USA 2024 Elections Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Sun Mar 12 05:00:33 PDT 2023


Donald J Trump Won The US 2020 Presidential Election.



"Dear Conservatives, I Apologize..."

https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/dear-conservatives-i-am-sorry

Authored by Dr. Naomi Wolf via 'Outspoken' Substack,

My "Team" was Taken in By Full-Spectrum Propaganda...

There is no way to avoid this moment. The formal letter of apology.
>From me. To Conservatives and to those who “put America first”
everywhere.

It’s tempting to sweep this confrontation with my own gullibility
under the rug — to “move on” without ever acknowledging that I was
duped, and that as a result I made mistakes in judgement, and that
these mistakes, multiplied by the tens of thousands and millions on
the part of people just like me, hurt millions of other people like
you all, in existential ways.

But that erasure of personal and public history would be wrong.

I owe you a full-throated apology.

I believed a farrago of lies. And, as a result of these lies, and my
credulity — and the credulity of people similarly situated to me -
many conservatives’ reputations are being tarnished, on false bases.

The proximate cause of this letter of apology is the airing, two
nights ago, of excepts from tens of thousands of hours of security
camera footage from the United States Capitol taken on Jan 6, 2021.
The footage was released by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to Fox
News commentator Tucker Carlson
[https://www.axios.com/2023/03/08/mccarthy-defends-jan-6-footage-tucker-…].

While “fact-checkers” state that it is “misinformation” to claim that
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was in charge of Capitol Police on that day
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/27/fact-check-nancy-pelosi-isnt-in-charge-capitol-police/8082088002/],
the fact is that the USCP is under the oversight of Congress,
according to — the United States Capitol Police:
[https://www.uscp.gov/the-department/oversight].

This would be the same Congress that convened the January 6 Committee
subsequently, and that used millions of dollars in taxpayer money to
turn that horrible day, and that tragic event, into a message point
that would be used to tar a former President as a would-be terrorist,
and to smear all Republicans, by association, as “insurrectionists,”
or as insurrectionists’ sympathizers and fellow-travelers.

There is no way to unsee Officer Brian Sicknick, claimed by some
Democrats in leadership and by most of the legacy media to have been
killed by rioters at the Capitol that day, alive in at least one
section of the newly released video. The USCP medical examiner states
that this Officer died of “natural causes,” but also that he died “in
the line of duty.” Whatever the truth of this confusing conclusion,
and with all respect for and condolences to Officer Sicknick’s family,
the circumstances of his death do matter to the public, as without his
death having been caused by the events of Jan 6, the breach of the
capitol, serious though it was, cannot be described as a “deadly
insurrection.” [https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/medical-examiner-finds-uscp-officer-brian-sicknick-died-natural-causes]
Sadly, though the contrary was what was reported, Officer Sicknick
died two days after Jan 6, from suffering two strokes.
https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/capitol-police-officer-brian-sicknick-died-of-natural-causes-after-suffering-two-strokes-day-after-jan-6-report/

There is no way for anyone thoughtful, even if he or she is a lifelong
Democrat, not to notice that Sen Chuck Schumer did not say to the
world that the footage that Mr Carlson aired was not real. Rather, he
warned that it was “shameful” for Fox to allow us to see it. The
Guardian characterized Mr Carlson’s and Fox News’ sin, weirdly, as
“Over-Use” of Jan 6 footage. Isn’t the press supposed to want full
transparency for all public interest events?
[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2023/mar/07/biden-medicare-taxes-desantis-trump-2024-live-updates]
How can you “over-use” real footage of events of national relevance?

Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate minority leader, did not say the
video on Fox News was fake or doctored. He said, rather, that it was
“a mistake” to depart from the views of the events held by the chief
of the Capitol Police. This is a statement from McConnell about
orthodoxy — not a statement about a specific truth or untruth.
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5060662/senator-mcconnell-calls-tucker-carlsons-depiction-january-6-attack-mistake]

I don’t agree with Mr Carlson’s interpretation of the videos as
depicting “mostly peaceful
chaos.”[https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3887103-tucker-carlson-shows-the-first-of-his-jan-6-footage-calls-it-mostly-peaceful-chaos/]
I do think it is a mistake to downplay how serious it is when a
legislative institution suffers a security breach of any kind, however
that came to be.

