Cognitively dissonant or "do the crime, do the time."

I was talking to one of my conservative coffee buddies the other day and I mentioned that it was ironic that people that purport to support law enforcement and the "thin blue line" did so by bashing cops over the heads with flagpoles on January 6th.

He turned to me and said,"One cop got hit with a flagpole." 

Which is complete bullshit. I have read most of the 1105 January 6th cases and indictments and multiple cops were struck with flagpoles, fire extinguishers, clubs, shields, pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. It was hardcore violence for a long protracted period of time. Many of the law enforcement officers suffered serious and permanent injury from these supposed patriots. Did they sign up for that? Were they fair game?

Where did my friend get his facts and opinion? What media machine is feeding the narrative that one cop was hit with a flagpole? Three guesses.

The next response is usually classic whataboutism. "Well you libs didn't care when Antifa was burning those buildings down, George Floyd, blah, blah, blah" as if it makes the whole January 6th MAGA playday copacetic.

It was an insurrection, at least in my book and not a spontaneous uprising. 

Why do I think so? 

Because so many of these people came with zip ties, duct tape, tactical gear and bear spray, not to mention pistols and knives and they were ready to take heads and hostages. 

Not the sort of things you bring to your everyday riot.

And also because the people that conceptualized it and invited the MAGA heads to come riot planned it exactly this way. 

The plan to overturn the election was hatched at least a month before, according to a new memo.

Were there Trump supporters there on January 6 who had no desire to engage in violence and were merely there to support the President?

Undoubtedly there were. But at least a thousand were plainly there for violence and mayhem.

Eastman openly admits what they were trying to do: 

“There’s actually a provision in the Declaration of Independence that a people will suffer abuses while they remain sufferable, tolerable while they remain tolerable,” he said. “At some point abuses become so intolerable that it becomes not only their right but their duty to alter or abolish the existing government.”

John Eastman wanted to alter and abolish the existing government and if it meant hanging Mike Pence and beating up a bunch of cops it would be the price that would have to be paid.

“If those are the stakes, what are you supposed to do?” he asked. “Sit around and twiddle your thumbs?”

So own it.