Merrick Garland, the Attorney General confirmed during the beginning of the Biden Administration comes to the office with widespread respect as an a-political jurist and believer in “we the people” having a “fair” Justice Department. So, he comes to this office at what appears to be possibly the most perilous time in our nation’s history. Today, the US Senate voted against having a “bi-partisan commission” studying what happened on January 6th, 2021, how the INSURRECTION came about, who and what were behind it, who paid for it, why weren’t re-enforcements sent to the Capitol Building for over three hours after the police lines were breached. and what kind of communications were happening before, during and after the siege. One other thing which MUST be made public – who were the members of Congress giving tours of the Capitol Building in the days leading up to the siege – when the Building was supposed to be closed to visitors? I have my guesses, but I’ll wait until the FACTS are made public.

The bottom line here is the republican party has made it clear they want to “move on” from January 6th, 2021 because they KNOW it won’t look good for them – especially, because they’re in the “grip” of individual 1 – conceivably more-so than when he was still our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president. The vote was simply a confirmation that Moscow Mitch will continue the OBSTRUCTION of EVERYTHING which is the same thing he did during the Obama administration. The “onus” for what is necessary to FIGHT back against what the republicans are doing since individual 1 lost now rests on – the obvious choice – Joe Manchin, but ALSO right at the feet of Attorney General Garland.

Republicans DON’T want to have any public investigation of January 6th, 2021 so it has to come from other sources – and, to me, the most significant would be the Justice Department holding individual 1 to account for INCITING the INSURRECTION. Of course, republicans wouldn’t like that, but it was none other than Moscow Mitch – in his “impassioned” speech following his cowardly vote to acquit individual 1 right after IMPEACHMENT #2 – who suggested our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president “could” be held accountable in a court of law. Individual 1 SHOULD get the opportunity to defend his actions in a court of law BECAUSE 5 people DIED as a result of him INCITING the crowd into frenzy.

It’s been reported he sat in the “White House” and watched the INSURRECTION with a sense of joy – reportedly saying “These people love me” as they were ransacking our nation’s Capitol Building chanting “Hang Mike Pense” after erecting a gallows with a noose on the Capitol grounds. To show you what pathetic COWARDS the republicans are – both Pense and his brother, who’s a member of the House – have since shown their fealty to the disgraced TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president who sat in his chair as the assault on the Capitol Building was under way and “Tweeting:” “Our Vice President Pense has failed us” or words to that effect. Even that wasn’t enough to get the Pense’s to publicly denounce the “worst person in the world” – individual 1.

So, how have republicans responded to being “hitched to the WORST person in the world?” They’re attempting to change the rules in states across the nation making it more difficult for those who tend to vote for democrats to vote. They even want to be able to change the results if they don’t like the results of how the people vote. Now, keep in mind, EVERY one of their VOTER SUPPRESSION tactics is aimed at “Black and Brown” Americans, young Americans, and others who tend to vote for democrats and, if “Black and Brown” Americans STILL vote for democrats, somehow, despite all the attempts to restrict their access to the polls, the state legislatures want to be able to CHANGE the results to their own liking. Simply put: This is “un-American.”

I know people who voted for individual 1 who have said to me: “I don’t believe in democracy.” And, of course, they’re talking about America’s form of government – which, by the way, is not a (pure) democracy. We’ve had a “democratic republic” since the days of our founding fathers, but right wing Americans have been attacking our system of government since, by my memory, the days of Ronald Reagan. And, of course, there’s an underlying “principle” in all of these attacks on our “democracy” since the day Reagan was elected. It’s all based on RACISM. Every republican I know is repulsed at the idea they’re a RACIST, yet they continue to support a political party which has a BASE embedded in their midst who are the worst kind of racists – white supremacists. This is all FACTUAL – when you look at the (recent) history of America, you see what appears to be a conspiracy made up of RACISTS to move into America’s “mainstream” via the republican party.

