Pro Publica notes that it was all out there in plain sight.

For weeks, the far-right supporters of President Donald Trump railed on social media that the election had been stolen. They openly discussed the idea of violent protest on the day Congress met to certify the result.

“We came up with the idea to occupy just outside the CAPITOL on Jan 6th,” leaders of the Stop the Steal movement wrote on Dec. 23. They called their Wednesday demonstration the Wild Protest, a name taken from a tweet by Trump that encouraged his supporters to take their grievances to the streets of Washington. “Will be wild,” the president tweeted.

Oh did he; let’s see.

Peter Navarro releases 36-page

… Read the rest

Yesterday:… Read the rest

In another part of the forest –

Slavery ended (in America, not China) 157 years ago. The 82-year-old wasn't there. 2+2=4 https://t.co/QYw2QGN7Pr

— James Lindsay, full varsity (@ConceptualJames) January 6, 2021

A couple of things. One, picking cotton is not a synonym for slavery. Sharecroppers picked cotton; laborers picked cotton. Warnock wasn’t saying his mother was a slave, he was saying she was poor, and had to do hard painful (the bolls tear up your hands) work to make a meager living.

Two, no, slavery did not end in America 157 years ago. Slavery was reinstated in the South (without being called that) after Reconstruction was terminated. Jim Crow laws were passed that made it a crime for black people … Read the rest

https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347176928378302466 https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347177545947619329 https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347178373026623489 https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1347179451617075201… Read the rest

Normally I would think this is “merely” political rhetoric – bad political rhetoric, hyperbolic, rabble-rousing (not in a good way), reckless, but not unmistakably incitement to violence. That’s probably wrong, it’s probably because this kind of frenzy has been normalized, I’ve probably been conditioned to think that just as others have…or then again maybe it’s just standard free speech thinking.

At any rate, at this moment in history, I don’t think it’s mere.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramovitch/status/1347130086038753281… Read the rest

Politico has a collection of on the scene reporting on what it was like inside the Capitol yesterday. (In one word: scary.)

Marianne LeVine, Senate reporter: Then there was an announcement the building wasn’t secure. Intercom, probably Capitol police. We decided to barricade the doors with couches and chairs. We turned off the lights and we hid behind the desks.

Marianne LeVine: We started hearing noise. We could hear they’d gone into the Capitol. We heard a lot of stampeding and cheers and people. We could hear chants of, “Four more years!” and all that.

Burgess Everett: We could hear people shaking the walls. At this point, people are on the Senate floor and all

… Read the rest

The rats are running.

So far seven officials associated with Trump and his inner circle have said they are quitting, including members of Melania Trump’s team, after the deadly violence that surrounded the Congressional vote to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in November.

…

In further fallout that underlined the fracturing of the Trump administration’s inner circles, Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, indicated to journalists he had been banned from the White House by Trump after the president “blamed” him for advice he gave to Pence on Trump’s demands he overturn the election result.

He was shocked, shocked, to discover that Trump blames people for things.

In stark language that underlined the toxic and swirling sense of

… Read the rest

Now they’re getting serious.

https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970431039934464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346970431039934464%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2Flive%2F2021%2Fjan%2F06%2Fgeorgia-election-latest-news-senate-ossoff-warnock-democrats-republicans-trump-biden

The social media giant added, “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Do it either way.

Queen Melania’s chief of staff has quit.

[Stepahnie] Grisham was one of the longest-serving Trump administration officials, having begun her tenure working for then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 as a press wrangler on the campaign trail. Grisham entered the White House as deputy press secretary under Sean Spicer, but in March 2017, Melania Trump hired her for her East Wing staff. As East Wing communications director, Grisham quickly became the first lady’s most prominent staffer, acting as defender, enforcer and, often,

… Read the rest

Republicans were saying it would all be fine, just ignore Trump’s tantrums, he doesn’t mean anything by them.

Those assurances were ridiculed at the time, and that ridicule was entirely vindicated Wednesday. As Congress began to accept the results of the electoral college, Trump supporters stormed the capitol, forcing both chambers to shut down as they were considering the first challenge to the results, from Arizona. Rioters clashed with police and forced their way into buildings and even the floor of Congress. There was broken glass. There was an armed standoff at the door of the House Chamber.

There was a woman shot and killed.

To be clear, this was something Trump and his allies flirted with repeatedly

… Read the rest

THIS MORNING at the rally Giuliani called for "trial by combat."

Don Jr. told Congressmen who weren't going to vote to overturn the election: "We're coming for you."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 6, 2021

Not a favorite uncle then:

Why are these fucking traitors not being held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and arrested?

— Mary L. Trump (@MaryLTrump) January 6, 2021

Lincoln Project calls for immediate House impeachment and Senate conviction of Trump to force his expedited removal from office.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 6, 2021

Yes, do that. Certify the election and impeach and convict Trump, today…and into tomorrow if it takes that long, but do it fast.

they should impeach quickly before he can pardon anyone or

… Read the rest

There’s more:

Twitter has now, belatedly, taken it down.

