January 18, 2021
"But for the armored vehicles, extra barricades and rooftop surveillance teams, Sunday was just another dreary winter day on Madison’s Capitol Square."
"Dog walkers and joggers passed through the area. A man in black workout clothes did squats. Three men sought to share the 'good news' of Jesus Christ with passersby, one of the men’s voices echoing throughout the quiet square. 'Jesus died for all your sins,' he shouted. 'If you’re a sinner, you’re lost.' Adding to the sense of normalcy: the absence of an armed insurrection."
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84 comments:
Better safe than sorry.
I don't think you're doing "democracy" right.
Don't get the idea that's a temporary situation. They're staying.
...and that Utah Antifa guy is out. No bail.
Columbus had a small group of armed protesters at the capital around 2PM but the news says they left shortly after they got there. I figure they wanted to be home for the Brown’s game at 3.
rehajm, if he went to the Trump rally he is a Trump guy too.
"Armed insurrection" vs. "mostly peaceful protests"
I wonder what the difference is?
There is no difference anymore Dan the Man...they are exactly the same thing now...
>>There is no difference anymore Dan the Man...they are exactly the same thing now...
I think it depends on which side the rioters are on.
Democracy dies behind a convoy of armored personnel carriers.
On the upside, I'm guessing jaywalking was pretty much nonexistent.
Had me goin for the better part of 70 years. I thought free speech was an essential part of America. Silly me.
The peasants are revolting, and the natives are restless. Most if not all of this is political kabuki theater.
John Roberts can see his handiwork, at least.
I knew this was another bullshit moral panic when the Dow didn’t even twitch.
Around July of this past year I said to myself I should have purchased plexiglass futures. I should realized as the election approached chain link fence futures were the way to go. Always a day late and a dollar short.
It is true, isn't it, that we have been governed unconstitutionally for almost a year?
The first amendment in the bill of rights -- the very first ! -- says that we citizens have the right to peacebly assemble. That right was taken from us, not by the democratic process of altering the constitution, or by a decision of the supreme court, but by political hacks in governors' offices.
Shouldn't these governors at least have to explain the rational basis for their emergency orders in an adversarial setting?
So pardon me if I don't get too worked up about Cow Man & his pals trashing the capitol. The bozos in that citadel of democracy have no problem with governors imprisoning people in their homes, not only without a trial, but without even having been accused of a crime.
All props in the Democrats’ non stop campaign to demonize Republicans. It’s for the visuals, it’s to make people feel threatened, and then when Biden is inaugurated, ooh the relief! This all started with the Dutch angles in all of the photos of Trump, it built into a crescendo with the riots this summer, which were condoned as “mostly peaceful” as a kind of gaslighting when everybody knew they were in fact very violent. It has built to this, a big show put on in a “look what these Republicans made us do!”
"says that we citizens have the right to peacebly assemble. That right was taken from us”
This is the same way the Nazis used the Reichstag Fire. They silenced the press, took away the right of assembly, and we are still waiting for what is in Adam Schiff’s “anti right-wing terror” bill, but I am sure that constraints on the investigation of this political regime will be eased considerably.
"Better safe than sorry.”
Every authoritarian regime that ever took away people’s rights has done it on the grounds that their enemies were especially pernicious and it was too dangerous to give them the civil liberties that “normal people” could be trusted with.
This is totally about consolidating absolute power. Power over speech, power over assembly, power over opposition to Biden of any kind. We even had a poster yesterday who said that we. should not look into Biden’s obvious corruption because it was only of interest to “insurrectionists.”
That is an interesting new standard, because I would say that throwing explosives into a Federal courthouse counts as insurrection too, right up there with firing on Fort Sumpter.
Remember the destructive riots in DC when Trump was inaugurated? 200 arrested and let go scot free. “Better safe than sorry” indeed.
So I guess the plywood on all the windows is now just an accepted permanent part of the landscape.
