle of respectability, rejected all those who pointed to his obvious unfitness for office as deranged liberals and celebrated him as long as he handed you judges and bromides to free-market capitalism.

    And you continue to fundamentally misread his character. He will almost certainly not do as you suggest, nor should we accept any such deal that includes a pardon for his actions. If the 25th isn’t invoked, impeachment must proceed. It will bar him from holding office again, and show the world that such actions have no place in our republic.

  139. 139.

    Martin

    @unique uid: Looking increasingly likely that insurrection will be the charge. 10 years federal (a 10 year federal sentence is 10 actual years), and can never serve public office. As it’s a felony they can add on pretty much anything else they need to including accessory to murder charges.

    The insurrection statute is very broad:

    Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto

    That can also be charged against Trump, Cruz, Hawley, members of the House, some TV hosts, folks that assisted in the planning online. Merrick Garland better be up to this.

  141. 141.

    mrmoshpotato

    I hope there’s clear video of that traitorous, fascist bitch committing crime(s), and I hope she’s thrown in the slammer.  Fuck all this trash.

    “WWWWAAAHHHH!!!!!  I committed a federal crime, but I’M the victim!”

  142. 142.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Martin: Can you tell me why it’s looking likely this will be the charge? Is it just a best bit in your (or other) legal opinions, or has there been some indication this is where it’s going?

  143. 143.

    Jinchi

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: How good of Elizabeth to testify as to her intent when she entered the capitol. Also gave her name and city. That makes the court case easier.

    The guy who raided Pelosi’s office gave his name and address in an interview with the NYT. These people all assume that they are untouchable.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    @Alison Rose:PLEASE DON’T IMPEACH ME LOOK I’M BEING NICE NOW

    Yup.

    PLEASE DON’T ROCKET-DOCKET IMPEACH ME BEFORE I CAN PARDON MYSELF AND MY KIDS IVANKA

  145. 145.

    Martin

    @Ken: In some states we execute people for being accomplices to the death of a police officer. I mean, they’re black, but still that’s how seriously some state laws are written.

  148. 148.

    cain

    @Martin:

    Totally here for that. Seeing Cruz and Hawley get shanked is exactly the kind of message you need to send to politicians.

    See various Fox News analysts get arrested is also going to be needed. Fox News needs to be curbed.

    I wonder if some of that can also not be applied to Facebook?

  149. 149.

    Wapiti

    @dmsilev: Well, now that that officer died, he can be charged with inciting a riot that resulted in a death.

    If he pardons himself, I hope that’s one of the things they charge him with to test the pardon; it’s fresh in everyone’s mind and not trivial.

  150. 150.

    cain

    @WaterGirl:

    Ugh, that is so bad.  Any cop that helped those assholes have blood on their hands. They should also have federal charges for aiding and abetting.

  151. 151.

    Quinerly

    Lin Wood is on Parler.

    He has confirmed on Parler that President Trump is in a military base in Abilen,  Texas and he’s there to coordinate a massive military response against the ongoing coup. He and Secretary of Defense are waiting for Pence to finish the crime.

  152. 152.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Elizabelle: Agreed. I saw an expression used once that fits perfectly: “an apology, delivered by a child, with mom and her well-used wooden spoon standing by”

    (Shortly afterward, I learned that a wooden spoon is a not-uncommon implement for spanking, which made the whole quote *far* less confusing.)

  154. 154.

    Jinchi

    @dmsilev: According to the FTNYT, Pence has said no to Option 25. So, impeachment it is I guess.

    To all the reporters asking: Should we invoke Article 25? Should we impeach?

    The answer to both is yes. Pence should assemble with the cabinet to discuss removing Trump from the levers of power, the cabinet should agree to vote him out. Pelosi should put forward a vote on impeachment, McConnell should schedule a vote for conviction. It doesn’t matter that the cabinet might be so sycophantic that they’d say no. It doesn’t matter that Trump might object and take it to court. It doesn’t matter that McConnell might kick the can down the road past January 20th. It doesn’t matter that there might not be a 2/3rds vote to remove him. And it doesn’t matter that he’ll be out in 14 days, anyway.

    Every actor with power to remove him should do their part to see that he is gone. At the very least it will show the country who is serious about defending it from autocrats.

  155. 155.

    raven

    U.S. Capitol Police say the report that one of its officers had died after being assaulted by violent protesters loyal to President Trump is not accurate. NPR incorrectly reported the death based on information from a well-placed source.

    “Although some officers were injured and hospitalized yesterday, no USCP officers have passed away,” Capitol Police said in a statement. “We ask that our officers’ and their families’ privacy be respected at this time. Should a statement become necessary, the Department will issue one at the appropriate time.

     

    https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/954333542/four-dead-police-injured-dozens-arrested-after-siege-at-the-u-s-capitol

  156. 156.

    Tokyokie

    I oppose the death penalty. A close relative was murdered in a carjacking 20 years ago, and I didn’t see the point of killing the perps as it wouldn’t bring back my Aunt Mary. But I want every last one of these pukes to be threatened with the death penalty so that they understand the gravity of their crimes.

