It Is Impossible To Work With Seditious Insurrectionists – Spare Me The ‘Bipartisanship’ Nonsense

As Jennifer Rubin says:

[Republicans’] attitude toward nominations is symptomatic of their entire approach to politics: It is about theater, about feeding right-wing media (which loves nothing better than to paint progressives as extreme radicals) and never about governance, let alone bipartisanship.

If you have been watching any congressional hearings this week, this has become all too obvious. “It is about theater, about feeding right-wing media.” Spare me the crocodile tears from Republicans and certain members of the media about this “bipartisanship” nonsense.

I’m sorry, but when two-thirds of Republicans in the House and eight senators, List of Senate and House members objecting to election after the Capitol attack, were complicit in Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the election was stolen, voting not to certify the election even after Donald Trump unleashed his seditious insurrectionist violent armed MAGA mob on the Capitol to overthrow American democracy and to install him as America’s first dictator, threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence and to assassinate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (next in line of succession), and to do harm to God only knows how many members of Congress had they succeeded in their failed coup attempt, don’t you dare speak to me of “bipartisanship.” America does not negotiate with terrorists, foreign or domestic.

It has been infuriating to watch Donald Trump’s coconspirators, aiders and abettors, and accessories after the fact like Sens. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Ron Johnson, and Reps. Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, and Louie Gohmert being allowed to participate in these hearings about Capitol security given their complicity in the January 6 seditious insurrection.  It’s like a criminal defendant asking the cops at trial “why didn’t you stop me?” (This is not an actual defense).

They are engaging in theater and trying to undermine our democracy by sabotaging these hearings with wild conspiracy theories and amplifying the right-wing media’s attempt to gaslight Americans into believing that the January 6 MAGA insurrection did not actually happen (the “don’t believe your lying eyes” defense) or that antifa or Black Lives Matter were actually at fault, that all those MAGA and QAnon cultists shouting “fight for Trump” and “‘Hang Mike Pence!” were “fake” MAGA and Qanon cultists.  They are still engaged in an active insurrection against the lawful government of the United States.

Democrats’ frustration with these congressional insurrectionists has boiled over in committee hearings this week. The Hill reports, Democratic fury with GOP explodes in House:

Democratic fury over the mob attack on the Capitol and its aftermath is spilling into nearly every aspect of life in the House, squashing hopes for comity and threatening even mundane legislative tasks like the naming of a local post office.

Democrats accuse Republicans of nothing short of sabotaging the nation’s democracy with false claims that November’s election was “stolen” from former President Trump.

Already angry that the refusal by some Republicans to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was endangering lives, Democrats now see the GOP as directly putting lawmaker lives on the line with dangerous rhetoric that feeds outlandish conspiracy theories.

“It’s impossible for us to not look at them in a different light,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said of the 139 Republicans who voted to reverse the election results. [and eight senators].

UPDATE: Rep. Tim Ryan talks with Rachel Maddow about the D.C. federal prosecutor’s office “reviewing the footage” of members of Congress who gave tours of the Capitol ahead of the pro-Trump riots on January 6th.

It was equally evident during a Postal Service hearing on Wednesday as a furious Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) lashed out at a top Trump ally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who had accused Democrats of attacking Postmaster General Louis DeJoy last year simply to damage Trump’s reelection chances.

“It was all a charade!” Jordan said.

“I didn’t vote to overturn an election. And I will not be lectured by people who did, about partisanship,” Connolly shot back, jabbing his finger at Jordan. [The “Fuck you!” was implied.]

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday lashed out at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for giving “aid and comfort” to the insurrectionists.

McCarthy, a short time later, would reply in turn, using a rare floor speech to accuse Democrats of adopting strategies of “grievance” designed to silence “millions of constituents” represented by the minority Republicans.

Oh sweet Jesus! The Party of Trump is the party of white grievance. Their go to move is victimization, claiming that they are being persecuted (or even martyred) for their fascist beliefs, and “cancel culture!” Dude, the Trump Party just engaged in a MAGA violent seditious insurrection on the Capitol to overthrow American democracy and to install Trump as America’s first dictator, so spare me your “victimization” and “cancel culture” bullshit! (Kevin McCarthy voted to object to certifying the election results even after Donald Trump unleashed his seditious insurrectionist violent armed MAGA mob on the Capitol, and McCarthy had to plead with Trump to send National Guard troops to protect Congress, which Trump refused.) McCarthy did give aid and comfort to the insurrectionists along with 138 other Republican House members. This is a fair characterization, because it is true.

Freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who called former President Trump’s stand on Jan. 6 “our 1776 moment,” forced a vote Wednesday to end House business for the day; it failed but not before grumbling from members of both parties.

Many Democrats say it is untenable to work with those GOP lawmakers who voted to overturn the election results even after the deadly attack.

“It’s an improbable situation because these are the people that tried to undermine our government. And they may be no less guilty than the people who attacked the Capitol,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.).

“It is going to be much harder to work across the aisle,” echoed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who blamed some GOP lawmakers for endangering her.

“Even the aftermath of the sixth, there were [GOP] members that were kind of deliberately advancing falsehoods about my location, and then turning around and saying, ‘I’d love for us to work together sometime,’ ” she added. “This is very serious. Many members of Congress nearly died. … So, the idea that people just want to pretend that that has no impact on their ability to work is quite shocking, I think, and absurd.”

Republicans, for their part, accuse Democrats of distorting the events of Jan. 6 in order to paint the entire GOP as complicit for the actions of the mob.

Not all. See, List of Senate and House members objecting to election after the Capitol attack, and the 43 Republican senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump on a “technicality,” i.e.,  jury nullification, even though Sen. Mitch McConnell immediately said afterwards his caucus believed that Donald Trump was guilty as charged. There has yet to be any accountability for these coconspirators, aiders and abettors, and accessories after the fact in Congress.

Even the proposed 9/11-style commission to look into the Jan. 6 domestic terror attack has been bogged down by partisan politics. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been circulating draft legislation that would create an independent, bipartisan commission, where Democrats would get seven appointments and Republicans four.

Republicans have rejected that proposal, demanding an even split between the parties and subpoena power for both the majority and minority. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday called Pelosi’s plan “partisan by design,” and both he and McCarthy have pointed to remarks by the 9/11 Commission leaders — Republican Thomas Kean and Democrat Lee Hamilton — calling for an evenly split commission like theirs was.

What McConnell calls “partisan” is recognition of a simple truth: only one political party engaged in seditious violent insurrection against the United States government. You do not put the criminal defendants on the jury (you saw what happened in the Senate impeachment trial).

“It seems most of this is politically driven,” McCarthy said of Pelosi’s plan, “and it seems like she’s setting up a system to fail.”

Republicans want it to fail, because they are potentially criminally liable as coconspirators, aiders and abettors, and accessories after the fact. They do not want to held accountable for their actions.

But House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) defended the Pelosi proposal, arguing that the 9/11 panel was formed under a divided government, but Democrats now control the House, Senate and White House.

“It was five and five when you had split authorities in leadership,” Thompson told The Hill. For the Jan. 6 commission, “I think Democrats should pick the chair and Republicans can pick the vice chair and I don’t think in the end that would destroy a product that that commission would generate.

“To some it’s partisan, but to others it’s the process,” he added. “Our duty requires us to do that because God forbid, if we don’t, then something else can happen. The next time the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers doesn’t like what we do, they’ll just go tear up the place again.”

* * *

Rank-and-file Republicans say they just want to put Jan. 6 in the rearview mirror and move on.

Absolutely not! No truth, no accountability. No accountability, no justice. No justice, no peace. There needs to be expulsion from Congress of the coconspirators, aiders and abettors, and accessories after the fact. They need to be forever barred from holding political office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. America should not repeat its mistakes at the end of the Reconstruction era after the Civl War.

The events divided their party, with 10 House Republicans voting to impeach Trump and seven GOP senators voting for his conviction. While that pales in comparison to the 43 Republicans who voted to acquit, it is a historic high for an impeachment trial.

Moving on will be difficult given the bad blood and the daily reminders of what happened.

5 thoughts on “It Is Impossible To Work With Seditious Insurrectionists – Spare Me The ‘Bipartisanship’ Nonsense”

  1. Republicans are now trying to make their MAGA/QAnon seditious insurrection disappear down the memory hole, trying to convince you that it never happened, or trying to blame it on someone else.

    The New York Times reports, “How Pro-Trump Forces Pushed a Lie About Antifa at the Capitol Riot”, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/us/politics/antifa-conspiracy-capitol-riot.html

    (On Jan. 8, the F.B.I. said there was no evidence that supporters of antifa. On Jan. 13, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, spoke at Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial and declared, “Some say the riots were caused by antifa. There’s absolutely no evidence of that, and conservatives should be the first to say so.”)

