We have a new entry in the ‘no matter how bad something is it can get worse’ file and as a veteran it makes my blood boil. Trump and conservatives too successful attempt to paint the Trump inspired/ordered riot at the Capitol as no big deal is morphing into creating those who tried to overturn our Constitutional Republic into heroes. Air Force Veteran Ashli Babbitt was one of the rioters and got closer than most to breaching the House Chamber. Like all the other traitorous rioters she was included (posthumously) in Trump’s blanket pardon of the criminals. That however is not enough for Trump and MAGA.
January 6, 2021 was a horrific spectacle we saw live on television screens around this country and the world. Trump, a creature of TV LOVED it, remarking to sycophants stuff like ‘isn’t this great’ as still semi-sane advisors and GOPers were begging him to call off the rioters. Even his family tried to get him to put an end to it but for three hours he stubbornly refused. By the time he finally relented and sent the tweet to his minions to stand down an awful lot of people had been sent to the hospital with server injuries. Five would wind up dead. One of them was one of the rioters, the aforementioned Ashli Babbitt.
Babbitt long ago was granted martyr status in MAGA. The Air Force Veteran who had once served in DC in a small unit that dealt with training Air Guard members to assist in helping local LE deal with ‘unrest’ had left the service and moved to San Diego with her second husband. After leaving active duty she clearly had some “issues” including with her hubby’s ex whom Babbitt attacked. But when Trump called on supporters to come to the Capitol she didn’t hesitate. So fervent was her support she entered the Capitol with a Trump flag worn as a sort of cape!
She got herself shot trying to climb through a window next to the doors she and her cohorts shattered. She ignored multiple warnings and a single shot was fired that struck her in the shoulder. Rioters had run rampant until then as LE did all they could not to use their firearms but at this point, there was no more ground for them to cede. If Babbitt and others made it through they’d have access to the House Chambers and members of Congress. That single shot was enough to get rioters to start backing down. All the psychology of it is a whole, much longer topic. What matters is that Babbitt would succumb to the gunshot that struck her left shoulder/upper chest.
Her death, like those of Capitol Police who succumbed to wounds is because Donald Trump couldn’t accept losing. So a Constitutional ritual, a formality of a ceremony steeped in tradition was interrupted. You think Trump cares for one second about the pain and suffering he caused? Well, knowing MAGA the way he does he saw it as an opportunity to keep whipping MAGA into a frenzy. A strong and sustained one that would put most GOP politicians in fear for their careers.
And the re-writing of the history we saw with our own eyes was ON. Trump asked MAGA ‘Who are you going to believe – ME or your lying eyes?’ and they of course chose to ‘reject the evidence of their eyes’ and follow Trump. As the only rioter to die Babbitt was given special status by Trump and MAGA. She violated her oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. She did NOT ‘bear true faith and allegiance to the same.’ She literally tried to STOP a Constitutional process.
But to Trump and MAGA she’s a hero. His blanket pardon of J6 rioters included her. To add insult to injury her husband and estate SUED for $30 million in wrongful death damages even though the shooting had been investigated and deemed legal and justified. The lawsuit got transferred to DC so the odds of a judge or jury ruling in the plaintiff’s favor was small. Then Trump got back into office. And no, the pardon wasn’t enough. He said all she was doing was walking around the Capitol. No, when she was shot she was trying to be the first person to make it to and through the Speaker’s door into the House Chamber:
Babbitt and others died not only because Trump refused to call off the rioters but had had his people orchestrate the hamstringing of a response to defend the place when trouble started the rioters almost made it into the not yet fully evacuated House Chamber. Faced with a large mob with Babbitt upfront and chants of ‘f**k/kill the Blue’ that last few Capitol Police outside the doors leading into the Speaker’s chamber were left with only a few officers inside those doors.
She violated the oath she’s sworn. She committed crimes and was willing to commit more. Yet she was pardoned. Her lawsuit which would have gone nowhere suddenly had Trump wind in its sails and her P.O.S. hubby got $5 million of OUR tax dollars. But yes, as I said it gets even worse. According to Newsweek Babbitt is now going to get full military honors! Speaking as the Marine grunt I once was I’m f**king OUTRAGED! She’s a traitor and as far as I’m concerned her remains should have been sent to a toxic landfill. Or, perhaps flushed down Trump’s fake gold toilet. But no, the P.O.S. Secretary of the Air FARCE says what I saw with my own eyes, and reports of the investigation any shooting generated we’ve got it all wrong:
Following her death, Babbitt was denied military honors under the Biden administration. But Matthew Lohmeier, under secretary of the Air Force, said in an letter to Babbitt’s family that he was “persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect” after reviewing new information about her death, according to conservative legal group Judicial Watch.
The decision has sparked backlash online.
I think it’s safe to say the backlash is just getting started. My ole dad who like most of his generation didn’t talk much about his time in WWII. His wounds both physical and psychological are a long topic. But he was proud of serving (on bombers in combat) in what was then the U.S. Army Air Corps. Now we call it the Air Force. I can say for damned sure he’d be appalled by this. I could write an entire piece of the kind of rant he’d go into.
Anyway I’d ask you to check out the linked Newsweek piece. It concludes by saying it’s unclear what happens next as Babbitt was cremated and I gather they’re not sure what was done after that. Speaking for myself, if I were able I’d do all I could to SH!T on any ceremony rendering her military honors. Planes flying overhead with banners calling her a traitor. Some vans with mega loud speakers in the back that could after the side door opens blast out chants calling her a traitor. And loud farting and nasty pooping noises when the time comes to play taps.
In other words some of the stuff I’d like to to when Trump himself finally does us all a favor and dies. Only in Babbitt’s case it’s possible to actually do the things I suggested.  I hope real American heroes will put together an operation to do just that. She attacked our country. She does NOT deserved to be formally honored by it, especially with military honors. Because I so openly criticize Trump back in my small midwestern town I know damn well I won’t be rendered honors by the local veteran’s groups. And Babbitt will get the full treatment with (probably) a detail from the Air Force honor platoon in DC complete with bugler. Hell, even though she was enlisted she might even get a flyover!
Again, flashing back to my time as a Marine “grunt” (infantryman) I say ‘F**K THAT NOISE!
This president shits on everything that was ever sacred in our country. He is a living insult to all the men and women who have ever defended our way of life, and an affront to common decency. I’m getting on in years, and all I really want to do now is live one day longer than that sonofabitch! I’ll take more, but one day will give me time to celebrate his death.