Ten GOP Congress Members Who Chose Principle over Party

All of these representatives have honored their sworn allegiance to the Constitution of The United States of America.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)

“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing,” Cheney said in statement. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio)

“The President of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution,” Gonzalez said in a statement.

Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.)

Katko issued a statement that said, “To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this President.”

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.)

“The President’s offenses, in my reading of the Constitution, were impeachable based on the indisputable evidence we already have,” she said.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)

In a statement issued Tuesday, Kinzinger said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection.”

Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.)

“President Trump> betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week,” Meijer said in a statement.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)

“I am disappointed, disgusted, and horrified by yesterday’s attacks on our U.S. Capitol. This is not the United States of America,” Newhouse said after the Capitol riot last week. “Violence of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. I can’t say that strongly enough.”

Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.)

After the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol last week, Rice tweeted, “To all my friends back home, I am fine. Capitol Police evacuated us from the Capitol Building. DC is in chaos. This will accomplish nothing. Where is the President!? He must ask people to disperse and restore calm now.”

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)

“The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next.”

Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.)

“Based on the facts before me, I have to go with my gut and vote my conscience. I voted to impeach President Trump. His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It’s time to put country over politics,” Valadao wrote on Twitter after he voted.

On the Brink of a Civil War We Will have a New President

A piece of history seems appropriate.
Near dawn February 23, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly by train in Washington, D.C. at 6 a.m. because of a rumored plot to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore. Lincoln was criticized for and later regretted the furtive manner of his arrival, but his advisors believed the danger was genuine. By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established.

Reported on Politico Nightly
Top lawmakers say they are increasingly alarmed by a rash of new threats that could once again endanger their lives. Senators received a briefing today from representatives of the Secret Service, and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and a key group of House Democratic chairs separately met with the FBI.

“Based on today’s briefing, we have grave concerns about ongoing and violent threats to our democracy,” that group of Democratic chairs said in a cryptic statement after the meeting today. The briefing included the chairs and other top members of the House Oversight, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Armed Services and Intelligence panels. “It is clear that more must be done to preempt, penetrate, and prevent deadly and seditious assaults by domestic violent extremists in the days ahead,” the statement said.

The lawmakers voiced their concerns moments after a public FBI and Justice Department briefing revealed their belief that the Jan. 6 violence could be part of a much graver, well-organized “seditious conspiracy.” A Justice Department “strike force” is seeking to assemble a sedition case against some of those involved in last week’s riot at the Capitol.

As I posted on January 10 “Trump is not done.” I heard one rioter say he would die if need be to to ensure Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20. January 17 and January 20 are the two days that are anticipated to be the next assaults on the Capitol.

An inauguration inside a secured building viewed by the public on television seems like a likely scenario on January 20 to ensure the safety of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

A Second Civil War?

Trump is not done. It seems obvious that he will do whatever it takes to retain the presidency. I mean there are no limits. There are rumors of another attack on the Capitol on January 17.

Keep your head in the sand and it will all work out

Is the United States of America on the verge of a second Civil War? Was the invasion of the Capitol the first act of that war?

A day before Capitol attack, pro-Trump crowd stormed meeting, threatened officials in rural California as reported in the Los Angeles Times. Dozens of people, unmasked, to vent their fury entered a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting.

“When Joe Biden’s long winter sets and the dark night comes in this country, do you think you’re going to get to see the dawn?” Timothy Fairfield, 44, of Shingletown asked the supervisors. “No, you will not. Flee now while you can. Because the days of your tyranny are drawing to a close, and the legitimacy of this government is waning. “When the ballot box is gone,” he added, “there is only the cartridge box. You have made bullets expensive. But luckily for you, ropes are reusable.”

The Washington Post reports “Police departments across the U.S. open probes into whether their own members took part in the Capitol riot.”

Concerns about more violent incidents appear to be well-founded. Calls for widespread protests on the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden have been rampant online for weeks. These demonstrations are scheduled to culminate with what organizers have dubbed a “Million Militia March” on Jan. 20 as Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris are to be sworn in on the same Capitol grounds that rioters overran on Wednesday.

Is this the end of the American democracy? It appears millions of Americans are willing to follow the leadership of an autocrat.

Autocrat

Cambridge English dictionary definition: A ruler with unlimited power, or someone who demands that people completely obey them. Google definition: Someone who insists on complete obedience from others; an imperious or domineering person.

Do these definitions remind you of anyone? How about Donald Trump?

Vice President Mike Pence proffered four years of loyalty to everything Trump said and did. He kept his mouth shut and praised Trump frequently. Then Pence decided to do his duty in counting the electoral ballots. Pence did the right thing. Trump attacked Pence for not having the ‘courage’ to overturn the election as the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol.

Trump has demanded total loyalty from everyone in his cabinet and others like the director of the FBI. If they dared to contradict him they were fired.

Trump fired Chris Krebs, director of CISA, after the agency released a statement that called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.”
Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Twitter and replaced him with National Counterterrorism Center Director Christopher Miller.
Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, fired via tweet. Tillerson had called Trump a moron.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was replaced with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and would take charge of the inquiry.

The list is much longer but you get the idea.

