We already know the answer to that based on the fact that the pentagon was requested to support the capitol police and refused to intercede. And that later it was revealed that they were ordered not to. The National Guard troops came from Maryland and Virginia. They didn’t come from the standing army, but the reserves.
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All it would have taken was 2-3 more “trumps”, in key positions. If some Republican states had jimmied their electoral votes, there’s not a lot you can do (esp when so many “trumps” are on the Supreme Court).
But the higher up you go, the less you want to be “that guy” who destroyed the United States of America. Pence certainly wasn’t going to do it. It’s all the low-level state officials with almost no power who are the ones who still yell “stop the steal.”
he was bear-sprayed and trying to recover!
I think because there’s a lot we can’t see: ie, there’s a lot of state police outside. so those by the door need to be ready to help them or give them an escape.
that woman in red: she kept talking with the police. i bet she was trying to “turn” them, and help them “realize” they were aiding the tyranny.
45 was polling below his overall poll numbers (typically 30-40%) among active-duty military before the Trumpsurrection. Moreover, they are heavily drilled to follow orders. 45 was really unpopular with military brass.
That was due to civilian control of the DCNG, not military brass. It’s illegal for the military to just jump in and act as police. If national guard troops had jumped in and met serious resistance at the capitol, then you could have reasonably expected the military to step in with overwhelming force.
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That’s assuming that the military in a situation like that is actual uniform. Given that there were some retired and active duty members AT the insurrection, we don’t know the answer to that. As much as we like to think of the military as a well-oiled machine where no one ever disobeys the chain of command, it’s a very large organization made up of individuals who can make choices, even with he threat of court-martial or expulsion hanging over their heads. And if enough people in higher positions make a choice to back a coup to “save” the country from “liberals”… 
And that is still a not insignificant number of people though.
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To my eyes, it is pretty clear the guy was thinking “I am going to go out of the back door today for some reason, and if any of you guys get in because the door did not fasten properly after me, then that’s hardly my problem. I hope they are ready, or I will have to go around again. Oh good, there they are, now don’t make eye contact…”
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I don’t think he had a real plan either, though.
Right, those are the dudes that mistook “a series of fantasies untethered from reality” for “a plan.”
Oh don’t get me wrong - this was absolutely the goal for Trump and many of his allies (though not so much for most of the staff inside the White House, from what I’ve read). But a goal isn’t a plan. They had a fantasy that they hadn’t thought too much about how to implement.
Well, the military made it clear it wasn’t backing him, so…
Yeah, it is. It really is. And this was the real threat - they could have created chaos in which a lot of people would have died, because they absolutely didn’t need a plan for that. (In fact, their lack of reality-based plan would have perpetuated more chaos, if anything.)
These are the guys who have been talking about “civil war” for a while - and their “plans” usually consisted of, 1) kill some members of a minority group to start a “race war,” 2) this becomes a civil war, 3) they have guns, so they can control their entire rural states, somehow, 4) the majority joins them, 5) they win. It ain’t a real plan, nor based in reality, either. Still incredibly dangerous though, obviously, because they’re terrorists who are willing to kill people without any understanding of how that would enact their policy goals (if they even have specific policy goals).
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Yes, that’s correct, however they also stated they were ordered not to directly and specifically. I don’t know how it’s gotten no play in the press compared to everything else, but I suspect the ongoing congressional investigations will bring some sunlight to all this.
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Even in the absence of a plan, emergent behavior (flocking) can fill in a lot of the blanks. Trump appointees in position, acting as individuals, would automatically dial down the security alertness and reaction to MAGA demonstrations, even after they invaded the Capitol building.
Most of the mob was there just for the rally to stop the steal. They’d tag along with the ones who wanted to go to the Capitol, demonstate and stop the steal. They’d follow the ones who wanted to invade the Capitol and stop the steal. Aaand maybe there was a core group who had some kind of plan to catch Democratic legislators (and Pence), put them on “trial” and kind of, sort of, kill them.
If the Republicans sudden found themselves with a majority in the House (due to deaths), they would have spontaneously found all kinds of reasons not to acknowledge the electoral college votes. Quite improper, probably unconstitutional, but the longer it went on, the worse it would get.
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It happened during the Romanian Revolution for valid reasons (though not democratically). It can happen just as easily for invalid reasons.
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Imagine living in a country where that is a sentence people write on the Internet.
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It also demonstrates how effective your gas mask is. Confidence in your protective equipment so you’re less hesitant to use it. My experience was military, using “CS gas” of some sort. Very effective stuff, and likewise the gas mask I wore to protect from it.
There was a lot of hazing about it, too. The route from the barracks to the mess hall passed the small concrete block building where gas training occurred. Our drill instructors took great delight in telling us of the horrors we could expect when it was our turn. And no end of “just you wait” badgering from recruits who’s already
I recovered some 5 years later. From the military, that is.
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We had a CS chamber training day to show us soldiers the effectiveness of our gas masks. Good times.
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