Tag Archives: insurrection

national news

Run, Josh, run!

You know, it’s almost not worth any time to comment on one of the pieces of evidence revealed Thursday night during the televised House 1/6 select committee hearing.

Aww, but what the heck …

There was that hilarious snippet of video showing U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., scurrying to a safe place to get away from the traitors who were attacking the U.S. Capitol. Why mention it?

Because this was the same Josh Hawley who egged the mob on with that hideous clenched-fist salute earlier that day.

What do we surmise from the young man’s display of bravado.

Was it all for show? Did he realize what the mob intended to do? Was he ordered to the safe place by the Capitol cops on duty and who were fighting for their own lives while protecting senators and House members?

Whatever. It all makes for a curious juxtaposition of a young hothead senator being revealed — quite possibly — as a cowardly hypocrite.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Trump did not ‘do nothing’ on 1/6

If you’ll pardon the double negative in the headline, I want to make a brief statement on the major takeaway I gleaned from last night’s televised public hearing on the 1/6 insurrection.

It is that the narrative on what happened while the attack on the U.S. Capitol was underway has changed in a small, but significant, manner.

We had been told that Trump “did nothing” for more than three hours to stop the traitors from attacking the government. Now we have heard that Trump made a conscious decision to do nothing. Therein lies the change in narrative.

Now we have come to understand that Trump’s inaction was planned prior to the event, which means that the POTUS was engaged actively in ensuring that he wouldn’t call out the National Guard, that he wouldn’t tell the attackers to cease their assault on our government and that he wanted them to capture Vice President Mike Pence and, well, do serious bodily harm to him.

There’s even better news — from my standpoint, at least. House select committee chairman Bennie Thompson announced that the televised hearings will resume in September.

That is all right with me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Buckle up and wait for these results

There likely will be no clearer referendum on the health and status of today’s Republican Party than a primary vote set to take place next month in Wyoming.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the state’s lone representative in the House, is running for re-election. She has been as staunch a conservative lawmaker as any in the House. She is fervently pro-life and pro-gun; she is anti-tax and has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

But she’s being called a “dead woman walking” in the upcoming GOP primary because she is being challenged by a Trump cultist who has earned the endorsement of the twice-impeached former president.

Why worry about this election? Because Cheney has committed an unpardonable sin in the eyes of the cult cabal that follows Donald Trump. She has joined a select House committee seeking to know the truth behind the 1/6 insurrection and attack on the Capitol. She has said Trump is criminally liable for what occurred that day. She has been faithful to her oath, which she took to defend the Constitution.

That has earned her a spot on the Donald Trump sh** list of politicians who would dare to challenge him for, oh, breaking the law and doing something no other president in history has ever done … which is launch a coordinated attack on the peaceful transition of power after an election that he lost.

If the Wyoming primary voters oust Cheney, then I am certain it will signal the death of the Republican Party as we have known it. If Cheney fends off the challenger, which appears unlikely, then there might be hope that the GOP can cleanse itself of the soiling that Trump has brought to it.

I am pulling for Rep. Cheney. Not because I like her politics, but because the Republican Party needs someone in its ranks who will stand for the rule of law. It is fundamental to the success of this democratic experiment the nation’s founders left us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Garland intrigue is building

Hey, what’s going on with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who’s signed a memo declaring that any indictment of a president or former president running for the same office must be signed off by the AG himself?

Garland has revived a Donald Trump administration policy, which brings me to why this is significant now.

Donald Trump — the twice-impeached and defeated former POTUS — is dropping hints of running again in 2024. Think of the campaign slogan he could use.

Vote for me, ’cause it’ll keep me out of prison.

Trump well might be indicted for various felonies against the government connected to the 1/6 insurrection and attack on the Capitol as officials were counting 2020 election Electoral College ballots certifying Joe Biden the winner over … yep, Donald Trump.

Garland’s memo seems to suggest to some observers to signal a reluctance to indict Trump for anything prior to the midterm election this fall.

Trump might decide to run for POTUS prior to the midterm election.

Yeah, it’s going to muddy up a lot of things.

Personally, I do not believe he’ll be nominated. Also, I do believe that Garland will have enough to prosecute Trump for something, although I dare not predict what that would be.

This disgraceful excuse for a politician — Trump — is trying to work every angle he can to keep his sorry backside out of the slammer.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news

Hearings have changed my mind

No one has asked me my opinion on whether the 1/6 insurrection hearings conducted by the House select committee has changed my mind about what happened on that horrible day.

I am going to offer an opinion anyway.

Hell yes, I have changed my mind on the insurrection. After listening to several days’ worth of testimony, I am even more convinced than before that Donald J. Trump needs to be charged with any variety of federal crimes.

I thought he was guilty long ago. I still believe in Trump’s guilt. What has changed, though, has been the passion with which I believe this stuff about the former POTUS.

Does that count as a “changed mind?” If not, then it should. Therefore, I will conclude that my mind has changed about who is responsible for the insurrection.

I believed in Trump’s guilt when the hearings started. I believe in them even more as they grind on toward a conclusion.

What never will change in my mind is a demand for accountability and a prison sentence if the ex-president ever gets convicted.

http://johnkanellis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Cheney might lose … damn!

