DEMS, DOJ IN SLO MO — The Weekly Opine

Time passes as Democrats and the Department of Justice need to step up and punish those responsible for the Jan. 6 terrorist insurrection. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Where’s the pep?

When I was a kid, the Dairy Queen located in Plainfield, Indiana, was famous for selling delicious soft serve ice cream. The DQ of those days would be envious seeing the amount of soft serving offered up by leaders of America’s Democratic Party.

Remember when Mitch McConnell said, after the 2008 election, that Republicans’ goal was to make Barack Obama a one-term president? (Hello, that’s the goal of every party who lost the presidency.) McConnell, at the time Senate Minority Leader, along with House Speaker John Boehner – who assumed power following the 2010 mid-terms – continually talked about derailing Obama’s agenda, even if it meant not acting in the best interests of American citizens, e.g., attempting to block passage of the Affordable Care Act.

There are numerous examples of the GOP playing absolute hardball such as when they forced Hillary Clinton to testify before Congress for 11 hours. During her testimony, Clinton put to rest Republican fantasies that she had some mastermind plan related to Benghazi. The House Select Committee on Benghazi found no new evidence of culpability or wrongdoing by Clinton. The committee laid most of the blame squarely on the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the State Department.

Yet now, for some reason, Democrats, and many of those with authority to expeditiously press easy-to-prove case(s) against Trump and his MAGA terrorist cohorts, appear reticent. There is a lack of committed vigor to really go after the perpetrators of the (ongoing) attempt to overthrow our democracy-based government.

The reason for Dems puzzling reluctance is anybody’s guess but one thing is certain. Democrats – going back to Nancy Pelosi’s paddy-caking before finally embracing the impeachment of Trump – are too often as soft as the DQ vanilla ice cream cones I favored as an 11-year-old.

If you cannot see the mountain range of Jan. 6 video evidence maybe you should visit your optometrist. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Undeniable video

Rarely has there been so much video, and audio, evidence available to prosecutors. The congressional committee responsible for getting to the bottom of who was responsible for planning and carrying out the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection riot has given us hope. Maybe someday Trump and his hoodlums will land in prison. However, those with the authority to lock them up sure seem intent on taking their sweet time.

Prior to her decision to move forward with impeachment, The Weekly Opine said in an article titled “Madame Dilly-Dally” that Nancy Pelosi was inexplicably hesitant to impeach the most impeachable president in U.S. history (theweeklyopine.com/politics/2019/6/19/madame-dilly-dally).

In that June 2019 column, I opined that Pelosi and Democrats were “dithering at a smorgasbord of excuses.” And now they are at it again. Not so much dithering with excuses but instead slowly pondering whether to loosen their tie, remove their glasses, and step into a room from which they emerge wearing a cape, ready to save this nation.

Democrats and, equally stupefying, the Department of Justice, are being extraordinarily gentle with guilty criminals captured on video (often self-made videos) trashing the U.S. Capitol, on the day Congress was certifying undisputed election results. The DOJ’s hands off approach to quickly holding accountable those who participated, and anyone who aided the terrorists, is maddening.

Meanwhile, as Democrats dilly-dally, Republicans are burning this country with voter suppression laws, restrictive laws making it nearly impossible for women to make their own decision about their body, and the perpetuation of lies that make it much more difficult to corral the pandemic.

Oh, and the GOP denies climate change despite raging fires out West, monster hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, and torrential rains/floods in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast.

Is it time for Democrats to change their mascot? A squirrel might be appropriate. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Democrats, increasingly outdueled at the state, local, and national level – despite holding the White House, along with advantages in the Senate and House of Representatives – need a new mascot. Maybe a squirrel. Or wildebeest.

Pretend they are Black

If any group of alleged and, frankly, already proven criminals do not deserve accommodation it is the group of wayward ‘Americans’ - starting with Trump - who attempted to overthrow the U.S. government.

Recently, I saw where the committee seeking answers regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection is making requests for evidence. Requests!? By now, don’t they understand that Trump and GOP MAGAs will not respond to polite requests. Issue the subpoenas already!

Why are Dems hoping GOPers will do right, when at virtually every turn Republicans have done wrong?

GOPers lined up behind Trump despite 20-plus women credibly accusing him of sexual harassment/assault. GOPers scoff at the virus. They scoff at mask-wearing and social distancing. They twice refused to impeach Trump. Republicans reject science that factually, and unequivocally, explains climate change.

What political party or prosecutor, who is of sane mind, would ever give these anti-America crooks the benefit of doubt? What committee that “has their back into it” would request instead of subpoena? C’mon people, get on with it and stop dithering.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) recently recommended bloodshed may be the only alternative to amend the “stolen election.” When asked if Cawthorn should be expelled from Congress, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) launched into typical Democrat mumbo-jumbo, saying Speaker Pelosi is considering possibly reprimanding Cawthorn. Goodness!

The correct answer is yes, Cawthorn should immediately be expelled from Congress. If Cawthorn was Black he would’ve been shut down by now, as was former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Cain, a member of the Tea Party, famously articulated his “9-9-9” economic plan in his soothing baritone voice, surging to the lead in the GOP primary in the fall of 2011. Almost immediately, Black man Cain was accused by two women of having committed sexual harassment, when he was head of the National Restaurant Association. In no time flat Cain was damaged goods, his candidacy effectively over. The media, and leaders of the Republican Party, pounced on Cain like flies swarming on a pan of uncovered baked beans at a family reunion.

Cain died of covid last summer after catching the virus, following his unmasked attendance at Trump’s poorly attended rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (I do not recall Trump offering his “good friend” Herman Cain the Trump-Fox News touted miracle treatment hydroxychloroquine while Cain was slipping away.)

I say the DOJ and congressional committee should treat Trump and his loser followers just like they would be treated if they were Black. Instead, most of those arrested related to the Jan. 6 riot have been released on bail.

The condition of this cell befits those guilty of terrorism and insurrection on Jan. 6. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

For example…

A Black woman in Texas, named Crystal Mason, was sentenced to five years in prison for voting when she was ineligible to vote in the 2016 election. Mason, on probation at the time, was unaware she was ineligible to vote, and her vote was never counted. Yet, she is sitting in prison waiting for the appeal process to hopefully free her. That’s right, Mason is in the pen for five years for innocently, mistakenly voting.

Contrast that with the Pennsylvania White woman, Riley Williams, who stole Nancy Pelosi’s computer during the Jan. 6 terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. Williams was charged with theft, obstruction and trespassing, violent entry, and disorderly conduct. A former romantic partner claims Williams intended to sell Pelosi’s computer to Russian authorities. Astonishingly, Williams was freed after a couple weeks in jail. In May, her 24-hours-a-day home detention was reduced, allowing her 13 hours of freedom each day to work, attend class, grocery shop, do whatever.

Now let’s be honest. If the participants during the Jan. 6 attack on America were Black – or associated with antifa – with incontrovertible video evidence showing they participated in the attempted coup, they would be in jail awaiting a speedy trial. They would be convicted of terrorism and attempting to overthrow the government of the United States of America. And they would be sent to prison. Case closed.

If Black Lives Matter had trashed the U.S. Capitol, BLM supporters would not be permitted to show up on Sep. 18 and protest (riot?) again. But that is about to happen, with MAGAs set to descend on Washington, D.C., next Saturday.

Hopefully, police units throughout the D.C. area will be prepared this time.