Did they really think they'd get away with it?

[choie]

I don’t get it. What was they’re thought process? Did the terrorists really think they’d be able to storm the capital, threaten congress members and not be arrested?

[bullimiami]

1. yup. they thought they would have a coup. trump would be installed. and they would be his heroes.

[dchill]

18. The End.

[Mr.Bill]

19. They think law enforcement and the military will be on their side in an all out war.

And they are not 100% wrong. Just 95% wrong.

[Canoe52]

25. And they didn't think about checking with the military and police first.

What was that quote from animal house about being stupid is no way to go through life?

[calimary]

26. "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

An all-time epic quote! (From an all-time epic movie!)

[SunSeeker]

30. "Did we quit when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" "Hell no!"

"...(Shhh, he's on a roll.)"

[AZ8theist]

37. "Flounder"...

[treestar]

55. They were yelling "join us" to the cops who went by

in one of the videos. They thought it would be like the fall of the USSR.

[vapor2]

2. Clearly transactional people

who don't consider the consequences of their actions. Sound like someone?

[calimary]

52. Yeah, no shit.

[relayerbob]

3. Yes, I've had the same question

Did they really think they could execute people on TV and we'd all just say. "OK, Horn Dude, we'll let you have the USA"? Did they really expect that even if they took hostages, that we'd let Trump stay in power with no consquences? That the military wouldn't get invovled? Or were they just out to destroy the country, period, without caring about who actually came out on top?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. These knuckleheads are so marinated in the Big Lie - that the election was stolen -

that they thought they'd be regarded as heroes because most of the country was on their side; if Trump won in a landslide, as he said and they believed, obviously almost everybody agreed with them and supported them. So of course they thought they'd get away with it (and the fact that the police wouldn't come down hard on them because they were just good old white guys).

[Marcuse]

6. Said one running dog to the other.

[NJCher]

29. that's perfect!

OTOH, at least one of them had an idea about what to do. In the new footage that came out today when the mob was walking into the Senate (asking where is everyone?), as soon as they realized no one was there, one said, casually, "We might as well set up a government."

He was serious.

And I thought how effing ignorant can you be? Do you not realize how much time, thought, effort, and painstaking compromise and concession went into forming our system of government? How it's been built over the years?

Form a government? What did you think the founding fathers were doing?

[malaise]

38. Well now they know

The state is really deep - effin' idiots.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

61. Ok, here's how it's gonna be ...

I'll be Supreme Evil Overlord Of Brownies And Coffee, you be President Of Known And Unknown Universes In Charge Of Adult Beverages. It'll be fun!

We'll just ad-lib the rest.

[malaise]

62. I think I'd like that

[Hamlette]

7. We thought, if we could just make them listen, they would know we were right

of course we were demonstrating for civil rights and to end the Vietnam war. We thought the government was entirely messed up and lying to us.

But there was no talk of violence.

[occupant]

21. Didn't even think of it

....but there was no talk of violence. None, we never even thought of it.

[Hamlette]

58. I was worried about the Black Panthers and the Weathermen

who I feared would destroy our cause. I was actually surprised later in life to hear there were people my own age who thought we protesters were destroying the US.

[Kablooie]

8. They planned on murdering some politicians, terrifying other into installing Trump as president.

Then they expected the country would continue as before except Trump would be the absolute leader with no opposition.

Of course if they had murdered some politicians this delusion wouldn't have been the result.

[Mariana]

20. And sure enough, most Republican Reps promptly appeased the terrorists

by voting against impeachment. Most of the ones who wanted to didn't, because they're terrified of their own voters.

[KS Toronado]

35. The one's that are terrified of their own voters, should not have a leadership role anywhere

Especially in congress. Can you imagine what soldiers engaged in mortal combat would think of an officer that
was so terrified of the enemy said "lets go hide until the shooting stops"? That's what the repug Reps are
doing, when the shooting stops they'll come out with some lame excuse like "I thought he was just the guy
that served covfefe around here". We need to be shooting ballots their direction in 2022,2024,2026.....

[ProfessorGAC]

44. If A Pol Is Terrified Of Their Constituents...

...they're in the wrong line of work.
Why would anybody want a job, even as prestigious as US rep, if they don't get to think for themselves?

[KS Toronado]

56. +1000

[southerncrone]

9. They thought Drump, R congress critters, & police would stand with them.

This is what they've been telling each other for years. They imagined the country would resort back to the 1950s (pre- civil rights & women's rights). They fully expected their god would win. When he didn't, it was a shock. There must be fraud & rigging! He told them that was true! Other Rs did, too.
They had segregated themselves from any others who did not believe their ideology until they lost any connection w/reality. They lived in a bubble of isolation that only re-enforced their ideas. A form of self brain-washing.
When the shock came, they reacted w/incredulous disbelief and anger, and THEIR politicians used them to promote their own agendas to keep their positions.

