Lots of thoughts presented randomly by LSR three days after a failed coup attempt.

Lots of thoughts presented randomly by LSR three days after a failed coup attempt.

Note: if you've been reading long, you know that I have rarely used the name of the president* on these pages. I have used multiple and varied nicknames, or "president*" or "45." But I can't even bear to type those any of those monikers. Funny nicknames just aren't funny anymore; I refuse to acknowledge him any more than I need to. So from here on, he will be noted as simple "*****" or as "he." If it's a different "he" I'll try to make it clear. 

We are not much closer to removing him from office than we were on the evening of the insurrection. There is a clamor to remove him from office as soon as possible. Though Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spoken to military leaders about concerns over his access to the nuclear codes, he remains an extremely dangerous man. He is a caged tiger. His allies are fleeing; he has been isolated by his permanent ban from most social media sites. 

On the surface, it appears that we are not closer to removing him, but there has been some movement since I last wrote. And, we don't know what's going on behind closed doors in the Capitol and the White House. The possibilities of ridding the country of him are threefold. Well, rather four-fold, I guess. 

1. Resignation. It's becoming clearer that this just ain't gonna happen. It would be best for him and for us, but his ego won't allow it. It's still a possibility, especially if he is angling for a pardon or if an impeachment stares him in the face. He would be the first president in history to be impeached twice – by two different Congresses. If convicted, he would not be allowed to garner the benefits of an ex-president such as his pension, health insurance, and staff. And he would be disallowed to hold public office again. "Twice-Baked" isn't a designation that he covets. I'd resign if I were him! 

2. Invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Today, it appears that Pence hasn't ruled out invoking the 25th Amendment. Pence could be a hero here if he could get the Cabinet to agree to remove him from office. It's looking unlikely but remains a possibility. 

So, that leaves...

3. Impeachment. A draft of an article impeachment has been written. It contains one charge: Incitement of Insurrection. Read the draft here. Speaker Pelosi states the House is ready to go forward with impeachment proceedings on Monday, January 11. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to complete an impeachment trial in the days that before Biden's inauguration. It would be a tight timeline to get all the way to conviction. That being said, there is nothing preventing an impeachment trial to continue after he leaves office. Even though there isn't enough time for the matter to be adjudicated in the Senate before President-Elect Biden assumes office, an impeachment trial could still continue. 

There is growing support from Republicans in Congress. Alaska's Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the first to endorse the impeachment idea, Sen. Ben Sasse (NE) has also stated he would support impeachment, and Sen. Pat Toomey (PA) has affirmed that ***** "committed impeachable offenses." To me, these are significant voices.

It is extremely important to proceed with this measure. If it doesn't remove him early, so be it. But we must send a message that we are holding him accountable. This is an important message to our allies, to our adversaries, and to future actors. This is the power available to Congress today. There is no other recourse for accountability until he is a private citizen. Please, contact your Members of Congress and demand that they move forward with impeachment. It doesn't matter that it won't be completed before January 20. As a nation, we must not stand for this behavior!

And the fourth possibility.... He could die in the next few days. It's not pleasant to think about, but he is a desperate, isolated man. He has got to be feeling enormous strain. I've speculated that he has been experiencing transient ischemic attacks (TIAs, or "mini strokes") for a long time. What if he strokes out? Or what if he tries to commit suicide? Please, please, please no! I fervently hope that he doesn't die. Can you imagine the conspiracy theories that would plague us forever? Keep him safe, keep him alive, and let him rot somewhere else. 

The Pence Thing. Pence could be a hero by working to remove him from office. He has absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. The insurrectionists already want his head – literally. He was a target for the rioting mob, and if the Secret Service hadn't whisked him to safety when they did, we might be talking about much different things today. The insurrectionists and others of *****'s supporters hate Pence already. For the rest of us, Pence could be a moral leader. I already have a tiny bit of increased esteem for Pence, for publicly standing up to him. I have a deep sympathy for Mike being the target of the mob. I truly don't wish harm to come to him. I disagree with him profoundly on political issues, but as he is a fellow earth-traveler, I don't wish him ill. He is doing the absolute right thing by planning to attend the Inauguration. This brightens my heart a little. This is our Democratic Republic's ideals in action.

The Repug Enablers Thing. There are growing calls for GOP apologists such as Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) and Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) to resign, including most recently from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Cruz's home-state newspaper, The Houston Chronicle. They must resign. They are complicit in this tragedy. Their constituents, and the rest of us, should not stand for them occupying chairs in the Capitol. 

And what about Rudy Giuliani? "Trial by combat!" He incited insurrection too. There are bigger – and more – fish to fry so early on, but at some point he'll need to be called to justice. 

It was worse than we thought. More and more videos and first-hand accounts from Members of Congress, staffers, and journalists are emerging. It's really scary stuff, much worse than we had known or even imagined. And still not as bad as it could've been. For more of a glimpse into the atrocities, you can explore the following sources.

It's tough to watch, but it's important to know what happened. We must all bear witness to the assault that we all endured. Here's an article with tons of links with video and audio from CNN Business about just that.

From MSNBC. Warning: violent images are here. 

Here is my Representative, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D), with his thoughts.

From ABC, Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-CA) gives his first-hand account. You can look for others. Harrowing times.

Here is the account of the journalist who documented that police officer who was chased up the stairs:

Can you imagine what these Congresspeople were thinking at this moment?

Foreign Infiltrates. What if there were foreign actors in the mob? It's not outside the realm of possibility. The insurrection was planned and well-advertised. Russia, for one, would've jumped at the chance to be a part of that action, wouldn't they? (Note: I have not read any evidence for this; it's just my speculation.) Even if they weren't active in the invasion, I bet they Russia is loving what they witnessed. 