I’ll just keep updating this for awhile.

Washington, DC is designed to be one of the most secure places on earth.

That pro-Trump terrorists made it to the Speaker’s chair was a choice. Congress must ask who made that choice. pic.twitter.com/OOMWLvgqRa

— Rep. Mondaire Jones (@RepMondaire) January 6, 2021

Guardian Live:

Ivanka Trump was fiercely criticized after she described the rioters who stormed the US Capitol as “American patriots.”

The president’s daughter said in the now-deleted tweet, “American patriots – any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable.”

We were always told that @IvankaTrump was going to be the “voice of reason” for her father. Instead,

… Read the rest

He heaps praise on the insurrectionists, he says “We love you, you’re special,” he repeats all the lies about the election. HE NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE.… Read the rest

This is horrific. I’m dead serious that Trump needs to be locked up in some fashion right now. He needs at the very least to be locked away from being able to incite anything, phone taken away, no visitors, doors locked, end of story. No access to the nukes.

Trump should be impeached and convicted tomorrow.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 6, 2021

Holy shit pic.twitter.com/dofEG2SmqP

— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) January 6, 2021

… Read the rest

Um…

Capitol Police are running to every door in the House gallery and locking it.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

Here's the situation in the House chamber:

There are about 100 members on the floor and another 20 or 30 in the gallery. They've locked the doors and there's some definite nervous energy in here. A lot of police here, a lot of commotion.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

He’s a journalist, and it seems he’s locked in there with them.

They're telling members in the House chamber to prepare to get down beneath their chairs.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

Individuals have breached the Capitol building, they're as close as the rotunda, and

… Read the rest

He’s actually done it.

The U.S. Capitol locked down Wednesday with lawmakers inside as violent clashes broke out between supporters of President Donald Trump and police.

An announcement was played inside the Capitol as lawmakers were meeting and expected to vote to affirm Joe Biden’s victory. Due to an “external security threat,” no one could enter or exit the Capitol complex, the recording said.

Both chambers abruptly went into recess.

…

Protesters tore down metal barricades at the bottom of the Capitol’s steps and were met by officers in riot gear. Some tried to push past the officers who held shields and officers could be seen firing pepper spray into the crowd to keep them back. Some in the

… Read the rest

Invaluable Aaron Rupar records the attempted coup minute by minute.

"You'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength," says Trump, before demanding that Congress try to overthrow the election results pic.twitter.com/EXvUDv0U3e

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021

Trump attacks four Black people within 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/OP7fO3KBzC

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021

"We gotta get rid of the weak congresspeople. The ones that aren't any good. The Liz Cheneys of the world." — Trump pic.twitter.com/h5h22ZWxMZ

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021

He needs to be locked up. Now, this minute. He’s a threat to us all. He shouldn’t be free to go outside and do this. He NEEDS to be locked up.… Read the rest

Trump told his people to storm Congress and they’re doing it.

I’m sheltering in place in my office. The building next door has been evacuated. I can’t believe I have to write this.

— Rep. Haley Stevens (@RepHaleyStevens) January 6, 2021

President Trump explicitly told these people to go to the Capitol at the end of his speech. https://t.co/3fsiC0F0yk

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 6, 2021

"The caravans are forming again" — Trump pic.twitter.com/f2lgzWvTz9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021

"Mike Pence, I hope you're gonna stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you, I will tell you right now.

… Read the rest

Oh about those laws being faithfully executed…

Trump’s fascists are storming Congress.

Capitol Police are ordering two House offices to be evacuated as hundreds of Trump supporters stormed barricades around the building.

Cannon House office building — which is massive — is also being evacuated, per multiple sources.

Capitol police just went door by door, running down hallways.

— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) January 6, 2021

Whoa: Trump supporters going at it with the police on the steps of the Capitol as Congress counts the Electoral College ballots inside https://t.co/LiQhaa5KkQ

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 6, 2021

… Read the rest

Pence is disappointing The Loser. Sad!

Mike Pence has released a letter announcing that he will not attempt to block the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory today.

Citing his constitutional obligations, Pence writes that the vice-president does not have the “unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted”.

“Our Founders were deeply skeptical of concentrations of power and created a Republic based on separation of powers and checks and balances,” Pence said.

It would be nice if Pence had made that point before the last two weeks of Trump’s reign of terror.

Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured Pence to try to block Congress from finalizing Biden’s victory, even though there is no precedent for doing so.

… Read the rest

Philosophy in action.

https://twitter.com/nathanoseroff/status/1346855818281541632

I’m not a philosopher, so I get to think it does have some bearing. I get to think that and I do think that: I think that the fact that people like Oseroff are doing things like checking to see whether specific individuals have signed an open letter bullying an individual woman colleague is in fact one reason to be very wary about signing that letter.

I think the fact that people like him – especially men like him – do this kind of crap is a sign that there’s something amiss with the whole thing – the issue, the activism, the movement, the campaign, the whatever it is.… Read the rest