Republican Party declares insurrection and coup attempts are part of "legitimate political discourse"

A number of times on this blog I have pointed out how the actions of the Republican Party and their support of the Insurrection after January 6th meant that the party supports calls to terrorism and coup attempts as part of their political strategy.

Now, they have explicitly admitted it.

The Republican National Committee (the organization which administers the Republican Party) OFFICIALLY declared that they consider the events of January 6th a "legitimate political discourse".

They have fully acknowledged that COUP ATTEMPTS ARE A "LEGITIMATE" PART OF THEIR POLITICAL STRATEGY. Not just the Coup Vote--but the Insurrection itself--where Trumpists murdered and mutilated cops and nearly murdered politicians (including the Vice President). According to the Republican Party, the Insurrection itself is part of that "legitimate political discourse".

Again, this was obvious long before. But now they have explicitly admitted it. They are so sure they will face no consequences that they are willing to admit it to the entire world. They are willing to announce to the entire world that the US is in danger of imminent collapse from an impending coup attempt. ...The US has invaded other nations to "restore" their stability for far less.

No more excuses. Lock these LITERAL TERRORISTS up. One of our two political parties officially embraces terrorism and coup attempts. That is no longer just a "hot take" by bloggers and journalists--the Republican Party has formally admitted it themselves.

If the Democratic Party and so-called Justice Department do nothing against the Republican leaders who have EXPLICITLY embraced coup attempts and bloody insurrection as part of their OFFICIAL party strategy, then the Democratic Party is just as complicit in the treason as Republicans.

There is no turning back now. I've said it multiple times before, but there really is no conceivable way to turn back now. The Republican Party could have thrown Trump under the bus, even after years of supporting him. They even could have thrown the 147 treasonous politicians who voted to overthrow the government under the bus, even after years of supporting them.

But now the Republican Party itself has enshrined insurrection and coup attempts as part of their "legitimate political discourse". They are officially supportive of terrorism. There is no way to tip-toe around this. There is no legal justification for their continued existence as a political party now that they have once again issued their official support for seditious and treasonous acts, yet they continue to make our laws because the other political party is apparently in full support of the Republicans' goals...

***

Buckle up. The Republican Party is not going to spare our lives the next time they launch a coup attempt. Days ago, Trump told his followers they need to launch insurrections more bloody than the one on January 6th in cities across the nation--and then he will pardon them once he takes power again... These terrorists are planning to slaughter every one of us.

We MUST prepare to defend ourselves from these terroristic plans. Non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) get armed NOW, train NOW, and organize with other non-treasonous Americans in our community NOW. It will be too late to defend ourselves if we wait.

***

Here is the relevant portion of the Republican National Committee's censure of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, released on February 4, 2022, where the party endorsed the tactic of insurrection.

This day and this document will go down in history as one of the gravest moments in US history... There is no turning back when one of our two major parties releases something so openly anti-American.

"WHEREAS, Winning back the majority in Congress, including the United States House of Representatives, in 2022 must be the primary goal of the House Republican Conference (“Conference”) and requires all Republicans working together to accomplish the same;

[...]

WHEREAS, The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022;

[...]

WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference."

The entire (quite short) censure can be read below:
https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/rnc-censure-resolution/58226d40412e4f18/full.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/04/us/rnc-resolution-censure-cheney-kinziger.html

***

Here is the New York Times article which went along with their publication of the resolution:

"The Republican Party on Friday officially declared the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and events that led to it “legitimate political discourse,” and rebuked two lawmakers in the party who have been most outspoken in condemning the deadly riot and the role of Donald J. Trump in spreading the election lies that fueled it.

The Republican National Committee’s voice vote to censure Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City culminated more than a year of vacillation, which started with party leaders condemning the Capitol attack and Mr. Trump’s conduct, then shifted to downplaying and denying it.

On Friday, the party went further in a resolution slamming Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger for taking part in the House investigation of the assault, saying they were participating in “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”"

After the vote to condemn Cheney, Kinzinger, and the January 6th Select Committee was released, Republican leaders quickly back-peddled to claim that they were only affirming their coup attempt, and not the Insurrectionists themselves. But they have fooled no one. They voted to officially affirm that investigating the Insurrection means "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

They OFFICIALLY embraced the Insurrection as "legitimate political discourse". They cannot back-peddle on that without arresting all the Republicans who organized and supported the coup attempt and Insurrection.

"After the vote, party leaders rushed to clarify that language, saying it was never meant to apply to rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in Mr. Trump’s name.

“Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line,” Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, said in a statement. “They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.”

But the censure, which was carefully negotiated in private among party members, made no such distinction, nor is the House committee investigating the attack examining any normal political debate. It was the latest and most forceful effort by the Republican Party to minimize what happened and the broader attempt by Mr. Trump and his allies to invalidate the results of the 2020 election. In approving it and opting to punish two of its own, Republicans seemed to embrace a position that many of them have only hinted at: that the assault and the actions that preceded it were acceptable.

It came days after Mr. Trump suggested that, if re-elected in 2024, he would consider pardons for those convicted in the Jan. 6 attack and for the first time described his goal that day as subverting the election results, saying in a statement that Vice President Mike Pence “could have overturned the election.”

On Friday, Mr. Pence pushed back on Mr. Trump, calling his assertion “wrong.”

“I had no right to overturn the election,” Mr. Pence told the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization, at a gathering in Florida.

[...]

“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, wrote on Twitter “Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”

He did not mention that the party chairwoman who presided over the meeting and orchestrated the censure resolution, Ms. McDaniel, is his niece.

The censure was also condemned by Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, who, like Mr. Romney, voted to remove Mr. Trump from office for inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, and Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, also a Republican, who called Friday “a sad day for my party — and the country.”

Republican National Committee members defended the measure, describing people who have been questioned by the Jan. 6 committee as victims in a broader Democratic effort to keep focus on the attack at the Capitol.

[...]

The Jan. 6 committee, which has seven Democratic members, has interviewed more than 475 witnesses, the vast majority of whom either volunteered to testify or agreed to without a subpoena. It has no prosecutorial powers, and is charged with drawing up a report and producing recommendations to prevent anything similar from happening again.

[...]

Democrats, however, were incensed at the resolution’s language.

“The Republican Party is so off the deep end now that they are describing an attempted coup and a deadly insurrection as political expression,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and a member of the special House committee investigating the Capitol attack. “It is a scandal that historians will be aghast at, to think that a major political party would be denouncing Liz Cheney for standing up for the Constitution and not saying anything about Donald Trump’s involvement in the insurrection.”

[...]