Which brings me to: Compromise of Cybersecurity. What wouldn't a foreign adversary do to access U.S. Capitol devices and data? The IT headache of all IT headaches, there are huge security concerns arising from the insurrection. Not only was equipment stolen, but in the scramble to safety, some computers were left open and unlocked, and it wouldn't take much effort to bug offices or compromise systems. Here's a couple sources to read more about this concern: read on Wired or Axios.

Arrests have been happening. They got the guy who stole Speaker Pelosi's lectern, the guy with his feet up on her desk, and the buffalo horns idiot. The FBI also took in that West Virginia delegate who live-streamed his crimes (he resigned his position, by the way. Moron.) They've got thousands to go. Get them all locked up!

So many questions about law enforcement's role. Why was there such a catastrophic failure of the police to be so woefully unprepared? Why the difference in aggressiveness on the part of police vs. other protests, such as BLM? Were there sympathizers actively aiding the insurrection? And why were the insurrectionists simply escorted out, as in this video? I am not condemning the whole of the police presence there. They were badly outnumbered and underprepared, and they were absolutely trying their hardest in a horrible situation. A vast majority of the officers there were working hard to protect and serve. But we cannot ignore the fact that one of the major failings in our society is the racist criminal justice system, starting with racist cops.

A couple of fact-checks here. The journalist who took the video of police appearing to take down barriers to allow the mob to enter states that the police were simply overrun. The officers did not actively assist. The video of the police officer taking a selfie inside the Capitol? There is speculation that the man was an insurrectionist simply dressed as an officer. We need more details. Also, there was another viral video of cops simply escorting invaders out, but that one has been debunked as having been a video from 2017.

The role of law enforcement from the top down should be studied in depth. Perhaps LSR will look deeper at this issue in the future.

The insurrectionists called themselves patriots. This just makes my skin crawl. They certainly are not. 

Freedom of Speech? People on the right have been boo-hooing the "loss of freedom of speech" on social media outlets. This includes ***** himself. News Flash: your freedom of speech has not been curtailed by private media outlets refusing to give you a voice for hate and inciting violence. Didn't you read the Terms of Service before you clicked "Agree"? Hey! You know what you can do? Issue a press release. Go out in front of cameras and make a statement. Answer reporters' questions. You wanna talk? Talk. 

Social Media. And speaking outlets for hate. His mob on the one remaining social media outlet he had access to, right-extremist-friendly Parler, was ready and willing to continue his war. But late on Saturday night, Amazon's web hosting service has kicked Parler off after both Google and Apple discontinued allowing downloads of the app. May this be a day of reckoning for social media, and may there not be another platform for hate arise.

The Inauguration. There are reports that the insurrectionists plan another siege on Inauguration Day. It's really worrying. The Secret Service and every other law enforcement agency must lock down the city to make sure that it proceeds safely. I'm torn. Part of me says, just do it inside, in private, and televise it. But that would be giving in. Our government is public. It is transparent. It may be an important show of the strength of our form of government to go ahead and hold it outside at the Capitol facing the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, as it has for the last 40 years. In the past, the ceremony has been held in other places, inducing inside the Rotunda and inside the House Chambers. Perhaps since Biden is discouraging crowds anyway, in light of the pandemic, a location should be found inside. 

State Capitols being overrun. This insurrection movement is happening at the state and local level, too. It's a problem that will plague us for a long time. It's definitely a topic for a future post by itself.

Corporate America to the Rescue? For once, corporate pressures on Members of Congress might actually work for the nation's interest. Big Fat CEOs are threatening to withhold dough from Repugs who support him. The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, perhaps his friendliest legitimate media source, has issued a call for his resignation. Other newspapers are following suit.

Gotta Laugh to Keep from Crying. Sometimes, satire cuts through the pain. Here ya go:

Drew Sheneman

Dave Whamond

this is what the fucking capitol police look like rn. SMFH pic.twitter.com/nQYAcDtkgo

— JOHNNY SIBILLY (@JohnnySibilly) January 6, 2021

...and more astute satire from Colbert, my favorite late-night guy:

Don't forget. Contact your Members of Congress and tell them how you feel. Find your U.S. Senators here, or look up your Representative's official website and email here, or better yet, let Resistbot fax them for you! So easy!

Now, more than ever, we must RESIST!

What now?

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The attack on the Capitol was an attack against all of us. The institutions that were assaulted belong to we the people. The people within work for us. They represent us! That was us in there!

Now we start processing the insurrection and ask: What now?

After the initial shock, it really sunk in: it could've been much worse. Think about it: the two people next in line for president, V.P. Pence, and Speaker Pelosi, were in the same building! Every single member of Congress was there. What if the rioters had been more heavily armed? There were bombs placed; there was a cooler loaded with Molotov cocktails nearby. I don't want to imagine what could've happened. 

As it was, there have been five deaths. So tragic. So avoidable. Ashli Babbit, an Air Force veteran who was shot inside; three people outside in separate incidents who experienced "medical issues;" and Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, also a U.S. military veteran, all died. And why?

And so, we demand consequences for the assault on we the people. Now. 

The Instigator-in-Chief must face the full fury of the law. But first, we must remove him. We must not allow him to wreak any more damage on our nation.

There were swift calls for Pence to evoke the 25th Amendment and remove him. Two cabinet members resigned Thursday: Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chow (wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell); and Secretary of Educashun Betsy DeVos. Both are cowards in my book: they know agreeing to invoke the 25th Amendment is the right thing, but they won't go on record. So they run. 

Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer called on Pence to evoke the 25th Amendment, or, barring that, they will move ahead with articles of impeachment. After more than 20 minutes on hold, they were told Pence would not take their call. 

There were reports that Pence was the angriest he's ever been. Of course he should be angry! Is he angry enough to do the right thing, or are visions of 2024 clouding his mind? Loyal until the 11th hour, Pence now has a target on his back. Trump's mob wants his head. Will he continue to kowtow to his boss and to them? 

Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer have said that if Pence does not move under the 25th Amendment, they will bring impeachment charges. But it needs to be done fast.

I can just imagine all of the meetings and discussions happening. Are Pence and the Cabinet pressuring 45 to resign? Are they working out a pardon deal so that he will just leave? Are the House and Senate leaders whipping up support for impeachment? They must do it quickly -- like yesterday -- and have no time for debate. A failed conviction would martyr him even more and would be devastating. If they move forward with impeachment, they must be sure to have the votes to convict. 

The best solution, really, is resignation. It's best for 45, it's best for the nation to just get it over with and get him OUT. I hope that the State of New York worked out an arrest warrant last night.

There were baby steps toward meting out consequences:

The Chief of Capitol Police resigned, as did the Sergeants at Arms of the Senate and of the House. We need to know what led to the catastrophic failure of security at the Capitol. There must be investigations into what went wrong. The blame goes deep, all the way to Homeland Security and the FBI. It's a reflection of the deep chaos and corruption in the administration, as well as deep white supremacist roots in this nation. 

People are asking why the different treatment of these white supremacist terrorists vs. BLM protestors? As some astute Twitterer noted, it's kinda like asking where is  Miley Cyrus when Hannah Montana is on stage.

During and immediately after the riot, there were about 80 arrests. But mostly they were for breaking curfew. Most of the rioters were escorted peacefully out of the building and off the grounds. They simply went back to their hotels and back to their wormholes.

We must demand more arrests. The FBI and D.C. police are asking for information about the identities of the insurgents. Idiots, many openly posted their identities and crowed about their actions on social media as they were committing felonies.

And then there were people like Elizabeth from Knoxville, Tennessee. 

This woman was maced inside the Capitol. She told me, "It's a revolution!" pic.twitter.com/hMKYSzrkue

— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 6, 2021

and West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans. 

Many of the most visible are also the most well-known. I won't give them space here. There is plenty of information about them in the media. As for the rest, many of them are losing their jobs. But they need the full weight of justice to come down. The FBI has set up a website to collect tips here. The D.C. Police are looking for help in identifying people, and they have posted images here. 

Bring them to all justice! 

We must also bring to justice the Members of Congress who explicitly furthered the lies and encouraged these actions, including Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) and Sen. Josh Hawley (MO), seen below saluting the mob outside the Capitol. How is this not sedition?

Because I didn't include images in my last post, here are some summaries of that dark day.

For me, the most striking photo of all the horrendous images was this one.

And the awful video of this police officer:

But there were many horrible images.

Here is a photo gallery from NPR.

Here is a photo gallery from CNN.

Politco: January 6 in 180 seconds

Some video summaries from ABC News:

And as always, an astute summary from Stephen Colbert.

And bonus track from the amazing Randy Rainbow!

You are in charge here: Tell your Representatives and Senators what you want to happen. Resistbot is an easy and fast way to contact them. It's your Democratic Republic to protect.

Day N of the Attempted Coup

Up til today, it had been a bloodless coup attempt. That changed today.

Let's make this clear. We must use the right words for the events of January 6.

An attempted coup. Incursion. Insurrection. Anarchy. Riot. Uprising. Not a "protest" or a "march."

Terrorists. Rioters. Insurgents. Thugs. Subversives. Not "Trump supporters" or "protestors."

This was an attack on the very heart and soul of our Democratic Republic. This was an attack on the very lives of our American citizens. One woman died. Others were injured. Bombs were placed.

Today's events in Washington, D.C. evoked a multitude of emotions, and it's hard to process it all. Words are wholly inadequate to convey what I felt today, but being the wordsmith I am, I will try. 

Disgust. Sadness. Anger. Disbelief. Nausea. Heartbreak. Fear. 

I didn't plan it this way, but I was off work, so being the political geek I am, I was tuned in to the dumb "debate" regarding the objections to the tally of the Electoral College vote, the final certification of Joe Biden's win. I had just listened to Mitch McConnell's speech that he should've given years ago. He actually showed some backbone and patriotism for once. 

Then suddenly there was a flurry of activity in the chambers. Reporters spotted Capitol police. Vice President Pence was hustled out of the chambers. Reporters in the gallery told us that they had been told to prepare to leave their area and go to the chamber, where they would be locked in. He said they were being told to stay away from windows and doors. 

What the....?

Talking heads assured viewers that the Capitol is the safest place around and there are big heavy doors and plenty of security. 

Split screens had shown TRUMP addressing his "rally" as well as their march toward the Capitol building. The network I was watching didn't broadcast his remarks. Later I found out he had said, "We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong."

The split screens continued to show his mob advance on the building, climbing the stairs. There were reports of police holding them back with pepper spray. Then all hell broke loose.

Suddenly the Senate chambers were all in a flurry, an adjournment was abruptly called, and the chambers cameras went black. Every one within evacuated to the secure bunkers that are part of the infrastructure of the Capitol complex.

Cameras focused on what was happening outside as well as inside, and there are images and emotions that will never leave me.

I felt devastation when I heard a woman had been shot in the chest and was absolute bereft when I saw glimpses of blood-soaked stretcher rushing by.

