Anyway he’s already taken it back.

The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021

Failed useless impotent loser tries to bully world by shouting.

Meanwhile he has five deaths on his hands – five people died because of his coup attempt. Four were coup-attempters and one was a cop resisting them.

But he’s not interested in that. He doesn’t care about that. He doesn’t feel any shame or guilt about that. He has other fish to fry.

To all of those

… Read the rest

The BBC is also asking pointed questions about the abject failure to stop the attempted coup on Wednesday.

Criticism centres on preparation by police and their failure to anticipate possible violence, despite evidence that radical pro-Trump supporters and other groups were openly discussing their plans online.

And despite the fact that it is apparently standard procedure to police-up heavily for a protest or march that could get violent. This one wasn’t even a case of “could get”; the coup plotters were openly shouting that it would get violent.

The Washington Post, citing sources close to the matter, says that Capitol Police charged with guarding the building and its grounds did not make early requests for help from the city’s main

… Read the rest

Trump may have had high-level help from federal officials who blocked the normal procedures for a potentially violent DC protest.

The supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday to stop the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory were attempting a violent coup that multiple European security officials said appeared to have at least tacit support from aspects of the US federal agencies responsible for securing the Capitol complex.

Insider spoke with three officials on Thursday morning: a French police official responsible for public security in a key section of central Paris, and two intelligence officials from NATO countries who directly work in counterterrorism and counterintelligence operations involving the US, terrorism, and Russia.

People who know … Read the rest

He’s surrendered…until he takes it back.

pic.twitter.com/csX07ZVWGe

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021

… Read the rest

A new martyr for free speech! Not really martyr, since he’s not dead, but you know. Martyrish.

My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021

He wasn’t really representing his constituents by pretending to believe Trump’s lies about the election; he wasn’t leading a debate about voter integrity, because that’s not what the pretend debate was about; it does look like sedition to try to overturn an election by lying about voter fraud; big publishing companies are not “the Left.”

And, crucial point, it’s not “canceling everything we don’t approve of” to resist efforts to steal an election.… Read the rest

Pro Publica notes that it was all out there in plain sight.

For weeks, the far-right supporters of President Donald Trump railed on social media that the election had been stolen. They openly discussed the idea of violent protest on the day Congress met to certify the result.

“We came up with the idea to occupy just outside the CAPITOL on Jan 6th,” leaders of the Stop the Steal movement wrote on Dec. 23. They called their Wednesday demonstration the Wild Protest, a name taken from a tweet by Trump that encouraged his supporters to take their grievances to the streets of Washington. “Will be wild,” the president tweeted.

Oh did he; let’s see.

Peter Navarro releases 36-page

… Read the rest

Yesterday:… Read the rest

In another part of the forest –

Slavery ended (in America, not China) 157 years ago. The 82-year-old wasn't there. 2+2=4 https://t.co/QYw2QGN7Pr

— James Lindsay, full varsity (@ConceptualJames) January 6, 2021

A couple of things. One, picking cotton is not a synonym for slavery. Sharecroppers picked cotton; laborers picked cotton. Warnock wasn’t saying his mother was a slave, he was saying she was poor, and had to do hard painful (the bolls tear up your hands) work to make a meager living.

Two, no, slavery did not end in America 157 years ago. Slavery was reinstated in the South (without being called that) after Reconstruction was terminated. Jim Crow laws were passed that made it a crime for black people … Read the rest

https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347176928378302466 https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347177545947619329 https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/1347178373026623489 https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1347179451617075201… Read the rest

Normally I would think this is “merely” political rhetoric – bad political rhetoric, hyperbolic, rabble-rousing (not in a good way), reckless, but not unmistakably incitement to violence. That’s probably wrong, it’s probably because this kind of frenzy has been normalized, I’ve probably been conditioned to think that just as others have…or then again maybe it’s just standard free speech thinking.

At any rate, at this moment in history, I don’t think it’s mere.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramovitch/status/1347130086038753281… Read the rest

Politico has a collection of on the scene reporting on what it was like inside the Capitol yesterday. (In one word: scary.)

Marianne LeVine, Senate reporter: Then there was an announcement the building wasn’t secure. Intercom, probably Capitol police. We decided to barricade the doors with couches and chairs. We turned off the lights and we hid behind the desks.

Marianne LeVine: We started hearing noise. We could hear they’d gone into the Capitol. We heard a lot of stampeding and cheers and people. We could hear chants of, “Four more years!” and all that.

Burgess Everett: We could hear people shaking the walls. At this point, people are on the Senate floor and all

… Read the rest

The rats are running.

