Tag Archives: insurrection

national news

Tough ‘reality TV’ viewing awaits

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This much is utterly certain: I am going to have a difficult time watching and listening to the U.S. congressional hearing into the Jan. 6 insurrection against the government.

The testimony I am hearing today from one of the Capitol police officers is compelling, disturbing and heartbreaking.

The video to which the world was treated at the start of today’s opening hearing is as difficult to watch as the 9/11 terrorist attack that occurred nearly 20 years ago.

To think that some in Congress — namely its Republican caucus members — equate the insurrection to a “tourist” excursion is the most outrageous insult I can imagine.

Proceed with wisdom and discernment, members of the House select committee. The world is watching.

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Cheney’s star keeps rising

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Liz Cheney continues to confound me … in a good and surprising manner.

The conservative Republican congresswoman keeps saying things and keeps demonstrating that not all actual Republicans are as loony as the former Dipsh** in Chief. The Wyoming lawmaker today stood foursquare behind a decision by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to veto two GOP members’ involvement in a select committee assigned by study the Jan. 6 insurrection against the federal government.

Cheney also is a member of the select committee that next week will begin its task of rooting out the truth behind the insurrection/riot/mob attack on Capitol Hill.

My goodness, it makes me wonder whether Cheney’s fealty to the Constitution makes her a candidate for hands-down the most stunning party shift in the recent history of Congress. Would this longstanding Republican actually consider switching to the Democratic Party, given that the GOP she joined years ago no longer resembles the party that has been hijacked by the cultists who adhere to blathering of POTUS 45.

OK. It won’t happen. I get that Cheney remains a strong conservative. She is a Republican’s Republican.

She also is faithful to the oath she took to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution, which so many others within her party have failed to do. They are the villains in this drama that’s playing out. Cheney remains a hero in my book.

If only she could find it within her heart and mind that the party she joined has become an organization she no longer recognizes.

national news

The chasm widens

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Nancy Pelosi has nixed the appointment of two Republican House members to a select committee she formed to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.

The House speaker acted within her authority established under House rules. We clear so far?

OK, then House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy yanked all the rest of the Republicans he had chosen for the committee. He called Pelosi, a fellow Californian, a dictator who doesn’t give a damn about due process.

Here’s where I get a bit suspicious of it all.

Congressional Republicans had the chance to form an independent, bipartisan commission to conduct this examination. They chose to scuttle that idea. They knew what the result would be: that Speaker Pelosi would choose a select committee and would retain veto power over any GOP members selected to serve on the panel.

Why are they acting so outraged? Congressional Republicans are reaping what they have sown.

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GOP House members join key panel

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy came through with the names of five of his GOP colleagues to serve on the select committee that is going to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection.

One word of advice now goes to the committee chairman, Democrat Bennie Thompson of Mississippi: Keep a tight leash around the neck of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of the five GOP members McCarthy has selected.

Of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has veto power over any selections for the panel. If she decides to allow the loudmouth Jordan to serve, then it falls on Chairman Thompson to keep Jordan focused on the task at hand: finding the truth behind the riot that killed five people, injured dozens more, damaged the Capitol Building and sought to overturn the results of an election that chose President Biden over the GOP incumbent.

Jordan was one of the GOP caucus members, you will recall, who voted against certifying the election results. The dude is a loose cannon. He tends to come unhinged while defending his hero, POTUS No. 45. He also tends to badger witnesses, not allowing them the opportunity to respond to his hectoring.

Jordan is likely to object to using the term “insurrection” to describe what happened on Jan. 6. Except that’s precisely what it was. Chairman Thompson, don’t let Jordan get away with trying to change the subject or trying to persuade the nation that the mob of domestic terrorists were not intent on doing harm to officials who were doing their constitutional duty, which was to certify the results of the Electoral College tally.

The GOP congressional caucus wouldn’t go along with an independent commission. The House select committee is the next best step toward determining what happened, why it happened and seeking ways to prevent a recurrence.

This panel needs room to do its job. It must not tolerate diversions from some members of its ranks. Listen up, Jim Jordan: Listen with your ears for once … and not your mouth.

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It was an ‘insurrection’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

For several months now, I have been referring to the Jan. 6 riot as an “insurrection,” a term that reportedly gives congressional Republicans a case of the heebie-jeebies.

Senate Republicans didn’t like the term inserted into legislation that called for creation of an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the cause and effect of the insurrection; it also would have sought remedies to prevent it from happening in the future.

Well, you know what? I will continue to call it what it was: an insurrection against the government of the United States of America.

It was nothing short of that. It was a direct frontal assault on the very democratic process which on that day was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election that resulted in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris  being elected president and vice president of the United States.

The ticket led by the 45th POTUS incited the insurrection, for which the House of Representatives impeached him for a second time. It was a big more of a bipartisan impeachment than the first go-round, with a handful of Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in impeaching POTUS 45; what’s more, some GOP senators ended up voting to convict the disgraced ex-POTUS at trial.