I felt angry and assaulted when I saw thugs menacing and taunting a Capitol Police officer as he retreated up the stairs.

I felt fear and disbelief when I saw rioters breaking glass windows of the U.S. Capitol building and climbing through.

I felt horrified when I saw members of Congress, fear crossing their faces, huddled on the ground, donning gas masks. 

I felt a fire of rage when I saw a terrorist grinning as he sat in the chair that moments before our Vice President had sat, overseeing the proceedings as dictated by the United States Constitution. 

I felt a screaming fury seeing extremists wander the chambers of OUR HOUSE. I yelled at the TV: "You're going to jail. And you're going to jail. And you! And you! And you!"

I felt violated when I saw a mobster with his feet on Speaker Pelosi's desk. I felt a chill when I saw a message scrawled on a folder: "We will not back down." 

I felt nauseated seeing the confederate flag within the hallowed halls of the Capitol.

I felt confused when I wondered how "the safest building in Washington" was able to be breached so easily. 

 

I felt disgust when I watched the actions and inactions from the one who threw the match. Like the international evil villain of a movie plot, 45 sat back and watched what he had put into place. He set the mob on their way and retreated to the Whitewash House to watch the destruction on TV. He issued a couple of tepid tweets before sending out a wink and a smile as he lied some more and told his people in a video, "I love you, go home." He said: 

I know your pain, I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don't want anybody hurt.

It's a very tough period of time. There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us — from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil.

I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.

I feel shame that the rest of the world sees that this is what we are.

I felt dismay hearing both officials and journalists who have seen the worst of the world's strife compare this to what they have seen in banana republics.

I felt shock that this last attack on the U.S. Capitol was compared to the last one, the one during the War of 1812. 

I feel worry about what is to come in the next two weeks. I feel the fervent hope that Vice President Pence will finally invoke the 25th Amendment and stop this madman from doing more damage. 

 

And then as evening came, I had glimpse of other emotions. I've also felt heartened. Relieved. Patriotic. Optimistic.

I felt relieved when social media platforms blocked SCROTUS's accounts and removed his video.

I felt heartened when Sen. Tammy Duckworth spoke clearly when she said that Congress will not be bullied and forcefully said, "We will start up again. Today." 

I felt encouraged when the Congress dusted themselves off and got back to work, just hours after the crisis. I felt relieved when Sen. Kelly Loeffler showed some integrity and voiced her decision to reverse her decision to object to the certification. 

I felt patriotic when storied lawmakers sang the praises of the best of America in their late evening session. The thugs did not win.

I felt optimistic when I heard many cabinet members are considering resigning and that there is chatter of invoking the 25th Amendment.

I feel resolved that the American people will come together and get through this crisis and come out stronger.

Scorched Earth

It's been a while since I've outlined the goings-on during the transition period. Holidays and my post about prosecution took up some time.

As predicted, the Mango Mussolini has decided on a scorched earth plan. It has been a chaotic, dangerous transition. When last we met, 45's efforts to overturn the will of the people found a brick wall at the U.S. Supreme Court. All told, he has lost upwards of 60 lawsuits. 

After all that, the Electoral College voted and Biden was officially deemed the winner on December 14, 2020. 

And then yesterday, another perfect phone call. 

Ed Wexler

Remember I said we'd have to wait maybe 24 hours after he left the Whitewash House for him to crime again? How about T-minus 17 days? Yesterday, the Washington Post released the tape of an hour-long phone call between SCROTUS and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Agolf Drümpf wanted the secretary of state to "find" 11,780 more votes in order to overturn the election results in Georgia. 

"So what are we going to do here, folks?" he said. "I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break."

He performed his mobster tactics: flattery, cajoling, and outright threats. Raffensperger didn't budge. And now we have another impeachable offense, a blatant abuse of power and one that may be criminal. Read the WaPo article with audio excerpts, listen to the full tape, like I did, or read the full transcript. It's a portrait of a sad, sad, desperate despot-wannabe. It's rambling; it's bizarre; it's infuriating; it's illegal.

It's a federal and a state offense, so chalk this one up to an impeachable, prosecutable offense. We need to go after this crime. Hard. 

Read others' opinions on the phone call: Carl Bernstein believes it is worse than Watergate's smoking gun. Bloomberg's Timothy O'Brien calls the phone call "Coup Fever."

The taped call (after Agent Orange's 18 attempts at garnering a phone conversation with Raffensperger) begs the question: given that SCROTUS would have needed a few battleground states to win the general election, how many other state officials have been subjected to his tirades? Has he threatened other officials? What other offenses has he committed?

Before the phone call of course, he had been waging his scorched earth campaign.

He issued pardons to a slew of nefarious characters. So much for pardons being used for mercy. Of course he pardoned his partners-in-crime Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as well as his daughter's horribly criminal father-in-law, Charles Kushner. He handed out pardons to other blatant bad guys. Corrupt congressmen Duncan Hunter, Chris Collins and Steve Stockman were issued pardons for no reason other than they fit SCROTUS's corrupt ideals.

He broke international law by pardoning odious murderers Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard. They were the Blackwater contractors who committed atrocities in Iraq in 2007. This last set of pardons could be a violation of international law. Twitler must be held accountable for this violation, and those murderers should be sent back to prison.

He has thrown the Georgia Senate election into chaos. His "supportive" rally last month for GOP candidates Perdue and Loeffler, turned out to be anything but. As a result, Repug Georgians have vowed to boycott the election based on his cries that the election there was "rigged." And now with the current dust-up regarding the call with Raffensperger, tomorrow's election could be chaotic, contentious, and possibly violent. 

