I have been saying for well more than a year now that the current iteration of the Republican party is dying. You can agree with me, or you can disagree with me, I’m down either way. As long as you’re classy, we can argue positions and opinions all day.
But I’m talking about the actual survival of the GOP as we know it. And when the best and brightest minds, the ones with the most experience in the field, head for the exits en masse, and start to actively work against the party, then you have a problem. Not only that, but the fact that the party is literally cleaved so evenly down the middle between moderates and extremists, it makes it almost impossible for them to win a national Presidential election.
But I’m talking about something more immediate, and visceral. It was impossible not to be moved by the 13 minute video that the Democratic impeachment prosecutors showed today. But as I watched that raw, emotional footage of the Capitol riot today, I was hammered by the fact that this tragic event will never outlive the infamy of that day.
Pop quiz! What is the worst act of terrorism ever visited on the United States of America? September 11, 2001, of course. And while the nonstop reporting on the terrorist attacks stretched on for days on every national network, the actual meat and bones events of that day took place in less than 6 hours. About the same time that it took from the moment the Capitol building was breached, for the Capitol police to announce that the building was now secure.
But here’s the point, Every year, since 9/11/2001, the national media response to memorialize the day has been the same. For instance. On September 11th, 2020, at midnight eastern, 9 pm Pacific, when MSNBC finished its live programming for the day, what did they do? They switched over to replaying the footage of the events of 9/11, as it happened. Just the same as they have every year since the original attack.
And this is the ghost that the Republican party can never outrun. A bunch of spineless wimps in the GOP Senate may lack the balls to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, but the results are already in, and the national jury has already spoken. The events of January 6th, 2021 were every bit as seminal as the terrorist attack of 9/11. On 9/11, it was foreign terrorists that attacked the United States. And on 1/06, it was a bunch of MAGA clad morons who invaded the Capitol of the United States, and by means of force, tried to stop the operation and function of the government of the United States.
And, call me kooky, but I don’t see this going away anytime soon . Cone January 6th, 2022, when MSNBC and other major networks end their live coverage for the day, I can see them dissolving back into coverage of the Trump rally at the White House, followed by the march of the unruly mob to the Capitol building, and then the endless coverage of the carnage that the mob caused in The Peoples House. And why wouldn’t they? Like 9/11, this was a seminal moment in American history, we had never before seen a domestic takeover of the seat of government of the United States. And why wouldn’t they? This was a national blight, a unique moment in American history, and I honestly cannot imagine it being repeated on the anniversary date.
And this is a pox that the current iteration of the GOP must carry into the future. They made themselves into the party of Trump, and any memory of the events of the day will of course morph into a discussion about the craven cowardice of the GOP in refusing to convict a man already gone from office. There isn’t enough bleach in the world to erase that stain.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to check out President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange . They comprise a pretty much daily report from the front of the 2016 GOP primaries, as well as the general election
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
100 % correct. By hugging so tightly onto Trump, they’ll take their party down with him just as surely as a passenger on the Titanic tying themselves to the railings.
Except, no-one was stupid enough to actually do that.
What did Mama Gump say??? Stupid is asx stupid does…
Yes. It was worse than 9/11 because it was domestic and involved many upper repubs.
In watching the video I kept thinking, where are the police with their billy clubs, firehoses and vicious dogs when you really need them? Those murderous morons deserved nothing less. This video should be shown often, should be a part of the campaigns in 2022, keep it in front of voters eyes to remind them what a treacherous terrorist organization the GQP is, who is at fault and who failed to step up for their country. What was it tRump said, never forget? Like we could, like we won’t. It will always have the stench of his name tied to it, tRump’s insurrection to take out a co-equal branch of government so that he could stay in power. I wonder how many Reps and Sens needed to die before the repuqs would take it seriously and stand up to tRump.
They also was part of the treason with their lying.
‘were part’. Haven’t been on politizoom for a month or so. Why was I not logged in as a member and had to go through this email thing? Last night I thought it was because I was on a lap top I don’t normally use, but I am on my PC and had the same issue.
Hi Walter,
The website moved to a new platform and they have been working the bugs out.
The bugs are so enormous it’s become virtually impossible for me to participate anymore. Hope all is fixed soon!
Can you write [email protected] and explain? We DON’T KNOW what’s going wrong. I am flying blind here. I’ve been told emails are going out, everything’s dandy and obviously you’ve got some problems. Please describe to the tech person.
One thing I keep coming back to: everyone else loves talking up how organized, prepared and well-financed these creeps were. Scary though that may be, they still failed…and the majority were dumb enough to show their faces to every camera in sight. No one ever wants to talk about why that’s so, just saying it was luck. As one of my favorite movies The Replacement Killers put it, “Don’t confuse luck with skill.” Or in this case, lack of skill on the part of the disgraced.
I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but i read somewhere that if enough republicants DO NOT show up for the impeachment vote, the Dems may be able to convict the orange menace because they only need a majority of the ppl in attendance. So if it is true, maybe someone could convince those who fear the orange menace to just not show up? Let the Dems take him out. I don’t know the truth to it. I read it but haven’t researched it (shame on me for spreading viscous rumors…)
The only problem with that scenario (as tempting as it sounds) is that the GOP members who do not show up to vote will be tarred by the Trumpistas as “guilty of being against Lord Trump” as if they show up and vote “guilty”–which means, 2022 will see every single “no-show” GOPer facing a primary challenge. And we all know the one thing GOP incumbents don’t like is a primary challenge–and that’s in normal circumstances before the GOP morphed into the “Cult of Trump.” Many of the GOP incumbents had to deal with the pre-MAGA Tea Party insurgency back in 2010; Lisa Murkowski lost the GOP primary but managed to squeak out a write-in victory in the general election but many of the other current incumbents won’t be able to do likewise based on state rules for ballot access and write-in campaigns since a number of states have “sore loser” laws that bar candidates from being on the general election ballot if they lose their primary race and any write-in votes are disqualified.
That, as I see it, is THEIR problem, Joseph. Ours is pulling this country out of the ditch they drove it into…again. They can help us with that or get out of the way. The appetite for their interference is OVER for middle America.
Last night our local ABC affiliate for Dallas did an informal poll of viewers. About 83% said Trump should be convicted. It may be approximate, but that is how the majority seems to feel.
Thom Hartmann, on his program, said that Trump’s plan was to declare martial law and suspend habeas corpus if Pence or any member of Congress was killed by the mob. I don’t know his source, but it may explain why there was such a long delay in sending the National Guard to back up the Capitol Police. Absolutely chilling.
$2 billion dollars in damages. Rioters and looters bailed out of jail with funds that were solicited by a woman running for president and vice president. Repeated sympathy and justification for riots that went on for months. Yet the Republicans will never live down a single riot that was denounced immediately after it happened, and who rallied immediately after to reconvene and certify election results.
Please. Please. And you did not watch “raw” footage. You watched a selectively edited video that specifically left out Trumps call to peacefully march to the capitol.