No, it’s a breath mint!
The Wall Street Journal insists that what occurred a year ago January 6 at the Nation’s Capitol was a riot, “a national disgrace,” but not an insurrection. The Werkes contends that a riot is looting the corner liquor store during a “mostly peaceful” protest in Kenosha. The assault last year was not so much on a government building as on the Constitutionally mandated transfer of power itself. Insurrections don’t have to be successful to qualify — just ask Jefferson Davis. But January 6 did succeed, at least, for a few hours.
Imagine, Karl Rove asks, if the other side had done it?
What if in early January 2017, Democrats … had stormed the Capitol and attempted to keep Congress from receiving the Electoral College results for the 2016 presidential election? … If this happened, would some of my fellow Republicans have accepted it as merely a protest? Would they have called ‘patriots’ those charged with violent acts against our country, its laws and Constitution?
Situational ethics work both ways
Jimmy Carter (remember him?) apparently signed an op ed claiming that “One year ago, a violent mob, guided by unscrupulous politicians, stormed the Capitol and almost succeeded in preventing the democratic transfer of power.”
By that definition, the four-month takeover of the State Capitol here in Madison WI in 2011 to prevent Act 10 was also an insurrection. Ann of Althouse, retired UW Law professor, remembers:
The Wisconsin protesters characterized what they were doing — interfering with the duly elected government — as “democracy,” chanting, endlessly, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Columnist Erick Woods Erickson noticed the same incongruity. “The Wisconsin State Journal reported it in eerily similar language to January 6:”
Thousands of protesters rushed to the State Capitol Wednesday night, forcing their way through doors, crawling through windows and jamming corridors.
Progressives, cheered by John Nichols, MSNBC, and Paul Soglin, did prevent elected legislators from the lawful exercise of their duties for months. Lest we cede the high ground with these “what abouts” we quote Erickson: “The truth is January 6 is nothing for Republicans to celebrate. It was a dark day in the history of our republic. Fueled by repeated lies from President Trump.”
Once upon a time
Back on January 14, 2021, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the President bore responsibility for the attack and dispelled a right-wing urban myth that persists: “Some say the riots were caused by Antifa. There’s absolutely no evidence of that, and conservatives should be the first to say so.”
Letter from select Committee chair Bennie Thompson, D-MS, to Sean Hannity, Fox News: “On January 5th, the night before the violent riot, you sent and received a stream of texts. You wrote: ‘I’m very worried about the next 48 hours.’ With the counting of the electoral votes scheduled for January 6th at 1 p.m., why were you concerned about the next 48 hours?”
Blaska’s Bottom Line Question: Another counter-factual: What do you suppose would have happened on January 6 if Capitol Police had stood down, much as did Czar Nicholas’ guard during the Communist Revolution in 1917?
What, after all, was the purpose of January 6
if not to prevent the transfer of power?
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Squire, you’ve gone from moving the goal posts to making your argument a whack-a-mole game.
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Is that what you call ethical consistency? Whack-a-mole? If you condemned the Act 10 intifada (and you did!) how do you not condemn the January 6 insurrection?
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I do.
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Ummm. . . they did. They were LITERALLY letting protestors into the capital!
Blaska’s Bottom Line Question: Another counter-factual: What do you suppose would have happened on January 6 if Capitol Police had stood down, much as did Czar Nicholas’ guard during the Communist Revolution in 1917?
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Not enough to allow the insurrection to succeed.
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How many convictions for insurrection.
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Let’s say it was only a riot; why do you defend it?
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Again, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were never convicted of insurrection (or treason) but, surely, they insurrected.
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Why, Dave, do you constantly avoid the serious questions:
1. What do we know, factually, about the question of the participation of federal agent provocateurs who might have started the “riot”? Is the Michigan case instructive?
2. Do you deny that there continues to be a factual basis for not certifying fraudulent state elections? [https://ericthompsonshow.com/2022/01/06/boom-georgia-ballot-trafficking-whistleblower-admits-to-making-45000-for-stuffing-ballot-boxes/ ]
3. Facts? Why have hundreds of hours of video of the protest been kept secret by the police and Pelosi’s agents? What are they hiding?
4. Facts? What did Pelosi plan for security before the 6th? Why are her communications and email unavailable for review? Did she plan for a putsch so that she could order the Joint Chiefs to declare Marshall law and take over the government?
