Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, June 13, 2022

Trump wanted to burn down America's democracy

So wild was he to avoid the "loser" label, Trump continued to insist that the election was stolen, an accusation that was wrong, and an accusation that his advisors, lawyers, and those who oversaw election security said was wrong.

Trump was willing to destroy our American democracy to protect himself from the realization that he was a loser.



"Trump was so adamant not to acquire the “loser” title that he furiously sought confirmation of specious allegations. Finding none, he was willing to burn down the system to keep power. This is not delusion; it’s intentional destruction of American democracy." --J.Rubin, WaPo

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If you've watched the two hearings, you know that almost all of the witnesses have been from Trump's own campaign or his own administration. They testified that Trump knew he had lost the election and tried to remain in office anyway. 

There is no other side to this, except the side that continues to lie. And those liars are the people who continue to support Trump: his allies in Congress, his family, and his cultists. They all  know they are promoting the Big Lie; it's not some kind of honest disagreement about the election results.

The witnesses we've seen so far are all part of the Trump inner circle. But it is very telling that the witnesses that presumably would be on Trump's side of things are all refusing to testify or pleading the 5th or apparently sought preemptive pardons.  



Today's hearing was more effective and damning than last Thursdays, and that one was pretty damning. It's interesting to note that even Fox was apparently shamed into covering today's hearing live. That is an admission of something. 

Let us hope that the committee has solid proof on the Republicans who asked for pardons. They must have this proof, since they don't seem to me to be stupid enough to put it out there without any. 

All in all, the first two hearings were great. 

14 comments:

Dave Dubya said...

At least Garland is watching the hearings.
The ball will soon be in his court, then a Federal Court.
Maybe with a detour through a Georgia court.
Is it terrible to think a massive heart attack at Mar-a-Lago would spare the country a lot of pain?


Les Carpenter said...

How really great the first 2 hearings were and (will be) remains to be seen. If they ultimately result in tRump being indicted and tried, along with the rest of his co- conspirators, they will indeed be fabulous. Given the damning evidence shown in the first 2 hearings how anyone can continue to support tRump and his Big Lie is imossible for anyone in touch with reaity to understand. But it is clear tRump has a significant number of deluded fake conservatives.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave Dubya

I don't wish that for Trump. I wish him a long old age so he can watch his name be associated with the worst in American history. Also forever to be remembered as a loser.

Dave Dubya said...

Shaw,

I prefer your scenario. I want him held accountable and dishonored in his lifetime.

Evil evokes dark fantasies...

Les Carpenter said...

I for one would love to see his fat ass sitting in a federal penitentiary for whatever is left of his miserable narcissitic life. A massive heart attack is much to kind of an exit for him. He royally deservres to be held accountable for his egregious criminality.

Dave Miller said...

A fire sale for our democracy?

That's what Trump was working towards, whether he believed his make believe stories or not. We've heard for years how smart Trump is, so there's no way he's not aware he lost.

He knows, he just can't accept that reality.

So he's crafted another reality, like a great reality star.

But he lost. And he lied about it. And after today, it's looking like he committed crimes to try and stay in power, to subvert an American election.

The 2020 election was a wipe out. He lost by millions of votes across the country. He lost states no GOP candidate has lost in a generation. The Dems haven't won Georgia since Carter in 1976 and before that since JFK. With the exception of Clinton in 1996, no Dem has carried Arizona since Harry Truman.

Look, today was a massacre for the Trumpistas. There were no Dem witnesses. Every single one was a Republican, many who worked for Trump himself. Presumedly, since Trump hired them, they were and are the "best and the brightest".

And every one, even lawyer Ben Ginsberg who actually litigated Bush V Gore before the SCOTUS and Justice Scalia in 2000 said Trump lost.

Then after laying out their case, most of the witnesses all testified that they personally told Trump he lost.

Anyone who still believes the election was stolen, is choosing to be defrauded, to believe a fantasy.

There's no other option.

Shaw Kenawe said...

