As you know, sicko Trumpers are claiming that the fascist thugs who took over the Capitol were actually members of Antifa in disguise.
As if the hilariously unorganized toons of Antifa were capable of such a thing! As if they could communicate their plans to thousands of people undetectably! As if they were dumb enough not to wear masks as they committed crimes on camera! (The Trumpers, by contrast, are that dumb.)
We've all seen messages on Parler in which the fascists openly bragged about their insurrectionist plans. They literally had "Civil War" t-shirts made. Some have been identified as known QAnon "celebrities."
"Antifa" is now a bogeyman, a spook, a phantom haunting the right-wing imagination. Antifa is the right's all-purpose excuse, and nobody but a Q qrazy would ever buy it. Right-wing fiends and thugs always resort to absurd conspiracy theories when they seek to disguise their own fiendish and thuggish acts. Are we really supposed to believe that Trump would proclaim his "love" (his word) for Antifa after the storming of the Capitol?
Now there is a new conspiracy theory percolating in the Trumpist demimonde. In this scenario, the slogan "blame Antifa" is replaced by the slogan "blame the Deep State."
From time to time, right-wing trolls still try to use this humble blog as a clearing house for their propaganda. A couple of trolls have sent in the rough notes of this new pro-Trump conspiracy theory; naturally, I trashed these message immediately after reading them.
(Cannonfire ain't Parler, assholes.)
This new theory holds that the imaginary "Deep State" riled up the crowd and made sure that the Capitol building had insufficient protection. In other words, we are supposed to believe that those nasty Trump-hating Deep Staters created the crisis in order to discredit Glorious Leader Trump.
Bullshit. We all know what really happened.
Using hashtags such as #StormTheCapitol and #StopTheSteal, users of the conservative online networks Parler and Gab celebrated Wednesday’s clashes and offered to serve as “back up.”
“AT THIS POINT, INSURRECTION ACT, MARTIAL LAW AND RUN THEM THE FUCK OVER WITH A MILITARY OPTION!!!” one Parler commenter wrote.
On the homepage of thedonald.win, a popular online forum for Trump fans, the majority of Monday’s top 50 posts about the election certification featured comments calling for violence, according to an analysis by the disinformation research organization Advance Democracy Inc.
One recent post said protesters should “not let [anyone] disarm someone without stacking bodies,” adding that they should be “ARMED WITH RIFLE, HANDGUN, 2 KNIVES AND AS MUCH AMMO AS YOU CAN CARRY,” The Washington Post reported.
On right-wing sites, the phrase "cross the Rubicon" became a frequently-heard catchword.
One of the thugs who entered the building stated on video that the intent was to "overthrow the government" at Trump's behest. (This same insurrectionist felt outraged that the cops used tear gas.)
On the day of the insurrection, Trump told the mob to march on the Capitol Building. He is on video inciting his thugs to riot.
He told them to "take back their country," and he encouraged them to target Democrats. He told them not to be "weak" -- even though he avoided personal danger. After assuring the crowd that he would march with them as they stormed the Capitol Building, he scurried off to safety.
Anyone who can interpret his exhortation as anything but a call to violence must possess superhuman powers of rationalization.
Rudy Giuliani told the crowd to conduct "trial by combat." Those words are not cryptic. Only the most deranged postmodernist would say that this text could be interpreted in more than one way.
All reports clearly indicate that it was Trump -- no-one else -- who forbade the use of National Guard troops. That decision was reversed only when it became clear that the rioters were not sufficiently numerous to overthrow the government.
Trump issued a very belated call for peace only after it became clear that his insurrection -- let me repeat that: HIS insurrection -- would fail.
Yesterday was classic Trump: He nestled in his safe little rat hole while his brainwashed brownshirts took all the risk. After the "Qoup" went south, he tried to escape all blame.
Give Julius Caesar credit: He crossed the Rubicon personally, and he knew the risk he was running. Caesar was valiant; cowardly Donnie will die a thousand times before his death.
If you are going to cross the Rubicon, cross it. Physically.
In the days to come, we will learn many more details about Trump's plan to overthrow the American government. Clearly, it was Trump -- no-one else -- who rendered the Capitol Building relatively defenseless, endangering the lives of the ill-equipped Capitol Police. As Colin Powell noted on today's Morning Joe, the security lapses at that building are very suspicious.
The police force, which numbers about 2,000 officers and has sole
jurisdiction over the Capitol’s buildings and grounds, was clearly
outnumbered and unprepared for the onslaught, even as it was openly
organized on social media sites like Gab and Parler.
One policing expert said there should have been a heavily manned
perimeter sealing off the entire Capitol grounds and a second around the
building itself given that extremist groups with a history of violent
confrontations were involved.
Another video shows officers appearing to move the barricades aside and let the protesters in.
One thing is certain: Donald Trump incited this mob.
Trump must go. NOW.
“I’ve known Mike Pence forever,” Inhofe said Tuesday night. “I’ve never seen Pence as angry as he was today.
“I had a long conversation with him,” said Inhofe. “He said, ‘After all the things I’ve done for (Trump).’”
Infuriatingly, the Trumpers are still treating Pence with disdain: Fox and Friends called on Trump to "forgive" Pence. That's a dangerously contemptuous attitude to take to the one man who can end this evil presidency.
Mike Pence: You've got to do it. You must cross the Rubicon. History has chosen you.
You have to wrest power from the insane would-be dictator infesting the Oval Office.
Trump's own lawyer, Lin Wood, has called for you to be killed. Why on earth would you retain any loyalty to this madman's regime?
They literally want you dead, Mike Pence. You must kill this evil administration before it kills you.
(Of course, you must always act within the law. The 25th exists for a reason.)
If you don't become 46, you'll never be 48.
You will have allies. Others in the administration have become sickened by Trump's disgusting acts. Chad Wolf, Acting Homeland Security Secretary, has clearly indicated that he was repulsed by Trump's attempted overthrow of our democracy.
More Trump administration resignations could be coming, multiple sources familiar tell NBC News.
Among those said to be considering it: National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
McConnell has asked Chao -- his wife -- to stay on the inside for a short while. Obviously, they are talking about the 25th. Republican congressman Adam Kinsinger has called for the invocation of the 25th, and I'm sure that he's not the only one who favors the idea.
Schedule an impeachment vote for this very night. Stay ’til dawn. Do whatever is necessary. Avert any potential for martial law. Deny Trump command of the military; withdraw the nuclear codes. Don’t wait until the next crossed red line, until the next smashed barrier, until the next putsch attempt. Install Mike Pence right away as the 46th president and work with him to manage the transition on January 20 to Joe Biden as the 47th. Bar Trump from ever again holding office—and get ready to prosecute him for his crimes on January 21.
Bill Barr has turned against Trump. In a statement to The Associated Press, Barr said Thursday that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.”
Barr knows: That mob was Trump's mob. (Of course, Barr is actually guilty as hell of the same crime he now condemns.)
“client has used the lawyer’s services to perpetrate a crime and the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant”
Mike Pence, how can you stay loyal to a man labeled a criminal by one of his own lawyers?
