SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
GOP Calling Trump Coup Effort 'Legitimate Political Discourse' Should Still Be Frontpage News
The media has a responsibility to tell Americans that a major party now openly endorses using violence to overturn elections.
Feb 12, 2022
If you're the sort of person who follows the news, you've probably heard a good bit lately about podcaster Joe Rogan, Neil Young's fight with Spotify, and maybe a little about Russia and Ukraine.
It's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for.
All that's good grist for the mill. But did you also hear former President Trump admit that he'd intended to have Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election? In a statement, Trump asserted that Pence had the power to "change the outcome" and should indeed have "overturned the election."
Or, here's a bad one: Did you hear that the Trump administration actually drafted orders for federal law enforcement to seize voting machines before his loss could be certified?
It's true--Trump personally called Rudy Giuliani to see if the Departments of Justice or Homeland Security could seize the machines before votes could be counted in key swing states. A draft of an executive order to do just that was published in full by Politico. It bears Trump's name.
What about this: After years of making hay over Hillary Clinton's emails, did you hear that Trump himself illegally removed or destroyed thousands of official documents?
That's right--Trump personally took at least 15 boxes worth of material with him to Mar-a-Lago, while at least three of his former staffers said Trump ripped documents apart right in front of them. National Archivists have recovered as many as they can, but they literally have to tape the destroyed documents back together.
Finally, did you hear anywhere that one of America's two major political parties just endorsed the January 6 coup attempt? That's true, too.
You may remember January 6 for the rioters who smashed public property, viciously assaulted police officers, built a gallows outside the Capitol, and chanted for the execution of elected officials. At least seven people died in connection with the attack, while hundreds of rioters now face federal charges.
But in a recent statement, the Republican National Committee called these despicable acts "legitimate political discourse" and officially condemned Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the two lone House Republicans helping to investigate the attack. (For good measure, Trump also personally promised to pardon January 6 rioters if he's reelected--something two-thirds of Americans say they oppose.)
Every single one of these stories broke in late January or early February this year. All were diligently reported by committed journalists. Yet in the broader media, not one of them--much less the bigger story they tell together--has enjoyed anything like the shelf life of another culture war story about an irresponsible podcaster.
So it's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for. And an alarming 40 percent of Republicans now say violence against the government is justified.
If you ask me, it's extremely dangerous that the GOP is now officially sanctioning a violent coup attempt, a likely GOP contender in 2024 is openly committed to overturning elections and destroying the evidence, and a disturbing minority of the party's faithful seem ready to endorse violence to do that.
Meanwhile even Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence, who rather bravely spoke out against the RNC's recent action, have shown themselves to be perfectly comfortable with the voter suppression laws the party is propagating all over the country in service of the very same lies.
We live in interesting times--there's always news to cover. But these threats to our democracy need to stay top of mind all year, and every politician needs to be repeatedly asked about them. Voters deserve to know about this crisis and where their leaders stand on it.
So tell your favorite outlets: If they value the democracy that makes their work possible, they'd better park all this on page one.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
If you're the sort of person who follows the news, you've probably heard a good bit lately about podcaster Joe Rogan, Neil Young's fight with Spotify, and maybe a little about Russia and Ukraine.
It's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for.
All that's good grist for the mill. But did you also hear former President Trump admit that he'd intended to have Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election? In a statement, Trump asserted that Pence had the power to "change the outcome" and should indeed have "overturned the election."
Or, here's a bad one: Did you hear that the Trump administration actually drafted orders for federal law enforcement to seize voting machines before his loss could be certified?
It's true--Trump personally called Rudy Giuliani to see if the Departments of Justice or Homeland Security could seize the machines before votes could be counted in key swing states. A draft of an executive order to do just that was published in full by Politico. It bears Trump's name.
What about this: After years of making hay over Hillary Clinton's emails, did you hear that Trump himself illegally removed or destroyed thousands of official documents?
That's right--Trump personally took at least 15 boxes worth of material with him to Mar-a-Lago, while at least three of his former staffers said Trump ripped documents apart right in front of them. National Archivists have recovered as many as they can, but they literally have to tape the destroyed documents back together.
Finally, did you hear anywhere that one of America's two major political parties just endorsed the January 6 coup attempt? That's true, too.