The censure resolution was watered down from an initial version that called directly for the House Republican Conference to “expel” Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger “without delay.” That demand was dropped. However, the language condemning the attack on “legitimate political discourse” was then added."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/politics/republicans-jan-6-cheney-censure.html

According to the New York Times article, the Republican Party's resolution would have originally expelled both Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the party immediately. They decided to remove that demand and affirm that the Insurrection was "legitimate political discourse" instead. ...That's even worse.

Expelling members of your party isn't a criminal act. But declaring that bloody coup attempts are "legitimate political discourse" is treasonous.

***

Once again:

"Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse"

Here is the "legitimate political discourse" of January 6th:

Some modern artists literally smeared shit around the Capitol as part of their abstract, avant-garde "legitimate political discourse".

Someone disabled the panic buttons in Representative Ayanna Pressley's office immediately prior to the Insurrection as part of the preparations to have a "legitimate political discourse" with her.

Trump's lawyer (and coup organizer) Rudy Giuliani told Trump's followers they needed to have a "trial by combat" as part of their "legitimate political discourse".

Representative Lauren Boebert Tweeted Nancy Pelosi's location to Insurrectionists so they could find her and have a "legitimate political discourse" with her.

Boebert also gave people reconnaissance tours in the weeks prior to the Insurrection, presumably in order to show people the best places to have a "legitimate political discourse".

Trump delayed the National Guard, despite Republican politicians begging for their lives, so Insurrectionists could have more time to hold their "legitimate political discourse" with politicians trapped in the Capitol.

An Insurrectionist stole a computer from Nancy Pelosi's office and tried to sell it to the Russians, as part of the "legitimate political discourse".

Insurrectionists ransacked documents from unmarked offices that were difficult even for Capitol employees to find, demonstrating they were polite enough to plan ahead before they engaged in their "legitimate political discourse".

**

Members of the far-right terrorist group Oath Keepers were charged with seditious conspiracy after engaging in a mere "legitimate political discourse". Court documents reveal they had weapon caches ready to be deployed as part of their "legitimate political discourse", and according to those same documents they wanted to a "civil war".

""We aren't going through this without civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body and spirit," Rhodes allegedly said in a November 5, 2020, Signal message. In December, Rhodes -- according to the indictment -- wrote of the electoral college certification that "there is no standard political or legal way out of this."

[...]

Additionally, the indictment says that Oath Keepers from three different states, including newly charged Edward Vallejo, stashed weapons in a Virginia hotel as part of a quick reaction force.

"[Quick reaction force] teams were prepared to rapidly transport firearms and other weapons into Washington, D.C., in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power," the indictment said.

[...]

Those alleged discussions include a November readout that Caldwell reached out to provide Rhodes about a November 9 trip he had taken to DC to do recon for an upcoming "op." Communications about the "bloody" "fight" and "revolution" were accompanied by logistical planning, prosecutors alleged, with defendants discussing obtaining and bringing weapons to the Washington area. Rhodes allegedly spent thousands on firearms equipment en route to DC, prosecutors allege.

[...]

At the Capitol, some members moved in a military "stack" formation into the Capitol where they fought with police, and a small group unsuccessfully looked for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to court documents.

The plotting didn't end with the Capitol riot, prosecutors say, alleging Rhodes and other co-conspirators met in Virginia to "celebrate" the attack and "discuss next steps." In a Signal chat to other members of Oath Keepers leadership, Rhodes allegedly said that "Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING compared to what's coming."

In the week after the riot, Rhodes allegedly spent more than $17,500 on weapons, equipment, and ammunition."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/politics/oathkeeper-rhodes-arrested-doj/index.html

This is all part of the "legitimate political discourse" according to the Republican Party.

**

As the "legitimate political discourse" was still occurring, Trump told his followers:

"We love you. You're very special."

**

Over 140 police officers suffered injuries, including broken bones, gouged eyes, spinal injuries, and stab wounds as part of the "legitimate political discourse".

"“I have officers who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who have sustained head injuries,” Gus Papathanasiou, union chairman, said in a statement Wednesday. “One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake, to name some of the injuries.”

[...]

At least 81 Capitol Police officers were assaulted during the siege of the Capitol, according to filings by federal prosecutors. The filings did not detail injuries sustained by officers, and a Capitol Police spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on officer injuries.

About 65 D.C. police officers also suffered injuries on Jan. 6, including several concussions from head blows from various objects, including metal poles ripped from inauguration-related scaffolding and even a pole with an American flag attached, D.C. police officials have said. Other injuries included swollen ankles and wrists, bruised arms and legs, and irritated lungs from bear and pepper spray.

Reports say officers were pushed down stairs, trampled by rioters, punched and run over in a stampede.

“I’ve talked to officers who have done two tours in Iraq who said this was scarier to them than their time in combat,” acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III said at a news conference earlier this month."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-union-says-140-officers-injured-in-capitol-riot/2021/01/27/60743642-60e2-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html

**

The "ordinary citizens" included the chant "Hang Mike Pence" in their "legitimate political discourse", as well as constructing a gallows to "legitimately" hang him and other politicians. According to the video in the link, Insurrectionists were within literal seconds from coming into contact with Pence.

Trump agreed with the Republican Party that this was completely "legitimate political discourse":

"Karl then reminded Trump that some of his supporters involved in the violent attack were calling for Pence to be killed.

“Well, the people were very angry,” Trump said.

“They said, ‘hang Mike Pence,’” Karl told Trump.

“It’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect,” Trump said. “How can you, if you know a vote is fraudulent, right, how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?”"

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-defends-jan-6-rioters-hang-mike-pence-chant-newly-n1283798

**

Capitol Police officer Briana Kirkland suffered a traumatic brain injury after encountering the "legitimate political discourse".

"US Capitol Police Officer Briana Kirkland is suing former President Donald Trump for the physical and emotional pain she endured, including a traumatic brain injury, because of the Capitol insurrection, according to a new filing in DC District Court.

Her complaint adds to other similar lawsuits, including from other police officers, seeking to hold Trump accountable for civil penalties in DC District Court. It describes in detail her movements and altercations with the crowd during some of the most intense moments at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/politics/trump-capitol-police-lawsuit-january-6/index.html

**

Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a doorway after being pepper sprayed and having his eyes gouged.

Regarding Hodges's opinion on the "legitimate political discourse" he experienced: "If it wasn't my job, I would have done that for free. It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a White Nationalist insurrection."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eQoda_QLIA

**

Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Larry Brock and Eric Munchel brought zip tie handcuffs and searched through the Senate Chamber in order to take politicians hostage so they could engage them in a "legitimate political discourse".