So far seven officials associated with Trump and his inner circle have said they are quitting, including members of Melania Trump’s team, after the deadly violence that surrounded the Congressional vote to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in November.

…

In further fallout that underlined the fracturing of the Trump administration’s inner circles, Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, indicated to journalists he had been banned from the White House by Trump after the president “blamed” him for advice he gave to Pence on Trump’s demands he overturn the election result.

He was shocked, shocked, to discover that Trump blames people for things.

In stark language that underlined the toxic and swirling sense of

… Read the rest

Now they’re getting serious.

https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970431039934464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346970431039934464%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2Flive%2F2021%2Fjan%2F06%2Fgeorgia-election-latest-news-senate-ossoff-warnock-democrats-republicans-trump-biden

The social media giant added, “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Do it either way.

Queen Melania’s chief of staff has quit.

[Stepahnie] Grisham was one of the longest-serving Trump administration officials, having begun her tenure working for then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 as a press wrangler on the campaign trail. Grisham entered the White House as deputy press secretary under Sean Spicer, but in March 2017, Melania Trump hired her for her East Wing staff. As East Wing communications director, Grisham quickly became the first lady’s most prominent staffer, acting as defender, enforcer and, often,

… Read the rest

Republicans were saying it would all be fine, just ignore Trump’s tantrums, he doesn’t mean anything by them.

Those assurances were ridiculed at the time, and that ridicule was entirely vindicated Wednesday. As Congress began to accept the results of the electoral college, Trump supporters stormed the capitol, forcing both chambers to shut down as they were considering the first challenge to the results, from Arizona. Rioters clashed with police and forced their way into buildings and even the floor of Congress. There was broken glass. There was an armed standoff at the door of the House Chamber.

There was a woman shot and killed.

To be clear, this was something Trump and his allies flirted with repeatedly

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THIS MORNING at the rally Giuliani called for "trial by combat."

Don Jr. told Congressmen who weren't going to vote to overturn the election: "We're coming for you."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 6, 2021

Not a favorite uncle then:

Why are these fucking traitors not being held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and arrested?

— Mary L. Trump (@MaryLTrump) January 6, 2021

Lincoln Project calls for immediate House impeachment and Senate conviction of Trump to force his expedited removal from office.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 6, 2021

Yes, do that. Certify the election and impeach and convict Trump, today…and into tomorrow if it takes that long, but do it fast.

they should impeach quickly before he can pardon anyone or

… Read the rest

There’s more:

Twitter has now, belatedly, taken it down.

I’ll just keep updating this for awhile.

Washington, DC is designed to be one of the most secure places on earth.

That pro-Trump terrorists made it to the Speaker’s chair was a choice. Congress must ask who made that choice. pic.twitter.com/OOMWLvgqRa

— Rep. Mondaire Jones (@RepMondaire) January 6, 2021

Guardian Live:

Ivanka Trump was fiercely criticized after she described the rioters who stormed the US Capitol as “American patriots.”

The president’s daughter said in the now-deleted tweet, “American patriots – any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable.”

We were always told that @IvankaTrump was going to be the “voice of reason” for her father. Instead,

… Read the rest

He heaps praise on the insurrectionists, he says “We love you, you’re special,” he repeats all the lies about the election. HE NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE.… Read the rest

This is horrific. I’m dead serious that Trump needs to be locked up in some fashion right now. He needs at the very least to be locked away from being able to incite anything, phone taken away, no visitors, doors locked, end of story. No access to the nukes.

Trump should be impeached and convicted tomorrow.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 6, 2021

Holy shit pic.twitter.com/dofEG2SmqP

— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) January 6, 2021

… Read the rest

Um…

Capitol Police are running to every door in the House gallery and locking it.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

Here's the situation in the House chamber:

There are about 100 members on the floor and another 20 or 30 in the gallery. They've locked the doors and there's some definite nervous energy in here. A lot of police here, a lot of commotion.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

He’s a journalist, and it seems he’s locked in there with them.

They're telling members in the House chamber to prepare to get down beneath their chairs.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021

Individuals have breached the Capitol building, they're as close as the rotunda, and

… Read the rest

He’s actually done it.

The U.S. Capitol locked down Wednesday with lawmakers inside as violent clashes broke out between supporters of President Donald Trump and police.

An announcement was played inside the Capitol as lawmakers were meeting and expected to vote to affirm Joe Biden’s victory. Due to an “external security threat,” no one could enter or exit the Capitol complex, the recording said.

Both chambers abruptly went into recess.

…

Protesters tore down metal barricades at the bottom of the Capitol’s steps and were met by officers in riot gear. Some tried to push past the officers who held shields and officers could be seen firing pepper spray into the crowd to keep them back. Some in the

… Read the rest