In a guest column for The Atlantic yesterday, Nancy Pelosi wrote that Trump “had long planned for the nullification of the election, sowing doubt about the results even before ballots were cast and challenging the results in the courts. So before the joint session, we prepared for the possibility of objections to the Electoral College votes by Republican members of Congress. It was clear that the results from Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin would be the targets. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland strategized with members of Congress from those states about how we would respond to and defeat the objections on the House floor, based on the facts and the laws… [Now, three years on] the threat to our democracy is real, present and urgent.”
Dan Pfeiffer couldn’t agree more: The Danger of Another Insurrection is Very Real. “The violent assault on the Capitol felt like a moment that would forever be etched into the American political consciousness. Millions were glued to the TV, watching the scary and impossible-to-imagine image of rioters occupying the United States Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. It briefly felt like a pivot point in history where the Republicans would abandon Trump and Trumpism. Speaker Kevin McCarthy condemned Trump on the House floor. Mitch McConnell was reportedly open to voting to convict Trump in the impeachment trial — which would have prevented Trump from running for federal office ever again. In the end, the Republicans changed course and decided to stick with Trump. McConnell blinked and voted to acquit Trump. McCarthy made an embarrassingly obsequious visit to Mar a Lago to bend the knee. Alarmingly, the public is beginning to memory-hole that fateful day. Earlier this week, the Washington Post and the University of Maryland released an unnerving new poll. First, the number of Americans who believe Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate has decreased by seven points since December 2021. Republicans are the biggest driver— only 31% believe Biden won legitimately. It is concerning that the number of Independents has also reduced by six points.”
Disgruntled Republicans are driving something else right now as well: bomb threats across MAGAdonia. Adam Edelman reported that “Government buildings across the South received bomb threats on Thursday— the second consecutive day that such warnings prompted serious security measures at government facilities. In Mississippi, ‘multiple bomb threats at various locations across the state’ prompted officials to take ‘precautionary measures’ and put in place ‘standard emergency procedures,’ the state’s Department of Public Safety wrote on Twitter.”
In Arkansas, the Pulaski County Courthouse in Little Rock was also forced to evacuate after a bomb threat was received, a spokesperson for the Arkansas State Capitol Police said.
Local media reports in Florida, Massachusetts and Maine indicated that similar threats had prompted the evacuations of state and local government buildings in those states. That included a state courthouse in Daytona Beach, Florida— the Fifth District Court of Appeal— as well as town and county government offices in Nantucket County in Massachusetts, and several courthouses in the Portland, Maine area.
The fresh wave of threats comes one day after at least eight state Capitol complexes— including the ones in Mississippi and Arkansas— were forced to evacuate following bomb threats.
Back to Pfeiffer for a moment, He emphasized that MAGA Mike is a true believer in Trump’s Big Lie. “In the aftermath of the election,” wrote Pfeiifer, “Johnson called Trump and encouraged him to fight to overturn the results. Johnson’s role went well beyond simply trying to exhaust all legal options; he pushed even the craziest crackpot theories. According to ABC News: ‘Among other things, Johnson raised the unfounded theory that voting machines from Dominion were rigged and had ties to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who was dead, echoing conspiracy theories floated by Trump supporters such as Sidney Powell, a former Trump lawyer who ultimately pleaded guilty to state charges in Georgia over her efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.’… Even more concerning, Johnson’s entire political career has been in opposition to majoritarian rule. The man does not believe in the basic idea of democracy. In a 2016 interview, Johnson said: ‘We don’t live in a democracy because democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what’s for dinner.’ Suppose the Republicans retain control of the House (and Johnson doesn’t get ousted McCarthy-style). In that case, Johnson will be in a position to wreak havoc on the certification of results in the event of a Biden electoral win. The fate of the election will lay in the hands of a far-Right extremist who believes in the Big Lie but doesn’t believe in democracy.’”