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Topics in the News: January 6


Jay Inslee on January 6: (Government Reform Jan 11, 2022)
Outlaw efforts by pols whose election lies cause violence

We just marked the 1-year anniversary of the insurrection in our nation's Capitol. That continues to this day under the banner of the "Big Lie." The right to representative government is under attack. It is time we stand up to those who challenge the integrity of our elections, who undermine basic democratic principles and who would do away with the rule of law. I think we
Click for Jay Inslee on other issues.   Source: 2022 State of the State Address to Washington legislature

Ted Cruz on January 6: (Principles & Values Jan 6, 2022)
January 6 terrorists were only those who attacked police

[On Jan. 6, 2021] the Texas senator released a statement after Congress reconvened to certify the election on Jan. 6 last year, calling the day a 'despicable act of terrorism.'

[On Jan. 6, 2022] Ted Cruz walked back his use of the word "terrorist" when describing Jan. 6. "What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers. I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail," Cruz said. "I wasn't saying the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists. I wasn't saying the millions of patriots across the country supporting Trump are terrorists."

Click for Ted Cruz on other issues.   Source: Politico.com FactCheck on anniversary of Jan. 6 Riot

Mike Pence on January 6: (Principles & Values Dec 12, 2021)
Will reflect and pray whether he's called to run in 2024

Former Vice President˙Mike Pence's visit to New Hampshire last week˙and stops in other high-profile early primary states are fueling speculation about a potential 2024 presidential run--and questions about whether he can win over the GOP voters he angered on Jan. 6.

In his most direct comments to date, Pence did not rule out a potential 2024 bid, even if Trump also entered the race, as the former president is increasingly hinting he'll do. "I can honestly tell you in 2023, my family and I will do what we have always done. We'll reflect, we'll pray and determine where we might best serve, and we'll go where we're called," Pence told a CNN reporter in Manchester NH.

A 2024 run will likely require Pence to figure out a way to address his time in the Trump administration, first as a loyalist and then as the target of extreme anger by the former president and his backers.˙ [Trump has] put out multiple statements chastising Pence for overseeing the certification of electoral votes on Jan. 6.˙

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: The Hill e-zine on Jan. 6th Insurrection

Donald Trump on January 6: (Principles & Values Dec 8, 2021)
The insurrection took place on November 3rd, not January 6th

The ex-president sat down at Mar-a-Lago and was asked whether he thought it was "a mistake" to have held a rally at the White House Ellipse on January 6. It was during that rally that Trump directed his supporters to march to the Capitol Building and "show strength" against the congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory˙or risk losing their country forever.

"It was a massive rally, with hundreds of thousands of people," Trump claimed in response to the question. "I think it was the largest crowd I've ever spoken before. And the real--I reverse it--the insurrection took place on November 3rd, that was Election Day, and before and after. That was to me, the insurrection. And January 6th was a protest."

Trump then reiterated his claims about crowd size along with another familiar tactic meant to deceive the public about the horrific events at the Capitol: "And then, unfortunately, some bad things happened," he said, "but also, the other side had some very bad things happen."

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Mother Jones magazine on Jan. 6th Insurrection

Donald Trump on January 6: (Principles & Values Oct 21, 2021)
FactCheck: Incorrectly claims "insurrection was on Nov. 3"

TRUMP: "The insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!"

THE FACTS: There was no insurrection on Election Day. There was a free and fair election won by Democrat Joe Biden. Despite Trump's repeated claims, no evidence of widespread corruption has ever been found. Every state has certified its results as fair and accurate, and numerous state and federal election officials--including Trump's own attorney general at the time--have said there was no evidence of systemic fraud or errors of a scale that could have possibly change the outcome. Judges have widely agreed, even some appointed by Trump. The government's then-top cybersecurity and election officials declared the election "the most secure in American history" with "no evidence that any voting system deleted or changed votes, or was in any way compromised." Biden won by the same Electoral College margin that Trump did 2016. But Biden won the popular vote, getting 7 million-plus more votes than Trump.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Associated Press Fact-Check in USNWR: Jan. 6th Insurrection

Hillary Clinton on January 6: (Homeland Security Sep 13, 2021)
January 6 insurrection at our capitol was a terrorist attack

Hillary Clinton has said that the US was still in a "real battle for our democracy" against pro-Trump forces on the far right. Clinton fended off suggestions that the world was now witnessing the twilight of US democracy, but said: "I do believe we are in a struggle for the future of our country."

