Category Archives: DC riot

How will GOP defend this?

Americans are likely to witness one of the most artful dodges in the nation’s political history.

My only hope is that most Americans will see it for what it is: an effort to cover the backside of a corrupt, immoral and ignorant president who endorsed an insurrection and didn’t lift a finger to stop it when it occurred.

We’ve just seen Day One of the televised hearings of the House of Representatives select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection.

Donald Trump was responsible for inciting the assault on our nation’s capital and our democratic process. I reached that conclusion long ago.

We are going to hear recordings of Republican congressional leaders condemn the president’s non-response to the insurrection. They will tell us once again that Trump provoked the attack. That he is singularly responsible for the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Now, though, they stand with the criminal who masqueraded as our commander in chief. How are they going to defend what clearly is the indefensible conduct of a man possessed with the burning desire to cling to power.

The former POTUS’s daughter has said she endorses the view of then-Attorney General William Barr, who said Trump’s claim of “widespread voter fraud” in the 2020 election is nothing but “bullsh**.”

Now we have learned that The Donald actually endorsed the chant of “Hang Mike Pence!” that came from the traitorous mob, telling aides that the former vice president of the United States deserved to be hanged. Incredible!

So, again comes the question: How in the name of democracy do the Trump toadies in government and across the land defend this individual? 

Well, there will be an effort made to deflect what we have heard and seen with our ears and our eyes. Americans of conscience must not let this deflection succeed.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Disqualification … maybe?

A good friend brought something to my attention while responding to an earlier blog post wondering about how to keep Donald Trump from ever holding public office for as long as he lives.

He cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states the following: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The U.S. House select 1/6 committee is examining whether Donald J. Trump committed an act of insurrection against the government on 1/6 by inciting the assault on Capitol Hill by the mob of traitors who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election … the one that Trump lost to Joe Biden.

What does any of this mean? Consider what could occur.

The Justice Department, after hearing all the evidence — which to my mind is pretty damning already — could indict Trump for citing an insurrection. Trump could go to trial. A jury could convict the former POTUS of deliberately seeking to overturn the election results.

Then Congress — with a conviction in hand — could vote, under the Constitution’s rules, bar Trump from ever seeking public office.

Few things in life would make me happier than to see that occur.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Can we ban this guy from public office?

I cannot possibly presume to know more than the legal eagles who work for Congress and its assorted committees, but this question is worth pondering as we digest what we are going to learn from the 1/6 House select committee’s televised hearings.

Is it legally possible to ban Donald J. Trump from serving in any public office, even though the ex-POTUS survived two impeachment trials in the U.S. Senate?

Had he been convicted and booted from office, there was a clause in the proceedings that allowed Congress to ban this moron from ever seeking public office for the rest of his life.

After one evening of public testimony broadcast around the world about the 1/6 insurrection that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, this much is crystal clear to me: Donald Trump was hideously derelict in his duty as commander in chief, as chief executive of the federal government and as our head of state by his refusal to stop the violence that was unfolding on Capitol Hill.

By any reasonable measure, this lying, self-serving narcissist has no business ever darkening the doors of the White House ever again. Under no circumstance should he be allowed into the People’s House. To think that there are serious political analysts who believe he actually has a chance at returning as POTUS simply makes me shudder. I do not believe he will run in 2024 … but that’s just me and as you know already, I am wrong far more frequently than I am right.

However, I am not wrong about my belief that this idiot ever should be allowed to run for public office based on what we have heard all along about his conduct on 1/6 and what we are likely to hear in the weeks to come.

Again, I need to know whether there is a way to stop this dangerous fool from re-entering the public political arena.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Waiting for bomb blast

I am awaiting the start of televised testimony tonight into the insurrection that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

I’ll admit to having made up my mind long ago about what happened, who is responsible and what should occur. Still, I await the testimony tonight and in subsequent 1/6 House select committee hearings with a bit of eager anticipation.

I know that Donald Trump incited the riot. I also know that he did nothing to stop it. I know he hasn’t expressed the slightest shred of public regret or sadness at the loss of life and the injuries suffered that day. I also believe the Justice Department should indict the ex-POTUS on charges of conspiring to commit sedition.

My mind will not change as a result of these hearings. Indeed, it might harden. I well might feel more inclined the believe the very worst about a man I have despised long before he became a politician.

But … I intend to watch. You’ll be hearing from me in the days to come. Honest.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Hope vs. fear

I am full of equal parts hope and fear as the U.S.  House 1/6 select committee prepares to air in public much of what it has heard in private about the insurrection that occurred on the Sixth of January, 2021.

I hope that the public will rally around what I am certain will be appalling evidence that the former president conspired to overturn the results of a fair and legal election.

My fear is that The Donald’s cultists will be energized to label it all as “fake news” and well could win the argument that will ensue.

Moreover, I hope that the public’s rage at what it learns will erode even more Trump’s hold on the Republican Party, that he will be seen as the clear and present danger to the democratic system of government he once took an oath to protect.

Then again, I fear that the Trumpkins’ grip will tighten and the GOP will continue to nominate certifiable nut jobs to high office.

We’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of the burglary at the Democratic National Commitee offices in the Watergate complex. On June 17, 1972, seven dipsh**s were caught rifling through files. The coverup that ensued found its way to the White House. President Nixon had to resign.

He quit because he was told by Republican senators he didn’t have the support within the body to survive an impeachment trial.

My hope is that enough Republicans will surface after the public revelations of the 1/6 insurrection that Trump will be forced into hiding, never to be seen or heard from again.

