# 7 Jan 2021 and beyond - the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 8, 2021, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020 "2021-01-08T10:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 63
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1246 "2021-02-26T16:51:47Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Could McConnell pick himself? Would he? He could, or have the Minority Whip John Thune pick him. But he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty personally, so he won’t. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1247 "2021-02-26T17:13:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not all the GOP was complicit. Plenty abhorred the insurrection. Perhaps. But will they have the courage to vote that abhorrence versus cravenly cave to the peer pressure of the crazies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1248 "2021-02-26T17:14:07Z")
Not so many that are willing to say so out loud. I don’t trust any of them. They will be under tremendous pressure to protect the party. We’ve heard plenty of about this from McConnell but he just said he’d support Trump for president in 2024. These are politicians not people of character, they’ll cling to the side that butters their bread. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1249 "2021-02-26T17:54:00Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9f9eDBpnkaU/maxresdefault.jpg "Lawyer Accidentally Uses Zoom Cat Filter During Virtual Court Session, Unable To Turn It Off") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f9eDBpnkaU) But they may know that you are here live and not a cat. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1250 "2021-02-26T17:55:38Z")
We’re long past the point where simply abhorring the insurrection is sufficient. If they don’t actually help Democrats take action to fight back against the radicalization of the main opposition party (i.e. the radical Republican party), then they’re not even remotely helping. In fact one could make the argument that they’re actually aiding the radical cause by giving people the impression that the Republican party has room for ideological diversity when that is really not the case. The so-called moderates are actually giving strength to the radicals and the insurrectionists by basically siding with the party anywhere from 70-90% of the time when they know that siding with the party includes everything from economic policies that further polarize the country economically to confirming Supreme Court justices that wreck the judiciary, and that it very frequently includes undermining faith in elections. Even if they don’t agree with that last part, the “moderates” are keeping that radical political party a competitive force in electoral politics when in the past they would have been shunned from the political system by mainstream forces. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1251 "2021-02-26T18:03:51Z")
McConnell’s support of Trump is basically a concession that he is powerless to rid the party of Trumpism. He was testing the waters the hours and days after the insurrection, feeling the sense of collective shock and anger in that moment. But the information cycles move on, and I think the collective psyche does as well. We’re past that moment. We’re back dealing with economics and the pandemic again, and this is why Biden probably did not want to waste a lot of time on an impeachment. Biden and the Democrats have to be seen as the team that gets it done with the pandemic and with economic reforms in much the same way that the Republicans were seen as the ones who got the Cold War done, the way that FDR was seen as the guy who finished off the Depression and won WWII. If they fail, I think we’re looking possibly at the end of American democracy, at least the end of liberal, increasingly inclusive democracy as we’ve known it over the past 50-100 years or so; we’ll backslide into a majoritarian hybrid regime. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1252 "2021-02-27T04:45:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Plenty abhorred the insurrection. Yes, a vast majority abhorred it. The problem is that only 28% of the GOP believes it was a [right wing insurrection](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-push-bogus-jan-6-claim-because-their-voters-believe-n1258518): > [@](#): > > "Asked to describe what happened during the assault on the Capitol, 58% of Trump voters call it “mostly an antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few Trump supporters.” That’s more than double the 28% who call it “a rally of Trump supporters, some of whom attacked the Capitol.” Four percent call it “an attempted coup inspired by President Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1253 "2021-02-27T04:56:10Z")
I don’t understand this Blame Antifa thing at all. Antifa was there to stop Biden from becoming President? They were trying to stop Biden just to make Trump look bad even though Trump had been defeated and would soon be out of power? It doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1254 "2021-02-27T06:43:29Z")
Perhaps you could provide a list of all the things that Trump and his minions believe, do and say that _do_ make sense? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1255 "2021-02-27T12:35:45Z")
I got that list right here: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1256 "2021-02-27T18:46:19Z")
> **[Capitol riot defendants facing jail have regrets. Judges aren’t buying it.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/capitol-riot-defendants-regrets/2021/02/26/b3d06e3e-76b1-11eb-9537-496158cc5fd9_story.html)** > > Some accused in the insurrection have blamed Donald Trump, downplayed their actions or expressed remorse. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1257 "2021-02-27T18:55:58Z")
Regret getting caught and having to face the concequences of their actions. Like most criminals. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1258 "2021-02-27T19:03:14Z")
Here’s another one that now claims regret; check out the other allegations in the story tho: > **[Oath Keeper charged in Capitol riot renounces militia group](https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-politics-arrests-ohio-1c6efcfb1a163bcf6498dc106b222fa4)** > > A member of the Oath Keepers militia group charged with plotting with other extremists in the attack on the U.S. > [@](#): > > “I did it out of the love of my country but I think it’s time to let all of that go,” the Army veteran who ran an Ohio bar said during the hearing held via videoconference. “I’m not a criminally minded person… I am humiliated that I am even here today,” she added. Yeah… you are a criminally minded person: you planned and committed crimes. Stop living in delusion. > [@](#): > > Judge Amit P. Mehta said Watkins was “not just a foot soldier” but actively involved in the planning and organizing of the attack and is too dangerous to be released. More than 250 people have been charged with federal crimes so far as a result of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The case against those affiliated with the Oath Keepers [is the largest conspiracy case brought by prosecutors so far in the attack.](https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-ohio-4ae41a1dc529fc96879c618b5b64126d) > > Watkins’ comments were surprising as