Tag Archives: DC riot

DC riot

No need to ‘re-litigate’?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Memo to Mitch McConnell …

The effort to form a bipartisan commission to examine the cause and consequence of the Jan. 6 insurrection is not intended to “re-litigate” the event.

Its intent is to establish the whole cause and to work toward ways to prevent such a thing from recurring.

Donald Trump incited the riot that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The ex-POTUS fueled the anger in the mob assembled in front of him that day by declaring the election had been “stolen.” It wasn’t. President Biden won the most “secure election in history.”

McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, is playing politics with what should be a bipartisan/nonpartisan effort. Police officers were injured as they sought to fend off the mob. One of them died during the melee; another one took his own life.

McConnell is shaming himself, his office and the federal government he swore to protect and defend.

DC riot

Biden faces Jan. 6 challenge

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden is facing a quandary.

He wants Congress to create a bipartisan commission to examine the cause and impact of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Congressional Republicans have dug in deeply against it, wanting to protect themselves perhaps as well as Donald John Trump, the imbecile who instigated the riot that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

So, what does the president do? He could create a commission on his own. He could allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint a select committee.

The U.S. Senate backed away from furthering a House-passed bill creating the commission. Newsweek reported:

On Saturday, Virginia Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly called on Biden to bypass Republicans and instead create a presidential commission.

“In light of the GOP’s cowardly filibuster of a bipartisan Jan 6th commission I urge President Biden to form and appoint a Presidential Commission to fully investigate the insurrection of January 6th at the US Capitol,” Connolly tweeted.

Calls Mount for Biden to Form Presidential 1/6 Commission After GOP’s ‘Cowardly Filibuster’ (msn.com)

Even though such an idea is fraught with concern over how impartial such a presidential commission can be — given that the current president’s victory in the 2020 election is the reason for the insurrection in the first place — I am willing to endorse its creation.

I have a caveat to offer: President Biden must ensure the bipartisan nature of a presidential panel and then he should simply back away and let the group do its job without any hint of interference from the Oval Office.

Joe Biden has been around the halls of power long enough to understand what is proper. My sincere hope would be that the president would ensure a thorough probe into the events leading up to the Jan. 6 riot by the mob of terrorists. If only he could persuade the Trumpkins out there of its honesty.

They are likely to hang instead on the Big Lie that their idiotic hero keeps telling.

national news

Six GOP heroes emerge

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Well, just as I was castigating the congressional Republican caucus for being packed with cowards and suck ups, we see six GOP heroes emerge from the Senate ranks to do the right thing regarding a bipartisan commission to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection.

These six Republican senators voted to advance the bill creating the commission; the problem, though, was that the bill needed 10 GOP senators to carry it out.

The six heroes are: Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

I had heard already that Romney would vote “yes” on the bipartisan commission bill; I also had surmised Murkowski would vote to move the idea forward. I couldn’t predict what Collins or Sasse would do, as they have been a bit up-and-down on this issue of holding Donald Trump accountable for inciting the insurrection.

Six GOP crossover votes, though, weren’t enough. The commission needed 10 Rs to advance the bill.

But I’ll stand and cheer the six GOP senators for forgoing the bullying and bluster that Trump no doubt will level at them and voting their conscience … and for doing the right thing in seeking the whole truth behind the insurrection.

national news

Party of Lincoln becomes Party of Cowards

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ah, yes. Here we are with the Party of Lincoln now standing tall as the party of cowardly fealty to a fraud posing as one of their own.

That’s all I can surmise now that the Republican Party leaders in Congress have torpedoed a bill that would create a bipartisan commission to study the causes, effects and consequences of the Jan. 6 insurrection that could have toppled our democratic government.

Congressional Republicans have stonewalled a move by Democrats to create a commission comprising members of both major parties that would have sought to lay bare all the events leading up to the insurrection.