5. To what degree did Pelosi and Schumer assist voter fraud in contested states? Why can’t the press have access to their emails?
6. Do you maintain all state elections avoided election fraud? Do you believe there is any basis for objecting to the certification of the voting process in one or more states?
7. What objective analysis by neutral 3rd parties has ever been done on the voting machines in contested states? Without such, how can any voter have confidence in votes were counted or tallied?
8. Why have you consistently failed to address the Navarro Report’s claims? If he is factually wrong, what is your evidence?
9. Is Trump-phobia sufficient to answer all these questions as the history of your columns demonstrates?
Your failure to address civil questions honestly damages your credibility, Yes, to me, it is obvious why you run from the debate. Emotional hatred of Trump is sufficient justification for anything, the facts be damned.
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In order:
1) “What do we know, factually, about the question of the participation of federal agent provocateurs who might have started the “riot”?” Nothing, unless you want to prove a negative. For that matter, what do we know about bamboo ballots or Italian radio waves jiggering the election?
2) Yes, I do deny. So do 60 courts of law, a Republican attorney general once accused of being a Trump stooge, and Republican election administrators in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin.
3) This alleged “hidden video” — is it going to show Donald Trump standing with Capitol Police to defend the Congress? Yelling, “Turn back! Don’t hang Mike Pence. Respect the Constitution!”
4) Pelosi may well be culpable for not beefing up security. You need to answer, security against what?
5) How, logistically, would two members of Congress “assist voter fraud”?
6) Yes. No. Why would Republicans Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger (as one for instance) swing Georgia to Joe Biden? It’s goofy to even entertain such thoughts.
7) You can Google the answer but you don’t want answers, you just want to throw up enough pie on the wall to see what sticks.
8) Next you’ll want me to address My Pillow Guy’s accusations, then Lin Wood’s, then Sidney Powell’s. If they are factually correct, what is YOUR evidence?
9) If the Squire suffers from Trump-phobia, don’t blame the patient, blame the disease.
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1) Ray Epps is a big question mark. After he suicides that question is unlikely to be answered.
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I think Rove’s comments are interesting. If the exact same thing had happened, but instead it was lead by BLM, Freedom, Inc., et. al. Many of the people who post here (and you know who you are) wouldn’t be talking about ‘patriots’ and ‘beer hall putsch’ or ‘panty raids’. They’d be calling it traitorous, requiring the immediate forceful assertion of law and order, and for the perpetrators to be hung at dawn like the ‘feral animals’ they are.
And any one of you that denies this, is delusional with not an ounce of self awareness left.
Oh, and all of you (and you know who you are), by excusing this so casually, have lost all credibility as being pro law-enforcement. “We want more cops! (But if a few get pummeled with a flag pole, spit on, sprayed with bear repellent, or otherwise physically assaulted, I guess that’s ok this time.)”
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Let’s ask Ashli Babbitt.
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Ask her what? Why she broke into the capitol, tried to break into the speakers lobby, or why she didn’t obey the police? All good questions.
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You cannot break in to places not locked.
Not obeying a police order merits execution? Was she armed? Did she murder Officer Sicknick? These are good questions. Yours are not.
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Not locked? Then why was she smashing the window? I answered your questions, why are you unable to answer mine?
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Your right 1218. It’s called selective outrage. The same people who rant on about law and order are now spending their time ignoring subpoenas and trying to run out the clock. All the while having their legal bills paid for by the RNC.
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Selective outrage is the incessant yammering and hand wringing over the January 6 riot while ignoring, downplaying, and justifying those of summer 2020. Until these stooges in Congress go after both with equal fervor, you’re not going to get me to give a crap about them hiding behind locked doors and armed security for a few hours. Amazing how much they all of a sudden care about riots when they arrive on their doorstep.
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Mark+ Lemberger: If you condemned the Act 10 intifada (and you did!) how do you not condemn the January 6 insurrection?
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Temper tantrums, not insurrections.
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Are you talking about the riots in Kenosha? Madison? Chicago? Temper tantrums?
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Specifically referencing the occupation at the Wisconsin capitol and the Jan. 6 riot.
But yes the others you mention, also tantrums …..and in some cases ne’er do wells taking advantage of the situations to loot. The CHAZ zone in Seattle certainly took it a step further … what would you call that?
