8 ms·
This is a failure of leadership by the republicans - plain and simple. I don't care if this comment is perceived as partisan, it's a statement of fact. If the r
by root_axis 6y ago
This is a failure of leadership by the republicans - plain and simple. I don't care if this comment is perceived as partisan, it's a statement of fact. If the republican leadership had unequivocally come out against the narrative that the election was stolen, this wouldn't be happening.
Edit: Yes, it's true that the top leader and his acolytes have engineered this outcome, but the majority of the republican leadership did not want this and do not benefit from this, they were (with some exceptions) simply too cowardly to speak out against it.
- neaden 6y agoThe republican leadership is the person who is leading this coup.
- TehCorwiz 6y agoThey invited this! It's the republican leadership that's perpetuation this!
- tolbish 6y agoAnd it hasn't exactly been subtle either. That this isn't apparent to anyone that has been conscious for the past year+ makes you wonder if you're going crazy, doesn't it?
- dr-detroit 6y agoHillary's cousin Dahnald ate their party and now they are hostage to King Kushner's whims.
- triceratops 6y agoThey had their chance to do the right thing last January. Instead of holding a fair impeachment trial in the Senate, with witnesses, they chose to let this clown show go on. They are complicit.
- whatshisface 6y ago"Impeachment trials" are not really designed to be fair in the way actual trials are. They are legally designed to be a popularity contest among the legislature; hence why the Republican party was able to block it, and also why they would have been able to vote no if they had decided not to block it. Honestly, letting the term run out and having the president lose in a typical election is probably the least debatable way to change the president. There is some historical precedent for impeachments being used as political tools, while elections are wreathed in tradition and legitimacy.
- triceratops 6y agoI'm not doubting they would've voted no even if they'd called witnesses and had a real trial. But (and this is speculation) there'd be a lot more people aware of Trump's corrupt conduct in office and he would've lost by a far larger margin. Although...who am I kidding. The right-wing media would probably have covered the full impeachment trial in the same way they covered the House impeachment proceedings. Just play a silent video of politicians talking, and have their own pundits say "This is BS we won't even insult you by making you listen to it".
- jandrese 6y agoOne of the articles of impeachment was on obstruction of justice. In a normal court that would have been open and shut. The White House was extraordinary and blatant with the obstruction. It was well documented. The conviction on the obstruction charge was voted down by an even larger margin than the collusion charge, which I thought was strange because thanks to all of the obstruction the hard evidence was a bit lacking. They had few documents to work with because the Trump Whitehouse explicitly refused to honor all of the subpoenas they were served. Basically he knew that the Senate would cover for any crime so long as he delivered the votes, so he ran the place like a mob boss.
- ModernMech 6y agoThe other article of impeachment was on abuse of power, not collusion. It was a nice way of accusing Trump of extorting a bribe.
- MattGaiser 6y ago> If the republican leadership had unequivocally come out against the narrative that the election was stolen, this wouldn't be happening. They all came out against Trump when this started in 2016. Was not even a speed bump.
- duxup 6y agoThe senators could have voted to convict convict during the impeachment trial. That would have been more than a speed bump. They had the opportunity to act, chose not to (well except for Romney).
- MattGaiser 6y agoYou can very fairly blame them for not removing him. I don't think you can blame them for the storming as Trump has the support of the base. They do not.
- duxup 6y agoI would blame those who haven't taken issue with the spreading of conspiracy theories and certainly those who spread conspiracy theories when it is convenient for them that leads to this kind of thing.
- Dylan16807 6y agoTrump's been riling his base up with lies and almost everyone important in the republican party has been doing nearly nothing to disagree. They're supposed to be about half of our elected leadership. They can be blamed for inaction. If they were openly and clearly disagreeing with Trump, then they wouldn't be at fault. But they're giving tacit approval.
- jgwil2 6y agoCruz, Hawley, et al. helped escalate the situation to this point. This would not have happened if they weren't planning on protesting certification in the first place. There are degrees of culpability here. It obviously starts with the mob itself, then Trump, then his supporters in congress, then other Republicans who hesitated to accept the election results, etc.