But you don’t have to agree with Mr Carlson’s interpretation of the
videos, to believe, as I do, that he engaged in valuable journalism
simply by airing the footage that was given to him.

And remember, by law that footage belongs to us — it is a public
record, and all public records literally belong to the American
people. “In a democracy, records belong to the people,” explains the
National Archives.
[https://www.archives.gov/publications/general-info-leaflets/1-about-archives.html]

You don’t have to agree with Carlson’s interpretation of the videos,
to notice the latest hypocrisy by the Left. My acquaintance and
personal hero Daniel Ellsberg was rightly lionized by the Left for
having illegally leaked the Pentagon Papers. The New York Times was
rightly applauded for having run this leaked material in 1971.
[https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1435/daniel-ellsberg].

I do not see how Mr Carlson’s airing of video material of national
significance that the current government would prefer to keep hidden,
or Fox News’ support for its disclosure to the public, is any
different from that famous case of disclosure of inside information of
public importance.

You don’t have to agree with Mr Carlson’s interpretation of the
videos, to conclude that the Democrats in leadership, for their own
part, have cherry-picked, hyped, spun, and in some ways appear to have
lied about, aspects of January 6, turning a tragedy for the nation
into a politicized talking point aimed at discrediting half of our
electorate.

>From the start, there have been things about the dominant, Democrats’
and legacy media’s, narrative of Jan 6, that seemed off, or
contradictory, to me. (That does not mean I agree with the
interpretation of these events in general on the right. Bear with me).

There is no way to un-hear the interview that Mr Carlson did with
former Capitol police office Tarik Johnson, who said that he received
no guidance when he called his superiors, terrified, as the Capitol
was breached, to ask for direction.
[https://www.foxnews.com/media/tucker-carlson-talks-exclusively-key-capitol-police-officer-ignored-by-jan-6-panel-amid-footage-release]

That situation is anomalous.

There is always a security chain of command in the Capitol, at the
Rayburn Building, at the White House of course, and so on, which is
part of a rock-solid “security plan.”
[https://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/09/30/written-testimony-usss-director-hou…].

There are usually, indeed, multiple snipers standing on the steps of
the Capitol, facing outward. I made note of this when I was
researching and writing The End of America. There is never
improvisation, or any confusion in security practices or in what is
expected of “the security plan”, involving “principals” such as
Members of Congress, or staff at the White House. I know this as a
former political consultant and former White House spouse.

The reason for a tightly scripted chain of command and an absolutely
ironclad security plan in these buildings, is so that security crises
such as the events of Jan 6 can never happen.

The fact that so much confusion in security practice took place on Jan
6, is hard to understand.

There is no way to not see that among the violent and terrifying
scenes of that day, as revealed by Mr Carlson, there were also scenes
of officers with the United States Capitol Police accompanying one
protester who would become iconic, the “Q-Anon Shaman”, Jacob Chansley
- and escorting him peaceably through the hallways of our nation’s
legislative center.
[https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-lawyer-qanon-shaman-says-jan-6-footage-wasnt-shown-client-calls-prison-sentence-tragedy].

I was oddly unsurprised to see the “Q-Anon Shaman” being ushered
through the hallways by Capitol Police; he was ready for the cameras
in full makeup, horned fur hat, his tattooed chest bare (on a freezing
day), and adorned in other highly cinematic regalia. I don’t know what
Mr Chansley thought he was doing there that day, but so many
subsequent legacy media images of the event put him so dramatically
front and center — and the barbaric nature of his appearance was so
illustrative of exactly the message that Democrats in leadership
wished to send about the event — that I am not surprised to see that
his path to the center of events was not blocked but was apparently
facilitated by Capitol Police.

A point I have made over and over since 9/11 is that many events in
history are both real and hyped. Many actors in historic events have
their agendas, but are also at times used by other people with their
own agendas, in ways of which the former are unaware. Terrorists and
terrorism in the Bush era are one example. This issue was both real
and hyped.

“Patriots” or “insurgents” (depending on who you are) entering the
Capitol can be part of a real event that is also exploited or
manipulated by others. We don’t know yet if this is the case in
relation to the events of Jan 6, or to what extent it may be the case.
That is where a real investigation must come in.

