The Sole Requirement for a Political Party in a Democratic Republic · 3:16am Jan 7th, 2021
...is willingness to accept the results of a vote, even if you don't like it.
I saw one insurrectionist today make the claim that what has happened in D.C., the armed storming of the Capitol, the placing of pipe bombs, that it proves the "fragility of democracy". This is an absurd statement. Not because it's untrue, but because nobody who understands democracy has ever claimed it wasn't. Time and again, luminaries of democratic norms have made statements to the contrary: That a democracy is immensely difficult to hold intact. That it needs constant defense against those who would tear it down, and take away the broad freedoms it protects for short-sighted, selfish goals.
The rioters took down an American flag and exchanged it with a Trump election flag. They marched through the capitol building with Nazi symbols and Confederate flags. This is not a movement that cares for the laws it just broke and the order it tried to destroy. It is not made up of defenders of the Constitution, the very document that they were demanding be ignored because they couldn't win by the rules written within it. It is not a party willing to participate in a democratic republic.
Those who were surprised by this violent turn of events... I think you know what I'm going to say. You were warned. Repeatedly. For nearly five years. That the people you oppose could predict this five years out, and you couldn't predict it five days out, is clear evidence that their worldview is more accurate than your own. Immensely so. This isn't just a fluke. It's not a setback for your ultimate goals. It's a condemnation of your beliefs: A demonstration that you were wrong, on a deep, fundamental level.
For those who continue to support armed insurrection, I'll be reporting any comments you make to that affect under rule five of this website's conduct policy: "No celebration, glorification or encouragement of real life criminal activity." This also applies to any nutballs who advocate for extrajudicial responses to this crisis, by the way. Belief in "might makes right" is the problem here, not a solution.
Edit: The Senate just voted to keep Arizona's electors: 93 to 6. That's less than half of the 13 senators who said they would object before the process began; each of the ones who flipped sighted the attack on the capitol as the reason they, as one put it, "cannot now, in good conscience, object". Congrats, rioters, you successfully punched yourself in the face.
Edit #2:
For those who are still saying "Impeachment is a waste, he's out in two weeks."... Even assuming that he can't do any more lasting damage in those two weeks, you're still proposing a position equivalent to "Sure the burglar took all of our valuables, but now he's leaving the house; don't waste time calling the police!" It's not just about getting him out of office. It's about upholding the rule of law by demonstrating that you still get punished for breaking it.
And if you encounter any nuts who try to claim it was really Antifa who stormed the building, just point them to the video Trump released where he tells them that he loves them and they're special, and ask them whether Trump is easily tricked by Antifa and so shouldn't be president, loves Antifa and shouldn't be president, or it wasn't Antifa (and he shouldn't be president).
An important reminder: Anybody who continues to support Donald Trump, and especially the overturning of the results of the election, after this point is necessarily supporting this insurrection. So many Republicans have attempted to condemn the attack without withdrawing their support for Trump... but that's not how this works. Trump supported this. He created the mob, he told the mob where to go (and then, amusingly, he went and hid in the White House after telling them he was coming with them... I wonder how many of them sincerely believed he was somewhere else in the crowd as they broke into the Capitol, because surely he'd never lie), he delayed calling the national guard while congress members were barricading themselves in their offices. To support a politician is to support that politician's positions and actions. To support Trump is to support what happened today. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Anybody who continues to support Trump is, by pure, unmediated application of the term, a traitor to this country. Or a foreign terrorist if they don't live here.
To the Internet dweebs who just think it's fun to stir the pot with Trump memes and don't have a serious commitment beyond the lulz... This isn't a game. 4 people died today. That's on you. Lies kill people.
We also need to keep in mind that these conspiracy people are still there and still believe they are right. There are already people talking about how it was actually antifa that was behind the capitol attack. They will be there for the next elections and every elections thereafter.
Deep society changes and a lot of time will be necessary to remove and attenuate the conditions that lead to the emboldening of these conspiracy movements.
5430510
No, it didn't. Go ahead; try to defend that blatant falsehood with side-by-side comparisons. Please start with the part where the candidate themself refused to concede, and please continue with the part where an armed mob storms the Capitol Building in an attempt to overturn the results. You have 15 minutes to make a reasonable response before I delete your comment and block you. My standard for freedom of speech is that it stops at incitement to violence. Defending an armed insurrection counts.
5430530
1. They found plenty. You've almost certainly been told this before, as well as the specific things found and where to look at credible sources regarding what was found. You therefore cannot claim ignorance, and this must be judged an intentional lie. Strike 1.
Edit: Also, even if true, it wouldn't qualify as a direct comparison.
Strike 2.5Edit: Strike rescinded for edited attempt at actual direct comparison.
2. Notice the lack of any of those protests involving the storming of the Capitol Building while they certify the election results, or anything remotely comparable. I asked for side-by-side comparison for "an armed mob storms the Capitol Building in an attempt to overturn the results". Your response barely even qualifies as an attempt at a response. Strike 1.5.
3. Attempting to "both-sides" a literal armed insurrection conducted by only one group can only be interpreted as a defense of that insurrection. As such, the claim that you do not condone the violence is questionable. Strike 2.
Whether you believe this applies to you or not, it remains that I already gave the reason quite clearly. I'm tempted to count this basic failure to read as strike 2.5, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on this one that you're just that stupid.
Edit: Hillary's quote, years later, of Trump being an "illegitimate president", which was stated as an insult and not a position of opposition to conceding, while ignoring the part where she literally conceded, is strike 3. I'm done.
5430530
They didn’t find nothing. The mueller report conclude that russia influenced the election through social media and the hacking and releasing of material to favorise trump’s election. What the mueller report didn’t prove was that trump worked with russia.
This is a long list of protests. It’s to be expected for a controversial president and it’s fine. If right wingers want to organize twice as much protest against Joe biden they can and should do it. The left has no right to protest that the right doesn’t. However, an armed crowd breaking inside the capitol with bombs and zip ties handcuffs isn’t protest.
It’s true that hillary believe that trump cheated. However, she did concede the election. You can accept that you lost even though it was unfair.