६ जानेवारी, २०२४

Must we commemorate January 6th? Is it going to be an annual occasion for reflection and disingenuity?

I'll just check the front page of The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The Washington Post is  not making an occasion of the 3rd anniversary of the insurrection/"insurrection." Here's the top of the page. There's one story, buried down there between something about Alaska Airlines and the recent doings of Elvis Costello:


If you scroll a little farther, though, you'll see that there's a piece by the Editorial Board, "Three years later, beware dangerous revisionism of Jan. 6."

I'll talk about that in a minute. First, let's compare the NYT front page:


There are 2 stories right at the top, and a photo that depicts the crowd outside the Capitol. The one visible sign says "EXPOSE THE LIES!" 



These stories don't commemorate January 6th. They're about present-day events that contain January 6th material.

Let's concentrate on that first NYT story, the one about the "dueling... speeches":
The eagerness from each man to paint the other as an imminent threat signals that their potential rematch this year will be framed as nothing short of a cataclysmic battle for the future of democracy — even as Mr. Trump tries to twist the very idea to suit his own ends.

Diagram that sentence: Eagerness | signals.... 

Aren't we tired of being nudged to think it's the end of the world? Get on to the substantive merits, I say. Enough of your painting and framing and twisting about a democracy cataclysm. 

“Donald Trump’s campaign is about him — not America, not you,” Mr. Biden said Friday, speaking near Valley Forge in Pennsylvania.... 

Valley Forge? Why?  

On Friday evening, at his own rally in Sioux City, Iowa....

Trump locates himself among the voters who are participating in the earliest stage of the nomination process. But Biden can't go there — can he? — because the Democratic Party pushed Iowa out of its traditional role.

Mr. Trump fired back, calling Mr. Biden’s remarks “pathetic fear-mongering” and again accusing him, without any evidence, of wielding federal law enforcement to attack his political opponents....

Without any evidence? The proceedings against Trump are some evidence. You have to make inferences. The cases themselves rely on inferences. 

In an email to supporters on Dec. 14, Mr. Trump falsely claimed that Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the federal prosecution of the former president, “was given one order from his boss — try, convict, and sentence Donald Trump to jail before the November 2024 election.”...

“You too could be jailed for life as an innocent man,” Mr. Trump warned supporters in a fund-raising appeal on Dec. 20....

That's powerful rhetoric, but it's only available to Trump because the prosecutors have gone after him. 

“It is classic Trump to try and deflect from his own misconduct,” Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, told reporters before Mr. Biden’s speech on Friday....

It's classic anybody to want to defend himself when attacked. In the words of Barack Obama: "If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard."

The "dueling... speeches" article continues:

Polling has suggested that voters still prioritize issues like the economy over concerns about democracy. But Mr. Biden’s aides say their campaign data shows that his supporters are concerned about the risk of political violence and that Jan. 6 remains a resonant moment for the Democratic coalition....

I hope it's true that voters care about the substantive issues. I hope we are not responsive to this "resonant moment" rhetoric. 

The last paragraph of the article reveals the (supposed) reason why Biden gave his speech near Valley Forge: "to highlight the nation’s long tradition of a peaceful transfer of power, which Washington set in motion by voluntarily stepping down from office." Absurd! Washington at Valley Forge was engaged in the Revolutionary War. That was not a peaceful transfer of power. It was an insurrection!

Now, let's get back to that WaPo Editorial Board piece, "Three years later, beware dangerous revisionism of Jan. 6." This is mostly about a poll, a poll that should terrify those who have been relying on the demonization of Trump:

A Post-University of Maryland poll published this week shows a sizable share of Americans accept lies about the 2020 election and the insurrection that followed on Jan. 6, 2021. Only 62 percent say Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate, down from 69 percent two years ago, and far lower than after the contested 2000 election. One-third of U.S. adults say they believe there’s “solid evidence” of “widespread voter fraud” in the 2020 election. Regarding Jan. 6 itself, 28 percent say former president Donald Trump bears no responsibility, 21 percent say the people who stormed the Capitol were “mostly peaceful” and 25 percent say the FBI probably or definitely instigated the attack.

