The reality is that all of the evidence, all of the police literature, all of the experiences I have had with the DC police, all of it points to the conclusion that they allowed people to enter the building as a de-escalation tactics, and it worked spectacularly. And, I'm not the only person that is saying this, the cops and National Guard themselves said, before the protest, that they were taking an approach which is meant to refuse conflict and contain the crowd in a manageable way.
@tom_nomad Yes, faced with an armed mob the last thing you want is a massive shoot out. Probably the right tactic, but it resulted in the Mob being exposed as they were, I wonder if any of them are employed and won't be if their employer sees what they were up to.
@zleap
Well, there is a lot of footage, and because most of them don't believe Covid is real, they were not wearing masks.
Both us and the cops are going to have a field day between this footage and seeing them talk openly on Parler. Not only is that going to mean a lot of people lose their jobs, friends and social circles, but a lot of these people are going to catch felony charges for what they did yesterday.
Its about to be a really bad time for the fash!
@tom_nomad Not just them losing your job, maybe healthcare insurance too, friends / associates of these people could lose their jobs just by association.
Good luck and make these people pay,
Covid real or not you would think anyone with 1/2 a brain cell would think hmm, I am going to try and storm the capital building, maybe I should wear a mask to people can't identify me,
They seemed to take their own footage and selfies, so they voluntarily provide evidence they were there.
@tom_nomad Lets hope the court system wipe that smile off his face.
I asked before of Guantanamo is still open, maybe if it is transfer them there.
I am sure most Americans regardless of what party they normally support would be happy to see the back of them,
@zleap
I have a feeling that, after that open discussion of the 25th Amendment, and open discussions about him inciting riots, among other crimes, that his post-presidency is not going to be a happy one.
This will only not be the case if thre DOJ decides to decline prosecution for social stability reasons, under the public interest principle of federal prosecution (prosecutions are framed as being good for the public interest, and if not they do not proceed, at least in theory)
@tom_nomad
Previous presidents seem to retain their 'President' title post office,k the of course afforded a state funeral upon death,
Can this be revoked?
@zleap
So, the title of former-President is something that is sort of a convention that can't really be revoked formally.
Depending on what happens in the next couple of weeks, it may be the case that he gets stripped of the privileges he would otherwise have after leaving office, but that would be a new, informal, undocumented process. It is one of the many things over the last 4 years that had never really happened before, leading the state to have to figure it out as they go.
@tom_nomad Ah that makes sense, it is probably something that needs to be addressed for the future by putting some safeguards or processes in place to deal with this sort of scenario.
@tom_nomad So despite all the hatred, negativity over the last 4 years, there could be a huge amount of 'good' stuff that comes as a result of Donald Trump being in power for 4 years.
Just not in the way he would expect as it stops others doing the same (well hopefully) or even getting to that position in the first place.
@zleap
I think we can definitively say the same thing about the entirety of the last 4 years.
The various crises, from COVID to politics to the economy, are all being laid bare, and the reformist approaches that have been used to try to eliminate this in the past have been shown to have failed.
There is a lot of work to be done still, but, if done correctly, these last 4 years could lead to profound changes in the ways we organize ourselves and relate to one another socially and politically.
@tom_nomad I really hope so, and then hope that change filters over here to the UK and the EU
@zleap
As with many of the structures within the political system that were undermined over the past 4 years, we came to learn that they were mere conventions or traditions with no processes built around them and no safeguards.
One of the many things that will emerge from Trumpism is going to be a political will to prevent repetition on the part of moderates in both parties. That could lead to some safeguards and formalizations being added to process which were informal.