You may remember January 6 for the rioters who smashed public property, viciously assaulted police officers, built a gallows outside the Capitol, and chanted for the execution of elected officials. At least seven people died in connection with the attack, while hundreds of rioters now face federal charges.
But in a recent statement, the Republican National Committee called these despicable acts "legitimate political discourse" and officially condemned Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the two lone House Republicans helping to investigate the attack. (For good measure, Trump also personally promised to pardon January 6 rioters if he's reelected--something two-thirds of Americans say they oppose.)
Every single one of these stories broke in late January or early February this year. All were diligently reported by committed journalists. Yet in the broader media, not one of them--much less the bigger story they tell together--has enjoyed anything like the shelf life of another culture war story about an irresponsible podcaster.
So it's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for. And an alarming 40 percent of Republicans now say violence against the government is justified.
If you ask me, it's extremely dangerous that the GOP is now officially sanctioning a violent coup attempt, a likely GOP contender in 2024 is openly committed to overturning elections and destroying the evidence, and a disturbing minority of the party's faithful seem ready to endorse violence to do that.
Meanwhile even Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence, who rather bravely spoke out against the RNC's recent action, have shown themselves to be perfectly comfortable with the voter suppression laws the party is propagating all over the country in service of the very same lies.
We live in interesting times--there's always news to cover. But these threats to our democracy need to stay top of mind all year, and every politician needs to be repeatedly asked about them. Voters deserve to know about this crisis and where their leaders stand on it.
So tell your favorite outlets: If they value the democracy that makes their work possible, they'd better park all this on page one.
If you're the sort of person who follows the news, you've probably heard a good bit lately about podcaster Joe Rogan, Neil Young's fight with Spotify, and maybe a little about Russia and Ukraine.
It's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for.
All that's good grist for the mill. But did you also hear former President Trump admit that he'd intended to have Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election? In a statement, Trump asserted that Pence had the power to "change the outcome" and should indeed have "overturned the election."
Or, here's a bad one: Did you hear that the Trump administration actually drafted orders for federal law enforcement to seize voting machines before his loss could be certified?
It's true--Trump personally called Rudy Giuliani to see if the Departments of Justice or Homeland Security could seize the machines before votes could be counted in key swing states. A draft of an executive order to do just that was published in full by Politico. It bears Trump's name.
What about this: After years of making hay over Hillary Clinton's emails, did you hear that Trump himself illegally removed or destroyed thousands of official documents?
That's right--Trump personally took at least 15 boxes worth of material with him to Mar-a-Lago, while at least three of his former staffers said Trump ripped documents apart right in front of them. National Archivists have recovered as many as they can, but they literally have to tape the destroyed documents back together.
Finally, did you hear anywhere that one of America's two major political parties just endorsed the January 6 coup attempt? That's true, too.
You may remember January 6 for the rioters who smashed public property, viciously assaulted police officers, built a gallows outside the Capitol, and chanted for the execution of elected officials. At least seven people died in connection with the attack, while hundreds of rioters now face federal charges.
But in a recent statement, the Republican National Committee called these despicable acts "legitimate political discourse" and officially condemned Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the two lone House Republicans helping to investigate the attack. (For good measure, Trump also personally promised to pardon January 6 rioters if he's reelected--something two-thirds of Americans say they oppose.)
Every single one of these stories broke in late January or early February this year. All were diligently reported by committed journalists. Yet in the broader media, not one of them--much less the bigger story they tell together--has enjoyed anything like the shelf life of another culture war story about an irresponsible podcaster.
So it's sadly unsurprising that majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen--something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for. And an alarming 40 percent of Republicans now say violence against the government is justified.
If you ask me, it's extremely dangerous that the GOP is now officially sanctioning a violent coup attempt, a likely GOP contender in 2024 is openly committed to overturning elections and destroying the evidence, and a disturbing minority of the party's faithful seem ready to endorse violence to do that.
Meanwhile even Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence, who rather bravely spoke out against the RNC's recent action, have shown themselves to be perfectly comfortable with the voter suppression laws the party is propagating all over the country in service of the very same lies.
We live in interesting times--there's always news to cover. But these threats to our democracy need to stay top of mind all year, and every politician needs to be repeatedly asked about them. Voters deserve to know about this crisis and where their leaders stand on it.
So tell your favorite outlets: If they value the democracy that makes their work possible, they'd better park all this on page one.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.