I wonder how the takeover of the Wisconsin Capitol for weeks was allowed, praised, and commended? I guess there was no threat to the Governor or legislators? Or it was in another era (2011)? Pre-Trump and all. Or, simply because, as we all know, protests on the left are peaceful and well-meaning. Protests from the right are evil, dangerous, and run by white supremacists.
I do believe there is way too much hype about a takeover of the country by a massive white supremacist movement (i.e. all of the Trump voters). It's almost as if there is a side creating this vision, so that they can simply announce edicts on how we must behave, who is allowed to function fully as a citizen, and who is not.
Maybe I'm just used to reading the tea leaves after years of bullshit from our media, Democrats, some Republicans, and our Government. Everything seems Potemkin to me now.
>>That is an interesting new standard, because I would say that throwing explosives into a Federal courthouse counts as insurrection
Obama disagrees with your lack of "nuance".
Which is why he launched his campaign from the home of man who did exactly that - bomb a federal building. And other buildings, too. Not just once, many times. In an actual insurrection.
But that was different.
Because he's a Democrat.
They silenced the press, took away the right of assembly, and we are still waiting for what is in Adam Schiff’s “anti right-wing terror” bill, but I am sure that constraints on the investigation of this political regime will be eased considerably.
I am guessing it will closer to the actions taken by the Soviets in the early 20s. Laws were passed that made it illegal, not to have done certain things, but to be a certain class of person.
This led to Stalin's decision, in the early 30s, to eliminate the kulak's as a social class. This also meant eliminating them as human beings, since being a kulak was, like being a deplorable, "irredeemable."
On the one hand, the United States is not the USSR. On the other hand, the state terror of the USSR in the 20s and 30s, when the Soviets essentially declared war on their own people, was made possible by what we now would consider ridiculously crude tools: railroads and the telegraph.
Imagine the terror that could be inflicted by our would-be totalitarians in DC and in news rooms using the technological tools of the 21st century!
But that could never happen.
Sounds to me like armed Anarchists are planning to besiege state capitols today. But Trump supporters will be blamed. Another excuse to put us on the 'list'.
I wish there were more people on the left who treated the mob violence of the summer in the same ballpark as what occurred in the capitol. Because according to my scorecard, the violence over the summer was 1) more widespread, 2) more prolonged, 3) a higher level of violence, and 4) given more public support. And yet now I get intellectually dishonest arguments telling me what happened in the Capitol was an Insurrection, Domestic Terrorism even, and in no way comparable to the months of violence we saw over the summer. It is galling to see Lefties act as the anointed protectors of a country they seem to fundamentally dislike.
In Atlas Shrugged, which Althouse has never read because it's too long or something, all the usurpations of power and freedom by the government and repressive collusion among big business occur because of an unspecified "emergency".
**SPOILER ALERT**
At the climax all the lights go out in New York City.
We are living in an Ayn Rand novel.
“One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.” Tom Cotton wrote that on June 20th and the Left went nuts that he was even allowed to voice that opinion. Now the Left doesn’t just voice it, they put it in practice around the country. “Scores of National Guard troops could be seen entering the Capitol early Sunday morning,” the article tells us. Not to stop any ongoing rioting, looting and destruction — what Cotton was addressing — but because of a “rumored protest,” so they were “taking no chances.”
Blogger Amadeus 48 said...
In Atlas Shrugged, which Althouse has never read because it's too long or something
Oh come on. I've never read it either. And I will note that Robert Heinlein, who have I haver read a fair amount of, didn't like the writing of Ayn Rand much, because it came off as a political diatribe rather than a good story, according to him that is. Pretty sure even the s Southpark guys, made a jab at Ayn Rand's writing and they are real Libertarians and not the Libertarian-identified type like Glenn Beck.
"In Atlas Shrugged, which Althouse has never read because it's too long or something..."
I only read novels with prose I like. If it's political theory embedded in meaningless pulp... just summarize the theory. Write a pithy manifesto.
THe rally and march to the Capitol on January 6 was Trump's biggest mistake. He didn't know who was in that crowd--even among his supporters, not to mention false-flag disrupters. Think of that Antifa character Sullivan urging people to burn the place down. Do you think he was the only one? The iconography was terrible.