  159. 159.

    Tokyokie

    @Quinerly: The military base near Abilene, TX, is Dyess AFB, which is home to a bomber wing. Not really the location from which to launch a coup, as it lacks the combat personnel of an Army or Marine base and the transport capability of an air-mobility base. I’d say Wood, as usual, is full of shit.

  160. 160.

    geg6

    @Kelly:

    So proud of my congressman today.  He was magnificent.  I know he’s pretty much the Joe Manchin of the House, but that sells here and he is a true patriot.

  161. 161.

    The Moar You Know

     

    Lin Wood is on Parler.

    He has confirmed on Parler that President Trump is in a military base in Abilen,  Texas and he’s there to coordinate a massive military response against the ongoing coup. He and Secretary of Defense are waiting for Pence to finish the crime.

    @Quinerly: I’d been told if you smoke datura you get high as fuck and never come back to normal.  Guess this is proof.

  167. 167.

    Martin

    @MisterForkbeard: This isn’t dying down. It’s escalating. There are more and more reports regarding how much planning was involved in this.

    This doesn’t have a ‘we need to move on’ tone to it. Remember how Obama would always tell us that we needed to make him make the change we wanted? He was telling us he needed political support, his response was attenuated to our anger or outrage, etc. That’s how government often works and we’re getting clearer signs that there was more coordination here, that this wasn’t a crowd out of control but a planned insurrection effort.

    Understand too that the media play a role here as well as they serve to either magnify that message or to tone it down. Swalwell wants investigations on members of congress or their staff because of how efficiently the insurrectionists were able to find key offices of people that even people who work in the building struggle to find. Adam believes that normally locked doors may have been unlocked by people in the building. Some DC police are reporting that some insurrectionists flashed badges on the way in.

    There’s problems which are failures of execution – we had a good plan to prevent this thing, but it didn’t work. And there are problems which are failures of the system. This is looking more and more like a failure of the system. Why did the FBI refuse to support more security. It wasn’t that they weren’t asked – they were, and they refused. This was planned in the open – the FBI can’t claim that they couldn’t get intel on this. That’s their job, and it wasn’t done. I’m guessing we’ll soon learn that analysts were calling for more security but Wray or someone right under him denied it, not wanting to anger the president. And we can’t claim it was a one-off when other state government locations were also stormed. That’s a coordinated effort.

    We tend to downplay failures of execution because it means the system was working, just not as well as needed. Its not like we need to pass major legislation or do restructuring of the government. Work needs to be done but it’s done within the existing framework. Media is pretty good at recognizing this and sort of talking everyone down.

    Failures of the system are much more serious. They require rethinking the existing framework. Media do the opposite – they amplify here because they recognize that the political will needs to be built for this much larger lift. We’re seeing that happening now. WSJ calling for resignation, calls for 25th amendment, even when it seems we might need to just ride out 13 more days. Resignation of cabinet members.

    Lack of remorse from participants indicates that the lesson hasn’t been learned, and a much more substantial action needs to be taken. The GOP scapegoating others suggests that we can’t move on. If they acknowledged their role, you could maybe get by with federal trespassing and a censure of Hawley and Cruz. But they don’t. Clearly we need a MUCH  bigger hammer here, and a charge of insurrection is a very big hammer, and a very broad one. It lets the feds go after entire militia groups. It lets the feds go after lawmakers and Fox hosts that stoked this.

    The other reason is that the tone of lawmakers and the media tells us something about what they know, but can’t say, either because it’s secret, or unverified. And their tone indicates that there are more alarming revelations coming.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    @Anya: I know, it’s awful.  She’s awful.  Did you see the comment that she can probably return all her flannel shirts because it’s still within the 30-day return period?  :-)

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @geg6:

    FYI, one of the assholes in the mob was the guy Lamb ran against in the special election that got him his seat.

    Wow. Conor Lamb is a majority-maker and more.

  175. 175.

    Lyrebird

    @mali muso: just curious, are you one of the lawyers around here?  I am definitely not…  I have heard that incitement is hard to prove, but whatever those laws are that define it, I HOPE they have a “no backsies” clause.

    I also hope that The Speaker scheduling a caucus call means that she is pretty sure she’s got the votes to impeach.

  177. 177.

    matryoshka

    @Martin: I comment here about once every 2-3 years (have been a reader for 15 years), and I want to use my 2021 allotment to thank you for this comment. Very insightful.

  182. 182.

    StringOnAStick

    @Martin: Thank you for this.  I’ve not been able to keep up on this fast changing situation, but everything you’ve written here looks more than plausible.  Interesting times indeed.

  183. 183.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Elizabelle: Yes, but I went to Catholic school, I already *knew* that one. Sister Gerald Marie made sure everyone knew she had her metal ruler, and she once said she’d bent it smacking someone, so she was looking for an opportunity to bend it back the other way. Strangely, she had no volunteers, though she didn’t lack opportunities to try, in a grade school.

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