- Justsignedup 6y agoFailure is far from an understatement. This is sedition. My only hope is that this completely destroys the republican party. They supported this for long enough. Trump is the inevitability of such a corrupt group. Just because the ship is on fire and on the last 10 inches you said "OKAY START PUTTING WATER ON THE FIRE" doesn't mean you weren't part of the group throwing matches 10 minutes before. I come from the USSR. I come from a family who were gassed in the Nazi camps. We saw this shit. When Trump started speaking, I saw history repeating itself in front of my very eyes.
- nine_zeros 6y agoNot sure why this post is getting downvoted. This is literally how Putinism or Erdoganism starts.
- tharne 6y agoIt's getting downvoted because it's equating a handful of angry hillbillies who absolutely no one is taking seriously to an authoritarian revolution in a country that was never democratic to begin with. This is bad and these folks should be punished, but this not the second coming of Vladimir Putin. Hyperbole is not helpful, and it's exactly what these idiots want. Don't give it them.
- bdamm 6y agoHow do you imagine that authoritarians get going? Hint: It requires a horde of angry hillbillies, every time.
- tharne 6y agoUsually revolutions are headed by the upper middle classes, not the lower classes. Che was a doctor. Pol Pot was educated at elite European schools. Heck, look at the founding fathers of the U.S. These were guys with education and money.
- 6y ago
- razius 6y agoHear me out, what if it was actually stolen?
- guardiangod 6y agoHear me out, what if Santa Clause exists? What? You can't prove he doesn't exist? It's a cover up! Grow up. The courts shot down the accusations multiple time already. If you have any concrete proof you better present it now.
- razius 6y agoGo read the court documents and see why they shot it down.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Dylan16807 6y agoSomeone replied "Go read the court documents and see why they shot it down." They shot it down because the accusations made in court were all petty nothings. For all the big talk of fraud and theft, that's not what was in those filings.
- giantg2 6y agoNot saying it was stolen, but just adding some perspective... Some people don't agree with the courts decisions, especially when they are ruling contrary to state constitution or law. You can see this in some of the rulings for PA election law. For example, some counties were counting mail-in ballots with deficiencies, while others were not. In some cases, like the PA senate seat that spans Alleghany and Westmoreland counties, this would lead to some people's deficienct mail-in votes either counting or not counting based solely on if they live in one county vs the other. Or that the PA constitution and voting law is very explicit in detailing what events qualify one to use a mail-in ballot. So in specific scenarios (which may or may not have swayed the election), it appears that rule of law may have been violated. And that in itself is concerning.
- 6y ago
- marktangotango 6y agoI was glad to hear McConnel and Pence finally (FINALLY) do the right thing.
- jonny_eh 6y agoBut only when violence was on their literal doorsteps.
- TehCorwiz 6y agoThey were speaking out of both sides of their mouth, per usual. They deserve no credit, they only acted when their actions would have no consequences.
- systemBuilder 6y agoLook if you still fault them for doing the right thing why should they do the right thing? Give it a rest! Acknowledge that they have done the right thing now! People deserve credit for taking the correct moral stand unlike the terrorist group attacking Washington DC right now!
- Hnrobert42 6y agoAgreed. We must allow for people to change their mind.
- triceratops 6y ago> moral stand They're refusing to undermine the system from which their own legitimacy and power derives. There's nothing moral about it.
- tartoran 6y agoThey had so many chances to do the right thing though. It still is good that they didn't go crazy hysterical like Trump and eventually accepted but I won't cut them any cookie for it.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago
- SkyMarshal 6y agoWell the Republican “leadership” is no longer a monolithic entity, it’s split between Trumpists and establishment types. The former have been leading it all. The latter have been speaking out against it all along, but to no effect.
- staplers 6y agoThe writing was on the wall and they knew it. Now that Trump doesn't benefit them, they will act like they don't support him.
- jandrese 6y agoThere's barely any "establishment" members left in the Republican party. They were primaried to death in the past couple of decades, or chose to quit when they saw what direction their party was heading. Like it or not Trump and his brand of politics is the modern Republican party. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-there-are-so-few-moderate-republicans-left/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-there-are-so-few-mo...
