Tag Archives: insurrection

DC riot

Ex-VPOTUS takes pride in his Jan. 6 role

(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Mike Pence said he is proud of the role he played during the Jan. 6 insurrection against the federal government.

Good. But should he shower himself with too much high praise? The former vice president of the United States should ponder the obvious. Mike Pence did what the law and the U.S. Constitution required him to do.

The former VP spoke Thursday at the Ronald Reagan library and spoke of the riot that erupted when the former Imbecile in Chief incited the angry mob to march on Capitol Hill. Matters got grievously out of hand, as you’ll recall.

“Now there are those in our party who believe that in my position as presiding officer over the joint session that I possess the authority to reject or return electoral votes certified by the states,” Pence said. “The Constitution provides the vice president with no such authority before the joint session of Congress.”

Pence said he’s ‘proud’ of role he played on Jan. 6 | TheHill

Pence was presiding over a joint congressional session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he and his running mate lost.

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad Pence followed the law. I am glad he wasn’t harmed by the terrorists who stormed the Capitol Building shouting “Hang Mike Pence!”

The former VP did the only thing he could do under the law, which was to preside over the counting of Electoral College votes.

Is that worthy of pride and high praise? Sure … but only if you believe Mike Pence had any options other than the one he was required to follow.

national news

Domestic terror deserves national attention

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Yes, the headline on this blog is one of those no-brainers.

However, to hear the U.S. attorney general speak so forcefully about the threats posed by domestic terror reminds me of why I support this fellow and the individual who nominated him for the job, President Biden.

AG Merrick Garland continues to give voice to issues that need to be heard.

Just as he spoke the other day about the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that all Americans have access to the electoral process, he spoke again today about the existential threat posed by domestic terror.

We all saw that threat play out on Jan. 6 when the mob attacked the U.S. Capitol as members of Congress led by Vice President Mike Pence were certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Congressional Democrats and a handful of their Republican colleagues want a bipartisan commission to explore in detail the cause and effect of that insurrection. We know already what to call it: an act of rebellion against the government, incited by the immediate past president who continues to foment The Big Lie about the election being “stolen” from him.

The men who served as attorney general under the former president’s single term in office did not speak with anything approaching the passion and eloquence about domestic terrorism that AG Merrick Garland has done.

“We will never take our eyes off the risk of another devastating attack by foreign terrorists,” he said in remarks delivered today at the Justice Department. “At the same time, we must respond to domestic terrorism with the same sense of purpose and dedication.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland unveils plan to combat domestic terrorism – CBS News

CBS News reported: Administration officials, in briefing reporters on the strategy, pointed to an increase in politically, ethnically, and racially motivated acts of domestic terrorism in the U.S. over the years, including the congressional baseball shooting that took place four years ago this week, when a shooter opened fire on members of Congress because they were Republican. 

So it must proceed. FBI Director Christopher Wray has called domestic terrorism an even greater threat to Americans than terrorists from abroad. It is time to respond accordingly.

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Rioters were not ‘patriots’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This must be noted with extreme vigor.

Whenever I see video of the Jan. 6 terrorist insurrection on the U.S. Capitol Building and hear mobsters declare themselves to be “patriots,” I want to scream at the top of my lungs.

The rioters who sought to dismantle the governmental process of certifying a duly constituted, legal and fair election were not patriots in any incarnation of the word.

I am a patriot. I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I have served my country in wartime. I am proud of my flag. I salute it appropriately. I am among many millions of Americans who consider themselves to be patriots. No one with whom I have any relationship ever would have done what the terrorists did on Jan. 6.

They stormed into the Capitol Building. They beat police officers with flags. They crapped on the floor of the halls of government. They shouted “Hang Mike Pence!” They posed physical threats to the leaders of our government.

Those are the actions of patriots? Would a patriotic American ever behave in such a reprehensible manner?

They were acting at the behest of a man who lost the 2020 presidential election. They were doing his bidding. Indeed, the ex-POTUS, the man who proclaimed his desire to put “America first,” instead put himself first.

They were patriots? They love the country? No. They do not. They detest the country and they deserve all the scorn that should come their way.

DC riot

We need a probe into Jan. 6!

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If only the congressional obstructionist caucus — comprising Republicans, of course — would appreciate the gravity of the attack that occurred on Jan. 6.

They can’t or won’t accede to demands from Democrats that there needs to be a thorough accounting of the insurrection that occurred on that horrible day.

As many in Congress have noted: The nation’s Capitol has been attacked twice in its history and this attack, unlike the first one during the War of 1812, was done by Americans. It was an attack on our governmental process and it sought to overturn the results of a certifiably free, fair and legal presidential election.

Democrats are now left to weigh how they could proceed without Republican cooperation, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer have insisted on.

As The Hill reported: In a call this week with House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) floated four different routes Congress could take: have the Senate vote again on the House-passed bill to create an outside commission; form a select House committee, consisting of lawmakers hand-picked by leaders in both parties; allow several sitting committees to continue their probes into Jan. 6; or empower a single House committee, like Homeland Security or Oversight, to take the lead on the investigation.

Democrats debate shape of new Jan. 6 probe (msn.com)

Yes, we know the outlines of the event. Donald Trump held a rally on the Ellipse that morning. He revved up the riotous mob. The terrorists then marched on the Capitol Building. They stormed into the place. They injured many of the cops trying to protect members of Congress and the vice president from the mob. One of the DC cops died in the melee. Donald Trump did nothing to stop it.

A thorough investigation into the event can determine ways to prevent it from happening again. That solution lies at the heart of the need for this probe.

If only congressional Republicans would buy into the need to prevent a repeat of the attack that threatened them, too.

DC riot

Pence and Trump ‘may never agree’?

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Mike Pence continues to demonstrate the suck-up qualities he put to dubious use while serving as vice president during the Donald J. Trump administration.

Consider what he told an audience in New Hampshire this week:

“You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office. And I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day. But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years,” Pence said to applause.

“And I will not allow Democrats or their allies in the media to use one tragic day to discredit the aspirations of millions of Americans, or allow Democrats or their allies in the media to distract our attention from a new administration intent on dividing our country to advance their radical agenda,” Pence continued.

Just to remind the former VP: The riotous mob that Trump incited stormed the Capitol Building with signs that screamed “Hand Mike Pence!” What’s more, Trump did not a damn thing to stop the onslaught after it spiraled out of control. Oh, and he didn’t call Pence for several days after he got out of the Capitol Building while hiding in a secure location to protect himself from the terrorist mob.

Do I really believe he and Trump have spoken “many times” since that hideous event?

Not for one second.

Yeah, Mr. VP,  we’ll all “move on” once we get a full accounting of what happened that day. In case Pence has forgotten, the mob launched a full frontal assault on the very democracy he and Trump vowed to “defend and protect.”

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.