January 6th As the New July 4th
"...the detectors aren’t there to deter armed insurrectionists. Instead, those detectors are there to prevent lawmakers or their staff from trying to commit violence against each other.”
The events of January 6, 2021 now serve as a dividing line in domestic politics.
Like it or not, what we’ll see in the coming days will echo what we’ve come to expect from political holidays, hopefully sans the fireworks.
Politicians will make speeches calling on the citizenry to express their (view of) patriotism.
The Attorney General of the United States is giving a speech on January 5, and I’m assuming he’ll be trying to reassure the country of the legitimacy of the investigatory and judicial processes.
More than 700 people have been arrested, and authorities are looking at the activities of another 350. POLITICO has a new database with sentencing information, analysis and data, updated weekly.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks on The Day (Thursday).
From CNN:
The White House had said last month that it would mark the anniversary, but did not provide further details. "January 6 was one of the darkest days in our democracy," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time. "It was a day when our nation's capital was under attack, and I think there's no question you'll see us commemorate that day."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has organized a series of events for the congress, which I’m assuming few Republicans will attend. The bleats from the right side of the aisle during the insurrection will be forgotten as part of the ongoing attempt to rewrite history.
There will be a prayer and a moment of silence on the House floor followed by a "Historic Perspective" discussion featuring historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham "to establish and preserve the narrative of January 6th."
Following a series of lawmaker accounts of their personal experiences of that day there will be a prayer vigil with members of the House and Senate on the steps of the Capitol.
The Washington Post has a rather sad report on the after effects still seen at the Congress:
“A year later, the House of Representatives can still look like a crime scene some days. Five metal detectors ring the outer doors to prevent weapons from getting onto the chamber floor, including one that stands just a few feet from where a Capitol Police officer shot and killed a Jan. 6 rioter trying to crawl through a door just off the House floor.
“But the detectors aren’t there to deter armed insurrectionists. “Instead, those detectors are there to prevent lawmakers or their staff from trying to commit violence against each other.”
It’s not unreasonable to suggest that the House Select Committee will have an announcement or two, but I have no clue as to what they will be. Maybe they’ll address the subpoena envy of House members who have only seen suggestions that their testimony might be required.
Progressive activists have more than 200 vigils planned in towns and cities nationwide, mostly focusing on election reforms currently stalled in the Congress.
The San Diego events, organized by Indivisible chapters, are:
County Administration Building 1- 3pm
West Grape Street & North Harbor Drive
Southwest corner
Downtown 7-8pm
NW corner of park
Union Street & West F Street
Former President Trump will also be making a speech, which it’s safe to say will repeat his claims about the election being stolen, hoping to justify the Capitol Hill rioters. Expect him to say bad words about Nancy Pelosi and other members of congress, all of whom will be immediately inundated with death threats.
UPDATE:
https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1478505873878233089?s=20
The White Trash commemoration of January 6 will feature Steve Bannon:
On Jan. 6, he will be behind a microphone, delivering “a special edition of his podcast” with antisemitic white nationalist Darren Beattie, who was appointed to a cultural commission by Trump and who played a major role in [Tucker] Carlson’s sickening justification of the Capitol assault.
Over the last year, Bannon has portrayed those arrested in connection to events that included numerous assaults, smashing into congressional offices, threatening to hang Pence, rifling through the desks of Congress members, and smearing human feces onto the walls and floors of the Capitol building as “martyrs” to the MAGA cause and “political prisoners.”
It appears the ground troops of the Trumpy movement will be waiting until Saturday to express their victimhood.
The local manifestation of this reaction is called “Freedom Revival.” It will feature an assortment of right wing pastors and others involved in the anti-vaxx/anti-mask movement. For those of you without scorecards, the Orange County Register has a good accounting of how January 6th participants from California have leadership roles with the denialists.
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Remember how all those “civic minded” corporations promised to not donate to the 147 Congressional seditionists who swallowed their sense of decency and voted to not certify the election?
They lied:
Companies that pledged to stop or pause their political giving to these members have contributed a total of $4,785,000 to insurrectionist political groups, including $2,381,250 directly to members of the Sedition Caucus’s campaigns and leadership PACs.
There’s a list of the liars at this link.
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There’s going to be some mighty big shoes to fill:
https://twitter.com/johnmyers/status/1478125317822631937?s=20
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