They did not do it because they thought the election was stolen...

[kentuck]

They did it because they thought they could get away with it.

With people like Don Jr, Rudy, Roger Stone, and Donald Trump running the show, it could not help but be criminally disposed.

They really did not believe that the election was stolen or that there was widespread fraud. They believed they could get their people to believe there was.

They saw a way to steal an election and worked to do just that.

They are not victims. They are criminals.

[Mike Niendorff]

1. AMEN.

K&R.


MDN

[raccoon]

2. Wish I could rec this 1000 times!

[ashredux]

3. Yep...spot on

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. As a result, hundreds of people got criminal records, millions believe the Big Lie. . . . nt

[Walleye]

5. "Just say the election is corrupt and me and the Republicans in Congress will do the rest"

[Evolve Dammit]

53. I don't understand what is taking so fucking long (two years next month) to indict all those who

orchestrated and funded the minions to overthrow our government. It is an embarrassment and furthers the traitors to do it again. I don't want to hear "No One is above the law" because that is total bullshit.

[Walleye]

54. It was a major criminal conspiracy, and it continues.

It was right there in the name. Stop the steal. How the hell did they intend to stop it. By obstructing the Congress. It is a crime

[Evolve Dammit]

64. Sedition (hard to prove so we won't try), conspiracy? Fomenting violence to overthrow U.S. gov't?

Just start with the stolen classified docs and get the damn party started. That SHOULD be pretty cut and dried?

[Walleye]

65. I totally agree

[Genki Hikari]

57. It's been explained about a jillion times what's taking so long

How many times do I have to share my experience with the feds as the victim of a violent crime that the feds got involved with?

I accepted a plea deal 18 months after my attack because the US Attorney was honest enough to inform me that a) getting a jury trial wouldn't guarantee a conviction and b) it would be a MINIMUM of six months to get to trial, but he thought it would take a year. And even that was a hopeful estimate...for a far--FAR--less complicated case than the J6 matter is.

And it wasn't taking place after a pandemic created an even worse backlog of federal court cases than usual.

My case also didn't involve 800+ criminals getting added all at once to an already-strained system, as has happened with J6.

So, all things considered, my case was taking place under "normal" conditions, but it was still going to take at least 2 years for me to get to trial. And you're complaining about 22 months?

The laughter you hear from me now is the bitter kind. Because you have no idea how 22 months is a blink of an eye when it comes to the federal judiciary. Especially when the perps are white men.

[Evolve Dammit]

63. your last line says it all. It's a "justice" system that needs a serious review and changes.

[Whiskeytide]

6. Well stated. But I still think some ...

… of the Republican congress members who participated in it were true believers. Many of those texts to Meadows are unbelievably stupid. If Walker had won in GA, he might have actually increased their avg IQ.

[Joinfortmill]

7. And fascist traitors

[Mr. Ected]

8. FOX lied, the true believers believed, the perfomative artists played their roles

And the entire charade was manufactured to leverage 70 million adults to act on the gaslighting.

It's still working. They lost the battle but the war wages on.

[kentuck]

10. I agree.

Even some of the Congress were "true believers", in my opinion.

If it was not important, it would have disappeared from conversation many months ago, and no one would be talking about it.

But the very fact that people are talking about it, signifies that it is still on the minds of many people.

The "true believers" do not have to see evidence or proof. They believe what their leaders tell them.

[Lonestarblue]

14. I don't think those in Congress are stupid enough to believe the election was stolen

They. Saw the results of 60+ court cases with no credible evidence of fraud ever presented in court. Even Trump-appointed judges ruled against him. I agree with Kentuck that they all saw an opportunity to keep their guy in power and they took it. Some Republicans continue to believe Trump’s lies because it’s repeated every day. For Republicans running for office, it’s an election strategy to get their voters out.

[DENVERPOPS]

37. As far as the Republicans are concerned:

The MEANS justifies the end......

They didn't even write their own strategy or tactics........They just simply used ANIMAL FARM as a play book. Seriously folks!!!!!!
I still had my old copy from 8th grade, so I re-read it. With every page I read, I was murmuring F***ing A, NoShit, OMG, and Un.F'ing Believeable.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. It is a criminal conspiracy to steal the US government and our country

from all of us. It was planned well in advance of election day and has grown larger since Biden took office. It is still organized and funded by the same people who put Trump on the throne of America. Exposure will help but IMO it needs to be taken down aggressively as they did in Germany.

