"@tedcruz was more directly involved in the plot to overthrow the constitution and the results of t

[riversedge]

I wonder if there will be consequences for those in Congress who were part of this attempted takeover??? I am trying to keep my hopes up.



One of the many revelations of these texts is that @tedcruz
was more directly involved in the plot to overthrow the constitution and the results of the 2020 election than previously known. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/mark-m

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=WchzGefNBqHKTzMA8TY4pw



#TheMeadowsTexts identify Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks, Jody Hice, and Jim Jordan as playing leading roles in the effort to overturn the election.

Brooks is described as the "ringleader."

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=smh7iCzKmpn_7m2fF70vmQ

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Who is surprised by this?

Carnival Cruz was the first Senator to announce support for voting against acceptance of electoral college results. Carnival Cruz helped fuel the Jan. 6 insurrection

[dchill]

2. It was pretty obvious then...

... even more obvious now.

[PatSeg]

13. Most of us aren't surprised

that it is true, we're surprised that there is actual evidence to that effect. These people are as incompetent as they are corrupt. "Let's plot an insurrection and use text messages to communicate. No one will ever see those." These are the kinds of fools who send nude photos with their phones.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

17. Surprise or not is not the issue or main point, which is there is massive real solid Court of Law

quality evidence to drop indictments for seditious conspiracy…for the lot. And provides more beyond reasonable doubt of that. Brick on brick.

This is another brick in the Wall being methodically built as defence against any legal missiles launched by Kraken lawyers in the trials to come. Compare to the quality of the evidence? filed in the AZ Courts…comedic!

Should be a poll as to…what lawyers will The Thing and the Minions hire?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

38. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think you can get them for seditious conspiracy

Did they advocate "by force"?

18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

Bold added. They conspired to "prevent, hinder, or delay the execution" of a law, but did they conspire to use force to do so?

[Alexander Of Assyria]

40. Yes.

[Chainfire]

3. The founding fathers of our nation reached out to me in a dream last night and asked

"Why have ye not hanged the traitors yet?"

Jefferson said, "If you haven't the stomach to protect your Democracy, text George III an tell him he can have his colonists back.

[Bluethroughu]

5. The 14th Amendment should be used to arrest these traitors and remove them from office.

Clarance and Ginny should also be sitting next to them in the clink.

Our Constitutuion does not protect traitors to continue in our government.

Their words and plot planning are written for all to read.

The question is did they try to kill our government for personal power OR for Putin? That would be Treason.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

22. Had the traitors been convicted and sentenced yet in this episode?

[Chainfire]

31. Washington asked, but it didn't seem to matter to the others...

[Genki Hikari]

36. Before Brexit

I would have been okay with becoming part of the UK again.

Now? Not so much.

[FakeNoose]

4. Mark Meadows is the unintentional Deep Throat

... and it's all in the stupid text messages. He's not even smart enough to use a burner phone.

LOCK THEM ALL UP!

[Irish_Dem]

8. They just assumed they were above the law.

Didn't even bother to hide their tracks as they were committing crimes.

[orthoclad]

21. More than that,

They were documenting themselves for posterity.
They were so confident of overthrowing the government that they had a documentary film crew following them around.
Leni Riefenstahl?

Vanity is a star in the Reich constellation.

[Irish_Dem]

23. If they had a film crew following them around, then you are correct.

They believed that they would succeed in their plan.

Or if they failed, they would still be lauded as heroes.

Shows how deluded they are.

They seriously thought they could stop the congress, stop the Biden inauguration, and Trump remains in the W.H.

And the American people would accept all of this.

[orthoclad]

25. Footage from the film crew

was shown in the Jan 6 hearings.

[Irish_Dem]

30. Jebus. I missed that.

I knew there were video clips, but just assumed it was cell phone type stuff.

You can imagine Hitler, Putin types making films of their brilliance like this.
Fantasies of world glory.

[orthoclad]

42. Hitler had his pet filmmaker

Leni Riefenstahl.
per wiki:
"Adolf Hitler was in close collaboration with Riefenstahl during the production of at least three important Nazi films, and they formed a friendly relationship.[5][6]"
...
"Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. ... It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters.[1] "
That film had the classic shots of many thousands of Nazis celebrating in formation.


Documenting the triumph of the reich is important to the modern reich wing, both for vanity and for propaganda value.

A Dutch documentary crew filmed the infamous Jan 5 meeting between the Proud Things and the Oaf Keepers in a DC parking garage, AFTER Tarrio was ordered out of DC. He took his leiurely time.
"Committee members heard testimony from a witness with evidence that Jan. 6 was a planned attack. Documentarian Nick Quested was filming the extremist group the Proud Boys before and during the riots."
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/10/1104291172/documentary-footage-from-filmmaker-shows-evidence-that-jan-6-was-a-planned-attac

The fact that the worst actors on J6 saw fit to have their actions recorded by a documentary filmmaker is one of the most striking things about the insurrection. It really shows mindset and expectations. These were not "criminal" acts -- they were acts of war. We're making a major mistake treating J6 as a criminal enterprise, like corruption or cheating. It was an act of war.

