I love that Cassidy Hutchinson did what all theses older men with established careers lacked the huevos to do, and did it an a suffragette white suit. May seem like a trite thing to say, but it was a meaningful style choice that help made for an impactful (and I hope iconic) image.
As Robert Ailes was so found of reminding women, television is a "visual medium".
One, that a 26-year-old woman has more balls than the vast majority of GOP representatives and senators put together. It is what courage looks like.
Two, Orange Chicken is scared. Very scared. He doesn't do diarrhea commentary with his thumbs unless he feels threatened. It is his defense mechanism, and a poor one at that. He hears footsteps behind him. He sees shadows in the dark. The clock ticks louder at night as he thinks in solitude about what might happen when all of the testimony and evidence is added up. It must be hell living with that pressure -- 1,000 percent earned and deserved. Hopefully it is a first step in his accountability, not a last one.
Three, the committee is doing its job, and doing it well. They are delivering the goods. They are methodically building a convincing, compelling case. History books will remember this moment as a time when they rose to the task when our democracy needed it. What remains to be seen is what we do with what they give us and how those same history books will remember us when it becomes our turn to act.
I thought the most significant thins were the pardon request for Giuliani and Medows and then the witness tampering emails and calls, The committee has the names of those folks, they just didn't release them.
I suspect anyone testifying from this point on will want DOJ blanket immunity. Good luck with that. If they plead the fifth, they will be compelled to testify.
WATCH TODAY'S RESPONSE FROM TRUMPWORLD. It has become a critical necessity that a decent young woman be trashed repeatedly in the service of refurbishing the great orange god.
I have a problem with all this, mostly in terms of coverage. Because it's important, sure. But is it really a 'bombshell?' Does anything we've learned change anything? Does any of it really matter? If before this you believed that none of this was important, or that he was already committing a coup, does any of this really matter?
Because I don't think it does. The problem is that fundamentally, we already know what happened. The president tried to overthrow the government using his supporters. He tried to pull what the Pazzi did against the Medici; start a revolt, hope more people show up, and use the momentum to take control in the chaos. And like that one, it failed.
But we already know he did this, and having people say that he attacked secret service agents does not add anything to the picture we already have. This is like saying a mass murderer also hated dogs. It doesn't actually change anything about what we already know.
Furthermore, what exactly is 'bombshell' about this? A bombshell is explosive, it resonates, it changes things. None of what we've learned since these hearings have started have been any of that. None of it changes what he did in broad daylight. Nor will anything found by this committee actually resonate through the electorate.
The reason for that is clear: the electorate fundamentally doesn't care about much of anything so long as it has cheap gas, which is why the party that engineered a coup attempt is on track to win both houses of congress in a few months.
Perhaps this is because everyone, including the soon to be former republicans on the committee is still acting like we live in normal times. We don't. Speaking of soon to be former republicans, a question. Why exactly is anyone who still supposedly believes in 'conservatism' as it was a part of the GOP? Real talk here, but the current GOP is a Christian fascist party that nods approvingly towards coup attempts. Even if you disagree about the fascist party, they are at least pro-authoritarian.
Which means that either you're okay with still being a part of that, or you're okay with being associated with that. The fact that people like Cheney still claim they're Republicans is baffling, because it's clear what they are and what they will be forevermore. If you're still running as an R, you're saying 'yes, I am a-okay with being a part of the same party as MTG and Trump, and I am okay with being out here with people who think that Mike Pence should have bit it to reinstall Trump.'
This isn't a minor political difference. The Texas GOP, the richest and biggest red state in the nation, put a secession plank in their platform. Sorry, I'm tired of people saying 'well, if she left, then only the crazy people would be left!' That's going to happen anyway, as we've seen. Which brings me back to my original point, which is what is the point of all this?
We didn't need more 'evidence' to know that a coup attempt happened. We didn't need people asking for pardons to know this happened. We didn't need to know that the President attacked his secret service agents, BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO LEAD A COUP ATTEMPT.
