Monday, March 1, 2021

Republicans Gaslight Their January 6 Insurrection




When you're both incurably dishonest and trying to avoid accountability for wrongdoing, you do what Republicans and their allies in right-wing media are doing: concoct conspiracies and transparent lies about what happened on January 6 at the Capitol. The insurrection that day is their crowning day of shame, of treason and rebellion against democracy, and they desperately want to either change the subject or change the story.

This morning's Washington Post highlights the many examples of their cowardly refusal to accept blame for the shameful insurrection and the underlying Big Lie about the election:

"A legion of conservative activists, media personalities and elected officials are seeking to rewrite the story of what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, hoping to undermine the clear picture of the attack that has emerged from video and photo evidence, law enforcement officials, journalistic accounts and the testimonials of the rioters themselves: that a pro-Trump mob, mobilized by the former president’s false claims of a stolen election, stormed the seat of American government to keep Trump in power through violent means.

Six weeks after the attack, some are taking advantage of fading memories and unanswered questions to portray the riot in a different, more benign light. The effort comes as federal authorities begin prosecuting scores of alleged marauders, congressional committees seek to plug obvious security failures, and lawmakers consider establishing an outside commission to examine the matter." (our emphasis)

The in-depth article goes on to identify specific hacks who are trying to change the story, including the stain on Wisconsin Sen. Ron "Tiny" Johnson, Fux's white power hour propagandist Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson and his equally despicable colleague Laura Ingraham, and of course unhinged conspiracy monger Mike "Pillow Hugger"Lindell, who's facing huge defamation suits for his Big Lie promotion and continual attacks on the integrity of the voting machines. The Big Lie was the impetus of the insurrection by Trump's domestic terrorists, and remains the most dangerous element of the anti-democratic movement that's threatening our democracy. 

Yet, just this morning, Media Matters captured the couch clowns at "Fux and Friends" commenting favorably on the Big Lie that was a major theme of this past weekend's radical right wing Trumpist Conservative Conspiracist Political Action Conference. They and the Republicans are invested in the Big Lie now because it's become an article of faith among the seditious, violent thugs that populate their audience and their base cult.

(photo: Antifa Trump's violent seditionist cult army storming the Capitol and democracy. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)