WORDS: 1,693 — Trumpian Republicans don’t enjoy reading ‘fact check” sources, and when they do it’s just an exercise in defensive anti-Trump distraction for them. Ignore the facts to save their leader. Another world is created. But one seldom, if ever, sees Conservative-based fact checking. Why is that, do you think? Today is Jan 6th, one year later. It’s good to review, and reflect… and consider how YOU will use your vote to save our Republic.
This post will essentially be my summarization of a recent CNN article that fact checks the “Five enduring lies about the Capitol insurrection” . Absolutely, I follow CNN as one of my own trusted cable news sources. To the Right, Trumpians consider CNN one of the more greater purveyors of lies and conspiracists to obscure the truth…. about anything Trump or Trump devotees. But rest assured, I do not accept blanketly everything they report, nor do I accept all the talking head analysis as being sound. It’s like visiting your doctor… you generally accept he’s knowledgeable to do the job because he has a good rep for being accurate in his diagnosis and treatment, and good bedside manner. Yet when he says you have a medical condition you simply don’t just accept it, and a new med prescription. You don’t walk into a doctor’s office and simply declare… “Cure me, Doc.. give it your best shot.” You ask questions that matter to you, not only regarding the diagnosis, but also his treatment and possible reactions from medications. If not satisfied, you get a second opinion. Let’s keep in mind something before we start here. CNN is far from being gospel news reporting. In fact, like most news networks these days, they mix news with talking head opinion which is far from objective (not intended to be), almost as quick as the news is presented. It’s left up to the viewer to determine the takeaway value of the news. In other words, critically think what makes sense to you. There is no free ride, one-stop news source that gets-it-right-every-time.
Ok.. that’s out of the way. Let’s get to the meat of this post… and the Fact Check by CNN’s Daniel Dale and Marshall Cohen. There are five lies…
Lie #1: The rioters were completely unarmed
Lie #2: The rioters were merely protesting a ‘rigged’ election
Lie #3: The rioters were invited to the Capitol by police
Lie #4: The jailed rioters are nonviolent political prisoners
Lie #5: January 6 was a false flag attack
Let’s go……
Lie #1: The rioters were completely unarmed
Trump and some of his allies continue to claim that all of the people at the Capitol on January 6 were unarmed. In a December 21 statement, Trump called January 6 a “completely unarmed protest.” Similarly, in a tweet on December 17, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote, “One of the biggest holes in the lie about J6 being a planned insurrection is that all the people there were unarmed. Anyone with half a brain knows that gun owners only leave their firearms at home when they don’t feel the need to carry a gun or are obeying the law.”
Facts First: It’s not even close to true that all of the people at the Capitol on January 6 were unarmed — and the claim is still false even if it is specifically about guns. People who illegally entered Capitol grounds during the insurrection were armed with a wide variety of weapons, including guns, stun guns, knives, batons, baseball bats, axes and chemical sprays. The Department of Justice said in an official update last week that so far “over 75” people charged in connection to the attack “have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.”
[There is greater detail explanation of facts, including examples of some charged with having weapons, should you go read the entire article HERE.]
Lie #2: The rioters were merely protesting a ‘rigged’ election
Trump called on his supporters to come to Washington on January 6 for a “wild” protest against President Joe Biden’s victory, which Trump falsely claimed was fraudulent. During his rally speech on the morning of January 6, Trump pushed that election lie, directed supporters to march to the Capitol and urged them to “fight like hell.” After the insurrection, Trump continued to repeat the election lie for months — and adapted it to minimize what had happened at the Capitol. In an October statement, he claimed that the “real insurrection” was the 2020 election and January 6 was simply a “day of protesting.” (He also made similar claims later in the year.)Facts First: Both parts of Trump’s claim are obvious lies. The election wasn’t rigged and wasn’t fraudulent; Biden won fair and square; there was a tiny smattering of voter fraud that was nowhere near widespread enough to have changed the outcome in any state, let alone to have reversed Biden’s 306-232 victory in the Electoral College. And the insurrection of January 6 — in which approximately 140 police officers were assaulted and the peaceful transfer of power was violently interrupted — involved thousands of alleged crimes; it was, very clearly, no mere protest.
Lie #3: The rioters were invited into the Capitol by policeA common refrain from January 6 rioters, and some of their Republican defenders, is that they were welcomed into the Capitol by police officers. Trump said in a book interview in March that “the Capitol Police were ushering people in” and “the Capitol Police were very friendly. You know, they were hugging and kissing.” The claim has been echoed by Trump supporters. For example, Trump-endorsed Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake declared at a Trump rally in October that the people being held in jail over the Capitol attack “were invited in by Capitol Police.”Facts First: The claim that the rioters were invited into the Capitol is false. Again, about 140 police officers were assaulted while trying to stop the mob from breaching the Capitol. There were hours-long battles between police and rioters near some entrances. CNN obtained footage from police body-worn cameras showing how dozens of officers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with rioters in a desperate effort to keep them out of the building.
