January 6th One Year Later

On this date one year ago, January 6th 2021, something happened. 

There are several truths surrounding the events of that date:

1) It DID happen!

2) We know it was a BAD thing!!

3) We know who STARTED it!!!

4) We know who DID it!!!!

And yet one year later there are those who would call into question almost any one of those truths surrounding the violent insurrection against the US Capitol on January 6th 2021.

• Millions of Americans watched these events on live television.
•  Police officers testified to the violence and chaos unleashed on that day. 
• Criminal proceedings in open court detailed what happened.

Yet lies persists in defiance of the evidence of our own eyes.

Hoaxes and conspiracy theories run rampant to rewrite history.

For example this line of bull shit: The rioters weren’t Trump supporters.   

Laura Ingraham began working that angle that same night on her Fox News program:  “Earlier today, the Capitol was under siege by people who can only be described as antithetical to the MAGA movement. They were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports that antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd.”

The fact is there so many who were more than willing to brag about their participation in this attack on the Capitol on Facebook and why, to help Donald Trump.  

The conceit for many propagating the idea that the Trump supporters attacking the Capitol were not Trump supporters was because Trump supporters are pro-police and believe in law and order and wouldn't do stuff like that. 

Their own photos posted online posing with artillery with not so veiled threats to take action against those they said done Trump wrong  certainly undermines the argument that these are peaceful people who are not prone to violence.  

But that does not stop this particular lie from persisting.

 Rep. Matt Gaetz: "Some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa."  

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has spread the idea that the FBI orchestrated the riot. 

Neither Carlson or Gaetz have disavowed these statements. 

Trump supporter Derrick Evans might take offense as being dismissed as an FBI stooge or Antifa.  Evans streamed live video of himself as he illegally entered the Capitol: “They’re making an announcement now saying if Pence betrays us you better get your mind right because we’re storming the building.  The door is cracked! … We’re in, we’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”  

The people who attacked the Capitol were Trump supporters. They told us so. 

But was it even an attack? Yep, there are Republicans who claim the events of January were not violent.  

Dozens of police officers were grabbed, beaten, tased, injured while be screamed at by the encroaching mob that the officers were traitors to their country.

The mob committed several acts of vandalism while shouting threats to do bodily harm to Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi and others.

There were witnesses. There's audio and video.

And yet...

Sen. Ron Johnson:  “By and large it was a peaceful protest, except for there were a number of people, basically agitators, that whipped the crowd and breached the Capitol." 

Rep. Andrew Clyde, after watching video footage of rioters walking through the Capitol: "It resembled a “normal tourist visit.”

Donald Trump called the insurrection a display of  “spirit and faith and love.”

This display of “spirit and faith and love" broke windows and doors, stole items from offices and caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage. Outside the Capitol someone set up a gallows with a noose.

Rep. Liz Cheney called bullshit on the idea that the events of January 6th 2021 were not violent: “The notion that this was somehow a tourist event is disgraceful and despicable.  And, you know, I won’t be part of whitewashing what happened on Jan. 6. Nobody should be part of it. And people ought to be held accountable.”

But nobody in the Republican Party listens to her anymore. 

There are Republicans who claim that whatever happened, hey, it wasn't Donald Trump's fault.

What the hell? Really?  

 Trump did NOT encourage the riot?!?!

What the unholy fuck!!! 

Donald Trump's tweet on December 19th, 2020: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

While addressing the crowd on January 6th, Trump said this: “We fight. We fight like hell!  And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

In an interview with Fox News last month, Li'l Donnie had this commentary on his involvement with the events of that day: “I wasn’t involved in that, and if you look at my words and what I said in the speech, they were extremely calming actually."

An admonition to "fight like hell" is NOT "extremely calming".

Never mind actual words, Trump has never addressed his circle jerk rallies with a tone of voice anyone would describe as "extremely calming", frequently bellowing about his myriad perceived slights and the alleged misdeeds of others, etc etc etc. 

Trump was definitely in bellicose voice on January 6th.

But of course Trump is trying to minimize his involvement with the events of that day, ever true to his cowardly demeanor.  Li'l Donnie is perfectly willing to say or do anything to serve his own self interests (such as stoking up an angry crowd in defense of his own wounded ego) but is also perfectly willing to say or do anything to protect his own self interests (such as being held criminally liable for his earlier actions).  

Li'l Donnie is perfectly willing to have an angry mob rise up in his name unless it's going to be made to answer for it and suddenly, the angry mob can go fuck themselves. Trump is gonna always cover his own ass. 

And this is just some of the lies being spread around by Donald Trump, his family, the Republican Party and a multitude of sycophantic supporters on Fox, Newsmax, OAN and other outlets.   

It seems so absurd that we have to fight so hard to hold those accountable for what we saw and heard with our own eyes and ears on January 6th and the days leading up to it. But with so many people on various platforms loudly proclaiming that what we saw and heard is not what we saw and heard, we cannot forget, MUST not forget these basic truths:

1) It DID happen!

2) We know it was a BAD thing!! 

3) We know who STARTED it!!!

4) We know who DID it!!!!