With 80 million Tweet followers Donald Trump is in his glory. Those people believe that despite his faults he deserves the admiration they give him. That is what is frightening about today.

A Chilling Attack on American Democracy

Thanks to Donald Trump’s attack on the election system of the United States, that each state operates independently, millions of Americans now believe the entire system is fraudulent.

President Trump speaking on Wednesday at a rally on the Ellipse near the White House. He urged supporters to march to the Capitol

The Republican effort to contest the presidential election results on the Senate floor this week is raising questions about how media outlets should cover the moment, and whether the Trump-supported action should be called an attempted “coup” writes Alexis Benveniste for CNN Business.

Both conservative news media and many conservative members of congress are appalled by what transpired on Capitol Hill on January 6.

Fearing what Trump might do next House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her House colleagues today that she had spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, about keeping an “unstable president” from accessing the nuclear codes.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board has joined the chorus of those in the media demanding Donald Trump resign as president. “This goes beyond merely refusing to concede defeat. In our view it crosses a constitutional line that Mr. Trump hasn’t previously crossed. It is impeachable,” the Journal wrote. “If Mr. Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign.”

Time will tell whether the takeover of Capitol was a riot, a last gasp of a renegade president or an early skirmish in a civil war. But it already is clear that Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as one of the ugliest days in U.S. history.

What more could happen in the remaining days of the Donald Trump presidency? Trump hinted at his preferred answer at the end of his Thursday address, saying, “Our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

Inciting a Riot

The right to protest is one of the oldest and most-respected rights in the American democratic system. The right of citizens to peacefully protest is protected by our First Amendment rights to free speech. Of course, there are limits to even the most important rights, and the right to protest doesn’t permit violence or the incitement to violence.

18 U.S. Code § 2102 defines a riot public disturbance involving (1) an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons, which act or acts shall constitute a clear and present danger of, or shall result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual or (2) a threat or threats of the commission of an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons having, individually or collectively, the ability of immediate execution of such threat or threats, where the performance of the threatened act or acts of violence would constitute a clear and present danger of, or would result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual.

The federal crime of rioting is punishable by fines, imprisonment for up to five years.

Donald Trump’s words were meant to incite a riot. He should be held criminally liable.

All 10 living former defense secretaries oppose military use by Trump to retain his office

This Time magazine cover was meant to be a joke. Donald Trump is serious about retaining power forever.

All 10 living former US defense secretaries — both Republicans and Democrats — wrote a Washington Post op-ed article urging President Donald Trump to refrain from using the military to interfere in the 2020 election.

The signatories stressed that involving the military in election disputes could result in criminal charges.

Trump has repeatedly suggested there may not be a peaceful transfer of power and is said to have entertained suggestions that the military step in to help him dispute the election.

The article, titled “Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory,” was signed by all 10 living former US defense secretaries, including two — Mark Esper and James Mattis — who served under President Donald Trump.

The other signees were Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, and Ashton Carter, who served under Barack Obama; Robert Gates, who served under Obama and George W. Bush; William Cohen and William Perry, who served under Bill Clinton; Dick Cheney, who served under George H.W. Bush; and Donald Rumsfeld, who served first under Gerald Ford in 1975 and was later tapped for the role under George W. Bush.

“American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy,” they wrote in The Post, adding that the administration should “refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.”

“The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,” the letter continued.

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked by Congress what, if any, role the military should have in the election. “I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical US military,” Milley said. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law, US courts and the US Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the US military. I foresee no role for the US armed forces in this process.”

It appears Donald Trump will not accept that advice. He is more likely to refuse to physically resist leaving the White House. Who will escort him out?

Is this treason?

Trump says, “I just want to find 11,780 votes” in extraordinary phone call with Georgia secretary of state

From the constitution “Before he enters the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—’I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'”

Listen to this phone call and tell me is the treason?

It Won’t be a Military Coup

Inauguration January 20 2020 without an audience thanks to COVID-19

Is it treason for senators and representatives to question the legitimacy of an election? No! However, you do need provable facts.

No one likes losing an election. There is always a winner. All the losers have to accept the results. That is the way our democracy functions. If every loser claims fraud and cheating our country will fall into chaos where the ultimate winner is the person with the most power to control the results.

After a judge tossed Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert’s baseless lawsuit that challenged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, the Trump sycophant responded by suggesting that those who live in a MAGA reality should “go to the streets” and be “violent.”

Gohmert made the dangerous remarks on the Trump-friendly “news” network Newsmax on Saturday morning while discussing his lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence that U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle dismissed on Friday.

Could Trump use the military to enforce his control? On Friday December 18, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville reiterated in a joint statement that there “is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.”

It appears that the GOP has become a circular firing squad after L. Lin Wood, a conservative attorney and Trump ally, has rejected questions about his sanity after he tweeted that Vice President Mike Pence should face a firing squad.

This Washington article explains why Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20.

Why January 6 Is a Key Date for Trump’s Election Gripes – The Washington Post

If Trump is inaugurated for a second term on January 20 it won’t be a military coup. It will be a bloodless coup. That would signify that elections don’t count. That would be the end of the greatest democracy the world has ever known.

I will be holding my breath for the next 17 days. Won’t you?