Lie #4: The jailed rioters are nonviolent political prisonersOne of the most prevalent counter-narratives about January 6 is that a large number of nonviolent people who were present at the Capitol are being unfairly prosecuted by liberal zealots at the Justice Department, and that these nonviolent people have now become “political prisoners” while awaiting trial in jail. Such claims have emerged as a rallying cry among a small but vocal cohort of Trump loyalists in the House Republican conference.Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar claimed in July that jailed rioters who had supposedly spent time in solitary confinement “are not unruly or dangerous, violent criminals” but are “political prisoners who are now being persecuted”; he suggested that there are “nearly 200” nonviolent Capitol participants behind bars. And the pro-Trump group behind September’s “Justice for J6” rally said its event was meant “to bring awareness and attention to the unjust and unethical treatment of nonviolent January 6 political prisoners.”Facts First: This “political prisoners” narrative is false. The vast majority of the 700-plus people charged in the Capitol riot to date were released shortly after their arrests. Only a few dozen were ordered by judges to remain in jail before trial, and most of those defendants were charged with attacking police or conspiring with far-right militia groups.[Jail conditions? Federal judge ruling? More detail HERE.]
Lie #5: January 6 was a false flag attackBefore the Capitol was even cleared of rioters on January 6, some prominent Trump supporters started to try to deflect blame — claiming that left-wing Antifa, a loose collection of self-described anti-fascists, was actually behind the violence.Such “false flag” theories — that the violence was secretly orchestrated by Trump’s opponents in an attempt to make Trump look bad — never went away. And the theories have expanded to include claims that the violence was orchestrated by the Black Lives Matter movement or even by an arm of the federal government itself, the FBI.Fox News host Tucker Carlson has promoted false flag theories, focusing on the FBI, both in his own remarks and in his revisionist documentary series on a Fox streaming service in November. Carlson has claimed on his show that government documents showed that “FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on January 6.” Former Army Capt. Emily Rainey said in the documentary (and in a trailer Carlson tweeted out): “It is my opinion that false flags have happened in this country, one of which may have been January 6.”And Trump himself has given oxygen to the theories, claiming in a December interview with ring-wing commentator Candace Owens, “You have BLM and you had Antifa people, I have very little doubt about that, and they were antagonizing and they were agitating.Facts First: The insurrection at the Capitol was not a false flag. Just as it looked on January 6, a mob of diehard Trump supporters stormed the building. They did so after Trump urged supporters to come to Washington and then, as we noted above, made a speech urging them to “fight like hell” and to march to the Capitol. The rioters’ allegiance to Trump has been exhaustively documented in court proceedings and in their social media posts and media interviews.[No false flags to see here. More detail HERE.]
I hope you too will follow your own advice and think what YOU will do.
Very true.. and given the players in the next two election cycles can change with the unknown events ahead, we really won’t know until we get there. The only assurance is that if I am still upright and breathing when the time comes I WILL exercise my vote.
Always confirm any reports that you read…..2022 will be disastrous and 2024 smells bad as well. chuq
You are correct, chuq. Outllok is grim.
I will be writing about how stupid the internet has made us……a little later…..chuq
Oh yes.. you will give it.. the Internet… its notable due commentary.
I will try my friend chuq
I’m honestly shocked, that the major party I used to believe contained more reason and integrity….now has so utterly latched on to the lies of charlatans, hucksters and grifters…..as well as trying to “out-victimhood” the Left. It’s pretty sad.
This is not Conservatism. Call it Trumpism…call it whatever you’d like…..but this is not Conservatism.
Otherwise, good rollup of the lies about the event that was spawned by lies about the election.
Yeah, Jeff.. the Party of Lincoln, Reagan, etc. has vanished. Yet events may carry with it different outcomes. Hope? Perhaps.
I’m half pessimist / half arsonist.
I don’t think the political landscape will get any better, rather that the current trajectory will continue it’s downward spiral……..and I rather welcome it. Having the future of this Republic determined by two corrupt and inept political machines….I tend to think it’s time for a do-over.
Valid, Jeff. Which brings up the idea.. how does the nation do that do-over?
Heh…..not easily.
The only peaceful way that I can foresee it happening, is for the electorate somewhat uniformly decide that the Duopoly has antithetical to the ideals of the Founders vision for the Republic, and refuse to participate in the charade a longer.
However, our electorate is by and large, to risk-averse, not entirely cognizant of the problem….and generally happy enough that they still get to be fat & lazy, and bitch about the ‘other side’.
I no longer consider myself affiliated with either party. I ascribe to what my father taught me, vote for the best person not party. So having said that I am Independent after last year’s farce. The whole situation which was disturbing to say the least is the lies that were told then and now. Thought I am not a fan of Liz Cheney it is in my opinion wrong the way she was demonized because she was not a “Trump Lover.” Now she made many mistakes herself, but who hasn’t. None of us are perfect. However, when these people in power represent us, which they should – instead they only care about themselves and their party. As to the “insurrection,” it is over. Let’s just move on.
