Originally published at: Oregon state Rep. Mike Nearman criminally charged for allowing far-right rioters to breach state Capitol | Boing Boing
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We’re too close to events right now to get the full picture, but I suspect that in decades to come, some really scary insights will come out about how close Trump came to actually overthrowing the government.
Of course, this all depends on how things turn out in 2022 and 2024. It’s not over yet, not by a long shot.
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It’s clear we came really damn close to members of congress being murdered. I don’t think a single person involved had any real plans for overthrowing the government, though - I mean, they wanted to, but they are all such idiots that they hadn’t actually planned out what to do after they killed various members of congress and the VP. They just assumed it would all magically fall into place after that, but I think there just would have been some chaos, instead. I don’t really see a path whereby Trump could have taken over.
Yeah, I think the Republican party is very much currently making - and enacting - plans to overthrow democracy, as this time they have thought it through.
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I’m not in support of either group here, but it is refreshing to see cops get maced for a change.
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Yes and no—if they really had succeeded in crippling the power structure, then the resulting chaos and turmoil are exactly the conditions that allow a tyrant to step in and take control. They did not need to have a plan, they would have been happy for the former guy to walk into the rubble and take over.
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Watching the video, it’s pretty clear they guy was thinking “Not my problem.” I can just hear his little brain going “Screw you guys. I’m going’ home.”
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The semi-logical plan I’ve heard of (if the gang of Trumps/Proud Boys/Qanons/random idiots were capable of planning) was that, after Pence and whoever else were killed Trump could declare martial law and indefinitely postpone the election certification. Or he could appoint someone like Pompeo to substitute for Pence and proceed with the certification, confident that Pompeo would do what Pence refused to do, i.e., discard enough unfavorable state electoral votes to give Trump the election. I don’t know how legal or plausible any of this would be but we’d be in uncharted territory and they might have at least tipped us into chaos.
I’d love to know what Pence knows about this. He must have gotten some briefings after the fact. At the very least Trump stood idle for hours while his followers threatened the safety of Pence,
and his wife and daughter – and Pence is still kissing Trump’s ass.
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The guy actually walked around the building and re-entered it. I wanna hear his explanation of that maneuver.
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I’d say that, as a training aid (and to gain some needed perspective), cop “cadets” should “fully experience” mace. That said, some may be even further inspired to use the stuff out in the field, given the level of pain they could inflict.
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I was worried about this scenario in the run-up to Jan 6th, but I’m not sure it would have worked. Trump might have found it difficult to declare martial law after the riot he was responsible for murdered people. Republicans were able to diminish what happened because it failed, and the “antifa did it” narrative works a lot better when they didn’t manage to actually kill any left-leaning politicians. Even with some of congress dead, there would still be enough of the government to push back against a blatantly illegal power grab. If they had failed to certify the votes (which is more symbolic than anything), he still wouldn’t have legally been president. Trump could have declared himself president for life at any point, and it would have had the same legal weight as doing so during an emergency. At worst that would have been the spark for a civil war that would have decided things, but that would have required plans to succeed, and the military made it pretty clear they weren’t going to prop up a Trump dictatorship.
Sowing chaos wouldn’t have been enough - Trump and his forces needed an actual plan to take power, and they never had one. (Trump, I think, kept expecting someone else to come up with a plan, and/or he just didn’t even realize he needed one.)
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Yup, I agree. His only move would have been to start a civil war. Trump didn’t have enough key supporters. aka Rules for Rulers.
After it was clear that Trump’s coup had failed. Trade groups quickly denounced him, and he was removed from Social Media. Because everyone got it that his only move was to start a civil war. This would have destroyed wealth in the US.
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That just tells us that Trump is not the one in command. Someone is set up to take advantage of the chaos, we just don’t know who it is. Russia is the easy target, but no doubt there are other groups in the US directly involved.
Hey if we’re gonna do conspiracies, might as well go all in.
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I think that at least in most police departments they do.
Kind of like when he won the election in 2016.
Yes but if he had been better at sucking up to the generals and had a few more years to do it…I mean trump was a very incompetent authoritarian, but what if the next guy isn’t. AND we’ve had several more years of divisive politics and distrust of the democratic process sown before the next authoritarian takes office. Scary times.
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Really? They get blasted in face with mace?
I’m not sure at what range and intensity, but yeah, all the cops that I know got the chemicals that they carry used on them. It was “wear an old shirt because you’re going to want to throw it away day,” at the academy.
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It’s a part of academy training, but they also think that full-on sprays are done and over with, only getting a little bit when it’s pointed at suspects. But suspects don’t usually come prepared with safety goggles, either.
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Actually, they kind of buried the ledge in the article:
Nearman, meanwhile, promptly walked around the building and entered on the opposite side.
Makes it pretty blatant that he was simply letting them in. Should have been charged with more, I think.
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That’s interesting. Wondering now if they also get their necks kneeled on for several minutes.
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