He held up the stimulus package and turned the GOP against each other, furthering the muddle in Georgia. After his own people negotiated the stimulus bill, he balked at signing it. He issued a preference for an increase in payments from $600 to $2000 to every American. This threw his party into a cage-match with Democrats, who supported the idea of a larger payout. Of course, payments ended up staying at $600. After a week of stalling, the president* finally signed the bill, but the delay was such that stimulus payments weren't issued as speedily as hoped, and there was fear that unemployment benefits and safety nets from the previous bill expired. Later reporting indicates that thankfully, there was no gap in payments.

He is awarding Medals of Freedom to gross Repug members of Congress Jim Jordan (OH) and Devin Nunes (CA). I can't think of any two people any less deserving of that honor. 

The GOP continues to splinter. At least a dozen GOP Senators and several dozen Repug Representatives are planning to protest Congress's formal tally of the Electoral College votes, which occurs on Wednesday, January 6. Mitch is losing his iron grip on his caucus. Normally a mundane formality (does anyone else remember the day this happened for past elections?), the members of the "sedition caucus" are throwing themselves on the sword for their Supreme Leader, and damaging their party – and our country – in the process.

Seriously, it may the best thing for the GOP to just get on with their self-destruct mode and rebuild some sort of a semblance of a reasonable conservative party. There's nothing inherently wrong with conservatism. There is something dreadfully wrong with fundamentalist, far-right fascist ideology, which is what the GOP is today. 

Sabir Nazar

Brian Duffy
(and thanks to Big Sister Resister Pagrs for adding to my Moby Dick collection!)

As always, there are positives.

Donny may be looking to skip the country on January 19. A Scottish newspaper, the Sunday Post, has reported that officials there have been told to expect a large plane to land on the day before the Biden's inauguration, and there have been U.S. reconnaissance flights going on above. It'll be good to have his cooties out of the country on our momentous day, but I hope he comes back only when he has to face charges.

There are some heroes! Among those who are defending our Constitution:

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has not backed down against BLOTUS's onslaughts and in fact has faced threats of violence. He remains in the job, overseeing Georgia's Senate run-off election at great personal and political peril. Though he had been an unabashed TЯUMP supporter, and has done some questionable voter purging in Georgia, he has also steadfastly worked to maintain a free and fair election in his state. He's landing on the side of hero in my book.

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system official, who last month pushed back on SCROTUS's dangerous rhetoric and baseless claims, again spoke out after his boss's phone call with 45. Sterling is a Republican. And he cares about his state's election. 

Texas GOP Representative Chip Roy, who has stated that U.S. Representatives elected from states that are being contested should not be seated. Hell, yeah. We've been saying that all along. If they are contesting elections that 45 lost, then they are contesting their own elections. Sit down and shut up! 

Dominion Voting Systems is suing TЯUMP lawyer Sidney Powell. I hope they also sue the man himself. The Dominion worker that the campaign, and QAnon, besmirched, and who suffered death threats, is suing the campaign, his lawyers, and conservative media outlets. Go, man, go!

Mitt Romney has been a loud voice of reason on the Right many times, and he spoke out again yesterday, saying the ploy to contest the election results "dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic."

The 10 living Secretaries of Defense, including Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld all strongly rebuked the current attempts at a coup and warned against involving the military in a joint letter. It's more than a little scary that they had to use the language they did: "Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic." Still, I'm grateful for them banding together and speaking out. 

Stacy Abrams! She has worked tirelessly to organize in Georgia and get out the Black vote. She and her organization Fair Fight are to credit for turning Georgia blue. Let's help they get that blue stained through and through tomorrow. She's the one who deserves a Medal of Freedom!

...and hopefully: the hero voters of Georgia. Fingers crossed that they will prevail tomorrow and give the Dems control of the United States Senate. Go, Georgia, go!

The finish line is close. Say calm and let's get there.

"The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil." – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Tremble, thou wretch

"Tremble, thou wretch,

That hast within thee undivulged crimes

Unwhipped of justice." – King Lear, King Lear by William Shakespeare

*

"The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest." - Portia, The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

 

What's your choice for the villainous DJT? The heavy whips of justice? Or the gentle rain of mercy? You can guess how LSR feels.

Some think it's a dilemma, but it shouldn't be. We are a nation of laws, and no one is above the law. Not no one. Not even the president. He is a criminal on so many levels! But there's a heavy, heavy political blanket wrapping it all up, and it's more complicated than it should be. 

A few presidents have broken the law in pursuit of policy, and none of them faced prosecution. But not one of them has been as criminal as the Commander-in-Cheat. To do nothing would encourage future ne'er-do-wells. 

For your reference, here are some lists of wrongdoings and crimes that the criminaliest president in history has committed. It's dizzying to think about all the wrong he has done. 

• Presidential rap sheet from The Washington Post.
• An extensive catalog of wrongdoings - criminal and otherwise odious - from McSweeney's.
• BBC outlines six cases that will dog him.
• And here is Slate's series "This is Still Happening" which outlines the corruption of the whole TЯUMP circle, including the Trumpitos.

Can we afford to prosecute the Criminal-in-Cheat? Can we afford not to?

Shared by 50 Cent, this but I can't find an original source

The Case for Pardon/Non-Prosecution

The biggest argument made in favor of Biden's pardoning 45 for his crimes while president*, or at least not seeking prosecution. is that we should not be a country that prosecutes political enemies. That's valid, but it's not entirely applicable to this case!

"Movin' on"

Essays like Michael Conway's on NBC, calling for a pardon in the name of "unity" and "healing," appeal to my Pollyanna heart. Oh, wouldn't it be great if Biden showed the gentle rain of mercy and pardoned him and all would be right in the world? We could hold hands, have a Kumbaya moment, and have a big group hug. Forgive and forget!

