Steve Thomas

[Congressman Jim] "Jordan pleaded with President-elect Joe Biden to give a speech defending Trump. "Let's bring the country together and move forward, and return to being this America, the greatest nation ever," he remarked. "That's where we need to focus." "For the good of the country, I think it makes sense for Vice President Biden to do that," the Ohio Republican said." Are you insane? Are you stark raving mad bonkers? Maybe you'd like Biden to be waving the Confederate Flag too while he's at it. Steve Thomas

GOP staffers threatening to quit if their bosses don't impeach Trump: report January 09, 2021 Matthew Chapman https://www.rawstory.com/republicans-trump-impeachment/ "And I've been speaking with Republicans and what you are hearing is sheer rage. One of the quotes I heard from a House staffer who has been a Trump supporter from day one, says 'I'm burning my MAGA hat.' They are upset." "I am even hearing that they are — some Republican staffers are threatening to quit their job if their boss, if their Republican does not support impeachment, and I'm also hearing that some have even quit their positions," said Beavers. "I know of at least two House staffers who have quit their positions because of how their boss voted with the objections on Wednesday about the election certification. So you are really kind of seeing the entire Capitol Hill having this awakening moment and Republicans, while they might not be saying publicly where they are, we are looking at a few maybe moderate Republicans who might be joining."" Steve Thomas

Ron. According to the Dispatch Tapes, George Lumpkin had arrived at the TSBD by 12:49 PM http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/ 15 (Captain C.E. Talbert): “15 is at the scene. We... the building's the Old Purse Company on the east side of Houston. Somebody cut off the back side, will you? Make sure nobody leaves there.” Dispatcher: “10-4, 15” 15: “15's in charge down here. Correction 5's (Deputy Chief Lumpkin) in charge.” (It appears that Talbert had the wrong building in mind). The after-action report fled by Batchelor, Stevenson and Lumpkin matches exactly what Postal Inspector, Harry Holmes wrote in his Report of Oswald's interrogation on Sunday, November 24th. See Warren Report, Appendix XI page 636 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=946#relPageId=660&tab=page Steve Thomas

Jim, These are good suppositions except for a couple of things: a) there is no indication that employees were required to show any ID to Kaminsky; and, b) even if Oswald had shown his library card as ID, there was nothing on it that would lead the police to Beckley. c) the idea that Kaminsky saw Oswald's library car upside down is pure speculation - there's no way for us to know. It was Kaminsky who Deputy Chief Lumpkin had positioned at the front door of the TSBD. Portal to Texas History [Report from Charles Batchelor to Chief J. E. Curry, November 30, 1963] Page: 43 of 70 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338584/m1/43/?q=Stevenson pp21-22. Steve Thomas

Liberty University the lone holdout after every other college strips Trump of honorary degrees By Bob Brigham January 09, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/falwell-trump/ "Donald Trump has been granted five honorary degrees in his lifetime - from Lehigh University in 1988, from Wagner College in 2004, from Robert Gordon University in Scotland in 2010, and from Liberty University, which granted honorary degrees to Mr. Trump on two occasions - 2012 and 2017," Forbes reported Saturday. "But as of today, only one of those institutions - Liberty University - has not revoked the honorary degrees originally granted to Mr. Trump." "Robert Gordon rescinded the degree it awarded in 2015, after determining that Trump had "made a number of statements that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university," Forbes noted. "Yesterday, both Lehigh and Wagner followed suit, after the storming and siege at the nation's Capitol on Wednesday which followed a speech by the president that many saw as inciting the violence." Steve Thomas

Doug, More than the U.S. Capitol, I fear for the State Capitols. On January 6th, the State Capitols in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington were attacked and shut down and/or evacuated. What happened in Washington, D.C was not an isolated incident. Steve Thomas

- Parler's Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9128295/Google-suspends-Parler-social-networking-app-Play-Store-Apple-gives-24-hour-warning.html “‘Amazon is also raising some problems, and I'm not sure how serious that is, because I've yet to speak to them. I will later today. You know, they provide the server for us,’ she said. ‘And if they were to remove their services, then we would be down. As it is, we are having some difficulties now with the uptick in traffic, that if they took their service away, we'd be gone.’” Steve Thomas

By Elaine Shannon https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-capitol-riot-is-over-but-the-search-for-booby-traps-could-take-weeks?ref=home "The U.S. Capitol is not safe. It’s safer than it was Wednesday, when a mob stormed it shortly after 1 p.m. The Capitol complex was declared secured by the police by 5:40 p.m. And it’s safer after U.S. Capitol Police discovered a red GMC Sierra 1500 pickup parked near the Capitol which, according to an affidavit filed by a U.S. Capitol policeman, contained a handgun, an M4 carbine assault rifle, magazines of ammunition and 11 mason jars filled with a gasoline-Styrofoam mix, that, when detonated, would act like napalm, sticking to and ferociously burning any surface or human body where it landed. At 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, after the rioters had dispersed, the truck’s registered owner, Lonnie Leroy Coffman of Falkland, Alabama, showed up, packing a 9 mm Smith & Wesson and a .22 caliber derringer. He told the officers he was trying to leave the area and asked if they “had located the bombs.” (He later amended his statement to say that by “bombs,” he meant “perimeter.” Go figure.) He was arrested and charged with firearms violations." Steve Thomas

Richard, This is just a rhetorical question... What if Trump gets some drunken judge to administer him the Oath of Office on January 20th starts going around claiming that he is really the legitimate President of the U.S. ? It wouldn't be official, of course, but what if he then calls on his followers to "Come to me my children", or whatever? Steve Thomas

Donald Trump announced that he will not be attending Joe Biden's inauguration. Steve Thomas

