American Shame

Now we learn just how dangerous Dear Leader really is as he holds a rally on the day Congress counts the electoral votes, still ranting about how the election was "stolen".

Violence erupted in the U.S. capitol on Wednesday afternoon as far-right pro-[Orangeman] demonstrators — furious because Congress was meeting to certify President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory — clashed with police and stormed the Capitol Building. And [Fuckface] critics are saying that the president should be impeached for inciting violence.

He had encouraged the mobs to come to Washington D.C., and he continued to attack the electoral process after his supporters breached the Capitol's defenses. At the president's rally, his ally Rudy Giuliani called for "trial by combat." Later, [von Clownstick] sent a few tweets urging them to "Stay peaceful!" but he didn't tell them to stand down or leave the federal buildings they had illegally infiltrated.

And every single enabler in Congress is responsible for not shutting down this incitement to violence weeks ago. 

Update (January 7):  Representative Liz Cheney condemns Dear Leader for the physical attack on democracy.

We just had a violent mob assault the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent us from carrying out our constitutional duty.

There’s no question the president formed the mob, the president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob. He lit the flame.

Although scaled back, the ideological assault on democracy continued in Congress. But eventually the electoral vote count was completed. Senator Mitt Romney:

Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy.

Fuckface himself now seems to acknowledge reality in an oblique way.

Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.

But, Zachary Carter notes that Republican leaders have a history of aligning with authoritarians to help advance policy goals. And Amanda Marcotte points out that far too many current rank and file Republicans are just fine with a violent coup.

[W]e cannot give in to pressure to shrug off Wednesday's events as some meaningless one-off event, not when the majority of Republicans support the aims of the insurrectionists.

Two things can be true at once. It can both be true that the wheels of democracy worked this week. It is also true our democracy is in serious danger, as long as the majority of Republicans keep down this path of authoritarianism. If we let Wednesday's victory lull us into a belief that everything is fine and the system is working, the next time Republicans try to overturn an election, they'll be able to pull it off.

Update (January 9):  Five people, including a police officer, died during the attack on the Capitol. Sara Boboltz reports on newly released video showing events could have been much worse. 

The FBI is investigating whether some of the rioters intended to take members of Congress hostage or even kill them.

Revolution was a common refrain. Some of the rioters appeared to genuinely believe their actions could trigger a political shift leading to a second term of [Dear Leader's] presidency ― and it is not clear how far they were willing to go.

At one point during the insurrection, video captured dozens of [Fuckface] supporters repeatedly shouting, "Hang Mike Pence!"

Update (January 11):  Based on a delusion:

The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.

Amanda Marcotte insists that the insurrection be taken seriously and that the main person responsible should face consequences.

Right-wing efforts to minimize right wing violence can work, so Democrats need to act swiftly to take control of the narrative. Republicans must not be allowed to rewrite history to minimize the seriousness of this situation. And the best possible tool that Democrats have right now to evade right wing gaslighting is impeachment.

Impeachment will be a show of support from Congress for those who are willing to speak the truth, that we witnessed a coup, incited by [Fuckface], against the leaders duly elected by the people of the United States.

Update (January 12):  Impeachment is in motion, but this criminal really belongs in jail. Maybe he has finally crossed a line. Amanda Marcotte:

[Dear Leader's] behavior is not ambiguous. He incited an insurrection, and once it was underway, he reacted with excitement and delight. His actions were purposeful and malevolent. He wanted all this to happen.

Update (January 14):  Treason might be defined as supporting efforts to take up arms against the national government. Roger Sollenberger reports on disturbing allegations.

More than 30 House Democrats sent a letter to the acting House sergeant-at-arms on Wednesday calling for an investigation into "suspicious" groups of visitors inside the Capitol building the day before the January 6 attack. Some of the lawmakers, the letter says, had encountered tour guests who later appeared connected with the next day's Stop the Steal event at the White House.

[S]everal Democrats had previously, albeit somewhat cryptically, raised the possibility that preparations for the invasion extended into the halls of Congress, including among some of their fellow members. No one has yet offered hard evidence of outright collaboration or formal organization, but circumstantial evidence in the public record, combined with inside accounts, suggests that the plans unfolded for a number of weeks among a leaderless and to some extent coordinated network of like-minded people who converged at the same target on the same day.

Update (January 18):  Albena Azmanova and Marshall Auerback look beyond the immediate incitements of Dear Leader.

[T]he grievances of the violent mob and the findings of scholars align: America is an oligarchy, not a functioning democracy, as the detailed study by Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page argued in 2014. Thus, much as this was an assault on American democracy, the storming of the Capitol was also a sign that American democracy had already failed. Surely, these clumsy "revolutionaries" did not storm the Capitol because they are living the American Dream—and they are blaming, unsurprisingly, the whole political class for their malaise.

[W]ithout a dramatic government investment in public services, notably education, healthcare provision, and job security, distrust and disillusionment in American institutions will persist, and with that also the rise of militancy by a radicalized underclass.

Update (March 3):  Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christopher Wray says the attack on the Capitol was "not an isolated event".

The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

Nick Visser reports the statistics:

The number of white supremacists arrested in 2020 had nearly tripled from when [Wray] took over the FBI in 2017, and the agency currently has more than 2,000 domestic terrorism investigations underway. That figure is more than double the amount it had in 2019.

Further, "antifa" had nothing to do with the attack.

[T]he FBI director pointed to anti-government militia groups and white supremacists who participated in the attack, saying federal investigators have so far charged more than 270 people in connection with the insurrection. Investigators believe about 800 people were involved in the mob that took over the halls of the Capitol.

Update (March 24):  A Department of Justice court filing points to evidence that three rightwing extremist groups were co-ordinating before the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Update (April 6):  Amanda Marcotte laments a poll showing that a majority of Republicans are inclined to believe the January 6 insurrection was due to "antifa" in disguise, but at the same time the rioters were "were mostly peaceful, law-abiding Americans", and that the election was stolen.

Marcotte notes that consistency is not a hallmark of conspiracy theorists and that these "beliefs" are more about justifying unspoken anti-democratic attitudes.

Republican voters understand their ideology and party are both unpopular. They know that maintaining power means overruling the wishes of the majority of Americans. But rather than admit out loud — or possibly even to themselves — that they would rather end American democracy, they cling to these comforting conspiracy theories that let them tell a story where they're the heroes, not the villains trying to strip rights away from other Americans.

Misinformation is absolutely one of the worst problems in our country. The steady stream of right-wing lies is tearing this country apart. But it's critical to understand why misinformation is so powerful. Most Republican voters believe that their rapidly shrinking tribe should hold all the power, and are willing to sacrifice democracy itself to hang onto power.