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I’m sure they’ll try this next…

But Tucker Carlson didn’t say this or that! He didn’t characterize January 6th exactly as D/S/C’s and their media propaganda arm demand! He showed stuff they didn’t like!!! He’s not obligated to please any of them. He’s not a straight news reporter, though he does sometimes break news. He’s an analyst, an opinion writer and speaker. He has only a 45-ish minute broadcast; he has to make choices. D/S/C politicians, the J6 Committee and the D/S/C media have already said this and that. They’ve had two years to repeat it over and over, and people aren’t buying it. They didn’t try to get the J6 video. Carlson did, and he provided balance, which is what has his critics frothing at the mouth.  Is he absolutely right?  We can’t know, but we can know thanks to him, we know much more than D/S/C politicians, the J6 Committee and the D/S/C media have told us.

Let us begin, gentle readers, with a clear, factual understanding. D/S/Cs, and even some cowardly Republicans, continue to claim our government was in imminent danger of overthrow on January 6. This is nonsense, dare I say it?  Disinformation.  Even if the protestors behaved as D/S/C shock troops did across America during the “summer of love,” and looted and torched the Capitol Building, our Republic would have been in no danger of dissolution. As it was, the unarmed and actually mostly peaceful protestors willingly left after a few hours, which surely constituted the most feckless insurrection in history. Once again, anyone committing violence—I have never denied some occurred that day–particularly including violence against police officers, must be prosecuted, the same for those who actually committed real, not political, crimes, but all must be afforded due process and a speedy and impartial trial. One might be forgiven for suggesting such is not possible in Washington, D.C.

One thing I know, not only from common sense and experience, but from all my years in police work, is it’s very difficult to make definitive judgments about criminal cases unless one has all the information: complete police reports, any physical, audio or video evidence, and of course, any witness statements. It’s an issue I regularly raise in writing about such cases, and all too often, all I have to go on, all anyone has to go on, are media reports. Often, the media bias is clear, and when that’s the case, one has to hope our system of justice is not equally biased. In the case of Jacob Chansley, it apparently was.

It’s equally difficult to apprehend the justice of a verdict and sentence if one wasn’t present for the entire trial, or at the very least, has access to the trial transcript. Even then, there is much that goes on behind the scenes one may never know. The SMM Capital Coverup archive is here. 

Chansley dressed idiotically on J6. His appearance was calculated to garner attention, and it did. But all available evidence indicates he had no intention of being the face of J6. It was Nancy Pelosi, most of the D/S/C members of Congress, some Republicans, federal prosecutors and even the judge in his case, who branded him thus. His pretrial detention in solitary confinement, his excessive, nearly four-year sentence, all manner of assertions that he was leading the “violent insurrection,” with its implication he was violent, could certainly lead one to think that maybe, just maybe in his case, the DOJ, wild with glee at the number of Americans they were prosecuting—they’ve bragged about the biggest mass prosecution in American history–might have been justified in treating Chansley as they did. Surely there was video, even just a few seconds, of a violent Chansley, leading a ravening mob? If so, no one has seen it.

And then America saw the video of Chansley, alone, escorted by Capitol Police Officers, who opened doors for him, and rather than arresting him or escorting him out of the building, actually led him to the Senate Chamber, where he said, aloud, a prayer for them. Obviously, we have not seen every moment he spent in the building, but what we did see was entirely at odds with the government’s, and media’s—I know; same thing—depiction of Chansley and his actions that day. More on this shortly.

Now we learn the members of the J6 Committee didn’t actually watch any of the video before being given scripts:   

Mr. Thompson also said it was ‘not true’ that the committee selectively edited 14,000 hours of security footage to make the riot inside the Capitol seem more chaotic and violent than it was.

Uh-huh. How could Thompson know that if he never viewed the video? What surely happened is staffers for the committee, perhaps even interns, put together the daily, made-for-TV scripts and videos, with little regard for the truth, and laid the scripts before Thompson, Cheney and the rest, people who also had little regard for the truth, but slavish devotion to The Narrative, a wobbly narrative the usual suspects, such as The View, continue to desperately try to prop up:

[Alyssa Farah] Griffin said, ‘I have kinda known Tucker Carlson. We run in similar circles. There’s been this ongoing debate among those who know Tucker for years if it’s all an act, a shtick for money or if he actually has been radicalized. I thought he was radicalized, like he was living up in Maine consuming false information. But no, no, no, his own words say otherwise. This is where I get ticked off. These are many friends and family being lied to. He does it knowingly. It’s insulting to the audience. He goes right to the bank and cashes his $10 million a year paycheck. And as long as the paycheck clears, he’ll keep lying.’

