No we did not. That is a ridiculous comment. So dishonest and hyperbolic you should be embarrassed for using it. None of the protestors had weapons. They did not kill anyone. A few of them hurt police officers and they should pay for the crime. The only person killed was a protestor... murdered by a Dem capitol police officer. The Democrats and the media made it into a spectacle it was not. You are reading and watching cherry-picked footage and a Hollywood script. 98% of the protestors that entered the capitol were calling for peace.
Did you know that Ashley Babbitt, before she was shot and killed, was fighting with one of the hothead protestors telling him to stop being violent?
In March of 1971, a bomb went off inside the U.S. Capitol Building. There was never any question about who did it, a Marxist group called the Weather Underground immediately took responsibility for it even before the explosions. That story got buried.
But then after Jan-6:
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That day will be another day that lives in infamy in American History similar to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): We can now add January 6, 2021 to that very short list of dates in American History that will live forever in infamy.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: A hundred and fifty days since the worst single act of political violence since the Civil War.
CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: The worst attack on American democracy arguably probably since the Civil War.
SCHUMER: The greatest attempted insurrection since the Civil War.
MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, NBC NEWS PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Think of the 6th of January, if those terrorists who committed that attack on our Capitol had been a little bit faster, they could have and probably would have executed the Vice President, executed the Speaker of the House, executed other Members and leaders of Congress.
The Biden Administration is withholding all the video footage from the Capitol Police and other cameras. Why? Clearly it would tell another story than the one you are sucking on.
Here is a transcript of the protestors in the legislative chambers:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey [bleep] man. Glad to see you guys. You guys are patriots. Look at this guy, he is covered in blood. God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good, sir? Do you need medical attention?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got shot in the face. I got shot in the face with some kind of plastic bullet.
CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: Any chance I could get you guys to leave the Senate wing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will. I've been making sure they ain't disrespecting the place.
CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: Okay, I just want to let you guys know this is like the sacredest place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
Yeah... an insurrection. Your media feeds are incomplete, lying, distorted and wrong. And you are the same.
It wasn't a spectacle I liked or was proud of. But it was not a blood bath. It was not an insurrection (the dishonest FBI even agreed). It was not an attempt to take over the government. It was not sedition. It was a protest that got out of control because the Democrats (suspiciously) failed to provide enough crowd control.
And after seeing all the $2 billion in property damage and hundreds of injured and killed people from the leftist riots, Jan-6 is really quite a steaming pile of nothing burger.
I feel like a broken record here, but -- to quote Whitesnake -- "Here I go again on my own..."
We NEED to create a viable political party that does not have the words "Democrat" or "Republican" in its name. Yes, the deck is stacked. No, a 3rd party will not win many elections (at first). but, it will be a stake in the ground that we are not ready to give up on this great nation. We are done with the GOP forever -- the brand is eternally tarnished. We cannot go whole hog with the D party -- not because of policy, but because of their perennial inability to come to consensus around effective tactics and strategy. Plus I (and most centrists) are just bone-tired of being lectured and admonished by the far left wing of the party, and I don't want to have to argue those positions to my (hopefully) gettable moderate conservatives.
In practice, for the next few years this party will have to caucus with the Dems, and in national elections, bow out + endorse Dems unless/until we can plausibly project a win by staying in the race. When we spoil, we need to spoil the R's until they are a rump party of rural bigots, not taken seriously by anyone.
This is not fantasy. Things like this happen because people get together and do what needs to be done. Let's fucking start. Please.
I think Susan Collins is or has gotten death threats against her or her family. We know that Trump advocates are not afraid of any legal action and routinely threaten anyone who stands against Trump.
The "bullshit shotgun" strategy was indeed quite effective but ultimately not completely successful. The trigger men have had time to consider the effects and analyze the need for a weapons upgrade. Next time around, instead of a sawed-off double barrel with quite a spread but low rate of fire, expect a semi-automatic Street Sweeper model with 50-round drum magazines and interchangeable chokes to better lay patterns on targets at different ranges. If we don't gird for that now, the resultant stench just may prove to be too powerful to overcome.
