If you go to the "armed protest," you may lose your job, or your life
We need to cool down
Good morning everyone, including Tennessee Republican lawmakers whose homes and offices have been raided by the FBI.
Things are heating up in America, and that’s not a good thing, whatever side of the political divide where you define yourself. While Congress figures out what it wants to do with President Trump, citizens are tired of the political intrigue.
Fox News is reporting that the president expressed some responsibility for last week’s riots at the Capitol, and of course Trump cannot respond in his usual way, because he’s been booted from most social media.
Two sources say McCarthy R-Calif., relayed the president’s sentiment on a call Monday with the House GOP Conference.
Yet, there are plenty of people willing to go out, AR-15s slung over their shoulders, in “armed protest” in support of the president. Stuff like this is like gasoline and dry tinder.
I have one piece of advice for anyone considering strapping on a firearm and marching to their respective state house, or to the National Mall: DON’T.
Don’t even go. Here’s why.
I was going to publish a piece about De-Trumpification (Part 2), dealing with Robespierre and the Jacobins, previous purges in American history (it’s not a new thing—Woodrow Wilson’s Committee on Public Information and Hollywood’s Red Scare and black lists come to mind), and the perceived power of Big Tech today.
Surely, when Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and Google team up on a little company like Parler, the little company is not going to do well. The purported reasoning here is that President Trump might use Parler to “activate” his followers to more violence. To the best of my knowledge, Trump doesn’t even use Parler, though many of his most online ardent fans have fled there, citing unacceptable bias at Twitter.
Cutting off Trump’s fans (most of whom still maintain Twitter accounts, or are not blue checks and can sign up for new Twitter accounts all day) from a platform they enjoy, just because it’s used by Trump fans, is a dumb idea, unless your goal is to protect a Trumpless Twitter from losing subscribers.
Big Tech is walking a very fine line, and I don’t expect them to stay inside the boundaries of “stopping violence.” Next, you’ll see pressure for banks, shipping companies, and other infrastructure elements to stop doing business with Trump-related individuals and companies.
Once that purge is well in motion, what do they expect the marginalized and persecuted Trump fans to do? Do they expect them to magically change their views and become progressive liberals? Even if they did, the cancel culture on the left would not allow it. Will police departments, the military, and the courts begin to purge Trumpists from their midst, actually terminating employees?
You bet they will. It has started with “let’s name them and shame them” tweets of politicians and public figures attached to far-right (or even neo-Nazi) groups. I have no problem forcing elected officials or sworn officers who participated in the insurrection, marched inside the Capitol, to resign or be terminated. They should lose their jobs.
But it won’t stop there.
Anyone who attended the rally will be subject to guilt by association, even if they didn’t go to the Capitol. Then, anyone who was ever photographed wearing a MAGA hat will find their job threatened. Then, it will become awkward questions about politics. Then, people will be “outed” to their bosses by Internet sleuths who are now doing that with D.C. Police photos from the Capitol insurrection. Except in the future it won’t be limited to the Capitol insurrection.
It will be on January 17th, if you should show up, even out of curiosity, to a Trump supporter rally. You will be photographed. You will be outed to your employer. You may lose your job. If you have a business, you may be subject to “special attention” from your bank, or your creditors, or your landlord, or the authorities.
But that’s not the worst that could happen.
If you show up at an “armed protest,” be prepared for a potential massacre. Just the possibility of this happening is enough for every state to call out the National Guard to protect public property. If some jackwagon with an itchy trigger finger (or an Antifa anarchist with the goal of creating chaos, or any number of terrorists who can capitalize on this lunacy) discharges a weapon, the soldiers will shoot. The “armed protest” playtriots will not win.
If you go, you could die.
I think the House of Representatives should pass its articles of impeachment, and hold them until well after Joe Biden is sworn in. Let Biden work with the Senate, and figure out if it’s in the nation’s interest to have a show trial, just to bar Trump from running in 2024. I think, politically, Democrats would be better off letting him try to run, because he has no chance, and while he controls the GOP, it’s deader than a doornail.
If Trump, who has a $250 million war chest, is barred from politics forever, the GOP will have to reform. It’s possible we could end up with Donald, Jr., or Eric Trump. But that’s a different problem. Maybe the Senate can sentence Trump to pay $250 million in restitution. I’d be okay with that.
As for what to do now: We all need to cool off here. If we don’t, people will die.
The Racket News is now on YouTube! I took our latest podcast (audio only) and posted it up there. We may decide one day to show our faces.
The fact is that Trump could defuse this situation if he was willing, he isn't. He relishes the excitement and is inspired by those who would violate the will of the people and the constitution by inciting riot and sedition. Trump created "die große Lüge" before the election and he continues to perpetuate this big lie to this very day every time he indicates the election was fraudulent and stolen. He has incorporated red state senators and congressmen in this big lie knowing they are threatened by violence and removal from office by their constituents if they fail to comply. He is very well aware of the chaos and damage he is inflicting on the country and the further division being created making it harder to heal after he departs office.
Accountability is not a purge and up till now I can cite very few instances of persecution of Trump supporters unless they were caught engaging in acts of violence. However, if you persist in allying yourself with radical racists, seditionists, engaging in outright insurrection on federal property, and live streaming your violent crimes, perhaps you deserve to be swept-up in a purge and held accountable for your criminal actions. Trump has it within his power to defuse this but he won't because doing so would mean that he would have to admit to being the fraud, con-man, and huckster that he truly is.
If armed marches take place leading up to the inauguration then things are going to go down hill quickly. What if one of the marches actually takes over a capital? What a nightmare. (but a good chance for Biden to show his chops as president - if he has any)
Then it'll be time to chose sides. Are you MAGA or not? There'll be no middle ground.