- Posts
- 2,515
- Reaction score
- 5,725
Well the newly elected representative from the state legislature of West Virgina's selfie video will be problematic. the FBI just arrested him.
If only they wore their Covid masks.![]()
![]()
![]()
Unfortunately a lot of the people who believe these far right conspiracies are baby Boomers, not people younger. That’s why they have so much power at the polls.Yeah right? Some of these guys really are total dunces, they filmed themselves naked-face... one wore a work ID badge... some even gave interviews to TV crews and provided their details....
It can seem tempting not to worry too much about their future endeavors, taking that carelessness into consideraton along with some other indications that they are not all that connected to the reality most of us live in.
But then we have to ask ourselves where the hell was law enforcement in the upfront of this? In on it or just incompetent or tech-ignorant (social media, duh!) or totally asleep at the switch? Was the whole thing organized and fell apart at the end because someone high up caught on or chickened out or WTF?
When it came down the whole Congress and the VP were in there FFS. Can't even make that up and yet it happened. And even if the insurrectionists loathed the government officials, what about the ordinary workers in there. I saw a photo of the employees carrying the boxes with the electoral votes from each state into the chamber for the joint session... they are just ordinary people the same as an insurrectionist's sister or cousin... with a day job happens to get paid by Uncle Sam. What were these people thinking.
I thought the whole point of our sacrificing assorted personal liberties after 9/11 was to enable greater homeland security. So we take our shoes off and get felt up in airports for the good of the country and then somehow we end up with a President who bans Muslim immigrants and encourages white presumed-Christan boys to run down to the Capitol and overturn his successor's election. Great. I finally know what the Chinese meant by the curse of living in interesting times. I often find myself recalling a verse from a W.S.Merwin poem lately, the last three lines of it:
“Send me out into another lifelord because this one is growing faintI do not think it goes all the way.”-- W.S. Merwin, in “Words from a Totem Animal”
Anyway people whose day job is to worry about extremists don't think it's time to stop worrying yet. I agree. I'm way too old to worry for myself but I sure as hell wonder where we went wrong raising some of the next generations.
I have said from the day they banned water bottles from airplanes: it is 100% security theater. It does nothing to actually keep anybody safe. Apparently the Capitol police force of 2,000 with a $460 million budget is just for show too. For those complaining about “defund the police” - well, look what a $460 million budget gets you: an unruly mob of out-of-shape idiots EASILY overwhelmed them. The money surely isn’t being spent productively.Yeah right? Some of these guys really are total dunces, they filmed themselves naked-face... one wore a work ID badge... some even gave interviews to TV crews and provided their details....
It can seem tempting not to worry too much about their future endeavors, taking that carelessness into consideraton along with some other indications that they are not all that connected to the reality most of us live in.
But then we have to ask ourselves where the hell was law enforcement in the upfront of this? In on it or just incompetent or tech-ignorant (social media, duh!) or totally asleep at the switch? Was the whole thing organized and fell apart at the end because someone high up caught on or chickened out or WTF?
When it came down the whole Congress and the VP were in there FFS. Can't even make that up and yet it happened. And even if the insurrectionists loathed the government officials, what about the ordinary workers in there. I saw a photo of the employees carrying the boxes with the electoral votes from each state into the chamber for the joint session... they are just ordinary people the same as an insurrectionist's sister or cousin... with a day job happens to get paid by Uncle Sam. What were these people thinking.
I thought the whole point of our sacrificing assorted personal liberties after 9/11 was to enable greater homeland security. So we take our shoes off and get felt up in airports for the good of the country and then somehow we end up with a President who bans Muslim immigrants and encourages white presumed-Christan boys to run down to the Capitol and overturn his successor's election. Great. I finally know what the Chinese meant by the curse of living in interesting times. I often find myself recalling a verse from a W.S.Merwin poem lately, the last three lines of it:
“Send me out into another lifelord because this one is growing faintI do not think it goes all the way.”-- W.S. Merwin, in “Words from a Totem Animal”
Anyway people whose day job is to worry about extremists don't think it's time to stop worrying yet. I agree. I'm way too old to worry for myself but I sure as hell wonder where we went wrong raising some of the next generations.
I have said from the day they banned water bottles from airplanes: it is 100% security theater. It does nothing to actually keep anybody safe. Apparently the Capitol police force of 2,000 with a $460 million budget is just for show too. For those complaining about “defund the police” - well, look what a $460 million budget gets you: an unruly mob of out-of-shape idiots EASILY overwhelmed them. The money surely isn’t being spent productively.
Its quite clear practically all the security is the stuff on the outside of the building that you can see. There is almost nothing within the building.