These are minority views, but that’s cold comfort.... 
[C]riminal indictments against Mr. Trump in 2023, as justified as any might be on the legal merits, have turned into a rallying point for his backers: The Post-UMD poll showed that 41 percent of Americans, and 77 percent of Republicans, say they believe the Justice Department is unfairly targeting Mr. Trump for political reasons....

For now, a mere 46 percent of Americans said Jan. 6 should disqualify Mr. Trump from the presidency and 33 percent said his conduct that day is “not relevant.” In between, 17 percent say Mr. Trump’s actions “cast doubts on his fitness for the job but are not disqualifying.” That segment could decide the election.....

It's easy to infer why Biden-supporting media isn't leaning into January 6th this year. It hasn't been working. We, the voters, are not that excitable and manipulable. (I hope!) Move on to the merits. How about all that illegal immigration and the chaos of the cities and the decay of education? Please. Do some real work. Prove you deserve the power you seek.

UPDATE at 10:57 a.m: The Washington Post front page has changed and now looks like this:

 

Somehow "the GOP" is getting credit for Trump's amazing survival! Here it is: "How the GOP’s rewriting of Jan. 6 paved the way for Trump’s comeback":
In those early months of lying low, Trump himself was not the main driver in rewriting Republicans’ collective memory of Jan. 6.

Attempts to minimize, excuse or deny the violence of that day began with people returning home from the mob and intensified with family members of rioters, including the mother of a woman killed at the Capitol. Their cause became championed by pro-Trump writers Julie Kelly and Darren Beattie, and amplified by prominent right-wing media figures. The grass-roots and media pressure then spread from far-right lawmakers such as Reps. Paul A. Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene to take over the Republican mainstream.

This changing view of Jan. 6 among Republicans offered Trump a lifeline, paving the way for his political comeback. By October 2021, when he claimed “the insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day,” rather than on Jan. 6, he was merely repeating a meme that was already widely circulating on Facebook....

८४ टिप्पण्या:

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Too bad the court can’t super-duper expedite the review of the CO decision. A 9-0 repudiation coming down on Jan 6 would send just the right message.

wendybar म्हणाले...

Is there ANY wonder why most Americans think the media is a joke?? Because they ARE a joke. Pravda would have been proud of them.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

“It is classic Trump to try and deflect from his own misconduct,” Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, told reporters

Try to, not try and. But since it was spoken ("tryan") the fault is with the reporter. It's the written from that's wrong, not the spoken.

J Severs म्हणाले...

This is the kind of content that I visit this site for. Thank you!

rhhardin म्हणाले...

7/11 never forget.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

A propos of this post is our host's tweet:

"The NYT says Biden gave his speech near Valley Forge "to highlight the nation’s long tradition of a peaceful transfer of power, which Washington set in motion by voluntarily stepping down from office." But Washington at Valley Forge was engaged in the Revolutionary War. That was not a peaceful transfer of power. It was an insurrection! nytimes.com/2024/01/06/us/…"

It would have made more sense to go to Philly, where the Capital was in 1799, but that would have required a basic understanding of our history.

gilbar म्हणाले...

without any evidence..
Mr. Trump falsely claimed..
dangerous revisionism of Jan. 6..
a sizable share of Americans accept lies about the 2020 election..
as justified as any might be on the legal merits..

it's GOOD to see the MSM is objective, and not trying to slant any of their coverage

Iman म्हणाले...

Oh I just don’t know where to begin…

gilbar म्हणाले...

but Seriously..
Just imagine what Would have happened, IF the insurrectionists HADN'T stayed within the ropes!

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Prove you deserve the power you seek.

Spoiler alert: He doesn't.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

There are serious issues here. So, despite Althouse's best efforts, why is it so boring to go through these articles and the editorial policies that lie behind them?

