January 6 Hearings Live

[lpetrich]

Doyle Canning on Twitter: "The silence from eugene establishment about the Proud Boys marching through our streets on Saturday with bats and brass knuckles 72 hrs after attacks on capitol is deafening." / Twitter

Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol
She is a Republican and one of Maine's two Senators. She got re-elected late last year.

On January 6, it was time for Congress to count the electoral votes.

I had studied the very limited role that the Constitution assigns to Congress, but was well aware that emotions were running high because of the president’s repeated claims that the election was “stolen,” despite the fact that approximately 90 judges, including the Supreme Court justices, had ruled otherwise.

But she had no idea of what a big day it was to be. They were debating some Republicans' objections to the Arizona count when the attack got to the Senate chamber.

Sen. James Lankford had just started speaking when, all of a sudden, the Capitol Police and staff from the Sergeant at Arms burst into the chamber and removed Vice President Mike Pence who was presiding. Shortly thereafter, the two Senate leaders were also rushed away.

My first thought was that the Iranians had followed through on their threat to strike the Capitol, but a police officer took over the podium and explained that violent demonstrators had breached the entire perimeter of the Capitol and were inside. Several of us pointed out that the doors to the press gallery were unlocked right above us. That tells you how overwhelmed and unprepared the Capitol Police were, although many, many of them were very courageous.

Iranians? That would have been VERY hard to do.

The Senators were first told to stay put, then be put on buses. She thought that that would make them sitting ducks. "Finally, we were ushered out of the chamber and taken through the tunnels under the Capitol, with the police urging us to “hurry, hurry!” (Unfortunately, I had chosen to wear high heels that day so it was hard to run.)"

She then watched in disbelief as Trump's followers overran the Capitol building.

I called and texted my closest contact at the White House to urge that the president immediately tell the rioters to stop their violence and go home. But President Donald Trump completely undercut that message by repeating his grievances and telling the rioters that he knew how they felt. This was terrible, especially since he incited them in the first place.

Let's see if she follows up and votes to strip him of all ex-President privileges.

After the attackers were cleared from the Capitol building, she was eager to get back to work in certifying those votes.

The rest of the night I spent at Murkowski’s home because I was worried about finding a parking space that late and about the violent extremists knowing where I live, given the threats and security problems I have encountered during the past two years. The police drove us to Murkowski’s home, where her husband had built us a nice fire and had glasses of wine awaiting us.

Finally at 4 a.m., I went to bed for three hours before I got up to do a Maine radio interview and catch a plane to Bangor. Saddened and outraged though I was that the rioters had stormed and temporarily taken control of the symbol of our democracy, the U.S. Capitol, I also felt a sense of pride that the Congress had not been intimidated and that we had completed our constitutional duty. It had been more than 200 years since the Capitol was last attacked during the War of 1812, but once again, the forces of democracy had prevailed.

 

[SLD]

Doyle Canning on Twitter: "The silence from eugene establishment about the Proud Boys marching through our streets on Saturday with bats and brass knuckles 72 hrs after attacks on capitol is deafening." / Twitter

Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol
She is a Republican and one of Maine's two Senators. She got re-elected late last year.

On January 6, it was time for Congress to count the electoral votes.

But she had no idea of what a big day it was to be. They were debating some Republicans' objections to the Arizona count when the attack got to the Senate chamber.

Iranians? That would have been VERY hard to do.

The Senators were first told to stay put, then be put on buses. She thought that that would make them sitting ducks. "Finally, we were ushered out of the chamber and taken through the tunnels under the Capitol, with the police urging us to “hurry, hurry!” (Unfortunately, I had chosen to wear high heels that day so it was hard to run.)"

She then watched in disbelief as Trump's followers overran the Capitol building.

I called and texted my closest contact at the White House to urge that the president immediately tell the rioters to stop their violence and go home. But President Donald Trump completely undercut that message by repeating his grievances and telling the rioters that he knew how they felt. This was terrible, especially since he incited them in the first place.

Let's see if she follows up and votes to strip him of all ex-President privileges.

After the attackers were cleared from the Capitol building, she was eager to get back to work in certifying those votes.

The rest of the night I spent at Murkowski’s home because I was worried about finding a parking space that late and about the violent extremists knowing where I live, given the threats and security problems I have encountered during the past two years. The police drove us to Murkowski’s home, where her husband had built us a nice fire and had glasses of wine awaiting us.