My point, though, is that no one should shy away from calling the DC riot what it was: an act of insurrection against the government of the United States. For the GOP congressional caucus to dig in against the investigative commission because they dislike truth-telling language is a cheap and shallow attempt to deny the obvious.

The effort to get at the truth behind the insurrection must not end. The House has formed a select committee. It already includes one Republican House member; others should join the effort.

Let’s not be coy about what’s at stake. It is to find a way to prevent future insurrections from occurring.

Ever!

national news

Liz Cheney produces conflicting emotions

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is no secret to those who read this blog that Liz Cheney drives me batty.

The congresswoman from Wyoming is among the most conservative members of the House of Representatives. Her Republican credentials are impeccable, as she comes from a family led by a former defense secretary, congressman and vice president of the United States.

I didn’t support her decision to run for Congress; I believed her to be a carpetbagger, as she never spent much time in the state she now represents.

But, man, she is showing some spine, guts and conviction in standing against a president who sought to subvert the U.S. Constitution, is still seeking to overturn a free and fair election and has been the voice of idiotic demagoguery from the moment he became a politician prior to his run for the presidency in 2016.

Cheney voted to impeach the ex-POTUS. She stands foursquare on the oath she took to defend the Constitution. Rep. Cheney now is the lone Republican to join a House select committee that is going to examine the consequence of the Jan. 6 insurrection that the former POTUS incited.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy threatens to strip her of committee assignments. Liz Cheney continues to stand firm. To which I say … you go, Liz!

Rep. Cheney is taking a stand against blind fealty to a cult leader. She said the integrity of our democratic process is far more important than any loyalty she might feel toward any human being.

I am proud of the stand that Liz Cheney is taking on my behalf and on behalf of the country she took an oath to serve. Her oath makes no mention of any loyalty to a disgraced ex-president.

I salute Liz Cheney.

DC riot

No way was it a ‘routine day of touring’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Congressional Republicans have their Big Lie — alleging vote fraud in the 2020 election. Now they might have spawned a smaller, but still significant, lie about the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Now that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to create a select committee to examine the cause and consequence of the riot against the government, it is good to examine the other “big lie” making the rounds on Capitol Hill.

It’s the one that suggests that the riot was nothing more than a group of “peaceful tourists” taking part in a tour of the Capitol Building. Indeed, some members of the GOP congressional caucus have uttered such trash.

It begs the question: When has a “routine tour” left feces on the walls of the Capitol Building, or smashed through windows, or assaulted police officers with weapons and pepper spray, or left two officers dead and many other participants injured?

Never in my entire life have I witnessed such an egregious attempt at lying, deceit and boorish conduct as we have seen among congressional Republicans who have resisted calls for a thorough examination of the insurrection we saw play out on Jan. 6.

They won’t call it what it was: an insurrection against the government. They won’t acknowledge the role that the 45th POTUS had in inciting the mob of terrorists.

This lie won’t ever rise to the level of The Big Lie, given that the riot occurred because the disgraced ex-POTUS made the phony allegation that day and ignited the mob to do what it did.

However, this lesser — but still significant — lie about the riot being nothing out of the ordinary is bad enough. It likely will scar the current cult that masquerades as a political party perhaps for the rest of its existence.

DC riot, national news

House to OK select probe of Jan. 6

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can count votes as well as any politician who’s ever served on Capitol Hill.

With that knowledge in the bank, she is planning to ask House members to vote on choosing a select committee to do something the U.S. Senate choked on: investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection against the U.S. government.

What do I think about this? I believe Pelosi is going to proceed where she must go, but I also believe she is going to invite ferocious criticism from those who think she is stacking the deck against any sort of impartial finding into what transpired on that terrible day.

A mob of terrorists stormed Capitol Hill. They crashed through windows, beat cops nearly to death. They wanted to stop the certification of the Electoral College victory that President Biden earned in the 2020 election. They attacked our governmental process. They threated the lives Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence.

But the Republican caucus in Congress doesn’t want a probe to look into it.

So, Pelosi is going to ask the slim Democratic majority in the House to approve establishing a select House committee.

The committee won’t comprise just Democrats. Pelosi is slated to ask House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to select GOP members to join this panel. I am quite interested to see who McCarthy picks, whether he finds Republican moderates or taps the shoulders of GOP conspiracy goons to muck up the works.

Speaker Pelosi is doing what she must do, given the Senate Republicans’ refusal to do what they should have done in proceeding with a bipartisan commission to examine the riot, its consequences and recommend ways to prevent this kind of insurrection from recurring.

I also hope that Pelosi’s select committee, presuming the House approves it, will be thorough and will offer recommendations for preventing a recurrence.

As for GOP resistance to the work that will commence, let ’em gripe. They only will undermine their own credibility as the nation seeks to understand the cause of what we all saw develop as the terrorists launched a frontal assault on our democratic process.

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.