170 Comments
Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Love your work, Lucian.

But the FBI wasn't caught napping on J6. They were hog tied because tRump's minions still controlled things.

I can't wait for these fools to try to take on our military (National Guard) this time. Bring it on!

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

The National Guard comprised of your neighbors: Teachers, cops, firemen, sudents...why idiots like Trump want to call them out...to do what? Another Kent State?

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Good point.

The fact that nothing happened after the verdict was also very telling, the cowards talk a big talk but they have backed off.

Here's the only time I believe US military was called out against citizens for unrest.

"For five days, the citizens of Detroit ran wild through the streets. It was one so rampant that then-Governor George Romney (yes, Mitt Romney's dad) chose to call in the Michigan National Guard. When even that didn't work, President Lyndon Johnson called in the 82d and 101st Airborne."

https://www.military.com/military-life/6-times-military-was-used-suppress-civilian-uprisings-us.html

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Am I naive to think that this is the time for ordinary people like me to write letters and make phone calls to legislators, police officials, heads of departments, national and local, spelling out my expectations that they plan and take action to defend me and my fellow citizens and the rule of law? I can't think of much else I can do, but I feel like I ought to do something!

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Good idea - we all should!

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Yes. Great idea! Let's all do it today!

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Do it!

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Bunch of cowards. Don't worry.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Armed cowards are even more dangerous. My neighbor down the street went to D.C. on a church bus for the insurrection. God help us all.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

They mostly admitted their crimes and are in prison. Now we are dealing with the second string. I wouldn't worry.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

No, you are not naive. I have written my Reps many times, and they know how I feel. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I continue to get young people to register to vote after discussing what they have to lose if they don't use their voice this Nov.

But Lucian is right. It is imperative that our sane leaders in Congress, and the President, and former members of the military speak out loudly and often about this. They MUST call out the traitors in Congress who support this attempt to overthrow our Democracy. So call your Reps, repeatedly, and get the message burned into their brains. Tell them you vote. Tell them what you expect from them if they want your vote. Tell them to get the message out loudly and often on social media, on TV and in town halls.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

IMHO it is well past the point of "speaking out." This crowd is neither embarrassed nor shamed by words. It is time instead for contingency planning by the National Command Structure and FBI/Pentagon to acknowledge next time the mob will come larger and better/fully armed.

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

When determining sentencing, I hope that Merchan takes Trump’s behavior and rhetoric from now until then into account. Like you said, Lucian, bring it on!

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I like to think the DOJ is getting ready to indict the Members of Congress who aided in the planning or execution of the January 6 insurrection and the other aspects of the planned coup. Which could explain why those very same Members of Congress are publicly backing Trump now: so he'll pardon or dismiss their cases if he's elected in November.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

The likely reason R members of Congress haven't been indicted is the obstacle the Speech and Debate Clause presents, and no insurrection charges have been brought beyond outside agitators. DOJ would need a boatload of direct evidence of involvement in a conspiracy. The linchpin is someone w/ties to the WH and Congress, 4eg Mark Meadows. Even then, would demand further corroboration from multiple sources.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

That makes sense, Shadowcloud. I'm wondering if these count: the pre-Jan. 6 guided tours, the planning meetings at the White House, conversations w/ other Trump officials, emails, texts, etc. These are such unprincipled @#%&!# that at least one would seem likely to flip. From my mouth to God's ear.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Did we ever find out what member(s) of Congress were giving ‘guided tours’ through the Capitol before January 6?

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

There is no shortage of individual and collective takes on what happened beginning at the Ellipse, the USCB, and inside the WH on 6Jan. After which some in Congress, the press, and the citizenry fell prey to human nature, i.e. morphed into Sherlock Holmes. That is the effect of the imagery and commentary of 6Jan on the human brain. Trying to make sense of something that makes no sense is natural. so much so the expression make it make sense is in play.

In Ancient times the human default was the gods. With time, gods became singular as in G-D, God, Allah's will or _____works in mysterious ways. Although to many that still appeals and applies, it is no longer the rule. Adults have consumed much literature. film, and teevee which for the most part conditioned people to a complete story where all the details fit just so.

Seldom if ever do writers insert and include unrelated or random this or that. Indeed, there is much truth to the expression if A was a novel or movie script no publisher or film company would purchase it.

