The joke — if you will pardon some gallows humor — is that, after Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol, Mexico has agreed to pay for the wall.

Did Nancy Pelosi attempt her own coup?

The NY Times reports:

Pelosi said she had spoken with Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about “preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes.” …

Some Defense Department officials have privately expressed anger that political leaders seemed to be trying to get the Pentagon to do the work of Congress and Cabinet secretaries, who have legal options to remove a President.

Mr. Trump, they noted, is still the commander in chief, and unless he is removed, the military is bound to follow his lawful orders. While military officials can refuse to carry out orders they view as illegal, they cannot proactively remove the President from the chain of command. That would be a military coup, these officials said.

Twitterer in chief, no more

Now Twitter has deleted Trump’s account, denying the President access to 89 million followers, on news that Trump won’t attend the January 20 inauguration of Joe Biden/Kamala Harris. (The first President to boycott his successor’s party since Andrew Johnson (also impeached). Twitter interprets this as a “signal” that domestic terrorists are free to attack. Due diligence after Wednesday’s insurrection or a case of nervous nelly-ism? Capitol Police are being excoriated for not enough truncheons, shields and boots on the ground. After liberals like Ald. Rebecca Kemble blast over-policing.

(Unlike the Act 10 siege of Wisconsin’s Capitol in 2011, two people died from injuries sustained in Wednesday’s attack. The female protester and, just today, a Capitol police officer.)

Raises free speech issues. The First Amendment prohibits the government from curtailing your speech but does not (for example) enjoin your employer (if it is job related). Although neither Twitter nor Facebook are government agencies, are they a utility? Can Alliant Energy shut off power to Blaska Stately Manor because it doesn’t like this blog? (They would not be the only ones.) Apple and Google have delisted the Parler app, to which Facebook users are fleeing. An example of which:

 

Blaska’s First Bottom Line: Gosh, those Antifa moles are clever!

‘Trump’s shameless minions must go’

The WI State Journal is demanding Sen. Ron Johnson, newly elected Congressman Scott Fitzgerald, and Rep Tom Tiffany resign! Blaska Policy Werkes (Republican In Name & Fact) disagrees. O.K., calling for a commission to investigate claims of election fraud was a fool’s errand. In less than two weeks it never would have had time to do anything meaningful. Nor was it warranted because no state submitted competing sets of electors, which the enabling statue required. The Commission would not have assuaged Trump’s supporters with anything short of over-turning the election. Finally, the 15-member Commission (five of whom would be proposed by Pelosi, another five by Chief Justice Roberts) was superfluous, given that something like 60 court cases, federal and state, and 50 state legislatures, many of them Republican, ratified the Electoral College results. Add former A.G. Bill Barr’s finding of no meaningful, systemic election fraud.

Blaska’s Second Bottom Line: But their proposal was never seditious, certainly not treasonous, just bad policy. In truth, they were trying to allay concerns (however ineffectively). There were legitimate election irregularities — just none as fantastical as fomented by the President, who did egg on his own Resistance. (See Ann of Althouse’s “Trump’s seven most violence-inciting statements.”)