The GOP is now the party that is beholden to the cultist who sat as president for a term that ended in January. Donald Trump has bullied, blustered and bellowed his way into the skulls of politicians who now do not dare do anything to anger the ex-POTUS.

We are witnessing a shameful abrogation of the oath they all took when they assumed office.

These men and women signed on to a once-great political party that used to fight for equal rights for all Americans. It now fights to protect the backside of a politician foments the Big Lie about alleged electoral “theft.” Donald Trump doesn’t want a bipartisan commission to examine the intricate details of an event that threatened the safety of politicians doing their constitutional duty, which was to certify the results of a presidential election.

The Republican Party has become a haven for cowards.

DC riot

What about these ‘blue lives?’

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Congressional Republicans and their followers around the country are proud to declare that “blue lives matter.”

I join them in that mantra. It is true that police officers put their lives on the line whenever they suit up for duty to protect and serve us all.

Why, then, are GOP congressional members digging in while resisting efforts to get at the whole truth behind what happened on Jan. 6 when a Capitol Police Department officer was killed while trying to fend off a horde of insurrectionists intent on overturning the results of a free, fair and legal election?

Doesn’t the “blue life” that was lost that day matter? Of course it does!

But now the GOP is claiming that Democrats and others among the Republican caucus are playing politics with whatever findings could come from a bipartisan commission tasked with determining the root cause of the insurrection.

Who is playing politics? It is the Republican leadership in Congress that shudders at the notion that we are going to learn once and for all what we all know: that Donald Trump, the insurrectionist in chief on that horrible day, is responsible for the attack on the government he took an oath to protect and defend.

DC riot

Riot wasn’t a riot?

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Andrew Clyde has become a charter member of the Congressional Dipsh** of the Year Club.

The Georgia Republican has said publicly for all the world to hear that the Jan. 6 insurrection/riot/terrorist attack was none of that. That it was similar to a group of tourists strolling through the Capitol Building on a guided tour.

As Yahoo News reported: Clyde asserted that television footage from Jan. 6 showed people entering the Capitol and taking videos and pictures “in an orderly fashion” and “if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”

Really! Can this guy ever be taken seriously ever again on anything that pours out of his pie hole?

GOP lawmaker claims ‘there was no insurrection’ and Capitol riot looked like a ‘normal tourist visit’ (yahoo.com)

But … he said it.

Wow! I don’t believe any of us ever have seen a guided tour that included police officers being bludgeoned by rioters. Or by individuals smashing through windows. Or those who decided to take a dump on the floor of the Capitol.

Clyde objected to the formation of a bipartisan commission to examine the cause and effect of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But for this idiot to suggest that the riot that killed five individuals was nothing more than a guided tour is — and the language fails me here — is the stuff of a traitor.

DC riot

Yes on Jan. 6 commission

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What in the name of governmental transparency is the congressional Republican leadership seeking to hide from the public regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection?

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted — with 35 GOP members joining all House Democrats — to support a bipartisan panel to examine the events leading up to and including the insurrection occurred on the sixth day of 2021.

However, the commission faces a huge obstacle in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass. A 50-50 Senate isn’t likely to get 10 GOP members to join their Democratic colleagues in enacting this commission.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy opposes it; so does Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Yep, McConnell — the guy who personifies partisan politics — calls the effort, um, too political.

House approves Jan. 6 commission over GOP objections | TheHill

We need a thorough factfinding mission. The idea is to appoint five Democrats and five Republicans to the panel. It would have subpoena power. Members from both sides would be able to have input into who to summon.

This notion is fair and equitable. It also would bring us many miles closer to the truth into what happened and why on the day terrorists stormed Capitol Hill and sought to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

I want answers. I am sure other Americans are demanding answers too. There needs to be a 9/11-style commission to seek the truth.

I have a good hunch I know what such a panel would discover … which I also have reason to believe lies behind the reluctance of Republicans to support it.

DC riot, national news

Civil discourse? It’s MIA

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What in the name of uncivil backstabbing is going on atop Capitol Hill?