Are any of them as bad as 9/11 or Pearl Harbor like our VP claims?
This always goes so well when you bring up 1/6. Lots of ruminating on both sides of the I word.
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David… this is a good example of the Charlottesville Lie and a whack-a-mole argument.
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I don’t see any whack-a-mole by Blaska. He’s been consistent in his criticism of Trump’s Big Lie and post-election antics.
What is the Charlottesville Lie?
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The Charlottesville lie is that Trump praised the tiki-torch bearing Proud Boys. He did not, and we’ve called out the leftist liars who spread that lie. Trump said there were good people on both sides of the issue, that issue being historic monuments.
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The Vice President, who bailed out rioters that burned down Mpls. and who egged on the rioters who nearly breached the White House in summer 2020, today equated Jan. 6 to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
She didn’t mention the Holocaust, the War of 1812, or the Fall of the Roman Empire, which clearly means she is not taking it seriously enough.
Please return to your regularly scheduled caterwauling, howling, and ritual weeping. The 12 days of Jan. 6 only comes once a year. Make it count! Cry, cry, cry — then cry harder!
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So Rittenhouse was just having a tantrum?
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His attackers were.
Were.
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These are not children. Your defense only makes your position even more ridiculous.
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Childish behavior nonetheless.
Your position, like Kamala’s, is the ridiculous one.
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I wasn’t on the ground or closely following the act 10 protests, and I understand the rationale for bringing them up as an example of inconsistent logic, but they are not to my knowledge equivalent to Jan. 6. I don’t recall threats to life during act 10. I think if Scott Walker went into that crowd he’d have been yelled at and probably spit on but not torn literally to pieces with bare hands. Can’t say that for Jan. 6th. But like I say, I’m open to being proved wrong.
But yeah, if someone were all up in arms about those protests they’d better be livid over Jan. 6 or they are lying to themselves.
I appreciate that this discussion is happening in this site. Thank you.
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Scott Walker and his wife received numerous death threats as did Republican legislative leaders. There was an incident when he was using the Capitol tunnel too I believe. I believe he was hung in effigy too but the FBI didn’t go after anyone that I know.
The storming by thousands of people who broke into the Capitol the night of March 9, 2011, after a legislative vote was egged on, excused, and encouraged by practically every Democrat in Wisconsin.
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Let the deflections begin.
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This whole thing is one big deflection from Diaper Joe’s incompetence.
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Uncle Joe’s incompetence is not the issue. The issue is who won the election in November 2020. Sometimes, the wrong guy wins. Something about “democracy,” we surmise.
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DB, who won the election is not an issue for the vast majority of people on the right. It’s not for me, yet I can still point out the Dems ridiculously weaponizing 1/6. Why? They have a very weak leader who needs all the help he can get.
I’ll ask again do you think it is comparable to Pearl Harbor or 9/11 like our idiot VP does?
Honestly wondering.
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Nowhere near in degree; but more troubling in source. At Pearl Harbor and in 9/11, America was attacked from without. America rallied, united and strong. On January 6, America’s institutions were attacked from within. America is now divided and suspicious. In that regard, January 6 is the equivalent of the burning of the Reichstag in 1933. Ask yourself this: what was the purpose of the … incursion into our nation’s Capitol that day? Merely to drink Nancy Pelosi’s cabernet sauvignon?
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I agree it is troubling in source but the manifestations were readily apparent in progressive cities in 2020. I`ll ask you again what is your opinion of the CHAZ? Was it a secession or just a ridiculous ill thought out experiment?
Ray Dalio in his latest book says all this is predicted by history. Waiting to get it from the library.
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My opinion of CHAZ? You have to ask?!!!! Omigod (not omicron)! I’m all over this blogge with denunciations of the riots in Seattle, Portland, and Madison! And of the Act 10 intifada. My record is in print and readily searchable. Do not make me do your research. Use the Search function midway down the right-hand column of this blogge!
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And I have/will condemn the 1/6 rioters without calling it an insurrection. Condemnation is obviously not the question … it’s the I word that’s in question for most here.
You’ve never addressed the S word.
Simple question DB … was CHAZ a secession?
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If that’s the case I denounce that as well. I only support non violent political action or civil disobedience. Perhaps that was a better comparison than I thought, as Mr. Blaska is keenly uncovering some inconsistency in attitudes to these actions depending on whose “side” is doing it.