No other information is needed. No other information is required. Either that is damning or it is not, and if it is not, then no amount of information added changes anything. Which means this is an exercise is futility, while the midterms become ever worse for the Democrats.
And at the end of all this, the only people who might go to jail are the Democrats, if and when the GOP wins the presidency in 2024, for whatever justification they can find for their revenge tour.
It's true, the only people who pretend to have evidence favorable to Trump refuse to testify under oath. Complete with conspiratorial reasons justifying why they won't. A closed loop.
I'm a hardened cynic but Trump grabbing at the Secret Service agent is a detail I wasn't prepared for. Given his history of throwing temper tantrums, shocking but not surprising.
Bill Barr, John Bolton, Kellyanne Conway, Mark Meadows, all wrote books. Hard pass for me on all of those.
Cassidy Hutchinson has earned the right to write her story, and even though I got plenty of the gory details already from her testimony, I'll still gladly buy the book.
Cassidy planted a YUGE future bombshell in her testimony: Who was Meadows talking to on the phone in the "secure car" during Trump's speech on the Eclipse, as the Proud Boys were leading the first attacks on the Capitial? Roger Stone? Gen Flynn? Or maybe one of the more moderate and saner players in this coup attempt...like Rudy?
I’d like to see The Bulwark do an examination of how the extreme divisions in the U.S., due to Trumpism and the SCOTUS rulings, are a possible national security threat. Reading a few comments on media outlets, from people in Canada or Europe has been enlightening. The U.S. is an object of pity. Now imagine how China and Russia, etc are viewing us. A guest writer or interviewee who is a national security specialist would be interesting.
For more than 5 years, every time trump did or said something so heinous it would have ended anyone else’s career, I thought- This has to be the breaking point. But it never was. With each event, the trumpers and the GOP rallied at his side and he continued on. He was never held to account for any of it.
Although I hope that Ms. Hutchinson’s brave testimony will break the January 6 investigation wide open, I doubt that trump will ever be held responsible for what he did. Some of his underlings may be thrown under the bus, but trump won’t go down with them. In his entire life, he has never had to account for all the destruction he has caused.
“Things might get real, real bad on January 6" is the milder version of what Bannon said on Jan. 5:
"All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. It's gonna be moving. It's gonna be quick." He also said that if you wanted to be in a revolution, this would be your day.
People criticizing Cassidy here are misguided. She likely DID come forward right away and was advised to keep her cards close to the vest to maximize the effect of her testimony and to minimize the danger she faced and WILL face the rest of her life.
As noted by Shawn, none of this is really a bombshell.
These people tried to overthrow the US government a couple of different ways. When the faux legal way didn't seem to be working they threw in a little violence and the threat of further violence on the top.
They continue to do that to this day.
They stand to regain a Congressional majority this year--a reward for their efforts. Plus gas is too expensive and inflation (which was a feature of my childhood in the 60s and 70s but disappeared for a good while) is back.
It is no wonder that the people in the government are willing to kill thousands or tens of thousands and spend billions/trillions in the Middle East wars to keep the price low--except the price ISN'T low when measured at places other than the pump (which is the only price stupid people care about).
And while everyone is worried about Trump in 2024 and after, I am JUST as if not MORE worried about somebody halfway competent (by the standards of MAGAworld) with enough state legislatures (and state election laws) in their pocket to make the next coup attempt legal.
They know the path and pitfalls now and are working away at making sure the next time goes better.
How many attempts are stupid and selfish and self-absorbed people going to give them? Probably enough to succeed. And a lot of them will cheer and be pleased as punch when they succeed... for a while, anyway.
If you think this stuff is bad, just wait until we get the documentary film roll. Hutchinson "took us into the room" but we're literally going to get to see what was happening in various rooms from November '20 up to Jan 20th '21. Get the popcorn ready folks.