They are v-e-r-y old news and informed readers have made up their minds about the claims. Nothing these two newspapers can publish is going to change any minds.

The Jan6 fraud directed by Nancy Pelosi deserves greater legal scrutiny, but maybe Biden's general wretchedness in office has already decided this election. I didn't think either of these two men would be the major-party candidates this year and I'm still not sure either one will be. But if Trump makes it to the nomination and the election, he will swamp any D. And he will deserve it after what they did in 2020. Then may he follow through with his promises and hold all those accountable for the various frauds, accountable. May the Democratic Party be cast into the outer darkness as it has brought upon itself. And let's find out who killed Seth Rich.

MartyH म्हणाले...

Vivek: “Happy Entrapment Day”

chickelit म्हणाले...

“How about all that illegal immigration and the decline of the cities and the decline of education? Please. Do some real work. Prove you deserve the power you seek.“

Well stated, Althouse.

Mike of Snoqualmie म्हणाले...

"Big Trouble for Biden: Campaign Volunteers 'Quitting in Droves' According to Staffers" Campaign staffers want a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War, which Biden won't push for. So, goodbye antisemetic staffers.

The fix is in for Hillary. "Report: Prosecutor on Jack Smith’s Team Discouraged FBI from Looking into Clinton Foundation in 2016" Not only did she skate on unsecured-server-gate, she skated on illegal foreign transactions with a little help from her friends. The only way to get an appointment with Secretary of State Clinton was to make a big donation to the Clinton Foundation. The CF was also negligent in its IRS paperwork.

So, if you're a Democrat, the laws don't apply to you.

Breezy म्हणाले...

It’s impossible to revise the story of Jan 6 since we still to this day do not have all the facts in hand. Most facts have been kept from view, courtesy of the elites and the msm. As of today, Trump’s version is just as true as is Biden’s version. Given that so much has been kept from us, it’s entirely reasonable to conclude the Trump’s version is closer to the truth, including that 2020 was stolen from him.

narciso म्हणाले...

The keystone cops killed for, byrd brain might as well be black neidermeyer for all his funbles

Birches म्हणाले...

Yellow journalism at its finest.

I wonder what lefty history teachers say about that era now.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Will any of the hacks on the democrat party state run CIA approved networks (NBC+) discuss Ashley Babbit, and how she was shot dead inside the US capitol. She was unarmed.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Insurrection day is a celebration for the collective corrupt left.

Paul Zrimsek म्हणाले...

These are the times that try men's patience.

narciso म्हणाले...

Re the judicial watch lawsuit

Jaq म्हणाले...

It's the Reichstag Fire playbook.

The Nazis used it to limit freedom of assembly (check)
Freedom of the press (check)
To remove constitutional restrictions on the power of law enforcement (check)
To outlaw rival political parties (in progress)

This is a powerful playbook, which is why the Democrats were attracted to it. The thing that is holding back the final goal is that press freedom is still too great, which necessitates the attacks on Elon Musk.

The "Cyber Threat Intelligence League" which is funded by the US government and was brought into existence by Obama in his final days in the WH, provides government funded training on executing psy-ops against the American public, which J6 appears to be; no honest investigation has ever been done. Also the CTIL trains sock puppets to come on to blogs like this one. The "threat" in CTIL is any threat to the untrammeled power of the Democrats.

It's an age old dynamic. Why did Cleopatra kill Ptolemy? Because no rival to the throne can be tolerated. It's a dynamic that has been seen over and over again in the written history of the West. Anything else is just rationalization propaganda. It's the exact same reason why we provoked a war with Russia (open a history book on the causes of WWI, for example, if you disagree), because no rival to US power can be tolerated.

If, for example, Caligula's brother agreed to be a nice guy and never to make a play for emperor, Caligula still had to kill him anyway because *it was possible* and the *possiblity* could not be tolerated.

