Never Forget This Episode Of Pardon The Insurrection

A little bit of reflection , take a bit of a more serious tenor today , even share with you the driving motivation for even beginning this podcast . The first place , of course , I mean . I'm sure you're obviously well aware of what that might be . Before we get to that , let's give a shout out to our sponsor , sheets and Giggles . I'm a Colin CEO .

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Anyway , I am recording this , of course , on the day of infamy , the day that we are told to always remember , to never forget , because of the historical importance of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001 and its impact on each and every one of us in our country and world at large .

I don't actually have any personal connection points to the attack itself . I don't know anyone that was on the planes or anyone that was in the towers in New York at the time .

I was actually in , you know , government and civics class at the time , so it's ironic that we were talking about the practical implications of the legal and political system at the time of one of the most politically defining moments of our lifetimes .

I mean , I guess we've had it number since then , but of course this is one that stands out for sure just because of the sheer volume of the loss of life .

I remember we had gotten news of the first plane hitting the tower over the intercom in school and , you know , at the moment it seemed rather absurd , like it seemed like one of those things that no one thought was possible . We're like , of course that could have never have happened . That just doesn't make any sense . Like now , is that even feasible ?

And of course our teacher turned on the television in our classrooms to the news and it was just in time to see a flicker off in the distance and of course we're all looking around like that can't be another plane , is it ? And then , boom , it hits the tower . It was unbelievable .

It was one of those moments where , like where the sheer magnitude of what it is that you're watching doesn't actually compute with the practical implications , both in the immediate and the long term . You're watching this horrific event unfold right in front of you with no context for how it will define the historical context of how America deals with .

You know its enemies abroad as well as its citizens at home .

You can't even really consider the quantifiable effects of what it is that we were watching at the time in real time , because there's just no other reference point at any time in history for anything of a similar nature Maybe Pearl Harbor at the time , but that was slightly different because you understood at the time that there was a world war taking place across

Europe and Asia , and and while there were a number of politicians and activists alike weary of being drawn into yet another war so soon after World War one , you did understand that it was a possibility and also you understood implicitly who our enemies were and who our allies were .

Well , in September 11th of 2001 , when you're seeing planes flying to a building which you assume are , like you know , domestic commercial airliners , like you have no context for what it is . It's even happening like . Is it an ? Isn't an attack ? Is it an accident ? Was it homegrown ? Was it our foreign adversaries ? Was it Russia ?

I mean , for God's sakes , we just saw a second plane hit a different building . How many more planes were there ? Like ? When is the attack end ? It was responsible . How is this happening ?

And , of course , we were still reeling from what had , at the time , been one of the most controversial elections in US history , given that a conservative Supreme Court intervened and practically handed the White House to a Republican president , despite the fact that he had lost the popular vote and a recount was underway in the determining state .

You know , at the time of one of the most insane and unbelievable attacks on our country , the White House was also being plagued by an air of illegitimacy , not to mention the fact that we were also asking questions about not only the president's legitimacy , but his competence , you know , and his ability to unify divided country and to leave one of the most

powerful and influential nations in the world .

It's ironic that in a moment of tragedy , that particular president , george Bush , was handed the opportunity of his presidency because , in the aftermath of the deadliest terrorist attack on our nation and its history , the country unified together behind his leadership , the questions about his legitimacy ceased and , in some ways , the public was more united than we had

been at any time since the previous most deadly attack on our country in World War II , with the bombing of Pearl Harbor .

Not that I'm painting the 9-11 attacks is anything positive , but just to show that out of a tragic situation , that people can band together and unite in such a way to do something positive , or with the intentions to do something positive that might not have happened otherwise , without having to face a set of tragic circumstances .

And I specifically use the word intentions there because because , of course , the reality , thanks to George Bush , veered far away from whatever positive intentions we might have had as a country .

Again , it's not lost to me that a pivotal moment in Bush's presidency where he had the potential to unite the nation and lead us in a positive direction was provided him by family , friends and business partners and the Saudi royal family , given that a majority of the attackers and a majority of the funding . Both came from Saudi Arabia .

Of course , we didn't know that little detail on the day of the attack or in the immediate aftermath , but once the attack was attributed to Ben Laden , I am absolutely certain Bush put two and two together and of course , ben Laden's family , living prominently here in America , was allowed to flee , along with a number of prominent Saudi officials and Saudi nationals .

