Lately, there's been some concern that several GOP Representatives have proclaimed that the Jan 6th riot “was not an Insurrection" and were merely nothing more than a “normal tourist" event. Obviously, these views sound like the braying of lunatics considering the video evidence of barricades being overrun, windows and doors being smashed, police officers attacked and beaten that occurred that day.
But then again, maybe these persons are merely reflecting the images that *they* have seen, and over the last six months it very well may not have included much of the violence. Judging by the media that they consume, and the lack of mainstream media they observe, it’s quite possible that this dainty view of these horrific effects isn't entirely their fault — well, their choice of media sources is their fault — and that many many other Americans may be similarly blinkered.
[Just for the record, many of the 19 people who died during BLM protests last year - were actually protestors who were killed by police or counter-protestors.]
Consider how Tucker Carlson responded to the Insurrection in real-time on Jan 6th.
He monologued, as he maintained a b-roll of protestors pushing and shoving with police, that we should ask “why?” He commiserated with the death of rioter Ashli Babbit, and sympathized with the justification of the rioters feeling that they had their democracy “stolen" from them by "a small number of powerful people”, then he warned that this riot would be used as an excuse to take away the freedom to speak and the freedom to assemble from “the people.”
Never did he consider the threat to the police. Never did he consider the threat to lawmakers. "Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence." Nope. His concern was for the violent rabble, their excuses for being violent and how you should be afraid of the government now that this has occurred.
They're coming to get you.
Here's Fox coverage during the riot where they congratulate the protestors for having breached the Capitol. Then they speak on the phone with Rep. Michael Waltz who was on the floor of the House as teargas was being deployed. Most of the visuals are from outside the building where we only see a relatively sedate crowd gathered and waving flags.
On Jan 7th Rep. Dan Crewshaw defended Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz arguing that the “American people were lied to” because things couldn't be "changed" in the election on Jan 6th, stating that instead, that it needed to “fixed in the states" where the "law need to changed.”
So we see the seeds of widespread voter suppression were planted and growing almost immediately with Rep. Crenshaws claims.
Again on Tucker on Jan 6th, Marco Rubio came on to proclaim we needed a "Watergate-like Commission" to investigate what "happened in this election.”
Here's how Brett Baier reacted to Trump's — eventual — statement during the riot over 3 hours after it started. All of the B-Roll in the background shows people calmly milling around the Capitol.
By Contrast on CNN Van Jones announced "This is treason, this is rebellion, this is insurrection. We are on a glide path to Civil War. Where is the President? Where is Donald Trump?” You can be certain that the GOP Reps now saying that is was just like a "tourist visit” weren’t watching things from this channel.
David Axelrod says "I'm the son of an immigrant, who fled the country because of scenes like this and came to America because this is a country of law.”
Gloria Borger: "I walked up and down those steps for ten years. That's my House. That’s our House. These are domestic terrorists. I saw a tweet by Ivanka Trump, which she took down, which called them ‘Patriots.’ That's not what I call them.”
Anderson Cooper: “This is all part of his gift. These people have stormed the Capitol, threatened our democracy, have spurred insurrection and treason, in order for grift that's going on centered in the White House.”
This is the perspective that the Fox viewers don't get, this is what they don't see. CNN had Rick Santorum on this broadcast who argued that he "didn't understand" how all this happened so you do get to hear the right-wing view and arguments, but that's not all you get, that's not all you hear.
Half the public is being strategically misinformed, they being tactically gaslit.
Dan Crenshaw is right about one thing, the American people were "lied to” and the people who did most of that lying were Trump and Fox. As Tucker Carlson said, this will be used as an excuse to take away people's freedoms, but chief among those is the freedom to vote, the freedom to self-determine the direction and priorities of this nation.
This was an assault on our democracy, that assault is still in progress.