**

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was pepper sprayed multiple times during the Insurrection and apparently recovered. However, late in the evening Sicknick collapsed and was taken to a hospital, and the next day he was pronounced dead after having multiple strokes. Immediately after his death, both the Capitol Police and the Department of Justice attributed his death to injuries sustained during the "legitimate political discourse". After waiting an unusual over 100 days to release the results of the autopsy, the District of Columbia Chief Medical Officer confirmed that “all that transpired [on January 6th] played a role in his condition”. Despite these facts, Trumpists claim the "legitimate political discourse" had no contribution to Sicknick's death.

**

"Ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse" tried to take Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone's gun and chanted to kill him with it, while he begged for his life.

While engaged in the "legitimate political discourse", Fanone was tazed and beaten unconscious with a flag and other objects by "ordinary citizens", and he suffered a heart attack. Fanone was one of the officers who were dragged down the Capitol steps so the "ordinary citizens" could engage them in a "legitimate political discourse".

"The day Fanone was dragged down the Capitol’s marble stairs, beaten with pipes and poles, tear-gassed and stun-gunned. The day he pleaded for his life as they threatened to shoot him with his own gun, telling the rioters he had kids, until they relented and spared him.

[...]

An officer yelled, “Knife!” and Albright turned to his left, away from Fanone, to grab the weapon. When he turned back Fanone was gone.

He was out in the crowd, surrounded by rioters. They dragged him face first down the stairs and punched and kicked and beat him. They ripped off his badge and took his radio. One kept lunging for his weapon. Someone was yelling: “Kill him with his own gun!” Fanone felt an excruciating pain at the base of his skull—the taser—and cried out, but he couldn’t hear himself scream. The rioters seemed intent on torturing him. He thought about pulling his gun. He would be justified in defending himself, but then what? He thought of his daughters. He didn’t want to die. “I’ve got kids!” he cried.

A couple of rioters surrounded him, fighting off others. “Bring him up, bring him up,” one said. “Don’t hurt him,” said another. “Which way do you want to go?”

“I want to go back inside,” he whimpered, and that’s the last thing he remembers. The rioters lofted his limp, unconscious body to the doorway—the battle line. Albright grabbed him and pulled him back through the phalanx."

See link for the full six-minute interview with Fanone: https://time.com/6087577/michael-fanone-january-6-interview/

Six minutes of the body cam footage of Fanone being engaged with "legitimate political discourse" can be watched below. The camera quality and angle is poor, but the audio of the incident is enough to give you a taste of the "legitimate political discourse" that Fanone found himself engaged in.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/12/politics/dc-police-officer-fanone-bodycam-footage-cnntv/index.html

Unidentified officer who was beaten and dragged into the treasonous mob group of "ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse".

"At the entrance of the tunnel, rioter and QAnon supporter Rosanne Boyland lay on the ground. She had died of an accidental overdose, according to DC's chief medical examiner. Heeding her friends' call for help, prosecutors say two officers waded into the crowd to help Boyland.

The two officers were knocked down and dragged into the mob where they were viciously beaten with an upside-down American flag and other weapons. The attack landed one officer in the hospital with staples in his head to stop the bleeding, and the other with injuries to his face and shoulder according to court documents.

[...]

Albuquerque Head, who allegedly dragged Fanone out into the crowd, has also been charged in the attack. So has Daniel Rodriguez, who prosecutors say tased Fanone in the neck. They, too, have pleaded not guilty.

Jeffrey Sabol, Jack Whitton and Ronald McAbee are part of an indictment with six other rioters who allegedly worked together to drag officers into the crowd. Whitton later boasted to friends, saying that "I fed him to the people," referring to the officer, according to court filings. They haven't yet entered a formal plea."

https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_d06ae7cb361037a8126a7cd1d93e1590

***
***

...And the so-called Justice Department continues to refuse to do its duty and arrest the terrorists who organized and incited the coup attempt. And the Democratic Party refuses to uphold the Constitution and expel all the Republican terrorists who violated the 14th Amendment...

Each day they fail to act, the stakes get higher. Each day they refuse to act, the Republican Party becomes more and more open in its criminal behavior. Hell, Trump was even willing to confess he really did want to overturn the legal result of the election, and not merely pursue "legal remedies" for an election he "won".

In the same speech, Trump told his followers they need to launch a nation-wide insurrection larger than January 6th in every US city if Republicans face any legal consequences from the coup attempt.

This can only mean one thing--a full-out civil war, just like certain Republican politicians and far-right militias had already been promising for over a year.

The Republican Party is not going to spare our lives the next time they launch a coup attempt. They will slaughter every last one of us.

We need to get armed NOW, train NOW, and organize with other non-treasonous Americans in our community NOW.

If we wait, it will be too late.

We are not safe. Our government is on the brink of collapse and will not be able to protect us from being slaughtered if they can't even enforce the most basic aspects of the Constitution...

We need to (legally) get armed NOW, train NOW, and organize with other non-treasonous Americans in our community NOW. We need to be prepared to defend ourselves and our community when these terrorists come to slaughter us.

Trump has promised a full pardon to anyone participating in his civil war, and the Republican Party has OFFICIALLY declared that bloody insurrections and coup attempts are indeed part of their political strategy. We are not safe. We have to take this seriously, because they will show no mercy next time.

Trump CONFESSES he wanted to "overturn the election" - This is why Red Coup organizers need to be indicted, arrested, put on trial, and executed

It was beyond obvious that Trump was trying to rig the election outcome, of course. And he indirectly stated his intention to overthrow the election numerous times. But now he has outright stated his criminal intent.

He has confessed to the coup attempt.

Every minute that passes is a minute that the Democratic Party is 100% complicit in helping Trump cover up his crimes and 100% culpable for helping the Republican Party organize their next coup.

No more excuses.

***

Here's the full one-paragraph statement Trump released on his "Save America" fundraising website on January 30, 2022.

"If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had “absolutely no right” to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election? Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!"

https://web.archive.org/web/20220131193843/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/news-8nkdvatd7g1481

The key piece that makes this confession so damning is that Trump says "change the results of the election", "change the outcome", and "overturned the Election". The Republican Big Lie narrative prior to January 6th and after January 6th is that Trump "legally" won the election, and Pence objecting to the electoral votes and all other means were merely "legal" recourses Republicans were allowed to take.

Now, after all the criminal investigations have been heating up, Trump has just confessed he did indeed want to "overturn" the settled outcome of the election. To spell it out, Trump is admitting he lost and wanted Pence and others to illegally overthrow the government to keep him in power.

There is no legal recourse to "overturn" the valid results of an election. Trump confessed he was staging a coup attempt.