We’re all on the same side, we’re all in the UNITED Ststed of America.
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It’s time to join together with loved ones and celebrate America’s newest holiday: January 6th! To make the most of your holiday, please consider these ten patriotic ways of remembering the day democracy almost, but didn’t quite, die.
1) Share your celebration plans with all your friends on Parler: Yes, Parler was shut down by the deep state, but it’s back and still the easiest way to coordinate with federal agents.
2) Gather the whole family around the TV to watch the big Macy’s Jan 6th Day Parade: This year the balloons are shaped like all your favorite insurrectionists! Yes, even Wacky Podium Guy!
3) Perform a historical reenactment of the violent, bloody battle by wandering slowly through your city hall, taking photos: The violent surge on our nation’s Capitol can easily be recreated by ages 3 and up. For added flair, open all gates and move barriers to the side in remembrance of the police officers who did exactly that.
4) Make sure to put out Tang and cookies for Trumpy Claus: He won’t leave a signed check on the podium you stole unless you do.
5) Hide fraudulent ballots around the house for the kids to find: A great home activity for your young ones. It’s never too early to sow doubt in the democratic system.
6) Dress up as a buffalo: Dress to impress! The buffalo is the noblest of creatures to be hunted. So majestic.
7) Gather the family around the fire to relisten to Trump’s speech ordering you to loot, kill, and destroy: Okay, so he explicitly said to be peaceful, but we know what he really meant.
8) Conduct readings of Pelosi’s written refusal of Trump’s request to have 10,000 National Guard on standby: There may be no record of this refusal, but imagining what it did say makes for a great party game. Your kids will love eating ice cream and pretending to be the House Speaker.
9) Surround your house with concertina wire and 25,000 national guardsmen for 9 months: If you want to be patriotic you’re going to have to leave those decorations up for the long haul. The razor wire will complement the Christmas lights you forgot to take down anyway.
10) Just go about your life like 99.9999999% of Trump supporters did last year: It’s what Trump would have wanted.
Remember, have a safe and fun January 6th, patriots! Stop the steal! USA! USA!
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Trump’s “peacefully and patriotically march …” is the equivalent of Richard Nixon’s “… but it would be wrong,” during Watergate. A wink and a nod. An asterisk.
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Were you still a liberal in the Nixon era?
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Did you wet your bed as a child?
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Balboa, it is customary to credit the source. Otherwise, it’s called plagiarism.
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Very funny!
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Sorry, it got bumped down. I was responding to Balboa. Very funny!
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BRONX, NY—United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited Woodlawn Cemetery this morning to grieve in quiet dignity at her own grave on the 1-year anniversary of her death on January 6. She was seen openly weeping and tearing her clothes by the photo crew she brought with her.
AOC, who was killed in the Capitol’s House Chamber by murderous Trump supporters, left a wreath where her body had been peacefully laid to rest. Though she made no official statements, eyewitness testimony claims she “looked mournfully off into the distance” as if contemplating the fleeting brevity of life.
“She just looked so brave and helpless,” said Jim Acosta from the scene. “I could see that she was clearly hurting. I don’t know how she gets up in the morning, especially since she’s already dead. What a fighter.”
Once her camera crew confirmed they had several good shots, she wiped her eyes, slowly walked to her brand-new Tesla, and drove off—leaving a crew of professional mourners in her wake.
Visitors to the cemetery are advised to socially distance and mask up while mourning the loss of America’s greatest congresswoman. For those mourning remotely, a contribution can be made to AOC’s 2022 campaign.
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You should start your own blog. This was good.
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That’s from the Babylon Bee. https://babylonbee.com/news/aoc-seen-weeping-over-her-grave-on-january-6th
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NY Post writer gets it:
https://nypost.com/2022/01/06/the-democrats-desperate-jan-6-spin-goodwin/
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Can we move on now? I still liked and supported Trump but it is still time to move on. The rioters thought they would be treated like the firebombers in Dem controlled cities. Go figure, not so, after 4 years of bullcrap investigations, accusations, suppositions, impeachment, theories and blatant false narratives that the supporters of a firebrand, new york bully that this was not going to end the same for those that showed up ready to riot.