I've been popping in on the PoliticusUSA website for a year now. They're left of center Dem, sometimes too much so. But they seem to have sources that put them ahead of other sites. They're now reporting some Reps seem to be waking up - Gov Hogan from Maryland, Morning Joe now calling out Trump's fascism, and others. No comments section, but the writers do respond to emails and make corrections. Worth a peek anyway. (If the supporting thing pops up, keep hitting the continue without supporting button to get in.) TAC has its head buried in the sand, completely ignoring everything outside of wokeness and love of Orban/Putin and complaining about masks. God knows what's going on with Rod Dreher, other than trying to sell his book.
Can't help but wonder how much those who are desperate to remain "in the room" are also desperate to remain alive? The locked and loaded threats coming from inside the House are the tip of the iceberg. We've all heard the deranged voicemail left for those that do speak out, and since it's only a lone voice here and there and never the critical mass it needs to be, the danger is real. It's not good, none of it's good.
I think you're right. The movement to allow anyone and everyone to arm themselves to the teeth may have been conceived and implemented by gun manufacturers and the NRA, but now it will be easily manipulated to take over the government.
The fact that you might be desperate to remain alive, if you say the wrong thing, should be all the information you need to know that you are DEFINATELY in the wrong place and doing the wrong things.
I mean....this part about Laura Ingraham just wraps the argument up nicely in a bow. The GOP is the Sedition Party. They are the Pretend O Party. Pretend that democracy does not have a knife to her throat.
NEWS FLASH (AP) The Right Honorable [sic] Senator Susan Margaret Collins (R, Maine) just announced through her Bangor office that Democracy should rest assured the Senator will probably stand equivocally behind tradition that mob rule is perhaps not a fitting method of governing. Moreover, her press secretary declared, "The Senator will continue to assess as always reaction in Maine District 2 [aka Northern Trumpistan] to her possible support for rule by law. And as Maine residents well know, the Senator now and then puts the good of citizens and governance before her own political ambitions." Senator Collins was not present for questioning because she is now hiding under a rock up in Piscataquis County.
Anyone that thinks the GoP is going to save us (from what, the GoP?) is seriously off their meds. They are determined to openly demonstrate repeatedly that they will do little or nothing that will provoke the ire of TFG and his "stormtroopers in all but name."
At some point they will drop the pretense--probably in 2024.
The e-mail from Wood that Charlie quotes pretty much nails what is going to happen in the GoP controlled states. A blizzard of BS, followed by appointing a slate of GoP electors.
The GoP is completing its transformation into the PoT... but there is a large number of people (voters) who will sit around with their fingers in their ears, humming a tune and ignoring it. Nothing to see here.
Charlie, I get that you disagree with Elias on a number of things. You're not wrong. But he's the reason Trump went 1-60 (or whatever the actual number was) in court. It's a BFD. It certainly doesn't give him a free pass. I find it ridiculous that he's picking on Cheney and Kinsinger as well. We all need to be strange bedfellows until we make sure Trump is gone for good, and then we can go back to our corners and argue about policy. But, on that same note, if 2022/2024 are going to be as bad as we think, we need him.
The establishment GOP will not save us. The new GOP can. The new GOP will be the party of the common sense and pragmatic producer... the people of the working class and small business economy. It needs to crush the billionaire boys club that owns and control the corporate media and shrink the size of government that colludes with the billionaire boys club for more Chinese Yen. But to make that happen we have to purge the Collins and Romneys from the party.
JD Vance & Hershel Walker are examples of up and comers.
Good POTUS candidates in DeSantis and Youngkin. Also Niki Haley (although maybe too establishment at this point). On the Dem side we have Gabbard.
However, the list of new and exciting GOP candidates for House and Senate races, and for state Governor races is pretty damn exciting. I believe we only need 13 more states onboard for a Convention of States.
Gosh...did Matt Gaetz fall off the roster now? Mostly because he may be in prison in a year or so?
Perhaps you might want to also place Jim Jordan on hold until the 1/6 committee finishes it's investigation. I'm a little concerned that he might also be unavoidably detained in the near future.
That's right Frank, please remove Collins and Romney from office, and expand the Democratic Senate majority by two. The country desperately needs this.
They will be replaced with new Republicans... real patriots... not the establishment junk. They are both toast at re-election time. Collins is more popular in her state than is Romney, but both are seen as barely better than a Democrat and Democrat is a bottom of the barrel brand.
