Trump

[Mike]

Trump. <-- we got emojis now?

WHAT?!?!



No friggin way!

[Tahlvin]

The cabinet and VP should invoke the 25th amendment and get him out of power right now, and Congress should impeach him to make sure he cannot run again. But they probably won't. But it is interesting to see people resigning because of this. Like they couldn't see that this was the culmination of the last 4-5 years, but this pushed them over the edge.

[Akiva]

The media, I think, aren't pointing something out about Trump's video statement. In addition to calling the insurrectionists as special, Trump called those who say he lost the election as evil. This is a huge thing--you don't cooperate with evil, you don't work with evil, you don't try to reason with evil; you fight it. With violence, if necessary.

I think this is a huge oversight. Using language like that stokes hatred of all Democrats (and even some Republicans), which leads to violence.

Newt Gingrich did the same thing back in the 80s--he advised Republicans running for office to describe their opponents as sick and un-American (among other things). I don't think that this has been emphasized enough as a cause of the deplorable state of the GOP today.

[Kyle]

That’s a great point. I didn’t notice that.

[Akiva]

Also Trump said to the rally that he'd be there with them. And of course he wasn't. He's a coward too.

[Akiva]

At least one person at the Capitol yesterday was wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt.

At least one person at the Capitol was wearing a ^MWE" sweatshirt, which means "6 million (Jews) wasn't enough."

The president said he loved these people, that they were special.

[Phoebe]

Well, we know he genuinely loves those people! I feel like Stan's joke a few pages ago is not getting enough credit, because I read it the same way he did and was puzzled in the same way. Watching Josh Hawley's face last night, you could literally see the back and forth struggle between the fat part of his soul that sold itself to Satan and the wee part that was just now starting to wonder if that was a good investment.

Graham was red as a tomato and McConnell white as a ghost. Romney looked like he was admonishing his teenage sons for a prank. I mean, at least he was admonishing. All of these people should be tainted by the stench of their complicity forever, but unfortunately people forget and will forget quickly. Two years, ram absolutely everything through that you can get 50 people to agree with. Everything including the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink and several other sinks down the road.

[bralbovsky]

Special truth and reconciliation commission, audit everyone's election. outlaw machines with no paper record.
Puerto Rico and DC Statehood, then ask if it's time to get rid of the electoral college.
Class action lawsuit against the RNC for sponsoring superspreader rallies. Not just death, but economic damage as well.
declassify everything.
Hire the Lincoln Project people to deprogram the cult.

[Kyle]

Do not hire the Lincoln Project. Those bigots are nearly as bad as Trump. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

[poorpete]

Sometimes, when kids have plans for the family to do that would not be in anyway fun, I throw them a "oh yeah, that sounds fun, we're busy now but maybe we'll have time later to do that" and if they bring it up later "oh, well we still need to do dinner, we'll see if we have time afterwards" and then if they bring it up again "oh, it's almost bedtime, your idea would take too long, but hopefully tomorrow."

Looks like Pence was doing for weeks whenever Trump brought up couping.

One's a child, one's certainly not the greatest parent.

[Stan]

As it's all but over, I'm going to summarize the highlights of the Trump administration.

Made racists feel good about themselves.
It's no coincidence that white nationalism burst out into the open under the watch of the biggest promoter of birtherism. Trump didn't invent racism but he brought it out into the open like no one in the last 50 years.

Legislative
Yet another round of tax cuts for the rich.
I cant' think of much else of note. Here's and article on the 10 bills supposedly marked for the first 100 days - 2 partially passed, the rest not.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... irst-days/

International Relations
Made sure Iran is still a major enemy. Obama's work of getting major countries - including Russia and China - to go along with embargoes and then get a treaty was a very big accomplishment. It had started giving ammo to the moderates in Iran. But a racist narcissist couldn't leave in place something from a black president. They also seemed to think that they could negotiate one on one - an embargo by just the US is pointless. Later, when Trump tried use the treaty to punish Iran, our allies instantly stomped on the idea, saying you can't leave a treaty and still use it when you want.

Made it clear to dictators that they had nothing to fear from the U.S. Remember all the fun meetings with NK that accomplished nothin?.