[Irish_Dem]

43. I've been saying for some time that the Putin GOP is at war with America.

They will stop at nothing to win.

[orthoclad]

45. I still think of it as class war

Putin is a member of the global oligarch class, along with Rupert Murdoch (Austraila) and Elon Musk (South Africa). Aaaand - the oil monarchies, with most of the money.

All the ridiculous and elaborate conspiracy theories, like Italian spy satellites and Hugo Chavez' dead finger reaching forth to the 2020 election, make me laugh, when the greatest conspiracy in modern history is operating right in the open, and we're told it's for our own good ( "trickle down theory" ). They distract us by using real issues like racism and bigotry: the power of that tactic is that those issues are real, with heavy impacts on people's lives -- and deaths.

Sure, there's some internecine conflict, like Mafia families going to the mattresses, but in the end they act for their common good.

from the Congressional Budget Office:
?itok=fh64bNke
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58533
Simple and clear evidence of the success of the long-term strategy proposed in the Powell Memo of 1971. Every element of that can be seen in today's news. But look! Dominion! Woke! CRT! Hunter! Twitter Files!

[Irish_Dem]

46. At its center, it is a war between oligarch/autocracy vs the people/democracy.

Many oligarchs from democratic nations are aligned with the fascists.

So yes in the respect it is a class war.
But it is also about fascists dictators wanting power to shift in their favor.

[orthoclad]

48. Fascism, at root,

is the collaboration between civil and corporate power, the triumph of the oligarchs. Mussolini exemplified that, and Hitler joined in. Umberto Eco, who grew up under Mussolini, wrote a good essay giving a 14 point description of fascism. It's the end point of the oligarchic process, the modern replacement for feudalism and monarchy.

I don't have a solution, but the first step in solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem.

Eco's complete essay is here:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism

[Irish_Dem]

49. Yes the partnership between oligarchs and dictatorship/autocracy.

Thanks for the article.

Yes the first step in problem solving is to start facing reality.

People have a hard time wrapping their heads around what is happening.

But in the past year, events have been so egregious and unmistakable that reality
may be starting to sink in.

[Irish_Dem]

50. Yes but flip it over from a political paradigm to one of psychopathology, perhaps also Darwinism.

Evolutionary psychology.

Or one of human nature.

To survive the human species must gather resources and fight off threats.
Perhaps those most greedy and violent will survive.

These traits evolve into sociopathy and narcissism, quite prevalent in today's GOP/autocratic/fascist politics.
At its extreme, vicious psychopaths who will stop at nothing for power and wealth.
People are mere pawns and collateral damage in the psychopath's quest.

This brutality is senseless because it goes way beyond survival/comfort. They have enough power
and wealth to last many lifetimes. They are black holes, no amount of money or power is ever enough.

But there is also some evolutionary benefit to co-operation, incorporation of other inputs,
the social contract, etc. Prevalent in today's liberal democracy systems.

The political paradigms describe these basic human traits according to time and place.
Reflecting the zeitgeist, culture, religion of the time. All variations of the human themes above.
Window dressing for raw human traits.

FDR's words are so relevant today:

"I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land."

I may have to change my sig line to that statement.

[orthoclad]

52. Evolution study supports cooperation

as a defining survival characteristic of primates. But the cooperation is within the tribe/clan; outsiders are "other". There's a flipside to that coin.

For example, there was a real-life "Lord Of The Flies" incident. Some teenagers stole a boat for a joyride, and got shipwrecked on an island. They cooperated, and thrived until rescue.

The Lord book was a parable about "civilized" behavior; the kids were a metaphor for the warring adult society which shot their plane down. They were taken back into "civilization" by a warship. The book's Lord of the flies was a dead fighter pilot's corpse.

Many societies reward sociopaths with position and power, e.g. most CEOs.


I keep wishing for an FDR, and keep getting disappointed by "pragmatic" "centrists".

[Irish_Dem]

55. So it boils down to where the tribal line is drawn.

The MAGAs draw the line very close to themselves. It is a small group.
White, christian, male.

Liberals draw the line differently, far from self. Inclusive to others.

Yes Lord of the Flies is an allegory for what we are talking about.
Civilized cooperation vs power and control of the few over others.

Today's autocracies like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi believe that cooperation, democracy is a bad form of government.
That left up to the people, a society would be in ruins. The only way to survive is for a small group to make all the decisions. They have made a deal, a social contract with their people. We will give you food and shelter and you don't get involved in politics at all or challenge the ruling party.

And we can see how these countries have weakened western democracies. Propaganda and installing puppets into our government. Making democracy look weak and foolish, incapable of decision making, unable to govern.

Zelensky is certainly an FDR figure for modern times.

Biden has been much more progressive, liberal than his history would suggest.
He was the right man to lead the country out of a series of crises initiated by Trump.
I think he is reminiscent of FDR.

