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Phil: How did Jan. 6 become so divisive?

Ethan: You mean like how come almost every single Republican in the Maine House of Representatives voted against commemorating the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection?

Phil: Rather, how Vice President Kamala Harris used the anniversary to compare thousands killed at Pearl Harbor and 9/11 to an event where five people died. And the only death on Jan. 6 found to be a homicide was an unarmed American woman who was killed by a Capitol Police officer.

Ethan: Harris didnt compare the deaths, she compared the attacks on our democracy and the legacy they hold in our collective and individual memories.

Phil: House Republicans didnt vote against commemorating Jan 6. They objected to the incendiary language in the resolution. If Senate President Troy Jackson sincerely wanted to bring the Legislature together, he could have spent more time working to get Republicans to co-sponsor the resolve and he would not have called the Jan. 6 protesters domestic terrorists.

Ethan: What would you rather we call them?

Phil: Rioters, trespassers, the crimes they have actually been charged with. Just as we should be calling all rioters not peaceful protesters anywhere in America.

Ethan: Please dont tell me you are among the fringe who claim individuals committing arson is the same as a mob trying to overthrow our government?

Phil: I am among those who see a problem with then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris encouraging people to bail out rioters in Minnesota but not in Washington, D.C.

Ethan: Except she didnt. She solicited people to help post bonds for low-income protesters. Very few of them were tied to the riots (maybe two), but Im confident every person who broke into the Capitol was committing domestic terrorism. According to the Patriot Act, Domestic Terrorism is a criminal act occurring within the United States that is intended to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; [and/or] affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction. That sure describes what happened at the Capitol that day.

Phil: They were almost entirely gun-free activists believing the election was fraught with irregularities and that Vice President Mike Pence actually could have overturned the election.

Ethan: It was actually former President Donald Trump who believed those things. They just followed his lead.

Phil: The protesters should not be charged as a terrorists for speaking their mind, or trying to steal a lectern, or for perching their feet upon Speaker Nancy Pelosis desk. All unbecoming, but miniscule in comparison to flying planes into buildings or blowing up sleeping soldiers at a U.S. Naval Base.

Ethan: Look, I understand your point that the loss of life on Dec. 7, 1941, and Sept . 11, 2001, not to mention the sacrifices made in the wars that followed, are uniquely powerful. But, can you at least acknowledge that what happened a year ago is uniquely significant in American history? Not since the War of 1812 has our Capitol been violently besieged, and never has a legitimate election been threatened like this.

Phil: Sure. But when put into context, approximately 75 people out of thousands have been charged for using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. The rest, approximately 640, are summoned for entering or remaining in a restricted area.

Ethan: Unfortunately, that is wrong. Hundreds have been charged with assault, destruction of or stealing government property, obstructing government operations, etc. But I am not sure why the number of people matters. Only 19 flew the actual planes on 9/11 and approximately 350 pilots initially attacked Pearl Harbor. Whereas 2,000 to 2,500 attacked our Capitol.

Phil: Because equal justice for rioters, wherever they create mayhem, matters.

Ethan: So does the truth.

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Truth and context still matter amid Jan. 6 divisiveness - Bangor Daily News

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Former Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly promised to support incumbent Republican governors against their Trump-backed challengers.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Pence made the comments to the Republican Governors Association in a private speech this week.

"I want to be clear," Pence said. "I'm going to be supporting incumbent Republican governors."

About half of the 16 Republican governors up for re-election next year are facing primary challenges from opponents endorsed by Former President Donald Trump or otherwise inspired by him, the paper reported.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told the Journal that the former president will remain an "active and defining voice in gubernatorial races" to challenge "radical Democrats" and "weak Republicans."

"Just like in cycles previous, successful Republican candidates must earn the support of President Donald J. Trump."

For next year's gubernatorial races, Trump has endorsed Idaho challenger Janice McGeachin who he called a "true supporter of MAGA," and Massachusetts challenger Geoff Diehl, who he described as "a true patriot."

He has criticized Massachusetts' incumbent governor Charlie Baker, who he called a RINO a "Republican in Name Only."

The former president has regularly lashed out at members of the Republican establishment who he feels have not been supportive enough of him.

He has vowed to oust "disloyal" Republican lawmakers who voted against him in his second impeachment trial and has reportedly sought to depose Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Despite Trump still holding sway over the Republican Party, several GOP governors have decided they are better off giving priority to local issues and constitutional obligations than blindly supporting the former president, the Journal's report said.