As Dave M. and RN have stated, how can anyone believe the 2020 election was stolen after listening to the testimonies of Trump's inner circle, people he hand-picked to be in his administration, Republican lawyers, and Trump's own hand-picked AG, Bill Barr. All of whom testified that they told Trump again and again that there was no fraud and that he lost.

We now understand what a monstrous lie Trump perpetrated on this country, but mostly on his gullible, easily duped supporters! All in service to his all-consuming need to be seen as a winner.

It was stunning, but not surprising, to know that Trump set up a phony fund to look for fraud in the 2020 election, when in fact that money went ILLEGALLY to his pals. $60 thousand of which went to his son's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle for a 2-minute speech she gave on J6. Does it get anymore sordid and corrupt than that?

I agree with Dave M. Anyone still supporting the lie that the 2020 election was stolen is deliberately supporting a known fraud, Trump, and his lies. That's on them.



Dave Dubya said...

Hmm...

Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance spoke to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and explained the specific piece of the hearing that links former President Donald Trump to the criminal liability in this case...They brought up the testimony of Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who testified under oath that the 2020 election wasn't close and that it was in 2000 it was a matter of under 600 votes in a single state. In Trump's case, it was over 10,000 votes in three states. So, after the election was over, there was no chance of Trump being able to change that many votes.

The term "willful blindness" is a key legal term to identify someone who knows what they're doing is illegal, but who tries to make sure they don't hear or know about things to eliminate any criminal liability...That evidence all accumulates into a very solid block of proof of willful blindness."

And this:


Willful Blindness

Many may be familiar with the term “plausible deniability”, or the phrase “turning a blind eye”, but a lesser known and more nuanced term under the law is known as willful blindness.

Also referred to as willful ignorance, this is described as a situation in which a person will intentionally shield themselves from acknowledging information that might make them liable in a civil or criminal case, even denying these facts to themselves.

This is slightly different from the notion of plausible deniability, which refers to the ability of a person to distance themselves from criminal acts by insinuating others are responsible and denying any involvement, with little or no evidence to prove otherwise. This typical occurs in situations of chain of command or organizational hierarchy to help protect the highest ranking individual.

When it comes to willful blindness, the law maintains that a person can be found guilty of a crime where they reasonably should have been aware of the criminal nature at hand.

...An appellate court later wrote, “deliberate ignorance and positive knowledge are equally culpable…

Anonymous said...

"All in all, the first two hearings were great."
It's sick that you are cheerleading for all of this to be true. Like this is good for America. If people didn't already know this was true, then they have been duped like so many others.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Good Gawd, Anon @11:27!

What's wrong with you? Wanting the truth to be told about what Trump did and how he instigated the January 6 insurrection is "sick?"

Thousands of people DO NOT "already know this." And these hearings are a chance -- maybe the last chance -- for them to educate themselves and understand what a menace to our representative democracy Trump is.

Without these hearings, I would have never known that Trump set up a fake PAC to scam his gullible cultists. So YES! These hearings have been great.

They've also been a warning to those of us who care about our representative democracy to be aware of how fragile it is.

All it takes is one deeply flawed human being to ruins over 200 years of self-government.




Les Carpenter said...

Truth is never "sick" anon @12:27 AM. Nor is disseminating truth information so others (those who may not know already) can catch up.

America is at its best when truth prevails. Remember the old saying... :Truth, justice, and the American way?

Well, apparently the orange haired former guy who thought of himself as a sort of superman obviously never really believed that catch phrase we all learned growing up.

Truth and accountability for J6 2021 WILL prevail. Otherwise this nation should consider itself royally screwed. For good.

Anonymous said...

You intentionally misunderstood. Keep cheering for the downfall of America.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anon @2:10PM

You have a paranormal ability to read my mind?

PS. You sound like an angry person. I wonder why that is.

Dave Dubya said...

The Anonymous troll here sounds just like the one who is obsessing with personal attacks on me. He won't discuss the topic and wants to make it about me.

He's mad because I won't "debate" him for insulting me.

These wretched trolls are not here for good faith discussion.