We are at war in this country, make no mistake. It’s an old axiom that the pen is mightier than the sword and in the war we’re in now, the weapons are words and images, the battlefield television and the internet.

What you’re about to see is the story of Ryan Nichols, a former Marine, suffering from PTSD when he was discharged. That issue notwithstanding, Nichols used to like to help rescue animals and people in disaster areas. He was rewarded for that work.

Then along came Donald Trump and January 6. Nichols has been incarcerated for 590 days, as you will learn from the first video, where he is reportedly a political prisoner in “solitary confinement” “tormented and teased,” and tortured for his political ideology. Listen to his wife tell it — before she puts the hat out and asks for donations.

Now take a look at footage from NBC News.

Nichols undoubtedly thought that Trump had his back, would pay his legal fees, pardon him, the whole enchilada.

The D.C. jail was filled with people who thought that way in the days following the riot.

Read the details of the court filing.

The man was armed and dangerous and inciting revolution.

As tragic as January 6 was, it could have been a hell of a lot worse with this kind of talk going on and with people armed as heavily as they were.

I would love to ask wifey to explain how shaking a crowbar and screaming about revolution is peaceful protest. That I long to hear.

The man is in jail because he’s guilty as hell. This isn’t about peaceful protesting, this is about inciting a riot, crowbar in hand.

This is the problem with America today. I grew up with the calm assurances of Walter Cronkite. He reported the facts. Certainly there were people who had different ideas about the facts that were presented, but we were in basic agreement as to what those facts were.

No more. At some bizarre juncture, concurrent with the ascension of Donald Trump, fact and opinion merged. It used to be that extraordinary claims required extraordinary evidence. No more. Extraordinary claims can be presented with zero evidence and if your bias is predisposed in a certain fashion, you’ll buy the claims hook, line and sinker.

I don’t blame Nichols’ wife for making a video and for attempting to get donations for her husband’s legal defense. We do what we must in this world. But where she crosses the line is that she lies on tape. Her husband is not some innocent victim, nor a political prisoner of a fascist regime. Quite the contrary, he was trying to violently overthrow a lawfully elected democratic government. For anybody, let alone a military man, to not understand the legal ramifications of such an act is astonishing.

And if she was collecting money for his psychological treatment, as opposed to his legal defense, I might be persuaded to kick in a buck or two myself. The man is not well. He does need help, not further encouragement of his delusion.

There are many tragic stories associated with January 6. People died, were disabled, injured, or became incarcerated because they were associated with Donald Trump’s madness, either of their own free will or simply because they happened to work in law enforcement or the Capitol building that day. That is the collective tragedy of that man’s presence in public life.

What is more tragic still, is the continuing delusion of the stolen election or the persecution of innocent protesters at the Capitol that day. It is this dual narrative in this country, two different versions of reality, two different versions of history, which is going to destroy the democratic experiment if anything does.

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Violence aside, inciting a riot is defined as organizing, promoting, encouraging, or participating in a riot which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Let’s see, since organizing includes the use of a phone or email, he did all of these. So Ryan Nichols probably has over three years to go in jail. Being ex or current USMC makes it even worse. One of the first things you are taught in the military is to protect and defend the constitution. I have no sympathy.

    • As to showing him compassion because of his service, perhaps it should be commiserated apropos to the crime he was seeking vengeance for, namely voting for Biden was worthy of your getting hauled into the streets. No trial necessary in the wonderful utopia he wants heralded in. That’s Trump’s thinking for you. Judge, jury, and executioner.

  2. I think the merger of fact and opinion may have started with Reagan lifting the fairness doctrine and people like Rush Limbough gaining prominence. At least that’s when I noticed it, in the mid 90’s.

    13
  3. I certainly hope that someone reported that tweet from Bruesewitz and had it pulled down for violating Twitter’s alleged policies (not so much the fundraising bit but the fact that it *knowingly* transmits lies).

  4. I miss Walter so much.Loved watching the news with him and Eric Sevareid.I was 2 years old for the moon landing and I remember because i got to watch Walter “Conkite” as I called him all that day. Never knew either of my grandfathers but I always wanted Walter for one and Vincent Price for the other.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here