Tag: January 6th Commission

Scary Times For American Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

Jan 6, 2022
   1 year ago, an angry mob stormed the United States Capitol Building in an effort to stop Congress from performing it’s Constitutional duty of certifying the 2020 election. This was the first time such a terrible event has occurred in the United States history. And what is even more disturbing is how so many people, many of whom are Republicans, are trying to downplay the seriousness of the assault.
   Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: the 2020 presidential election was free and fair. Every single state, including those run by Republicans, certified the election because they found no evidence of widespread fraud. There were Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers in all the ballot counting rooms in all the states during the counting process. There were also international observers from multiple countries monitoring the election. And again, no evidence of widespread fraud was found. There have been numerous recounts and investigations into the election. For example, in Georgia, the official overseeing the election in that state was a Republican. After the Trump campaign made its claims of fraud, Georgia instituted serious investigations which included the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as well as the FBI, and no evidence of widespread fraud was found. The Trump campaign lost over 60 court cases where it was trying to push its claims of fraud, and many of the judges who ruled against Trump were conservatives themselves. The reason they ruled against Trump is because the Trump campaign had no legitimate evidence that would hold up in a court of law.
   Yet despite all this, Trump and many of his associates and followers continue to spread lies about the election claiming widespread fraud which in fact did not exist. There is strong evidence that it was these false claims that instigated the mob of Trump followers to riot and attack the US Capitol Building. And it is beyond disturbing and frankly dangerous the way Trump and many others continue to spread false claims of fraud when no widespread fraud actually occurred. It is undermining American democracy, and that is no exaggeration. Many people are losing faith in the electoral process due to these false claims still being spread. A growing number of Americans are saying they think violence against the government is acceptable. There are also Republicans in numerous states trying to pass laws that would make voting more difficult for millions of Americans, and they seem to be doing this in large part because of the false claims being spread by Trump and their willingness to bow to Trump’s demands. It is also deeply disturbing how many Republicans in Congress are trying to downplay the seriousness of the January 6th events these days. Some are even trying to rewrite what happened.
   This is why it is so vitally important to learn about the details, causes, and ramifications of the Jan 6th Capitol Building attack. We especially need to understand the causes since those are still simmering and festering in society today. Democracy is an amazing thing, but it is also a fragile thing. History has proven this many times.
   So we need to stay vigilant. We must stand for truth (whatever it may be) and democracy.

Majority of DC Republicans Continue Opposing a Congressional Investigation of the Jan 6th Events

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

7-1-21
   Well, the dangerous dark path that the Republican Party is going down appears to be continuing which is frankly scary for our democracy.
   Now let’s get one thing perfectly clear here: the 2020 election was free and fair. Donald Trump lost. There was no widespread fraud. Every single state, including those run by Republicans, certified the election because it was fair. They were Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers in all the ballot counting rooms. They were international observers from multiple countries monitoring the election as well. The FBI and even William Barr, Donald Trump’s Attorney General during that time, found no evidence of widespread fraud. Add to that how the Trump campaign lost over 60 court cases where they were making their baseless claims about the election, and it is abundantly clear that the election was free and fair.
   Yet Donald Trump and numerous other Republicans spread false allegations and flat out lies about the 2020 election. And we all saw, along with the entire world, how extremist Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol Building on January 6th in an effort to try to stop Congress from certifying the election. The events that day were horrendous, cost human lives, and went against the very essence of our democratic values.
   It is clear that the United States Congress must investigate what happened on January 6th in order to understand what occurred, how it occurred, and why it occurred so that hopefully it will never happen again. A bipartisan 9/11 style Commission is clearly the preference, but Republicans disgracefully killed that idea. As a result, Speaker the House Nancy Pelosi was left with the options of doing nothing or putting together a select committee. She has decided to do the latter, and of course the Republicans are attacking this. They had their chance of a bipartisan Commission which is what most Americans wanted, but it is the Republicans who killed that possibility. So it is beyond hypocritical for them to attack the select committee. The select committee is better than nothing at all.
   The fact that the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to oppose investigating January 6th reveals how dark and dangerous a path the Republican Party is venturing down. In the history of this nation, we have never seen anything like what happened on January 6th. If you’d told people hypothetically 20 or 30 years ago that Americans might storm the US Capitol Building to try to prevent an election from being certified, the vast majority wouldn’t believe you. And if you then added that a political party would oppose Congress’s investigating the event, people would be dumbfounded in shock. Yet here we are. The majority of the Republican Party in DC is opposing any real Congressional investigation into one of the most important events in modern history. Only a handful of Republicans in Congress have shown any courage in wanting to get the bottom of the January 6th events. Republican Representative Liz Cheney is one of those few and has agreed to be a part of the select committee. While I may disagree with her on many policy issues, I have great respect for her courage in joining the committee. It’s sad and dangerous that so many other Republicans won’t show her bravery too. Instead, they seem to either actively support the terrible lies being spread by Trump and others or they choose to stay silent. But the thing is, there are times when partisan politics should be laid aside and doing what’s best for the country should take precedence. This is one of those times, and Liz Cheney is one of the few Republicans who is rising to the occasion. The vast majority of others are not. Instead, they are going along with Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and lies about the election.
   These are disturbingly scary times indeed.
   It reminds us how fragile democracy is and how we must stay vigilant and defend it because those who may try to undermine it, or even destroy it, can come from the outside or from within.
   In this case, they have come from within.