[BigmanPigman]

15. Bingo!

[Mariana]

23. Trump actually told them he would go with them, that he would be there at the Capitol.

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol..."

[ailsagirl]

32. Then he somehow disappeared

Did any of them even realize he wasn’t there with them? I guess it didn’t matter. It’s so obvious that he doesn’t give a DAMN about any one of them and they don’t have a clue.

[58Sunliner]

10. They may have been told that they were a part of the bigger scheme.

Did some other event fail to happen? The bombs that did not go off etc..DT had actively tried to get the military to support his edicts. When they went around him that day and got approval from Pence to activate the National Guard, he had to realize he had zero chance to summon the military and declare martial law. I wonder too. I mean DT was in charge. What could go wrong?

[ProfessorGAC]

45. In The Vid Released By The Atlantic...

...one of those guys told the CP guy that "4 million are on the way".
That lends credence to your thought that they were merely the " first wave".
This guy thought they were 4 million people descending on DC to have their back.

[Irish_Dem]

11. Kill or kidnap many Dems MOC. There would be no certification of Biden's EC votes.

The congress left would be GOP and would back up Trump's claim that the election was stolen from him.
He is the rightful president and he would be inaugurated on Jan 20th. Then grant pardons to all
who had participated in the insurrection.

He could declare martial law and place restrictions on the understandably enraged citizenry.
And so on and so forth.

From what the mob is quoted as saying that seems to have been the plan.

[uponit7771]

12. ****YES !!!**** On their planet what they were doing was premised by Trump. They see Trump as smart

... and not a idiotic maniac because of info outlets like FAUX News that promotes Winger World Bullshit.

There needs to be a Fact Check Conglomerate and the fringe need to be spoken out on

[calimary]

53. "Winger World." I like that!

[Eyeball_Kid]

13. Trump's brand is that of a brash winner.

Some folks love brash winners. So they bought the brand. But the brand wasn't Trump. And Trump couldn't abandon his brand and learn the job. In everything he did as president, he was selling his brand. Brash winner. He knew how to sell his brand, but he knew nothing about the job of president. That became a big problem.

[MustLoveBeagles]

14. Yes

They are entitled and very deluded.

[BigmanPigman]

17. They are the current enemy of America.

Forget the Russians and China. Our enemies are the deluded cult, the enabling reps in The House and The Senate and the brainwashed deplorables of RW media. Our enemy is within. We must hold the media, social media, the reps in govt positions, and everyone connected with them accountable.

***This must be a united front against the media. Twitter, Fux Ruse, etc have to be destroyed. No more treating them as mindless morons. They are insurrectionists who want to kill us and our country. Treat them as traitors and murderers. Nothing less is justice. We must hold them accountable, ALL OF THEM, ASAP! Bring Murdoch to his knees and the rest will follow.

[Turin_C3PO]

47. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media

aren’t in the same category as right wing news, radio, etc. But it’ll be almost impossible to regulate any of it because even a liberal Supreme Court wouldn’t support anything that even remotely goes against the common interpretation of the first amendment. The way we win is to beat them at their own game. Use social media to our advantage. Boycott advertisers of Fox News, OAN, etc.

[Yeehah]

54. Except that Russia is sowing discord throughout all Western democracies

Russia-backed misinformation and lies is what got Trump elected.

[struggle4progress]

16. "We'll burn the Reichstag, declare an emergency, arrest the opposition, and pass an enabling act"

[OneBlueSky]

22. As my brother often says . . .

"You can't fix stupid." . . . seems he's right . . .

[homegirl]

24. Yes, they did and

they were sure Donald Trump would physically lead the charge. And Congress would crown him Emperor of the USA for life!!!

Dumb sods they were used to create chaos and more pages in the history books with mentions of Donald Trump. Meanwhile Donald enjoyed the show on TV.

[monkeyman1]

27. donny trump'y

hold a rally on trump property & see how far that goes with donny !!!!

[Maraya1969]

28. They are all crazy. I have been reading over at Rumble and one guy was

talking about how Trump was going declare, "Global martial law" and take over 'Global tv and internet"

I actually feel sorry for them a little. They have been indoctrinated into a cult and their lives are going down the toilet because of it.

Then again they needed to vote for the bastard in 2016 after they heard him talking about sexually assaulting women and they listened to him be a racist prig so there is that.

[peggysue2]

31. I think they were deadly serious

That becomes more obvious with the additional videos that have been released. On the surface, it looked like a bunch of bumbling looters. But had the insurrectionists turned the majority of the police or a large swath of the military? We'd be living in a very different, frightening country. I'm convinced Trump and his cronies knew what was going on and had every expectation that the plot would succeed. Which is why Trump was so delighted and why his enablers were so reckless (think Hawley and his fist pump).

