Assault on the Capitol

[Joe Elliott]

Assault on the Capitol

Rioters assaulting the Capitol Building. Senators and Congressmen forced to exit the Capitol.

There is no more debate. Trump must be charged with treason and sent to many, many years in prison. I have been against sending a President to prison. I didn’t want Nixon, Clinton or Trump (last year) to go to prison. But now I do. He called for this riot. This is an assault on Democracy.

Maximum force must be used of the rioters. Shoot them until they the survivors are driven from the Capitol and keep on fleeing. No rioter found within the Capitol must be allowed to live. Now. Where is the National Guard?

The Joint Chiefs of Staff must order the arrest of President Trump and have Vice President Pence take over as acting President, immediately. Remember. All enemies. Foreign or domestic. No enemy is except.

When the Senator and House reconvene in the Capitol, there must be no more debate. All the slates from each of the states must be accepted. I don’t want it to last more than an hour.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Thanks Joe.

He need to be impeached and convicted ASAP. Follow the Constitution and forbid him from ever running for national office again. Or, have Pence assemble the Cabinet and invoke the 25th amendment and replace him. That's a short term answer since Trump can argue that he's capable of discharging the office. Then it goes to Congress.

Something has to be done. But the problem is that Trump would probably incite further violence if he's removed. Or his supporters will do even more damage in response to his removal. I hope - hope - that this is just a fringe group; but when you have 70% of Republicans believing the election was stolen then we're in serious trouble. Reasoning with these Trumpists it like talking to JFK conspiracy believers. Whatever you say is cited by them as evidence of a conspiracy. It's frustrating as hell.

As to treason: No, this is not treason. And no, we don't just shoot people. Arrest them, give them a fair trial, and if convicted give them the max penalty. Rule of law must be followed.

You're advocating things in a heated moment. We need to be calm and forceful and follow the law.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Trump tweets this (about 15 minutes ago: 6:00 p.m. EDT):

"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

Oh yeah, we'll remember this day. And you too.

What do you do with a president like this? The system can't deal with him. I guess in a Parliamentary democracy you can have a vote of no confidence and replace his party. Or his party can replace him. But we're hamstrung here.

Our problem is that he has millions of supporters and while I don't think most of them will engage in violence (I hope not), most of them believe the election was stolen. When you have people in a democracy, a system that is dependent on faith in institutions, in the rule of law, in the legitimacy of your rulers and in the need for good faith discussions, believing such things then it cannot succeed. It has to fail, to splinter apart.

Meanwhile, we don't have a President, not a functioning one. Not until another week. Swell, the middle of a horrible pandemic, enemies abroad (and at home), an economy in a dive, and a country divided. If Trump had an ounce of dignity or concern, he'd resign and let Pence finish up.

Right, who am I kidding?

[Joe Elliott]

What do you do with a president like this? The system can't deal with him. I guess in a Parliamentary democracy you can have a vote of no confidence and replace his party. Or his party can replace him. But we're hamstrung here.

Impeach and imprison for life. If he is able to pardon himself then convict him under Georgia law of interfering with an election and give him the maximum sentence. And yelled at by Tom Cruise in person.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Impeach and imprison for life. If he is able to pardon himself then convict him under Georgia law of interfering with an election and give him the maximum sentence.

You can't imprison him for life just like that. That will take weeks to do. He does have rights after all. We can't use his tactics against him. Then we'll little more than him. That would be making things worse not better.

If he had an ounce of decency he'd quit right now and let Pence finish up. But he doesn't have an atom of decency much less a whole ounce.

[Joe Elliott]

Those ballots and those ballot boxes rescored from Congress by the staff at the last-minute need to in up as one of the centerpieces of the Smithsonian Museum, protected by strong barriers and under constant military guard. The staffer who put that in place needs to receive a high award at the hands of President Biden and voted the thanks of Congress. Those boxes are easily as great a piece of history as the portrait of George Washington rescued by Dolly Madison as the British army approached Washington D. C.

[Joe Elliott]

You can't imprison him for life just like that. That will take weeks to do. He does have rights after all. We can't use his tactics against him. Then we'll little more than him. That would be making things worse not better.

If he had an ounce of decency he'd quit right now and let Pence finish up. But he doesn't have an atom of decency much less a whole ounce.

Of course. It all has to be done with proper trials. But this is the end result I am hoping for.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Of course. It all has to be done with proper trials. But this is the end result I am hoping for.

Yes, I'm thinking of right now, the short term. We can worry about convicting him/holding him accountable later. Although just letting him go would be fine. I don't care about him anymore.

We have to get things calmed down. ASAP.

Then somehow we have to deal with his supporters. Trump may be gone but Trumpism still lives with us.