Clinton was referring to a raft of state legislation promoted by Republicans aimed at restricting access to the ballot. "What is really, most concerning is that he continues to be destructive," she said. "The January 6 insurrection at our capitol was a terrorist attack," Clinton added, noting the parallel with the 9/11 attacks. "We are now much more worried about internal threats, and there are some who say you can't equate them, having planes flown into the World Trade Center and the terrible loss of life."

"That's a horrific external attack, but now we are engaged in a very serious unfortunate but real battle for our democracy against forces, either led by or inspired by Donald Trump."

Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.   Source: The Guardian (U.K.) on Jan. 6th Insurrection

Joe Biden on January 6: (Government Reform Jul 6, 2021)
An existential crisis, a test of whether democracy survives

Not even during the Civil War did insurrectionists breach our Capitol, the citadel of our democracy. But six months ago today, insurrectionists did. They launched a violent and deadly assault on the people's house, on the people's representatives, and on the Capitol police sworn to protect them, as our duly elected Congress carried out the sacred ritual of our republic and certified the Electoral College vote. This was not dissent. It was disorder. It posed an existential crisis and a test of whether our democracy could survive--a sad reminder that there is nothing guaranteed about our democracy.

But six months later, we can say unequivocally that democracy did prevail--and that we must all continue the work to protect and preserve it. That requires people of goodwill and courage to stand up to the hate, the lies, and the extremism that led to this vicious attack, including determining what happened so that we can remember it and not bury it hoping we forget.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: White House press release on Jan. 6th Insurrection

Janet Yellen on January 6: (Government Reform Mar 14, 2021)
Time for Congress take up its role protecting elections

I would say protection of the fundamentals of our democracy, which we have seen bloodily debated through the January 6th insurrection, certainly counts. And when you look at the 253 bills moving through state legislatures, sadly 50 of them through Georgia itself, we know that now is the time for Congress to take up the role that it alone has, which is to regulate the time, place and manner of elections.
Click for Janet Yellen on other issues.   Source: Meet the Press 2021 interview of Founder of Fair Fight

Donald Trump on January 6: (Principles & Values Feb 28, 2021)
FactCheck: Claims GOP is growing as 30,000+ left

Trump said at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference, shortly after the January 6 Capitol insurrection, "The Republican party defends the interests of working American families. That's why the party is growing so rapidly."

FactCheck by The Hill: More than 30,000 voters who had been registered members of the Republican Party have changed their voter registration in the weeks after pro-Trump supporters attacked the Capitol. The massive wave of defections is a virtually unprecedented exodus.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Reuters/OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2021 CPAC Conference

Alejandro Mayorkas on January 6: (Homeland Security Feb 6, 2021)
One of the greatest threats we face is domestic terrorism

On QAnon invasion of the Capitol: "To see the insurrection, to see the horrific acts of Jan. 6 were not only personally devastating, but ... that created in me a commitment to redouble our efforts to fight hate and to fight one of the greatest threats that we face currently on our homeland, which is the threat of domestic terrorism," Mayorkas told CNN.
Click for Alejandro Mayorkas on other issues.   Source: Reuters on Biden Administration Press Release from dhs.gov

Kamala Harris on January 6: (Principles & Values Jan 17, 2021)
Jan. 6 was an exposure of the vulnerability of our democracy

Harris is not scheduled to resign her Senate seat until January 18. Given that Harris has yet to step down, where was she on January 6, the day the U.S. Congress was scheduled to certify she and President-elect Joe Biden as the winners of the November 3 election?˙

"I was at the Capitol that morning," she told CBS anchor Jane Pauley (via CBS News). "And then I was in a meeting and I was told that I should leave. I was taken to a secure location with my husband, we watched in horror."