Never in a zillion years would I have imagined myself saying what I am about to say … which is that I fear that U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney is going to lose her fight to stay in Congress. 

I have seen some recent polling data that suggest that Cheney is going to lose by 20 percentage points to a challenger who’s been endorsed by Donald John Trump, the twice-impeached former POTUS who has declared Cheney — a fellow Republican — to be Public Enemy No. 1.

And why? Well, Cheney has determined that Trump is a lawless buffoon, a danger to democracy and an existential threat to the security of this nation. Why does she say that?

Because of the 1/6 insurrection that Trump incited.

Cheney is serving on the House select committee examining the insurrection and has been a stalwart, stellar champion for the rule of law. She has declared that one cannot be “loyal to Trump and be loyal to the Constitution.” She has chosen to honor her congressional oath, which pledges loyalty to the governing document.

For that she is likely to be punished by losing her GOP primary battle next month.

A lot of center-left, Democrat-leaning American patriots — such as yours truly — are sickened by the notion of Cheney losing to a Trumpkin.

Let me be clear once again. Liz Cheney is far too conservative a politician for my taste. However, she has earned my undying respect and admiration for standing up for the rule of law.

I will admit that her ferocious defense of the rule of law against Donald Trump’s cavalier notion that he stands above the law has all but wiped the slate clean as far as her previous record is concerned.

It’s not a lead-pipe cinch that she will lose the primary in Wyoming. However, it appears to be looking that way. And for that, the Republican primary voters in Wyoming should cower in shame.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Damned if he does … or doesn’t

1 Comment

Merrick Garland is facing a serious case of twin damnation as he ponders whether to seek a criminal indictment against Donald J. Trump in the matter pertaining to that insurrection that the former POTUS incited.

The attorney general is going to balance his commitment to the law with the obvious pressure he will feel from both ends of the great divide.

The House of Representatives select committee that is looking at the insurrection, its aftermath, its cause and its result is going to decide whether to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department.

What does the AG do?

He will face certain recrimination no matter what he decides.

If AG Garland decides to prosecute Trump on, say, conspiracy to commit sedition, he will face the wrath of the far right and the Trump cultists. They’ll wave the “witch hunt” banner and proclaim that the “far left Democrat Party” is out to get their guy.

If, however, he decides against charging Trump with a crime, he will face the wrath of others who believe the president should not be allowed to walk away … again! I mean, he did skate through two impeachment trials and it well might be that a third successful avoidance of accountability could be too much for some of us to handle.

Then again, the attorney general could indict Trump on a host of lesser charges, which I am sure would bring its share of teeth-gnashing as well.

This is sort of my way of saying that I would not want to be in Merrick Garland’s place at this moment in history.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

AG faces mind-numbing concerns

This is why U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is getting the big bucks, man.

These hearings before the House 1/6 select committee examining the insurrection are producing a mountain of evidence against Donald Trump. What is an attorney general to do about this?

Sigh …

There appears to be a school of thought developing that any decision by Garland to forgo a criminal prosecution of Trump carries at least as much grief for the AG as a prosecution. Indeed, the cost of doing nothing might be greater than the blow back that will come if Garland takes this case to a grand jury, which then could indict Trump.

On what? Seditious conspiracy is possible. Dereliction of duty is another. Interfering with election officials’ conduct, too.

I thought the sedition accusation might be the most difficult to prove. I am not sure about that today. I mean — wow! — the dude and his key staff knew all hell was likely to break loose on 1/6. They did nothing!

Merrick Garland is a man of impeccable character. I am likely to accept whatever he decides, even though a no-go on prosecuting Trump is going to make me grit my teeth real hard.

He said he will follow the law all the way to the top. I will take him at his word. It’s looking more and more to me as though we are going to watch all hell breaking loose once again once the AG examines that mountain of evidence in front of him.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

The hits keep coming

How much more drama can the nation take as the House select 1/6 committee marches on in its quest for the truth behind the insurrection and frontal assault on our nation’s government?

We got a snootful of drama yet again today when two former Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members talked of their former devotion to Donald J. Trump and what they did at the former POTUS’s behest on that terrible day.

Oh, and then we heard from Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who told us that Trump sought to tamper with one of the witnesses who testified before the committee. The witness didn’t accept a phone call from the twice-impeached president and instead made contract with legal counsel. I sense we are going to hear a lot more from and about this individual.

Today was the seventh televised hearing. More of them are coming.

This is strange, man. I am absolutely transfixed by this testimony. It is dramatic in the extreme. Once again, it tells me that we have evidence of crimes committed at the very top of the political chain of command.

I am quite certain U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and his team of legal eagles are taking copious notes.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Stand tall, counselor

Pat Cipollone is about to get his 15 minutes of fame, notoriety, infamy … whatever the case may be.

On Friday, the one-time White House counsel during Donald Trump’s term in office, will talk to the House select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection. He’ll get a chance to tell the panel what he said to Trump while the then-POTUS was seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election … the one that Trump lost to Joe Biden.

An earlier witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, told the committee about things Cipollone said, warning Trump that the actions he was proposing would end up sending everyone in the White House to prison.

Now the former White House lawyer gets to say it all himself, out loud and on the record.

The walls continue to close in on the former Nitwit in Chief.

This is so much fun to watch!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com