Republicans’ Killing A Bipartisan Congressional Jan 6th Commission Undermines US Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

5-18-21
   Well, the Republicans did it. They killed any hope that a bipartisan Congressional Commission will investigate the January 6th assault on the United States Capitol Building.
   Think about that. What happened on January 6th has never happened before in American history. We’ve never had an angry mob of American citizens storm the Capitol Building like that with the intent of interfering with a legitimate national election. What occurred on that day was of major significance, and as such, a bipartisan Congressional Commission is not only recommended, frankly, it’s essential to make it clear to the entire world that US Democracy will continue to stand and thrive into the future.
   But instead, Republicans killed any hopes of a Commission.
   The fact that the Republicans did this is beyond disturbing and sickening. It’s dangerous. There are times when issues arise which are so vitally important that partisan politics should be put aside. Frankly, it should be a no-brainer that a bipartisan Commission is entirely in order here.  And the proposed Commission would have been based on the 9/11 Commission with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on it and both sides having subpoena power. Democrats also agreed to the Republican demand that the Commission wrap up by the end of 2021 so that it didn’t push into midterm elections.
   What is going on?
   In my opinion, it’s a symptom of the dangerous path the Republican Party has been going down of late. Most Republicans are bowing to Donald Trump’s whims and demands no matter how outrageous or incorrect those demands may be. Some may be doing this because they’re true believers while others may be doing it out of fear, fear that Donald Trump will speak out against them so that they may lose their future reelections, and many Republicans are especially worried about the midterm elections. They appear to be putting party loyalty and a tendency to blindly follow an authoritarian wannabe, Donald Trump, over standing up for American Democracy and the United States Constitution.
   It’s obvious why Trump doesn’t want a January 6th Commission. Trump’s outrageous rhetoric and lies about the election clearly instigated the mob who then stormed the US Capitol Building. So Trump is afraid that he’s going to be made to look bad by a Commission, and there are other Republicans who fear that as well because they were parroting Donald Trump’s lies too.
   But it’s also extremely troubling the way there are Republicans such as Mitch McConnell who, while they may have laid the blame on Trump immediately after the January 6th events, have since changed their tune so that they no longer appear to hold Trump responsible to any significant degree. Many Republicans started downplaying the assault with one even referring to the mob as “tourists.” Tourists?! Are you kidding me?! They literally assaulted the United States Capitol Building on live TV. The entire world saw it happen! Those were not tourists.
   This is so dangerous to our democracy. We have a major political party, the Republicans, that is bowing to the disturbing will of one person, Donald Trump, despite the fact that that person has been spreading outrageous rhetoric and flat out lies. Instead of learning about what happened in a bipartisan way for the good of country, the majority of the Republican Party want to sweep the Jan 6th assault under the rug because of Trump’s outrageous demands and the Republicans’ desire to try to gain more power in the midterm elections. This further undermines American democracy.
   People need to open their eyes about what is going on these days because our democratic values are under threat. Remember the Republican Senators and Representatives who voted against the January 6th Commission and vote them out of office when they come up for reelection. Speak out against them. Make your voices heard.
   Demand democracy!
   Democracy is precious and should not be taken for granted. We must all stay vigilant to ensure our democratic values survive and thrive into the future.
  

A Bipartisan Congressional Jan 6th Commission Is Desperately Needed Right Now.

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

5-22-21
   On January 6th 2021, the entire world watched as an angry mob literally assaulted the United States Capitol Building in an effort to try to stop Congress from doing its constitutional duty in certifying the results of the 2020 election. It was sickening, heart-wrenching, and disgusting watching as rioters clambered up walls, busted out windows, broke open doors, and brutally attacked law enforcement officers as they forced their way inside. We heard many of them chanting how they wanted to hang or kill Vice President Pence, Speaker of the House Pelosi, and others.
   The events of that day are things that most people around the world never thought they’d see occur in the United States of America. The peaceful transfer of power has been something that Americans have been proud of since the foundation of the United States Constitution. It was something which America had that many other countries struggled with. Yet here we all watched as an angry mob attempted to stop the election results for being certified by the United States Congress.
   This is huge. We as a country have never seen something like this happen in the United States.
   So it makes sense and frankly is vital that Congress should have a bipartisan commission to investigate the events in order to discover what happened and try to prevent it from ever happening again. All Americans should want this. We’ve had bipartisan Congressional commissions before such as the 9/11 Commission.
   So it’s unfathomably astonishing and disgraceful that most the Republicans in Congress are opposing such a commission. Some things are so vitally important that political bickering and partisanship should be put aside and the greater good of the country placed at the forefront. But instead of doing that, many Republicans appear to be placing their party and the will of Donald Trump ahead of the country and the United States Constitution. This is yet another example of the dangerous, disturbing, undemocratic path that many Republicans are following these days as they blindly obey Donald Trump even when Trump is clearly out of line.
   I hope a January 6th Commission is formed and does a thorough investigation. Our democracy desperately needs this. It’s time for people to put the needs of American democracy and the United States Constitution above petty squabbles, party loyalty, and political maneuvering.