defendants rarely, if ever, address the court during routine hearings over things like detention, because everything they say can be used against them by prosecutors. > > Watkins, from Champaign County, Ohio, was part of the “stack” formation used by military infantrymen that was seen seen marching up the Capitol steps wearing tactical gear as the mob descended on the building, authorities say. Prosecutors say she and other Oath Keepers prepared in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 as if they were going to war — recruiting others and training members — with the goal of blocking the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. > > Prosecutors said in court documents that Watkins communicated with other extremists during the attack over an encrypted channel on the walkie-talkie app Zello, saying: “We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan.” Prosecutors say an unknown man said on the channel: “You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud.” > > Watkins’ renouncement of the Oath Keepers stands in sharp contrast to a message authorities say she sent after the attack to the leader of the Oath Keepers about a media report that portrayed the Oath Keepers negatively. Prosecutors say Watkins said: “If he has anything negative to say about us OATHKEEPERS, I’ll let you know so we can sue harder. Class action style. Oathkeepers are the shit. They rescued cops, WE saved lives and did all the right things.” 🙄 > [@](#): > > Authorities have revealed chilling allegations in the case against the Oath Keepers, like a text message in which one man [suggested getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River.](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-politics-impeachments-7d2334edf7da4e2d50e4c6f1f386dec1) Prosecutors say the Oath Keepers also discussed stationing a “quick reaction force” with weapons outside D.C. to assist. > > On Friday, the judge pressed prosecutor Ahmed Baset over whether authorities have evidence that the Oath Keepers actually had a ”quick reaction force” set up outside the city on Jan. 6. Baset replied “that’s our understanding,” but didn’t provide anymore details before the judge brought the attorneys into a private virtual conference room to discuss the matter further. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1259 "2021-02-27T20:17:37Z")
Thanks for that. Interesting. I hope that anyone convicted of any offence with an element of violence (against individuals or property), weapons or conspiracy gets considerable jail time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1260 "2021-02-27T20:24:02Z")
You and me both. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1261 "2021-02-27T20:28:24Z")
Back in the innocent days of 2016-ish I knew a few Trump fans. They weren’t authoritarians, but they did buy into the narrative that the government had largely been captured by self-serving doubletalk-spewing elites of both sides. They looked mostly at Trump as an outrageous but mostly harmless prank to be played on the Establishment. I don’t deal with those people now, so I don’t know their post 2018ish or current take on Trump. I suspect many of these self-styled revolutionaries are in an analagous state. Playing at being a revolutionary and playing at pranking the establishment sounds fun. Then they went ahead and did it and have now been awoken to the reality that this isn’t a narrative in a “reality” TV show. This is the real thing. Oops. Anyone with a hand in the planning or the violence, and any supporters of any organizations needs to be found, properly convicted, and removed from society UFN. _Pour encourager les autres._ Failed coups have consequences. Even pitifully amateur coups. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1262 "2021-02-27T20:40:14Z")
I think that the federal criminal justice system is one the few good tools in our toolkit to fight back against right wing authoritarianism. I’m not advocating mass round-ups and incarceration just because we’re angry at the people who showed up at the rally and cried “fraud” - there needs to be due process. But if we can prosecute hundreds of these people, have a jury listen to the evidence and put most of them behind bars for anywhere from 5-20 years, depending on the nature of the offense, then that’s an important step past the Trump era. It’s not the only step. Biden and the Dems must succeed in governing, and I think that means doing away with the filibuster and going it alone, all over the crying objections of Mitt Romney and Susan Collins (and Joe Munchkin while we’re at it). Dems must out-compete Republicans at the state level. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1263 "2021-02-27T20:42:56Z")
I think this is typical white conservative hypocrisy. The ones who scream “Pull your pants up” and advocate for police roughhousing of minority suspects are the ones who then sit before a judge and say _"This was all just a big mistake. I don’t know how I got here. I’m really just like anyone else. Come on, your honor. Let me go. Please. Hey, come on, I’m white._ " ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1264 "2021-02-27T21:05:55Z")
They hate so much that simply hating blacks, Latinos, and Muslims isn’t enough. They had to bring back hating Asians to handle the excess. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/1265 "2021-02-27T21:19:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suspect many of these self-styled revolutionaries are in an analagous state. Playing at being a revolutionary and playing at pranking the establishment sounds fun. Then they went ahead and did it and have now been awoken to the reality that this isn’t a narrative in a “reality” TV show. This is the real thing. Oops. I believe it’s more dire than that. I see people who **really** believe that the bolsheviks are trying to destroy America. For almost 100 years, the narrative in this country has been that communism is evil. Actually evil in the biblical sense. That it’s designed to destroy the freedom of humanity given to us by god and to replace it with the domain of man. They’ve been fed a steady diet of stories of the atrocities of the Soviet Union, and China and Cuba and Venezuela for generations. And they hear terms like social democracy, and they hear Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez being called socialists, and they immediately flash on all those horror stories. And they vow to never let it happen here. Nevermind that the American brand of social democracy is nothing like communist Russia or Cuba. Or that problems of Venezuela are the results of an extremely corrupt authoritarian regime. Or the fact that China is now the largest and most thriving capitalist society ever. They believe their way of life is being threatened and it’s their duty to protect it. Just because they’ve been temporarily abandoned by those they thought would lead them, doesn’t mean they don’t still believe that “their” America is being threatened. They absolutely do believe it. And now they won’t be so quick to follow paper tigers and false prophets. Sure, they’re embarrassed that they were so easily led astray. Sure, they regret taking rash actions. But their belief that they are fighting for the soul of the nation is just as strong and deep as ever… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020.md?page=64)