My fear is that the Republican Party today is populated by cowards.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Thank you, Rep. Rice

Tom Rice deserves a shout out, a high-five, even an atta-boy for standing firm in his decision to cast a vote to impeach Donald J. Trump.

Rice is a conservative member of Congress from South Carolina. He’s a Republican who’s been getting lots of grief from his own party for standing up for the rule of law and for casting what he calls a “most conservative vote” in favor of the U.S. Constitution.

He voted overwhelmingly for Trump’s agenda while The Donald was masquerading as POTUS. Then he said enough is enough and voted — along with nine other Republican House members — to impeach Trump when he incited the 1/6 insurrection.

Of course, and this is no surprise, Trump has called Rice a “disaster” as a member of Congress. Rice laughs it off. He faces a strong challenge in the upcoming state GOP primary.

GOP Rep. Tom Rice says impeaching Trump was ‘the conservative vote’ (msn.com)

If he loses his party’s nomination for another term in the House? No big deal, said Rice. He’ll stand forever on his vote to impeach Trump because it was the right thing to do.

I am proud of him. Thank you for taking a stand in favor of the Constitution. If only the ex-POTUS had any understanding of the importance of that vote.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Will TV time enlighten nation?

The U.S. House select 1/6 committee is taking its show into prime time next week, causing me to wonder if national exposure to the testimony the panel has gotten already is going to enlighten a nation that ought to already have been enraged over what happened on the Sixth of January, 2021.

I am outraged. Make no mistake about that. The nation’s great political chasm, though, suggests that too many Americans continue to believe — wrongly! — that the 1/6 insurrection was, well, no big deal. Oh, man! It doesn’t get any bigger than a crowd of traitorous rioters seeking to overturn the results of a free, fair and legal presidential election.

What the nation saw unfold that terrible day was a coup attempt orchestrated, incited and provoked by the nimrod who lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

I do not need to be persuaded about what we saw. However, I intend fully to watch as much of the televised hearings that I can.

Just in recent days we have received some stunning reporting that Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, warned that Donald Trump was going to abandon Pence, strip him of Secret Service protection, if he didn’t unilaterally overturn the results while the Electoral College vote was being tabulated.

Good ever-lovin’ grief! What in the world does it take for all Americans to realize that we had a madman in charge of the nation’s executive branch of government on that terrible day!

I will hope, therefore, that televising these hearings and revealing what the committee has heard in private is going to open the gates to the truth behind the insurrection.

Then what?

First things first, I reckon. The nation will get a chance to hear in real time what many of the principals involved on that horrible day were thinking and saying while the insurrectionists were killing people on Capitol Hill in their quest to subvert our democracy.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Public hearings to commence

Mark it down on your calendar — or perhaps log it into your smart phone: June 9 is when the House select committee investigating the 1/6 insurrection takes its hearings onto the public floor.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson vows a complete hearing before the whole world when he calls witnesses to testify on what they knew on that hideous day. He will make them tell the truth about when they knew it and whether the POTUS at the time, Donald Trump, is culpable in the effort to overturn our cherished democratic process with the aim of keeping Trump in power.

I don’t know about you, but I intend to watch as much of it as I can. I understand there will be roughly five days of public testimony.

I am going to look forward to hearing the Trumpkins defend the activities of their hero. Defend his inaction. His refusal to stop the attack on our law enforcement personnel guarding the Capitol Building.

Moreover, I am going to hope my stomach is strong enough to digest all the lies we are about to hear.

Ladies and gentlemen, pass the popcorn, because we are about to watch a political drama play out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Did she violate her oath? Yep!

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says this in Section 3 of that amendment; it provides a vivid explanation of who can serve in Congress.

It states: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

A member of Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, is being challenged by those who believe she engaged in an insurrection on 1/6. That she helped incite the crowd to storm the Capitol Building that day.

If she is found culpable, her congressional career could end.

OK, recognizing my own bias, I believe she did what she is accused of doing and that she should be denied the chance to seek re-election from the 14th Congressional District of Georgia.

The QAnon-believing, Stop the Steal, Big Lie believer has been nothing but a pain in ass since she took her seat in Congress in early 2021.

But … let’s allow this evidentiary hearing process to play out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Will House GOP boss deny saying what we heard?

Politicians are known to be among humankind’s slipperiest subspecies, correct? That said, I am intrigued with how U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is going to slither his way out of what the whole country has heard him say about Donald Trump’s conduct during the 1/6 insurrection.

Hmm. How does this go?

Two New York Times reporters have stated that McCarthy said he would call Trump shortly after the 1/6 riot and urge him to resign from the presidency. McCarthy said the House would impeach him for inciting the riot and that the Senate very well could convict him.

OK so far?

Then McCarthy denied saying what was reported. His office issued a statement declaring the reporting to be false.

But wait! Then came the recording. We hear McCarthy’s voice telling Rep. Liz Cheney that he would urge Trump to quit. That was him on the recording, right? I know McCarthy’s voice when I hear it and it damn sure sounded just like him.

Where does this go? Good grief! I have no clue, other than it exposes McCarthy to be the lily-livered coward many of us have believed him to be. He excoriated Trump shortly after the insurrection, then flew to Florida after The Donald left office and had his picture taken with him hanging out in Trump’s glitzy resort/home.

McCarthy has his sights set on becoming the next speaker of the House, presuming the Republicans take control of the body after the midterm election. Therein might lie the biggest takeaway from this tumultuous development.

Do American voters really want a sniveling coward leading the House of Representatives? Is this what lies in store for the country once we count those ballots?

God help us!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com