So, as humans, we are faced with two competing and at times opposing concepts, the brain with the visceral, aka gut instinct. Facts v. Feelings. It is quite natural for humans who do not have access to a full set of facts to backfill with feelings. Innocent explanations become nefarious, coincidences become conspiracies, and a person in the wrong place at the wrong time becomes suspicious or a suspect, if not an active participant in what is happening around them.

It is far more likely than not chicanery and unlawful means was taking place before 6Jan. Doubt very much it was an integrated plan. That isn't how Trump rolls because he is incapable of the thinking it takes to do so. Is highly unlikely they were orders to different people and groups and well as contingency plans if A didn't work go to Plan B. Not with the characters of cray-cray in Trump's orbit and inner circle. People must consider the known fact that chaos can unwind in such a way to appear planned right down to dotting i's and crossing t's.

After tens iof thousands of human hours the January6 Special House Committee, the DC DOJ, the Special Counsel team, and the press have yet to complete separating the wheat from the chaff and as importantly from the weeds. Point being, it is likely there is very little wheat, lots of chaff, and even more weeds.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

You do lots of pontificating to come down to your conclusion that seems to exonerate Trump, his allies and funders, and everyone else who did plan the self-coup. Very clever writing on your part, and an example of why propaganda works.

Like the endless Scotch broom on Oregon's coast, the toxic "weeds" backing and funding Trump are invasive and can smother anything in their path; they are also difficult to root out.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

The American justice system is not subject to the Court of Public Opinion or the newest entry, the Court of Social Media.

What some are advancing is not unlike what the other side is, require the justice system to be responsive or reactive to how people feel. and to what side can make the most noise.

John Adams, the father of American Jurisprudence rejected that notion. What has become known as the Boston Massacre Trials proved him right and mob rule, groupthink, and how people feel irrelevant to the pursuit of American justice. The question is, are we as committed to those principles as John Adams was then?

FTR: not a fan of the pontificate or any word whose origin is positive, then is turned into a pejorative to be spit at other hoomans. It is something so-called civilized folk love to do. Is one reason am fond of remaining a merciless indian savage and not a civilized man.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Maybe they should indict a couple of the wives of the supreme court justices just for fun.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Let’s hope so!

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

You are absolutely correct, Lucian. It is long past time that the threateners should be reminded of the consequences. And thank you for the smile: "swim in the slime bucket of their slavish fealty to their Maximum Leader." Come to think of it, what the Orange Shroomer is Most Maximum At is unnecessary capitalization of first letters and whole words. [Insert laughing emoji here.]

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

"Lily livered" is the one that made me smile

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Ah, the human liver! Recall in "The Maltese Falcon," Wilmer, the gunsel (Elisha Cook, Jr.), saying to Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), "Keep on ridin' me and they'll be picking iron out of your liver," to which Spade smilingly replies, "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter." Hey! What Spade said also describes the Orange Shroomer Convicted Felon and his blowsy gang of thugs and thugettes.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Blowsy.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

👍👍👍

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

The only things that are ‘maximum’ about Donny Dumbass are his big mouth and giant girth.

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I heard DT today on a radio show proclaiming that -"The Judge wouldn't even let me speak at my own trial."

And his devotees believe him. The case went before a grand Jury before that, do we assume the devotees don't know about that either or that it was not a federal case?

"How is such a man to be worked on?" Jane Austen asked about one of her villains.

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Excellent straightforward plans. Do you think any of this is being considered by anybody anywhere? I’m a bit on the disillusioned side lately but praying I’m wrong.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

If the FBI and other agencies are planning for this contingency they would be tight lipped about it, because you never give away your plans to the enemy, lest they outflank you.

I think they're probably doing planning because Trump has to be taken at his word. He's still a very dangerous man, which means I hope and pray Judge Merchan will put him in prison for a a bit of time just to show him the boss really is.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Agree.

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

This is a perfectly timed article.

No more waiting for Trumps hyper reactive followers to follow through with their threats.

Warn them that they too can go to prison if they continue to threaten the Judge, the jury, prosecutors et al.

I’m so over these thugs , trained by their chief Thug , DJT, to assume they are in charge.

They are the minority whether or not they are aware.

Donald is ,of course ,in his addled mind , the victim. Bull Shit. He is reaping what he has sown.

He is guilty on all 34 felony counts.

Not because Joe Biden decided to go after him. But because he did the crimes he was accused of.

That’s how law and order is supposed to work.

Maybe it’s the first time he’s been held accountable for his criminal actions . Maybe he should get used to it.

