There’s growing evidence the violent assault at the U.S. Capitol against counting electoral votes was planned and organized. There even were t-shirts printed for the occasion.
There were advance warnings:
“In the weeks, days and hours ahead of Wednesday’s siege on the Capitol by President Donald Trump’s zealous supporters, the warning signs were clear: online posts from hate groups and right-wing provocateurs agitating for civil war, the deaths of top lawmakers and attacks on law enforcement.”
Authorities warn the violence may not be over, and in rightwing social media, there are calls to action:
“‘Trump WILL be sworn in for a second term on January 20th!!,’ said a commenter on thedonald.win, a pro-Trump online forum, on Thursday, the day after the siege. ‘We must not let the communists win. Even if we have to burn DC to the ground. Tomorrow we take back DC and take back our country!!'”
(Read story here.) Meanwhile,
“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem [campaigned] for the Republican incumbents in Georgia’s Senate runoffs, so it’s no shock that she’s unhappy … Democrats won both seats. But after tweeting this week that ‘there are consequences for how we talk about each other in this country,’ Noem falsely called Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff communists in a speech to the Republican National Committee.
“’Republicans got our butts kicked in Georgia on Tuesday,’ Noem said …. “The idea that Georgia, of all places, could elect two communists to the United States Senate was ridiculous.’ The Argus Leader reports that Democrats blasted Noem for the comments. ‘Gov. Noem claims that ‘words have consequences,’ and there is no better example of this than her emulating President Trump’s rhetoric as she campaigned for him across the country,’ said Pam Cole, executive director of the state Democratic Party.”
(Read that story here). Well, we know what Trump’s rhetoric was, right? He used coded language that meant to his listeners, “Storm the Capitol and stop the Electoral Vote count!” and, with just days remaining in his term, he’s going to be impeached for it.
Unless Noem is living under a rock, which she isn’t, she certainly understands that her “communist” rhetoric is coded language which means the same thing: Take violent action to prevent election opponents from taking office. And just as surely as Trump deserves to be impeached again — this time for inciting violent insurrection — she should be impeached and removed from office for inciting violence against an election result.
That, of course, won’t happen. The South Dakota legislature is filled with rightwing extremists like her. They’re not going to impeach one of their own for inciting violent insurrection because a pair of Democrats won a fair election in a distant state. But it speaks for itself.
Photo: South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, issued a call for violence in response to Democrats winning Georgia’s Senate runoff elections.