Update
A few days ago, I told you …
Okay, so I wake up late this morning after the disturbing news last night that the historic courthouse in my hometown – a block from my home – is being closed to the public today through next Wednesday. They didn’t give any reason for the closing but I suspect it has something to do with the domestic terrorists who might get some ideas about courthouses next, which meant I did not sleep well last night.
I am happy to report that there were absolutely no problems at either the Historic courthouse nor the new courthouse in Richmond. I don’t know if I told you that in November we elected our first African American sheriff since Reconstruction and the first Democrat in 35 years. That might have had something to do with it staying peaceful, but overall I haven’t heard threats of unrest today coming to fruition.
I guess they recognize what fools they were on the 6th and we are not playing cowboys and idiots here.
I would be on heightened alert through Tuesday, Inaugural Day. Word is the Pouting Petulant Posse will ride that day
1Most excellent news Ms. Juanita Jean Herownself!
The good news in NV not nearly as good as yours, but we’ll take it. Only one protestor who was a counter protester showed up in Carson City, unarmed, and with a sign to the the effect, “you lost, get over it.”
The good news in other state capitols is attendance of armed covidiots was scant; 20-30, at most. Not “out of the woods” yet. But there are increasing signs the billionaires are abandoning Donnie, and the covidiot mobs are starting to splinter off somewhat with some saying they never backed Donnie. But the hardcore; those may be beyond hope and still aiming to cause mayhem on the 20th. That minority of the minority has yet to see their problems with government are caused by Republicons who won’t govern.
2I think as the realization sets in that they will be labeled as terrorists – no one from the Trump administration will “bail them out” and more than likely they will be on watch lists, face federal prosecution and no fly lists that 80% will quit. The hard core that will never quit need to be identified as domestic terrorists and need to have their guns, their “freedom” and everything else taken from them. IF not, we need something along the nazi hunters / massad to handle this crises.
3Um. I don’t like being the bearer of bad juju but I don’t see any way around it:
1] Back in the 1990’s [I think it was] I read a magazine article that said that white supremacists, sovereign nationalists etc. were quietly infiltrating police departments and the military.
2] This morning a CIA person said that they’ve been watching it happen for years. No surprise there — if I read about it decades ago, they HAVE to know about it, right?
3] Right this minute, the government is trucking unprecedented numbers of cops and military into DC. Agencies that have been infiltrated. What’s their assignment? Why, to guard the government while the torch is being passed.
What could possibly go wrong?
4] These folks have access to the internet.
And the dark web. Something which I don’t know how to find — do you? So I can’t check to see what they’re planning. Can you?
5] So how do they allay fears so our guards will be down on Wednesday? By not attacking court houses and town halls before that day — and then staging a massive attack. Nationwide. All at once.
4I’m downright naive when it comes to military tactics but that’s what I would do.
twocrows, I shouldn’t/can’t answer on “tactics and techniques” in an open forum. Not even on a hypothetical basis would it be ethical to offer information that could inadvertently aid the malcontents or whatever is left of the Trumpanzee looters. lol Yes, I know some of them are former veterans, but information will not be coming from me. (Despite Flynn an a few others, the rules are not fuzzy.)
But you bring up an excellent point. The roles of the state National Guard units were very much blurred with the US Armed Forces during the Bush2/Cheney years. Those years of repeated deployments of guard units to Iraq and Afghanistan were a mistake on so many levels.
But for your question in terms of what should be today and everyday; no member of the US military should be deployed against citizens. Ever. Whereas the role of the National Guard is less restricted, but again cautionary. (Kent State was a fiasco no one should forget) Assisting with wildland fires, floods, disaster – roles of aiding the citizenry. Special circumstances? No better example than the one set by General Russell Honoré as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina.
Confused? You should be. Because I am too. All the idle chatter by Donnie, certain members of Congress, the media and including the alleged former military among the rioters would confuse anyone to a degree because while they’re lying they’ve taken advantage of previously blurred lines to sound almost plausible and authentic on the fringes.
The principle, wow did that get short shift in the Donnie years, is the role of the National Guard should be limited in the circumstances of defending federal property; the role clearly defined, no exceptions.
US military? Hope you can read between the lines here of how very uncomfortable I am with the idea of anyone in uniform pointing a weapon at a citizen. But US military absolutely not.
One of our ethics training classes used the example of the USAF captain (on his own time) “volunteering” to surveille the situation at Waco for then AG Janet Reno. Overwhelming consensus of the class was, “no, not only hell no, …”
5twocrows and Jane & PKM, I’m pretty naive, but I know I’ve seen in the news that military groups *have* been looking at backgrounds of folks that are being deployed; if they didn’t know about the “insiders” before 6 Jan, they caught on then, and they’ve been on it.
I agree that no US military should shoot at US citizens, but Kent State and 6 Jan are different; if that’s what it takes to protect the US President, it may have to be done. That said, I’m convinced that hate and violence are the avatars of insecurity and cowardice, and I think that if these yahoos see masses of armed military, they’ll stay back. I could be wrong, of course, but I think they only want to play as long as they think they’re winning, and I don’t think they’re willing to take on the military.
6Meanwhile, for some lighter news [and absurd pics/video], down in Key West, Floriduh, the US Coast Guard has recovered a stolen floating tiki hut/boat, and the FFWCC arrested the extremely drunk pirate.
I’d guess that good ol’ ‘Capt Tiki’ slurped down most of the tiki bar inventory overnight while cruising around the lagoon.
https://gcaptain.com/drunk-man-arrested-after-coast-guard-locates-stolen-tiki-hut-bar-in-florida-keys
USCGSoutheast
@USCGSoutheast
#BreakingNews@USCG Station Key West crews recovered a reportedly stolen tiki hut boat near Hawk’s Channel…
The boat is owned by Cruisin’ Tiki Key West, which offers the boats up for charter for BYOB booze cruises. … ‘The Squeaky Tiki’ was returned with only minimal damage.