Lenin did not repair the USSR, he created the USSR and it only took about 3 million murders under his watch to make it so. Lenin had the same motivation as today's Democrats... one-party-rule with a Marxist foundation. Democrats are clearly targeting the opposition with imprisonment and eventually death if they don't comply.
The face of the Democrat party speaks... well croaks... his standard vile vitriol and personal attacks as he laments his short stature and lack of life accomplishment.
Come on dude or dudette... your profile says you are a writer. Try to use more adult whit and intelligence instead of this grade school name calling. Control yourself.
Charlie, your headline premise is wrong: There is no GOP. You yourself gave us Exhibit A ... Susan Collins to prove your point. The GOP, with a clear reverence for Bull...., has become the POT.
"All evil needs to triumph is good men desperate to remain "relevant", "in the room", and "a part of the conversation". I want this spread far and wide. The flip side is "but no one's talking/doing anything about MY issue so I'm just not going to bother to vote" which is just as dangerous.
No, I think he does need the GOP, which is on its way to becoming the equivalent of the Nazi Party. Hitler's advantage was that the Nazis were already a big party in German politics, big enough to win 30+% of the vote. Trump has no party other than the GOP. Heck, they're paying his legal expenses because he hasn't got the cash. IF the Reps get a spine, a big IF right now, he has nowhere to go. When are normal Reps going to demand the party stop taking their money and paying it to Trump?
You may well be correct, but you might recall back in "the good ol'days" that most of us thought that the GOP would never support or allow a Trump-like figure to control them.
Now is not the time to lack an imagination for how bad this could get. Trump's pointing a kill finger at every GOP figure who opposes him seems more reminiscent of Saddam Hussein than Adolph Hitler.
Not to imply that Trump would execute his opponents like Saddam but he did watch and do nothing while our Capitol was under siege. He doesn't live by the same rules or mores that most of us do and we should keep that in the forefront of our minds.
He wouldn't, but his followers definitely would. And as he said about the people who attacked the capital and threatened the lawmakers and Pence, I will pardon you if elected. If they show up at polling places with shotguns, who is going to stop them.
Hitler did execute his opponents or threw them into Dachau (same result in many cases) from the beginning, when Hindenburg appointed him chancellor. And he did have a party that did that via the SS and SA. The Capitol siege could have become our Reichstag, which was the tipping point (lie) that gave Hitler complete control. Again, the real point is how far are Reps willing to go. Will they take the Hitler route - let Trump completely take over - or will they finally, finally get a spine and fight back? I get people like Cruz and DeSantis wanting his power, but where are the others? Stop the RNC from giving him money would be a start. There are faint, very faint glimmers like Lindsey actually saying the rioters should be punished (we'll see how long that lasts!). What will it take for the sane Reps to get a spine? Charlie? Have you got an answer?
I have no issue with your reply...and totally agree that there are a lot of similarities between how Hitler gained power and Trump (despite many of the pro-Trump people accusing the Dems of being the brown shirts).
Again...the distinction I'm trying to convey is that if Trump feels he doesn't need the GOP anymore...that's when our Constitution will really be unraveled. He will begin instituting changes that protect him from legal issues, allow him far more power, and most importantly allow him to stay in power indefinitely. If he gets re-elected...he will not step down voluntarily again.
The ship has sailed for elected Republicans to get a spine. It's critical Independents, Never Trumpers, Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans step up and vote. Beyond that Congress has to fix the ECA.
"We came minutes away from a real blood bath"
No we did not. That is a ridiculous comment. So dishonest and hyperbolic you should be embarrassed for using it. None of the protestors had weapons. They did not kill anyone. A few of them hurt police officers and they should pay for the crime. The only person killed was a protestor... murdered by a Dem capitol police officer. The Democrats and the media made it into a spectacle it was not. You are reading and watching cherry-picked footage and a Hollywood script. 98% of the protestors that entered the capitol were calling for peace.
Did you know that Ashley Babbitt, before she was shot and killed, was fighting with one of the hothead protestors telling him to stop being violent?
In March of 1971, a bomb went off inside the U.S. Capitol Building. There was never any question about who did it, a Marxist group called the Weather Underground immediately took responsibility for it even before the explosions. That story got buried.
