Tag Archives: DC riot

DC riot, national news

No privilege to invoke

Peter Navarro is the latest Donald Trump adviser to face a subpoena by the 1/6 House select committee, which has summoned him to testify before the panel that is searching for the truth behind what happened when the traitorous mob stormed Capitol Hill.

Navarro served as a trade adviser to Trump. He is now trying to invoke “executive privilege” in resisting the committee’s order for him to talk about what he knew about what happened in the White House while the mob was rioting.

Hmm. OK. He has no right under the law to invoke any privilege. There’s that.

Nor does Donald Trump have any right to invoke such privilege. Why? Because he is no longer the president. Joe Biden, the man who beat him in the 2020 election, has declared categorically that he will not allow any executive privilege for his predecessor. There’s that, too.

I’ll restate once more: The committee is legally constituted. It has the authority to order people to testify. The speaker of the House selected the bipartisan panel and gave the committee its assignment: get the truth behind the riot and seek solutions to prevent it from recurring.

Peter Navarro is an economist who provided Trump with advice on trade policy. He has been called a “lousy economist,” but that’s really beside the point. The real point is that he is close to Trump. He knows a lot of what happened on that terrible day. Navarro has been ordered to testify. He faces criminal indictment by the Justice Department if he refuses.

if this guy has a lick of sense — and that’s debatable, to be sure — he will sit before the select committee, take the oath to tell the truth and then … tell the truth.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news

Subpoena = direct order

What do you do when a governing authority orders you to do something, such as … oh … testify under oath about what you might know about a criminal act?

I know what I would do. I would report to the authority and tell it what I know. Or don’t know.

The 1/6 House select committee is issuing subpoenas to former Donald Trump aides, friends, family members (who also worked for the government) about what they know about the events that led to the insurrection on 1/6. Many of them are refusing to comply with what I would describe as a “direct order” from the committee.

I will add that it is a direct lawful order by a duly constituted congressional committee charged with finding the truth behind the insurrection.

The committee chaired by Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is working with breathtaking speed. It is proceeding at a pace I didn’t think was possible. Congress isn’t known as a breakneck organization. Yet, the chips have been thrown down and this panel is moving with remarkable speed and efficiency toward what I hope is a well-researched conclusion.

As for the subpoenas it is issuing, the subjects of those summonses need to understand the gravity of the orders they have been given. They are issued in the name of an American public — at least most of it — that is horrified at the events of 1/6. We all witnessed what Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has rightly defined as a “violent insurrection” against the U.S. government. Such hideous violence cannot be allowed to stand.

When the powers that be issue an order for those with direct knowledge of the circumstance to report, well, they need to comply or else face the consequence of their refusal.

I believe that is what they call the “rule of law.”

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

If only Trump knew …

I have sought to inform readers of this blog about the myriad reasons Donald Trump was so profoundly unfit to serve as president of the United States.

One of those reasons has been laid bare in recent weeks. It has been his total ignorance of the power of the presidency and vice presidency and the limitations placed on both offices by the Constitution of the United States, the document Trump and Vice President Mike Pence swore to uphold and defend.

Trump’s urging of Pence to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election on 1/6 illustrates so graphically the ignorance of Trump about the government he was elected in 2016 to lead.

Had he any notion of the limits of presidential power, or any understanding of what the Constitution allowed, he might not have demanded that Pence do what the VP knew in real time he could not do. Pence knew he could not overturn any state’s duly certified election returns. Pence knew the limits of his role on that horrible day, which was to preside over Congress’s task of certifying the results of a free, fair, legal and secure election.

I don’t want to say, “I told you so,” but Trump’s abject ignorance of government, mixed with his delusions of grandeur, have produced a case study in how unfit this guy was to have occupied the most powerful office in the land … and arguably the most exalted office on Earth.

Y’all saw it right here.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Law and order party? Hah!

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There once was a time when Republicans across the country were proud of their party’s stand in support of police officers, police agencies and their quest to enforce the law in an orderly society.

Law and order? That was the Republican mantra. That was then. These days? This is the party that has just issued a censure punishing two GOP members of Congress and whose chairwoman has declared that the 1/6 riot on Capitol Hill was a demonstration of “legitimate political discourse.” The censured lawmakers — Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — were slapped down because they are serving on a committee that seeks the truth and stands for the rule of law.

Oh, I now shall add that the treasonous insurrectionists attacked Capitol Police officers on Capitol Hill, injuring several of them, killing one of them.

Has the Republican National Committee condemned that act? Has it censured the rioters? Has it backed the congressional committee that seeks to find the truth behind what led to the riot, what happened during the event and how to prevent future events from occurring.