- 8note 6y agoEstablishment democrats also are their lunch to an extent. A pro business, corporate tax cut Democrat isn't all that different from a pro business, corporate tax cut republican
- excalibur 6y agoThis is terrorism, plain and simple. Donald Trump is the leader of a terrorist cult.
- hertzrat 6y agoI think that the republicans have benefitted a lot from hyperbole and insults. People need to tone down their language
- mytailorisrich 6y agoThe US Capitol has been stormed into and guns have now been drawn in the chamber of the Senate. I think it is also time for people to face the fact that this is not hyperbole.
- jandrese 6y agoShots have been fired in the Capitol building.
- neaden 6y agoAccurately describing what is going on is not hyperbole. People like you gaslighting us about what we see is what has allowed Trump to get away with so much.
- wtfiswiththis 6y agoStop supporting seditionists.
- cmurf 6y agoThe cult leader gets angrier and threatens his own followers who defy his demands for fealty. The rejection makes them all angry, cult leader and followers. Trump and Trump supporters have been more caustic by far to Republicans who don't toe the line. They seek retribution and engage in threatening behavior, including death threats. This morning Trump expressed his displeasure at the Vice President's unwillingness to engage in illegal activity, and then Trump sent a mob to the capitol where Pence was doing his job. Four people are dead on a day of performative action, merely to count votes, with an outcome that was guaranteed on December 8. Following this violence and death, most Republicans in the House supported and voted for this cynical, delusional lie of their cult leader. And had very little to say about the mob that was send toward them, by him. They had more lies to tell. Trump spent five years of the previous presidency trying to delegitimize that president too, just like he's trying to delegitimize the next one. Don't lecture people on how they should become milquetoast.
- macspoofing 6y agoSo you're saying this isn't anything like Seattle's 'Summer of Love'?
- AsyncAwait 6y ago> This is a failure of leadership by the republicans - plain and simple. The cops have a strange affinity for certain kinds of 'protesters' too, we all know it would end differently if BLM or 'Antifa' did this.
- polka_haunts_us 6y agoBased on this summer, probably with an Autonomous Zone on Capitol Hill.
- HideousKojima 6y ago>The cops have a strange affinity for certain kinds of 'protesters' too, we all know it would end differently if BLM or 'Antifa' did this. You mean they would have let the protestors occupy several blocks of the city while declaring independence for several months until their private security forces murdered too many black teenagers?
- notJim 6y agoI went to protests all summer where the cops were beating the shit out of people for standing on the street outside an empty building. They sure as hell weren't removing the cordons and taking selfies with people inside.
- propelol 6y agoWhat is the point of a national guard if they can't be used to defend the capitol?
- jeffbee 6y agoThe DC National Guard, unique among all other guards, is under the command of the President. A state governor can call up that state's Guard, but the government of D.C. cannot.
- oliwarner 6y agoThey were requested by the DC Mayor and approved by the Pentagon for deployment yesterday by... But no idea where tf they are. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/04/politics/muriel-bowser-dc-national-guard-protests/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/04/politics/muriel-bowser-dc...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- threatofrain 6y agoThis isn’t a failure of leadership like my code failed to compile just now. This is leadership with a vision.
- hedora 6y agoMany Republicans on TV agree with you. The party needs to split into the anti-democracy, pro-Trump faction, and the rest of the party. The moderate wing could easily pull some people that voted Democrat this year, and form a stable, coalition government. This would help de-radicalize our political system.
- 8note 6y agoThe democrats could peal out their conservatives too. Then you could have the progressives, the moderates, the ultra conservatives, and I guess a Texas separation party, and it'll be like Canada
- 8note 6y agoThe Republican leadership doesn't lose out from this(this won't flip an anti-abortioner's vote), but have a slight chance at winning out. It makes sense that they'd leave it alone to do it's thing
- slowmovintarget 6y agoThe failure of leadership by the Republicans occurred in 2016 when no other candidate could manage to beat Trump in the primary. The rest was just the other train cars continuing to derail.