The political players need to be outed, removed from government everywhere, arrested and imprisoned. The Dark Money financiers along with their proxy organizations need to be treated to the same. Their front groups need to be exposed for complicity, de-platformed and de-funded.

[jaxexpat]

11. The fact of illegality needs to be a certainty.

There is a concerted effort yet unfolding to convince everyone to presume the plot was not illegal but that it was a first amendment exercise. That's why the DOJ is slow tracking the conclusions to be drawn from their work. The conspirators populate the DOJ and their thumbs are on the scales.

[Ford_Prefect]

17. It was illegal from the beginning, Trump's own words have made that clear.

How many MAGA were fooled is one thing. Anyone who participated from an elected position was violating not only their oath of office but the law as well.

Propaganda campaigns are scams to shape perception and create false facts in the minds of the target audience. The whole "1st Amendment" argument is one such campaign.

The First Amendment ploy is a canard. Many previous statements have made that clear as well. Roger Stone, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, among many others were well aware that the whole thing was a scam.

A scam works because the purveyors lie convincingly about it, and because they can persuade others that it "might" be true.

Just because you heard it on FOX News doesn't make it true...is a bumper sticker I have wanted for years.

[kentuck]

21. If enough voters had known...?

Maybe they would have kicked them out in the last election?

[Ford_Prefect]

24. If ... presumes they had judgement free of propaganda. Too many do not.

Too many more do not question what they've been told to believe.

If they could think clearly about most of what they've been led to believe Trump would never have been elected.

[kentuck]

13. Do you think Trump may have been an agent of the Russian government, and Putin specifically?

I think a lot of people sensed that from the moment he came down the escalator.

[Ford_Prefect]

15. Trump was and remains a willing pawn of Putin et al.

He's been owned by them since the 80's when he went to them for loans. He shares in their world view that only the ultra-rich deserve to rule and all the rest of humanity exist for their convenience.

[Wounded Bear]

22. I don't think trump was an active agent. I think he was a useful idiot for them...

trump always thought he was acting in his own best interest. It's what he does and what makes him so easily manipulated by folks like Putin and Kim. Con men are always easily conned because they think they are always the smartest guy in the room.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

61. I think criminal families

With a lot of money are behind this and they are descendants of the southern slavers who never got over losing the civil war. Why did they have a traitor confederate battle flag flying in the capital? Why do they think the south will rise again ?Why do they like nazis? It all comes down to social stratification and owning people and the power trip of holding other peoples lives in your hands.

The republican party has always been southern slavers with a taste for nazi ideology after all the german nazis imported thier fascism from the eugenics and racism from the oligarchy and nazi pieces of shit here in america.


Republicans have always believed in stratification of people and they always put themselves on top of thier hierarchial fantasies because they are narcissistic.

[marble falls]

12. Very well put.

[purr-rat beauty]

16. They Deserve

a Traitor's fate

to the most serious degree, no tears will be shed by me

[ProudMNDemocrat]

20. Unfortunately, they will not be hung, disemboweled, drawn and quartered.

That punishment would be too good for them.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

18. May they ALL face the music....

and suffer the slings and arrows of their outrageous fortunes in the courts of Justice.. For with Jack Smith at the controls, they all just might. One by one they will fall.

[machoneman]

19. Power, it was all about power. Power they'd lose if those dastardly liberals won.

This is the sum of all the hate directed at us Democrats and even Independents. They firmly believe we are evil, we are the enemy and we must be stopped by any means from seizing power form them. We're not worthy nor capable of governing.

Sad but this long running narrative that only the R's can govern, nay rule, like dictators against even the will of home state Republicans who rejected many a TFG candidates but did vote R down ballot. Sad too that this thinking will not go quietly in the night even if they keep losing elections. Violent talk and even outright violence will continue and get worse.

[gab13by13]

23. Arizona is known as ground zero for the Big Lie.

DOJ gave the Big Lie a boost, inflamed it, when DOJ did nothing to stop the Cyber Ninjas' fraudit.

