January 6, 2021 and three years on-some observations!

lousubcap

I can recall where I was when I was told I should turn on the TV as there was a riot/mob attacking the Capitol.  I'm sure any adults who watched the events unfold remember as well. 

But time has a way of mellowing things to meet one's preferred agenda.

This from the BBC:

How Capitol riots will shape the US election

The way Donald Trump and Joe Biden talk about 6 January reflects America’s deep partisan divide. Credit: Getty Images

Millions of Americans watched the attack on the US Capitol unfold on 6 January 2021. Eyewitness testimony, thousands of hours of footage and extensive investigations established what happened that day. Yet Americans no longer agree on basic facts about the riot, due to partisanship and misinformation. President Joe Biden has been demanding the preservation of US democracy in the first major speech of his 2024 re-election campaign. Donald Trump, whose supporters carried out the riot, has attempted to downplay the event.

Kayla Epstein, BBC News

What is Mr Biden’s approach?

Focusing on Mr Trump as a threat to democracy helped Democrats deliver a surprisingly successful midterm election in 2022. “Politicians tend to use what worked for them in the past, and Biden is thinking, ‘Once we make Trump the centre of attention again, voters will come back and vote for me, even though I’m quite unpopular,’” Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, said.

And what about Donald Trump?

He has reframed the rioters as “patriots” and “peaceful people”. In a memorable moment, he even called 6 January a "beautiful day" during a CNN town hall in May. It appears the former president has almost created a bond between himself and his supporters amid four criminal indictments, saying at one August rally in New Hampshire: “They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom.”

What does the electorate think?

A majority of Americans - 55% - believe 6 January was "an attack on democracy that should never be forgotten", according to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll this week. That includes majorities among Democrats and Independents. A large majority of Republicans have said it’s "time to move on”. And only 18% of Republicans believe the attack was violent, an eight-point slip from a 2021 survey."

This from Politico:

One way to think about the last three years of American politics is as an ongoing effort to hold DONALD TRUMP accountable for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

It started as a bipartisan effort that treated Trump as a pariah, but then it quickly polarized into just another red-blue issue, one that rehabilitated Trump among Republicans while generally benefitting Democrats electorally. Ever since, the accountability effort has pingponged through different branches of government, the states, and other legal and political institutions.

First up was Congress with Trump’s post-riot impeachment, which was ultimately rejected by Republican senators, including Leader MITCH McCONNELL, who argued that there were better ways in other parts of the government to seek accountability.

Next was the House Jan. 6 committee, which had no power over Trump but served as a catalyst for the next two forums of accountability: the 2022 midterms, where Republican candidates who supported election subversion were generally defeated, and the Justice Department, which indicted Trump.

Then came the GOP presidential primaries, the Republican Party’s internal system of candidate accountability. By then Jan. 6 had so fully matured into a partisan issue that trying to use it against Trump strengthened him and damaged the attacker. Trump will spend the anniversary on Saturday at two rallies in Iowa.

As the AP reminds, Trump “has called it ‘a beautiful day’ and described those imprisoned for the insurrection as ‘great, great patriots’ and ‘hostages.’ At some campaign rallies, he has played a recording of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ sung by jailed rioters — the anthem interspersed with his recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.”

The Jan. 6 accountability project will dominate 2024, as the issue is taken up by the states deciding whether Trump is an insurrectionist and should be allowed on the ballot, juries in Georgia and Washington, D.C., deciding two criminal cases, and the Supreme Court which seems poised to decide three major issues related to these efforts.

But all of these efforts — the GOP primaries, the 14th Amendment movement, the JACK SMITH and FANI WILLIS indictments — might sputter out, just as impeachment did three years ago."

And this from The Hill:

©  UPI/Ken Cedeno

Three years later: Where attitudes stand on Jan. 6 riot Saturday marks three years since rioters stormed the Capitol to interrupt Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election results.   The events of Jan. 6, 2021, and accompanying election denial continue to reverberate throughout the political world, as the U.S. gears up for the 2024 election.   Fifty-eight percent of adults in a recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll said protesters entering the Capitol threatened democracy. Twelve percent said the individuals defended democracy, while 27 percent said they did neither.   A majority, 51 percent, also said former President Trump "telling his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol where Congress was certifying the 2020 Election" threatened democracy, while 15 percent said his actions defended democracy and 30 percent said it did neither.   A recent Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll showed sympathy for the rioters has increased over the past few years. From the poll summary: "Only 48% of voters overall said they thought the rioters were 'criminals,' a significant drop from the 70% of voters who thought so in a Suffolk survey conducted just weeks after the attacks." "Those who agreed that 'they went too far, but they had a point' rose to 37% from 24%[.]" In addition, 46 percent of registered Republican respondents said they weren't confident 2024 ballots will be accurately counted and reported. Trump faces two criminal indictments—one federal and one based in Georgia—related to alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election results."