Democrats and Republicans continue to detest each other. My particular concern rests with GOP lawmakers who seem to pose an actual physical threat to their Democratic colleagues.

The latest high-profile confrontation included two relatively junior members of the House of Representatives. They haven’t been there but both of ’em have taken full advantage of their position to reap the highest profile possible.

The Memo: Lawmakers on edge after Greene’s spat with Ocasio-Cortez | TheHill

The House’s QAnon queen, Marjorie Taylor Greene, seemed intent on confronting lefty darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She followed AOC down the hall and out the door of the Capitol Building, berating her with every step. AOC didn’t respond.

Cortez has expressed concern for her physical safety because of antics performed by Greene and some of her other right-wing lunatic colleagues.

This seems to stem from the insurrection of Jan. 6. You remember that, yes? Donald Trump incited the terrorists to storm Capitol Hill. They did and shouted their desire to “hang Mike Pence!” as the vice president was doing his constitutional duty by certifying the Electoral College victory of Joe Biden over Trump.

It hasn’t abated much since that terrible day.

That the confrontation between Green and AOC, though, illustrates something strange about the current political climate. Both of these women are newbies to Congress; Greene was elected in 2020 and AOC was elected in 2018. Yet we find that the skyrocketing influence of social media has elevated both their profiles.

It well might be igniting the hard feelings that exist among members of the far left and the far right. It bothers and frightens me terribly.

As for MTG vs. AOC, hmmm … I’ll pull for the lefty.

DC riot, national news

Now comes the fight … maybe

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This just in: U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin might decide he wants to lead the House Republican caucus because the presumed heiress apparent, Elise Stefanik of New York, is too liberal.

Ah, yes. Let’s have a fight, shall we?

The House GOP caucus ousted Liz Cheney of Wyoming because Cheney is appalled at the conduct of Donald Trump. She happened to have the bad form to criticize the former president for inciting the Jan 6 terrorist attack on the Capitol Building while Congress was in the midst of certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Why, those Republicans just cannot stand the notion of one of their leaders criticizing such abhorrent conduct. So they booted Cheney out of her leadership post.

OK, that’s done. Now comes the fight to find a successor.

Roy said Stefanik’s voting record is too, um, moderate to suit his taste. He wants a fire-breather in that leadership job. Hey, kinda like Liz Cheney, whose own conservative credentials are beyond dispute.

Is Roy going to sing from the same page as Stefanik, giving Trump a pass on his insurrection-incitement? That appears for all the world to be the only credential any card-carrying GOP member of Congress needs these days to assume a leadership role.

This’ll be fun to watch.

Go ahead, Rep. Roy. Let’s see what you have.

local news

Get back to governing

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Amarillo’s goofy recount in its mayoral contest is over.

Any surprises? Hah! None! Mayor Ginger Nelson was re-elected to another two-year term despite the challenge mounted by a challenger, Claudette Smith, who wanted to peel 816 votes away from Nelson’s total to force a runoff. I guess she said something about irregularities.

It ain’t gonna happen.

Nelson said this on social media: I want to personally thank our county election clerks and staff for their hard work in validating the election results of May 1st. Our county employees do an amazing job of running our local elections with integrity and professionalism. I also want to thank the City Secretary, the Secretary of State’s office, and all the City staff who carefully followed the recount process. Most of all, I’m thankful for our citizens for voting in the May 1st municipal election.

I get that I am looking at this from afar, given that I no longer live in Amarillo, but so help me this recount smacked of the kind of sore loserness exhibited by Donald Trump … without a riot that stormed City Hall the way the terrorists stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.

I have heard from a couple of sources that Smith got into a snit with Nelson over a matter and she filed to run for Nelson’s seat because of a personal beef she had — or still has — with the mayor. Oh, does she have a public service record on which to run? Hmm. I haven’t heard of a single thing that she has done.

Well, the recount appears to be over. I would be willing to bet real American money we might never hear from the challenger again.