June 10, 2022 - 10:15am
Despite bombshell claims in the Left-leaning media that Trump ‘was at the center’ and to be blamed for the Jan 6 ‘carnage’, last night’s ‘first hearing’ of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack proved disappointingly flat.
The event was treated like a blockbuster film, with blanket coverage on all major networks. This was the first of at least six hearings scheduled just for the month of June, and it was heralded by Democrats with the promise of “unseen” footage and Hollywood-style production values that would excite and enliven what is, by now, somewhat old news.
Calling it the “first hearing” is something of a misnomer, however, because the House already held hearings, in July 2021, in which Capitol Police officers exhaustively detailed their defence of the Capitol building. But it’s the nature of political spectacle to demand the revelation of continually fresh horrors, even if they add nothing new.
What was on display at these hearings was tame. Yes, people marched on the Capitol and knocked over metal barriers. Yes, at least one window was broken and protestors clambered through it. Rioters tangled with police, and some officers were evidently injured. The mob did stream through the Capitol building, and Congress did adjourn for a few hours, before reconvening to finish its business of certifying the 2020 election, after the would-be insurrectionists went home.
Is that… it? One would expect, given the ubiquity of cameras today that they would have scraped up some evidence that January 6 really was as violent and dismal as we’ve been told, constantly, since it happened. In order to be shocked by video of cops and protestors in a scrum, pushing each other, with occasional punches or kicks, one would have to pretend that the summer of 2020, when violent riots resulted in thousands of police injuries and billions of dollars of damage by fire, had never happened. Certainly, we sympathise with Capitol Police officers who were hurt on January 6. But when they took their jobs, was there an expectation that they would never have to deal with a riot?
It’s a measure of the distance between rhetoric and reality that, though the media incessantly dwells on the “deadly” nature of the riot, Thursday’s hearing made no reference to anyone’s death. And for good reason. Though seven people “lost their lives” in connection with January 6, only one was killed. Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed veteran, was shot at point-blank range by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd, who faced no discipline for his action, and who has since been praised as a hero and lifesaver.
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SubscribeMoreover, the illegitimacy of Cheney’s Committee makes it difficult to take seriously. There was no Republican representation appointed by Speaker McCarthy – an unprecedented & unbalanced Committee never before seen in the country’s history. Nancy Pelosi rigged this show trial and it’s a national disgrace.
Perhaps you should replace Benedict Arnold with Nancy Polosi?
Well, at the least, Donald Trump isn’t Aaron Burr.
“Rigged” is the overriding theme of the 2020 election in the US.
And the sheer intensity of the hypocrisy is blinding to the thinking person. To portray a gaggle of mostly overweight, unarmed, balding light beer drinkers as an “insurrection” does a huge injustice to the English language.
It certainly contrasts with the “mostly peaceful” demonstrations of the BLM/Antifa bunch. “When words lose their meanings, people lose their lives” – Confucius
great quote. definitely unequal contrast
and a re-run of the c—p they tried to throw at Trump throughout his term, Russiagate et al, and look where that ended up
The rioters showed a touching faith in the US constitution. As if they might have disturbed the ratification and that would have halted the accession to the presidency of J. Biden (an illegitimate president in their eyes and in the opinion of many outside observers).
They could have killed half the members of Congress and the smooth continuation of power would have been undisturbed. Where was their support in the military? Or in the judiciary? Or their toehold in the hydra-headed agencies of bureaucratic control?
Those who insist this was close to a coup and that democracy was in danger that day are simply cynical liars. Democracy is indeed in danger and perhaps mortally poisoned. But the killers are those who pretend that power is not already in their hands and that the ‘coup’ was against the people and constitution of the USA.
Excellently said.
It’s not what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6 that concerns me. It was the behind the scenes planning to keep Pence from recording the electoral votes from the states, votes that had been previously certified by all the states. The election was over and Pence’s role was a formality. Peter Navarro discussed this plan to a reporter, a plan that would not accept the electoral votes from some of the states, and the end result would be that Trump would win the election. If all this is true, then yes, I think our democracy was in danger.
Of course, and the greatest danger is the decay in US civics such that a great number of Trump supporters have turned away from democracy, enlightenment values, and who closely resemble captured cult members, just as surely as the most fervent, over-reaching social warriors do.
you should be writing articles for Unherd
They would have you believe that members of the most armed demographic in the nation decided to overthrow the government of the mightiest military in the world yet chose not to bring along any guns.
