Tag Archives: insurrection

national news

Keep our eyes open

We all need to be clear-eyed about what we are going to see and hear in the weeks ahead as the House 1/6 select committee conducts its hearings on national TV.

It is seeking to expose to the nation what it has learned through hours of testimony and thousands of pages of documents it has obtained bout the insurrection that sought to subvert our democracy and overturn the 2020 election result.

We will hear from Donald J. Trump’s defenders that the committee is on a witch hunt, that it is a partisan gathering of Democrats intent on destroying the ex-POTUS, that what happened on that day wasn’t so bad.

It’s not a witch hunt; the panel does contain two Republicans along with seven Democrats; Trump is engaging in a form of self-destruction by continuing to foment The Big Lie about “widespread voter fraud” that he knew did not exist; and what we saw was an unprecedented attack on our democratic process that included verbal threats against the lives of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence.

The committee is a duly constituted congressional body that has been charged with determining the cause of the insurrection, seeking solutions to prevent it from recurring and (hopefully) determine who should be held accountable for the ghastly event that unfolded.

Do not be fooled by those who say they “can’t defend Trump” but refuse to condemn his inaction on that day. Nor should we be fooled by those who point fingers at others for refusing to provide “adequate security” on Capitol Hill.

As we heard during testimony this past week from the brave Capitol Police officer, Caroline Edwards, she was trained to detain a limited number of subjects; she was not trained to engage in “hours of hand-to-hand combat.”

Let’s keep our eyes and ears open to what will be laid out before us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

What about Dick Cheney?

Liz Cheney is getting some ridiculous pushback from those on the far right of her Republican Party over her condemnation of Donald Trump’s inciting of the 1/6 insurrection.

I cannot allow that resistance to go unchallenged.

The Wyoming GOP congresswoman is now being held responsible in some circles for the lies her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, told the nation about weapons of mass destruction that allegedly were possessed by the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Let me be crystal clear on this.

Liz Cheney was a grown woman when her father pitched the notion that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD, which he and the George W. Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq. She did not serve in the administration. Her father did. Therefore, she bears no responsibility for the lies that Dick Cheney fomented about WMD.

For those who now challenge Liz Cheney’s credibility in voting to impeach Donald Trump and for serving on the 1/6 House select committee is a classic case of “what about-ism” run amok.

Indeed, does it occur to anyone that perhaps Liz Cheney learned something from the deception that her father perpetrated on the nation in the lead-up to the Iraq War? Might that have served as a “teachable moment” to the VP’s daughter to tell the truth were she ever to seek and hold public office?

This nonsense that Rep. Cheney should be held to account for the actions of a family member is utter rubbish.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Do you see the irony?

Occasionally, I see irony where others might not realize it exists. Think for a moment about Donald Trump’s inauguration as president in January 2017.

He stood on the Capitol steps that day and made a declaration that became the signature line of his inaugural speech to the nation.

“The American carnage,” he said, “stops right here and right now.”

Oh, the conservative media just ate that stuff up.

But wait a second!

Just two weeks short of four years later, a whole lot of carnage took place on those very steps where Trump declared it would stop. The insurrection against the government involved the beat-down of Capitol Police officers by a mob of traitors seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Hey, it’s a whole lot more than just another of Donald Trump’s unkept promises. I just find the irony of the location of the insurrection and Trump’s bold assertion to be too much compelling to ignore.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

House panel sets table nicely

Members of the House select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection and assault on the Capitol Building have set the table nicely for the rest of the televised hearings we’re going to watch.

Oh, and make no mistake: I will watch them all … if I can.

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney — one of two Republicans serving on the panel — has set the stage for a possible recommendation of criminal indictments against Donald J. Trump. Chairman Bennie Thompson said as much, too, suggesting that the evidence the committee has seen to date present a planned, orchestrated plot conducted from within the Oval Office to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and keep Trump in power.

From my perch in the cheap seats, that is an illegal act. Trump broke the law. Attorney General Merrick Garland well might find he has no choice but to send this matter to a grand jury, which then could indict the 45th president of the United States on federal felony charges.

I guess a quick word of thanks is in order to Chairman Thompson for letting us see this investigation play out in our living rooms.

Not that I need convincing. I am learning a bit more about the Constitution and the protection it provides against the kind of lawlessness we witnessed unfolding in that attack on our democratic process.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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

DC riot

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

DC riot

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

DC riot

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

national news

Bring on the fireworks

I keep getting teased by reports of “explosive” testimony at the 1/6 hearings that will be televised beginning Thursday night.

One of the explosions reportedly will come from recorded testimony offered by Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who have told the House select 1/6 committee about what they saw during the insurrection, how they implored Daddy Donald Trump to “do something” to stop the riot and how Daddy Donald did, shall we say, not a damn thing.

Let’s remember something about the ex-POTUS: He has yet to express a single word of regret about what happened that day when he incited the riot that erupted on Capitol Hill; not a word of sadness over the death of the police officers, not a word of regret that rioters defecated on the floor of Congress; not a single expression of remorse that the crowd that gathered on The Ellipse that morning had spun out of control.

Now we well might be treated to “explosive” testimony from Ivanka and Jared that Donald Trump let the riot continue, allowed the traitors to threaten to “hand Mike Pence!” and conspired with others within the White House to launch a coup to prevent Joe Biden to assume the presidency he won in a fair, free and legal election.

Whatever occurs during the several days of televised testimony, you can count me as a surefire audience member who will be listening to every word. I’ll make sure I’m sitting far enough from the TV to avoid any blowback from the blast.

Johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

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