Finally at 4 a.m., I went to bed for three hours before I got up to do a Maine radio interview and catch a plane to Bangor. Saddened and outraged though I was that the rioters had stormed and temporarily taken control of the symbol of our democracy, the U.S. Capitol, I also felt a sense of pride that the Congress had not been intimidated and that we had completed our constitutional duty. It had been more than 200 years since the Capitol was last attacked during the War of 1812, but once again, the forces of democracy had prevailed.

I was disappointed that she said nothing during the debate. Has she finally realized that Trump did not and cannot learn his lesson? I think she’s been way too quiet, like most other cowardly Republicans.

 

[blastula]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/mateagold/status/1348806511410163713[/TWEET]

Very disturbing.

 

[Angry Floof]

Yeah, law enforcement is not at all infested with right wing extremists. Not at all. Shame on us for ever criticizing law enforcement.

 

[Elixir]

Right-wingers turning anti-capitalist after attacking people for being anti-capitalist, that's such a fun sight to see.

IKR?
These are the same jokers who desperately wanted to protect big Companies from liability a couple of weeks ago.
Now they are complaining about big Companies protecting themselves from Republican stupidity.
Sheesh.

I for one am enjoying what's unfolding as people who fight tooth and nail for bigot bakeries to have the right to deny a cake to a gay couple see it all go down like this. Now it seems like every business and industry Trump needs are all one by one telling him to fuck off. Even the PGA tour has announced they will no longer use his stupid golf courses. I expect a cascade of such announcements and rebuffs, possibly including banks, hopefully to the point where Trump has nothing left and when they go to arrest him, he'll be found on the couch in the filthy Alabama man cave of one of his redneck supporters.

The card processor for his legal defense grift has stopped doing business with him, Amex, Goldman Sax, Marriott, Citigroup - it's a real shitshow for Trump's "enterprises".
Companies that don't like Donny any more

Some of them have halted all political contributions, not just to the GOP. I want to find out which ones those are when I have time... grrrr.

 

[Angry Floof]

I for one am enjoying what's unfolding as people who fight tooth and nail for bigot bakeries to have the right to deny a cake to a gay couple see it all go down like this. Now it seems like every business and industry Trump needs are all one by one telling him to fuck off. Even the PGA tour has announced they will no longer use his stupid golf courses. I expect a cascade of such announcements and rebuffs, possibly including banks, hopefully to the point where Trump has nothing left and when they go to arrest him, he'll be found on the couch in the filthy Alabama man cave of one of his redneck supporters.

The card processor for his legal defense grift has stopped doing business with him, Amex, Goldman Sax, Marriott, Citigroup - it's a real shitshow for Trump's "enterprises".
Companies that don't like Donny any more

Some of them have halted all political contributions, not just to the GOP. I want to find out which ones those are when I have time... grrrr.

I heard, yep. Glad to hear it. I hope it's not a day late and a dollar short, though.

Edit: BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Trump’s Long-Favored Banks Pull Back Amid Fallout From Riot

- Deutsche Bank has decided not to do more business with Trump
- Signature Bank closes personal accounts, calls for resignation

 

[ideologyhunter]

That does warm the heart. It's hard out here for a pimp.

 

[Angry Floof]

That does warm the heart. It's hard out here for a pimp.

I want Trump to be hunted down and found in a dirt hole like Saddam Hussein.

 

[Swammerdami]

I've read the confessions of three of our defendants and am ready to give my verdicts.

My first thought was that the Iranians had followed through on their threat to strike the Capitol ...

VERDICT:Every competent adult in Washington D.C. was aware of the Trumpist terrorists gathering in the Mall, and as a U.S. Senator you should have been aware that your President had been inciting insurrection for months. Yet your first thought is that it was Iranians? You are declared incompetent due to senility; the Court will manage your affairs until you can demonstrate that you have taken an 8th-grade class in Civics or Current Events and received a passing grade. I cannot prevent the voters of Maine from allowing you to continue serving as U.S. Senator — I can only shake my head in bewilderment.

They were there to peacefully protest. Then we had the reports that groups like antifa, other radical groups -- I don't know the names of all of them -- that they were there to cause trouble.

VERDICT: Guilty of fraud, conspiracy, perjury and sedition. You are sentenced to spend the remainder of your life on display as Homo stupidus in Smithsonian's National Zoo, where you will be treated as humanely as the other primates. For a fee, visitors will be allowed to pose with you; proceeds to go to Mental Health America.

Rather than trying to change their minds, to convince them and reassure them that the system is real, that the democracy work -- as you would do if you cared about the country or the people who live here -- our new leaders will try to silence them. What happened today will be used by the people taking power to justify stripping you of the rights you were born with as an American.

