NONE of this was hard to predict

When I was done with my early afternoon dentist appointment I turned on the radio and heard about protesters had stormed the Capitol. I kept it on while I ran an errand. When I got home I kept the radio off and went for a walk. I turned the radio on during supper and listened for an hour of NPR’s live coverage. But that was enough of that. You can go to your favorite news source to get all the photos and videos you might want. For example, Daily Kos has plenty of posts from throughout the afternoon and will continue into the evening. They’re even sending me emails of the latest or most important posts. A couple of them are here and here. Since I’m not a news service I’ll share posts and sources that I think provide an important detail about what’s really going on. In listening to NPR this evening a Democrat and Republican were on, speaking from their undisclosed location where they had been taken. I don’t remember the names. One of them said members of both parties said they were “stunned” at this action. Both were asked whether this Capitol invasion would change whether there would be further objections during the Electoral College certification that was interrupted. There certainly was a lot of chatter while they sheltered. Both said the objections probably would not continue. One said a GOP member said something like “We never intended to actually overturn the election,” meaning they would challenge only enough votes so that Biden still won. That comment made me think of something Timothy Kincaid of Box Turtle Bulletin wrote back in September of 2013:

When I lit the torches, gathered the pitchforks, unleashed the baying dogs, and rallied the villagers, I didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt.

Mark Sumner of Kos had one of those posts with photos, a live blog with updates. Some quotes:

Despite Trump’s promises to invite the worst of his white supremacist followers to Washington for a “wild” time, police seem to be completely unprepared for this level of violence. Most are not wearing riot gear, and there has been only limited and sporadic deployment of pepper spray and tear gas. In some instances Trump supporters have been pepper spraying the police, but they don’t seem to be getting arrested. Now police are injured and protesters have breached the Capitol. These are the same Capitol Police who spent the summer wearing full riot gear and using tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets against genuinely peaceful protestors blocks away from the Capitol. Now they’re not even arresting Trump supporters who have forced their way past every security line, invaded the Capitol, and even injured police.

A post from Hunter of Kos:

This is now a coup attempt. A pro-Trump crowd demanding that the United States elections be overturned and that Donald Trump be reinstalled as president is now inside the Capitol, causing the evacuation of multiple buildings and the evacuation of the House and Senate floors. It was done at the encouragement of Trump himself in a rally nearby the Capitol. Mike Pence has, as second in line of presidential succession, been evacuated from the building. The second and third persons in line of succession are now sheltering in place. Donald Trump is now continuing his attempts to agitate the crowd with a tweet condemning Mike Pence for not backing his demands. Tear gas is now being used in the Rotunda. This is now a violent coup attempt instigated by a sitting president. Trump has committed treason against his country, and Mike Pence and Trump's cabinet must take immediate steps to declare him unfit, via the 25th Amendment, and removed.

And a tweet from Richard Engle:

In a classic coup, first protesters take state buildings, then it goes to the military to pick sides.

Sarah Kendzior, who studies authoritarian regimes – especially this one, tweeted:

Yes my warnings about authoritarianism all came true -- but NONE of this was hard to predict. You should ask why so many people with power lied about what was right in front of us and why they were willing to sacrifice the lives of the most vulnerable in the service of that lie. My mentions are full of folks claiming no one listened to me or to other scholars of fascism. Wouldn't that be a sweet simple story? In reality a s---load of people listened to us, many with the power to protect people. They instead chose to sacrifice democracy to a death cult. … Contrary to popular myth, I wasn't unique and I wasn't alone. You don't need a PhD to spot a blatant autocrat. Plenty of people saw through the smokescreen hustle and fought back. They're still fighting. Support them.

I’ve repeated several of Kendzior’s warnings since the election (and since I found her a few years ago). Aaron Davis tweeted:

BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.

And Kendzior responded:

None of the Capitol events are at all surprising. Experts warned you repeatedly and the perpetrators announced their plans! So the question you should ask is who allowed it -- why the lack of vigilance, why no back-up plans. Because those same people are still enabling it now.

NPR reported that National Guard from Virginia and Maryland came to help clear out the Capitol. The building has been cleared of the insurrectionists, though it still needs to be checked for bombs. Congress is meeting yet this evening, perhaps on into the night, to finish the job of certifying the EC vote. Walter Einenkel of Kos described some of the double standards between the nasty guy’s domestic terrorism and the Black Lives Matter protesters.