And as we were dealing with our mourning as a nation , our trauma from the attack , questions about what we had assumed was a level of invulnerability to any sort of attack like this , of any nature , from any outside adversary , while we were looking for any opportunity for payback , for retribution , for justice , knowing good and well that Saudi Arabia was largely

responsible for the attack , george Bush set us on a path to war in Afghanistan . Ha ha ha , I apologize for laughing . You know , of course it's a , you know , a dreary moment and nothing to make light of , especially given the amount of bloodshed and lives lost with our multi-decade wars in the Middle East .

Not only did we go to war in the wrong country in Afghanistan once , we started a war in the wrong country just a couple of years later in Iraq , which is beyond absurdity , like there is no level of parody , of fitting the absurd nature of how this buffoon ended up taking the most powerful army in the world and aiming it at the wrong country two times .

Like it's just , I guess . As we would say on this podcast yo , what the fuck ? We then proceeded to let one Republican moron destroy our image and our credibility across the globe over the course of his administration , and before leaving office , he proceeded to destroy the economy as well .

That story sounds familiar to you , and you're not entirely sure which Republican president I'm referring to . There's a reason for that . It's because it tends to be a pattern . It's like they have a playbook . How can we damage this country the most ? It seems like that's the only thing the Republican party is good for .

If you think about it , though , considering the number of enemies we've made abroad and the availability of weapons here in the United States , it's rather incredible that we managed to go nearly 20 years without having yet another mass casualty event of that nature or any such terrorist attack that had the potential to threaten our democracy in a serious way .

That is , of course , until January 6th of 2021 . And I know a lot of you are gonna say oh , how dare you compare January 6th to 9-11 . Look how many people died during 9-11 . And I get it . As far as casualties are concerned , of course 9-11 was the more impactful event . But let me help you put it into some context .

No matter how many buildings those planes hit on that day , there was no potential for American democracy to end , and those planes managed to destroy the Pentagon and taken out our military leadership . Our democracy would have persisted . Those planes managed to hit the Capitol building and take the lives of any members of Congress who were present .

Of course it would have been a tragic moment , but we would have elected new congressional representatives and our democracy would have persisted .

Those planes had somehow managed to make it to the White House and crashed into the building and took the life of the president who just months before , was having his legitimacy questioned by half the United States , if not have the world . Of course it would have been a dark , tragic moment in the history of our country .

But guess what , just like we came together after the attacks on the towers , who have come together after an attack on the White House and united as a country , the vice president would have ascended , if not the speaker of the house to the presidency and our democracy would have continued .

It would have persisted , no matter how successful those attacks could have been . On January 6th , there was at no point in any way , shape , form or fashion where , after those attacks , our democracy would have been over . There's no way . January 6th , however , is a completely different story , and I'll explain the UI .

With the proud boys and the old keepers and a mob of angry Republicans storming through the capital on January 6th , they were feet away from the vice president . They were seconds away from an unlocked Senate chamber . The members of our Congress were meeting the certified , duly elected president .

Someone had stopped to kick in the door that they were running by , where Mike Pence and his Secret Service agents were holed up .

They could have taken him outside and put those gallows to use and potentially giving Trump the opportunity to suspend habeas corpus , invoke martial law and have the military surround the Capitol building and permanently prevent the transfer of power by stopping Congress from performing their duties and certifying the election for Biden that day .

Or even if they had missed Pence , they were seconds away from the Senate chambers , which had happened to be unlocked . And what if , instead of making a left turn to follow an officer up the stairs and away from the Senate chambers , they had instead made a right turn through the doors where the Senate would have been called ?

Totally unaware , trump's malicious and his angry mob could have taken the Senate hostage and totally prevented the transfer of power from Trump to Biden by indefinitely delaying the certification of Biden's electoral college votes . It may sound like hyperbole , but it was literally in the plan .

The Pride Boys had weapons stationed right outside of DC ready to be ferried in in case they did happen to take the building and needed to arm themselves in the attempt to prevent a siege by law enforcement .

The plan included not only holding the Capitol building , but also heading to the Supreme Court and potentially taking Supreme Court justice as hostages in an attempt to prevent them from making any rulings that could end up with the transfer of power from Trump to Biden .

And , of course , the plot was so extreme that they even had plans for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deputize the Pride Boys and the Old Keepers as part of Trump's personal army to surround the White House with enough weapons and supplies to last them through the supposed transition date on January 20th , just in case there were any attempts by the military

to go into the White House and have Trump removed . I think , as you can see , not only was there potential for January 6th to end democracy in the United States of America . We were fucking lucky the democracy they'd end that day . We didn't just dodge the bullet like it grazed our face .

