Big strong men

 

Thank you, Fred.  I needed a laugh.

According to Trump, big strong men, tough men like him, were forever coming up with tears in their eyes to say, "Sir, thank you for" banning Muslims or allowing bear cubs to be slaughtered or some other piece of horrifying fuckery.  This morning I saw four real strong men, often tearing up as they described the nightmare Trump unleashed on them and this country nearly seven months ago.  Michael Fanone, the undercover member of the District police who didn't even have to be there, described how he begged for his life by telling the thugs about his children.  Harry Dunn told the panel how no one at the Capitol had ever used the vile racial slur he heard over and over from the loving tourists.  Aquilino Gonell, the Iraq war veteran born in the Dominican Republic, talked of being beaten with a pole bearing an American flag, and then having to rebuff his wife because of the noxious chemicals on his body.  Daniel Hodges remembered being crushed in a door as he struggled to keep the patriots out.  

They failed, as they waited hours for reinforcements that never came.  They suffered physical trauma and incurred post-traumatic stress, but they kept the mob at bay long enough for the vice-president, the Speaker and members of Congress, even the seditious ones, to reach safety.  They were luckier than some:  testimony began with a moment of silence for Brian Sicknick. 

Thanks to the Olympic-level cowardice of Kevin McCarthy, the four did not have to take additional abuse from the cop-haters he originally named to the panel, like Jordan and Banks.  When Pelosi 86'd the seditionists Kevin took his toys and went home, leaving Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney to represent the remnants of the party.   McCarthy says he was just too busy to watch this morning's session, things to do, orange ass to kiss.  He sent newly anointed Elise Stefanik to relay the interesting news that the real villain of 1/6 was "lame duck" Nancy Pelosi, whose duties somehow include drilling Capitol police and ordering in the National Guard.  Then the worst members of Congress (Gosar, Gohmert, Greene, Biggs, Gaetz and Good) held a "news conference"  to proclaim the violent terrorists "political prisoners" and give Fox News something to cover.  But someone blew a whistle and someone else waved a "Pedophiles for Trump" sign at Gaetz and the sad little sextet retreated to wherever it is they nest.  Around that time Jamie Raskin was calling the seditionists "fascist traitors," two words that needed to be in the record.

Historical note:  Seven people died as a result of this siege.  Only three died in the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861.

Who shot Ashli Babbitt?  Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) knows.  He revealed the officer's rank (lieutenant) but not his name.  "He was physically and emotionally distraught.  I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'Sir, you did what you had to do.'"  It's brave of Mullin to risk torture, or primarying.

President Biden plans to name an ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat anti-semitism.  They can start at the State Department, where a leftover Trumpanzee (probably) carved a swastika into an elevator inside a secure perimeter.  

The last word belongs to Officer Harry Dunn:   "If a hit man is hired and he kills somebody, the hit man goes to jail.  But not only does the hit man go to jail, but the person who hired them does.  There was an attack carried out on January 6th and a hit man sent them.  I want you to get to the bottom of that."