We are seeing this play out both in domestic politics and on the world stage, and the same people are running the playbook in both arenas. I don't see a way out. A retreat to stoicism is in order, the way the Greeks did when conquered by Rome.

We are in a hybrid WW3, and the real struggle is over whether the rest of the world will continue to support the US deficit, $1.7 trillion, and was just doubled in the past year. We are trying to pressure China to stop supporting Russia while our own generals say out loud that China is next. It's crazy. 1984 was optimistic.

BtW, you can get low unemployment by paying people not to work, and every dollar of the deficit counts as GDP, so you can "grow" the economy by printing money, even if there is nothing new to buy with it.

We are just fucked. We are like the Indians when the white people showed up. Maybe we have it coming, IDK. But I am pretty sure that if the Indians had the choice, they would have kept us out, not done this to themselves on purpose.

Biden is our Commudus.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

One of the main reasons I’m not voting for Trump was that he walked into an obvious trap on January 6. How could he be so stupid?

And he recently he wrote that he wanted to build a “big beautiful building” for the FBI. Why reward the FBI? The FBI has tracked down nearly everyone who was there on January 6 and helped set the trap.

Vivek would abolish the FBI.

narciso म्हणाले...

And who came up with the bureau building hmm

Jaq म्हणाले...

One more thing, Nancy Pelosi's Congress repealed the law against the government using propaganda against the American people, a law that was put in place in 1948 after seeing what propaganda had done to Germany and Italy. They called this a "modernization" of the law, but basically they gutted it. So they are free now to use things like CTIL and to fund sock puppets on blogs.

Further, there is no longer any law against our military lying to us, for instance by relaying the lies out of Kiev about the war as if they were somehow based on anything other than Goebbels like fever dreams. It's a ratchet, and the Republican Party seems powerless.

And now, building on the J6 psy-op, we have calls by Democrats to remove as many as 126 Republican members of Congress for "insurrection," which is legally an insurrection because the Democrats and their mouthpiece in the media said so. No serious trial required. If you can get a jury with a partisan judge and partisan prosecutor and 12 partisan Democrats on it to say it's one, so much the better, but it's not required. Anybody can see it, right? No need to even vote on it!

Chuck म्हणाले...

Althouse the pathetic fear-mongering lie is not that Trump is being prosecuted. Of course he's being prosecuted. Trump can, and will, claim in court that his prosecution is illegitimate, or political, or whatever. Trump can make those claims, with the assistance of his counsel, with a presumption that he is innocent, as allowed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Now; the pathetic fear-mongering lie is that Trump's prosecution is being personally directed by President Biden. There is no evidence of that. It is a baseless claim. It deserves aggressive pushback every time that a Republican politician tries to advance it. I certainly intend to make a loud vocal issue about it at every turn of the 2024 campaign season.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Not checking, but I'm envisioning that MSNBC is going to run full multi-hour long videos of what took place on January 6 much as they used to do with 9/11 videos.
It'll be a religious-like feel on MSNBC today.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Scott Adams says it's National Hoax Day

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

In Ann’s “decay of education” department, it burns my butt the way the Left and Fake News misuses the word “insurrection.”

An insurrection requires guns. The only insurrection this country has experienced was the Civil War and 600,000 people died.

On Twitter, I corrected a Creighton law professor on her improper use of the word “insurrection.” I was thinking about my Creighton Law professors and how they forced us to think and be precise. She whined to the Dean and then blocked me. Baby.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

“And he recently he wrote that he wanted to build a “big beautiful building” for the FBI.”

I think he meant in the middle of a Nebraska cornfield.

Jaq म्हणाले...

When Obama and Bill Ayers said “Yes we can,” it was a response to “It can’t happen here.”

Duke Dan म्हणाले...

General Washington also shot deserters too. https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/02/george-washington-convenes-a-firing-squad/

Leland म्हणाले...

I was told the celebration this year was going to be nearly year long. If you’re for boring, just wait how bored you’ll get listening to the same lies over and over for months.