And 2 people were murdered by the Capitol police that day. Roseanne Boyland was the other unarmed woman who was beaten by a female cop. There is video.
Ashli Babbitt, and may I ask who was the other unfortunate victim?
Perhaps they edited their post, but the name is in there now: Roseanne Boyland.
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
No, Democrat hysteria IS Jan 6 hearing
I think it is more like a funeral dirge.
I had to laugh at the drama with which the clips of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were surrounded. What was said was so innocuous and anodyne.
Yet the New York Times said gasps were audible when Jared Kushner said the White House counsel was whining. Really?
Donald Trump can be a boorish bloviator. Many don’t care for his style. Same with boorish Boris Johnson in the UK and his stupid parties.
But come on, man. These men are effective politicians who put their competition to shame. Prosecutions like this Committee hearing are so petty.
We live in an era of spin. Crowds invading parliaments in Georgia, Ukraine, Romania etc. are democratic forces but the one in the US is anti democratic.
When the riot happened I certainly did feel astonished and wondered about the future of our democracy. But when nothing happened afterward, i.e. coordinated attacks elsewhere in Wash DC or state capitols etc., one realizes it was indeed a momentary expression of speech, not really an insurrection. So the empty spectacle of these “hearings” only serves purposes related to certain political agendas, and will likely have the added result of further dividing the electorate.
There are known tools that are used to turn a crowd into a mob then onto riot. Bullhorns were a feature used to inspire, ready in place but who were those people? Why did the police throw flash bangs followed rubber bullets into the crowd milling about making noise? Who gave that order and why?
An interminable barrage of would-be agitprop. Flaring case of Long Trump Derangement Syndrome. At least, maybe there’ll be a crop of “Jan 6 babies”, as nobody had their tellies on. Who wants to watch a convocation of venal geriatrics try to jump a long-dead shark?
I needed a laugh. Thank you.
February 26 coup in Japan: 1936, 1500 troops revolt, two former prime ministers murdered, incumbent almost murdered, generals murdered, martial law declared, the country forced into militarism.
January 6 ‘coup’ in the U.S: 2019, side door opened, boomers take selfies in an empty building, multiple ‘putschists’ killed or injured by police, no politicians are even so much as scratched but hysteria lasts for a year and a half.
….and the POTUS called for a election to be overturned in his favour, without evidence (and still does, thus inciting civil conflict) and railed against his own VP, AG, and Chief of Staff and the entire US legal system. Yup, nothing unusual there, just some Dem whining.
Donald Trump has a big mouth, and offends a lot of people, but as president he was moderate in his actions and surprisingly effective. Here’s some of what he accomplished:
— Energy independence.
— A secure southern border.
— Ending the Afghanistan war.
— A robust economy.
— Reinvigorating NATO.
— Moving our embassy to Jerusalem.
— The Abraham accords.
— USMCA.
— Clipping Iran’s war wings by killing Qasem Soleimani.
— Meeting with Kim Jong Un.
— Crushing ISIS without getting mired in the muddle of Middle Eastern politics.
Donald Trump swept into office and despite unprecedented persecution by Bob Mueller and his minions never stopped working for four years. Joe Biden swept into office and has performed pathetically.
Here’s a complete list of Joe Biden’s accomplishments in his over 4 decades in public office (including over a year as president):
.
.
The weird thing about the J6 committee, is the number of legal boundary lines it appears to have breached – so matters like how it was founded, the powers its used to gather evidence, the way its crossed lines on executive privilege and enforced compliance through arrests. Yet, it seems that there has been little legal challenge to how the committee has been behaving from the other side of the aisle. Some challenges by individuals but not so much en bloc.
The Republicans either don’t care, or they’re happy to take the precedents that are being set for when it’s their turn.
Come November, game on.
or to watch the Democrats digging themselves into an ever deeper hole
Clearly Schumer’s threat in 2020 that two named Supreme Court judges would reap the whirlwind and wouldn’t ‘know what hit them’ made to a crowd outside the Supreme Court building was an attempt to incite an insurrection.
Thank goodness this new Committee is finally going to deal with that manifestly craven and illegal act.