Trash U.S. standing worldwide. If you look at opinions of both the general population and leaders around the world, Bush Jr started a a major decline of opinions of the U.S. especially after we doubled down on stupidity and reelected him. Obama was able to recover most that. Trump, a buffoon on the international stage who would rather look good to dictators than allies, has trashed U.S. standing to such a degree that our allies are not going to trust us for at least a decade, knowing that we could easily elect another idiot.
charts on the issue: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2 ... -9-charts/

Made it obvious that the U.S. president is a Russian toady. Not even in a cool, Manchurian Candidate way, just a simpering fool who refuses to say anything bad about Putin, despite interference in nearby states, bounties on American troops and unrivaled level of hacking that would have been the biggest story for months in another administration.

Executive
brought corruption to a new level. Instead of draining the swamp, Trump made everything the swamp. A record number of Goldman Sachs employees in top cabinet positions. He personally brought graft into everything, funneling money to his companies. He seems to have also used American influence to save his son-in-law's company from being sunk on a loan for a building.

Made a joke of bureaucracy, appointing department heads who either had no idea what they were doing or who were actively opposed to the entire point of their appointment (Devos). Like a mafia boss, loyalty was the only thing that mattered, not expertise. This played a role in worsening the Trump virus.

Used executive orders to roll back human rights and environmental protections.

Judicial
He put a drunken frat boy on the supreme court.

Fulfilled McConnel's strategy of willfully stalling on federal court appointments until republicans had both the senate and presidency so they oculd rush through an unprecedented number of court appointments. Conservatives are most happy about this. But it was done in a Trumpish way, with those who said nice things about Trump chosen over those with ability; many were considered totally unfit by vetting groups. No matter how incompetent they are, very few of them are likely to be impeached or removed ever.


Yes this all looks one sided. But really, what positives has Trump done? I could find positives of every other president since WWII. Luckily, he was too self absorbed to have much of an agenda beyond building a wall or things could be worse. The economy stumbled along though the hollowing out continued with a greater concentration of wealth. His incompetence and inability to think beyond graft and partisanship didn't hit a big issue until the Trump virus, where Trump had removed elements designed to combat it and then made a partisan issue out of compliance with mitigation efforts.

[Mike]

Trump is committing to a peaceful, orderly transition to a new administration in less than two weeks. He is scared.

Of course he notably did not actually admit that he lost or that anyone else won, and he wouldn't say Biden"s name...

But he's running out of allies and cards to play.

[poorpete]

Positive steps.

I've gotten very emotional, righteous over this:

Screen Shot 2021-01-08 at 11.01.05 AM.png (150.38 KiB) Viewed 1096 times

Because Pence didn't break the law, Trump sicked his opponents on him.
Wednesday his life was in danger.
His family was there too.
His kids, his wife, his brother.

And it got me so emotional
the thought, probably accurate thought
that instead of thinking
"how scary Pence's life was in danger"
His feelings have been
"i'm so angry at Pence"

This. This is what really gets me.

It was a disaster but my god we are lucky. Like (again, getting emotional) how in danger Tammy Duckworth was, if they broke down her door where she was hiding like they did to Pelosi's office. We were lucky.

[Phoebe]

Was she hiding in her office? I did not know that! Wow. I was under the impression they had evacuated everyone. I am not able to process all that info at the moment. They could have found someone like that, while things were still out of control? And the WH and DoD were refusing to let the National Guard be deployed while all of that was going on. It infuriates that no impeachment will happen until next week. It's ... I have no words. It's a complete disgrace and abdication of responsibility. I regularly go without sleep and through all kinds of absurd situations so that I can complete work that is may be 1/10000000th as important as this work is. I mean for Democrats, for all of them: why be elected if you are going to be such an absurd failure. I have never been such a fan of AOC but this particular week? She is absolutely the A#1 best in her responses to what has happened. One person has some damn moral courage and the energy to act on it swiftly and surely. Maybe there are others.

[poorpete]

I believe her office or a different office. News is cloudy. Gonna step back a little, but before I do....

A group of people break down the doors to your house.

They are trying to find you.

They have zip tie handcuffs.

They are talking about lynching you.

You hide long enough for police to arrive. They murder one of them.

They leave but not before saying they'll be back with guns next time.

The leader of the free world says he loves them.

[Mike]

Facing Backlash, Republicans Confront Trump’s Effect on Their Party
In encounters with their constituents this week, Republican lawmakers have grappled with the consequences of their yearslong alliance with President Trump: an angry, misinformed base.