Not everyone is going to be a sell out like Aileen Cannon.

He may actually be taken to task , because he is guilty.

We’ve all seen his attitudes and attacks through the years .

We’ve listen to him spitting violence out on everyone who sees things in reality . Not judging by Trumpspeak. ‘I’m an innocent man . I’ve done nothing wrong. ‘

‘This is election interference. ‘

No sir this is ‘pay to play ‘.

He has been protected from Reality all of his life sordid life.

The Criminal Justice System needs to stay honest and tough.

We cannot allow these enablers of Trump to continue to carry on with the lies he’s sold to them.

He’s appealing to the Supreme Court to save him . Not their job although a few of them are crooked enough to do It.

The Speaker of the House ,another operative in the January 6 attempted coup ,is telling anyone who will listen that there are Justices who he considers as friends that he knows will be willing to rescue Trump.

Really , Mikie , ever hear of the separation of powers.

Like other Magas he doesn’t believe the laws of our Country need to be enforced.

Everything is ok when it’s Trump.

So I hope the executive powers and the police , are willing to uphold the law.

If not , engage the National Guard but do not allow this to be twisted any farther by Maga enablers.

This is still a Country under Democracy in spite of their efforts to appease Putin.

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I agree 100% with everything you said. I feel pretty sure New York City will be locked down pretty tight on sentencing day. But they do need to let these yahoos know what await them including how long you can go to jail in NY for carrying a gun. And as a side note, the last thing I would do is mess with a NYPD officer. Running into them getting a morning coffee will scare you straight.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

You can see how NYC could be frozen in uncertainty, wondering what to do to prevent a clusterfluck, the day of sentencing (and beyond)

A simple warning like you suggest is probably the best way to handle it, but I can see how some of the lug-heads would twist it into something dire and threatening-- and then escalate.

What an awful position to be in!

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founding
Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Please don’t underestimate our law enforcement agencies and those who job it is to protect us. I am sure they are following this all very closely. But isn’t it an absolute disgrace that the police will have to put their lives on the line because the Law and Order party is made up of a bunch of lily livered SOBs

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Emphatically agree, especially "No more caught napping like on Jan 6."

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Who says they don’t already have countermeasures worked out if there is another uprising? I wouldn’t expect them to broadcast their plans to anyone in the current peri-flashpoint environment.

Ducking and Covering….

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Lay the trap.

Don't seem concerned

Don't seem to be prepared

But be ready.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Snap

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Boy, is NYPD going to surprise a lot of uninformed and misinformed people if a bunch of dumb goons think they can disturb NYC's peace. I can hardly imagine D.C. police are less well prepared.

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founding
Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Take a deep breath, everyone. Yes, there's a real possibility of violence - some of the cultists are truly nuts, and many are just evil, but a police overreaction will not help. Trust that there are few adult humans both crazy AND stupid enough to think that they can shoot at cops. Cops WILL shoot back.

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

My personal fantasy is of hovering over this “army” of trumplestiltskins in a helicopter and dropping napalm on them. How many tons of that did the US drop on Vietnamese who posed no threat at all to our country? These people pose a real and deadly danger.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

Trumple-thin-skins as coined by Paul Slansky who hosted a blog where none of us believed he could be nominated.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I was referencing the fairytale character, Rumplestiltskin.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I know. And I provided the name Paul gave Trmplethinskin. Clever, isn’t it?

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Jun 3Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

I’d like to see law enforcement state they would not rule out a drone strike in response to violence

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I do not want to see a drone-drop. Not ever in our country! If they want to use a drone for surveillance, that’s a different story.

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I would go so far as to say that the January 6 experience is high on the minds of the appropriate law enforcement agencies. As for the Republicans not denouncing violence, well, they're in Congress and worried about getting re-elected, and they know they are insulated from the consequences of any violence because it's not their jurisdiction. The upshot being that they can pander to their base without consequence because they already know that within their district who will vote for them and who won't.

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Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

And NYC has more sophisticated intelligence on possible terrorism than the feds even have! I am sure they are on alert!

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV

It as if these MAGA morons are channeling their Nazi forebears and the Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 when Hitler tried to take over Munich and use it as a springboard to challenge the national government. Hitler failed then, was tried for treason and jailed, but released only nine months later despite having a five year sentence. And we know what happened after that.