I have asked myself whether Trump, with his background in hucksterism and show business, thought that the last act ("the storming of the castle") was the appropriate conclusion to the story. Trumperdammerung, as it were.
We are stuck with the resulting mess--several dark years of Democratic rule and eroded freedoms.
The only thing I didn't like about Atlas Shrugged was its hopelessly utopian ending. But the book is memorable for its characters as well as its ideological theme. Those of us who have read it more than once can certainly identify parallel characters in our present culture, at least in decades past. It's a different scene today. There is no longer any subtlety or subterfuge to the designs of the PTB.
To paraphrase Tom Wolfe — 'The dark night of fascism is always descending in the Red States and yet lands only in Blue Cities'.
"I wish there were more people on the left who treated the mob violence of the summer in the same ballpark as what occurred in the capitol.”
[Insert John McClain GIF here]. “Welcome to the party, pal!"
The author sounds disappointed.
Actually, Rand wrote a short novella called "Anthem" which set out her themes. A collection of essays, The Return of the Primitive, although dated to a degree, is prescient in many ways.
I agree that there are a lot of really bad passages in all of Rand's writing and in some ways she was an absurd person. But she captured in her dystopias a world that wasn't too far off from the conformism of the post-WWII western world with its flirtation with central planning ("It helped us win the war!") and the administrative state run by so-called experts (in the UK: "The man in Whitehall knows best.")
With the advent of the Biden/Harris administration, we once again get to compare and contrast.
I know, Alhouse, you are for boring. I'll raise a toast to boring times. I hope we get them, but I am skeptical.
mockturtle said...
But the book is memorable for its characters as well as its ideological theme
Amen, mock. For more than 20 years I used it as a text in the "Business, Government and Society" capstone course in SNHUs MBA program.
About half loved it, half hated it. Nobody was ever neutral.
Only complaints my boss ever got were that the book was too long to read in 12 weeks. He always backed me in my use of the book
John Henry
Mark said...
rehajm, if he went to the Trump rally he is a Trump guy too.
Tell us all how you think you know this...
Nothing says boring like soldiers of the National Guard on duty in Madison. Where were they last summer? Why couldn't we have had a boring summer across the country? When Trump tried to do it, it was fascism. When Democratic governors do it, it is "freedom".
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
When Jeff Bezos adds that to the masthead of WaPoop, we'll get the real meaning of "Democracy dies in darkness."
"But for the armored vehicles, extra barricades and rooftop surveillance teams, Sunday was just another dreary winter day on Madison’s Capitol Square."
But other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?
It sure looks scary in Detroit! Certainly this iron fist display of the power of the Democrats is warranted! “Look what you made me do!”
https://twitter.com/DetroitMandi/status/1350864042706010119
"Tell us all how you think you know this...”
He knows it because he believes everything he thinks.
The capitol lockdowns have moved to amuse me. Loads of people around DC have been posting road closures and evacuation routes out of fear.
I wanted to ask one friend: "Hey, would you like the ones I prepped for the 2016 inauguration where they lit parts of DC on fire? It'll save you some time."
But, I realized I valued their friendship, so I'd let the social preening go unremarked.
tim in vermont--the capital of Michigan is Lansing, not Detroit. I am thinking of getting a movement going to rename it "Podunk" when there is a Democrat governor.
if he went to the Trump rally he is a Trump guy too
Then the security around DC is totally unnecessary - if someone goes to the Biden inauguration, he's a Biden guy.
Amadeus 48 said...
We are living in an Ayn Rand novel.
Feels a little more Fight Club to me!
//The only thing I didn't like about Atlas Shrugged was its hopelessly utopian ending. But the book is memorable for its characters as well as its ideological theme.//
The prose is turgid in some places, golden in others. It's tone is unrelenting, and that tone can be overbearing for some, but that does not make the prose bad. Unpalatable for certain tastes, but not bad.[1]
The "Tunnel Disaster" chapter? That was a tour de force!
