The Party of Lincoln Gave Two Heroic Capitol Police Officers the Customary GOP Welcome
We’re marking this down as more evidence that the Republican party at all levels has become the party of violent sedition.
By Charles P. PiercePUBLISHED: JUN 10, 2024 9:02 AM EDT
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...ol-police/
Last week, members of the Pennsylvania legislature invited former Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell to be part of a ceremony in which they were honored for their defense of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Against all possible odds, to say nothing of common decency, their appearance was not universally popular with the members of the Party of Lincoln. From The Washington Post:
As the two men—both of whom were injured by rioters on Jan. 6—were introduced, the House floor descended into chaos. According to Democratic lawmakers, several GOP lawmakers hissed and booed, with a number of Republicans walking out of the chamber in protest.
“I heard some hissing and I saw about eight to 10 of my Republican colleagues walk out angrily as they were announced as police officers from the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D) said in a phone interview Thursday. “I was shocked and appalled,” he added. According to Venkat, the commotion lasted about five minutes. Fewer than 100 lawmakers, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, were present in the chamber before the chaotic scene unfolded, he said.
The Post, soon to be d/b/a Fleet Street West, soft-pedaled the episode, citing it as evidence of:
“how polarizing the legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection has become between the parties, to the extent that supporting law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol from violent rioters is seen as politically contentious by some lawmakers.”
No. Just no.
It is evidence that the Republican party at all levels has become the party of violent sedition, that it has become the party of authoritarian solutions to the unpopularity of its policy ideas and the people who serve them, that it has become less of a political party than it is a rolling asylum for the politically insane. Polarizing? There are no “poles” here. There is right and wrong. There is patriotism and mindless vandalism.
Hissing at Harry Dunn? In a legislative chamber? We are baby steps away from the Republicans turning our legislatures into those videos we see from parliaments overseas. And it is entirely the fault of one of the only two major political parties we have allowed ourselves.
And it is evidence of something even deeper and more malignant. As the former president*’s legal problems deepen, despite the efforts of various judges, the Republican party is adopting the January 6 riots as an essential part of its political philosophy, and it is doing so openly and proudly.
We have convicted rioters running for office on the Republican line. Meanwhile, as Dunn and Gonell were being hissed at in Harrisburg, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives held a series of clownish “oversight” hearings at which Attorney General Merrick Garland and Dr. Anthony Fauci were the designated sane-people piñatas. These performances drew some interesting spectators.
Various Republican officeholders have referred to the incarcerated rioters as “political prisoners” for years now. And the convicted felon who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has referred to himself as a modern-day Nelson Mandela. He regularly opens his rallies with a musical tribute to the rioters, which is certainly the creepiest political moment since I watched New Gingrich listen to the pope.
And nobody on that side seems remotely concerned. The Republican congressional leadership is smilingly chasing every snipe produced out of the conservative media jungle, ignoring anything of substance as if it were radioactive. It is as clear as it ever was that the prion disease that has afflicted American conservatism since Ronald Reagan first fed it the monkey brains in the mid-1970s has reached an acute stage. Abbie Hoffman once preached revolution for the hell of it. This is hell for the revolution of it.
We’re marking this down as more evidence that the Republican party at all levels has become the party of violent sedition.
By Charles P. PiercePUBLISHED: JUN 10, 2024 9:02 AM EDT
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...ol-police/
Last week, members of the Pennsylvania legislature invited former Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell to be part of a ceremony in which they were honored for their defense of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Against all possible odds, to say nothing of common decency, their appearance was not universally popular with the members of the Party of Lincoln. From The Washington Post:
As the two men—both of whom were injured by rioters on Jan. 6—were introduced, the House floor descended into chaos. According to Democratic lawmakers, several GOP lawmakers hissed and booed, with a number of Republicans walking out of the chamber in protest.
“I heard some hissing and I saw about eight to 10 of my Republican colleagues walk out angrily as they were announced as police officers from the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D) said in a phone interview Thursday. “I was shocked and appalled,” he added. According to Venkat, the commotion lasted about five minutes. Fewer than 100 lawmakers, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, were present in the chamber before the chaotic scene unfolded, he said.
The Post, soon to be d/b/a Fleet Street West, soft-pedaled the episode, citing it as evidence of:
“how polarizing the legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection has become between the parties, to the extent that supporting law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol from violent rioters is seen as politically contentious by some lawmakers.”
No. Just no.
It is evidence that the Republican party at all levels has become the party of violent sedition, that it has become the party of authoritarian solutions to the unpopularity of its policy ideas and the people who serve them, that it has become less of a political party than it is a rolling asylum for the politically insane. Polarizing? There are no “poles” here. There is right and wrong. There is patriotism and mindless vandalism.
Hissing at Harry Dunn? In a legislative chamber? We are baby steps away from the Republicans turning our legislatures into those videos we see from parliaments overseas. And it is entirely the fault of one of the only two major political parties we have allowed ourselves.
And it is evidence of something even deeper and more malignant. As the former president*’s legal problems deepen, despite the efforts of various judges, the Republican party is adopting the January 6 riots as an essential part of its political philosophy, and it is doing so openly and proudly.
We have convicted rioters running for office on the Republican line. Meanwhile, as Dunn and Gonell were being hissed at in Harrisburg, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives held a series of clownish “oversight” hearings at which Attorney General Merrick Garland and Dr. Anthony Fauci were the designated sane-people piñatas. These performances drew some interesting spectators.
Various Republican officeholders have referred to the incarcerated rioters as “political prisoners” for years now. And the convicted felon who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has referred to himself as a modern-day Nelson Mandela. He regularly opens his rallies with a musical tribute to the rioters, which is certainly the creepiest political moment since I watched New Gingrich listen to the pope.
And nobody on that side seems remotely concerned. The Republican congressional leadership is smilingly chasing every snipe produced out of the conservative media jungle, ignoring anything of substance as if it were radioactive. It is as clear as it ever was that the prion disease that has afflicted American conservatism since Ronald Reagan first fed it the monkey brains in the mid-1970s has reached an acute stage. Abbie Hoffman once preached revolution for the hell of it. This is hell for the revolution of it.
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