Trump and his MAGA cult are no different. He should be in prison right now, not for his conviction on 34 felony counts and the sentencing to come, but because of his flagrant violation of court orders to restrict his attacks on the judicial system and the hard-working components of it, including judges, court clerks, prosecutors and their families.

I have to pinch myself when I see what he gets away with compared to how political figures comported themselves in prior years. Large segments of American society have gone stark raving mad. We need something to bring them back to reality, and prison for committing crimes in the name of Trump may not be sufficient or effective. Forget politics - it is the largest mental health issue this country has.

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Is Tomorrow Hitler's? by HR Knickerbocker - spoke fluent German, covered the rise of Stalin in Moscow, etc.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66251

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Renfro_Knickerbocker

Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker

Born January 31, 1898

Yoakum, Texas, U.S.

Died July 12, 1949 (aged 51)

Ghatkopar, Mumbai, India

Nationality U.S.

Education Southwestern University, Columbia University

Occupation(s) journalist, writer

Spouses Laura Knickerbocker, Agnes Knickerbocker (July 1935 - July 1949)

Parent(s) Hubert Delancey Knickerbocker and Julia Catherine Knickerbocker (née Opdenweyer)

Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker (January 31, 1898 – July 12, 1949) was an American journalist and author; winner of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence for his series of articles on the practical operation of the Five Year Plan in the Soviet Union.[1] He was nicknamed "Red" from the color of his hair.[2]

Early life

Knickerbocker was born in Yoakum, Texas. Knickerbocker's parents were Rev. Hubert Delancey Knickerbocker and Julia Catherine Knickerbocker (née Opdenweyer).[3] Knickerbocker attended Southwestern University before serving in the army for a few months as a telegraph operator. In 1919, he moved to Columbia University to pursue medicine, but his financial constraints allowed him only to study journalism. He completed the program in 1921.[4]

Education

Knickerbocker graduated from the Southwestern University in Texas and then studied journalism at Columbia University.[5][6]

Career

Knickerbocker was a journalist, noted for reporting on German politics before and during World War II. From 1923 to 1933 he reported from Berlin, but because of his opposition to Adolf Hitler he was deported when Hitler came to power. On December 1, 1930, Knickerbocker interviewed Soviet leader Stalin's mother, Keke Geladze in Tiflis for the New York Evening Post through a Georgian interpreter. The article was titled “Stalin Mystery Man Even to His Mother.”[7]

In 1932 he travelled across Europe for the book Does Europe Recover. He interviewed many state leaders, amongst them Mussolini, and the second most important person of Germany's NSDAP Party, Gregor Strasser. His report on Italian Fascism is full of praise for the "stability" of the regime.[8] He also praises Strasser's "left wing" of NSDAP party and the Papen government's semi-dictatorship.[9] There is no hint of a warning about Nazism in the book but rather a recommendation for its success in Italy. Back in America, after Hitler's reign of terror became the face of NSDAP, he began writing about the threat posed by Nazism. On April 15, 1933, he wrote in the New York Evening Post: "An indeterminate number of Jews have been killed. Hundreds of Jews have been beaten or tortured. Thousands of Jews have fled. Thousands of Jews have been, or will be, deprived of their livelihood." In 1931, as a correspondent for the New York Evening Post and the Philadelphia Public Ledger, he won the Pulitzer Prize for "a series of articles on the practical operation of the Five Year Plan in Russia".[10][11]

In 1936 he covered the Spanish Civil War for the Hearst Press group. Like other foreign reporters, his work was progressively hampered by the rebel authorities, who finally arrested Knickerbocker in April 1937 and deported him shortly after. Back to the United States, he wrote an article for the Washington Times, published on 10 May 1937, in which he exposed the brutal repression and the "antisemite, misogynist and antidemocratic" society that the Nationalists planned to develop, according to the statements made by Gonzalo de Aguilera, Francoist Foreign Press Liaison Officer at the time. The next day, Congressman Jerry J. O'Connell cited the article extensively in the House of Representatives due to the concern generated.[12]

After World War II, Knickerbocker went to work for radio station WOR, in Newark, New Jersey. He was on assignment with a team of journalists touring Southeast Asia when they were all killed in a plane crash near Bombay, India, on July 12, 1949.[13]

Personal life

Knickerbocker was married first to Laura Patrick in 1918, and they had one son, Conrad, who became a daily book reviewer for the New York Times. His second marriage was to Agnes Schjoldager, with whom he had three daughters, including Miranda, who married actor Sorrell Booke. {more, sources etc.}

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