VERDICT: Guilty of fraud, conspiracy, perjury and sedition. You will be placed in solitary confinement for the next seven years, and fed intravenously since a metal spike will be driven through your mouth so you can utter no more lies. Once a month you will be allowed to leave your cell for sunshine and waterboarding.

 

[marc]

The odd thing in the end was, as I noted elsewhere, they marched up the stairs as an insurrection for liberty, and occupied the Capitol like drunk teens who snuck into a high school at night. I'm grateful the violence was limited, but it seems odd how some wanted to do worse, but seemed to be outnumbered by Mock Warriors who left stupid messages on envelopes about not backing down... before backing down and leaving the Capitol Building.

My thought was that there were a few competent people in the crowd, who were in on whatever planning there was. They used the hundreds of idiot wannabe revolutionaries as a blunt force to get through security, and as a distraction while they went for their targets. But breaking in took too long, so all the Congress people were successfully evacuated before anyone could get to them. Meanwhile the cannon fodder, left with no plan beyond get in and try to get Pence, just kinda meandered after that.

 

[bilby]

]Jacob Chansley, AKA Jake Angeli, Arizona man makes first court appearance in for charges related to storming the U.S. Capitol. His mom says he hasn’t eaten since Friday because the detention facility won’t feed him all organic food.

Note to self, before committing my next felony, be sure to line up a spokesman who knew me on the boats. Fellow MTs, former officers, that Marine, Captain Rattlesnake. Anyone but a close relative. Don't want the anchorman saying, "And for the latest on the Masked Vigilante, we go to Pete, who is outside the federal penitentiary with his mommy...."

The right to choose exactly what food to eat, and when, is a fundamental freedom.

Who would have imagined that the government would curtail the freedom of prisoners?

Oh, hang on.

I am being informed that curtailing of freedom is the whole fucking point of imprisonment.

As you were.

 

[Worldtraveller]

That does warm the heart. It's hard out here for a pimp.

I want Trump to be hunted down and found put in a dirt hole like Saddam Hussein.

FIXT.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Right now narcissistic Orange Clown is self absorbed with self pity, but Orange Clown will always be a danger. It will be a relief when he is finally gone but I wouldn't expect any George Wallace conversions in the interim. Orange Clown and his worshippers have less empathy and intellect than doorknobs.

 

[Elixir]

The right to choose exactly what food to eat, and when, is a fundamental freedom.

That's why THESE are the people who should be rioting at the Nation's Capitol:

 

[ZiprHead]

I wonder if SLD, when he started this thread, knew how literally it would become true.

 

[lpetrich]

A year after Susan Collins said Trump 'learned a lesson' she was begging him to stop the Capitol attack - Raw Story - Celebrating 16 Years of Independent Journalism - was rather snarky about SC.

About another Senator,

n a discussion Sunday, CNN's John Avlon was asked about Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), echoing Collins, that the president probably learned his lesson. According to Blunt Trump's words were "clearly reckless," but "my personal view is that the president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again. And if that's the case, every day we get closer to the last day of his presidency."

"For any Senator -- for anyone to say 'I think Donald Trump has learned his lesson,' is to be willfully blind and ignorant about everything we've learned about this president that culminated in inciting an insurrection and attack on the Capitol building in order to stop the peaceful transfer of power," Avlon said. "If you don't get it now, just give up. This is serious. A lot of people get how serious this is. This is history book serious. It is not over and it's not done and anybody who thinks Donald Trump has learned his lesson is clueless."

Steve Contorno on Twitter: "NEW: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody served on the board of a conservative group linked to the U.S. Capitol riots, a fact that was promoted on her official state website until the uprising. The reference was quietly removed in recent days. https://t.co/QJDPRZAGnM" / Twitter
noting
Florida’s Ashley Moody worked with group linked to Capitol insurrection - "After Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol, the Republican attorney general scrubbed the Rule of Law Defense Fund, where Moody served on the board of directors, from her online biography."

Kaitlan Collins on Twitter: "President Trump and Vice President Pence talked tonight in the Oval for the first time since last Wednesday's deadly riot." / Twitter
then
Kaitlan Collins on Twitter: "A sr official described their convo as good & said they "reiterated that those who broke the law & stormed the Capitol don't represent the America first movement backed by 75 million Americans, & pledged to continue the work on behalf of the country for remainder of their term."" / Twitter

I find it hard to have any respect for Mike Pence. He seems like he has a bad case of battered-partner syndrome.