But then after Jan-6:
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That day will be another day that lives in infamy in American History similar to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): We can now add January 6, 2021 to that very short list of dates in American History that will live forever in infamy.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: A hundred and fifty days since the worst single act of political violence since the Civil War.
CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: The worst attack on American democracy arguably probably since the Civil War.
SCHUMER: The greatest attempted insurrection since the Civil War.
MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, NBC NEWS PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Think of the 6th of January, if those terrorists who committed that attack on our Capitol had been a little bit faster, they could have and probably would have executed the Vice President, executed the Speaker of the House, executed other Members and leaders of Congress.
The Biden Administration is withholding all the video footage from the Capitol Police and other cameras. Why? Clearly it would tell another story than the one you are sucking on.
Here is a transcript of the protestors in the legislative chambers:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey [bleep] man. Glad to see you guys. You guys are patriots. Look at this guy, he is covered in blood. God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good, sir? Do you need medical attention?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got shot in the face. I got shot in the face with some kind of plastic bullet.
CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: Any chance I could get you guys to leave the Senate wing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will. I've been making sure they ain't disrespecting the place.
CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: Okay, I just want to let you guys know this is like the sacredest place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
Yeah... an insurrection. Your media feeds are incomplete, lying, distorted and wrong. And you are the same.
It wasn't a spectacle I liked or was proud of. But it was not a blood bath. It was not an insurrection (the dishonest FBI even agreed). It was not an attempt to take over the government. It was not sedition. It was a protest that got out of control because the Democrats (suspiciously) failed to provide enough crowd control.
And after seeing all the $2 billion in property damage and hundreds of injured and killed people from the leftist riots, Jan-6 is really quite a steaming pile of nothing burger.
Bad faith all around on every bullet point. Maybe Am Greatness is more your speed
I feel like a broken record here, but -- to quote Whitesnake -- "Here I go again on my own..."
We NEED to create a viable political party that does not have the words "Democrat" or "Republican" in its name. Yes, the deck is stacked. No, a 3rd party will not win many elections (at first). but, it will be a stake in the ground that we are not ready to give up on this great nation. We are done with the GOP forever -- the brand is eternally tarnished. We cannot go whole hog with the D party -- not because of policy, but because of their perennial inability to come to consensus around effective tactics and strategy. Plus I (and most centrists) are just bone-tired of being lectured and admonished by the far left wing of the party, and I don't want to have to argue those positions to my (hopefully) gettable moderate conservatives.
In practice, for the next few years this party will have to caucus with the Dems, and in national elections, bow out + endorse Dems unless/until we can plausibly project a win by staying in the race. When we spoil, we need to spoil the R's until they are a rump party of rural bigots, not taken seriously by anyone.
This is not fantasy. Things like this happen because people get together and do what needs to be done. Let's fucking start. Please.
I agree. But we need to get past Trump and his ilk first. Which means Dems for now.
Thanks to Michael Wood for that very clear-eyed assessment, and to Charlie for printing it.
I think Susan Collins is or has gotten death threats against her or her family. We know that Trump advocates are not afraid of any legal action and routinely threaten anyone who stands against Trump.
I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on with Raffensperger in Georgia.
I'm sure that's possible.
I'm working on the hope it will. Too many people don't vote.
The "bullshit shotgun" strategy was indeed quite effective but ultimately not completely successful. The trigger men have had time to consider the effects and analyze the need for a weapons upgrade. Next time around, instead of a sawed-off double barrel with quite a spread but low rate of fire, expect a semi-automatic Street Sweeper model with 50-round drum magazines and interchangeable chokes to better lay patterns on targets at different ranges. If we don't gird for that now, the resultant stench just may prove to be too powerful to overcome.
I've been popping in on the PoliticusUSA website for a year now. They're left of center Dem, sometimes too much so. But they seem to have sources that put them ahead of other sites. They're now reporting some Reps seem to be waking up - Gov Hogan from Maryland, Morning Joe now calling out Trump's fascism, and others. No comments section, but the writers do respond to emails and make corrections. Worth a peek anyway. (If the supporting thing pops up, keep hitting the continue without supporting button to get in.) TAC has its head buried in the sand, completely ignoring everything outside of wokeness and love of Orban/Putin and complaining about masks. God knows what's going on with Rod Dreher, other than trying to sell his book.