And looming large is the 2024 election.

Happy Saturday.

lousubcap

And the latest from Politico:

SPLIT-SCREEN HISTORY — Three years out from the violent post-election insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6 continues to be a significant political liability for Trump. While many Republican voters have not only forgiven the former president but embraced the “Big Lie” over the years, new polling indicates that the rest of America simply hasn’t joined them, as our colleague Steve Shepard writes in a story up this morning — and perceptions of what happened that historic day remain largely unchanged from two years ago.

“Democrats and independents still hold starkly negative views of Jan. 6, its participants and Trump’s role in stoking the riot,” Steve writes. “Majorities of Americans overall still believe now-President JOE BIDEN was elected legitimately, that Trump is guilty of trying to steal the election and that the federal criminal charges in Washington against Trump are appropriate.”

A closer look …

• Half of respondents think Jan. 6 rioters were violent, down only a bit from 54% two years ago, per a WaPo-University of Maryland poll this week.
• Most Americans continue to support the prosecution of rioters, with the portion of those disagreeing and calling punishments too harsh growing 7 points over two years to 26% — mostly among Republicans.
• And 53% of Americans still finger Trump for the attack that day, down 7 points from two years ago — a dip largely driven by Republicans’ perception changes. Meanwhile, 56% of independents said the same.

This reality, however, has not exactly dawned on GOP voters. Trump’s march to the nomination still seems almost inevitable. As we noted, the subset of Republicans dismissing or even embracing the attack has grown, with a third of GOP voters even erroneously believing the FBI organized the Capitol attack, per the WaPo-UMD poll.

Meanwhile, Trump isn’t the only one leaning into calls for retribution — his voters are following suit. A day that initially seemed like the end of Trump’s political career has three years later become “a source of sympathy for the man,” as our colleague Myah Ward writes from Mason City, Iowa, where Trump rallied last night.

Two quotes worth reading:

— “There was no insurrection. I believe he’s being framed,”Trump voter BARBARA LAGOW told Myah. “I believe the FBI did have something to do with it … The whole thing just smacks. It smells bad.”

— “I could tell from the beginning that this was a setup,” said another attendee, RYAN SLOTH. “There’s no way all those officers, no cops stopped it. … And it’s infuriating to see those people still in jail.”

Those quotes, and the polling above, presage a presidential campaign where “reality is at stake,” as NYT’s Michael Bender, Lisa Lerer and Michael Gold write this morning: “Mr. Trump’s strategy aims to upend a world in which he has publicly called for suspending the Constitution, vowed to turn political opponents into legal targets and suggested that the nation’s top military general should be executed.”

Trump, all the while, continues to lean in. During his rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, last night, he called imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters “hostages.” And yet, once again, polling indicates that this is not where voters are. A recent Suffolk University/USA Today poll found that 59% of voters agreed that prosecuting the rioters was “the appropriate work of the justice system” while a third disagreed and said those indictments should be “reversed.”"

fishlessman

just politics, make it all black and white. was this guy a violent insurrectionist, hardly. did he break the law, yes. 41 months for political humor.......

Gulfcoastguy

Over 1000 people arrested so far. They just arrested 3 more in Florida in the last few days.

HeavyG

fishlessman said:

just politics, make it all black and white. was this guy a violent insurrectionist, hardly. did he break the law, yes. 41 months for political humor.......

"Chansley was arrested a few days later and indicted on six charges, two of which were felonies. He ultimately struck a deal with the government and pleaded guilty to a single count of obstruction of an official proceeding.

"Men of honor admit when they're wrong. Not just publicly but to themselves," Chansley told the court in Nov. 2021. "I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever. The behavior is indefensible." "

And he served less than half his sentence.

Now I hear he is running for Congress - the right way (so far) this time.

fishlessman

HeavyG said:

fishlessman said:

just politics, make it all black and white. was this guy a violent insurrectionist, hardly. did he break the law, yes. 41 months for political humor.......

"Chansley was arrested a few days later and indicted on six charges, two of which were felonies. He ultimately struck a deal with the government and pleaded guilty to a single count of obstruction of an official proceeding.

"Men of honor admit when they're wrong. Not just publicly but to themselves," Chansley told the court in Nov. 2021. "I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever. The behavior is indefensible." "

And he served less than half his sentence.

Now I hear he is running for Congress - the right way (so far) this time.

that was my point, black and white in the news. no grey areas.