Today 1/6/22

 

In these perilous times, we are compelled to a reckoning with the Truth.

The Primary Truth of our time, this day, is that Donald J. Trump Lost the 2020 Free, Fair, Most Secure Presidential Election. The Truth of our time is that the present-day GOP is operating from the base of a Lie.

We are as President Joe Biden says, on the very verge of an Autocracy in these beloved United States. Today’s Republican Party, with shamefully few exceptions, has brought us to this point, and hopes to keep us here.

Yesterday’s NY Times Editorial, ‘January 6^th Everyday’, directs us to ‘Look forward and backward at the same time’. So be it. Here, some ideas about looking ‘forward and backward at the same time’: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/opinion/january-6-attack-committee.html

Frank Figliuzzi was FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence. He served 25 years as a Special Agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He is an MSNBC columnist and a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.

 Former FBI AD Figliuzzi explains forward/backward looking: ‘Trump won’t be on any ballot in the midterms, but his strategy to sow confusion and stoke anger over election results could again serve as a kind of template for terror’.https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/jan-6-security-lapses-enabled-2021-s-capitol-attack-they-n1287030

 Trump, Director-In Chief of the Big Lie and Insurrection, not a midterm candidate, (so far), not on the Ballot. Trumpism, our latest form of Domestic Terrorism, meanwhile, very much alive & kicking. 

Neal K. Katyal is the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States and a professor of law at Georgetown University. He too is an NBC Legal Advisor.

https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/neal-k-katyal/

The former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, who has successfully argued many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court writes today, ‘The DOJ must examine the roles of government officials, including former President Donald Trump, in the Capitol insurrection. To look away is fantastically dangerous.‘…  

He also advises: ‘people, including high-ranking government officials, need to be interviewed and documents examined to determine whether probable cause exists’. ‘Probable cause’ here, means Cause to bring Criminal Charges.

This is ‘Looking back’ at what happened, to ‘Look forward’ to what we need to do to prevent this appalling treason from happening again.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/justice-department-garland-january-six/621167/

Good ideas are nice; decisive Action is necessary: We must insist on Truth and Justice. Advocate, Vocalize. Contact Elected Officials and insist upon Legal/Legislative Action. Volunteer, Organize, and Vote.  

1/3/22 Jan 6 Everyday

 

We are in the midst of very dangerous times.

In 1966 Stephen Stills, (later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame), was with a band called Buffalo Springfield and he wrote a song titled ‘For What It’s Worth.’

‘There's something happening here
but what it is ain't exactly clear
there’s a man with a gun over there
telling me I got to beware’

The song was primarily an Anti-Viet Nam War protest, but it reached across to many Social, Racial, Economic and Political injustices. These far-reaching, and remarkably insightful lyrics ring true again today.

‘What it is’ this time around though, is perfectly clear. Once again, a well-armed, well-organized, vocal minority is once again dictating to the real ‘Moral Majority’ what the future of this country shall be. The Armed, Vocal, Violent Minority, staged its ‘Big Show’ January 6^th 2021, but its Coup continues.

Mara Gay and the NY Times Editorial Board wrote today about ‘January 6^th Everyday’

‘ the Republic faces an existential threat from a movement that is openly contemptuous of democracy and has shown that it is willing to use violence to achieve its ends. No self-governing society can survive such a threat by denying that it exists. Rather, survival depends on looking back and forward at the same time.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/opinion/january-6-attack-committee.html

Ms. Gay speaks of the ‘Radical Minority’, (MAGA-Lytes), organized across State and County/Community Boards determined to undermine The Right to Vote/Voter Access. Republicans, (Mostly Trump Cronies), are working tirelessly to ensure that mostly only Republicans; mainly White Republican Trump Supporters, can Vote. These desperate men & women now get it; that they can no longer win a Free and Fair Majority Election in these United States.

It is ‘Happening’ Now. Right in front of us, out in the great wide open. It needs to be stopped. We have to, as the song says ‘Stop…’

 ‘I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?

The United States Constitution enshrines the Right to Vote for All American Citizens:

The 14^th Amendment (1868), to the U.S. Constitution declares -  No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” We can assume the phrase “the equal protection of the laws.” includes the Right to Vote.

Preceding the 14^th Amendment, the 12^th Amendment (1804), defines the Election of President “The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed” (Italics mine. jw) This is precisely what happened in 2020, and the outcome most Republicans seek to defy.

These enshrined Rights are then enforced by U.S. Code Title:

USC : U.S. Code Title 52 Subtitle I CHAPTER 101 § 10101

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/10101

Of Special Note here is Section 2 (B) No person acting under color of law shall— deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material….

   Also Section (b) Intimidation, threats, or coercion

No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, Delegates or Commissioners from the Territories or possessions, at any general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any such candidate.  (Italics mine. jw)

These are the very Constitutional Rights, and Voting Laws the current Republican Party seeks to eliminate in order to retain Power. They must not be allowed to undermine our democracy with such tactics.