The images are shocking but not surprising. The fact that Black Lives Matter protests, which called for the defunding and redistribution of law enforcement funds, racial justice, and reform were met with a full military presence while this band of terrorists who have been calling for the overthrow of our democracy was met with non-riot geared police, made this possible. The Republican Party has hundreds of representatives who have been willing to go along with the charade that there are real questions concerning the results of the 2020 elections. There aren’t. The president of the United States has repeatedly called our democracy “rigged,” and has called for people to stop the certification of votes. That’s what is happening today. It could be seen as far back as 2015.

Einenkel included a tweet from Brittney Cooper:

I’m irritated listening to these newscasters talk about ‘why were the police under prepared for this?’ Black people, who wanna tell em?!

And a tweet from Lincoln Michael

So uh any of the people who pretended to care about a broken CVS window this summer have thoughts on violent mobs attacking police and politicians to overthrow a democratic election?

Jessica Mason Pieklo:

Thinking of the dozens of women I know personally who were arrested and handcuffed for sitting outside senate offices in protest during the Kavanaugh hearings.

Mary Emily O’Hara

When racial justice protests hit the federal building here in Portland this summer, 2,000 federal agents (Customs and Border Protection, ICE, TSA, and Coast Guard) were quickly deployed to beat protesters, tear gas the city, and "kidnap" residents into unmarked cars at random.

Einenkel wrote:

And it’s interesting to see news outlets very clearly identify them as “protesters,” while folks in a Target parking lot are rioters. Just saying.

At least NPR called them insurrectionists, as they consulted someone about the correct word to use. Bree Newsome Bass:

Tell me again why we can’t defund the police & military when they’ve shown us today that they don’t intend to use any of their expensive gear to protect the Capitol from a domestic invasion?

DV DeVincentis

$721,531,000,000 defense budget revealed to be powerless against white people.

Yashar Ali

A reminder that the people who breached security today at the Capitol find what Colin Kaepernick did to be offensive.

Alexis Goldstein

When protestors tried to take the Capitol steps during the Kavanaugh nomination, Every. Single. Person was arrested. Today, Trumpists occupied the Capitol steps for HOURS. I just watched an officer in riot gear hold one of their hands & gingerly walk them slowly down the steps.

Robin Carver tweeted an image of seven people in Spiderman costumes pointing at each other. Who is supposed to protect the Capitol? Is it the Capitol police, the DC police, the Secret Service, Transit police, FBI police, US Marshalls, or US Park police? Laura Clawson of Kos did a similar post. From Eli Mystal:

I am literally watching white people do some stuff on television I'd be murdered for trying.

Patricia Smith included a photo of the armed guards on the Capitol steps during the BLM protests. This one is work taking a look. Clawson concluded:

This is white supremacy in action, not just from the mob but from the police who refused to see the threat of the mob until it was too late, because they were white. These people have told us for days on end exactly what they planned, and yet somehow we’re supposed to believe that no one in the leadership of the agencies responsible for protecting the District of Columbia could have anticipated it? No. Again: This is white people getting a pass to a truly outrageous, dangerous extent, and everyone involved in the decision-making about the response has to be held to account.

In a post of pictures Hunter of Kos quoted a tweet from Max Kennerly:

Losing the U.S. Capitol during a key electoral procedure to a modestly-sized crowd from a publicly-announced event is not a "failure." It was a decision. They were ordered to not do what they normally would've done. We need a full accounting of every single official involved.

Sumner wrote a post about what the nasty guy did while his supporters were attacking the Capitol. Short version: very little. Sumner quoted a tweet of Rep. Ilhan Omar:

I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.

A few tweets from Leah McElrath. First, a thread with videos. There were apparently several barricades around the Capitol. Some the insurrectionists knocked over. Others, the police opened the gate. And last night these people were heard discussing the goal was to go IN the Capitol. Some were heard saying “ACAF” – All Cops are Friends. McElrath included a photo from Provost of Antifa showing one of the insurrectionists with a handful of zip ties. The thing police now use instead of handcuffs. Meaning they were looking for hostages. McElrath also says even though the Capitol has been cleared this isn’t over. Things will now move very fast. It will get much worse. For tonight, take care of yourself and your family. A bit of good news. Democrats Jon Ossof and Rafael Warnock won their races for the Senate by enough of a margin that their opponents can’t request a recount. That brings the Senate to 50-50 with VP Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote. Now they need to get rid of the filibuster.