7djw @6, it’s our understanding that several states have sent National Guard units to the Capitol, and no US military involvement, with which we’re comfortable.
To clarify the point about shooting US civilians, in no circumstance should it ever be the US military. In the matter of peaceful protests, no shootings by civilian LE personnel or National Guard units, ever. However, should these replica Bundy Dildo Brigades make their choice(s) to be armed and confrontational, then “whisper halt, and open fire” if that’s what those a$$hats demand.
8A wider view of the problem with our military involves the breakage of one of the major cycles in American history. The presidency acquires power and authority in times of war, and afterwards the legislative branch claws back some of that power. But that was broken starting with the failure of Congress to declare wars and instead giving “military authorization” to the President to use the armed forces to wage wars freely.
In part this is because Congress became more partisan, and for the Republicans it meant encouraging gibbering idiots that could rouse up their “base”. At the same time no sane person wanted them running foreign policy and its ultimate phase of miliary force. [Here “sane” means Democrats and the old-style Establishment Republicans]. Since Congress was no longer reliable for anything, power was necessarily ceded to the Presidency. Which worked sorta OK, until one of the gibbering idiots became President.
Right now the President can launch an unlimited nuclear holocaust on the world without any member of Congress being consulted. That dates back to the scary “in less than 30 minutes Russian can attack and destroy the US” days(*). True, he cannot legally use the military against US citizens. Unless they are smuggling drugs across the border. Or have been declared overseas terrorists by some group in the White House. Or a state of emergency has been declared by the President, which does not require the legislative branch. Or they were doing something nefarious, like working with Doctors Without Borders.
I don’t care who is President. We have got to go back to tighter restrictions on his/her authority to do as he/she damned well pleases, not just in using military force. If that means we can only launch drone attacks in Yemen with a direct congressional declaration of war, I’m more than willing to put up with the limitation. If that means the President cannot shift money from the Pentagon to some vanity project like a border wall, count me in.
(*) I have personally known some of the Air Force guys whose job is to sit in a missile silo complex and wait for orders to launch. And I believe all of them would follow orders and do it if the authorization and order came from the President. They’re selected and trained that way.
9Entrusted friends have queried “I don’t see any of those flag-ladened pickup parades busting red lights recently, so what’s up wit dat?”
I seys, “They are smart enough to know that FBI agents might just use their confederate and trump flags as reasonable starting points to find out who all was in DeeCee last week.”
10The Surly Professor @ 9 a quick response #1 AGREED! and #2 AUMF and #3 unitary executive theory both need to be sent to file 13.
11As usual, I’m with Jane & PKM.
I get extraordinarily uncomfortable when folk, high-profile or no, publicly detail the means and methods they employ to achieve a security goal. That merely provides data to an opposition who would otherwise have to expose themselves to learn.
Similarly, I get uncomfortable about NG engagements involving armed Guardsmen protecting gov buildings, although clearly the Capitol Building is worthy of this level of protection, as is the peaceful transfer of power symbolized by inauguration of a new PotUS.
12Eisenhower sent the paratroopers to Little Rock because the Guard was under the control of a racist nut.
Over the course of our history the only use of the Guard (or militia) has been to shoot workers. It was never competent to do anything else.
That probably ended forever when Gov. Frank Murphy refused the demands of the auto executives to massacre the sit-down strikers in 1937. Since then the Guard has not been used to shoot workers.
13Micr!!! Hope all is well with you and yours! BT (Better Times) are coming, although it will take Biden/Harris some time to re-establish BT (Before tRump) sanity.
After Dubya, now this covidiot Donnie, maybe just maybe the rinse and repeat cycle of destroy/repair will end the Republicons.
Be safe!
14Harry Eagar @13 another Harry, give ’em hell Harry S. Truman signed the UCMJ into law which took effect on 31 May 1951.
Among updates, revisions and how the ethics of it are taught are mostly “by exception” or simplified for us dumbasses being taught were examples of ffs do not EVER repeat that mistake; probably with added revisions caused by dumbasses like Dubya who was 40 or so years ahead of our class. Then later revised after that particular dumbass served as President under Cheney.
Ethics classes were cool. Literally. Probably the only time we luxuriated in A/C. Iraq was a mess. No “words” for Afghanistan by polite agreement with Ms. JJ and Mama. But FWIW those ethics classes you guys taught helped us keep our heads on straight, so thanks.
15On this MLK day, I’m not only celebrating Kamala Harris and Joe Biden being sworn in this week, but the WH being rid and fumigated of the white supremacist regime. Can’t wait to see the door hit Trumpf and stephen miller (and others) in their asses on the way out. Hope we get pictures of that.
16Steve from Beaverton @16, saw a nice photo today of packed boxes stacked in a driveway ready to leave our WH. Of course one has to wonder how much of that stuff belonged to Donnie and Messy, and how much doesn’t. But hey, if we knew 4 years ago they’d go for the price of a few trinkets …
Ever wondered what a different country we would be if JFK, MLK, and RFK had been allowed to live their natural life spans?
17My little observance of MLK day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4
Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come
18Steve @16: Stephen Miller is probably going to spend his time watching over his hatchlings. And eating any that look weak or that might turn out to be slightly brown in color.
19Absolutely agree that presidential power to act w/o oversight *must* be limited. I’d like to see a limitation to executive orders so that, say, the Pres (I can capitalize that now that I’m talking about Biden!) can sign 1 to address an immediate problem, but then it expires in, say, 60 days, so if Congress doesn’t back them up, it’s done. (I use “them” there as the indefinite singular; I’m leaving the door open to have a Pres who isn’t a “he.”)
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