We were that close , so very close , and I don't think enough of us take that shit fucking seriously . Of course we do here on this podcast , but you've seen the media out there . Do they seem to be acting with any urgency , given that our upcoming election features the same guy who planned the coup on January 6th ? It doesn't seem to me as though they do .

Do they seem to be concerned that if this person somehow manages to cheat his way back in the office , he'll make sure that no elections ever happen again , at least no legitimate elections ? Well , he's never going to give up power .

He's been indicted in so many jurisdictions that his only hope of staying out of jail is to become president and remain president for life , the only way he's going to leave office is in a casket , and that's not a threat or anything . It's just the reality of the situation . We're going to be looking for cholesterol to save us .

He just got finished saying this very weekend , that his plan upon taking office is to tell his attorney general to lock up his fucking political opponents , prosecute them based on no evidence whatsoever .

He's already said a number of times that he wants to lock up journalists , and I'm not even sure his plans are to actually lock them up , probably just have them murdered . Have law enforcement that's loyal to only him Go storm the offices of CNN and MSNBC and whoever else he believes to be a threat , round them up and have them disappeared . And yet here .

You have a majority of the media out here treating him as though he's a normal presidential candidate . It's fucking insane that they don't see that they literally have skin in the game . And going back to 9-11 , at this point it's difficult to even take that seriously anymore because we're told to treat it as such a dark and solemn day .

We should always remember it , but it's hard to do that when the most recent terrorist attack on our country the one that literally could have ended everything , could have ended out of democracy Like a third of the country was rooting for the fucking terrorists .

Like , could you imagine if , in 2001 , immediately after the planes crashed into the building , the president of the United States at that time had been sending out press releases saying how the hijackers were wonderful people and those planes were filled with love and passion ? Like what the fuck ?

And then not only that , imagine if , like , 70 million people had been ready to vote for Ben Laden for president . Because that's where the fuck we are right now . We've got our own Donald Ben Laden and one of the major political parties in the United States is ready to make him fucking president . It's beyond absurd .

And these are the people who spend all of their time waving their fucking flag , yelling about their freedoms and rights , demanding you show your gestures of loyalty and fealty to a stupid fucking flag , regardless of whether they're using that flag to trample on your rights and the rights of others .

And what it's really done for me is put into context just how full of bullshit those people were and those words that came out of their mouth in the days , months and years after 9-11 about what they believed in , about what they said this country stood for .

It's like how much of that was total other bullshit and they didn't believe it and it was really just a power grab . At the end of the day , they don't care about democracy , they don't care about freedoms , they don't care about liberty . Maybe at best they care about pretext , and I guess that's arguable , considering .

At this point , there's barely any pretext anymore .

But there is one thing that I did take away from 9-11 , and it's the fact that I'll never forget Though it's not the planes crashing into the tower that I'll never forget , or mistakenly invading Afghanistan , even though it was largely Saudi Arabia that was responsible , or how we somehow ended up in a war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that the president

at the time knew they didn't have . No , it's not that . It's January 6th . Don't never forget the mob storming that capital . Don't never forget the calls from the officers who tried to fight the mob that day the secret service members telling their co-workers to say goodbye to their families for them , because they didn't know if they were going to live .

Members of the House of Representatives huddled in the congressional chambers as the mob's attempting to break through the window , thinking they're going to lose their lives , the hours of violence unfolding and seeing no one come to the rescue , thinking this is it .

Our entire legislative branch is about to die because the president who lost an election and attempted to remain in power set his private army upon the capital to take out the only people who could hold him responsible and have him removed from office .

Our democracy is about to die in broad daylight and I'll never forget In fact , that is the impetus for this podcast Because not enough people out there media members included , who were supposedly professionals and do this for a living seem to be concerned about whether or not our democracy ends .

They don't have any grasp of the moment , of the importance of the threat , of the fucking urgency , but we do If you listen to this podcast . You will , too , every time you see this podcast on your phone or whatever device you use to listen . Look at the cover art .

What's the picture of the attack on the capital on January 6th , as well as some of the criminal consequences , with Trump being perp walked under it . It's even in the title Pardon the insurrection Not because we're intent on seeing the insurrection is get get part into now .

That's just a bit of irony and a play on words , but it's to make sure you know that , at the end of the day , what's most important is for us the survival of our country , survival of our political system , survival of our democracy and , likely , the survival of democracy around the world , is that we hold the people we try to overthrow our government responsible

. Never forget , and if you even try , we won't let you . And that concludes this episode of Pardon the Insurrection .