Transcript for Podcast: "I Feel Snitty," Episode 205: "Can You Hear Me Now? Part 7" is now available!

Podcast: I Feel Snitty

Episode 205: Can You Hear Me Now? Part 7

Premiere Date: 7/13/2022

Length: 7:02 (1,122 words)

Link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/can-you-hear-me-now-part-7/

Transcript: 

Welcome to I Feel Snitty, episode 205, entitled, “Can You Hear Me Now? Part 7.” I’m your host, Craig Rozniecki.

 

In the most recent January 6^th hearing, the select committee focused its attention on right-wing extremist groups tied to the attack on the Capitol. After watching it, I think two things are now a safe bet: 1) The events which transpired on that horrific day were planned, and 2) These plans went high up the political ladder.

 

Many Republicans said they were stunned then “president” Donald Trump sat idly by during the January 6^th attacks. Personally, I was never surprised by this. Donald Trump is a piece of shit. He’s so shitty, I just offended dog, horse, and pigeon shit across the country. But even then, when the attacks were taking place and Trump wasn’t doing anything about it, I thought it was just a piece of shit enjoying the stink. If there’s one thing The Donald loves, it’s admiration – so of course he was going to enjoy hundreds, even thousands of people attacking the U.S. Capitol in an effort to continue his reign as “president.” I also long thought his January 6^th speech, and the tweets which preceded it, were largely responsible for the incitation of the attacks on the Capitol. However, until this most recent hearing, I still questioned whether or not Trump was directly involved in the planning of the attacks. Perhaps I should have known better, but let’s be honest, that’s not Trump’s style. Not only is he a piece of shit, he’s a coward. He’s the kind of guy who challenges a person to a fight, and when both he and his prospective opponent show up, Trump sends in a couple of guys who think steroids is a food group, and says, in Mortal Kombat style, “FINISH HIM!” Having said all that, it’s now becoming pretty clear to me that Trump was directly involved in the planning of the January 6^th attacks.

 

After a contentious six-hour meeting on December 18^th, Donald Trump tweeted to his supporters about January 6^th in Washington, “Be there, will be wild!”

 

One of yesterday’s witnesses – Stephen Ayres, who pled guilty to one charge of disorderly and disruptive conduct for his actions at the Capitol on January 6^th, said the event that day was “definitely planned out.”

 

On December 21^st, Trump held a private meeting with the following GOP representatives, to discuss overturning the election: Brian Babin of Texas, Andy Bigg of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland, Jody Hice of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

 

The committee concluded that Trump’s January 6^th speech was “not a spontaneous call to action, but a deliberate strategy decided upon in advance by the president.”

 

After the attacks on January 6^th, Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale had the following back-and-forth with rally organizer Katrina Pierson.

 

Parscale: “It was a sitting president asking for a civil war. This week I feel guilty for helping him win [in 2016].”

 

Pierson: “You did what you felt was right at the time.”

 

Parscale: “Yeah, but a woman is dead. If I was Trump and knew my rhetoric killed someone…”

 

Pierson: “It wasn’t the rhetoric…”

Parscale: “Katrina, yes it was.”

 

“Be there, will be wild!”

 

It’s amazing to think a 5-word tweet, which contains an incredibly ambiguous term at the close of it, could prompt such a call to action. But after said tweet was posted by Donald Trump on December 19^th, here were the responses by right-wing extremists:

 

-        “bring handcuffs and wait near the tunnels”

-        “Body armor, knuckles, shields, bats, pepper spray, whatever it takes.”

-        “JOIN YOUR LOCAL PROUD BOYS CHAPTER AS WELL”

-        “We need volunteers for the firing squads”

-        “A red wedding” (which means mass slaughter)

-        “Why don’t we just kill all democrats?”

-        “The police has no standing if they’re lying dead in their own blood.”

 

In addition to this, Kelly Meggs, who is the head of the Florida Oath Keepers, reached out to other right-wing extremist groups like Proud Boys and the Three-Percenters. She also spoke with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio for several minutes on December 19^th.

 

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was photographed outside the Capitol with key members of the Oath Keepers not long before he attended a private meeting in the Oval Office about how to overturn the election.

 

Alex Jones of InfoWars spoke out too, saying to his demented followers, “He is now calling for we the people to take actions and to show our numbers. The time for games is over. The time for action is now.”

 

This was a highly organized mob, and Donald Trump was at the center of it. The question will be, can the committee ultimately prove he literally incited the attacks on our nation’s Capitol on January 6^th, or will there simply be too many gaps to fill. Logically, the committee has provided us with more than enough material to charge and convict Donald Trump of numerous crimes. Legally, though, it’s not as open-and-shut of a case. Like a mob boss, Trump is notorious for using language which may come across as vague to most of us, but rings direct to his followers. His tweet, “Be there, will be wild!” is a prime example of this. Odds are Trump said “wild” to mean an attack on the Capitol and an overturn of the election, with violence likely. Right-wing extremist groups knew this to be the case as well. But, in a court of law, void of more than that ambiguous term, I’d be hard-pressed to see Trump convicted of inciting the mob on January 6^th.

 

Having said all that, I have a hunch the select committee will ultimately provide us with the missing gaps in the story, courtesy of their next hearing, which is scheduled to take place next week. The committee has been like a machine throughout the past few weeks. They’ve just been rolling out one informative, damning hearing after another. I think that trend is bound to continue.

 

Psychological studies have long showcased that, when provided with a series of information, recipients of it are more likely to recall what they last heard than anything else in the lecture or article. This is termed the recency effect. The committee knows this, and I suspect they’re going to conclude the January 6^th hearings with a session no one will ever be able to forget.

 

That’s it for today’s episode. Until next time, you can find me on Podbean, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger. This has been I Feel Snitty, with Craig Rozniecki. Take care.