ColoComment म्हणाले...

This was an interesting overview of the current state of WaPo, NYT, and CNN.
(linked via Citizen Free Press)

https://archive.is/cGH9E

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...

And a shoutout to the WSJ editorial page, which meekly hoped Trump would resign and assured its readers three years ago that his political future was “probably finished.”

Donald Trump’s Final Days
https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-final-days-11610062773

They'll endorse him this year, count on it.

hombre म्हणाले...

"We choose [leftmedia] truth over facts." Joe Biden

The January 6th riot should not have happened and involved law breaking. We now know that it also involved police violating their own rules about crowd control and use of non-lethal force and what may have been a deliberate lack of preparation to defend the capitol.

Regardless, the cost in lives, property damage and injuries was a pittance compared to the Antifa/BLM riots the FBI, leftmedia and Democrats chose to downplay.

hombre म्हणाले...

"We choose [leftmedia] truth over facts." Joe Biden

The January 6th riot should not have happened and involved law breaking. We now know that it also involved police violating their own rules about crowd control and use of non-lethal force and what may have been a deliberate lack of preparation to defend the capitol.

Regardless, the cost in lives, property damage and injuries was a pittance compared to the Antifa/BLM riots the FBI, leftmedia and Democrats chose to downplay.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

It's not working is exactly the right insight- that is why they will have to take even more extreme measures to get rid of Trump.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

>Mr. Biden said Friday, speaking near Valley Forge in Pennsylvania....<

Ann Althouse said..."Valley Forge? Why?"

Because Biden was pointedly likening himself to George Washington, thinking that that would be some sort of crushing tactic for castigating Trump for supposedly fomenting the Democrats' fictional Great January 6 "Insurrection."

Yes, the moron Biden seemed to be unaware of the fact that our revered George Washington was the greatest insurrectionist in American history.

Shoeless Joe म्हणाले...

NY Times -- "In an email to supporters on Dec. 14, Mr. Trump falsely claimed that Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the federal prosecution of the former president, “was given one order from his boss — try, convict, and sentence Donald Trump to jail before the November 2024 election.”

Trump falsely claimed?
Q: How does the Times KNOW this claim is false?
A: They can't know, which means they are reporting something as a fact -- the word "false" is an absolute -- where they have no idea (and probably no care) if what they are reporting is factual.

I have to think that 20 years ago if a reporter had tried to slip this kind of mendacity into a news story at the Times or the Post their editor would have picked them up and thrown them down a flight of stairs. Not now, not going forward. As much as we hate and despise the news media in this country its not enough.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

I hope that in Trump's second term (fingers crossed) he makes January 6 a great celebratory national holiday.

robother म्हणाले...

Diminishing clicks compel the WaPo to move on from the past. Even the "news" of reporting what is going on in the brain of Donald Trump will flag.

I see 2024 as the year the media will begin reporting from the alternative future of a Trump victory. Kind of the reverse of NYTimes '30s reporting from USSR: "I have seen the future and it is horrible!" In the Year 2025, Trump is jailing all registered Democrats! In the Year 2026, the Constitution is suspended, marshal law imposed. Etc.

Old and slow म्हणाले...

Blogger Dave Begley said...
"Vivek would abolish the FBI."

Vivek talks a good game, in fact, he's quite the talker isn't he? But he is not going to be elected, and if he were, he wouldn't manage to abolish much at all. He's my top pick, but realistically, he is a no hope candidate.

Leland म्हणाले...

Move on to the merits.

What's that mean to the NYT?

Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

Trump is a trump. He beclowns himself daily. But, baring a black swan event, he's on his way to the Whitehouse my vote or not. However, with the proper VP in place... Vivek. It would be a fun filled four years to look forward to.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Jan 6th is the left's Reichstag fire, indeed.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

There’s a stealth issue coming: That Jack Smith wasn’t properly appointed. I see that as a way to get rid of this mess.