Harris admitted that she thought that the January 6 violence, which extended into the halls of the U.S. Capitol, was earth-shattering.˙"It was seismic. It was in many ways a reckoning. It was an exposure of the vulnerability of our democracy. It is outrageous,˙ and we will remember it like we have remembered some of the most significant [dates]. December 7th. We will remember Jan 6--an attack on the foundation and fundamental principles and ideals we hold dear."

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.   Source: The List blog on Jan. 6th Insurrection

Donald Trump on January 6: (Families & Children Oct 15, 2020)
I don't know about QAnon; but I agree on opposing pedophilia

Q: Let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior of. Can you state that that is completely not true?

TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.

Q: I just told you.

TRUMP: What you tell me, doesn't necessarily make it fact. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to study the subject--

Q: They believe that there's a Satanic cult run by the deep state.

TRUMP: I'll tell you what I do know about. I know about Antifa--

Q: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, "QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories."

TRUMP: He may be right.

Q: Why not just say, "it's crazy and not true?"

TRUMP: I just don't know about QAnon. What I do hear about it, is they are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that very strongly.

Q: But there's not a Satanic pedophile cult being?

TRUMP: I have no idea. I know nothing about them.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami

Steve Bullock on January 6: (Principles & Values Jun 5, 2020)
Has "grave concerns" over use of military on protests

Bullock has "grave concerns" about the evoking of the Insurrection Act and the use of federal military after President Donald J. Trump suggested using active-duty troops to halt protests nationwide caused by the death of George Floyd. Marissa Perry, communications director for Bullock, said Thursday he believes it should be up to governors to determine what is best to fit their states' unique circumstances.
Click for Steve Bullock on other issues.   Source: The Great Falls Tribune on 2020 Montana Senate race

Ted Cruz on January 6: (Gun Control Oct 26, 2016)
Purpose of Second Amendment is protection against tyranny

[Former Congressman and radio talk-show host] Joe Walsh took to Twitter [prior to the 2016 election] to announce his post-election day plans. "On November 9th," he wrote, "if Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket. You in?"

It may be tempting to write off Walsh's latest proclamation. But this sentiment--that a Donald Trump loss might justify the violent overthrow of a Hillary Clinton administration--is a longtime GOP talking point. The NRA has longed peddled the "insurrectionist" theory of the Second Amendment, arguing that the right to bear arms was intended to protect citizens against a tyrannical ruler.

This insurrectionist theory has gained a foothold in the Republican Party. During his campaign for the presidential nomination, Texas Republican Ted Cruz asserted that the Second Amendment provides "a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny--for the protection of liberty."

Click for Ted Cruz on other issues.   Source: Slate.com, "Grabbing My Musket," on 2018 Texas Senate race

Jesse Ventura on January 6: (Homeland Security Mar 8, 2010)
I'm more afraid of the culture of fear than of al Qaeda

Given all the illegal activity that the non-elected Bush Administration engaged in since the millennium, we can't be too surprised at the reaction. A government that played on people's worst nightmares to achieve its own ends created a culture not only of fear, but mistrust to the point of insurrection--which is what they secretly seem to have been longing for.

I've gone to some lengths to trace these developments since 9/11, because I'm a lot more afraid of this than an assault by al-Qaeda. What's going on inside our military also frightens me. More and more, we're seeing an army run by Christianist extremists and an accompanying cadre of what can only be described as neo-Nazis. Since the endless "war on terror" began, our armed services have been turning a blind eye to their own military statutes. A 2005 DoD report said: "Effectively, the military has a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy pertaining to extremism." White supremacists are walking as enlisted men around our bases.

Click for Jesse Ventura on other issues.   Source: American Conspiracies, by Jesse Ventura, p.194-195

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Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
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Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
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Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA for V.P.)
Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian Party)
V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN for re-election)
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Pres.Donald Trump (R-NY for re-election)
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Page last updated: Mar 01, 2022

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