The left ♥ January 6th
And not just the left – regular old Democrats who aren’t on the left but are shaped and molded by it love it, too.
Many of my acquaintances have avidly watched the January 6th hearings, and what they seem to get out of them is reinforcement for a host of beliefs that they already share. It’s a bonding experience; I’ve been at gatherings where people don’t so much talk about the content of the hearings as about the fact that they wouldn’t miss them for the world and aren’t they great? I haven’t entered into the conversation because I’m quite aware that changing minds would be almost impossible at this point – the edifice of belief has been built so strongly that it seems impregnable.
It starts with the long-held idea that Republicans in general are awful. Then, from the moment of Trump’s candidacy – and helped along by his admittedly abrasive and brash personality, which rubs them the wrong way in some deep sense – he’s been labeled and presented as an ignorant, bigoted, bullying, democracy-destroying wannabee dictator. January 6th and all the media coverage of it just solidifies all those notions, and they are further reinforced by peer agreement.
Remember the very beginning? Commenter “Ira M. Siegel” asked yesterday “what evidence has there ever been that Trump has ever been bigoted?” and I answered:
The “bigoted” charge was initially based on two things, as far as I can remember. The first was a statement he made in his very first speech when he announced his candidacy. It had to do with illegal immigration from Mexico and rapists. I wrote something about it here, although that post isn’t really about Trump. The second thing was his statement about banning entry to people from Muslim countries.
That was Trump the candidate. Then as president he made the “fine people” statement about Charlottesville, which was widely misconstrued by the Democrats and used to paint him as a racist supporter of white supremacists. See this.
It was important to hammer home this idea that Trump was a racist – also “lawless” and reckless and even stupid. That America was doing very well under his watch was not acknowledged. When Trump challenged the results of the 2020 election, whatever the merits of that challenge, it fed strongly into this pre-existing and well-entrenched narrative that he wanted to usurp power and had no respect for the law. That’s why just about every MSM article about his claims of fraud in the 2020 election included the word “baseless” to modify the word “claims” or “charges.” It was important to hammer home the idea that his accusations were ridiculous and any person with a brain knew it, of course.
That’s why January 6th was made to order for the propagandists. Whether you think it was fortuitous for them or whether they subtly encouraged it (by not having proper security for the Capitol that day) or even helped plan it (entrapment by FBI and other agents), it was their most powerful tool and they knew it. That’s why they can’t let it go and are even escalating it, frightened that Trump might run again in 2024 but also somewhat eager for him to run, because they think they have a lot of tools for fighting him.
Do the January 6th hearings convince anyone who isn’t already convinced? I tend to think not; I tend to think it is a case of preaching to the choir of believers. I’ve read that Liz Cheney is at least considering a run for president in 2024, although she’s being coy about it. But whether or not she does, here is noble Liz on her current focus:
…I’m fighting hard, no matter what happens on Aug. 16 [the day of the Wyoming primary where she faces a Trump-endorsed Republican challenger for her seat in Congress], I’m going to wake up on Aug. 17, and continue to fight hard to ensure Trump is never anywhere close to the Oval Office ever again.
It’s nice to have a calling, isn’t it? Captain Ahab chasing the Great Orange Whale. And this has earned her a great deal of respect from some Democrats I know, although it almost certainly will not be earning her another term in Congress from Wyoming or the presidency in 2024. But she’ll be offered some good gigs from the left and will land on her feet to continue the pursuit.
NOTE: Speaking of January 6th, Julie Kelly has been doing good reporting on it from the start, and she has some tweets about a new documentary:
Blown away by this film. It mostly focuses on egregious and likely criminal conduct by Capitol and DC police on January 6–and it shows video I’ve never seen before.
I’ve said repeatedly most of the violence on Jan 6 was caused by police—this proves it: https://t.co/Jreh9oxkky
— Julie Kelly ?? (@julie_kelly2) July 23, 2022
I haven’t seen it, so I can’t say what I think of it except that it sounds interesting.
When you talk to your demonkrap friends, say the following and watch the cognitive dissonance appear in their faces, followed by an explosion of word salad…
“I applaud the Jan 6 hearings for showing that Trump did not foment an insurrection, and in fact showing that there was NO insurrection.”