Levi Starks म्हणाले...

1/6 was essentially 9/11 right?

stlcdr म्हणाले...

Blogger Dave Begley said...
"Vivek would abolish the FBI."

Vivek talks a good game, in fact, he's quite the talker isn't he? But he is not going to be elected, and if he were, he wouldn't manage to abolish much at all. He's my top pick, but realistically, he is a no hope candidate.

1/6/24, 9:58 AM


Trump was going to do a lot of things, too, talk or not. But sooner or later, you run into the rolling mass of Government and that cannot be changed.

(Actually, the only way to change it is to cut funding - that will solve a lot of government problems in one shot. But we know that ain't happening).

stlcdr म्हणाले...

I'm surprised there isn't a 'trigger warning' on the NYT picture - the violence, the horror, the damage is absolutely vile and extreme - fascism at it's height! (I'm using the new and improved definitions for 2023, here, and they may be different in 2024).

NKP म्हणाले...

One of the main reasons I’m not voting for Trump was that he walked into an obvious trap on January 6. How could he be so stupid?

So, you gonna write-in Vivek come November?

Please elaborate how he walked into obvious trap. He had a legit' issue. He was concerned his supporters might be disruptive and he offered to make National Guard available to responsible authorities. He implored supporters to behave themselves and respect the law.

He was under relentless, unfounded and malicious attack by his opponents, inept and often duplicitous support by his own team, a cowardly judicial branch and a media establishment marked by group-think, a lack of curiosity and obvious contempt for truth.

If he was half as evil as his opponents, he would have declared Martial Law, rounded-up the usual suspects and sent them to an abandoned military outpost in the Aleutians along with some blankets, fish hooks, string, a knife or two, a couple a DIY books, Bic lighters and, maybe, some duct tape.

Perhaps they could build a Brave New World (DIE, of course) that would inspire the rest of us.

JK Brown म्हणाले...

"But Mr. Biden’s aides say their campaign data shows that his supporters are concerned about the risk of political violence and that Jan. 6 remains a resonant moment for the Democratic coalition...."

So, here we are 10 months from the election, and Biden is opening his campaign preaching to the choir. Trying to keep the "faithful" in the pews. All the while, demonizing the "sinners". Interesting. Seems the strategy is less trying to bring the heathens to the light and more to make being seen as faithful to the dominant religion as the only way to success in the community...America.

David53 म्हणाले...

“…the decay of education?”

30 years ago I taught a 4th grade class at a Title 1 school near San Antonio. 90% of my kids were minorities.

Then, 60% of them were grade level proficient in math and reading.

In 2022-2023 13% were proficient in math, 20-24% were proficient in reading.

What happened? Those kids don’t have much of a chance of graduating high school. Sad.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

This election will be a difficult one for Althouse. She has repeatedly declared her preference for boring government. This year the choice will be between reform, an inherently disruptive process, on the one hand, and accelerated decadence, impoverishment, and lawlessness on the other -- either choice will produce decidedly unboring circumstances.

Voting third-party or independent won't satisfy her druthers, either. Assuming a third-party candidate can win the presidency, historical examples, such as John Anderson and Ross Pirot, have all been fatally hobbled by the absence of a legislative base. Without a firmly established and formidable party at his back, no president will have sufficient authority to even slow the Biden barbarism let alone reverse it. No comforting tedium can be expected from a Robert Kennedy, Jr. administration.

JK Brown म्हणाले...

If we were to accept that Jan 6 was an insurrection, it would be an insurrection against the government of the US, not the sovereign, the Constitution. And through the Constitution, The People. The government is only legitimate as long as it is subordinate to the Constitution.

Rusty म्हणाले...

Dave.
Did you know it was a trap? If not then how would he?
Yeah. A big beautiful building in Cody Wyoming.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Dave Begley writes, "The only insurrection this country has experienced was the Civil War and 600,000 people died."