I damn near tossed something at the TV set this morning when I heard GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas accuse Democrats of “politicizing” the riot of 1/6. Good ever-lovin’ God in heaven! The riot was a hideous political act that was aimed at stopping the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

What’s more, the traitors who stormed the Capitol Building trampled over police officers whose duty was to protect the members of Congress who were targeted by the mob!

Why in the name of enforcing the law don’t Republicans in Congress stand up for those men and women and against the traitors who sought to do them harm?

Law and order party? My rear end!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news, political news

RNC takes aim at wrong target

The Republican National Committee’s censure of two stalwart members of its own party is a profound demonstration of stupidity that transcends mere ignorance.

The RNC has scolded U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because — and this is remarkable in its idiocy — for serving on a House committee that seeks to get to the truth behind the 1/6 insurrection.

Yes, Cheney and Kinzinger — two conservative members of a once-proud party — have placed their loyalty to the rule of law over any phony loyalty to an individual, namely Donald J. Trump … who incited the traitors to riot on 1/6.

So, because they have been faithful to their oath of office — the same oath that other members of Congress and the president take — they are being punished. They have been cast aside. They have been they are no longer welcome as part of the Republican delegation.

This is unbelievable!

RNC censures Cheney, Kinzinger for serving on Jan. 6 panel – Daily News

Where is the scorn that should be heaped on the rioters? RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel instead has called their actions that horrible day as a demonstration of “legitimate political discourse.” She didn’t separate anyone’s behavior on that day; she said the entire event was OK because it constituted a protest against the government. What utter bullsh**!

“If the price of being willing to tell the truth and get to the bottom of what happened on January 6 and make sure that those who are responsible are held accountable is a censure, then I am absolutely going to continue to stand up for what I knew was right,” Cheney said.

She called the censure a “sad day for the party of Lincoln.” Do ya think?

To be fair, some GOP officeholders, such as 2012 Republican presidential nominee Sen. Mitt Romney, have criticized the censure. “Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost,” Romney said in a tweet.

If Cheney and Kinzinger deserve honor, then the RNC deserves nothing but scorn and shame for its hideous action and virtual endorsement of the frontal assault on our democratic form of government.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump

Ex-POTUS shows his profound stupidity

(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Donald J. Trump’s ability to demonstrate his abject stupidity has become the stuff of political legend, or at least the stuff of tittering and gossip.

Mike Pence, who served as vice president in the Trump administration, has said the former Insurrectionist in Chief was “wrong” to suggest that the VP had the authority to “overturn” a duly constituted election. What was Trump’s response? He decided to hurl epithets not only at Trump, but also at “Old Crow Mitch McConnell,” whatever the hell that means.

You see, all Pence did in his talk to the Federalist Society the other day was to declare that the law is clear, that the vice president had zero authority to do what Trump demanded of him, which was to reject electoral votes cast for Joe Biden and award them to Trump.

Pence said he couldn’t do that. So … Donald, for cryin’ out loud, you need to stop fomenting The Big Lie about phony vote fraud. I know he won’t stop. He likely will go to his grave bellowing nonsensical trash about “corrupt” electoral processes and “rigged elections.”

Donald Trump will check out more than likely on the wave of stupidity on which he rode to public office in the first place.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news

What? Pence tells truth? Oh, my!

What in the world has happened to former Vice President Mike Pence? The man who survived four years as VP in an administration led by a carnival barker masquerading as president suddenly has found a voice to tell the world the truth about the one-time Liar in Chief.

Which is, contrary to what Donald J. Trump keeps insisting while spouting The Big Lie, that Pence had no authority to “overturn” the results of the 2020 presidential election. The former president, Pence said, “is wrong” to suggest that Pence could take that action.

Pence made the remarks this week in defense of his own actions on 1/6 but also to portray Donald Trump’s demand that he act outside the law as “un-American.” Indeed, Pence said there is nothing more un-American than to have a single individual overturn the will of the voters, who in November 2020 made their choice clear in selecting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over Trump and Pence.

Only the voters have the right to decide who wins elections, Pence said.

To be clear, my instinct to offer unconditional praise for the former VP is tempered by the knowledge that he served with craven fealty to Donald Trump. Even immediately after the mob of traitors stormed the Capitol on 1/6, Pence remained silent about what the POTUS failed to do in real time. He failed to put a halt to the violence that was erupting inside the nation’s Capitol Building. He failed to summon the National Guard to restore order. Trump failed condemn forcefully the actions of the mob that was reacting to the then-president’s own exhortation to “take back” our government.