A big difference is that the people appreciated what FDR did for them.
Today, even the MAGA beneficiaries of Biden policies don't care.
They are blinded by hatred and racism, that is the only thing that matters.

I am an idealist, but the flip side of that coin is cynicism.
Yes caving in to people who wish us dead doesn't seem like the right thing to do in my book.

[Irish_Dem]

44. So many GOP behaviors are right out the Hitler/Stalin playbooks.

[orthoclad]

51. And also

the foot soldiers, the MAGAs, reflect a lot of aberrant behaviors as described in the pop-science book The Human Zoo, by Desmond Morris. He argues that "civilized" behavior more closely resembles the neurotic conditions of confined zoo animals as compared to free-living animals.

[Irish_Dem]

53. Humans are just primates, captive ones.

All of us held captive to some degree, some more than others.

MAGAs captive to their own racism and hatred, easily swayed by psychopaths.

Yes good reminder about the Morris books.

[PatSeg]

14. More careless than the average 15 year old

The things that seemingly well educated adults use their phones for is mindboggling. And I'll bet they lecture their kids about being careful what they put on their phones. Might as well just rent a billboard and confess it all there.

[childfreebychoice]

6. I won't hold my breath, waiting for justice. Nt

[Historic NY]

7. Oh yes the The Crzu Effort thats what the planners called it

[JustAnotherGen]

9. He shouldn't be allowed on any

Committees until this is thoroughly investigated and he is cleared of any wrongdoing

[MagickMuffin]

10. Ted Cruz and Ken Paxton working hand in hand

Partners in criming

[czarjak]

11. I like Constitutional Scholars that....

[Alexander Of Assyria]

18. 1) Respect the Constitution

[republianmushroom]

12. I doubt it

I doubt that there will be any consequences for any politician ( and I mean any) that was involved in the plot to over throw the government. After 22 months and a lot of hand wringing we did get one subpoena from the DoJ and it wasn't for trying to over throw the government. It was for getting stolen documents back. It would take intestinal fortitude to prosecute and then invoke the 14 .amendment. IMO

[Alexander Of Assyria]

19. The pessimism is overwhelming wrong, so many reasons!, and the sentiment is dead wrong.

[republianmushroom]

20. everybody has an opinion about everything even ice cream

sorry you disagree but that is horse racing.

[ShazzieB]

27. Jack Smith bags to differ.

[republianmushroom]

28. We shall see. Jack doesn't have the final say.

[ShazzieB]

32. I think that is a completely unfounded assumption on your part.

MERRICK GARLAND: "Today, I signed an order appointing Jack Smith to serve as Special Counsel. The order authorizes him to continue the ongoing investigations into both of the matters that I have just described and to prosecute any federal crimes that may arise from those investigations."
https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-appointment-special-counsel

Please note that Garland said Smith is authorized to prosecute "any federal crimes that may arise from those investigations," period. It does not saying "pending the approval" of Garland, the DOJ, or anyone else.

Smith is large and in charge, and I believe he's boring to get the job done.

[republianmushroom]

33. I maybe corrected but i'll wait and see.

[ShazzieB]

34. Waiting and seeing is all any of us can do, really.

I just see no reason for any foregone conclusions that Smith doesn't mean business or that Garland didn't mean business when he made the appointment.

[republianmushroom]

47. everybody has an option

you have yours I have mine

[Skittles]

39. that expression

is exactly how my dad looked at my dates when I was a teenager....yes INDEED

[calimary]

16. Frustrating, isn't it! And outrageous.

[Cha]

24. Mo Brooks has a sinister

dumbshit face.

[Genki Hikari]

37. Most willfully stupid people do

Their stupidity is what makes them dangerous and evil.

[elias7]

26. Listen to Rachel Maddow's Ultra - it has happened before

[certainot]

29. if americans want consequences, dem party or org should announce an effort too use AI to digitize

RW radio.

as always rw radio will lead the concentrated volume buzz and attacks to excuse the traitors, minimize the crimes, and intimidate those needing to do the right thing

MIT media lab already prototyped using AI to automatically record, transcribe and analyze 2.8 bil words of talk radio and that could be used for a much larger project to finally measure the lies and repetition and coordination. and it can be done retroactively for decades of RW radio recording to finally give it the 'credit' it deserves for this disaster.

merely announcing such a project will freak the GOP out, put the lying blowhards on notice, and advertisers, universities and pro sports teams will head for the hills. the ad industry will have to democratize the monopoly before they lose too many advertisers.

without that rw radio advantage they're done

[LetMyPeopleVote]

35. For this thread

Link to tweet

[ProfessorGAC]

41. The Sloppiness Of The Coup Plotters...

...convinces me of one thing. They thought they'd succeed.
There was 100% certainty in their minds that this would work out exactly as designed.
Otherwise, it seems they'd have been more careful about covering their tracks.
They did almost nothing of the sort. It's all right out in the open.
And, if someone doesn't pay a price for such actions, it will happen again.

[kentuck]

54. Deeply involved.

He acts as if he wasn't even born in this country.