So I've watched every last minute of the "January 6th Committee" on prime time t.v. here thus far. IMO they have done an extremely thorough job at fleshing out with a fine tooth comb not only the events of January 6 from an insider point of view, but the chronology of events leading up to that national embarrassment as well.
I don't think the democrat led committee will ever get the scalp they have so longed for through two impeachments, and now this; but I believe they have shown very clearly that Donald Trump's self absorbed narcissism runs so deep as to be borderline sociopathic, that he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, and we already knew that he'll throw even his most loyal supporters (see Vice Prestident Mike Pence) under the bus the first time they dare say no to him.
Like I said, they're not going to get the man on any criminal charges, there is too much that goes into the vague realms of state of mind. But, I do wish there were some mechanism here based on a Japanese like idea of public shame, where once triggered, the guilty party is hereby the object of national shame. Deep shame would follow someone who abused their power such as he did for the rest of his life, with zero chance of ever getting near a lever of power ever again, not even dog catcher.
Having said all that, and to the title of this thread, there is a whole other side of January 6th that this committee will not ever touch with even the proverbial ten foot pole. That's because the real mission of this committee is less about what happened that day, and more about finally getting the scalp of "Orange Jesus", they're blinded by their hatred of him so much, that they're perfectly will to totally ignore the other side of "how do we make it so this never happens again!"
Here's a good brief synopsis of what I'm pointing to. The committee has left no stone unturned in showing how blatant the signals were weeks ahead of time that something bad was going to happen that day, hell I even half expected some shit to go down, so as Leonard Cohen put it "Everybody Knows":
But here's the glaring omission, the prancing naked emperor so to speak. Where was the beefed up security to be ready for what they knew was coming? How else do you "make it so that this never happens again"? You beef up security accordingly. Obviously.
But not to these people.
It also says intelligence leaders kept seasoned analysts from assessing Jan. 6-related threat reports and that leaders “essentially dismantled” a unit that analyzes online posts.
In the run-up to Jan. 6, online message boards and social media platforms brimmed with violent messages directed towards lawmakers on Jan. 6 as users stated their intentions to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The number of online threats exploded when then-President Donald Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020 about protesting on Jan. 6: “Be there, will be wild!” Post after post by extremists called for murdering legislators by name, as well as blanket killings. TikTok users in late December 2020 called for snipers to gun down police on Jan. 6, and to “storm the capital building,” and “hang” politicians. All of this and more was in the possession of the Capitol Police’s intelligence division, according to emails reviewed by POGO and sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they said they fear retaliation.
The Capitol Police has also noted that their organization was not alone in failing to contemplate a large-scale attack on Congress, although it is the only US law enforcement agency with a singular mission to protect the Capitol and federal lawmakers.
The Capitol Police “expected and planned for violence from some protesters with ties to domestic terrorist organizations,” according to a previous statement, “but nobody in the law enforcement or intelligence communities imagined, on top of that threat, Americans who were not affiliated with those groups would cause the mayhem to metastasize to a volume uncontrollable for any single law enforcement agency.”
But given the vast number of public online posts focused on violently attacking Congress that were in possession of the Capitol Police, critics say more imagination was needed. “There should be people in the Capitol Police who think the unthinkable,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) last December.
Amid all the finger-pointing, it’s clear that the Capitol Police failed in the run-up to Jan. 6. But the public still does not have a full answer why.
So the committee is hyper interested in any every minute facet of January 6 that can be pinned of Trump, but the interest level doesn't even blip the meter on the big security "blunder".
They're not at all interested in this kind of thing either:
The U.S. Capitol Police has suspended six officers with pay for their actions on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory, according to a department statement.
An additional 29 officers remain under investigation as part of the department's ongoing probe into the events that unfolded that day.
"The investigation into the January 6 attack remains under investigation. Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the actions of 35 police officers from that day. We currently have suspended six of those officers with pay," the department said in a statement.
Videos from the day of the attack appear to show some officers escorting rioters inside the building. In one video, USCP officers can be seen opening barricades allowing the mob to enter the Capitol complex without resistance.
It seemed to me from the last one that DJT and accomplices made sure there was no “security”, no? The secret service seems fine letting him, and are still willing to try to cover up his crimes. We know they COULD put a big security force, any hint of BLM and a giant military force is there. What exactly are you implying Fred? Trump’s side is not responsible for the security failure on the coup he planned?
He sure thought it was good enough to go down there with them and take his place amongst the “his people” the rioters and their weapons as king of the hogs…
Same here in NZ Donk, preplanned politics as we move towards next elections, media slowly turning against the current dumpster fire and the opposition getting better coverage but many here know the usual play book and saying no to either now, this is happening in USA also atm imo but much slower as Trump has a base their very strong and current openly corrupt past and present by usual suspects holding strings.
It seemed to me from the last one that DJT and accomplices made sure there was no “security”, no?
Well, if it was the case that Trump and company somehow purposely made sure there was limited security on that day of national embarrassment, this committee would be all over that like stink on shit, but obviously IMO, they ignore that glaring detail because it doesn't follow with their agenda of "Impeachment 3".
Now again, let me be reiterate, this is by no means in defense of Captain Chaos. Just that (IMO) this is all about the dems looking for a third shot at getting his scalp, in painting a picture of the mayhem being solely his responsibility, so in the narrative of "how can we prevent this from ever happening again?", digging into the comparative total lack of security would surely be pointing the finger of guilt at other places besides the sole target.
Originally posted by donk
The secret service seems fine letting him, and are still willing to try to cover up his crimes.
The Secret Service does that for every president.
Originally posted by donk
We know they COULD put a big security force, any hint of BLM and a giant military force is there.
Ha! That's my shining example! Plenty of force on hand for that DC, BLM protest, but that's the way it always is when the little guy is trying to have his say.
Originally posted by donk
What exactly are you implying Fred? Trump’s side is not responsible for the security failure on the coup he planned?
Absolutely.
And I don't think for one second Trump planned it, he's not smart enough for that, he was only along for the ride getting his "ideas" from internet sourced Qanon type shit. This other picture the committee is trying to paint which is Orange Jesus being some kitty stroking, criminal mastermind from a James Bond type thriller, is friggin ridiculous on the face of it.
Not looking at sides here Phil, as I detest both of them, just looking at this whole mess objectively leads me believe that deep state type powers had interest in allowing/fostering that protest of deluded people to run the course to its fullest extent.
Some high up people wanted that to happen.
Originally posted by donk
He sure thought it was good enough to go down there with them and take his place amongst the “his people” the rioters and their weapons as king of the hogs…
True.
But here's the thing. We could make a drinking game out of how often this committee mentions the magickal word "weapons", but in a jurisdiction where 2nd Amendment rights are flatly denied, how anyone with a weapon beyond a flagpole wasn't immediately arrested by Capitol Police is astonishing, to say the very least. It's being presented as "there's people with weapons all over the place, and not a damn thing we can do about that!"
And another question: How come not a single firearm was ever videoed inside the Capitol building? For a "well planned coup", that wasn't very useful...