In legal terms, Trump's public confession has shown mens rea (criminal intent). He knew he was trying to "overturn" the real, legal results--and not merely pursuing legal remedies for a recount in an undetermined election. I'm sure a decent lawyer could demonstrate mens rea with Trump's earlier statements--but it is stunning to see Trump so publicly confess to his crime.

No doubt he has (sane) lawyers who have told him not to do such a thing, and surely he has a legal team read his statements before releasing them on his website. Yet he confessed anyway. He probably feels invincible and believes he will never face any consequences. ...And given the lack of action by the so-called Justice Department and Democratic Party, maybe he will be correct?

***

I am not the only one who has recognized the importance of Trump's confession:

"“He could have overturned the election.” This is an admission, and a massively un-American statement. It is time for every Republican leader to pick a side… Trump or the Constitution, there is no middle on defending our nation anymore."

https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1487966555011010565

"Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.

He’d do it all again if given the chance."

https://twitter.com/liz_cheney/status/1488114406651219970

***

18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2384

GUILTY

18 U.S. Code § 2383 - Rebellion or insurrection

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383

GUILTY

18 U.S. Code § 2381 - Treason

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2381

GUILTY

***

If Trump is not arrested immediately, it shows that our federal government has completely collapsed.

This is the "emperor has no clothes" moment. If they are unwilling to arrest Trump for releasing a literal confession of his intent to overthrow the government, then our government is unable to enforce its most fundamental powers and has functionally ceased to exist.

The facade may not collapse immediately, giving the appearance that the corpse of our nation has not been thoroughly rotted and desecrated. But every coup-plotting Republican knows that this will be the signal to go full steam ahead since there is no longer any doubt that they can get away with literally any crime in the book.

No more excuses. Trump admitted he's guilty. The so-called Justice Department and the Democratic Party are now part of the coup attempt if they do not act IMMEDIATELY.

***

This is the decisive moment of where we find out if the Democratic Party is going to legalize coup attempts or not.

If they do, then we are at the complete mercy of the Republican Party, who have already announced they will unleash bloodshed against us until they have complete power over this nation.

A day prior to this confession, Trump told his followers they needed to launch an insurrection even more intense than the one on January 6th in cities across the nation. In other words--he has given the signal that a civil war is coming in the future:
https://authenticamericandream.blogspot.com/2022/01/trump-calls-for-another-insurrection-and-promises-pardons.html

Get ready to defend yourself and your neighbors. Republicans will soon realize there are no longer any laws to restrain them.

Trump calls for another insurrection and promises pardons for insurrectionists - Lock him up

Trump has been allowed to walk free for over a year since he incited the January 6th Insurrection. Now, he feels bold enough to tell his supporters they have a duty to launch the biggest insurrection the nation has ever seen if Trump faces any legal consequences.

And, no, I am not exaggerating Trump's sentiment. His call to arms for January 6th was the following Tweet:

"Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump [...]. A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"

-Dec 19th 2020

Useful idiots in the media thought barely anyone would show up. But everyone who was paying attention knew that Trump was issuing a violent call to arms...

(Also, coup organizer Peter Navarro continues to advocate for coups, see our post here:
https://authenticamericandream.blogspot.com/2022/01/this-is-why-we-need-to-lock-red-coup-organizers-up-peter-navarro-coup-vote-green-bay-sweep.html )

***

The lack of consequences Trump has faced his entire life and entire presidency has created a constant feedback loop to embolden him to commit greater and greater crimes. The most absurd example of this was how Trump made his infamous phone call to Ukraine on July 25, 2019--just hours after the Democrats and media declared any hopes of impeachment over the Mueller Report were dead. Trump felt invincible and that criminal phone call ironically led to his first impeachment. But he faced no consequences for that because he knew his party would stand behind him no matter what--so he and the Republican party went on to organize a bloody coup attempt against our nation... Now that the Republican party and Trump have faced no consequences for literal treason, they have continued to publicly advocate for and organize another coup attempt...

He needs to be locked up immediately, and we need to take his threats for a future civil war very seriously.

All non-treasonous Americans need to get armed NOW, train NOW, and organize within our local communities NOW. Trump is basically giving the signal to start "The Storm"--a massive civil war/purge of all left-wing people in America--that the QAnon cult was prophesizing he would give during the Insurrection.

Considering that Trump's previous "wild protest" was an Insurrection where cops were murdered and permanently mutilated, and where politicians were within minutes of being murdered, the only possible interpretation of Trump demanding "the biggest protest we have ever had" is a full-scale civil war. Republican politicians like Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene have already been advocating for a civil war, as well as the far-right militias who were involved in the Insurrection... Even worse, the majority of the Republican party supports them!!!

We need to take these threats extremely seriously, because they have acted on them before. We saw what happened with Trump before--the media told us to underestimate him, but he went on to commit the greatest act of treason since the Civil War...

All non-treasonous Americans need to get armed NOW, train NOW, and organize within our local communities NOW. Or we will be slaughtered during Trump's next insurrection.

***

On January 29, 2022, at a rally in Conroe, Texas:

"Trump calls for 'the biggest protest we have ever had' in DC and other cities if prosecutors investigating him 'do anything illegal'

[...]

Speaking at a Texas rally, former President Donald Trump called for nationwide protests if prosecutors investigating him and his businesses "do anything illegal."

In the speech, he appeared to link the investigations to his baseless claim that the 2020 election was rigged, which led to the January 6 Capitol riot.

"If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington DC, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt," Trump told the crowd in Conroe, Texas on Saturday night.

[...]

"In reality, they're not after me, they're after you, and I just happen to be the person in the way," Trump told his supporters at the rally.

[...]

"For years, they've been going after my company, many years, using every trick in the book in an attempt to literally, if they can, put me in jail. They want to put me in jail," Trump said at the rally on Saturday.

The former president repeatedly called the prosecutors "racist," said they were "mentally sick," and accused them of "prosecutorial misconduct at the highest level."

"They're going after me without any protection of my rights by the Supreme Court or most other courts," Trump said."

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-calls-for-mass-nationwide-protests-prosecutors-investigating-him-2022-1

***

At the same rally, he promised to pardon everyone involved in the January 6th coup attempt if he comes to power again. Obviously, if he comes to power from the upcoming coup that Republicans have promised to engage in, he will pardon everyone involved in that as well.

"Trump made the promise at a rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

“If I run and if I win,” he said, referring to the 2024 presidential election, “we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”

[...]

More than 700 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, around which seven people died as Trump supporters tried to stop certification of his election defeat, in service of his lie that it was caused by electoral fraud. More than 100 police officers were hurt.

