Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Friday, January 7, 2022

READ IT

 

From Rick Wilson's Twitter account, 1/6/2022:

Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson

"A year ago this morning the plan was in place. The conspiracy was in action. The players knew their lines and marks. They had worked for weeks to contrive a ludicrous legal argument based on specious reasoning to retain Trump's hold on office. 

It ran deep, far across the entire right-wing ecosystem. Near the center was a putrid slurry of Trump, his crime family, his goon squad sycophants, cosplay lawyers, leathery degenerate Roger Stone... ...pernicious little ratfuckers like Ali Alexander, conspiracy loons like Alex Jones, and of course the throbbing, cancerous gristle of Steve Bannon. 

One ring out was the Fox apparatus and all sniping gulls that follow the sewage barge of its daily content. For weeks, the most powerful normative force in GOP politics blasted out the Big Lie, as they do to this very moment. Its handmaiden Facebook fed algorithmically crafted poison to millions of Americans as the kinetic parts of the plot to overthrow the election spoke openly as to their intentions. 

 But the most important parts of the plot to break American the Republic were elected Republicans bred to a new era.  In the House and the Senate, a cadre of Republicans was eager for that day. Ready for it. Praying for the short, sharp shock of their nationalist revolutionary fantasies to come to be. Democracy for them is a hindrance to power. An obstacle. Their evolution from oh-God-not-Trump in 2016 to "All hail the Great Leader's shock troops" in 2021 was complete. Not every Republican felt that way, but the ones who didn't were worse. They lived in fear, and after a brief vote went back to living in fear. 

The "good Republicans" still spent the majority of the Trump era -- and that fateful day -- saying one thing and voting with him. Backing him. Why were (and are) they so scared of his mob and his enforcers? Because the purpose of terror is to terrorize. Bannon and his ilk would have danced a merry jig if the mob had murdered a Representative or Senator. They would've loved it. Pour encourager les autres, bro. If not for luck, providence, and the courage of the MCPD and Capitol Police, they would have. This was an act of terror, as even Fat Wolverine [Cruz] now admits. 

It was one more in a chain of crimes and sins by Trump and his movement to break this nation into an authoritarian kleptocracy based on fear and violence. And the GOP still won't have a moment of clarity on it. Oh, in private they still acknowledge it, but the fear of the mob is with them still. The frisson of a bullet passing close by but missing. The narrowly averted car crash. It sticks. They're trapped in a political and media ecosystem built for mob rule. I'll spare you a discourse on how fundamentally anti-conservative the Trump movement is, but the GOP is ruled now by criminals, cowards, and opportunists. The fact only two Members stood up to serve on the 1/6 committee is all you need to know.  

One of the great gifts of the GOP is a relentless commitment to staying on message, no matter how absurd it looks in either the moment or in retrospect. (QED my old twitter feed lol). What will their message be about 1/6? "Democrats are exaggerating because they're Marxist communist Antifa revolutionaries who want mandatory socialism and sharia gay marriage to your dog." "It was a protest that got a little out of hand." "But BLM was worse." "But Russiagate was worse." "Hunter's Laptop was worse." "Trump didn't do anything wrong." You know the drill. You've seen the movie. 

 Now, many do-gooders still believe we can live in a harmonious, bipartisan land of soft cuddles and cute puppies. With respect...you're out of your fucking minds. The conspiracy goes on. The plot to reinstall Trump is alive and kicking. Bannon walks free. Stone walks free. The DOJ said the right words, but the top of the chain of an attempt to overthrow the election is still in play. The elected plotters and supporters of 1/6, the Insurrection Caucus are doing great -- they're still receiving millions in corporate donations from companies that promised they'd never give to them again. 

The DC Republican media ecosystem -- defined more by their hatred of people who oppose Trump and his authoritarian statism than by any remnant of conservatism -- shrugged off their qualms and have largely forgiven 1/6.  And God love the Democrats, but when they straight-facedly say shit like "This election is about BBB and prescription drugs" they deserve to lose to these fuckers. The Trump side treats this as a cold civil war, and they're planning and ready for a more kinetic iteration.  

Just as 2020 was at every level a referendum on Trump, 2022 is a referendum on democracy. It's a stark, hard choice. The work we put in in 2022 will determine just how much the fuckery of 2024 can be contained. It's a choose-you-own-adventure for the Republic. 

I'll wrap this up. 

 When authoritarians take over, everyone is shocked. "Wait...those clowns?" But the other side isn't working in secret. They're telling you exactly what they'll do. They've promised -- and executed -- political violence.  Once you cross that Rubicon, all bets are off. No, it's not an excuse to imitate them, but unless and until the majority of Americans who don't believe in the very dark future Bannon, Trump, and Fox are painting get brutally tough in their response to it, then the bad guys have a powerful advantage. The rule of law and tradition is nice until they're marching you up the steps of the gibbet. An unpunished coup is a training exercise. 

 End."

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chilling. Why? Because it is true. And, authoritarianism is likely this nation's future.

Mike said...