Yeah, right.

One of Conway's suppositions for issuing a pardon is that in accepting a pardon, Cheeto Benito would be admitting to wrong-doing. Except that this supposition is nebulous, and BLOTUS certainly wouldn't agree, nor would his sycophants, so it's moot. He certainly would not admit anything. And even if he did, an admission is not going to heal us. This is a piss-poor premise for a pardon.

Columnist Randall Eliason writing for WaPo makes the flawed argument that many of his wrongdoings weren't really illegal, so we should let it pass, and that somehow the social and political "punishment" of being voted out of office and being considered a disgraced president is enough. 

Sorry, Mr. Eliason. It's not enough for this resister. 

Writing in the New York Times, Eric Posner's rationale for not prosecuting 45 is a little more bleak. In discussing the obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation or the Ukraine quid pro quo, he suggests that it goes toward constitutional latitude for a president to do the things he did, and a judge would be loathe to rule on an issue that is constitutionally hazy. Also, there's a lot that would be hard to find evidence for. Corrupt? Hell yes. Prosecutable? Questionable. Acquittal would mean more fodder for his victimhood. By not prosecuting at all, Posner suggests the oxygen will be sucked out of 45's martyrdom.

"We do not prosecute political rivals"

It's true that we should not be a nation that appears to prosecute political opponents for political reasons. There's a danger in that. But holy jeebus 45's actions went beyond the pale! For most of us, this is obviously not a political prosecution but a criminal prosecution. Period.

"Just a misting"

In reality, a pardon like Ford's for Nixon ("for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974") for a man like SCROTUS, would be a but a misting of mercy over a huge waterfall of culpability. 

For one, Biden can only pardon federal crimes. And if he followed Ford's precedent, the pardon would be only for crimes committed while president. We all know there are many, many other crimes. SCROTUS has been committing crimes all his life. He has committed crimes before he became "president," and he will continue to commit crimes after he is "president." To pardon him for the stuff he did 2017-2020 would not preclude prosecution for a slew of other crimes. We know that New York State has ramped up their investigation into DJT and the family's organization.

Secondly, if he pardons for crimes only committed while president, it frees up the DOJ to investigate for many other crimes committed before 2017, such as tax fraud.

 

And here's the thing: the Constitution states that pardons cannot be issued for impeachments. The Mango Mussolini stands as having been impeached for obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Article II of the U.S. Constitution is clear: "[The President] shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." He can't be pardoned for those crimes. Whether prosecution is pursued or not is another question. (Side note: Even if he were to pardon himself, and that ability is highly questionable, he could still could not pardon himself for the offenses for which he was impeached). 

"Do it, and we'll make you pay"

Another argument for a pardon or non-prosecution is that if the DOJ pursues prosecution, Republican backlash would be too great for Biden and it would be difficult to do any of the important things that he needs to do. But won't the Grand Obstructionist Party, if they control the Senate, do that anyway? 

If he were to be pursued, he'd act like a trapped tiger. His go-to response to attempts at leveling consequences: hit back hard, or better yet, hit first. He has gotten away with escaping from lawsuits in the past by attacking his attackers and scaring them off. He won't go down easily. It worked well for him in civil cases, but will work less well for tough-as-nails prosecutors. The trouble is, Twitler has armed supporters, and prosecution could be met with dangerous opposition. Should we be a nation shaped by mob rule? No. But we cannot ignore the possibility of violence.

"Moot City"

Of course, all of the above would be moot if King Fear resigned on January 19 and had President Pence pardon him. That is a real possibility. Others agree with my prediction, like New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). If he did so, he could slink away to Mar-a-Lago, avoid the inauguration, and get a pardon all in one fell swoop! 

In the end, if Biden did pardon Donny in the manner that Ford did for Nixon, for any and all crimes committed while in office, he could indeed show the world he is truly merciful, a healer. This may be good for the nation: he would not appear to be persecuting political enemies; it would free up the Department of Justice to do other work; it would be a step toward healing the nation, and it would not be the be-all-end-all of justice. 

The Dangers of Pardoning

There is danger in setting the precedent of not going after outright criminal behavior. It will simply embolden future bad actors. After this election, we know that a large portion of the U.S. voting population is ok with a despot. And with the oligarchic/authoritarian/tyrannical mindset of those currently in power on the right (eg, 126 House Republicans who conspired to commit sedition), what happens in 2024 or beyond could be even worse. Millions voted for a despot. If we give Hair Furor a pass now, what will the next corrupt – and smarter – president try? We might as well not have laws at all. 

And think of all of 45's pardons that came down last week, with probably more to come before January 20. Talk about corruption! If we let him off, we open the door to when another bad guy comes to power, he can surround himself with people who know he will pardon them. They'll all be above the law. (Which begs the question a whole topic unto itself: should we reform the ability of the president to give pardons at all?)

Without consequences for this bad guy, other bad guys would simply be emboldened to do more bad things. The Repugs have been doing bad things for a very long time. Their crimes must be called to bear justice. 

The dangerous precedent that Ford set in pardoning Nixon got us into this predicament. That act led to this president* flaunting the law for his own gain. It's eerie that it's all the same players that have been scheming: Roger Stone, a sumabitch who idolized Nixon – right down to emulating Nixon's famous outstretched peace signs and a Nixon tattoo across his back. Roger Stone cut his dirty-tricks teeth during the Nixon years. And then there was Roy Cohn, the mafia lawyer who also advised Richard Nixon. Cohn was a major player in Nixon's games as well as 45's, and though he died before the 2016 election, his stench still graces Donny's boots. Cohn's ghost was very much alive during the last several years. 

