TROUBLED WATERS

Nancy Pelosi just announced that there will be an independent commission to review the “facts and causes” related to the January 6, 2021 incident at the U.S. Capitol. It will be interesting to see who is on that commission. She has also tasked U.S. Armey Lieutenant General Russel Honore’ with assessing the security needs of the Capitol.  A lot of people expect this to be like the 9-11 commission. That commission published the report on July 22, 2004, nearly three years after the 9-11 attack itself.

It is likely that this report will be thorough and accurate. It is also likely to be published after everyone involved has moved on. Shortly after Pearl Harbor the First Roberts Commission was appointed by FDR to investigate and report the facts relating to the attack. It was headed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts, which is why it was known as the Roberts Commission. This commission concluded that Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short were guilty of “dereliction of duty.” Anyone who has ever watched TORA, TORA, TORA knows that the story was far more complicated than this. It conveniently blamed everything on the two most obvious candidates and ignored the politicians and cabinet members who contributed greatly to this disaster.

But this is not 1942 and it is not even 2000. Things have changed. While any commission would be important, they will not be the only ones investigating. There are hours and hours of video taken during the event. We can be sure a lot of people are already pouring over that video.

We already  know some of the information was deliberately distorted in the failed attempt to impeach Donald Trump and blame everything on him. Democrats were desperate to charge Donald Trump with murder. One thing required for a murder charge is for someone to be killed. The original story was that U.S. Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick was struck in the head by a fire extinguisher. His body lay in honor at the Capitol Rotunda on February 3, conveniently just before the Trump impeachment trial. Sicknick was just the fifth person and the third Capitol Police officer to receive the distinction of lying-in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. Everyone else was a government or military official. The previous two Capitol police officers were Jacob J. Chestnut Jr. and Detective John M Gibson. An armed assailant stormed past a U.S. Capitol checkpoint in July 1988. Both Chestnut and Gibson were shot and killed.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/what-happened-to-officer-sicknick/

It is not totally clear that officer Sicknick was even injured during this unfortunate event. This is certainly a tragedy for the family, and he deserves respect. But facts also matter. He was not rushed to the hospital directly from the Capitol. There are numerous reports that he returned to his police office. Hours after the siege ended, he texted his brother and said he had been “pepper sprayed twice” but was otherwise “in good shape.”

These inconvenient facts did not slow down the media from reporting that Sicknick had been struck in the head by a fire extinguisher. They desperately needed someone to die. The New York Post showed a video claiming to show when office Sicknick was struck by the fire extinguisher:

https://nypost.com/2021/01/11/video-shows-capitol-rioter-hit-officer-with-fire-extinguisher/

It is not clear anyone was seriously injured during this incident and Sicknick was nowhere in sight.

David Quintavalle was quickly identified as the villain after he was identified online by an internet troll. Fortunately for Quintavalle he could easily prove he wasn’t even in Washington, D.C., he was in Chicago. Before the record was corrected, Quintavalle got threatening phone calls and police had to station a car outside his home for protection. Facts really do matter:

https://abc7chicago.com/david-quintavalle-chicago-firefighter-capitol-riots-riot-arrests/9697516/

It turns out that the person who threw that fire extinguisher was a retired Pennsylvania firefighter.

https://www.policemag.com/590741/retired-pa-firefighter-arrested-over-assault-on-officers-with-extinguisher-not-s

Robert Sanford was charged with assault of a police officer, disorderly conduct and unlawfully entering the Capitol. It does not appear that he was charged with battery, which may mean he didn’t hurt anyone. There is no indication he or anyone else was charged with murder or manslaughter regarding Office Sicknick.

Democrats encouraged by Mitch McConnell are dreaming of Donald Trump being indicted with criminal charges. Some prosecutors may stupidly attempt that, but there is zero chance of Donald Trump being convicted of anything regarding the Capitol Riots. The “evidence” presented by the House Impeachment managers would be laughed out of court.  If this is even attempted, it is more likely to impact other people more than Donald Trump. Facts are stubborn things. We already know everything he said. There is video of this. But any investigation will include other people being asked embarrassing questions. I expect the DNC establishment to quietly and behind the scenes try to squash any attempt to charge Donald Trump with anything.

In the meantime, people are very concerned about Democrats succeeding in stifling free speech and restricting our freedoms. This has been compared to what happened in Germany under Hitler. Joe Biden will be a lousy President; he is proving that already. He is going to destroy the economy and do a lot of stupid and irresponsible things. But most of what he has done is illegal and unconstitutional. The courts can and will stop this nonsense.  Democrats may attempt to stifle free speech, but that cat is out of the bag. There are even reports that Parler is back online, but I have not been able to confirm that.

What I can confirm is that even the MSM has moved on. Donald Trump has provided almost zero copy for them, so they are desperate for something. Today the new target of opportunity is Governor Andrew Cuomo. He gave a press conference today that just poured more gas on the fire. The MSM must find outrage at someone over something, and Donald Trump is inconveniently unavailable. Another target is likely to be Gavin Newsom because he is about to be recalled.

The media needs bad news. They only report good news in a failed attempt to pretend their coverage is balanced. Democrats control the House, the Senate, the Presidency and all the blue states botching things. They are likely to be the primary source of bad news, regardless of what the MSM wants or thinks.

So, while the Biden administration will be just as bad as expected, they cannot fundamentally change this country. Raise gas taxes, absolutely. Make the economy even worse, without a doubt. Pass stupid laws and regulations, for sure. But much of what they plan for us will be stopped by the courts.

While the present is depressing, look a little further and there is a bright future ahead. A future where virtually everyone currently in power will be gone. Nancy Pelosi is 80 years old. Chuck Schumer is 70. Mitch McConnell is 79. Joe Biden is 78. Pat Leahy is 80. The only thing certain is that all the above are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning.  We do not know who will be in power four years from now, but we can certainly predict that at least some of these will be gone, either through retirement, illness, or death.

So yes, we have some troubling water, but the shore is still there, and it is not going away anytime soon.

TDM