Interesting article on Jan 6th and one family

[minx]

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2023/jan-6-reffitt-family-repair-relationships/

If it's behind a paywall, let me know and I can send a new link.

Story is about one of the instigators - Guy Reffitt - he was the one with a bullhorn egging people on to invade the Capitol building and got 6 years for it.

His son turned him in and the story is about how that tore his family apart.  Mostly focuses on his kid sister who was 16 at the time, but still a good read.

And of course, they all blame Trump for leading dad down the rabbit hole (although the son says his dad was always prone to violence, and Trump brought out the feeling that it was okay to exercise it).

I ended up feeling very sorry for the sister, who seems very torn between trying to stay loyal to mom and dad, and the brother who has pretty much been painted as the villain in all of this.

But mom and dad?  Total scumbags.  He betrayed our country and got a slap on the wrist in return.  She abandoned her youngest daughter to move to DC and join the people protesting the prosecutions so she could 'support' them.

And with the exception of the brother, all of them think dad is being railroaded - a clear indication to me that they would 100% support anyone who tries this shit again.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Biden.  But I'd like to see our democracy continue for at least the next 4 years.  And there is no viable alternative - all of these people with their pie-in-the-sky dreams of starting a third party right now are simply going to siphon off democratic voters - republicans will vote en masse for Trump.  And if he wins, he will go on a rampage to destroy any semblance of the 'rules' to re-write them in his favor.  

[Dave's Not Here Man]

This might be controversial but I think there's an argument that the Constitution allows for and possibly encourages armed rebellion by the People. Yes I agree that might be perverting the language/text of the document but one might consider other documents that support my, albeit loose, theory.

The reason I can even consider that is the likelihood that some day it could be..... okay let me put it this way,

In 2020 the coup had been successful? We were going to what, let them settle it in court?

Would Thomas Jefferson thought that far ahead? Again look at his other writings. I think he did.

[k9krap]

His son turned him in before the 6th. He was afraid his dad was going to do something stupid. Plus, he was open-carrying on the capitol grounds.

[minx]

His son is a brave kid.

And I guess if you can say the 2nd allows you to have unlimited guns and ammo, then you can probably make a case for the constitution supporting armed insurrection.
But if I was going to go that path, I'd drape the declaration around my shoulders.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Yeah so my point is that there may well come a time when the public sees a real what does they call it? A clear and present danger to the constitution and the laws that are intended to prevent any aversions to it... I refuse to believe that said point is something we should ignore. The main difference is that the cause will be truly just and not a fabricated bunch of fuckery like 1/6.


PS happy 9/11 Day

[minx]

Yeah - who'd have thought back then that the greatest threat to our democracy would turn out to be Donald Trump and the republican party?

Read an article in the Atlantic yesterday about the guy who was the manager of Windows on the World. One of his biggest sources of anxiety is that he's starting to forget the names of some of the people who came to work that day. He was the type of boss who came in everyday and talked to all the staff to ask how their day was, how their family was doing and things like that. And in the aftermath, he helped to raise a lot of money that went to victims' families - both from the restaurant, and people who worked in different cafes and restaurants in the building - said it wasn't all about him.

I think the saddest part of the article was the part talking about his wife - he was supposed to have an early meeting with the assistant manager who was like family to them. Assistant manager kept calling her to update her and ask if Greg was in the building - if so, he shouldn't come up. If not, has he called the fire department? And she kept detailing how things were - in her last call, she said that people were suffocating - did she think Greg would be mad if they broke a dining room window? Simply heartbreaking.

But then I think of the thousand of soldiers we sacrificed needlessly fighting two wars with no real plan or exit strategy, along with the families and friends they left behind. And I think of those who survived, but came back without arms or legs. Many of these men and women signed on after 9/11 because they wanted to protect our freedoms.


Anyway you look at it, a horrible, horrible tragedy.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Hopefully the 9/11 Day thing was taken with the same sarcasm it was typed with. If not, I wouldn't know where to start in explaining the profound meaning behind it other than that unity thing we were talking about at Fedex field.... and what it took to get almost all Americans to get on-board for America's sake, it's well being, and it's existence. So looking back to the weeks and months that followed, and the many things we at least seemed to have (unity, empathy, resolve,reverence, etc) was very short lived and literally no one learned a thing. It was the birth of this ultra right fascism from conservatives with their "inside job" bullshit which is alive and well in that circle when you look at 1/6. Same idiots.

[minx]

Oh it was, believe me. That's why I not only think of those 3000 people, but the thousands more who's lives were sacrificed in a vain attempt to get some sort of 'revenge' for the attack.

And BTW, the brawl was real - some 'Skins fan punched the living crap out of a Ravens fan because he felt 'disrespected'. He also claims that Mr. Raven instigated the entire thing by pushing him. The snooze played the video, and it looks like Mr. Raven gave him a push to get him outta his face. So same ole same ole.

I suspect the other 99.99 percent of the fans enjoyed a nice day and a win for once.