By Catie Edmondson
Jan. 9, 2021
Updated 1:40 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — When a distraught constituent accosted her on Tuesday night at a restaurant in the nation’s capital, Representative Nancy Mace confronted an impossible task that sprang from President Trump’s false promises: getting them to understand why she and other Republicans in Congress could not simply overturn the results of the election.

Driven by Mr. Trump’s fictitious claims that the election had been stolen from him — and that lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence could clinch him another four years in power during Congress’s official electoral count — the voter had come all the way from Ms. Mace’s home state of South Carolina to witness it. Now, the voter, shaking and in tears, demanded to know why Ms. Mace, a first-term congresswoman, had refused to join the effort.

Calm but firm, Ms. Mace tried to explain that it was not Congress’s role to subvert the results of an election — and that to do so would defy the Constitution.

“It didn’t matter what I said,” Ms. Mace said in an interview. “They didn’t believe it.”

Similar scenes — sometimes painful, always unresolvable — played out again and again in Washington this week in the hours before and after a violent mob urged on by Mr. Trump stormed the Capitol, as Republican voters loyal to the president cornered Republican lawmakers who voted to certify the election results, demanding answers and promising revenge.

The confrontations — and the scenes of mayhem that unfolded on Wednesday — have brought Republicans face to face with the consequences of their yearslong alliance with Mr. Trump, providing human evidence of the downside of his deep influence on the voters who form their party’s base.

It helps explain the searing anger that has prompted many Republicans to belatedly turn against Mr. Trump after years of enabling him and seeking his validation. But it also reflects the conundrum in which the Republican Party finds itself, beholden to voters who have internalized the president’s falsehoods and been emboldened by his divisive talk.

“Their hearts, minds and wallets were taken advantage of,” Ms. Mace said, her voice rising in fury. “Millions of people across the country who were lied to. These individuals, these hardworking Americans truly believe that the Congress can overturn the Electoral College.”

Many Republican members of Congress stoked that belief this week when they objected to Mr. Biden’s victory in battleground states and backed the challenges in votes that illustrated their party’s rift. In the House, more than half the Republicans, including the party’s top two leaders, voted in support of the challenges, while in the Senate, fewer than 10 Republicans did so and the leaders were vocally opposed.


The videos that emerged from the standoffs dramatized the yawning distance between elected Republicans in Washington who are increasingly desperate to peel away from the president and their constituents who say they will never let go.

On Friday, supporters of Mr. Trump swarmed Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, at his gate at Ronald Reagan National Airport, calling him a “traitor.”

“You know it was rigged, you know it was rigged,” a woman yelled as he was ushered away by a security detail. “You garbage human being. It’s going to be like this forever, wherever you go, for the rest of your life.”

A similar scene unfolded Tuesday night in the Salt Lake City airport as Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, sat waiting to fly to Washington. A maskless woman approached and called him a “disgusting shame” for not standing with the president. Once on board, Mr. Romney was greeted by supporters of Mr. Trump chanting “Traitor!”

Some Republicans, like Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana, both of whom voted to certify President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory, tried to reason with their constituents, working through their concerns point by point in scenes captured on video outside the Capitol.

But Mr. Cramer and Mr. Young could not persuade them that what the president and many of their Republican colleagues had told them was wrong — that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, and no way for Congress to overturn the results.

“A vast majority of the people in this country are going to lose their faith in government” if Mr. Biden’s “fraudulent” victory was affirmed, an older man from North Dakota told Mr. Cramer on Tuesday, his face grave. “I am on the verge of doing that.”

By the end, neither side had budged, and there was nothing left to do, his constituents decided, but to pray for the country and for the senator.

“I was just very sad,” Mr. Cramer said later. “They think that there’s a remedy in this place for what ails them, and the reality is there’s not. They came all this way thinking that somehow, if they spoke loudly enough,” the results could change.

Mr. Cramer reasoned that like so many others, his constituents had “believed it because they wanted to believe” that the outcome could still be overturned. But he showed a flash of frustration, referring to his 12 Republican colleagues who had spearheaded the effort to challenge Mr. Biden’s victory, but would not “admit that it’s not going to be successful.”

“We have to be careful about what we make people believe is possible when we know it’s not,” Mr. Cramer said.

Ms. Mace said that she hoped that “the American people’s eyes might be open” after Wednesday’s violence, and that lawmakers, including in her own party, would be more aggressive in calling out falsehoods and dangerous language.