When they disagree, ask them for the evidence that was shown by the Jan 6 show trial. All they have is redefining what words (like “find”) mean.
Well then of course there was when he allegedly called Haiti a s**thole. Hell, I’ve known people on the left that were upset over that but then turned around and said Haiti actually was one. (Would it have been OK if Trump called it a run-down third world kleptocracy?)
BTW I’ve noticed something about this. In the case of the 2020 election they only will consider it “rigged” if there was a court ruling to the effect of proof of electoral fraud.(Nothing short of that will do) However that definition would mean that there’s never been a corrupt/rigged election anywhere in the world at any point in history. (What does anybody think there were any court rulings against elections in Iraq, North Korea, or Venezuela?)
The fun part here, is, you can show people that not only are the merdia barking heads lying, the search engines are helping them hide that lie:
Do a google search on “Jake Tapper Fact Checks Jake Tapper”.
Nothing exactly matching, right? At least nowhere on the first or second page, you may choose to dig deeper.
NOW do a Duck Duck Go search on the exact same keywords:
The second entry is (as I write, and mostly has been for >1y)
https://redstate.com › sister-toldjah › 2020 › 10 › 01 › jake-tapper-gets-fact-checked-by-jake-tapper-after-heated-exchange-on-trump-condemning-white-supremacy-n261084
Jake Tapper Gets Fact Checked by Jake Tapper After Heated Exchange on …
1 — Google absolutely blocks Red State. Won’t carry a single link from them. No effort to verify anything, just automatically blocked. And I’m sure they are not the only site which has plenty of valid information on it, just “not the correct politics”.
2 — regardless of how reliable you personally want to believe Red State is, in THIS case, all they are doing is showing Jake Tapper ON VIDEO acking that Trump “Did condemn white supremacists” and throwing it right back at him. No room for lying, here. Jake Tapper had a heated argument with Trump campaign comms director Tim Murtaugh on Tapper’s show “The Lead” in which he reversed positions and claimed otherwise… because the agenda was more important than the Truth. Sick of these fucking bastards lying right to our faces.
So this one’s a two-fer. Not only do merdia bleating heads lie, Google assists them at it.
And all you need to show that to people is to remember “Jake Tapper Fact Checks Jake Tapper”.
Spread it far and wide, folks.
In all of history, there is only one way of ridding your nation of communists and their fellow travelers.
I think the “racist” theme started long before Trump. I remember the media calling Tea Party protests “racist” because they opposed the Obama “stimulus.” I remember the charges of “racism” over opposition to Obamacare. I remember Joe Biden saying that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to “put y’all back in chains.” ANY Republican is tarred with the “racist” brush.
Only one? Surely there are at least two: garrote or ice pick!
Kate:
As I wrote: “It starts with the long-held idea that Republicans in general are awful.” Included in that “long-held idea” is that they are racists – in fact, it’s a pillar of it.
The rest of my list of Democrat accusations of bigotry was Trump-specific.
Gerard vanderleun:
Oh, really? How about places like Poland and Czechoslovakia?
Unless they are the “one way” you’re talking about.
Yes, and it follows that ANY Republican candidate in 2024, Trump, DeSantis, or other, will be called “racist.”
Trump will be indicted and convicted by a DC jury. The evidence won’t matter.
Would the Poles and the Czechoslovaks have overthrown the commies without civil war if no Reagan and Thatcher? Would that have happened if the neo-communist USA and EU had existed in 1989?
Cornhead:
I wouldn’t put it past them. But actually, I don’t think they feel the need to go that far – I think they think they’ve been making their point and disqualifying him – and are a tiny bit afraid of a backlash if they indict him (although if they do, a jury would convict no matter the weakness of the evidence). See this.
Also, if they do that, they get DeSantis, and he could be a strong candidate too and although they’d try to do the same thing to him, I think it would be more difficult to make it stick. They should be careful what they wish for, if they get DeSantis as candidate.
Chases Eagles:
Of course Reagan and Thatcher were an important part of what happened. Another part had to do with internal changes in the USSR and its leadership, as well as economic problems there.
My point, however, is that this was ultimately accomplished without a violent overthrow of the type to which I believe vanderleun is referring.