Thank you Madam Chairperson for this brave example of bipartisanship!
An “insurrection” in which NONE of the “insurrectionists” was armed.
But then again, according to Speaker Pelosi, our Supreme Court justices are safe and don’t need protection. And according to Majority Leader Schumer, should “pay the price” for any decision that doesn’t comport with his side’s worldview.
They can technically call it an ‘armed’ insurrection by including almost anything that can be used as a weapon, like a flagpole.
Cheney’s singular hate for Trump was on display. With such a bias claiming democracy at risk was ludicrous. No new revelations arrived. We have yet to understand why enhanced security was dismissed and police so ill-informed of the risks. Do we know who the inspiring players were that turned the angry crowd into a mob that turned into a riot?
The people with bull horns pointing the way to the Capital building were all associated with the FBI. Some were employees some were independent contractors.
I haven’t really been following it, but what little I’ve seen on the BBC is parroting the CNN line without any argument or analysis.
The Democrats are desperate to exclude Trump from the next presidential election. Their constant obsession with him will probably have the reverse effect.
Why has Ray Epps not been arrested? (He is clearly visible and identified in several videos from the day telling people to get inside) Was he a federal agent inciting the riot? Why did the Democrats dodge the questions about him?
Ray Epps has been very effectively memoryholed. And it’s not difficult to see why: high ranking FBI officers admitted in a Senate hearing called by Ted Cruz that they were “aware” of Epps, but dodged all other questions. Named as nr 17 on their Jan 6 ‘most wanted’ list, Epps was silently removed from it after several months, despite damning video evidence of him repeatedly egging people on to “go into the capitol”. It’s quite clear there was some level of organized provocation, implemented by Epps and his team, and that this was a “super covert” operation which was only brought to the attention of wider FBI management when the unwanted video evidence appeared.
The answer to your “whys” is therefore simple: arresting Epps (who undoubtedly has “insurance”) or even admitting he was present & provoking the protesters, would bring the whole Jan 6 “insurrection” narrative crashing down. And perhaps even trigger an investigation in the opposite direction.
My opinion is that this is an effort to stop Trump from standing for president again, rather like the way countries pretending to be democratic ‘disqualify’ the main opponents on some contrived accusation.
Personally, I hope he doesn’t stand, because I think he might be elected, after which our news would again be dominated by anti-Trump stories for another four years.
I always check the background of what appears to be a polemical piece of writing. I suggest others in this thread do the same. Read about the Claremont Institute and its opinion of Trump. You may be surprized.
You mean this – “After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede while making claims of fraud, Claremont Institute senior fellow John Eastman aided Trump in his failed attempts to overturn the election results.[4][5] In 2021, the Claremont Institute published an essay written by one of its senior fellows which called for a “counter-revolution” against the “majority of people living in the United States today [who] can no longer be considered fellow citizens”
They are dealing with the prospect of annihilation in other ways. New Mexico has given temporary papers to 7000 illegal immigrants. Look for them come November. Pennsylvania has allowed undated ballots to be counted in a Republican primary even though this was admitted in 2020 as a Covid emergency measure. If Fetterman is trailing in a close finish in November this precedent will be available. In Colorado it appears that a Democrat PAC has been advertising for a MAGA Republican in the primary so as to have an easier go of it come November. George Soros is buying a bunch of radio stations in Florida for an easily guessed reason.
If only this paragraph were a paranoid fantasy!
and this is why Americans won’t be giving up their guns. On the contrary, they seem to be stockpiling, in preparation…
Wow, a lot of kool- aid drinkers here. Lifelong Americaphile here, broken-hearted by the insanity breaking out all over the States (on both sides of the aisle). Although as I get older to it appears to me that this was an accident waiting to happen. Remembering various stunned European adults of my youth in the USA (1970s) noting, with classic old world understatement that, ‘Ameruca is a young country, and generally Americans may not be that sophisticated. There is a place called the centre ground where reasonable people and theories are – go there; and if you don’t then you will be an integral part of the collapse of your country. No joke.
Still surprised there are people who believe the Clown Trump,and Democrats who won’t let go of the knuckle head.
Agreed. If anything , the Jan 6 committee is doing the dirty work of cleaning house for moderate Republicans. There’s a hoard of independents and disaffected Democrats ready to vote for a reasonable conservative-anyone other than Trump.