If you still think Democrats still think ex-President Donald Trump’s speech incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, you aren’t paying attention. The claim was impeachment bait that expired when the former president was acquitted.
Ever since, Dems have been shifting toward another politically convenient bogeyman. Their latest claim is that there was nothing spontaneous about the riot, that it was a plot from the start.
“It was a planned insurrection, we know that now,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said after a Tuesday congressional hearing. A fellow Dem, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, echoed her, calling the riot “domestic terrorism” by white supremacists and others. He likened the intelligence failure to see it coming to the failure to stop 9/11.
As Lily Tomlin once said, “No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.”
So it is now as Dems keep finding ways to use Jan. 6 for partisan purposes. Even something as awful as that day cannot be treated honestly and with facts, lest a crisis go to waste.
In the real world, there is room enough for there to be truth about Trump’s provocative speech playing a role and also the role of planned rioters. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
But by treating them as if they are, Dems and a few Republicans are creating the false impression that there is one explanation for the entire event and one motivation that unites all participants. It’s just that the one explanation they cite keeps changing, depending on their political needs of the moment.
They focused exclusively on Trump for impeachment, and now are focused on what they call domestic terrorists as they aim to turn the national intelligence apparatus away from foreign terrorists to focus more on Americans.
The result is they lack credibility on both counts.
To a TV viewer on Jan. 6, the obvious differences in the crowd revealed differences in motive. Some people dressed in fatigues, came armed with crowbars and baseball bats, engaged in combat with police officers and wreaked havoc inside the building.
Most others waved Trump and American flags and had a holiday air as they strolled around the Capitol like well-behaved tourists. Similarly, some police officers fought like hell to keep people out of the Capitol, while others politely opened doors for them.
Yet too many in Washington are trying to obliterate rather than reconcile those crucial differences. In addition, they are taking a curious vow of silence about the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
Recall that early reports said Sicknick died after being struck on the head by a fire extinguisher thrown by a rioter, and House impeachment managers mentioned his death in unveiling their case against Trump. Sicknick’s remains were laid in honor at the Capitol Rotunda, with President Biden and congressional leaders in attendance, effectively turning the 42-year-old into a martyr.
However, the fire-extinguisher reports were debunked and the supposed FBI hunt for a killer faded from the news after police said he did not suffer blunt-force trauma. Complicating matters further, media reports said Sicknick texted his brother on the evening of Jan. 6 and said that while he had been pepper-sprayed twice, he was fine.
Later, he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital, where he died the next day before his family could arrive.
This week, his mother, Gladys, told the Daily Mail the family still doesn’t know the cause of death.
by Michael Goodwin
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES
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