“I’ve been more vocal than ever in the last 24 hours, and I had no intention to,” Ms. Mace said. “But now is not the time to sit idly by and allow this to continue. It’s got to stop, and enough is enough.”

Whether Republican voters will listen, however, is a separate question. The throng of rioters at the Capitol on Wednesday included white supremacists, people carrying and wearing Confederate symbols, and many with “Q” paraphernalia signifying belief in the pro-Trump conspiracy movement QAnon that falsely holds that Mr. Trump is fighting a satanic cabal of Democratic pedophiles.

Before the mob rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, Mr. Young was confronted by a crowd wearing pro-Trump garb outside a Senate office building.

“You’re supposed to represent our opinion,” a woman plaintively told him.

“When it comes to the law, our opinions don’t matter — the law matters,” Mr. Young told her, in an exchange captured on video. “I value your opinion. I actually share your concerns. I share your conviction that President Trump should remain president. I share that conviction.”

“The law matters to us!” a man shot back as others chimed in. “It doesn’t matter to the Democrats.”

Mr. Young grew exasperated.

“I took an oath under God — under God!” Mr. Young said, his voice shaking with emotion. “Don’t we still take that seriously in this country?”

[Stan]

Sad but predictable.


The purposeful lack of help to the DC police, the presence of zip ties, the talk of lynching Pence, the way Trump made a speech and then hid, all add up a poorly run coup attempt instead of just a riot.

[Phoebe]

Members of congress were hiding a few yards away from the break-in where the woman was shot as she attempted to get through the broken door. Many had to shelter in place in offices because they couldn't be evacuated in time. Horrifying how close we were to a far more serious crisis. I expect we will see much more violence now that they see this as a big success.

[Phoebe]

My friend went to a store where they sell guns, to pick up something else, and discovered a huge winding line of people waiting to purchase a gun at that counter. Sobering.

[Mike]

Some guns, but my own guess is that they are stocking up on ammo. At least here in rural Nebraska, everyone who wants a gun already owns fourteen, but every time there's a presidential election everyone here complains that there's no ammo to be found anywhere.

Just guessing though. My own stockpile of weapons is primarily my kids' sword replicas and Nerf guns.

[Phoebe]

Ah, if they want ammo they will be disappointed, because unless they have some specialty item, no ammo left in that store. Cheerful thoughts!

But seriously, cannot even go to the practice range (which is one of the few places that might be reasonable to go despite COVID) because there is so little ammo. Let's hope people chill down a great deal.

[Stan]

Without much by way of official presentations, I'm just getting bits of low quality info but it seems that
1. Laptops were stolen, some of which had access to high security files.
2. Unmarked offices with state ballots were ransacked; it seems that the ballots were no longer there but someone seemed to know where to look.

[Akiva]

Two Capitol police officers have been suspended for taking selfies with the insurrectionists, and helping them navigate the building. The news is reporting that at least 10 more are being investigated.

[Phoebe]

The more we learn about it, the more the objective and plan of this whole operation seems to be more sinister and complicated than initially suggested. While the initial news reports focused on a guy with horns, now we're finally getting the video and pictures of horrifying assaults on police, of well-trained operatives who had a plan before they went into the building, and questions about what information they were really looking for. Concerns about this are magnified by the fact that one of the things Trump and Meadows were pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to provide was access to their voter information. For what purpose do they want this and who exactly wants it? Is this just a trump thing about his effort to overturn the election, or is this a deeper thing that we are going to have to deal with now regardless of what happens with him?

[Mike]

Yes, the initial photos and reporting of the event made it look like a bunch of clowns who just stumbled into a successful break-in. The viking dude, the goober with the podium and the one with his feet up on Pelosi's desk... everyone smiling big ol' goofy selfie smiles... it just looked silly. But for people who can stomach it, I highly recommend watching as much of the footage as you can find. See for yourself what went on. The cop leading rioters away from the lawmakers, the overwhelming chanting of "Hang Mike Pence", the cop nearly crushed to death in the door, and most powerfully for me, Ashli Babbitt getting shot.

Like, when I first heard that a woman had been shot in the chest and died, I don't know what I was picturing, because the whole thing looked so idiotic and confused. But you watch the video, and they are inside the Capital, battering down reinforced doors, screaming about finding lawmakers. And then someone starts screaming over and over that the cops have guns, and through the window, you can see the arm holding the gun. Whoever the person is, they are braced and ready in defense of our elected officials. And finally after how many tries, someone finally breaks out a window in one of the doors. Ashli Babbitt climbs up to be the first through the breach, and the defender drops her before she's even halfway through.