Can't help but wonder how much those who are desperate to remain "in the room" are also desperate to remain alive? The locked and loaded threats coming from inside the House are the tip of the iceberg. We've all heard the deranged voicemail left for those that do speak out, and since it's only a lone voice here and there and never the critical mass it needs to be, the danger is real. It's not good, none of it's good.
I think you're right. The movement to allow anyone and everyone to arm themselves to the teeth may have been conceived and implemented by gun manufacturers and the NRA, but now it will be easily manipulated to take over the government.
The fact that you might be desperate to remain alive, if you say the wrong thing, should be all the information you need to know that you are DEFINATELY in the wrong place and doing the wrong things.
I mean....this part about Laura Ingraham just wraps the argument up nicely in a bow. The GOP is the Sedition Party. They are the Pretend O Party. Pretend that democracy does not have a knife to her throat.
NEWS FLASH (AP) The Right Honorable [sic] Senator Susan Margaret Collins (R, Maine) just announced through her Bangor office that Democracy should rest assured the Senator will probably stand equivocally behind tradition that mob rule is perhaps not a fitting method of governing. Moreover, her press secretary declared, "The Senator will continue to assess as always reaction in Maine District 2 [aka Northern Trumpistan] to her possible support for rule by law. And as Maine residents well know, the Senator now and then puts the good of citizens and governance before her own political ambitions." Senator Collins was not present for questioning because she is now hiding under a rock up in Piscataquis County.
- A Maine Native
Anyone that thinks the GoP is going to save us (from what, the GoP?) is seriously off their meds. They are determined to openly demonstrate repeatedly that they will do little or nothing that will provoke the ire of TFG and his "stormtroopers in all but name."
At some point they will drop the pretense--probably in 2024.
The e-mail from Wood that Charlie quotes pretty much nails what is going to happen in the GoP controlled states. A blizzard of BS, followed by appointing a slate of GoP electors.
The GoP is completing its transformation into the PoT... but there is a large number of people (voters) who will sit around with their fingers in their ears, humming a tune and ignoring it. Nothing to see here.
I know. This is how the NAZIs got power. Cowards in the government thought if they went they would be safe.
They weren't safe.
And before you jump on me, yet again, about making a NAZI reference, I know conditions weren't exactly the same.
If anyone jumps on you for the reference, truth is a defense. It isn't necessary that the goals be completely identical for the means to be the same.
They're getting closer by the day. The Dems and Reps with integrity had better start taking notice.
Charlie, I get that you disagree with Elias on a number of things. You're not wrong. But he's the reason Trump went 1-60 (or whatever the actual number was) in court. It's a BFD. It certainly doesn't give him a free pass. I find it ridiculous that he's picking on Cheney and Kinsinger as well. We all need to be strange bedfellows until we make sure Trump is gone for good, and then we can go back to our corners and argue about policy. But, on that same note, if 2022/2024 are going to be as bad as we think, we need him.
The establishment GOP will not save us. The new GOP can. The new GOP will be the party of the common sense and pragmatic producer... the people of the working class and small business economy. It needs to crush the billionaire boys club that owns and control the corporate media and shrink the size of government that colludes with the billionaire boys club for more Chinese Yen. But to make that happen we have to purge the Collins and Romneys from the party.
Is Marjorie Taylor Greene a good representative of the new GOP?
Yup. And Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley to name a few.
JD Vance & Hershel Walker are examples of up and comers.
Good POTUS candidates in DeSantis and Youngkin. Also Niki Haley (although maybe too establishment at this point). On the Dem side we have Gabbard.
However, the list of new and exciting GOP candidates for House and Senate races, and for state Governor races is pretty damn exciting. I believe we only need 13 more states onboard for a Convention of States.
Gosh...did Matt Gaetz fall off the roster now? Mostly because he may be in prison in a year or so?
Perhaps you might want to also place Jim Jordan on hold until the 1/6 committee finishes it's investigation. I'm a little concerned that he might also be unavoidably detained in the near future.
He is my rep...sigh
That's right Frank, please remove Collins and Romney from office, and expand the Democratic Senate majority by two. The country desperately needs this.
They will be replaced with new Republicans... real patriots... not the establishment junk. They are both toast at re-election time. Collins is more popular in her state than is Romney, but both are seen as barely better than a Democrat and Democrat is a bottom of the barrel brand.