But as someone who has studied history, and the theatrics of history,
for decades, I was not at all surprised to see, on Mr Carlson’s
security camera footage, the person who was to become the most
memorable ‘face’ of the ‘insurrection’ (or the riot, or the Capitol
breach) — escorted to the beating heart of the action, where his image
could be memorialized by a battery of cameras forever.

There are other aspects of the Jan 6 breach that seemed anomalous to
me from the start.

I study the relationship in history of buildings such as The White
House and the Capitol, to the US public; I follow the way in which the
public is either welcomed into or barred from these structures.

The White House itself and the Capitol steps have often been open to
US citizens. They are public buildings.

Indeed, inaugurations have been open public events in which the US
citizenry simply entered the building for the celebration; this
tradition lasted from President Jefferson’s inauguration in 1801, to
1885.

Things got very chaotic indeed in 1829. “On March 4, 1829, Andrew
Jackson upholds an inaugural tradition begun by Thomas Jefferson and
hosts an open house at the White House.

After Jackson’s swearing-in ceremony and address to Congress, the new
president returned to the White House to meet and greet a flock of
politicians, celebrities and citizens. Very shortly, the crowd swelled
to more than 20,000, turning the usually dignified White House into a
boisterous mob scene. Some guests stood on furniture in muddy shoes
while others rummaged through rooms looking for the president–breaking
dishes, crystal and grinding food into the carpet along the way. […]

The White House open-house tradition continued until several
assassination attempts heightened security concerns. The trend ended
in 1885 when Grover Cleveland opted instead to host a parade, which he
viewed in safety from a grandstand set up in front of the White
House.” [https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jackson-holds-open-house-at-the-white-house].

And inaugurations were not the only occasions in which US citizens
approached their public buildings in Washington.

The Bonus Army, which massed in the summer of 1932, during the
Depression, to claim the financial “bonus” promised to veterans who
had served in World War I, is an example of citizens assembling
peaceably at the Capitol. When I was an undergraduate, we were taught
that the Bonus Army sat on the steps of the Capitol and lobbied the
legislators who were entering and leaving the building. I remember
from my history textbook, images of crowds seated on the Capitol steps
in 1932.

“[M]ore than 25,000 veterans and their families traveled to
Washington, DC, to petition Congress and President Herbert Hoover to
award them their bonus immediately. Fortunately for the marchers,
Pelham Glassford, the local police chief and a veteran of the war
himself, made accommodations for this influx, including the creation
of an enormous camp in the Anacostia Flats […]. Glassford understood
that Americans had an inherent right to assemble in Washington and
petition the government for the “redress of grievances” without fear
of punishment or reprisals. […]

On June 15, the House of Representatives passed the new bonus bill by
a vote of 211 to 176. Two days later, some 8,000 veterans massed in
front of the Capitol as the Senate prepared to vote, while another
10,000 assembled before the raised Anacostia drawbridge. The police
were anticipating trouble because of the large crowds. The Senate
debate continued until after dark. […]

When it appeared that the bonus would not be paid, many of the
marchers refused to leave, and President Hoover ordered the Army to
evict them. Using tear gas, tanks, and a troop of saber-wielding
cavalry commanded by Major George S. Patton, U.S. Army chief of staff
General Douglas MacArthur drove the marchers out of Washington and
burned their main camp on the Anacostia
Flats.”[https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/the-bonus-army]

I mention the massing of the Bonus Army on the Capitol steps in 1932,
to note that the dominant narrative around Jan 6 today, often implies
that it is an act of violence or of “insurrection” simply to march en
masse peacefully to the Capitol.

But we should be wary of allowing history to be rewritten so as to
criminalize peaceful, Constitutionally-protected assembly at “The
People’s House.”

Massing peacefully at the Capitol and other public buildings, is part
of our rights and inheritance as citizens, and this use of our First
Amendment right to assemble has a long history. Indeed, the public has
traditionally had the right peacefully to enter the Capitol — to
obtain passes to events, to galley seats, and to witness the
proceedings in other ways.