They were breaking down doors and trying to get to lawmakers, knowing full well that defenders on the other side had guns drawn and leveled at them. This wasn't a lark or an accident.

And as someone else pointed out, they lock this building down tight as a drum every single year for the State of the Union, so they know how to do it. Procedures are in place and well practiced. There is no excuse for what we saw. Willful malice or bumbling incompetence on the part of the administration? To me, there is no difference at this point, because the FBI and others told them this was a likely scenario, and they know exactly how to keep this place secure... and they didn't.

[Stan]

Just as a point of reference, if you had asked me prior to the event, what is the likely outcome of someone trying to force their way into the capitol building, my expectation is that they would be shot. That applies even if they are not visibly armed. Every adult knows that there comes a point in national security where you cannot afford to clown around. If they had opened fire more generally against forced entry, it would have been understandable.

[poorpete]

To defend them a tiny bit. They've been warned for five years that these protesters were dangerous but they'd appear often, wave their silly flags, say their silly things, and then leave. So they expected more of the same, when instead they got an insurrection. Seems the big difference between those [relatively harmless] protests and this was that Trump addressed the crowd. He's the accelerant.

[bralbovsky]

As much as I want 45 gone, I want there to be a yes or no vote for every legislator.

My gut says that several knew exactly what was planned. Told them where to look for the ballots, for persons of interest.

Ya, the horns may have been a purposeful smokescreen for the more professional part of the operation.

I expect worse in a week.

[poorpete]

Oof.

My GOP rep is voting for impeachment! He was loudly anti-Trump the first time around but hardly said a word against him for four years. An opportune time to regain a spine, sure, but I'm all for people doing the right thing.

[poorpete]

In the last week I've admired those who have forgone political theater, who have dropped the coddling and the half-truths and outright lies. I've never admired Pence but he did the right thing multiple times this week, even though I disagree with him nixing the 25th amendment his argument makes sense (that a dangerous president doesn't necessarily mean an incapacitated president). Liz Cheney I disagree on a whole lot with, but she obviously saw that what's up for debate is limited: how big is our social safety net? how big is our foreign policy? But somethings aren't up for debate.

There are definitely people on the right still playing political theater. They are rightly shunned by most. I do think there is some on the left are doing the same, though not as pronounced. Politics are full of histrionics, but the left has proof over the last week that their worries were valid (though we're not sure how right, some might be worst-case-scenario imagining that's understandable given we are in a Post-Trauma stage, we are scanning for danger). There is definitely some dunking, some point scoring. I'm not interested in that, apart from the humorous stuff. Just give the people the truth.

[Akiva]

I love that Republicans are fine with businesses refusing to make cakes for gay people, but think that companies refusing to do business with Trumpistas are the equivalent of the Holocaust.

[FlameBlade]

There may be enough votes to impeach *and* convict.

EDIT: there's some cynical side to me is that GOP is going to try to move that they can move past Trump, and also, to prevent Trump from trying for 2024 run, clearing the space for others to run.

[poorpete]

Yeah, I heard a Republican senator said there could be up to 20 GOP votes to convict, and I was like "well that's a start" then realized that if they meant 20 GOP Senators, "that's the ballgame."

[Stan]

There may be enough votes to impeach *and* convict.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. A large chunk of gop senators would have to vote for conviction. But McConnel might tell them to vote for conviction to get rid of Trump. It would be painful in the short run for gop politicians but they might figure most right wing voters will come back to them within 2 years.

[WillyGilligan]

I love that Republicans are fine with businesses refusing to make cakes for gay people, but think that companies refusing to do business with Trumpistas are the equivalent of the Holocaust.

Nothing like feeling the consequences to make you rethink those principles.

I hate living in interesting times.

[Phoebe]

If they want to impeach and remove him that's the first step towards taking their own party back, and even though I'm sure the motivations are 110% selfish, I'll take what I can get at this point. If it divides the Republican party in half and prevents these crazies from being the ascendant force in it, we will all benefit. I don't want to live in a world where the rest of the Republicans feel like they have to follow through the generations of Ivanka and Don Jr and other nutters that we can't even imagine.