So they will be replaced by pro Trump Republicans?
They will be replaced with politicians that support the Making American Great Again agenda. You know, the same that JFK previously supported.
I guess so. I am not familiar with what JFK promoted.
Romney isn't up til 2024.
Collins isn't up til 2026.
I like my odds.
The Great Repair will take a decade. No worries.
Ten years, double the time it took Lenin to "repair" the USSR.
Lenin did not repair the USSR, he created the USSR and it only took about 3 million murders under his watch to make it so. Lenin had the same motivation as today's Democrats... one-party-rule with a Marxist foundation. Democrats are clearly targeting the opposition with imprisonment and eventually death if they don't comply.
The face of the Democrat party speaks... well croaks... his standard vile vitriol and personal attacks as he laments his short stature and lack of life accomplishment.
Come on dude or dudette... your profile says you are a writer. Try to use more adult whit and intelligence instead of this grade school name calling. Control yourself.
Isn't Frank Lee our favorite troll under a new name?
Yeah, I am pretty sure it is him
Charlie, your headline premise is wrong: There is no GOP. You yourself gave us Exhibit A ... Susan Collins to prove your point. The GOP, with a clear reverence for Bull...., has become the POT.
"All evil needs to triumph is good men desperate to remain "relevant", "in the room", and "a part of the conversation". I want this spread far and wide. The flip side is "but no one's talking/doing anything about MY issue so I'm just not going to bother to vote" which is just as dangerous.
You're so right.
The moment to truly fear is when Trump no longer needs the GOP. If he gets re-elected...that moment won't be far away.
No, I think he does need the GOP, which is on its way to becoming the equivalent of the Nazi Party. Hitler's advantage was that the Nazis were already a big party in German politics, big enough to win 30+% of the vote. Trump has no party other than the GOP. Heck, they're paying his legal expenses because he hasn't got the cash. IF the Reps get a spine, a big IF right now, he has nowhere to go. When are normal Reps going to demand the party stop taking their money and paying it to Trump?
You may well be correct, but you might recall back in "the good ol'days" that most of us thought that the GOP would never support or allow a Trump-like figure to control them.
Now is not the time to lack an imagination for how bad this could get. Trump's pointing a kill finger at every GOP figure who opposes him seems more reminiscent of Saddam Hussein than Adolph Hitler.
Not to imply that Trump would execute his opponents like Saddam but he did watch and do nothing while our Capitol was under siege. He doesn't live by the same rules or mores that most of us do and we should keep that in the forefront of our minds.
He wouldn't, but his followers definitely would. And as he said about the people who attacked the capital and threatened the lawmakers and Pence, I will pardon you if elected. If they show up at polling places with shotguns, who is going to stop them.
Serious question - do the open carry states allow weapons at polling places?
I don't think any places allow weapons but, who knows.
Hitler did execute his opponents or threw them into Dachau (same result in many cases) from the beginning, when Hindenburg appointed him chancellor. And he did have a party that did that via the SS and SA. The Capitol siege could have become our Reichstag, which was the tipping point (lie) that gave Hitler complete control. Again, the real point is how far are Reps willing to go. Will they take the Hitler route - let Trump completely take over - or will they finally, finally get a spine and fight back? I get people like Cruz and DeSantis wanting his power, but where are the others? Stop the RNC from giving him money would be a start. There are faint, very faint glimmers like Lindsey actually saying the rioters should be punished (we'll see how long that lasts!). What will it take for the sane Reps to get a spine? Charlie? Have you got an answer?
I have no issue with your reply...and totally agree that there are a lot of similarities between how Hitler gained power and Trump (despite many of the pro-Trump people accusing the Dems of being the brown shirts).
Again...the distinction I'm trying to convey is that if Trump feels he doesn't need the GOP anymore...that's when our Constitution will really be unraveled. He will begin instituting changes that protect him from legal issues, allow him far more power, and most importantly allow him to stay in power indefinitely. If he gets re-elected...he will not step down voluntarily again.
The ship has sailed for elected Republicans to get a spine. It's critical Independents, Never Trumpers, Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans step up and vote. Beyond that Congress has to fix the ECA.
But will our vote matter….
My hope is it will. Too many people don't vote.