Like many of you, I watched the January 6th events unfold live one year ago today. I saw thousands of people bum-rush the Capitol, steal and break shit, and take selfies. I saw drunk and inordinate geriatrics and young, eager people. What I did not see was anyone with a plan.
The media maintains this narrative that every single person there was instructed by some higher force on the plan for when they took over the US government, and that they were paid off and facilitated by political actors hoping to gain power once the government fell. Many people believe it was a serious coup attempt on the United States.
People like believing in conspiracies over the truth. People love to think there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll; or that Bush had advanced knowledge of 9/11; or that aliens and ghosts exist and the government is hiding them from us, but in most cases conspiracy is the outlier and mundanity is the general course of life. This situation is no different.
The media wants you to believe this was a deliberate GOP conspiracy to overthrow the US government but if you've watched any of the footage, did these people seriously look like they had a plan? They were dressed in costumes; minimally-equipped; and largely unhealthy. Two of them died of heart attacks. These didn't look to me like soldiers, but rather opportunistic rioters doing what rioters always do: trespass, break shit, and party in places where they shouldn't.
Did it look like they knew what they were going to do even if they had successfully occupied the Capitol? No. To me and many of you, they looked like a bunch of drunk rioters who showed up, milled around for awhile looking at the scenery, then went home. If the GOP or anyone else truly wanted to overthrow the government, I feel like they would've picked, you know, mercenaries, not your Uncle Ron and his drinking buddies from the 70s.
Granted, I will agree that by attacking the Capitol building they were committing treason, but it was more passive treason than an active coup attempt. They would've done the same - and many of them probably did do the same - in their home city's stadium.
The whole reason for taking time off was to go to big bend in Texas. But . . . I’m burnt out. I do contractor work and have been working at least sixty hours weeks over the past year, and am going to keep doing that until spring now. So, I asked for more time off and got it.
I’d like to go to Zion, and Death Valley. Opinions on visiting in winter?
Like I said, I’m leaving work tomorrow and going on my planned trip to Big Bend. Where would you go from there, if you had a few weeks off ahead of you to travel? I have a 4x4 vehicle and a lot of off roading gear (I hike, camp and go off roading regularly), so places with more rugged terrain would be doable.
Where would you go and what would you do?
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and leaders from the States United Democracy Center and the Anti-Defamation League made a major announcement today regarding the January 6 insurrection and those responsible for it.
During a press conference held at noon in the US Capitol, they announced legal action against the people who took part in the attempted overthrow of the legitimate federal government of the United States.
In the months since that attempt, at least 700 people have been formally criminally charged, and 129 have thus far plead guilty to charges in connection with that incident.
They announced that they have filed suit in US Federal District Court to take civil action against those who participated in the overthrow attempt.
Describing January 6th as a "planned terrorist attack", D.C. AG Karl Racine compared the legacy of the January 6th mob attack to the events of September 11th 2001.
This is the first civil lawsuit aimed at holding accountable the leaders and participants in the overthrow attempt.
Those named as defendants in the suit include groups such as the Proud Boys & Oath Keepers, and more than 30 of their leaders and members - for conspiracy, terrorism, assault, and hate crimes.
The Ku Klux Klan act of 1871 is one of the laws under which this suit has been filed.
Some news coverage of the lawsuit:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/racine-jan-6-lawsuit/2021/12/14/4e581d00-5c51-11ec-bda6-25c1f558dd09_story.html
