BY STACEY LENNOX | P J MEDIA
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Republicans in the Senate held together to thwart
attempts to form a commission to investigate the trespassing and minor property
damage that happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. We should all refuse to
call it an insurrection or even a riot at this point if for no other reason
than to frustrate the left—in particular, leading Democrats like this bitter
former presidential candidate who keeps lying to her followers:
It is well established that the only person who died that
day due to violence at the Capitol was Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed veteran and Trump supporter. The
identity of the Capitol Police officer who shot her remains unknown, unlike
officers in the past year who have shot suspects to save their own lives or the
lives of others. Officer Sicknick’s death was used as a prop by
anti-law-enforcement Democrats in the wake of January 6th. His death was
incorrectly included in the bogus second impeachment of President Trump.
If leading Democrats are still willing to make this kind
of debunked assertion, the goal of their commission is crystal clear. It is to
persecute their political enemies and keep President Trump and his supporters
front and center as cover for their radical agenda and the repeated failures of
the Biden administration. It would also bolster their fever dreams about the
right-wing violence the DHS and DOJ keep talking about in the absence of any credible
threats. Republicans are absolutely right to deny them the opportunity.
At this point, the biggest regret surrounding January 6
is losing the moral high ground on political violence. After a summer of riots,
arson, and looting by the radical left that caused upwards of a billion dollars
in damage that will linger in affected communities, there was no comparator on
the right. If Democrats have no interest in finding out who funded and led
those costly and far more deadly riots, they can just wait for the Justice
Department to finish rounding up Trump supporters.
Additionally, Jan. 6th was not the most heinous attack on
the Capitol, and Democrat leaders in Congress know that because they are nearly
as old as dirt. In 1971 a bombing at the Capitol building by members of
the Weather Underground caused almost $2 million in damage in today’s
dollars. The leader of that group, Bill Ayers, is now a celebrated figure
on the left and moves in elite circles.
In 1983, a bomb tore through the second floor of the
Senate wing, causing the modern equivalent of more than $1.5 million. A faction
of the May 19th Communist Order claimed responsibility and later set off bombs
at Fort McNair and the Washington Navy Yard. Susan Rosenberg was among the
members arrested in 1984, and President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence on
his last day in office.
Now she is on the board of 1000 Currents, a
not-for-profit that loaned its status to Black Lives Matter Inc. for fundraising
during last summer’s violence, bringing political violence from the
left full circle. Neither of these bombings ever received a congressional
investigation. The FBI handled criminal investigations, and the DOJ conducted
prosecutions. There is absolutely no reason Congress should handle January 6th
any differently.
Hopefully, the move to deny Democrats a commission will
also frustrate squishy Republicans who are in desperate need of a wake-up call
and deprive them of the platform to continue screaming about the bad orange
man. Their Trump Derangement Syndrome is nearly as terminal as Rep. Liz Cheney’s, and they are
almost as good at insulting their grassroots voters. Of course, the usual
suspects voted with their Democrat colleagues:
The Senate just blocked
debate on the bill to establish a Jan. 6 commission to investigate the attack
on the U.S. Capitol- 60 yeas were necessary to end the filibuster but the final
vote tally was 54-35. #NexstarDC
Eleven senators were
absent for the procedural vote. All Democrats present voted yes and six
Republicans joined them:
Cassidy
Collins
Murkowski
Portman
Romney
Sasse
----
Now the Republicans willing to stand up and oppose a
politicized commission need to join Senators Dick Durbin and Elizabeth Warren in
demanding that those arrested for January 6 be moved out of solitary
confinement. Every single one. Then they need to insist that courts set
appropriate bail for those who committed what are essentially property crimes.
Some have been in jail for months, and there have been several allegations of abuse by corrections officers. GOP
members should begin preparing their exhibits showing the charges dropped
against antifa and Black Lives Matter by the DOJ while those arrested related
to January 6 sit in jail. It will be a stark comparison.
Republicans also need to demand the return of the
personal electronic equipment, and immediate restitution for damage to the home
of an Alaska couple falsely identified and detained for questioning
in their home for hours. Why the FBI seized their property in the
first place is a mystery. Add to that an end to FISA warrants on American
citizens not linked to foreigners and warrantless searches of travel, banking,
and other records searching for anyone who may have attended President Trump’s
speech.
Continuation of a two-tiered justice system based on
political ideology will only open the door to political persecution. We see
increased antisemitic violence by those who side with the Palestinians in a
political conflict. When President Trump resumes rallies, will violence against
his supporters be tolerated as it was in 2016? At this point, it’s pretty easy
to presume that it will.
A question that needs to be asked: If a person entered
the Capitol after this exchange, can you even consider it trespassing? You have
to wonder what the other 14,000 hours of withheld video may show.
________________
Stacey
Lennox is a recovering Fortune 500 executive and healthcare professional.
Busting the COVID-19 narrative under the VIP tab to avoid the censors. PJ Media
readers can hear Stacey on the weekly Loftus Party podcast with comedian
Michael Loftus and multiple shows a week on KLRN Radio.