The documentary is very good. Worth watching. I have been impressed with Julie Kelly’s efforts toward the the Jan 6th people accused of a crime. I wish we saw our elected DC Congress folks do something about it! This includes Republicans as well as Democrats. There is no excuse that this committee continues. No courage or integrity in Washington.
Oh poor Liz. Such dreams she has of importance. She has always been bad. The party in Wyoming doesn’t acknowledge her. What planet is she on that she thinks she could be President? Neither side will vote for her. Maybe it is away to get money?
Neo:
What I think you underestimate is the pure hatred and emotional reaction to Trump. The thought that he could win in 2024 drives them insane. And, btw, the ratings would be great for CNN and MSNBC. The top people will contact the AG let that be known.
Trump is a vampire that the Left thinks it has to drive a stake through his heart and kill him for good. Wounding him is not enough.
I, frankly, think Trump is past his “sell by” date.
The J6 BS is just that. However. I know plenty of moderates who voted for Trump in 2016 and voted for Biden 2020. I predict they would do the same in 24, that is vote against Trump, He is too much of a turnoff for a lot of people. Go ahead and skewer me, but if he runs and is the candidate, just watch Newsome become prez.
Cornhead:
Believe me, I don’t underestimate it in the least. As I said, I wouldn’t put it past them to do it. But on balance, I think they will desist for tactical reasons only.
Before President Trump was inaugurated, Glenn Reynolds wrote this column about liberals fear of the deplorables.
“How crazy has the reaction to Trump’s impending presidency gotten? So crazy that Democratic operatives are scared of plumbers, and I don’t mean the Watergate kind.
No, really. Ned Resnikoff, a “senior editor” at the liberal website ThinkProgress, wrote on Facebook that he’d called a plumber to fix a clogged drain. The plumber showed up, did the job and left, but Resnikoff was left shaken, though with a functioning drain. Wrote Resnikoff, “He was a perfectly nice guy and a consummate professional. But he was also a middle-aged white man with a Southern accent who seemed unperturbed by this week’s news.”
This created fear: “While I had him in the apartment, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether he had voted for Trump, whether he knew my last name is Jewish, and how that knowledge might change the interaction we were having inside my own home.”
When it was all over, Resnikoff reported that he was “rattled” at the thought that a Trump supporter might have been in his home. “I couldn’t shake the sense of potential danger.”
I knew they considered Trump supporters morons, but I didn’t realize how much they feared conservatives.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/01/13/donald-trump-class-rural-white-democrats-glenn-reynolds-column/96413412/
Brian E:
Absolutely. I have been told by some people I know that because of my politics I am a threat to their existence.
I knew they considered Trump supporters morons, but I didn’t realize how much they feared conservatives.
He’s the issue of NYU’s philosophy department and Berkeley’s public policy program. Cadging a degree in philosophy from a private research university suggests he’s the child of fancy people. He’s lived in New York, Washington, the Bay Area, Sacramento. Best I can discern, he may have grown up in Boston, New York City, or Minneapolis – St. Paul. He was 27 years old when he made those remarks. Bubble dweller.
I remain convinced that agents provocateur were behind things getting out of hand in January Sixth.
But I am also convinced that, as least here in Wisconsin, fraud abounded in the 2020 election.
Neo wrote:
“Captain Ahab chasing the great orange whale. . .” and I thought to myself “aha — she’s got THAT wrong!”
About a half second later I got it, and thought “well that was pretty dumb of me, and very clever of Neo.”
You got me, Neo, but for only a very brief moment in time.
I will repeat here for the benefit of our hostess and all the wise commenters who frequent this site, there is some very perceptive stuff written here and that is not just confirmation bias. Thanks, everyone, for good analysis of anti-Trump and anti-Republican bias.
delta house, it’s like indicting otter stratton, good grief, the people who destroyed a hundred cities, who are even now holding places like portland for ransom, that’s mostly peaceful
as if any finding really matters, coming from florida ‘selected not elected’ tails they win, heads you lose,
physicsguy @ 5:33pm,
Not only that, but Trump is no spring chicken. He seems sharp and spry for his age, but he is diminished from the man he was six years ago.
miguel cervantes,
“The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests – we did.”
Please, please President Trump.
Don’t run.
Tease them all you like. Drive the Left and its media minions into a slavering frenzy. By all means. Have fun.
But don’t run. Please.