But it’s not just Carlson’s lies, no. Carlson is potentially worse than the J6 Insurrection, which is worse than anything:

She continued, ‘I think Tucker Carlson is more destructive to American political discourse than Donald Trump. I think he’s more powerful.’

The White House agrees with Griffin:

KJP:  Anybody who watched that video would strongly disagree.  Anybody who watched that video in a — with their own eyes, in a real way, and saw what happened on that day would — would disagree with what was just stated.

The President has been very clear: January 6th was the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.  And we should be focused on making sure that never happens again.

“The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” Worse than Pearl Harbor, worse than WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Cold War, worse than 9-11, worse than anything. In the meantime, polling shows around 80% of Americans want access to all the J6 tapes, and are responding to Carlson’s programming in unprecedented ways:

Is it perhaps a bit clearer why the D/S/C media is so upset with Carlson?

Powerline’s Elizabeth Stauffer is not upset with Carlson:

As I see it, Carlson performed a valuable public service. For 26 months, the Democrats have been using the Jan. 6 riot to prove that Trump and MAGA Republicans represent a serious threat to “our democracy.”

Democrats are correct that democracy is under attack, but they’re lying about its source. The encroaching tyranny that has begun to engulf our once (relatively) free society comes from the Democratic Party.

For a somewhat different view, take this link to a National Review article by former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy.  A more sympathetic take, and one I think better aligns with the law and the known facts, from law professor Jonathan Turley–far from a Republican–is here.  My notes on Carlson’s Wednesday, March 8, 2023 broadcast:

Carlson began by contrasting those telling the truth with liars. Truth tellers are calm and matter of fact. Liars are angry, fearful and aggressive. Caught in lies, they never admit deception and never apologize. They double down and obfuscate, which is just what we’re seeing. As he put it: “we’re living through a moment of clarity.” Liars of both parties are exposing themselves.

Carlson played video of KJP and AG Garland, both claiming Capitol Police Officers were killed on January 6. Garland claimed “five officers died.” Such claims are stupid lies, and Carlson explained people making them sometimes claim they’re referring to officers who later committed suicide, though they certainly never make such diversions unless sorely pressed, which the press virtually never does, nor do they express any interest in those suicides and their actual causes.

Carlson also made another useful comparison, using the government’s own statistics. The 2020 Antifa/BLM attack on Washington and the resulting riots resulted in 180 injured police officers and the arson of a historic church, among other serious damage.  He didn’t speak to arrests for those crimes, but I suspect their numbers and the severity of sentences is far below those of J6 by any measure. The J6 riot resulted in 114 injured officers, no arson, and minor damage to the Capitol. How minor? It didn’t prevent Congress from certifying the election after a delay of several hours. Why, by the way, have we not seen video of the supposedly horrific damage done to the Capitol? Wouldn’t that buttress The Narrative?  Surely there are lists of damaged items and itemized dollar amounts for repair or replacement?

Carlson also showed a video of the execrable Chuck Schumer who described the horror of J6:

…I ran for my life, coming with a few feet of these criminals.

Surely there is video of his harrowing escape? Surely it too would buttress the narrative, yet, to my knowledge, no one has seen it.  Schumer has refused to appear on Carlson’s show.  He’s not capable of standing up to a real argument.

Carlson then did a brief segment with Chansley’s defense attorney, one Albert Watkins. Watkins did not impress me. He did, however, confirm the government did not provide the video Carlson showed the public, and in so doing, arguably committed a Brady violation. He characterized Chansley as gentle, intelligent and not at all violent, but he said nothing at all about the government’s evidence, and Carlson did not ask. From the brief conversation, it was clear Watkins negotiated a plea agreement that cost Chansley 41 months in jail. Watkins also suggested Chansley had some sort of mental health diagnosis, perhaps when he was in the Navy, which the government knew about, and manipulated Chansley into taking the plea deal by keeping him in solitary confinement, falsely calling him a violent danger to society. He said the government didn’t give him the video because “it didn’t fit their narrative.”

On Carlson’s Thursday, March 9, 2023 program, Carlson conducted a brief segment with Chansley’s mother and his current attorney, Bill Shipley, who was not at all kind to Watkins, all but directly stating his representation of Chansley was inadequate, perhaps even favoring the government. He explained the plea bargain also signed away Chansley’s right to appeal, and he suggested the judge was not happy about the withholding of the video, which appears to be a Brady violation, but he was unsure if it would be possible to get the case before a judge on any basis. Chansley may be stuck in prison.