My opinion why DOJ did nothing is because Merrick Garland is an institutionalist. He did not want to interfere with state officials who hired the Cyber Ninjas. What the Cyber Ninjas was allowed to do violated both state and federal laws.

JMO.

[raging moderate]

25. Remember, Trump said your family must be stupid,

if your family did not get rich during the past century. That is what he meant. He thinks people who do not commit criminal fraud are just showing how stupid we are.

[PatSeg]

26. Exactly

Most of them aren't as stupid or gullible as average Trump supporters. Election denial was just a tactic, not a true conviction.

[lambchopp59]

27. I blew my cork at a Trumper this morning.

Trumper posted a long LOLOLOLOL and asked for "proof" that Trump is racist.
That did it. I not only blew my cork in a long response about the essence of racism so blatantly apparent all the way from his landlord history, the "birther" bullshit through the "they're rapist" comments at his announcement and beyond... but suggested that these Trumpers so cultist they can't even recognize the facts anymore, weil, I offered not only to pay for this poster's one way ticket to Russia but I'd help them pack. It was the pronounced laughter that reveals just how pathological this has become. I also mentioned that
I'd put the ethical equinamity of most of the so called "illegals" seeking a better life over the Trumpers who spend so much energy hating them any day of the week.
Republicans have taken "In for a penny, in for a pound" to a ridiculous extent, Fox Noise has made it impossible for the cultists to recognize how ridiculous they are.

[kentuck]

28. They did not believe Obama's birth certificate...

Even after he showed it to them.

Who promoted that lie?

[Scalded Nun]

29. Nibble, nibble, bite has been the approach. This time it was nibble, bite, big bite

They have been pulling this shit for over 40 years. They nibble away at this country's fabric until they get slapped down. Then they back away, then nibble again until they feel it is safe to bite again. They felt much more secure this time so they tried a BIG bite. The danger keeps rising. Punishment for these traitors needs to be commensurate with their crimes.

[Artcatt]

30. Remedy for criminality

And we’d better hope that these criminals actually get convicted and sentenced, regardless of the impact on their “reputations,” else it will happen again and again…

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

31. "They did it because they thought they could get away with it."

Been saying that since day 1.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Capitol police and Speaker Pelosi for maintaining the hold on power at one of the most critical times in our nations history.

We could have lost it all for who knows how long.

[musclecar6]

32. YES

they thought they could get away with it. They almost did. Throwing out the election was plan B IMHO, after Trump’s failed coup attempt. If they had assassinated Nancy Pelosi or hung Mike Pence, for instance, that would have been a perfect pre text to declare martial law. Seems to me, that is exactly what Donnie the demented had in mind and fortunately for the country that didn’t happen. That’s why in that 187 minutes he didn’t do anything waiting for an event to occur so he could pull off that stunt.

By all accounts, what happened was a full-scale assault on our democracy by the would be modern day Hitler and his willing deplorable Republican Congress participants, in my humble opinion. In a word, despicable.

My only question is how did we get to where we are today ? We had a somewhat stable democracy and now we have the lunatic side of the aisle acting so unhinged that we’ve got a lot of work cut out for us to try and straighten out this mess. We’ve heard for years from the Republicans about how self righteous they are, patriotic and with wonderful accolades foisted upon themselves, when in fact they’re nothing but a bunch of self-centered sanctimonious fuckheads trying to grab for themselves and fuck everybody else. Aren’t we lucky.

To me, our only part on this side of the aisle, is to continue trying to do good work in a straightforward honest manner for all the people in this country, to balance out the selfish side that’s in full swing on the other side of the aisle.

[czarjak]

33. Lingering losers be worst.

[Hotler]

34. It was a test run. So far they have gotten away with it. Oh well.... nt

[Gore1FL]

35. They thought they could pull a 2000 redux.

This isn't their first attempt to steal an election. It isn't even the first time they employed an angry mob.

Their reaction, this time, reminds me of the former law enforcement officer that helped kill Ahmaud Arbery; when he was sentenced, he seemed shocked that he didn't get away with it scot-free this time.