Let’s remember, too, that rioters were shouting “Hang Mike Pence!” who at that moment was presiding over a joint congressional session to receive and certify the electoral votes that carried Joe Biden to the presidency.

Pence’s sudden conversion to sanity and reason isn’t likely to endear him to the Trump “base” that continues to adhere to The Big Lie about phony vote fraud. Indeed, Pence is considered a possible candidate for president in 2024 and a potential rival to Trump if the ex-POTUS decides to run again (which I continue to doubt will occur).

The very best thing I can say about Pence’s declaration — and I know this is cliche — is that it’s better late than never.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

RNC boss is flat wrong on 1/6 riot probe

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has declared — incredibly! — that the probe into the 1/6 insurrection is a “Democrat-led” persecution of citizens exercising their constitutional right to protest their government.

Well … I’ll start by declaring that Chairwoman McDaniel couldn’t be more wrong if she declared the sun was going rise in the west tomorrow morning.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says January 6 committee is a ‘Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse’ (msn.com)

The investigation aims to prosecute those who smashed into the Capitol Building, defecated on the floor, sought to “hand Mike Pence!” and do physical harm to Speaker Nancy Pelosi — all while seeking to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election result. They did all this in the name — and at the urging — of the nitwit who lost that election, Donald John Trump.

Now she and her RNC minions want to censure GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney because they have joined the truth-seekers and have decided that Trump was wrong to incite the treasonous mob. They are rightfully outraged at the assault on our democracy and on the law enforcement officers who sought to protect the cowardly members of Congress who now refuse even to honor them with the Congressional Gold Medal.

What in the hell is the matter with the chairwoman?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news

The plot thickens

As if the plot wasn’t thick enough when Donald John Trump incited the traitorous mob to storm the Capitol Building on 1/6, seeking to stop the certification of a free and fair presidential election.

Oh, no. Now it’s getting even more serious than that.

Now we hear reports that Donald Trump was actively involved in plotting to seize voting machines in states that Joe Biden won in 2020. And do what with them? Manipulate them to reverse the outcome? To “find votes” that had been cast for the other guy and turn them into votes for his own need?

Oh, and then come Trump’s own words at that rally down yonder in Conroe over the weekend where he actually admitted to seeking to “overturn” the election result.

How much more of this do we need to start issuing felony criminal indictments against the former — and I hope never again — president of the United States of America?

I know the judicial process needs to play out. Fulton County (Ga.) District Attorney Fani Willis is going to seat a special grand jury to examine whether Trump broke state election law by demanding that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger “find” 11,780 votes that Trump could tack onto his own total in a state that Joe Biden won in 2020. Where I come from, that sounds all the world like coercion. Is it a criminal act? DA Willis will tell us in due course.

Trump keeps presenting all these serious danger signals that suggest if given the chance, he would do all over again what he tried to do at the very of his term as president. Now comes reporting that he tried to a whole lot more than has been reported already, that he sought to in effect seize control of the ballot-counting process. Arrrgghhh!

What in the name of democracy is it going to take for this country to put this clown down for the count? Do not put words in my mouth here. I am talking only about removing this imbecile from our public conscience. The system, whether it’s Congress or the courts, needs to expedite the search for findings that will answer all the questions that we have regarding the insurrection of 1/6.

If it means rounding up the one-time Insurrectionist in Chief, then so be it. Get it done! Quickly!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Danger lies ahead!

(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Dean Obeidallah has it exactly right: Donald J. Trump poses a serious threat to this nation any time he opens his mouth and says the things such as what he said this past weekend in Texas.

Obeidallah, writing for CNN.com, writes:

During the rally, Trump claimed that those who have been charged in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol are being “treated so unfairly,” and stunningly suggested that some might deserve pardons. “If I run and if I win,” Trump told the crowd of thousands, “we will treat those people from January 6 fairly … And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.” But more alarming than that was Trump urging his supporters to engage in “the biggest protests we have ever had” if the prosecutors investigating him and his financial dealings “do anything wrong or illegal.”

Opinion: Trump’s rally in Texas shows exactly why he’s so dangerous – CNN

Americans and the entire world have seen what can happen when the twice-impeached ex-president exhorts the faithful to commit harm. They stormed the Capitol Building on 1/6 and, well, you know what happened on that terrible day.

Now he intends to lead a second attack on our national government? Is that what this moron is saying?

We likely should just ignore the blathering that comes from this guy. Except that his trash-talk is so damn dangerous.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com