You are mistaken. There were at least two insurrections before 1861, one farcical and abortive yet nonetheless tragic for its participants and victims, the other substantial, widely supported, and endured for nearly three years. Those are just hints, I'll let you acquaint yourself with the history. The effort will be rewarding.

narciso म्हणाले...

maybe those lesuo or kompromat reps were the ones that approved the funding

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Rich said…[The Wall Street Journal will] endorse [Trump] this year, count on it."

If they do, it will be a stunning rebuke of Biden and his Presidency. The WSJ hates Trump.

TeaBagHag म्हणाले...

If I were a partisan hack trying to pander to MAGAt cultists, I would argue that we should move on as well.
AsHleY BabBiTt dIeD for yOuR SINs!!!!!!

rcocean म्हणाले...

Great Analysis by Althouse.

Well done!

Big Mike म्हणाले...

@Rusty (11:05), I realized right away that it was a setup. Do you want to play semantic games about the difference between a trap and a setup? As it happened I spent most of my adult life living in or around Washington, DC, and my cynicism is probably a lot more strongly developed than yours -- or Trump's (and it gave me no pleasure to write that).

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Vivek would abolish the FBI.

@Dave Begley, and what would Vivek do about crimes that are, by statute, up to the FBI to investigate? Such as murder on reservation lands? Or is it okay with you and Vivek that murders of Native Americans not be investigated? "A good Indian is a dead Indian," is that how the two of you roll?

You dirty racists.

My real point being that simple solutions when one is outside of government turn out to have complex side effects when once actually has the responsibility to execute those solutions.

Darkisland म्हणाले...

Someone asked vivek about trump as his vp.

His answer was thoughtful and interesting. Basically he thought that it might work with vp trump acting as a "senior advisor" and "mentor" (viveks words)

I doubt that trump would do it and it would require incredible trust on both sides. Otoh, it does not sound so crazy. Kind of like Mountbatten and Nehru after Indian independence.

Trump could focus on strategy, deal making and ideas.

Trump would be awrse as senate president. Imagine someone who can bac down the norks and negotiate peace in the middle east.

Those senators wouldn't stand a chance.

And no term limits on vp. 12 more years? 16? 20?

John Henry

Big Mike म्हणाले...

There's one story, buried down there between something about Alaska Airlines ...

That "something about Alaska Airlines" is pretty serious. A window, and the portion of the fuselage around it, blew out on a 737 MAX at 16,000 feet as it climbed out of its third takeoff of the day. The pl

A video made while the plane was still in the air is here. A photo that more clearly shows the huge size of the hole in the fuselage is here. The hole looks like a door because the plane can optionally be configured with a door in that location. Apparently they build the fuselage with a door opening, and then plug if the airline doesn't want to pay for the door.

Another reason not to fly on a 737 MAX. Boeing managers need to learn that safety cannot be done on the cheap.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Only dirty racists believe the Reservations are less competent to enforce criminal statutes than Rhode Island.

The FBI's domination of law enforcement on tribal land derives from thoroughly outdated patriarchal attitudes exemplified by Kipling's verse:

Take up the White Man's burden -
Send forth the best ye breed -
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild -
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.


If the Indians were ever devil-child savages, they are not savage now. Let them be sovereign in their own communities, like other Americans. If the Bureau is shitcanned, the Redman will effortlessly cope far better than London Breed, I confidently predict.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

It is generally thought unwise, as a propaganda move, to commemerate the other side's martyrs.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

"One of the main reasons I’m not voting for Trump ...".

Whatever. Reasons. Vote for whoever you like in the primary, that's what it's there for. Just get your head right in November. And maybe look into what you can do to make it harder for the Enemy to cheat this time. The Democrats are like one of those assholes you read about, who rapes a woman and doesn't get caught, so now he thinks she's his girlfriend, and he can fuck her again whenever he's in the mood. "Hey, Pretty-Tits! Remember me?" And he can, too. Same as he did the last time. Unless she gets a gun.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Big Mike: ever since Eric Holder ran the FBI and, with White House counsel Elena Kagan, it has turned into a very dangerous agency. Carer advancement requires devotion to a form of leftist identity politics so extreme that retired and older agents don't recognize the agency anymore. It has been weaponized against whites, conservatives, police, and other useful enemies.