--
[1] Complaining about Ayn Rand because her tone was unrelentingly heavy is like complaining about Wodehouse because his tone was unrelentingly light. There is nothing wrong with not liking the prose style. But that says nothing about the quality of the prose in that style.
Ann Althouse said...
I only read novels with prose I like. If it's political theory embedded in meaningless pulp... just summarize the theory. Write a pithy manifesto.
Oh come on. We have all read stuff that seemed turgid at first and then turned out to be exceptional. You might consider Return of the Primitive for theory and commentary. We the Living may be Rand's easiest read.
You can read Ayn Rand and still be cruelly neutral.
NYT and WaPo? Not so much.
Now that rioting is being taken seriously again, can we take the plywood down?
I fully expect the media to offer repeat showings, on the hour every hour, of the riots (sic) in the capitol. This will justify any showing and use of force.
I also predict that someone will be caught with an AR style rifle, and the media will fill in the blanks. Or, a weapons cache in an unidentified van will be found.
Probably a good time to familiarize oneself with the state Constitution(s).
Mesquito observes: I knew this was another bullshit moral panic when the Dow didn’t even twitch.
Exactemente!
A true believer in powerful, intelligent, competent women would appreciate Dagny Taggart.
So it turns out that Tom Cotton’s op-ed was right after all — it was only a question of whose ox is gored. Honest, hard-working, tax-paying shopkeepers, okay to let their stores be burned and their livelihoods be destroyed by actual left-wing mobs. Graft-grabbing Democrat politicians faced with the mere possibility of protestors, then call out the National Guard!
Why are your beloved Wisconsin Democrats so terrified of their own constituents, Althouse?
Just think of all the colorful murals you will get out of this!! How beautiful to have boarded up businesses. Yay!! Progress!!
I only read novels with prose I like.
@Althouse, and you only like prose that does not challenge your biases. Yet you will discover that facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be your wishes, your inclinations, or the dictates of your passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
Ayn Rand's target audience for Atlas Shrugged was 19-year old chicos con bigotes. Not Althouse's Jam.
Mockturtle: Yeah. Dagny likes it rough like Dominique Francon. Perfect fantasy of young inexperienced males everywhere. IOW, "nice" christian girls.
Question for Althouse’s dopiest commenters: Does Trump’s refusal to endorse violence and overturn Biden’s election make him a cuck? Discuss.
Those of us who have read it more than once can certainly identify parallel characters in our present culture
I noticed a lot of crowing recently about how conservatives should be happy about the free market decision to prevent Parler from operating. My response "How did that work out for Hank Reardon?" In short, there is nothing free market about what happened to Parler, except that they are back up today (although not operational).
Blogger Amadeus 48 said...
THe rally and march to the Capitol on January 6 was Trump's biggest mistake. He didn't know who was in that crowd--even among his supporters, not to mention false-flag disrupters. Think of that Antifa character Sullivan urging people to burn the place down. Do you think he was the only one? The iconography was terrible.
I have concluded, after watching Trump being betrayed by staffers for three years, that he was blind sided by this staged operation. The few staffers left are writing books and do not give a shit about him. He just was not warned. His experience shows that peaceful transition is no longer possible.
Blogger Earnest Prole said...
Question for Althouse’s dopiest commenters:
Taunting is a 15 yard penalty in the NFL. The worst winners in political history.
Welcome to Kurt Schlichters America!
The NYT editorial board is no doubt orgasmic wallowing in its hypocrisy.
"I noticed a lot of crowing recently about how conservatives should be happy about the free market decision to prevent Parler from operating."
-- When it happened, I went about and took an eyeful of Twitter and Facebook's Antifa groups and Holocaust denial groups, just to remind myself it wasn't really about threats or calls to violence. It was that Parler was competition.
If and when Obot officers order these troops to fire on unarmed fellow citizens and they comply, the lingering illusion of a Constitutional Republic will finally disappear into the vortex of Democrat corruption.