It's a dangerous proposition to simply move on from the last four years.

The Case for Prosecution

The Rule of Law

The best reason for prosecution: We are a nation of laws. He did damage to our nation. He did damage to our democratic ideals. He should be held accountable. 

It would be ridiculous and untenable to let all of his crimes slide. Even if it was politically expedient and "healing," the sheer volume of crimes is unable to be ignored. This is the most criminal president we've ever had in our history. The crimes he committed are really bad-uns, and were not of the garden-variety presidential "stretch the law for the perceived good of the country," these were all crimes for his own benefit. He should obey the rule of law, goshdarnit!

Prosecution of this "president" wouldn't be a political act, it would simply be a legal act. If others see it that way, then that's too bad. He acted objectively illegally and should be treated objectively according to the law. 

Many on the right will cry and moan, but we have to ignore the noise. There may be political fallout, but what's right is right. He broke the law under the color of authority. Period. Meuller brought some out to the open. The House indicted him on others. Let our third branch of government weigh in.

Clear and Present Danger

One of the purposes of criminal justice is to remove a danger from society. This man is a huge danger. If he doesn't go to jail, he will have more chances to damage our nation further. We know he monetizes every position he is in. He's in debt to the tune of $400 million to who-knows-who. He has knowledge of many state secrets that are valuable. He doesn't care about the country; he only cares about himself. All of this adds up to one dangerous cocktail. We simply must put him away so he can't do more harm. 

And! You wanna talk political danger? There is a political cost to "playing nice," which unfortunately the Democrats are all too familiar with. The GOP does not act in good faith. If the Democrats decline to prosecute as "an act of good faith," they are just asking to be cuckolded again. Grow a pair, Dems!

Threading the Needle: Multiple Methods

What if we walk this tightrope by leaving alone the crimes while president and go after him for all the rest? Congress took up impeachment and acquitted him; let's put that aside as an "adjudicated" case. There is plenty else to get him on.

Do nothing

Biden should definitely not pardon him, but maybe he should not refrain from directing his DOJ, period. He shouldn't direct them to investigate and prosecute, but neither should he inhibit them. That way, Biden gets to be a healer, it doesn't appear to be a political move, blah-blah-blah, and the DOJ can work independently in doing their job. Which is what they are supposed to do.

If that's not nothing enough, and if using the DOJ to investigate is too fraught, then let's have an independent body investigate. Appoint a special counsel. Have prosecutors outside the DOJ have the reigns, and it becomes non-political. 

The tincture of time

Time may be a way to get him ...eventually. When he continues to commit crimes, when he fades from view and from memory, and when his MAGAts start to not care about him any more. Maybe then, if statutes of limitations have not run out, he can be prosecuted for the crimes he has committed while president*. Given that he is not going to change his ways, there will undoubtedly be new crimes to prosecute. 

Comparing to another odious figure in our history: Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was widely admired by many back in the day. In fact, his polls while in office were better than 45's. Here is a Gallup poll showing his numbers, and here is a Washington Post piece analyzing the poll numbers between McCarthy and the Tangerine Palpatine. Today, McCarthy's name is universally met with disdain as the abhorrent person that he was. The tincture of time may help millions of others who have been temporarily blinded.

And it's already happening. They are moving on. Recently in The Los Angeles Times: Letters to the editor defending Trump almost don't exist anymore. 

Prosecute him for his all his other crimes

This is a man with a singularly heinous history of crimes. He was a criminal before he became president, he was a criminal while he was a president, and there is no reason to doubt that he will be a criminal when he is no longer president. If we don't go after him for crimes while president, there are plenty of other crimes to get him on. 

• Let's let New York State get him. He and the TЯUMP Organization are both under investigation in New York for bank, tax, and insurance fraud. 

• Let's get him on taxes. Most tax crimes have a statute of limitations of six years, and if we act right away, we can get Darth TaxEvader for his tax crimes for 2015-2016. His tax crimes are black and white. They are current. They are not political. They are dull and dry, plenty uninteresting to the millions of MAGATs out there. Evidence abounds (thank you, New York Times!), and the only "witnesses" are numbers on the page. There's not many ways in which his sycophants can defend tax crimes. He's basically a mobster, after all. Famously, Al Capone was not prosecuted for his gangster crimes. What sent him to prison was tax evasion. 

• Let's support the women in their civil and criminal cases against him for the dozens of sexual assaults he committed. Those will be done in civil court and at the state level. Civilly: get him where it hurts - in the wallet. Criminally: put him in jail for the harm he has done to women. 

• Let's impeach him again. There is nothing that says that impeachment can't happen after a person leaves office. If convicted by the Senate this time, we would at least enjoy his “disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” 

• Let's encourage and support civil cases. There are tons of civil cases that the DOJ can't touch one way or the other. Nor would a pardon. Let's let those play out. 

• Let's bet that state investigations uncover other federal crimes. If there are new crimes uncovered, and he doesn't have a blanket pardon, then it would be hard to ignore them. 

• Let's look at the bigger picture. We true crime junkies know that there are often crimes where investigators and prosecutors know the suspect is guilty, but there isn't enough evidence to prosecute. Or foregoing prosecution for one crime might actually help the prosecution for another crime. There may be some benefits – frustrating as it is – for we the victims to drop one case to pursue another. Perhaps Biden could issue a pardon for a narrow set of crimes and then let the rest play out like they are supposed to.

