Commentary

If the defendants arrested for involvement in the breaching of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were charged with insurrection, surely, Attorney General Merrick Garland would know; yet when asked, he said, “I don’t believe so.”

Garland’s response came when asked by Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert during Congressional testimony, “Has any defendant involved in the January 6th events been charged with insurrection?”

The fact is, no one has been charged with insurrection, because the DOJ lacks evidence of a charge of insurrection.

“Insurrection: An organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence.” – Cambridge Dictionary

Unlike the violent riots of Portland and Minneapolis of 2020 that caused some $2 billion in property damage that included a federal courthouse, and claimed 20 lives, the January 6, protest lasted a few hours and the damage was minimal.

The left-leaning online news outlet, Insider, continues to describe the events of January 6, 2021 as an “insurrection,” as do those reporting on CNN and MSNBC.

“684 people have been charged in the Capitol insurrection so far,” is the latest Insider headline.  And, their readers can assume from the Insider’s earlier headline, “Only 105 rioters have pleaded guilty for their role in the Capitol insurrection so far,” that they have pleaded guilty to insurrection.  Not true.

The there’s the appearance of January 6 House Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) on CBS’ Face the Nation, during which he remarked that there was “no question” that the Capitol riot was premeditated.

With Thompson’s additional remark that “the worst kept secret in America is that Donald Trump invited individuals to come to Washington on January 6,” he’s looking to tie the former president to inciting the riot.

At a rally preceding the riot, President Trump suggested people to march to Capitol “peacefully and patriotically” in order to make their voices heard.  It was hardly an effort to overthrow the government.

I have reviewed online the list of nearly 700 protestors and the charges against them in the official DOJ document.  The majority of them faced a half-dozen or more charges, including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly contact in a Capitol building, but were able to plead down to “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building,” and were released on personal recognizance.

Of the five deaths of people who died at or near the Capitol on January 6, or soon thereafter, none of these were brought about at the hands of the protestors, and four of them were Trump supporters. The death of Officer Brian Sicknick, initially said to be caused by a supporter wielding a fire extinguisher, proved to be false as he died of natural causes, which even the Washington Post had to grudgingly concede. 

However, in the weeks the followed the initial statement, and during the elaborate memorial event that began in the Capitol rotunda, Trump supporters were the target of media attacks as domestic terrorists.

The unnecessary killing of supporter Ashli Babbitt was the only short fired that day.  In my mind, having viewed the shooting video, Capitol police officer Michael Byrd obviously panicked when he shot her through the window of the door she was attempting to break down.  There were three armed law enforcement representatives just behind her. 

Byrd testified that he could not see her hands or what was in her backpack and didn’t know her intentions, but insists, “I know that day I saved countless lives.”

Despite some 14,000 hours of video coverage taken during the Capitol breach, showing protestors primarily milling around doing no outright damage, with officers opening doors and ushering supporters, the House select committee is determined to prove Trump incited an insurrection, stretching out hearings into the midterms.

The Left Continues to Attack Sinema

In my October 10, 2021 post to this blog, I wrote about leftist columnist Laurie Roberts’ Arizona Republic column attacking Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for opposing prescription drug reform without reminding her readers that the reform was tucked away in the massive human infrastructure bill, which Sinema opposes.

The other liberal columnist at the Republic, E. J. Montini, decided another attack on Sinema was required.  Quoting her election campaign statement that “we need to make health care more affordable, lower prescription drug prices and fix the problems in the system, Montini, like Roberts, surfaced the campaign contributions Sinema received from Big Pharma … wondering if “that’s why she’s not supporting the reconciliation bill.”

I believe she would consider an appropriately-worded stand-alone prescription drug reform bill, but that’s not going to happen with a party that must include the kitchen sink.

Piling on … Elvia Diaz, the Republic’s lightweight editorial columnist, decided to take a swing at Sinema, too, even suggesting the Rep. Ruben Gallego “isn’t ruling out challenging Sinema.”

“She’s acting like an autocrat,” writes Diaz, “dismissing the people that elected her I the first place, but her power extends only until she’s on the ballot again.  And the growing sentiment now is anyone-but-Sinema.”  Not so.  That’s why Diaz is considered a lightweight.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.