Pence's promise to support incumbent Republican governors could signify a deepening rift with his former boss.

During Trump's tenure, the vice president never broke ranks with his boss or spoke out publicly against him.

A split between the two emerged following the January 6 Capitol attack, which Pence has said he and Trump might never "see eye to eye on."

Trump had publicly railed at his vice-president for not having the "courage" to reject the results of the 2020 election.

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Mike Pence backs incumbent GOP governors battling Trump challengers: report - Business Insider

AOC and Rep. Jamie Raskin made a livestream of their reactions to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's interminable speech about how bad the infrastructure bill is. They zeroed in on the rouge's gallery of Trump cultists flanking McCarthy as he bloviated, including Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana, who proudly aligns himself with the bloodthirsty fanatics who demanded to execute his brother on the capitol steps earlier this year.

Choice quotes:

AOC: "Here we have Representative Clyde, who said that January 6th was a collection of tourists. Meanwhile, I heard that he was crying like a little baby on the day that it was happening."

Raskin: "Are you moved by the fact that Vice President Pence's brother is sitting next to a group of people who defend the insurrectionists who were chanting 'Hang Mike Pence!'"

AOC: "I mean, you have Ted Cruz, that the President humiliates his family. And he goes to bat for him. And then you have this man, sitting next to people who were encouraging folks who literally wanted to harm his own family. I don't understand it. I don't understand it. But I mean, hey. Anywho this man clearly will not stop talking, but has nothing to say."

Full transcript:

Raskin[McCarthy's] more upset about climate action, and universal pre-K and Medicare-covering hearing than he is about his own guy, Gosar, creating a violent homicidal cartoon that he put up on the internet and refused to take down for you. And they're really upset, because we censured him for it yesterday. And I heard you made a beautiful speech yesterday, and I missed it. But I'm gonna check it out tonight after I hear this one of the greatest speeches in American history. I mean, not since the Gettysburg Address. Has America witnessed a speech like this?

AOCI mean, the Gettysburg address was elegant and brief.

RaskinYou could fit 100 and maybe 20 Gettysburg addresses in what he has done already.

AOCLet's look at let's re examine this peanut gallery right over here. Okay, ready? All right, this right here, Mike Pence's brother, also a member of Congress. I mean, you know, whatever. Okay. Here we have Representative Clyde, who said that January 6th was a collection of tourists. Meanwhile, I heard that he was crying like a little baby on the day that it was happening. Um, and I mean look at all this folks, again, stunning diversity in the House Republican caucus. And then of course, we have their leader. So you know, I mean

RaskinWell, but are you moved by the fact that Vice President Pence's brother is sitting next to a group of people who defend the insurrectionists who were chanting "Hang Mike Pence!"

AOCI mean, you have Ted Cruz, that the President humiliates his family. And he goes to bat for him. And then you have this man, sitting next to people who were encouraging folks who literally wanted to harm his own family. I don't understand it. I don't understand it. But I mean, hey. Anywho this man clearly will not stop talking, but has nothing to say.

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AOC and Jamie Raskin livestreamed their reaction to seeing Mike Pence's brother proudly standing beside Jan 6 riot enablers - Boing Boing

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video made by the YouTube channel with the logo in the videos upper left hand corner. OaklandNewsNow.com is the original blog post for this type of video-blog content.

Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke with ABC15 Tuesday while in town for a GOP event.

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Note from Zennie62Media and OaklandNewsNow.com : this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call The Third Wave of Media. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the YouTube video channel for ABC15 Arizona Phoenix News uploads a video it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.

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Jacob Chansley is seen at the U.S. Capitol in a Jan. 6, 2021 Getty Images photo. He is also seen in a Feb. 4, 2021 mugshot released by the Alexandria, Va. Detention Center.

The man who stood behind former Vice President Mike Pences Senate dais in a horned, coyote-fur headdress, red, white and blue face paint and a shirtless display of his tattooed torso on Jan. 6 will spend the next 41 months in a federal prison.

He made himself the very image of the riot, Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said in the middle of the roughly two-hour proceedings.

What you did was terrible, Lamberth added later in pronouncing his sentence, which fell at the lower end of the federal guidelines. You made yourself the epitome of the riot.

I Was Wrong for Entering the Capitol

Jacob Chansley, the man also known asJake Angeli and formerly branded the QAnon Shaman, pleaded guilty to obstructing the congressional certification in September. His attorney Albert Watkins once compared him to the Nike swoosh emblem of Jan. 6.