Eleven members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia have been charged with seditious conspiracy.

[...]

John Dean, 83, was White House counsel from 1970 to 1973 before being disbarred and detained as a result of the Watergate scandal, which led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Dean responded to Trump on Twitter.

“This is beyond being a demagogue to the stuff of dictators,” he wrote. “He is defying the rule of law. Failure to confront a tyrant only encourages bad behaviour. If thinking Americans don’t understand what Trump is doing and what the criminal justice system must do we are all in big trouble!”

[...]

Others deplored Trump’s words in Texas. Richard Painter, a White House ethics counsel under George W Bush, said the promise of pardons should, constitutionally speaking, stop Trump running again.

“This alone is giving aid or comfort to an insurrection within the meaning of the 14th amendment, section three,” Painter wrote. “Trump is DISQUALIFIED from public office.”

[...]

Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor now a legal analyst for NBC, said: “Trump is not only encouraging his supporters to violence if he’s arrest[ed], he’s also signaling that he’ll pardon them, just as he’ll pardon the [January 6] insurrectionists.

“Will this finally move prosecutors to hold him accountable for his crimes?”"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/30/trump-pardon-promise-capitol-rioters-dictators-john-dean-nixon

***

We are not safe when these treasonous anti-American demons continue to cause havoc without any consequences. We need to get armed with whatever legal means we have available and prepare to defend ourselves when they come knocking on our door to slaughter us.

Democratic politicians warn us that the next Republican coup is already in progress!

I believe this is a new milestone. Although politicians have warned that Republican attempts at voter suppression would sort-of potentially be paving the way for potential future coups, this is the first time I am aware of a politician affirmatively saying that the next Republican coup attempt is indeed in progress.

And once again, it is Ilhan Omar who is saying what needs to be said:

"The next coup is not only possible; it has already begun." -Ilhan Omar

While Biden, Garland, and others said nothing of substance during their speeches commemorating January 6th, Omar demonstrated true leadership by commemorating the day by declaring we must step up our efforts to hold Republicans accountable and not shy away from talking about the crimes that have been inflicted, and will continue to be inflicted, upon our nation.

January 6, 2022:

Rep. Ilhan Omar Statement on One Year Anniversary of January 6th Insurrection

“Today marks one year since the attacks of January 6th. I will never forget the experience of fearing for my life, my fellow members, and staff on a day designed to show the strength of our democracy. I will never forget the call I made to the father of my children, asking him to tell my children I loved them if I couldn’t.

But the insurrection of January 6th was not solely significant for the havoc that it caused, the property destroyed, or the lives it cost. [...] With each passing day, it becomes more and more clear that the outgoing President of the United States planned and executed the coup attempt, refusing a peaceful transition of power, pressuring election officials and his own administration to overturn results, and organizing a rally and march on the seat of government when his other efforts failed.

I know personally what happens when a government fails, civil strife takes hold, and people are displaced. And I know that coup attempts are rarely one-time affairs.

In fact, as we speak, Donald Trump’s allies in statehouses across the country are seeking to erect barriers to voting—largely affecting low-income people, people of color, and seniors. If that’s not enough, they are stripping power from nonpartisan election officials and rewriting state laws to seize partisan control over election certification.

The next coup is not only possible; it has already begun.

But the causes of the attempts to overturn our democracy run much deeper than Donald Trump. For decades, our institutions have been failing to meet the needs of the people they are tasked to represent. Inequality has skyrocketed, as has the cost of basics like healthcare and education, while the average American’s wages have not kept pace. Self-interested elites have prioritized profit and greed over the common good. Trust in our government’s ability to tackle the biggest problems we face—from healthcare to climate to food insecurity—has cratered as a result. Borrowing from demagogues around the world, authoritarians like Donald Trump filled the void, offering false promises while scapegoating immigrants, and religious and racial minorities.

[...]

To stop the next coup, we must reinvigorate the democratic experience. That requires, at a minimum, passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and strengthening election laws around the country to prevent the next coup. But it also requires reforming our institutions so that they are once again responsive to the core demands of our constituents. That requires abolishing fundamentally antidemocratic elements of our system like the Senate filibuster and the electoral college, and it requires major investments in childcare, education, health and climate like the Build Back Better Act.

The coup attempt on January 6th was a warning for what’s to come if we don’t act. The work to prevent the next coup begins now.”

https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-ilhan-omar-statement-one-year-anniversary-january-6th-insurrection

The only criticism I have of Omar's message is that democracy never has, and never will be the foundation for liberty or justice. Our history has demonstrated as much. Far-right electoral success from the days of slavery to today has demonstrated as much. The coup attempt to overthrow the 2020 election and the Republican Party's embrace of coup attempts as an acceptable part of their political strategy signaled that democracy is already dead in the US. The unwritten norms and "gentlemanly" conduct that have thus far sustained the operation of the US bureaucracy are completely dead. The willpower does not even exist to enforce the written rules, laws, and even the Constitution itself (e.g. 14th Amendment)!

The only battle left is who will emerge as the leaders in a post-democracy US. As it currently stands, only mainstream--elected--Republican politicians have rejected democracy. Therefore the far-right will be able to create their one-party Russia-style oligarchy without any genuine opposition... The sooner leftists can choose liberty, justice, and freedom over the tyranny of the majority that is democracy, the better.

Omar is correct that we need to reform our institutions so they are responsive to the needs and welfare of non-elites. But she does not seem to realize that at no point in US history has democracy or voting ever allowed such a thing. In fact, it was democratic tyranny of the majority that prevented it every time...

***

Imagine if Biden or Garland had the same attitude and took things just as seriously as Omar does? This crisis would be over by now if they did, and America would be safe. ...At least until the next democratic crisis arose.

So long as the government does nothing to punish the organizers of the coup attempt--and does nothing to punish those who are already boasting about organizing upcoming coups--we are not safe. So long as members of Congress and far-right militias which participated in the Insurrection can openly promise literal "bloodshed" against us, we are not safe.

All non-treasonous Americans must get armed, train, and organize within our communities so we can keep each other safe. (Legally) getting armed and encouraging your entire social network to do so is the best way to "commemorate" January 6th.

If we can survive that, we may have a chance to reform the government to a system which actually upholds the maxim of "liberty and justice for all".

This is why we need to lock Red Coup organizers up - Peter Navarro explains the Coup Vote and claims it is still "legal"

On January 4th, 2022, coup planner Peter Navarro was interviewed by Ari Melber on MSNBC. Navarro described in detail the coup plan he and Bannon formulated, which they call the "Green Bay Sweep". In short, it is what we have more accurately called the Coup Vote. This was one of the plans that Republicans actually (attempted) to carry out!!!

