I remember House member Liz Cheney’s emotional comments about Jan 6. She set politics aside and spoke from the heart. Cheney is getting a lot of heat from fellow Republicans for that now.
I’ve been watching the recently released videos. Senators Romney and Schumer nearly walked into the mob. They were diverted and told to change direction by the the Capital police. The Capital police fought and fought for hours to keep the mob away from the politicians and their staff.
I can’t understand how anybody in that building doesn’t take this deeply personal? This was a direct attack on our democracy and way of life. There’s no place for a political discussion. This is as raw and personal as it gets.
Yet, all the news is predicting Trump won’t be convicted. How can that happen? What affront would it take for these politicians to react personally and set politics aside? I find it incredible Pence hasn’t spoken out. The mob put up a gallows to hang him. I’d certainly want to testify at the Impeachment trial. Several people were seen carrying zip ties. This could have easily become a hostage situation.
One obvious way to not see the insurrection as a personal attack is if you were part of it. If you were an “inside man” then you would perceive the attacking side as being your side and would (correctly or not) see yourself as neither being threatened by the insurrection nor indeed its target.
For some of them an attack on democracy doesn’t matter, since they are in favor of power, not democracy. Plus I’m sure some thought that if the rioters saw them they’d treat the “it’s a fraud” senators as heroes.
Some are cowards, scared more of losing in a primary than of tossing away our democratic institutions.
The book on this trial should be called “Profiles in Cowardice.”
Tribal affilitation and in-group and out-group are among the highest priorities among conservatives. Notice that they’ve almost universally been unwilling to criticize each other no matter how insane. Us vs Them is that the top of their priorities. If they show any doubt, any criticism of their own, any justice brought to their own, they may be shunned by the rest of them. They’re afraid that being able to say “yes, coups are bad, even when we do them” will make them a “RINO” and secret socialist and kill their political career.
Privately, they probably do take it personally. If we were able to have this trial by secret ballot, it might end up with 100% voting to convict. But they have insane, tribal, us vs them, conservative mob to satisfy if they want to keep their jobs, so they cannot and will not ever act against their own group no matter how evil, how insane, how personally damaging to them.
Some dictionaries appear to define cognitive dissonance as the condition of holding two contradictory views, but that’s not how it’s defined in psychology. Cognitive dissonance is actually the discomfort of holding two contradictory views that people seek to alleviate (by changing their mind on one, by coming up with a rationalization as to how they’re not in conflict, etc.)
These people have become so trained and practice in holding contradictory views - especially in recent years - that it may not cause them discomfort at all, they may manage to avoid thinking about the conflict entirely - in which case they are not actually experiencing cognitive dissonance.
Much like southern senators right before the Civil War they are on the side of instruction. It’s that simple. Anyone of them that doesn’t vote to convict Trump is basically voting to allow an overthrow of our Constitutional Democracy in favor of a dictatorship in which they will have unlimited power.
This is real and happening now. They need to be called out as traitors, not the time to pussyfoot around about it or be lukewarm.
Romney has personally thanked the officer who led him out of danger. And he voted to convict Trump at his first impeachment trial. I have no doubt he’ll vote to convict again.
I read an article the other day that some senators are concerned for their safety if they vote to convict.
Guess they don’t realize is they are going to be continually bullied by their own constituents until they purge themselves of Trump and Trump cronnies.
If a democrat ex president had done this, you can bet republicans would want the death penalty. Hell, trump was advocating “lock her up” when Hillary Clinton used government email server for personal emails.
The members of the Face-Eating Leopard Party don’t believe that the leopards will eat their faces. Especially not if they do what the leopards tell them to do.
The crowd was only after Mike Pence for being a traitor to the Face-Eating Leopard Party. To be made an examples of and send a messagd. Seems that their message stuck.
DISCLAIMER! - I do not wish harm on any member of our government, nor are my following statements advocating harm on any members of our government.
Y’know, part of me kinda wishes that the insurrectionists had been just slightly more successful, and that they had actually harmed a prominent Senator/Congressperson/VP. Then we would have had something very concrete and tangible to point to. Instead, much like the Mueller Report, and the first impeachment, the soft fuzziness of it (no Senators/Congresspersons/VPs were actually harmed. Trump said a lot of things but didn’t personally really yadda yadda) gives cover to the deplorables to just hand wave away the reality of it.
You can see it as a protest against globalism instead of something personal. We elected another President that doesn’t seem to care that it’s no longer possible that anyone that wants to work hard and earn an honest living can go to work in a coal mine, a steel mill, and auto factory, and support a family with a middle class lifestyle.
A few victims of the left-wing riots in Minneapolis were interviewed, and they didn’t seem to take it personally either.
I’d certainly want to testify at the Impeachment trial. Several people were seen carrying zip ties. This could have easily become a hostage situation.