It did not end well, common citizens if you eff with the feds in their home terf you will be destroyed forever. What Thomas Jefferson wrote so long ago will never apply, they were big words said at a time when even the patriots knew they had England by the balls. When it took, 40 days to send troops by sail to stop the uprising, it was over before it began. No way in hell was this ever a serious problem and never will be again. Socialist democrats won by whatever means necessary, Kruschev was correct they won without firing a single shot. Now they are just called socialists. Pandemic solved even more issues, most dead are gop supporters, good luck winning an election unless you embrace the new quasi legal voting rules, instead of fighting the new rules.
GOP figure it out, have to use the new rules to win or else no chance at wiping out the new smiley happy fascists.
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My views were cut-censored by Blaska, the Manor totalitarian.
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Your comment was not censored; it was hung up by the software. It’s up now. Totalitarians use force to overturn the Constitution and up end free elections. We don’t do that at the Werkes. You should know that by now.
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You are all beating different sides of the SAME dead horse.
This was my reply to Mayor Dave’s “insurrection” column–
I must respectfully decline your kind invitation to join you in your hallucination.
Insurrection? Seriously? Insurrections have recognized leaders, a plan to achieve a specific goal, AND a plan of how to proceed once the goal is attained. The Jan. 6th riot lacked any perceptible, rational, plan what so ever. Trump said the things that his people wanted to hear, but no one was willing to DIE for him. The delusion that he is a “Svengali” is just that, a delusion. None of those rotting in jail for the last year woke up that morning with a realistic expectation of making it TO the Capitol Building, much less INSIDE. The ease with which that was accomplished only served to embolden them.
What the world witnessed that day is, unfortunately, a condition that all of humanity is susceptible to, MOB MENTALITY. It is all too common for ordinary people to harbor a fascination with violence and destruction to some degree or another. Their fantasies are only acted upon in the relative anonymity of a mob. It affects people of all races, political identity, economic levels, etc.
Public protests are, in general, worthless exercises. They are social events for the participants that sway no one’s opinion and accomplish nothing. ( NOTE- re: protests– Civil Rights and Women’s Suffrage were notable exceptions.) Those involving large numbers of people all have the potential to turn violent. Breaking things and fighting with cops will not change an election, it’s just a “peaceful Antifa/BLM protest” without the bricks, rocks, and firebombs. By the same token, torching buildings and injuring cops will not make the lives of Blacks matter more.
Anyone referring to Jan 6th as an insurrection needs to dial back the hyperbole, and stop being an agent for more division. With over 70 MILLION voters, THIS was the best Republicans could do? With THOUSANDS of people on site why did so few choose to participate in the “coup attempt”? Where were the follow-up attacks in the following days? Why does the FBI, to this day, say there is no indication of a coordinated plot? Why has the Justice Dept. only charged these people with “trespassing”, “interfering with an officer”,”destruction of property”and the like? I have been a Republican/Conservative (or “fascist”, as you so eloquently put it) for 50 years and I have never considered treason or sedition as an option, am I out of the loop?
I was absolutely sickened by what I witnessed from the President, Vice President , and so-called “leaders” in their solemn tribute to the “victims of Jan 6th”. (BUT, it isn’t a new idea.)
England, in 1605, was more deeply divided than we are today, but along religious lines, rather than political ones. England was, and had been for some time, a firmly Protestant controlled country. In that year, after years of abuse and anti-Catholic violence, a group of men hatched a REAL insurrection, attempting to blow up the King,his family, government officials, and Parliament itself. The so-called “Gunpowder Plot” was uncovered, the plotters were tortured, hung, drawn and quartered. The King, (James the First) decided that each year this event would be commemorated with bonfires and festivities celebrating the saving of the Monarchy. For the next 200 years the Catholics of the country were expected to stand mutely as effigies of the Pope were burned on “Guy Fawkes” night. Catholic officials were expected to voice their approval of the proceedings, lest they be accused of treason. The idea was so popular that it was exported to the American Colonies as “Pope Night”.
I now fear that the man who claimed that he would “bring us all together and unite us” wants a Republican “Guy Fawkes Night” instead. They want us to take responsibility for a bunch of angry clowns, and show contrition, no amount of which will be enough. So far it is working. Anyone who truly believes that Jan 6th belongs on the same page as Pearl Harbor or 9/11 needs to read a history book. The greatest “existential threat” facing YOUR nation, MY nation,or OUR nation is mob mentality, whether climbing through a Capitol window, or, repeating the hyperboles of others.
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