To summarize Navarro's explanation of the intention of the Coup Vote: Republican members of Congress would object to the legal electoral votes in "swing states", and send the electoral votes back to the states so the Republican-controlled state legislatures could "decertify" the electoral votes (resulting in no candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, allowing for the Republican-dominated House of Representatives to vote on the President), or so Republican-controlled states could have 10 days to "recount" the votes--throwing out just enough "illegal" Biden votes to tip the tide in Trump's favor.

Read our blog post about the Coup Vote below (which includes a list of the 147 Republicans who committed sedition by carrying out the seditious "Green Bay Sweep" conspiracy by voting to overthrow the election):
https://authenticamericandream.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-coup-vote.html

Here is the 12-minute interview with Navarro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDSWK8d_tI

Partial transcript:

Melber:
So go ahead and tell us in your own words, what was the plan, and who was in on it besides you, Bannon, and Trump.

Navarro:
Sure, the back story is while I was in the administration, after the election, beginning on Thanksgiving, I produced what would be an exhaustive 3-volume report and I went over tens of thousands of pages of documents and proved that the election was on all likelihood stolen through fraud and election irregularities. That's the background.

[...]

The plan was simply this. We had over a hundred Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill ready to implement the sweep. The sweep was simply that we were going to challenge the results of the election in the six battleground states. They were Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and basically these were the places where we believed that if the votes were sent back to those battleground states and looked at again that there would be enough concern amongst the legislatures that most or all of those states would decertify the election. That would throw the election to the House of Representatives.

And I would say to you here Ari, that all of this again, it was in the lanes legally. It was prescribed by the Constitution. There is a provision to go, rather than through the Electoral College, to the House of Representatives, and all this required [laughs] was peace and calm on Capitol Hill.

And at 1:00PM, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Gosar started the Green Bay Sweep, beautifully, challenging the results of Arizona.

Here's the most important thing I can tell you about this. The thing that we were trying to deal with was a media which refused to acknowledge any kind of possible fraud or irregularities.

Melber:
You just described this plan as a way to take an election, where the outcome was established by independent secretaries of state, by the voters of those states, and legal remedies had been exhausted--with the Supreme Court, never even taking, let a lone siding with, any of the claims you just referred to, so legally they went nowhere. Then you're describing a way that the incumbent [interrupted] Then you will use the incumbent losing party's power--that was the Republican Party that was losing power--to overtake and reverse that outcome.

Do you realize you are describing a coup?

Navarro:
No. I totally reject many of your premises there. First of all, the election was still in doubt and would be until it was certified. Second, [laughs] the idea that secretaries of state, particularly in Michigan and Pennsylvania were like innocent parties--I mean Jocelyn Benson and Kathy Boockvar, the secretaries of state in Michigan and Pennsylvania, they were put in power by George Soros for the express purpose of shifting the playing field to the Democrats. They were found in both states to have broken the law.

The point here Ari is that we were following the Constitution and rules of the Senate to simply get a recount of what the votes were. And we were looking for these battleground states to basically review whether there [interrupted] That's by the book! That's by the book!

Melber:
Peter, people don't always hear directly from the folks involved. Steven Bannon, as you know, is risking going to jail rather than just provide testimony about it. You, by contrast, are describing it in your book--some of the same stuff. So I don't know what he's afraid of that clearly you're not.

But when you describe a system where, after all of the legal remedies are exhausted, the people who lost just make noise and then say that they won and seize power. Don't you understand? This is my question for you since I get to talk to you directly here. Don't you understand that if that actually were the system it would be dumb and dangerous? If the people who lost could just get up there and say, "well we want to do our own count, not the state law recount, not what the Supreme Court provides for everyone"--everyone remembers Bush v. Gore; there are situations where they get involved--but just people in the Trump administration decide, "well, we disagree."

Don't you understand why people see your--whatever you want to call it--you don't want to call it a coup-- your thing where when you lose you stay in power--they see that as really dangerous?

Navarro:
Your presumption is the remedies were exhausted. My presumption is the remedies weren't exhausted at all. The remedy was for Vice President Pence, as the quarterback in the Green Bay Sweep, to remand those votes back to the six battleground states for ten days for a look to see if there were any election irregularities or fraud.

Now that was part of the remedy!

Melber:
Let's get into that in your book. I'm going to read from your book and then I'm going to go back to you.

[...]

Let's read from your book with regard to your contention about the Vice President. You say, "[Pence] refused to take my repeated phone calls about... election irregularities despite, a direct request from President Trump to do so."

What was your vision, that you would get Pence to do that which Trump couldn't get him to do?

Navarro:
No. My only reason to talk to Vice President Mike Pence was to explain to him, as I documented in my 3-volume report, that in all likelihood there was significant election fraud and irregularities across the six battleground states. I mean these were ubiquitous six dimensions of fraud. I simply wanted to brief Mike on what I had found. I had what we call the receipts, and that's all the conversation.

[...]

Mike was always good to me, until that day. The thing about Mike's betrayal of President Trump, which is really interesting, is he never shared the legal analysis of his general counsel Greg Jacob and Marc Short with Pat Cipollone [interrupted] That was bad process betrayal right there.

Melber:
Peter, that brings us back to the same point, and this may be relevant, sir, in future elections, which is, don't you think that somebody would have thought of this? If the incumbent administration, through the President or Vice President, could just cancel the election outcome because he goes down to the Senate. Well, then a lot of people would try to stay in power. We have an entire system designed to thwart, and I want to say this respectfully, but it's the truth, people like you. To stop people like you who think that you can anoint yourself the reviewers of the voters--of the American people--of what they lawfully did. That you Trump the Supreme Court, no pun intended. People like you are what the Constitution are designed to stop. And it worked. And it did stop you.

Which I guess brings us to this idea of the goals you talk about in the book.

[...]

In the book you say, "the goal is not to get the election overturned today. The goal is to subject the ballots... to careful scrutiny and investigation."

What do you say to the system doing that, not through partisans like you, ... but that's what the states and courts already do?

[...]

Navarro:
I reject the idea that we were trying to cancel the election, and you yourself just read from my book. All we wanted was to look at what I found. Look, Ari, the difference between me and virtually everybody else in this debate is I did the homework. I'm the guy who looked at thousands of pages of documents, did the analysis, I went in with an idea just trying to figure out what happened. And what happened was a very elaborate steal.