You’ve aged far better than Biden has, but it’s a battle Time always wins.
Please don’t run.
DeSantis/Zappardino 24 with the MAGA king throwing grenades from Mar-a-Lago.
Neo: “That America was doing very well under his watch was not acknowledged.”
They don’t care. Right now, the country is staggering economically, diplomatically, fiscally, and in many other ways. Yet, they don ‘t care. What matters to them is ideology and power. As long as their ideological plans are being executed results don’t matter. Look at Mayorkas, lock at Buddha Judge, look at any of the cabinet. All ideologues, all incompetent at doing their jobs, and no Democrat cares.
The revelations that are coming out about the Covid response are indicative. They were mostly wrong, and they don’t care. It reminds me very much that many of our fellow citizens are ideologues and adhere to their political ideas as rigidly as any Puritan ever adhered to their religion.
Yes, what we are seeing in the January 6th Committee is a modern version of the Salem Witch Trials. The political establishment is very afraid of the Witches – the Deplorables.
The internet, which held such promise, has been a major part of this madness that is now gripping the nation. I won’t live to see where this goes, but it’s not looking good.
Hmmm. Wonder if they’d consider “investigating” this?
“FBI Sabotaged Hunter Biden Evidence To Derail Investigation: Whistleblowers”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fbi-sabotaged-hunter-biden-probe-derail-investigation-whistleblower
Probably not, actually, since selling out the country HAS become national policy.
This, however, is an entirely different kettle of Schiff (apparently, Adam Schiff doesn’t believe that Clarence Thomas—and the DEPLORABLES he represents(!)—has been sufficiently intimidated!!).
Here’s Turley:
“Adam Schiff: J6 Committee Could Subpoena Ginni Thomas About Justice Thomas”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/schiff-j6-committee-could-subpoena-ginni-thomas-about-justice-thomas
Key grafs:
“There was a telling exchange today on CBS’ Face the Nation when host Margaret Brennan asked J6 Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) about issuing a subpoena of Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. I have previously written how the calls for Justice Thomas to resign or be impeached are wildly out of line with ethical and constitutional standards.[Empahsis mine; Barry M.]
“What was interesting, however, was how Schiff justified such an unprecedented subpoena: to question her about one of Thomas’ opinions dealing with the authority of Congress to investigate what occurred on that day….
“…Once again, members like Schiff appear to be tossing caution to the wind to appeal to core constituencies. How exactly will Schiff and the Committee investigate Justice Thomas’ motivations and actions? It would have to demand disclosures of his spousal communications. It would also threaten perjury or contempt charges if Ginni Thomas is not accurate in her details.
“…The use of the J6 Committee in this way would reaffirm the criticism of the committee as a partisan exercise. The fact that Cheney has joined in such calls only highlights the absence of even a modicum of balance on the committee. It would also constitute one of the most intrusive acts ever taken against the Court outside of a formal impeachment proceeding….”
The intention is to intimidate, threaten and appeal to a hysterical base…
File under: “Darkness at Noon” (and dawn…and morning…and afternoon…and dusk…all day long, actually)
“…They don’t care…”
No, they don’t.
Not easy to say this about people, especially smart, caring, loving, earnest, concerned, helpful people…but they’ve been brainwashed.
Pure and simple.
And I for one am not sure how they’re EVER going to get out of that rinse cycle.
(Of course they call Trump supporters a cult…heh…but then they would, wouldn’t they—it’s part of the process (and an integral part of the PROJECTION virus sweeping the land…”Tomorrow belongs to us…”…”We will crush you…” “America Libre”…)
But there MUST be people out there who are UNEASY about how JOE NIRVANA is turning out. How NATIONAL UNITY(TM) is “developing”… How the country is going. Do they even realize that it’s ALL LIES ALL THE TIME in DC?
Hey, maybe Neo should inaugurate a Changers Institute of America… (everyone welcome…even swans…)
I have not been able to bring myself to even mention J6 to any of my liberal friends. I can’t even bring myself to discuss the Biden administration with them at all. I am curious about what they think, but it’s not worth it. I would get too angry. Biden voters have so much blood on their hands it is not funny.
Regarding the statement that Trump “is diminished from the man he was six years ago.” How so?