I am trying to convert them back to being normal conservative Republicans, one person at a time, but I'm having a pretty decent success rate right now. It's about the only thing I can do to be honest, since whether my representative or senators vote the right way will be purely a matter of how they feel the political wins are blowing at the moment, and you can call their office but what else can you do?

I deal with every type of person in my life, from the far left to the far right, and generally that is no problem. But in my private life my religious beliefs preclude the acceptance of idolaters who would worship this giant orange leviathan - I cannot say calf because they do not deserve that insult, and I don't know what type of creature of leviathan really is, so it can afford to be insulted.

[Akiva]

EDIT: there's some cynical side to me is that GOP is going to try to move that they can move past Trump, and also, to prevent Trump from trying for 2024 run, clearing the space for others to run.

I think this might be true of Pence too. His letter to Pelosi saying he's not invoking 25 was actually sent before the resolution passed the House. I wonder if he did it so quickly so as to allow more time for impeachment.

[Akiva]

From Rep. Jason Crow (D CO), on the floor of the House: "I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues. ... A couple of them broke down in tears ... saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment."

How fucked up is that.

[Kyle]

From Rep. Jason Crow (D CO), on the floor of the House: "I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues. ... A couple of them broke down in tears ... saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment."

How fucked up is that.

It's cowardly. It's the people that can't accept the devil they made a deal with.

[Akiva]

This is really damned funny.

[Tahlvin]

From Rep. Jason Crow (D CO), on the floor of the House: "I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues. ... A couple of them broke down in tears ... saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment."

How fucked up is that.

It's cowardly. It's the people that can't accept the devil they made a deal with.

It's definitely a bed of their own making. Had they stood up to Trump's outlandish claims over the last 5 years and set boundaries for his and their bases' behavior, rather than letting them slide or even encouraging them for their own gain, they would have avoided being in this position. Instead, this is the result of 5 years of allowing him to work up their base to this point. So it's unfortunate that they are afraid like this, but it's their own damn fault, and if anything it makes it much more important that they stand up and do the right thing now.

[Kyle]

Yes to everything Tahlvin said.

As I listen to the hearings on impeachment, it's crazy to hear the republicans (currently McCarthy) talking about how impeachment doesn't serve the purpose of healing our divisions. Republicans are repeatedly talking about this issue of unity and healing partisan division. These are the same republicans that were saying the election was stolen and that Joe Biden is not the properly elected president. It's such a disconnect. Lying bastards. All of them.

[FlameBlade]

*punching your face* We must...*pow* unify *pow* or else! *pow!*

[Stan]

Yes, calls for healing are like gaslighting by a domestic abuser. I gotta keep doing what I'm doing so you have to calmly accept it.

[Kyle]

Exactly. This is bizzaro world.

[Tahlvin]

Just read a Washington Post breaking news headline that McCarthy says Trump bears responsibility for the mob attack on the capitol, but he is opposed to impeachment. My only response is: fuck you. What the hell would rise to the level of an impeachable offense for these people? If Trump had diddled an intern with a cigar in the oval office?

Edit: I realize Clinton was impeached for LYING about the sex under oath, not for the sex itself. But you get the point. And by the way, way to rise above things, Monica Lewinski!

[Stan]

Can you imagine being a DC cop who was massively outnumbered and beaten to later see other cops taking selfies with rioters? I wouldn't be shocked if a few cops had accidents this week.

[Kyle]

I can't imagine being the cop that was chased up the stairs, saw the Senate chamber, knowing that there were senators in there, and then led the rioters away from them at great personal risk to myself... only to see this garbage from Republicans who are refusing to acknowledge any responsibility for what happened. It's disgusting.

[Mike]

I'm sorry we live in a country where the leaders of our military feel required to remind our troops that their oath is to the Constitution.

But I'm glad they're doing it.

[Phoebe]

Oooooh I don't even want to know why Mike is saying that, i.e. what news prompted it.

So these GOP reps who worry about losing their lives... Why is that exactly? Do they think they face attempts on their lives coming from Trump's motivated but crazed right-wing followers? Or are they insinuating something more serious, like they'll be the next to be poisoned after Navalny, or that they know the organizers of sedition are far more serious and prepared than it seemed initially? Exactly what kind of mess are we dealing with here? Crying and saying they fear for their lives? Really? Crying? I don't doubt that that's about the only explanation for what Lindsey Graham is up to these days. But to whom was Crow talking?