Navarro is right, the steal was pretty elaborate. Over 147 members of Congress participated, dozens of Trump administration advisors and officials helped organize and plan it, and it even occurred in multiple phases, beginning prior to the election with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's implementation of the plan to sabotage the Postal Service. A massive inside job. (DeJoy has faced no punishment and is still Postmaster General under Biden, by the way!)

Now, let's take a step back.

NAVARRO ADMITTED TO ORGANIZING THE COUP VOTE ON LIVE TELEVISION. HE CONFESSED THERE WAS INDEED A SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE ELECTION. HE PROVIDED ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE PROVING THIS WHOLE THING WAS AN INSIDE JOB COORDINATED BY THE MAJORITY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

HOW HAVE HE AND HIS CO-CONSPIRATORS NOT BEEN ARRESTED YET?

During the interview, his hands are shaking as he explains the plan behind the Coup Vote. I assume he is shaking with nervousness and adrenaline as he gets a rush from openly admitting his crimes on live TV, knowing he will likely face no punishment. What a cruel joke.

***

Navarro's confession generated a lot of media coverage. The next day, Ari Melber summarized the buzz surrounding Navarro and the prior day's interview.

"After Trump Aide’s Admission On Air, New Heat On Coup Plot"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8wwHJ4LFs

***

As an additional tidbit, how did the Trump administration find Navarro, you may wonder? ...Kushner went on Amazon and looked for people who wrote anti-China books:

"Report: Kushner found Trump advisor Navarro by browsing Amazon

[...]

There, he found a book co-written by Peter Navarro and was struck by its title, "Death by China."

Kushner then cold-called Navarro and invited him to be an adviser to the Trump campaign, according to the report. Navarro now directs the White House National Trade Council and serves as the Assistant to the President.

When the Trump campaign brought on Navarro, he was the only economic adviser on the team and likely reinforced Trump's convictions about China's trade policies."

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328969-report-kushner-found-trump-economic-advisor-navarro-by-browsing

...Yet liberals are trying to compete with rightists over who can be more Sinophobic, falling hook, line, and sinker for Russian geopolitical aims to stoke a new cold war between the US and China, to weaken both nations for Russia's benefit. (Which, by no coincidence, is a plan also shared by Navarro's partner-in-crime, Bannon).

***

Coup organizers are going on live TV confessing their role in organizing the coup attempt, and they face no punishment. They declare that their plan is still legal, and their co-conspirators continue to publicly announce they are planning for the upcoming coup.

Our nation is in grave danger. We need to prepare to defend ourselves when things start falling apart. We need to get armed, train, and organize within our communities so we can defend each other from the coming chaos.

This is why we need to lock Red Coup organizers up - Ted Cruz announces the Republican self-coup will continue

Ted Cruz, one of the key participants and organizers of the Coup Vote in Congress, has announced that when Republicans retake a majority in Congress, they will once again ignore the Constitution and use the Legislative branch as a political tool to suppress their opponents. In no uncertain terms, they will continue the self-coup which they had fully enacted during the Trump administration.

"Ted Cruz says GOP will impeach Biden if it retakes Congress — whether it’s “justified or not”

Cancún frequent flyer floats Republican revenge fantasy, claiming Democrats "weaponized" impeachment against Trump

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, last week predicted that Republicans would impeach President Biden if the party wins control of the House in the 2022 midterms (as is widely expected).

On the latest edition of his "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast released last Friday, the senator said he expects House Republicans to retaliate against the Biden administration for the numerous investigations Democrats launched into Donald Trump's scandal-plagued administration.

"If we take the House, which I said is overwhelmingly likely, then I think we will see serious investigations of the Biden administration," Cruz said. He predicted that Republicans may also impeach the president "whether it's justified or not."

"They used it for partisan purposes to go after Trump because they disagreed with him," Cruz said, referring to Democrats. "One of the real disadvantages of doing that, and it is something you and I talked about at great length, the more you weaponize it and turn it into a partisan cudgel, what is good for the goose is good for the gander."

[...]

I said at the time, when we have a Democratic president and a Republican House, you can expect an impeachment proceeding," Cruz said on the podcast. "That is not how impeachment is meant to work. But I think the Democrats crossed that line."

Cruz claimed that there are "potentially multiple grounds" to consider a Biden impeachment.

"Probably the most compelling is the utter lawlessness of President Biden's refusal to enforce the border," he said, even though Biden has left many of Trump's controversial border policies in place. "That is probably the strongest grounds right now for impeachment, but there may be others," Cruz continued. "Because the Democrats decided this is just another tool in the partisan war chest, I think there is a real risk that this turnabout will be fair play."

Cruz predicted that Republicans have a 90% chance of regaining the House this November. Election analysts generally expect Democrats, who control the House by just a handful of seats, to lose the chamber due to a combination of aggressive Republican gerrymandering, Biden's low approval ratings, the party's unusual 2018 success in red areas during Trump's tenure, and the stalled Democratic agenda in Congress, largely due to resistance from "centrist" senators such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

[...]

In fact, Republicans are not even waiting for a legitimate chance to impeach Biden. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, and three other House Republicans filed articles of impeachment in September, seeking to remove Biden from office over his border policies, his withdrawal from Afghanistan and his extension of the pandemic eviction ban. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed similar articles of impeachment last summer. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., went further in September, introducing articles of impeachment against both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing them of "giving aid and comfort to America's enemies and colluding with the Taliban" by going through with Trump's plan to withdraw from Afghanistan."

https://www.salon.com/2022/01/04/ted-cruz-says-will-impeach-biden-if-it-retakes-congress--whether-its-justified-or-not/

Yep, that's right. Cruz has announced they are going after Biden simply because they disagree with him. Not because he committed any crimes (like Trump did on an almost monthly basis). Not because he did anything unethical (like Trump did on a daily basis). Just because they can. Because they have successfully gotten away with violating the Constitution and operating with unlimited power in the past without any consequences, they will continue to do so.

Ironically, Cruz is correct about Biden being "lawless". ...Because Biden and his so-called Justice Department refuse to arrest the politicians (such as Cruz) who attempted to overthrow our government. Multiple organizers of the previous self-coup and coup attempt are publicly announcing their intentions to continue committing crimes, and STILL aren't facing any consequences. The Democratic Party is encouraging this lawlessness by legalizing all of this criminal behavior through their active refusal to do anything about it.

***

The Constitutional Crisis that began over 6 years ago has only intensified and has no end in sight. Republican politicians and far-right militias are openly declaring that there will soon be "bloodshed" and a civil war. Republican politicians and strategists have time and time again announced that they not only support additional coup attempts in the future, but THEY ARE ALREADY ORGANIZING THEM. As Cruz is demonstrating, they are not even pretending to care about following the Constitution any more.