Good post Doug.
Oh dear.. “It’s over, let’s just move on?”. I doubt the country is over anything at the moment… on either side. Please share your thoughts. I don’t have that many followers to raise hell with what you post in here.. and I am certainly quite accommodating. I’m no Type A blogmeister. 🙂
Too funny Doug. Now do not do desperate on me or I will get worried about you! 🙂
Seriously speaking I just believe it is past. Biden has messed up so much and Harris is as bad as he is if not worse. We need to focus on our economy, people struggling to make it, get the trucks rolling with goods and our stores filled to the brim. As for COVID no one can say where it will take us, but you cannot legislate morality or a vaccine, once this nation does that, then we become communist for sure or worse. People are losing it and it is not due to lockdowns or January 6, 2021. It is due to, as Margorie Taylor Greene put it when she addressed the chair, that the congress and senate do not care about the American people. There is the issue, that is the problem and that needs a solution. The rest is Kool-Aid.
Now that you’ve had the pleasure to get me to rant, and I have no doubt you will rant back all I ask is to be kind. I always agree to disagree.
Where the heck did my post go? Ugh… I typed up a reply to you and it vanished. Let’s try again… it’s always the longer ones. :/
Or did I post over on your side?
(I found it!)
I’m not a rant-er in general, although I feel I can have my days. My TV takes a lot of abuse. I think it’s all about not WHAT you believe these days but rather HOW you believe it. But to your basic premise, Congress not doing it’s job in being responsive to the people… you got my vote on that one. Being more a self-proclaimed humanist I might tend to suggest that the overall Congressional priorities are not in sync at with public needs.. and most certainly the current volatility of the great divide is not only inhibiting but becoming more destructive. As for Greene… um……..
You do have some leanings to the Right… mine is apparently more Left… but I am more truly anti-Trump. Independent seems to reveal all political “colors”.
However, when these people in power represent us, which they should – instead they only care about themselves and their party.
Well said.
*though
Thanks, at Constitutional Insurgent.
From over here, it seems that all the lies are still being recycled, embellished, and continue to be spouted. I cannot see that anything has ‘gone away’.
Best wishes, Pete.
Doug,
From what I discerned about the Jan 6 insurrection is if you can riot anywhere else in the USA, and Washinton won’t say or do anything. Sad.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
I know that’s the constant deflective of Trumpians.. BLM riots, blah-blah… which suggests you could care less about a bunch of Trump people, who sole intent was not to burn down their own neighborhoods but rather to travel to D.C. with the intent of disrupting Congress in session, threatening the lives, and building a gallows, for the Vice President.. all having been incited by a sitting president to obstruct the transition of power and defy the Constitution. I’m sorry…. and these other riots compare to that? What planet you on? One might ask you… where’s your basic citizenship patriotism?
As I am writing this.. 11 Oath Keepers are being charged with actual seditious conspiracy. What civil riot that you wish to deflect to has that level of importance?
Doug.
If we want to assig a weight factor comnarison How about we begin by targeting how .many people died in a riot and work on that factor.
I dont know the statistics but seem to remember numbers in the thousands compared to one death of a women invader in the capita riot.
Regards and goodwiil blogging
I think the issue has been from Day 1 that the D.C. “riot” was incited against the Capitol Building during Congressional sessions to certify votes.
Trump people have used comparative excuses that some riots included destruction of government property in various cities… under the presumption that a government building in a city and the business it conducts is on equal footing as attacking the seat of Constitutional government carrying out a specific Constitutional function. Sorry.. local civil riots fall under local jurisdiction, municipal or state. Damage or crimes against a federal building is FBI. Likely far more close in video available in the Capitol Building to make charges against the insurgents. Nonetheless….this is not comparing the numbers of deaths. It’s all about what the intent was. And no.. there were not “thousands” of deaths in the civil riots.
Bottom line.. the Capitol players were all pissed off white people that bought into Trump’s Big Lie… and their intent was to defy the Constitutional process in action. Insurrectionists plain and simple.
Doug,
Thanks for your sympathy, as you stated: “Sorry. local civil riots fall under local jurisdiction, municipal or state.”
I cannot disagree with your statement that there is an obvious different justice scale in the USA if you violate the same offence in a State of Washington DC.
So much for the belief that:” justice is blind” in the USA.
Thanks for straightening me out and your sympathy.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
It’s a matter of jurisdiction, Rudy. Simple fact… a murder in one state has entirely different consequences than being tried for murder in another state. I didn’t write the damn laws. I personally think that the greatest loss of personal Constitutional freedom is being killed by another person.. and to me all murders should be a federal crime. No question that would require an FBI and Justice Dept. to double its size to address the workload. But morally, if someone kills me they are denying me my Constitutional freedoms.. and that should be a federal offense…. not left up to some good-old-boy network in some rural county.