The Capitol Police have a $460 million budget and 2,300 personnel to guard the U.S. Capitol complex. For comparison, that is twice the size of the budget of my own city’s police department, which is used to secure an entire metropolis. Somehow, this army of Capitol security forces was unable — or unwilling — to stop insurrectionists from breaching the building and taking over the floor of the U.S. Senate. And it’s not like they were caught by surprise — they had advance warning of the potential for unrest. So it’s almost as if they weren’t trying to stop the mayhem.... David Sirota
Coup, Schmoo. Welcome to the New Year. We were so waiting for 2020 to end and a calm 2021 to begin. Did I oversleep and miss something? I'm packing my bags and heading to a real democracy, my mom's native country, Belarus.
This didn't quite make it to the Reichstag fire level.
Is there anyone who questions that Trump made sure not to call out the national guard for hours while the mob ransacked Congress. They were doing what he wanted - to stop the Biden certification. If they destroyed the place maybe Biden would never get that final vote by Jan. 20 and he could remain president. Pence had to actually intervene.
I'm reading Ruth Ben-Ghiat's new book "Strongmen" and also a recent Hitler bio and what happened today is in the playbook. They had the wherewithal to burn the place down today - it didn't happen this time but there's will be a time.
Mike Pence may end up being a big winner today as he survived being between a rock and a hard place. The rejection of Trump is in full swing and now the Ted Cruz types have to march in a zig zag direction. So Pence may look good to some Trumpers who are finally repulsed.
You probably won't believe me but I saw something like this coming. That Trump would get a mob to try to disrupt the final reckoning today by sending a mob to the Capitol. What I didn't expect was that there would not be enough security to defend the Capitol. We know that most police are Trump supporters, but some video of Capitol police taking selfies and opening barriers and even schmoozing surprised even a dystopian like me. Maybe there were afraid themselves and felt that schmoozing was a way to protect themselves.
Imagine if Black Lives Matter did this. Slaughter on 10 Avenue.
There is some serious talk of impeaching Trump or removing him with the 25th Amendment coming from heavy Republican areas, people who think Trump has gone beyond over the edge and is now more dangerous than ever. I lean toward impeachment which I believe can be accomplished quickly. Starting tomorrow. A quick trial in the House and a vote in the Senate. All we need is a few more than Romney but we may not even need much more when the Georians are seated. And it would tie Trump up a bit. Even removing him Jan, 19 would make sense. I think he would be barred from running for federal office again. That would make all the Republicans salivating for 2024 very happy.
Jonathan is one of the first of my fave bloggers to touch on today's events.
Coup?
It seems, as I think about coups over the last 75 years, an awful lot of them were instigated, or even orchestrated, in Washington DC. But I none of them took place there. And I thought none ever would. Until today.
I'm sure there will be loads to read but I wan to imclude this from David Sirota, who I recently bought a paid sub with, who also saw this coming.
The Insurrection Was Predictable
Today’s events were the expression of a dangerous authoritarian movement that has been long in the making.
https://www.dailyposter.com/p/the-insurrection-was-predictable