The real problem is that domestic technology is very very good now.Yah well I bet there is more human (and god knows what else) security inside that place now than there was before Wednesday. But since we don't know yet what the extent of insider participation was, how comforting can that really be to the people who have to work there every day. I have read that a few members of Congress wonder how insurrectionists managed to locate their private offices when they are so obscurely located that staffers of other members have had trouble finding them when sent there on an errand.
This incident and the beginning of the period of unraveling "how did this happen?" are a time when uncertainty can suggest in the short term that the terrorists are still winning even after the central event has concluded. That cannot be allowed to persist so it means security has to be shored up enough and visibly enough to let people feel comfortable showing up to work. We should really commend all those who resumed the process of counting the electoral votes meanwhile on the very night of the incursion. Well all those except those particular and treasonous sods in Congress who had chosen to help Donald Trump and right wing media outlets disinform half the country as to the outcome and integrity of the elections.
I have said from the day they banned water bottles from airplanes: it is 100% security theater. It does nothing to actually keep anybody safe. Apparently the Capitol police force of 2,000 with a $460 million budget is just for show too. For those complaining about “defund the police” - well, look what a $460 million budget gets you: an unruly mob of out-of-shape idiots EASILY overwhelmed them. The money surely isn’t being spent productively.
I think physical building security should have been sufficient to keep the vast majority of these people out. There’s no evidence they had a coordinated group with angle grinders to tackle solid steel doors or anything like that. They had what half dozen military/ex military and that’s it?There are references in media to how opaque the management of the Capitol Police is. They lack Congressional oversight, for instance. How is that even possible? Because they are friendly and helpful --as required for tourism-- so they are our wonderful and reliable "teddy bears," as the congressional officials and workers may have come to think of them.
I say that not to derogate the rank and file of the Capitol Police, aside from whichever bad apples are turned up. I am sure most are dedicated and a lot of them showed that during the attack on the Capitol buildings. I felt that "teddy bear" way about the in-house security guards in a corporation I worked at in the 70s when we lived through a series of bomb threats related to the discovery of US involvement in the overthrow of the Chilean government. We knew those guards for years and they were like family to us, we even knew their birthdays and the names of the kids. But they were also rotated and overseen and regularly drilled separately and also along with us on what do do in threatening circumstances. It sounds like the Capitol Police might be light on some of that stuff. More oversight and transparency are obviously needed and one hopes that lack will be remedied legislatively and promptly. Doesn't seem like it's enough just to change top tier officers and discover any rank and file bad actors that got involved in the insurrection plans.
One wonders for instance if the Capitol Police top management was blindsided deliberately, via intel provided them by other security or defense-related agencies, guided by direction from pro-Trumpers who meant to weaken overall readiness of the Capitol Police and so to enhance any insiders' chance of enabling the insurrectionists.
Yeah right? Some of these guys really are total dunces, they filmed themselves naked-face... one wore a work ID badge... some even gave interviews to TV crews and provided their details....
A number of them may have provided false identification information, but keep in mind, you are arguably seeing some sample bias here. The dumb or careless ones are likely to be caught quickly. These guys don't appear to be using burner devices, disguising themselves with prosthetic makeup, or obfuscating their means of travel. You aren't seeing Ted Kaczynski types here.
It's also unlikely that all of them will be arrested. It's likely that a lot of protesters went to DC but didn't commit federal crimes. The ones being arrested within the first 24 hours or so are likely very visible ones.
Still examples must be made and it must be clear to any who wish to go again in the coming days or weeks that consequences may include more lethal defense against any attempts to breach security at further permitted demonstrations. To participate in a permitted public demonstration doesn't mean you get to follow somebody who decides to ignore limits of the permit terms and just break into buildings. Are we that ignorant now or are a lot of people just lying about their intent when they breached Capitol security.
As for insiders helping... you gotta be stupid to imagine that it's really OK for Capitol Police to help you invade a building when others around you are smashing windows and climbing walls to get in. It's true enough that some of those photos looked like some of the followers were in over their heads as to wtf they were actually doing, i.e., didn't have a clue never mind a plan. Never want to hear a right winger in a social forum use the word "sheeple" on lefties again. Some of those insurrectionists talked later about having mixed feelings even while they were still in there. What substance or ideas have they consumed that deadens the gut level instincts that even lower species of animals have about whether they should be someplace they're exploring?
We cannot afford to dismiss this the way the GOP is trying to do, and in fact pretty much just did officially, in their RNC winter meeting. There's at least one clear example from history about the danger of just blowing off stuff like what happened on Wednesday. And yeah i don't care if I just Godwin'd the thread.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.