We have since learned the government, in at least some cases, told judges they had not found all exculpatory video, and kept delaying trials on that basis. If any of those delays affected people in abusive pre-trial detention, that would amount to coercion on the government’s part, denial of speedy trials as a way to force the innocent to take plea deals merely to get out of jail. That judges would allow such tactics is beneath contempt. As Just The News reports, Carlson’s programs have had another effect:

Amid the public emergence of new video from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, multiple defendants have sought to delay their trials so they can access and review the footage for possible exonerating evidence.

At least five alleged participants in the demonstrations have sought trial delays citing a lack of access to all the relevant evidence in recent weeks, the Epoch Times reported.

Some have directly cited the footage that was provided from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to TV journalist Tucker Carlson and that began airing Monday.

Should they succeed in forcing the government to drop charges, or win acquittals, one can only hope honest judges, if such exist in DC, will reopen cases.

Final Thoughts: Ultimately, the largest and most concerning issue may be that D/S/Cs, led by the J6 Committee, withheld video and pretty much everything else relating to J6 from the public. Clearly they did this because the Committee was seated for a single primary purpose: to get Donald Trump and to ensure he could never again run for office, or to so damage him as to make him unelectable. To that end, it was necessary to construct The Narrative, and to alter and suppress whatever “evidence” was necessary to maintain The Narrative of a “violent insurrection” that came within microns of overthrowing the government. That was only one of many lies told, then and now, to maintain The Narrative, a small price to pay for the establishment of permanent, single party, D/S/C rule.

That narrative was helped immeasurably by the D/S/C media’s willing and gleeful complicity, and by the willing participation of the Uniparty. Also helpful was the apparent cowardice of the members of Congress, many of whom were, and remain, horrified and insulted that anyone would dare protest at their hallowed place of deal making, personal glorification and enrichment. AOC, for example, was certain she was nearly killed, despite not being in the Capitol Building during the protest.  So little do they know of history, they forgot, or chose to ignore, such events as the 1954 attack where five congressmen were actually shot in the House, the 1971 bombing or the 1983 bombing.

There remains much we don’t know about J6, but Carlson’s broadcasts have illuminated this:

*J6 was not remotely an insurrection. A riot of sorts took place, but it appears most of the violence occurred outside the Capitol building.

*The Republic was never in danger on January 6, but the efforts of the J6 Committee have arguably pushed us closer to danger.

*Congressional certification of the election was delayed by only a few hours.

*Potentially exculpatory video evidence was purposely withheld from J6 defendants. Government doesn’t get to decide what might be exculpatory; they’re obligated to hand over everything they have to the Defense.

*Brian Sicknick was not killed on J6, but died from a stroke the next day. D/S/Cs, including President Biden, continue to lie about Sicknick’s fate to this day.

*Not a single police died on January 6, nor is there any evidence any died subsequently as a direct result of January 6.

*As many as four Capital Police Officers are said to have committed suicide shortly after January 6, yet no one seems to find this suspicious, and no one seems the least interested in investigating those deaths.

*Jacob Chansely was not a leader of the protestors, but he was seized upon as one by D/S/Cs, government prosecutors and the media. His role was grossly exaggerated, he was demonized and his due process rights appear to have been violated. He appears to have been coerced into accepting a very unfavorable plea bargain.

*The J6 Committee manipulated video and other testimony—they lied. Carlson’s examples of their adding false audio to some video, and lying about Josh Hawley’s evacuation being two obvious examples.

*There is more than sufficient reason to doubt that most, or any, of the protestors knew they were prohibited from being in the Capitol Building. It’s certainly possible individual CP officers asked people to leave, but it’s clear many did nothing of the sort, happily spoke with them, directed them here and there, and even escorted them about the building.

*Carlson’s video clips did not in any way damage security or endanger anyone; the Capitol Police vetted them prior to release.

*The D/S/C media will never stand up for the First Amendment liberties of anyone other than themselves.

*Whatever D/S/Cs and the media—I know: same thing—don’t want us to see, hear or read, we absolutely need to see, hear and read.

As always, more as it develops.

UPDATE, 03-10-23, 1145 MT: By all means, take this link to a fascinating apology by Naomi Wolf, far from a Republican. An excerpt:

Leaving aside the release of the additional Jan 6 footage and how it may or may not change our view of US history —- I must say that I am sorry for believing the dominant legacy-media ‘narrative’ pretty completely from the time it was rolled out, without asking questions.

It gets better—for Normal Americans and transparency, and much, much worse for D/D/Cs and cover ups.