The Capitol is not a sealed space exclusively for legislators, but it
is one that is supposed to welcome the public in an orderly way.
[https://history.house.gov/Collection/Search?Term=Search&Classifications=Historical+Artifacts%3A+Passes&CurrentPage=1&SortOrder=Title&ResultType=Grid&PreviousSearch=Search%2CTitle].
We should not be encouraged to forget this.

The violence of Jan 6 and its subsequent service as a talking point by
the Democrats’ leadership, risks its use also to justify the closing
off of our public buildings from US citizens altogether.

This would be convenient for tyrants of any party.

Leaving aside the release of the additional Jan 6 footage and how it
may or may not change our view of US history —- I must say that I am
sorry for believing the dominant legacy-media “narrative” pretty
completely from the time it was rolled out, without asking questions.

Those who violently entered the Capitol or who engaged in violence
inside of it, must of course be held accountable. (As must violent
protesters of every political stripe anywhere.)

But in addition, anyone in leadership who misrepresented to the public
the events of the day so as to distort the complexity of its actual
history — must also be held accountable.

Jan 6 has become, as the DNC intended it to become, after the fact, a
“third rail”; a shorthand used to dismiss or criminalize an entire
population and political point of view.

Peaceful Republicans and conservatives as a whole have been demonized
by the story told by Democrats in leadership of what happened that
day.

So half of the country has been tarred by association, and is now in
many quarters presumed to consist of chaotic berserkers,
anti-democratic rabble, and violent upstarts, whose sole goal is the
murder of our democracy.

Republicans, conservatives, I am sorry.

I also believed wholesale so much else that has since turned out not
to be as I was told it was by NPR, MSNBC and The New York Times.

I believed that stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop were Russian
propaganda. Dozens of former intel officials said so. Johns Hopkins
University said so.
[https://sais.jhu.edu/news-press/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinformation-dozens-former-intel-officials-say].

“Trump specifically cited a “laptop” that contained emails allegedly
belonging to Hunter Biden”, said ‘CNN Fact-Check’, with plenty of
double quote marks.
[https://www.cnn.com/factsfirst/politics/factcheck_036fb62c-377f-4c68-8fa5-b98418e4bb9c]

I believed this all — til it was debunked.

I believed that President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia —
until that assertion was dropped.
[https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2019/03/mueller-concludes-investigation/]

I believed that President Trump was a Russian asset, because the
legacy media I read, said so
[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/29/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book].

I believed in the entire Steele dossier, until I didn’t, because it
all fell apart. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63305382].

Was there in fact an “infamous pee tape”? So many other bad things
were being said about the man — why not?
[https://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-steele-trump-pee-tape-probably-exists-2021-10]

I believed that Pres Trump instigated the riot at the Capitol —
because I did not know that his admonition to his supporters to
assemble “peacefully and patriotically” had been deleted from all of
the news coverage that I read.
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-11/trump-team-hoping-peacefully-and-patriotically-will-be-shield]

Because of lies such as these in legacy media — lies which I and
millions of others believed — half of our nation’s electorate was
smeared and delegitimized, and I myself was misled.

It damages our nation when legacy media put words in the mouths of
Presidents and former Presidents, and call them traitors or criminals
without evidence.

It damages our country when we cannot tell truth from lies. This is
exactly what tyrants seek — an electorate that cannot know what is
truth and what is falsehood.

Through lies, half of the electorate was denied a fair run for its
preferred candidate.

I don’t like violence. I do believe our nation’s capitol must be
treated as a sacred space.

I don’t like President Trump (Do I not? Who knows? I have been lied to
about him so much for so long, I can‘t tell whether my instinctive
aversion is simply the habituated residue of years of being on the
receiving end of lies).

But I like the liars who are our current gatekeepers, even less.

The gatekeepers who lie to the public about the most consequential
events of our time — and who thus damage our nation, distort our
history, and deprive half of our citizenry of their right to speak,
champion and choose, without being tarred as would-be violent traitors
- deserve our disgust.

I am sorry the nation was damaged by so much untruth issued by those
with whom I identified at the time.

I am sorry my former “tribe” is angry at a journalist for engaging in
—- journalism.

I am sorry I believed so much nonsense.

Though it is no doubt too little, too late —

Conservatives, Republicans, MAGA:

I am so sorry.

*  *  *


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