    The Washington Post reports, “Rewriting January 6th: Republicans push false accounts of Capitol riot”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republicans-riot-false-accounts/2021/02/28/9230e3b6-784c-11eb-9537-496158cc5fd9_story.html

  2. The Washington Post editorializes, “Too many Republicans can’t be trusted to sit on a Jan. 6 commission”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/too-many-republicans-cant-be-trusted-to-sit-on-a-jan-6-commission/2021/02/26/434ba3a8-7865-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html

    [T]here is an underlying problem: Huge swaths of the Republican Party remain devoted to lies about the 2020 election and its aftermath — the same sorts of fictions that inspired the Jan. 6 invaders. Dozens of GOP lawmakers are attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering devoted to questioning the 2020 election results. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) argued this week at a hearing on the insurrection that “fake Trump protesters” were responsible for Jan. 6. While other Republicans are less actively spreading disinformation, they are still failing to call out former president Donald Trump’s lies and put the blame for Jan. 6 where it belongs.

    [T]he Jan. 6 insurrection was a unique danger, an attack on the nation’s democratic system that breached the country’s seat of government, incited by those who sought to overturn a free and fair election.

    In fact, it may be hard to find Republicans who have credibility with the base but could also serve on a fact-finding commission that would dispassionately consider the origins of Jan. 6, rooted as they are in Mr. Trump’s big election lie. This is Republicans’ fault, because they legitimized Mr. Trump’s lying in the weeks following the 2020 election.

    It would be better to have no commission than to offer another forum for Republicans to cover for Mr. Trump, promote wild conspiracy theories, deny President Biden’s legitimacy, or draw false equivalences between Jan. 6 and other episodes of political violence.

  3. The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent explains “How Republicans will sabotage a full accounting of Trump’s insurrection”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/24/republicans-commission-insurrection-sabotage/

    Sargent’s colleague, Jennifer Rubin writes, “Republicans don’t get to talk about bipartisanship”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/25/republicans-dont-get-talk-about-bipartisanship/

    Dean Obeidallah writes at MSNBC that “It’s time Democratic members of Congress make a point to not normalize the GOP’s growing embrace of fascism.” “Biden says the world needs to defend democracy. That starts at home.”,https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/biden-says-world-needs-defend-democracy-starts-home-n1258434

    “That Trump incited the attack is the very crux of fascism, which, as I wrote for MSNBC in January, “employs undemocratic methods, especially violence, to acquire and retain power.”

    It’s time Democratic members of Congress make a point to not normalize the GOP’s growing embrace of fascism. They can start by vocally committing to not work with any Republicans in Congress who played a role in furthering the lies that led to the attack as well as those who refused to hold Trump accountable for inciting the insurrection.

    This tactic would not be necessary if the GOP had, en masse, publicly condemned Trump’s incitement of a mob designed to “stop the steal” and keep Trump in power. But what we’ve seen — with a few exceptions — is the opposite. Overwhelmingly, GOP officials and rank-and-file members have sided with Trump and rejected efforts to hold him accountable.”

    “It’s time the Democratic leaders, in one voice, from Biden through to every member of Congress, make it clear that what the GOP is doing is embracing fascism. They must not be timid in using the word “fascism,” and they must define it for the public so it’s a meaningful warning.

    But beyond words, Democrats should stop any and all steps that normalize or whitewash the Jan. 6 attack by publicly refusing to work with Republicans who played a role in it or refused to hold Trump accountable. Big-name donors can withhold donations to those Republicans by making it clear that any contribution will be seen as them validating the GOP’s attacks on our democracy. (Indeed, some corporations have already announced they will withhold future donations to Republicans who voted against certifying Biden’s victory.)”

    “This is a battle to preserve our democracy, as Biden noted. It’s time the Democratic members of Congress lead that fight.”

  4. NBC News reports “Capitol Police chief warns extremists ‘want to blow up the Capitol’ when Biden addresses Congress”, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/capitol-law-enforcement-heads-detail-intelligence-failures-leading-jan-6-n1258829

    [I]ntelligence suggests that extremists could be planning an attack, acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said Thursday.

    “We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6th have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified,” she told members of Congress, referring to Biden’s coming first address to a joint session of Congress.

    Recent tradition has been for presidents to deliver a message to a joint session of Congress, but not an official State of the Union, in their inauguration year. The previous six presidents have done that, according to the report.

    From Thomas Jefferson until Woodrow Wilson, the annual address was delivered in writing, not in a joint session of Congress.

    Given Biden’s pandemic response, his address could be virtual, avoiding a congregate setting in which Republicans refuse to wear a mask even though the House rules require it. This would also thwart any MAGA mob from “blowing up the Capitol” and killing as many members of Congress as possible. And what does this say about Trump supporters, anyway?

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