In my memory, it all started with Reagan, but, of course, it’s been part of America’s history since the first boatload of slaves arrived over 400 years ago. People like me, based on the reality we have “Black friends,” have been too naïve to realize how serious this issue really is. I remember talking to my teaching partner, a Black man who remains one of my heroes – now from heaven, when Barack Obama was elected and saying, “I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see this happen.” He agreed, but, of course, he KNEW what was likely to happen as a result of Obama’s election. When I saw the movie “42” (about Jackie Robinson) it helped me to understand what President Obama was facing as our FIRST President of “color.”

Reagan made the announcement of his campaign for the “White House” from Philadelphia Mississippi, where three Civil Rights workers were murdered back in 1964, which is when I realized republican politicians spoke in “dog whistles” and I’ve been witnessing this ever since – AND, of course, individual 1 “expertly” turned republican “dog whistles” into “bull horns.” And, now – right in the light of day, the republican party his getting beyond the “dog whistles” and they’re doing their VOTER SUPPRESSION of people of “color” right out in the open. How do they justify all this? Well, of course, it’s via “dog whistles.” Makes me a bit sick to my stomach that I have to write this – America SHOULD have gotten beyond this by now – but the reality is there are MILLIONS of overt RACISTS in this nation.

I’m presently reading “Alt America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump” by David Neiwert, While I understood the issue with the republican party being ruled by RACISTS, Mr. Neiwert gives a factual history of those who have been pushing this “deplorable” epidemic for the past 50+ years. Recognizable (at least to me) names like David Duke and Don Black of the KKK (along with MANY others) are listed in the book (should be required reading for America’s politicians) along with those in the “mainstream media” who’ve worked to perpetuate the RACIST “identity politics” in America – people like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Alex Jones, and Tucker Carlson among MANY (sadly) others. I’ve always called these people to be willing to LIE for MONEY. Limbaugh is gone, but, for example, Carlson is presently speaking directly to the White Supremacists like Duke and Black and continuously LYING about the 2020 election – keeping the “Big Lie” aflame.

Reagan started all this – meaning the present day group of people who self-proclaim to be “patriots” who are willing to “die” to overturn our national government – apparently, into a totalitarian response to the democratic republic which has given them the “freedom” to be planning their seditious ambitions. Obviously, it’s metastasized since the days of Reagan and the willingness to LIE has been put on “steroids” by individual 1 AND, over this past weekend, none other than Michael Flynn – keep in mind we’re talking about during the Memorial Day weekend when “we the people” are supposed to honor those who’ve given their lives for our freedoms – suggested we should have a “Myanmar type coup” in America. Republicans still believe individual 1 is going to be “re-inaugurated” by the end of summer.

I’ve been calling on the Justice Department to be holding individual 1 accountable for INCITING the INSURRECTION since the day I watched all those IDIOTS charge into the Capitol Building, people who even defecated in the hallways and smeared the “results” on the walls of this cherished building, urinating on the walls, smashing doors and windows, and ransacking the desks and offices of our Congressional leaders – all to demonstrate their disdain for our democratic republic. Clearly, all this happened because of our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president’s INCITEMENT. FIVE people DIED during this attack and there MUST be accountability for those who STAGED it, along with those who carried out what they thought were “orders” from individual 1.

Well, now we’re looking to our Military leaders to step up and hold “General” Flynn accountable for calling for a “Myanmar style coup” in America. This wasn’t the first time we’ve heard seditious language coming from Mr. Flynn – there were multiple reports he was calling for this in meetings with individual 1 prior to the attempted INSURRECTION. He’s a retired General and he gets a pension from the Army AND his language SHOULD be intolerable. I’ve read several reports which suggest Flynn SHOULD be called back to active duty and COURT MARSHALLED for SEDITION. I realize our military leaders SHOULD be busy eradicating our military of those who support the right wing SEDITIONISTS in our midst, but Mr. Flynn SHOULD face accountability for his “deplorable” words. Words MATTER! (Especially when you’re a leader with a national standing).