 

[Angry Floof]

Right wing authoritarians cannot hold their authority figures or themselves accountable. The RWA mentality just doesn't leave room for stuff like accountability, self reflection, empathy, principles...

 

[lpetrich]

Watch Video: How Mob Dragged and Beat Police at Capitol - The New York Times - "Videos show pro-Trump rioters pulling three officers down a set of stairs during a violent attempt to breach the building."

Yes, Anyone Can Be Fired For Taking Part In A Violent Mob

Mondaire Jones on Twitter: "This has been the case for a long time, but since Wednesday, use of the word “divisive” has become an especially powerful tool to uphold white supremacy." / Twitter


Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Twitter: "Trump told them to stand by.
Then he told them to fight like hell.
Then he proclaimed we're going to the Capitol.

His insurrectionists followed those orders—launching a deadly attack on the Capitol, this country, and our democracy. Impeach Trump and hold them all accountable." / Twitter


Richard Tofel on Twitter: "There were two stories told about the Civil War in the last quarter of the 19th Century. When the story calling for unity and healing prevailed over the one calling for justice, the cost to the nation was incalculable— and we are still paying it." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Lauren Boebert was a fifth columnist.

Lauren Boebert on Twitter: "The Speaker has been removed from the chambers." / Twitter
Her tweet is still present.

Then
Brian Schatz on Twitter: "We were specifically instructed by those protecting us not to tell anyone, including our family, where exactly we were, for reasons that remain obvious." / Twitter

Rep. Eric Swalwell on Twitter: "@brianschatz @gtconway3dg So were we in the House. @laurenboebert was told by the Sergeant of Arms in the chamber to not make any social media posts. It was said repeatedly. She defied it because she is more closely aligned with the terrorists than the patriots." / Twitter

Josh Marshall on Twitter: "@brianschatz @JesseCharlesLee She said a short time earlier that she had “constituents outside the building”, i.e., just before they breached the perimeter. Which of the insurrectionists was she in contact with?" / Twitter

Elizabeth Keeton on Twitter: "@ericgarland @brianschatz ICYMI N.B. the date and time https://t.co/lNwZTp68ne" / Twitter

Remember these next 48 hours. These are some of the most important days in American history.
7:52 AM • 05 Jan 21 Twitter for iPhone

H.F. Law on Twitter: "@Dktr_Sus @brianschatz Honestly I've lost a lot of sleep thinking about this. I dont think people realize how close to the brink we were that day. Atrocities were prevented by a few brave souls, like officer Goodman; whose quick thinking may have saved our Senate from being massacred by the mob." / Twitter

Dr. Lee in Iowa #TeamPelosi on Twitter: "@brianschatz @MsDixieDiva8253 Sir, the rebels were using "1776" as a verb to mean revolt, stage insurrection, attack, and the like, in THEIR social media posts. When this person said "It's 1776" -- she KNEW they meant to attack the Capitol and Congresspeople." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

J. Mijin Cha on Twitter: "People will make fun of this idiot, as they should, but this is what eco-fascism looks like" / Twitter - Jacob Chansley / Jake Angeli, the QAnon Shaman

Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trump's failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol - The Washington Post

Hiding from the rioters in a secret location away from the Capitol, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appealed to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) phoned Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter.

And Kellyanne Conway, a longtime Trump confidante and former White House senior adviser, called an aide who she knew was standing at the president’s side.

But as senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday begged for immediate help during the siege, they struggled to get through to the president, who — safely ensconced in the West Wing — was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis unfolding around them to act or even bother to hear their pleas.

...
The man who vowed to be a president of law and order failed to enforce the law or restore order. The man who has always seen himself as the protector of uniformed police sat idly by as Capitol Police officers were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, trampled on — and in one case, killed. And the man who had long craved the power of the presidency abdicated many of the responsibilities of the commander in chief.

Yet more reason to use the 25th Amendment on him.

Opinion | Accountability for Trump’s actions during Capitol assault could require 14th Amendment - The Washington Post

“Getting to the bottom of what happened and who was involved and complicit is tremendously desirable and necessary,” Eric Foner, the great historian and author of a recent book about the Reconstruction amendments, told me. “If the prospective use of the 14th Amendment is the way to launch that, it would be perfectly good.”

This would also call the bluff of officials now issuing self-serving leaks depicting their horror at the mob and showing them heroically trying to get Trump to act. Shouldn’t they want the full picture filled in?