In the US Senate Republicans have blocked a bi-partisan investigation into the 6/1 insurrection. While some people are moaning and whining about the Republicans rejection of the Commission, I think this is great news. The Commission legislation as drafted should have been the Republicans dream commission. The bi-partisan agreement required agreement on which witnesses to call, who would get immunity, etc. The Republicans could have used that as an indefinite stall and pushed any meaningful results beyond the reporting date of the Commission.
Republican leadership would have used the Commission to shield Republican lawmakers who are directly complicit in the insurrection, and would have hamstrung the Department of Justice, the FBI and other investigative agencies from doing their job. Even state-level investigations could have been impaired by Republican Senators and the Commission’s granting of selective immunity in exchange for testimony in front of the Commission, thus freeing these people from punishment or even a requirement to testify at the state level.
So not having those constraints on any Commission will be an excellent result.
Now the House Democrats can form their own Committee under their rules, and can compel anyone they want to testify, including former President Trump. Certainly, those who will implicate members of congress will be called, and will be required to testify under oath. Some may even be offered immunity for their testimony that directly accuses, not implicates, members of congress.
It is inconceivable that the invasion of the Capital on the 6th of January did not have support from and potentially direct collusion with some Republican members of the House or Senate. They need to be exposed, and they need to be charged.
A Commission comprising, in part, a complicit subset of insurrectionists, with the ability to stop or delay testimony by those who will implicate them, is no Commission worth empowering.
For example, Jim Jordan (“Gym” to me for his covering up the sexual abuse scandal when he was an assistant coach and the head coach was abusing wrestling students, who came to Gym for help, and who he turned away) is against the Commission. Why? Because he is a potential witness.
The Washington Post begins their article: “Several Republicans who oppose creating a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol are more than lawmakers making a public policy decision — they are potential witnesses to what former president Donald Trump and his aides were saying and doing as the mob laid siege.”
Even the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would be a potential witness, to confirm the contents of his calls with Trump trying to get help, and being rebuffed by Trump.
The craven sycophants in Congress are running scared, and will until Trump is convicted in a court, or until individual congress members are convicted. And soon enough it will begin. And when they are charged, they will call it lies, of course, and their bases will, partially, either believe them or at least believe the lie that any alternative will be worse.
And enough will not believe them, and will stay home at the next election, if they are still in office and not in jail. But those who stay home will make the difference.
At the same time that the Democrat House of Representatives establishes their own Commission or Committee, the Department of Justice will be continuing its multiple cases against a wide range of people. This cannot be stopped by the Republicans, even though they will attempt to deride it as a partisan branch of government under the control of the Democrats. Logically this should be laughed at, as it will be pointed out that this is an acknowledgement that the DoJ under Trump was a politically partisan brand of government, but Republicans will spin that lie anyway. They can do that knowing that their acolytes either are too stupid to see what they’ve just done, or because they are too willing to believe that the “deep state” is Democrat and will be against anything that Republicans attempt to do.
Meanwhile, the little guys, and even the big-little guys, will begin to sing. They are already, we just are not seeing it yet. Enough of them were pulled into rooms and had the bright lights shown in their faces, with or without lawyers present. We won’t hear about it from the lawyers, since anything that they will be willing to say, grassing up their friends and militia-mates in order to stay out of jail will be with the approval of their lawyers to reduce their sentences. Not until the court cases. And then we will see the reports of who spoke with which members of Congress before the fateful day. Who knew what, and who encouraged what actions.
Because the little guys know they are going to jail unless they do deals. And some of them will be going to jail for a long time. Those that will only be in line for a short stint inside will also sing. This I said months ago, and I’m still confident it will happen.
In fact, when the Democratic majority in the House starts holding their own hearings, the little guys will be lining up to testify in exchange for some form of limited immunity.
Meanwhile, at the bigger picture level, patience is the game. My main predictions from the 9th of January still hold: “First, the highlights. The 2024 Presidential Campaign will be fought by four political parties; the Democrats, the Republicans, the American Patriots Party, and the Libertarians. The split of the vote will be something not far from 55%, 25%, 10%, and 10%. President Harris will be re-elected in an Electoral College landslide that will eclipse Joe Biden's, and Trump's before him.”
But it remains a waiting game. Mostly just waiting for the Republicans to continue to destroy themselves, and to leave traditional Republicans with no play to go, and no party to follow. The fiscally conservative, national defence and low tax voter will continue to watch the current Republicans spout treasonous crap while they lick Trump's boots (or wingtip shoes anyway). Trump will, at some point, have to dip into the $400 million that he scammed from people to pay to support his minions, even though supporting ‘down ticket’ (anything below himself) is not his style.
So with nowhere to go in their own party, they will either go to the Libertarians, or stay home.
Ultimately, the rejection of the Commission by the Republicans was a self-defeating attempt to delay the inevitable, and I am thrilled.
Interesting read. I agree on the Commission and the aftermath of 1/6 and holpfully will see how it all unfolds.
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