W., It struck me earlier today that on Wednesday, the Legislative Branch of our Government and the Vice President of the U.S. were gathered in one place at the same time. The Legislative Branch, who would handle any moves to impeach Trump; and the Vice President, who would be in charge of any moves to invoke the 25th Amendment. With those two bodies out of the way, there would have been no one to stop Trump from completely taking over the government. Several weeks ago, Trump fired the head of the Pentagon and several other high-ranking members of the Pentagon and replaced them with flunkies who were uniquely unqualified. At the time, no one could figure out why. When the Capitol was being overrun and desperate calls went out to the Pentagon to send in the DC National Guard, those calls were ignored. Now, I think we know why. I think Wednesday had been planned for a long time. That's why we can't afford to leave Trump in office one more day. As one person put it, Congress has to treat Trump's removal as a life-threatening visit to the emergency room, and not as a visit to the doctor's office for a routine checkup. Pelosi has already spoken to General Milley about ignoring any orders from Trump for a nuclear strike anywhere in the world. Michael Cohen said that he expects Trump to set fire to the White House. Things are serious. Steve Thomas

We can't leave Trump alone to plot and scheme. We have to put him on the defensive. We can't sit around and wait to see what he is going to do next. Whether it's someone showing up and his office with an arrest warrant, or filing new Articles of Impeachment, or whatever. We have to make him react to us and not the other way around. He needs to be hounded and harried from pillar to post and not give him time to lay his own plans. Steve Thomas

The polar vortex may be on its way By Allison Chinchar, CNN meteorologist January 7, 2021 https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/weather/polar-vortex-shifts-arctic-air-south/index.html “The polar vortex appears to be on the move. That's because stratospheric warming is occurring at high altitudes above the North Pole, resulting in a spike in temperatures. That, in turn, could result in bitter cold air pushing southward into the United States within a couple of weeks, though where exactly that Arctic air will swoop down -- and for how long -- remains uncertain.” Oh, that's just f'ing great. Steve Thomas

‘He screwed the country’: Trump loyalty disintegrates By GABBY ORR, ANITA KUMAR and MERIDITH MCGRAW 01/06/2021 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/06/trump-loyalty-capitol-attack-455667 “Pence spokesperson Devin O'Malley said the vice president would return to the Senate chamber Wednesday night to resume the certification process, after congressional leaders announced plans to reconvene at 8 p.m. "VP was in regular contact [with] House & Senate leadership, Cap Police, DOJ & DoD to facilitate efforts to secure the Capitol & reconvene Congress. And now we will finish the people's business," O'Malley wrote, notably omitting any contact between Pence and Trump.” At a time of crisis, the President of the United States was nowhere to be found. Steve Thomas

Joe, I don't know if you read this, but the guy on the right-hand side of the picture wearing the blue sweatshirt and red ball cap was an employee of Navistar Direct Marketing. That thing hanging around his neck is his employee ID badge. He got fired yesterday. Duck Dynasty indeed. Steve Thomas

13 Members of the House of Representatives have drawn up Articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1347230206646509573/photo/1 Even if the Senate refuses to convict, I think Trump should be forever written up in the history books as the only President to be impeached twice. Steve Thomas

- Donald Trump, ten hours after his mob attacked the Capitol. " it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!” He won't stop. He must be removed from power now. He must also be denied the ability to send messages to his followers. Steve Thomas

Yesterday, the Confederate Flag was paraded through the halls of Congress. Yesterday, they succeeded in doing what the secessionists failed to do at Bull Run in 1862. The Confederate flag flew in our Capitol. Steve Thomas

If Donald Trump can't be indicted because he is a sitting President, Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, Jr. should both be arrested today for inciting a riot. Steve Thomas

Richard, As I understand it, the Capitol Bldg., etc. are Federal property. As such, the Mayor of DC had to ask the Pentagon to deploy the National Guard. She asked, and was told her request was being referred "up the chain of command." The top of the "chain of command" is the President. He was asked and said no. National Guard units did arrive, but they came from the States of Virginia and Maryland, whose National Guard units are under the command of their respective Governors. Steve Thomas

David, Here's 180-10118-10125 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=60423&search=180-10118-10125#relPageId=1&tab=page Steve Thomas

I was most interested in videos of people wandering around in the Legislative Chamber taking pictures of the paperwork laying around on Members' desks. And I went, "Whoa. What is this"? "These aren't redneck yahoos." "What the hell is going on here?" Steve Thomas

I've read that Donald Trump is boiling mad that his coup attempt failed yesterday. We have three branches of government: the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. Yesterday, Trump effectively shut down the Legislative Branch. We had all 50 Senators and 438 Members of the House all gathered in one place at the same time. For all intents and purposes, Donald Trump shut down the Legislative Branch of Government. It's that old military adage, I guess. It's one thing to conquer a place. It's another thing to hold it. That's what you get for using an undisciplined mob instead of disciplined shock troops. I wondered all day yesterday why there were no fires. I heard on one news report that a truck full of molotov cocktails had been seized. I don't know if that is true or not, but I wondered if yesterday wasn't supposed to have been our Reichstag Fire. Right-wing media is already blaming antifa agent provocateurs for infiltrating the Trump supporters and causing the violence. I hope the authorities are guarding the Supreme Court Building well. Steve Thomas

In two short years, the Republican Party has managed to lose the House of Representatives, the Presidency, and now the Senate. You think there are some Republicans who are thinking that following the crazies might not be such a good idea after all? Maybe the "trump base" isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Steve Thomas

Andrew, I believe that Clinton was rewarded with the Presidency for what he allowed to go on in Mena. I read once, that at one time, Mena was the busiest airport in the world. I lived in McAlester, OK for about three years in the late 80's. Steve Thomas