"So I guess the plywood on all the windows is now just an accepted permanent part of the landscape."
Until they're bricked in for good. Nobody needs windows.
A matter of whose fox was gored.
How must it feel? For months, even years, you protest, you riot, you loot, you spend months trying to burn a federal courthouse, you occupy territory and set up a "government", going back further you occupy parks and state capital buildings and at best they pick a few people up off the street then release them. But then a few hundred people overrun the US Capitol for a couple hours, most by unintentional accident and you see this response? Or was it the 10s of thousands who peaceably assembled on the Mall outside?
It Usually Starts with Ayn Rand by Jerome Tucille was good, at least in the first edition back in the 70s. Sending up various rightwing nuts.
The current edition is a little confusing, not what I remembered.
There's quite a lot of security around the Minnesota capitol building in St Paul. Maybe it's a good time to take another run at Target. Those TVs won't boost themselves.
Democrat's Gaslight Theater. What a joke. And the next time there's an Urban Shopping Night (which will be soon enough) their noses are going to get rubbed in it hard.
For a week now my Washington National Guard son has been guarding Jay's useless ass from....no one.
In SF, they could protect all the govt bldgs by arming the homeless.
In SF, they could protect all the govt bldgs by arming the homeless.
Maybe in DC, too. The lockdown today due to an 'external threat' turned out to be an exploding propane tank under a bridge where homeless people were living. Caused by a tent fire, I gather.
Taunting is a 15 yard penalty in the NFL. The worst winners in political history.
I have no quarrel with Trump voters. Some of my best friends are Trump voters. My wife is a Trump voter. My quarrel is with Second Civil War cosplay dopiness.
"My quarrel is with Second Civil War cosplay dopiness."
OK. No Second Civil War, but lots of bad Democrat policy accompanied by the NYT and WaPoop opinion pages playing endless loops of "There's something wrong with our ships today. We must send in more."
"tcrosse said...
There's quite a lot of security around the Minnesota capitol building in St Paul. Maybe it's a good time to take another run at Target. Those TVs won't boost themselves."
I'm surprised that these local governments are mandating curbside pick-up for the looters.
I'm surprised that these local governments are mandating curbside pick-up for the looters.
:-D
My quarrel is with Second Civil War cosplay dopiness.
OK, Ernest Prole, how do you suggest the deep division in our country be resolved?
Number of US troops in Afghanistan: 2500
Number of national guard deployed for inauguration: 15,000 (10,000 certain, 5,000 on standby)
Conclusion: Democrats are six times more frightened of the US citizenry than of the Taliban.
OK, Ernest Prole, how do you suggest the deep division in our country be resolved?
Stop taking things personally. Antifa and BLM’s antics are an attack on the establishment wing of the Democratic party. They have nothing to do with you. Stop trying to emulate them.
"I only read novels with prose I like. If it's political theory embedded in meaningless pulp... just summarize the theory. Write a pithy manifesto."
Ha. I agree completely. However Atlas Shrugged has a large amount of unintentional comedy. You wonder if Ayn Rand ever had sex with a real person.
Amazing that in this day of Monopoly Capitalists censoring the President of the United States, getting people banned and de-platformed, and helping the socialist candidates takeover the Government, there are still silly, Aspberger Libertarians pushing Ayn Rand and "Muh Free Enterprise".
One might as well read Upton Sinclair as Ayn Rand for all her relevancy to the 21st century.
I enjoyed Ayn Rand because of my life-long habit of skipping over the boring parts of books. When one of her characters launched into a pages long speech, I skipped ahead to the next part that described what was happening, or what someone was doing.
Earnest Prole said...
"Taunting is a 15 yard penalty in the NFL. The worst winners in political history.
I have no quarrel with Trump voters. Some of my best friends are Trump voters. My wife is a Trump voter. My quarrel is with Second Civil War cosplay dopiness."
Then don't steal elections. You punch me in the face and then stand asking if I'm alright? Fuck you. You're going to get hit back.
Fuck you. You're going to get hit back.
How’s that working out for you?
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