Cassidy Was Trump's Worst Nightmare
I love that Cassidy Hutchinson did what all theses older men with established careers lacked the huevos to do, and did it an a suffragette white suit. May seem like a trite thing to say, but it was a meaningful style choice that help made for an impactful (and I hope iconic) image.
As Robert Ailes was so found of reminding women, television is a "visual medium".
What did we learn yesterday?
One, that a 26-year-old woman has more balls than the vast majority of GOP representatives and senators put together. It is what courage looks like.
Two, Orange Chicken is scared. Very scared. He doesn't do diarrhea commentary with his thumbs unless he feels threatened. It is his defense mechanism, and a poor one at that. He hears footsteps behind him. He sees shadows in the dark. The clock ticks louder at night as he thinks in solitude about what might happen when all of the testimony and evidence is added up. It must be hell living with that pressure -- 1,000 percent earned and deserved. Hopefully it is a first step in his accountability, not a last one.
Three, the committee is doing its job, and doing it well. They are delivering the goods. They are methodically building a convincing, compelling case. History books will remember this moment as a time when they rose to the task when our democracy needed it. What remains to be seen is what we do with what they give us and how those same history books will remember us when it becomes our turn to act.
I thought the most significant thins were the pardon request for Giuliani and Medows and then the witness tampering emails and calls, The committee has the names of those folks, they just didn't release them.
I suspect anyone testifying from this point on will want DOJ blanket immunity. Good luck with that. If they plead the fifth, they will be compelled to testify.
And wasn't Michael Flynn disgusting?
WATCH TODAY'S RESPONSE FROM TRUMPWORLD. It has become a critical necessity that a decent young woman be trashed repeatedly in the service of refurbishing the great orange god.
I have a problem with all this, mostly in terms of coverage. Because it's important, sure. But is it really a 'bombshell?' Does anything we've learned change anything? Does any of it really matter? If before this you believed that none of this was important, or that he was already committing a coup, does any of this really matter?
Because I don't think it does. The problem is that fundamentally, we already know what happened. The president tried to overthrow the government using his supporters. He tried to pull what the Pazzi did against the Medici; start a revolt, hope more people show up, and use the momentum to take control in the chaos. And like that one, it failed.
But we already know he did this, and having people say that he attacked secret service agents does not add anything to the picture we already have. This is like saying a mass murderer also hated dogs. It doesn't actually change anything about what we already know.
Furthermore, what exactly is 'bombshell' about this? A bombshell is explosive, it resonates, it changes things. None of what we've learned since these hearings have started have been any of that. None of it changes what he did in broad daylight. Nor will anything found by this committee actually resonate through the electorate.
The reason for that is clear: the electorate fundamentally doesn't care about much of anything so long as it has cheap gas, which is why the party that engineered a coup attempt is on track to win both houses of congress in a few months.
Perhaps this is because everyone, including the soon to be former republicans on the committee is still acting like we live in normal times. We don't. Speaking of soon to be former republicans, a question. Why exactly is anyone who still supposedly believes in 'conservatism' as it was a part of the GOP? Real talk here, but the current GOP is a Christian fascist party that nods approvingly towards coup attempts. Even if you disagree about the fascist party, they are at least pro-authoritarian.
Which means that either you're okay with still being a part of that, or you're okay with being associated with that. The fact that people like Cheney still claim they're Republicans is baffling, because it's clear what they are and what they will be forevermore. If you're still running as an R, you're saying 'yes, I am a-okay with being a part of the same party as MTG and Trump, and I am okay with being out here with people who think that Mike Pence should have bit it to reinstall Trump.'
This isn't a minor political difference. The Texas GOP, the richest and biggest red state in the nation, put a secession plank in their platform. Sorry, I'm tired of people saying 'well, if she left, then only the crazy people would be left!' That's going to happen anyway, as we've seen. Which brings me back to my original point, which is what is the point of all this?
We didn't need more 'evidence' to know that a coup attempt happened. We didn't need people asking for pardons to know this happened. We didn't need to know that the President attacked his secret service agents, BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO LEAD A COUP ATTEMPT.