[cilla4progress]

36. 62 courts said no

by 1/6.

The traitors knew or should have known it was a lie.

At best, it was mass delusion.

[Stuart G]

38. Thank You for these words: "They did it because they thought they could get away with it."

........................THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY ...."SURE" .... THEY WOULD GET AWAY WITH IT..................

....2 more ideas...."How many of the Congress Critters who participated in the 1/6/21 show have paid a price?

.......................................... Has Donald Trump paid a price? .........................................

...........................................Thank You for reading this.................................................

.............................................Stuart...........................................................

[hay rick]

39. They put a gun to the teller's head but didn't get the money. Now they are victims.

My only disagreement with your post is the suggestion that they expected people to believe their false claims. I think they knew a handful of idiots would believe their lies but the important point is that they expected tens of millions of Republicans to recognize and tolerate their lies. That assumption has not been disproven.

[gratuitous]

50. Yup; every accusation is a confession

Team The Former Guy were all about "Stop the Steal," when in fact it's what they were trying to do. And why not? The former guy got away with colluding with Russia in 2016, violating the emoluments clause, broke the Hatch Act again and again, and a string of other crimes large and small. None of them ever got caught, or if caught, prosecuted, or if prosecuted, convicted, or if convicted, punished, or if punished, pardoned. Why would they think stealing the 2020 election would turn out any differently?

But now we're treated to their whining about having been punished enough by their failure, and can't we all just let it go? Bygones. Ancient history. You're politicizing the Justice Department!

[Escurumbele]

40. Democrats, and everyone at DU know it, but a campaign has to be made to make sure the MAGAts

understand they have been lied to, and there are many now in jail to prove it, but without a campaign to inform the public, to open their eyes, they will continue believing it.

[onecaliberal]

41. Well, we really don't know for sure, I mean we haven't checked and looked and dotted and crossed.

[usonian]

42. Because they could.

No moral compass, nor restraint.

[republianmushroom]

43. like

[TreasonousBastard]

44. I agree that they had no motive except they could get away with...

It.

And no plan for the power that came with winning, just that it must be worthwhile to have it.

And most important is that we make sure it never happens again.

[calimary]

45. Of course!

Opportunistic infections. And that’s exactly what they are.

[Blue Owl]

46. K&R for visibility

[colorado_ufo]

47. This is the simple and complete truth.

They are smart, manipulative, greedy a-holes who only care about themselves. And those who are of a similar nature rode on their coattails.

Trump would do anything to keep from being "offed" by Putin or going to jail. The constant lying not only bolster his "infallible" reputation, but he knows that repeating and repeating them makes them seem real to his followers.

[dlk]

48. Well-said

Entitled con artists and grifters all.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

49. That removes the smokescreen and reveals the plain, simple truth.

All the shit they fling is just to distract from the fact that they intend to steal the country.

[druidity33]

51. I wish i could rec this 1000 times. nt.

[LPBBEAR]

52. They did not do it because they thought the election was stolen...

they did it to steal the election. Not because they are patriotic....not because of some sort of high ideals....not because they actually care about this country. Plain and simple they did it to steal the election from the voters who voted against them in larger numbers. They belong in prison....at the minimum......and that's the minimum punishment they deserve and were it up to me they would be receiving the maximum, not the minimum.

[Prairie_Seagull]

55. They should have stayed in the shadows and out of the sunlight like the bloodsuckers they are.

[Aussie105]

56. News Flash!

"Mafia style crime family and enablers try to take over the country!"

. . . said no US newspaper headline or TV taking heads, ever.

It's been tried and succeeded in other countries, so why not America?

Usually though, when that takeover fails, firing squads do a big clean up.
Or appropriately applied defenestration, or Polonium if it is Russia.

Just to discourage likeminded people.

Not seeing that in America, why not?

[JudyM]

58. I hope this level of stark clarity is delivered with the committee's wrapup.

[spanone]

59. Tell it like it is kentuck!!!

[czarjak]

60. When you follow The Chosen One winning is a gimmie?

[lunatica]

62. It was a bare faced coup attempt

Trump watched it all on tv. He wanted to see violence done on the VP and on Nancy. He wanted to see if he really had a dedicated following.