The commentators on outlets like Fox “news” use the “freedoms” Flynn would be suggesting we get rid of via the coup d etat to spew RACIST garbage with impunity. I’ve been listening (via SMALL segments of time, as much as I could stomach) to Hannity, Carlson, and Limbaugh (among others) for years. THEY, in my view, are part of the “basket of deplorables” and they’ve become emboldened by right wingers getting away with CRIMINAL behavior for years. Republicans have been doing so since the days of Reagan – including Reagan himself in the Iran/Contra fiasco), Bush/Cheney regarding authorizing WAR CRIMES, and, of course, individual 1 with a litany of illegal activity which very well could confirm my suggestion he’s nothing more than a cheap mob boss. This is what republicans have been voting for for years.

Unless both Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema relent on their obstinance regarding modifying the FILIBUSTER so the democratic agenda can be passed into law – most importantly Senate Bill-1 which is the “For the People Act” originally passed in the House, “we the people” will be depending on Mr. Garland to save this nation. The “For the People Act” would nationalize voting regulations, would regulate campaign financing, and would require non-partisan redistricting in states all across the nation – among other important benefits for “we the people.” In addition, democrats could pass the “John Lewis Voting Rights Bill” which would restore sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act which was decimated by the Roberts Court back in around 2013. The national wave of VOTER SUPPRESSION bills began shortly after that “deplorable” Supreme Court decision. Roberts claimed Section 2’s protections were adequate – so, we’ll likely find out this year if Manchin and Sinema don’t relent. Republican assaults on voters since the 2020 election are onerous – there’s no other way to describe what they’re doing.

Attorney General Garland is obligated to intervene to stop our delusional TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president and the others who helped him gin up the thousands of Americans who came to Washington DC on January 6th, 2021 with the express purpose of overthrowing the American government’s ability to complete the “peaceful transition of power” which has gone on in this nation since, well, the beginning of the republic. These are people who claim to believe in the constitution but, apparently, have no idea what’s in it. The process which Mike Pense was overseeing was, in essence, a non critical process which is ceremonial in nature. Of course, republicans, en masse, chose to make a circus of the proceeding – even AFTER the INSURRECTION attempt – by objecting to the elections in various states – Pennsylvania for one.

So, it’s up to Mr. Garland to follow through on his promise during his confirmation hearings to investigate the INSURRECTION and hold those accountable who staged the encounter – so that the 500+ “stooges” who thought they were following the “orders” of their “fuhrer” won’t be the only ones held to account for this “deplorable” attack on the foundation of our government. I’ve written this before, but it all reminds me of the Abu Ghraib scandal of Bush/Cheney. Clearly the TORTURE was authorized by those at the top of their administration – including both Bush and Cheney – but, the only ones who faced legal accountability were the Army “grunts” who thought they were “following directions” as they committed WAR CRIMES on numerous Iraqi citizens. I really hope that scenario is not repeated in the case of January 6th, 2021.

Final Thought: Shelby County v Holder was the Supreme Court decision which “gutted” the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – a law which was re “confirmed” many times prior to this “deplorable” decision by the Roberts Court. The Court gutted Sections 5 and 4 of the Act which has led to ALL the recent egregious VOTER SUPPRESSION bills being pushed by republicans in almost EVERY state in the Union. This is why the John Lewis Voting Rights bill MUST also be passed this year by the Biden administration. And, we know that will be impossible unless both Manchin and Sinema relent on their support of the FILIBUSTER in the Senate as it exists today. Republicans “modified” the filibuster in order to get their judges confirmed and democrats should, at a minimum, modify it to allow a “majority” vote in the Senate (and House) to get voting rights legislation passed. Passing the two Voting Rights bills will go a long way to turn back the republican CORRUPTION which has infected our nation.

I’ll write more about this “infection” soon, but suffice it to say, the “infection” in the republican party began MANY years ago and, like any “infection,” if you fail to address it over time the “infection” just continues to get worse. Well, the “infection” is so bad now it appears to me the solution is “amputation.” When investigators (Like the FBI) report about the dangers of the “right wing extremists – ie white nationalists/supremacists” the republican party immediately takes offense – as if the report is attacking them. We’re talking about reports which NEVER once mention the word “republican” – it’s the republicans who immediately take a defensive stance as if to say they understand outfits like the KKK are part of their base – and, they’re OK with it! Yikes!!! Stay tuned!!!