No other information is needed. No other information is required. Either that is damning or it is not, and if it is not, then no amount of information added changes anything. Which means this is an exercise is futility, while the midterms become ever worse for the Democrats.
And at the end of all this, the only people who might go to jail are the Democrats, if and when the GOP wins the presidency in 2024, for whatever justification they can find for their revenge tour.
It's true, the only people who pretend to have evidence favorable to Trump refuse to testify under oath. Complete with conspiratorial reasons justifying why they won't. A closed loop.
I'm a hardened cynic but Trump grabbing at the Secret Service agent is a detail I wasn't prepared for. Given his history of throwing temper tantrums, shocking but not surprising.
Bill Barr, John Bolton, Kellyanne Conway, Mark Meadows, all wrote books. Hard pass for me on all of those.
Cassidy Hutchinson has earned the right to write her story, and even though I got plenty of the gory details already from her testimony, I'll still gladly buy the book.
Cassidy planted a YUGE future bombshell in her testimony: Who was Meadows talking to on the phone in the "secure car" during Trump's speech on the Eclipse, as the Proud Boys were leading the first attacks on the Capitial? Roger Stone? Gen Flynn? Or maybe one of the more moderate and saner players in this coup attempt...like Rudy?
I’d like to see The Bulwark do an examination of how the extreme divisions in the U.S., due to Trumpism and the SCOTUS rulings, are a possible national security threat. Reading a few comments on media outlets, from people in Canada or Europe has been enlightening. The U.S. is an object of pity. Now imagine how China and Russia, etc are viewing us. A guest writer or interviewee who is a national security specialist would be interesting.
For more than 5 years, every time trump did or said something so heinous it would have ended anyone else’s career, I thought- This has to be the breaking point. But it never was. With each event, the trumpers and the GOP rallied at his side and he continued on. He was never held to account for any of it.
Although I hope that Ms. Hutchinson’s brave testimony will break the January 6 investigation wide open, I doubt that trump will ever be held responsible for what he did. Some of his underlings may be thrown under the bus, but trump won’t go down with them. In his entire life, he has never had to account for all the destruction he has caused.
“Things might get real, real bad on January 6" is the milder version of what Bannon said on Jan. 5:
"All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. It's gonna be moving. It's gonna be quick." He also said that if you wanted to be in a revolution, this would be your day.
What did Bannon know? Who else knew it?
People criticizing Cassidy here are misguided. She likely DID come forward right away and was advised to keep her cards close to the vest to maximize the effect of her testimony and to minimize the danger she faced and WILL face the rest of her life.
As noted by Shawn, none of this is really a bombshell.
These people tried to overthrow the US government a couple of different ways. When the faux legal way didn't seem to be working they threw in a little violence and the threat of further violence on the top.
They continue to do that to this day.
They stand to regain a Congressional majority this year--a reward for their efforts. Plus gas is too expensive and inflation (which was a feature of my childhood in the 60s and 70s but disappeared for a good while) is back.
It is no wonder that the people in the government are willing to kill thousands or tens of thousands and spend billions/trillions in the Middle East wars to keep the price low--except the price ISN'T low when measured at places other than the pump (which is the only price stupid people care about).
And while everyone is worried about Trump in 2024 and after, I am JUST as if not MORE worried about somebody halfway competent (by the standards of MAGAworld) with enough state legislatures (and state election laws) in their pocket to make the next coup attempt legal.
They know the path and pitfalls now and are working away at making sure the next time goes better.
How many attempts are stupid and selfish and self-absorbed people going to give them? Probably enough to succeed. And a lot of them will cheer and be pleased as punch when they succeed... for a while, anyway.
Instead of fiddling while Rome burned, Meadows was scrolling while Washington exploded.
If you think this stuff is bad, just wait until we get the documentary film roll. Hutchinson "took us into the room" but we're literally going to get to see what was happening in various rooms from November '20 up to Jan 20th '21. Get the popcorn ready folks.