• Let's wait, ummm, maybe 24 hours. We'd just have to wait maybe a day, max, before he crimes again. He can't help it. He's a criminal. We just wait.

• Let's go after all of his associates. There be lots of 'em. This would be a strong message to future conspirators: You will be held accountable.

• Let's go after his kids. The Don could issue pardons for his children, but it's not likely that he can issue a blanket pardon for them. In order for him to pardon them, he would have to lay out the crimes that they committed. He won't do that. It opens too many cans of worms for them to be prosecuted for related crimes, or to implicate himself. It would hurt them politically. Donny Jr. and Ivanka, at least, have their eyes on future political aspirations. The Orange Anus does *not* admit wrong-doing. In the biggest irony, he won't throw his kids under the bus with pardons. So, let's go after them. There are plenty of crimes to charge them with. At least it's some justice. 

Truth will out

History will bear witness to all of this. In the meantime, what do you want to happen? What do you think will happen?

"Well, time is the old justice that examines all such offenders, and let time try." – Rosalind, As You Like It, William Shakespeare

***

Further Reading

The Intercept: Losing could expose Trump to prosecution for any number of crimes 

Independent Australia: What to do about Trump's crimes

New York Times Magazine: Individual-1

The Atlantic: Trump Has Justified Breaking One of America's Most Sacred Norms

CBS News: The candidates who could end up prosecuting Trump weigh in on New York's criminal investigation

Los Angeles Times: Column: Why Biden should hope that Trump pardons himself on the way out the door

Huffpost: Donald Trump Has Hidden Evidence Of His Crimes For Years. Joe Biden Can Expose It.

Salon: Forget about "moving on" from Trump — the nation can't heal without accountability

CNN: Hold President Trump accountable for his misdeeds

Washington Post: Yes, the Biden administration should hold Trump accountable

Mother Jones: Here Are the Various Ways Donald Trump Could Be Prosecuted

The Last Gasp

It was a quieter week in the transition as the attempted coup breathed its final agonal breaths.

Bill Bramhall

SCOTUS says nay.

As promised, SCROTUS brought his grievances to SCOTUS. But they didn't wanna play. Even "his" three justices didn't show any interest in taking part in overturning the will of millions of voters.

On Tuesday, one sentence was all it took to send him and cronies home when they asked the Supreme Court to overturn the results in Pennsylvania.

U.S. Supreme Court 

And on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled on a case brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton decided to commit an act of sedition, and seduced 126 House Republicans to support his petition to SCOTUS to toss out the results of four battleground states. 

Truly appalling. 

Thankfully our Supreme Court rejected this case, too. Here's their terse dismissal:

U.S. Supreme Court

Predictably, Baby Fingers threw a twitter tantwum: “The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!” 

Paxton had nothing to lose politically by playing this dangerous gambit, as he is already under investigation by the FBI. But the 126 House Republicans? Here is who they are. Make them pay for their anti-democracy act in the next election. 

I've lost count of how many cases TЯUMP has lost in his quest to "win" – it's something like 50. The Washington Post reports that at least 86 judges at all levels and of all political persuasions have weighed in, nearly unanimously, to reject his attempts. He thought he was being clever to pack the courts during the last four years, including three Supreme Court justices. But we the people prevailed. We should be gratified that our checks and balances work. 

It ends tomorrow.

The Electoral College meets tomorrow, Monday December 14. End of the line for the MAGAt. And the end of the line for at least one of his cons. Maybe. A Republican group called "Republicans for the Rule of Law" has started airing ads warning people of the "legal fund" scam.

Follow-up. 

Remember Mellissa Carrone, who appeared in front of the Michigan state senate as a "witness" for Giuliani's attempt to contest the election there? Gossip column time! It turns out she is an interesting character. Apparently she is a "model/actress." Wow, what a portfolio of amazing modeling shots! She also has a criminal record. Questions abound about her performance in the Michigan state house. Was she acting? Was she paid? Was she drunk?

Shortly after her appearance, folks started comparing her to Cecily Strong's SNL character Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With. I wouldn't be surprised if Carrone didn't study SNL skits in preparation for her appearance as a witness. 

Coming full circle, Cecily took her on in last Saturday's episode:

COVID update.

It's bad out there. The surge isn't slowing. There has been record after record falling, in daily cases, in hospitalizations, in deaths. We've hit 3000 deaths per day in the U.S. It's almost too much to comprehend. We're losing more Americans each day than we did on 9/11 or in Pearl Harbor. We've surpassed the number of U.S. and allied military deaths during the nine years of Vietnam.

Rudy Giuliani was the latest from the Whitewash House superspread to test positive. This, after attending – maskless – dozens of hearings regarding the election fight. Arizona, smartly, decided to cancel its legislative session for a week after his many appearances with state lawmakers. Giuliani was hospitalized for a few days in Washington D.C. Lucky for the entitled jerk, he got "celebrity" treatment. He, like his boss, got medications not readily available to the average person. 

The Twitiot continues to refuse to acknowledge the surge or demonstrate an inkling of leadership or caring. Remember during the campaign he said, "'Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid.' By the way, on November 4, you won't hear about it anymore."  Looks like he was projecting again. He just doesn't care. 

The biggest, bestest news was that the vaccine is being shipped across the country today! The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine late last week. This week, they'll look at Moderna's data, and that vaccine is also likely to be authorized. There is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Wondering when you might get the vaccine? Check this tool from the New York Times. It's been estimated that everyone who wants a vaccine will get one by summer, 2021. It's going to be a brutal few months, though, at the pace we're on.

Please. Stay home. Mask up when you do go for essential errands. Stay 6 feet away and wash your hands frequently. Let's help each other get through this.