Indian affairs is the least of it. Ditto federal land. Both could be farmed out to the agencies directly overseeing Indian Affairs and Federal Parks. But far more importantly, the agency needs to be depoliticized and reigned in. This all began with the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. Doesn't sound too dire, right? It's just gathering statistics, right?

That's what it was supposed to be the case. It wasn't. Crime control needs to be returned to the states. The FBI shouldn't have the power to pick and choose winners and losers in the hate crimes industry sweepstakes, nor use funding to nudge state bureaus to abide by their preferences, often extralegally. Nor should they have the power to choose the unelected, biased people who quietly "train" police and sheriffs and chiefs then deny it and conceal the training materials.

Yes, we need an FBI. A new one.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Sorry Big Mike, I meant when Holder ran the DOJ...

Nancy Reyes म्हणाले...

the whole thing could have been avoided if a single court or a single state would have examined the possibility of voting fraud.
by the way, the problem with the Smartmatic voting machines is so controversial here in the Philippines it has it's own Wikipedia page.

Rocco म्हणाले...

"Must we commemorate January 6th? Is it going to be an annual occasion for reflection...?"

Sure. The LGTBQ+/DEI Rainbow flag flying over the White House will be lowered to half mast. At 2pm, the aides having sex in some senator's seat in the Hearing Room will pause for a moment of silence.

Staff running the printing presses at the Treasure will get the day off; they will work triple time the next day to make up for it, though. Kamala Harris will tweet out "Enjoy the long weekend".

n.n म्हणाले...

Democrats decide to build a wall... now, they CAIR (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Immigration Reform).

charis म्हणाले...

I got a text message today from Kamala Harris (or a ghostwriter), invoking J6 and the danger to democracy. Good to know that she and the NYT are all part of the same messaging apparatus.

n.n म्हणाले...

Pelosi, get a gun, and make sure she's unarmed and in a prone position. J6 is the day Democrats, and sympathetic interests, celebrate Capitol (sic) punishment.

rwnutjob म्हणाले...

Happy #EntrapmentDay

charis म्हणाले...

In the church's liturgical calendar, January 6th is Epiphany, the day to commemorate the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. It's weird to see the same date repurposed now as a part of a political liturgy of sorts.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Somewhere Liz cheney and Dick are lighting a candle for DEMOCRACY and crying over the Orange anarchist who "incited the mob" and tried to overthrow the Government.

Can these people be bigger frauds or liars?

Jim at म्हणाले...

Regardless, the cost in lives, property damage and injuries was a pittance compared to the Antifa/BLM riots the FBI, leftmedia and Democrats chose to downplay.

They didn't downplay the left-wing riots. They celebrated them.

Jim at म्हणाले...

If I were a partisan hack trying to pander to MAGAt cultists, I would argue that we should move on as well.
AsHleY BabBiTt dIeD for yOuR SINs!!!!!!


Instead, you're a despicable excuse for a human being.

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...

Video evidence and sworn court testimony says the January 6th riots were committed by Trump supporters. But the Althouse editorial board presents a very different theory.

Kirk Parker म्हणाले...

As someone who has had dealings with the Puyallup Tribal Police, and found them at least as polite, professional, and competent as any of our other local law enforcement agencies, I will happily second Quaestor's 2:28pm comment.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

"Prove you deserve the power you seek."

No one deserves that kind of power.

Kirk Parker म्हणाले...

MadTownGuy,

Exactly!

I am not an anarchist, we absolutely do need some level of government. Problem is, that it's a necessary evil. Far too many people ignore the second word in that phrase, and of course the power inherent in government is immensely attractive to the wrong kind of people.