I've talked before how the Hill was completely clueless about the insurrection before it happened, which is 100% true and I will defend that for as long as I need to. And lots of folks on here get mad when I say it. "What do you mean??? That was so obvious! Didn't they see xyz??" Maybe to you!
I had the same experience trying to warn staffer friends for a year before about what was coming.
What did you tell them?
Got in an argument with one of my best friends at the Niners bar during the 2020 Super Bowl in January. Told her the electoral violence was coming. She told me I needed to get out of my political science bubble. I told her the Senate Dems needed to get their heads out of their asses.
We are still good friends. I also begged her not to go into the office on Jan 6, luckily she listened to me.
Most staffers didn't go in on January 6th. We were told not to out of an abundance of caution or something but most folks weren't anyway because of COVID.
Your political science bubble of listening to the president saying "if I lose I will overturn the election and violence is awesome" ha.
Exactly. Comparative politics told us everything we needed to know about how it plays out. (It’s still telling us.) Just took some time, and it still does, to convince people the same can happen here. It really was so predictable, to the day.
One of my older brothers was a civilian in naval intelligence (he got there by a rather circuitous career path). He's sadly deceased for unrelated reasons, but around the 2020 election was absolutely certain we were headed for civil war. I don't think Jan. 6 would have surprised him. ....
... he didn't live to see it happen, but I think he had accurate intuition. It is just delayed by a few years. I would describe his politics as loyal Democrat, but not especially progressive, and I imagine at least some of his colleagues leaned on the Trump side.
Where I find insiders helpful is navigating stupid arguments for getting things done in Congress itself. Maybe you didn't realize that Jayapal and Casten are beefing about something specific so therefore if Casten says something Jayapal will say the opposite. No one will write that down anywhere.
That tracks. They have to be experts at something, right? I admit I am mystified by people who get into politics because they like it. I follow news because my life and my family's life may literally depend on it. But I'd rather be doing math, art, hiking, creative writing, nearly anything else.
I "like it" in the sense I am interested in it and find it fascinating. I also have a nerdy interest in a lot of the mechanics of it. But I don't like it because I think its cute or "just something to do".
You have to follow your passion, so I am not criticizing. I just wish we lived in times where I didn't have to care. I think many of us who are not politicians can see their blind spots. It's just a different worldview. Vaguely apropos, my favorite GH Hardy quote.
Fwiw, never had any interest in political office or even doing politics as a lifelong career!
And sure whatever, that is interesting and important information if you want something very specific to happen. It's really important understanding those interpersonal dynamics and beefs. But if you get too consumed by it, you start missing the bigger picture.
As a lobbyist, I am often telling staff about what is happening above them for the really big bills. Completely backwards.
Oh yeah I didn't even mention how people outside the Hill are putting their thumbs on the scales because many people inside it are newbies with massive imposter syndrome who barely know what's going on.
Is it a first year LC much of an insider? Not really.
Fair, but this went higher than that with HR 1. I wish a meeting with staffer was a chance for good over evil by teaching, but yes. System is bent to that.
In less fascist times, I find this more acceptable. Just figure out whatever silly thing you need to do to get whatever the problem is worked out. But when the entire purpose and underlying assumptions of the institution itself are under mortal threat, this feels hollow and strange.
This statement is so wild because we were telling all of the democratic electeds about the dangers over on Twitter over and over and over again by tagging them in our posts. The fact that their staff, not you of course, didn't even bother reading what we had to say is a problem.
Oh I read it! I just didn't believe it.
Why do you think that you didn't believe it now that we are over 4 years out from that horrific day?
Had more faith that someone within the political apparatus understood what was going on and was tracking it. And we had our own police force. What do these randos online know anyway? Do they even know xyz about yzx?
A bunch of us on Twitter were begging Nancy Pelosi not to swear in the Republicans who got reelected who signed on to Mike Johnson's illegal lawsuit challenging Biden's win at the Supreme Court and she didn't listen to us. The whole thing could have been avoided if she had done the right thing.
I guess it's easier to see the danger from the outside. I've always known about all of these horrible right-wing influencers way before the average person because I have followed the Fundy Christian movement for years now.