And the Democratic Party has done nothing to keep us safe and enforce the most basic of laws...

We are not safe. We must prepare for the worst. Non-treasonous Americans must arm ourselves, train, and organize within our communities so we can defend ourselves from the chaos that they are going to unleash against us. If the Republican Party can simply suspend the Constitution whenever they have a majority, then we do not have a functional system of laws or government, and we are not safe.

One Year Later

It has been one year since the Insurrection. It has been one year since the bloody culmination of the Republican coup attempt to steal the 2020 election.

I will remember that day for the rest of my life.

On that day and the days that followed I spent every waking moment reading every available article, trying to make sense of the insanity that I had watched play out on live broadcast. As my blog posts from that time period demonstrate, on January 6th and the days immediately following it, it was already obvious that the Insurrection was an inside job and part of the much larger coup attempt that Republicans had set in motion months prior when they began sabotaging the Postal Service to rig the election. Although I have not made any updates to the large compilation posts since January 2021 (and much new information has come out since then--ranging from the presentation created by the House impeachment managers for Trump's 2nd impeachment trial in the Senate, to information being uncovered by the January 6th Select Committee, to many pieces of investigative journalism digging deeper into the identities of the insurrectionists), I still think those blog posts are some of the most comprehensive articles written on the Red Coup and the Insurrection.

***

Even more shocking than watching a livestream of the coup attempt has been watching the coverup over the past year.

None of the coup organizers have been arrested or faced any consequences at all. None of the coup supporters and participants in Congress have been arrested or faced any consequences at all. What has happened as a result?

General Michael Flynn has urged for another military coup.

John Eastman has boasted his plan for a Vice President to overthrow an election is still "solid".

Steve Bannon has promised that he will ensure Republicans control the entire "election apparatus" by the next elections.

Peter Navarro confessed to planning the Coup Vote and insisted it is still legal.

Representative Madison Cawthorn has promised literal "bloodshed" against us in the near future.

Representative Matt Gaetz boasted that "We’re ashamed of nothing. We’re proud of the work we did on Jan. 6."

None of them have any faced punishment and so they have continued to organize another coup. Not only that, but they are doing so publicly and proudly.

Out of the 147 Republican politicians who voted to overthrow the government, none of them have faced punishment for their crimes. None of them have even been removed from office, despite the clear language of the 14th Amendment! (At least Representative Cori Bush has not given up hope on enforcing the 14th Amendment.)

The Republican politician(s) who held literal "reconnaissance tours" days before the Insurrection have not faced any consequences. The Republican politicians (e.g. Brooks, Biggs, Gosar) who were directly implicated as working with insurrection-organizer Ali Alexander have not faced any consequences.

Rudy Giuliani has not faced any consequences for telling an angry mob to march to the Capitol and have a literal "trial by combat".

Donald Trump has not faced any consequences for anything at all. Not the election fraud where he repeatedly pressured Georgia election officials to fraudulently "find 11,780 votes" so he could steal the state (nor has Senator Lindsey Graham been punished for his role in this election fraud conspiracy either.) Nor has Trump faced consequences for the multiple crimes meticulously investigated and documented by the Mueller Report. Not even the campaign finance crime that was serious enough to send his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to jail.

***

Why not?

At this point, the only explanation that makes any sense is that the so-called Justice Department and the Democratic Party want Republicans to attempt another coup.

Over 700 insurrectionists have been arrested, many of them for nothing more than "parading" in the Capitol without a permit. Trespassing was a severe enough crime to warrant their immediate arrest, and cell phone GPS data was solid enough evidence to take them to court.

But INCITING and DIRECTING the insurrectionists is not a severe enough crime to merit any arrests? Spending months publicly organizing a coup on live TV and Twitter is not solid enough evidence to merit any arrests? A video tape of a FORMER GENERAL saying a military coup needs to take place is not enough to merit his immediate arrest?

Investigations take time, but how much time do you need when all of the smoking guns and confessions were recorded on live TV? Garland has tried to reassure us that it is normal for investigations into crime networks go from the bottom up, yet how long can you conscionably allow the bosses to walk free when each passing day they continue to do unspeakable damage? When each passing day they and their over 40 million followers become bolder and more determined to continue the crime spree at any cost? The crime that happened is not a "normal" crime. Legally speaking, it is one of the highest crimes ever committed in this country, arguably second only to the Civil War. The organized crime network under investigation is not just a "typical" network. It consists of over 147 members of one of our two major political parties--who are still in the House and Senate making our laws as we speak.

By delaying justice for a year, irreparable damage has been done. The coup organizers have had a year continue organizing for future elections. They have proudly said as much, and some--like General Flynn--have committed additional, clear-cut crimes in the process... Public trust in the bureaucratic institutions has reached a new low, from which it is unlikely to ever recover.

This miscarriage of justice by sweeping the coup under the rug and shielding its organizers is what we would have expected to happen if Republicans had retained power... We were instructed to "vote blue no matter who" as our only chance to bring Trump and his co-conspirators to justice. Yet, by doing literally nothing, Democrats have essentially legalized coup attempts. ("Low class" people trespassing remains illegal, though.)

***
***

We are not safe when one of the major political parties remains openly insurrectionary, supportive of coup attempts, and a safe haven for terrorism, and when the other political party refuses to uphold the most basic of laws.

We are not safe when the organizers of the Red Coup are publicly boasting about how they are planning the next coup. We are not safe when the far-right terrorist cells who participated in the Insurrection are publicly announcing their intentions to incite a civil war. We are not safe when sitting Republican politicians, in no uncertain terms, publicly promise that there will be literal "bloodshed" against us in the near future.

Every non-treasonous American needs to get armed, train, and organize within our communities so we can defend ourselves against the terrorists who are warning us, in no uncertain terms, that their next coup attempt will be much better organized and much more bloody than the last.

Hopefully justice will be dealt to all who were involved in organizing the coup attempt and the carnage that the far-right gleefully wishes to inflict will never occur. But that seems more and more unlikely each passing day...

We must prepare now, or else it will be too late. Few seriously believed Trump would launch a bloody coup attempt to hold on to power, but he did. Even fewer believed a majority of the Republican Party would go all in and commit treason, but they did. Had they actually succeeded, it would have been too late for us. The people behind the coup attempt are telling us there will be an even more deadly one in the near future, and we must heed their warnings. this time around.

***

The one year anniversary of the Insurrection should have been marked with tangible accomplishments to show the American people that there will be justice for this evil. It should have been marked with renewed vigor to demonstrate to us and the world that this will never happen again.

Instead, we have drifted further into darkness.