It seems to me that the biggest thing Trump has going for him is that he is now battle-hardened. I think he was naive when he was elected — apparently he really thought he could drain the swamp in one term just by being firm about it. Ha! Now he knows what the swamp really is. He has had time to study the problem and come up with better tactics and strategies. And he has a few smart people he can trust. (Ric Grennell, Kash Patel, Devin Nunes…)
I suspect this is one reason they are still going after him, and will probably indict him. They know he is on to them now.
Sarah,
I agree with everything you say. And, if somehow Trump did get elected, he would probably do an even better job than before. My point is that he will not get elected and we end up with someone like Newsome as president and then watch the end of the USA. There’s just too many MoR and even slightly left of center people who now have a visceral, non-rational reaction to the “mean tweeter”.
As much as I would hate, after moving to Florida, to see DeSantis leave for the WH, he would make a much better candidate at this time than Trump.
DeSantis 2024.
Related:
“Dershowitz to Newsmax: Dems Would ‘Trash the Constitution’ to ‘Get Trump’ “—
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/donald-trump-alan-dershowitz-constitution/2022/07/25/id/1080268/
My own take is that at this stage of the game they’d trash the Constitution on any pretext du jour…
– – – – – – – – – –
And once again, Tulsi Gabbard…
“Tulsi Gabbard to Newsmax: Biden Admin Weaponizing DOJ as ‘Political Hit Squad'”—
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/gabbard-pelosi-biden/2022/07/25/id/1080271/
}}} DeSantis/Zappardino 24 with the MAGA king throwing grenades from Mar-a-Lago.
1 — who the heck is Zappardino?
2 — Yes, I concur, otherwise — DeSantis is The Guy. Trump is much better as a lightning rod for the Left, lobbing snit-bombs at them to drive them batshit (yes, short trip, no question) crazy. He can take much of the pressure from the left off of DeSantis to give him more breathing room to accomplish things by acting as the laser pointer to their catness every time they start in on DeSantis. Trump can be the modern Rush Limbaugh.
I thought the Republicans hit a low point in the Bush-Cheney years. I can understand that Liz disagrees with that, if only out of family loyalty, but in her effort to compensate she goes overboard in attacking Trump. We could have had hearings 12 years ago into the actions of the administration her father was in, but politics weren’t quite so crazy back then.
It’s true that Democrats did try to paint Romney as a racist. There’s two differences between 2012 and 2020, though: upscale suburban voters weren’t scared off from voting for Romney, and minority voters weren’t tempted to vote for him. In 2020, college-educated suburbanites got scared off and retreated to “normal” politics, under the delusion that “normal” politics were better than they are. Other voters judged by what they actually saw and experienced and concluded that Trump wasn’t that bad.
ObloodyHell,
I admit it is a joke referring to Tatiana Zappardino. Former Marine, comic and spokes model for NewDay USA (VA mortgages). I have no idea of her politics.
I think we can tell more about President Trump’s 2024 chances after the fall elections. If a significant portion of Trump’s endorsements win, I think it’s fair to say the continuous onslaught of hysterical ranting about Trump hasn’t affected independents view of the man.
No doubt the leftist fascists will try and make every candidate Trump endorsed a referendum on the man himself.
After the disastrous Bush the Younger’s administration, there are too many unknowns about DeSantis’s foreign policy views to back him.
The media is making much of the number of billionaires supporting DeSantis (42 by some accounts). This makes me nervous. Will they demand their pound of flesh? The interests of Wall St. are not the interests of Main St.
https://constantinereport.com/desantis-proud-boys-allies-42-billionaire-donors-including-koch-devos-families/
Crowd management ignored, voices denied, an invitation extended, a rug summarily pulled from underfoot, a riot (“disorder”) forced, an unarmed women in a prone position aborted with prejudice – perhaps a diversity motive – by a “hero”, people… persons assaulted, over 6 trimesters of witch hunts, warlock trials, civil rights denied, and handmade tales brayed.
Jan. 6 was never about finding supposed traitors who wanted to “overthrow” the government for the Dems and NPR liberals. It was a gift handed on a platter in which they recognized, so they’re using that gift and milking it for all its worth.
One overthinks this, delta house was ‘barely an inconvenience’ whereas 7 months earlier there was the largest razing of washington since the war of 1812
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1551173936037101568.html
DisruptJ20