It's way past time for the Dems to bury the repuglicans as deep as they can.

Shaw Kenawe said...


Chip Franklin.com

BREAKING: The January 6 Committee reveals it has proof that members of Congress met with people who came to Washington to participate on January 6.

Dave Miller said...

Dear Chip, and Shaw...

Will it matter?

In a world where 50% of the people think the other 50% are spawn of Satan bent on destroying the country, to quote HRC, "what difference will it make?"

If our politicians and the partisans measure success, fealty and honor with total support of a leader, something is wrong. And yes, right now the critical winds are blowing in the direction of the GOP, mostly because of their craziness, but unfettered, the Dems will look similar, spending like the proverbial drunken sailors on a weekend pass.

And will silence any criticism of their desires.

Look at "poor old Joe Manchin."

I may not like the guy, heck, I'd love to see him support Biden's plan.

But the Dems don't have the votes to get it done. 50 votes and 5 bucks might get you a decent burger, but not a bill.

This legislation by leadership fiat has helped bring us to this point. And it doesn't look good.

America is fed up with the idiocy of the GOP and not convinced the Dems know what they are doing.

We are a country mostly center right fiscally and center left as it regards social policy. Who in the public square is speaking to this reality?

I see no one, which gives space and rise to leaders like Trump. And soon, others.

Maybe the great experiment failed.

Right Winger Frankie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Les Carpenter said...

The great experiment is failing. Cheered on by what now appears to be a very large segment of the populace.

Faith in our electoral system:

Repubs - 13%
Dems - 30%

Total - 20%


And neither party shows the inclination to find a path to heal the very deep fissures. Philosophically and political both parties suffer from the same powerful force, driving self (and party) interests.

While Biden has tried to find common ground the repubs are not interested at all and dems have their problems with the most progressive wing of their party.

Common purpose, a shared belief in the integrity of our election process, and the desire to compromise to get resuts is neccssary for a democratic republic to thrive and stand long. Right now none of those three requirements exist in large measure.

The future is in doubt. If the current level of division and distrust continues unabated, and all indications are it will, this great experiment in democracy (self rule) is doomed to ultimate collapse.

Glad I'm 70.

Anonymous said...

One of the reasons it will fail is because all of you believe it has already failed. You have no faith in the electoral system. You have no faith in the Judicial system. You have no faith in the Executive system. You have no faith in the people to rise up and do the right thing. All this is based in the reality of what has happened. What will happen has not been written yet, and I for one, am not writing off democracy, or America.

Shaw Kenawe said...

RN I fear you are correct.

Shaw Kenawe said...

And how we deal with people -- ordinary American Trumpists -- who say things like this:


"How about Mayor Eric Adams tripling his brothers pay by giving him a position for which he is not qualified?

Distressingly amazing, huh?"

Was this person asleep when Donald Trump put his unqualified son-in-law in charge of the Middle East? In charge of overhauling the ENTIRE government? Kushner, who had no prior government experience, became a senior adviser to his father-in-law President Donald Trump.

Despite having no diplomatic credentials, he was tasked with no less a challenge than resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also became the president's lead adviser on relations with China, Mexico and Canada.

And they're upset about the mayor of NY giving his brother a better job? Where were they when Trump was doing the SAME THING, ONLY WORSE??? TRUMP WAS THE HEAD OF THE U.S.!


"How about ex-gov Cuomo not being prosecuted despite the judge saying the witness was credible but it would be hard to prove? Just lazy if you ask me..."


Donald Trump had 20+ credible sexual abuse allegations and NOTHING happened to him.

These folks must have been living under a rock to not have known that. Either that or they're the biggest hypocrites in the history of America!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anonymous @4:17 wrote: "One of the reasons it will fail is because all of you believe it has already failed. You have no faith in the electoral system. You have no faith in the Judicial system. You have no faith in the Executive system. You have no faith in the people to rise up and do the right thing. All this is based in the reality of what has happened. What will happen has not been written yet, and I for one, am not writing off democracy, or America."

I welcome your optimism, Anon. But I don't see how we can come together as a nation when 70% of Trumpublicans do not believe Joe Biden is the legitimate president. That's a large amount of our population that has no confidence in our voting system and believes what a Liar has told them.

How do you deal with people who do not believe in objective reality?

Les Carpenter said...

Shaw, I firmmly beleve your last sentence, last paragraph, in your last response to me is absolutely spot on.

Anonymous said...

How do you deal with an obstinate child? How do you deal with a bully? How do you change someone's thinking? Education and discipline. Show them that their own self interests are being sacrificed. Jail those who comit crimes in the name of their cult. You will not change all their minds, but you can change their reality.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Rep. Adam Kinzinger: "Either the president, probably in his best-case scenario, was totally incompetent, totally indecisive and absolutely abdicated his responsibility to defend the Constitution. Or — and this is where we can get more information — he was part of this [Jan. 6 insurrection]."

Dave Miller said...

Or, he just decided not to do anything.

And that opens up another whole can of worms.