During his sentencing remarks, Chansley said that he asked himself behind bars: What would Jesus do? and then What would Gandhi do?

Seeking a sentence higher than four years and three months, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly L. Paschall quoted Chansleys prayer seeking to eliminate Trumps supposed enemies in a decidedly unpeaceful fashion in her sentencing brief.

Thank you Heavenly Father for gracing us with this opportunityto allow us to send a message to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists, that this is our nation, not theirs, Chansley declared on the dais of the Senate chamber on Jan. 6. That we will not allow America, the American way of the United States of America to go downThank you for filling this chamber with Patriots that love you Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn. Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists, and the traitors within our government.

Chansley told the judge that he renounces his actions on that day.

I was wrong for entering the Capitol, Chansley told the judge. I have no excuse, no excuse whatsoever, calling his behavior indefensible.

I am not an insurrectionist, he added later. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist. I am a good man who broke the law.

In a meandering 30-minute address, Chansley bashed the news media for controversializing him, spoke about grappling with mental illness, compared himself to Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi, and ended his address like a politician on the stump, rather than a criminal defendant awaiting his sentence:

God bless you and may God bless the United States of America, he declared.

The judge applauded the address, filled with praise of Lamberths military service, wise rulings and spiritual reflections about life in solitary confinement. Lamberth likened Chansleys remarks to something that might have been said by Martin Luther King.

Before adjourning proceedings, Judge Lamberth said that Chansley will get credit for time served, which his defense calculated at 317 days. Chansley must also pay a $2,000 fine and serve an additional three years of supervised release after he has completed his sentence.

That Is Not Peaceful, That is Chaos

Criticizing those who would defend Chansleys actions as peaceful, prosecutor Paschall told the judge on Wednesday: If the defendant had been peaceful on that day, we would not be here.

The prosecutor showed footage from Jan. 6 before adding: Your honor, that is not peaceful, that is chaos.

One of the most visible participants in the riot, prosecutor Paschall called Chansley the flagbearer of Jan. 6, referring to his toting a U.S. flag with a spearheaded-tip. The government does not claim that Chansley assaulted anybody, unlike the more than 200 people facing such accusations. Still, Paschall noted, the grim context of the day belied Chansleys claims of a peaceful intent.

As he entered the chambers, Chansley shouted times up motherfuckers, and he left a note for Pence at that dais, stating: Its only a matter of time. Justice is coming!

Jacob QAnon Shaman Chansley left this note for ex-Vice President Mike Pence after stepping behind the dais during the U.S. Capitol siege, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors noted that Chansley was prolificand threateningon social media before the siege of the U.S. Capitol, writing on Facebook on Nov. 19, 2020: We shall have no real hope to survive the enemies arrayed against us until we hang the traitors lurking among us.

After the attack on the Capitol, Chansley appeared exultant in press interviews, telling NBC News: The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win.

Dont Think the Justice System Will Stand Idly By

For the prosecutor, the sentencing needed to send the message to those who would interrupt the democratic process: Dont think that the justice system will stand idly by while you try to end that peaceful transfer of power. Dont.

After his arrest, Chansleys subsequent appearance with his mother on 60 Minutes+in which he repeated his false belief that the election was stolen and his mother claimed her son merely walked through open doorsspectacularly backfired, leading Judge Lamberth to keep him behind bars pending trial. The self-styled shaman spent some of his incarceration to date in solitary confinement, which his attorneyAlbert Watkins claims exacerbated his clients mental illness.

It is now time for all Americans to wake up to the role mental health vulnerabilities play in society and bring to the fore the compassion and patience required to eliminate the social stigma associated with mental illness, Watkins wrote in a press release announcing Chansley diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder.

In court, Watkins argued that the U.S. Navy failed his client when he was pie-faced young man serving as a supply clerk seaman apprentice some 15 years ago, when he was first diagnosed. The defense attorney, who previously referred to Jan. 6 rioters as short-bus people, speculated that Chansley may not have been in court for sentencing had he been properly treated.

Tragically, that decision in 2006 is impacting us today, Watkins claimed, saying that Chansley has endured the entirety of his 317 days in pre-trial incarceration alone.

In their legal brief, prosecutors argued that a heavy sentence is needed to demonstrate that crimes committed against this country and democracy will be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law.

[image via SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images, Alexandria Detention Center]

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Jacob Chansley, the Flagbearer and Very Image of Jan. 6 Siege, Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison - Law & Crime