I’m certainly not a Proud Boy supporter, but when someone gets sentenced to 22 years in prison for encouraging a political protest, pass me the good vodka, because we must be in Leningrad. Enrique Tarrio (who by the way looks awfully, well, ethnic for a white supremacist) wasn’t even at the Capitol on January 6th. He was in Miami. But apparently his “charisma and penchant for propaganda” were so persuasive – and seditious – that he will now serve more than two decades behind bars.
Let’s just speak the truth. January 6th was not an insurrection. For starters, when people stage an insurrection, they don’t bring their cameras and their beer coolers – they bring their pitchforks and their guns. When people are trying to overthrow the government, they don’t file dutifully through the velvet corded stanchions of the Capitol as if they are taking a tour. No question, the protest turned into a riot. But that is far different from an insurrection. I do believe the Capitol Police felt overrun. Much like the police trying to defend the police station in the East District of Seattle or the federal courthouse in Portland in the summer of 2020. If those were not insurrections, neither was January 6th. We saw riots in many cities in 2020; we’ve seen stampedes at concerts and sporting events for years. All regrettable. But not worth 22 years behind bars.
I am a huge proponent of the peaceful transfer of power. Love it. I’m also a huge fan of free, fair and open elections. And I’m not sure we got that in 2020 — but the worst part is how viciously the media attacks anyone who dares to ask the question. Isn’t that what journalists were supposed to do, once upon a time?
Let’s speak another truth: no matter how many times Mike Pence says otherwise, no one was asking him to overturn the election. The issue before him was whether or not to permit four states who had requested their electors be recalled to pause and verify their state vote counts. Would this have been inconvenient? Sure. Would this have broken our republic? If so, we don’t need an insurrection — our great experiment is already over.
If you want to know what really happened in 2020, you must read Christina Bobb’s fearless book, “Stealing the Vote,” which the media have done an excellent job of silencing. FoxNews won’t have her on; NewsMax loves to have her on, but refuses to ever mention the book. And of course, none of the legacy media outlets will even acknowledge it exists. Why are we all so afraid to look into evidence? Why is it seditious to ask questions? Folks, we are in serious trouble.
The framers knew that the most important pillar of liberty is freedom of speech. They also knew that the only way to prevent tyrants from depriving us of that God-given right is our right to bear arms. Hence our Bill of Rights starts with those two. The lovers of big government (and haters of liberty) are attempting to criminalize political speech. They are literally throwing people in jail for expressing opinions they don’t like. (Did you know that more than 600 people have been tried and sentenced for their part in the January 6th protests? That is not justice, it is pure intimidation.)
We cannot allow the haters of liberty to shut down speech they don’t like. Speech that contradicts the Narrative. Speech that asks inconvenient questions. We must confront the lies. Don’t let it go when someone calls Jan. 6th an “insurrection.” Don’t let it slide when people joke about “The Big Lie.” The last ruler on the world stage to deploy the Big Lie was named Adolf Hitler. Being quiet doesn’t end well.
I will speak. Will you?