In about 34 hours, we get another chance with this Republic thing, the government we inherited. May we never forget how close a call this really was. May we never let Republicans slip into their normal amnesia/deflection posture. They own this, every inch.

Now the real work begins and the vigilance can never stop.

[Dem2theMax]

33. Yes, they did.

Thought process? I doubt that 99% of them have access to critical thinking skills. In other words, they are idiots.

And that's how we lucked out.

[Brother Mythos]

34. Ans. # 1: Yes. Ans. # 2: There wasn't much of a "thought process" involved. Those ...

people acted emotionally, and irrationally. Ans. # 3: Yes. They "felt" they were going to execute a successful coup, and then be immortalized as patriots and heroes.

[unblock]

36. This is what "radicalized" looks like

They have been convinced that they are not merely on the right side, but that they are putting their lives on the line to prevent the greatest injustice ever, or something like that.

They are not bothered by it succeeding or not. They are thrilled and honored to be fighting the glorious fight for whatever the hell it is they think is so damn important.


It's amazing that those not brainwashed can see they are just stupid criminals and yet they are convinced they are heroes and doing the ultimate virtuous act or something.

[mercuryblues]

39. During his speech trump said that the police and others

would join them if they could. Alluded that only they could make it happen.

They really thought they would be treated as liberators, because they were told so by the presidunce. They would be the patriots and heroes that saved America from (insert CT dujour here) and great praise and wealth would hail down on them.

[RandiFan1290]

40. If you listen to the interviews

they are all repeating what they've been taught on AM radio/cable 'news' and from trump himself.

[Mr. Ected]

41. Years of truth-stretching radio and television has focused their attention on ideas, not facts

They react to symbols and to provocation. One doesn't consider consequences when a doctor bangs on your knee with a mallet; the knee just jerks and there you go.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

42. It was God's will. Jesus was on their side.

How could the righteous insurrection possibly fail?

[DFW]

43. I think that is exactly what they thought

They probably thought there is safety in numbers, and that "they can't go after all of us." Even the ones who are/were cops turn out to be mostly from small towns with small budgets. The Capitol has cameras that tape everything, and the FBI has facial recognition software. That is not a good combination if you are going to break in to the Capitol by force and commit illegal acts in broad daylight, but you have to use rational thinking to realize that.

[GoCubsGo]

46. Yes, that's why so many of them were recording everything.

They swallowed Trump's lies hook, line, and sinker. They recorded their actions for posterity, thinking they were going to go down as revolutionary heroes. Ooops. Talk about backfiring. Benedict Arnold looks like a patriot in comparison to these traitors.

[Whiskeytide]

48. I think a pretty scary number of them - but still ...

... smaller than it seemed at the time - were there with actual intent to fuck shit up, take hostages, perhaps kill some MOC, and take over the government. Most of them really did just get caught up in the mob mentality, incited by Тяцмр and the other speakers at the rally, and just kept moving with the crowd. Very little critical thought went into the whole event, and I doubt the majority of them had any real idea of the futility of their assault.

That scary % of them, though, seem to have been using the crowd as human camouflage, and were reasonably organized enough to be executing a plan to do some real damage. There was enough military training and back-woods militia mentality among them to be worrisome.

But I think they expected the targets to be softer than they turned out to be. The capitol police held them back long enough to get their targets to safe places, and a little luck played into that as well. They likely thought they would burst into a chamber full of politicians who would look up in complete surprise that the people had come to judge them.

[hamsterjill]

49. Yes, and from what I see on Facebook this morning, they still do.

For entertainment, I follow several former classmates on Facebook who are all QAnon believers.

They still believe there is a massive military coup about to take place tomorrow and that the world (not just the United States) is going to welcome Trump to continue as President.

It’s scary to me because these people cannot be reasoned with and crazies act on their beliefs. I am grateful that security is tight for tomorrow.

[uponit7771]

63. +1

[ananda]

50. Yes. That's why they were so careless.

We got lucky.. this time.

[redstatebluegirl]

57. They see themselves as Trump's army.

They see themselves as patriots like 1776 type. They are all morons, which is why they follow one.

[LanternWaste]

59. This was, I almost think, merely step one.

Much as the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Germany, the initial attempt was a dismal failure resulting in Hitler going to jail. But it was a demonstrable and dramatic catalyst for the larger movement in the decade to come.

This is my larger concern, that trump and his base use the failed DC Putsch as a springboard to other shenanigans and that it was merely one of many. It's certainly not a looming, or even large concern of mine, but it is there.

I mean, the entire tea-party/magat wing of the GOP could come crashing down in the wake of what I'm guessing will be a series of hearings and trials over the next year as to who played parts... and my guess is the magats aren't nearly as disciplined or politically savvy as the nazis were in their formative days.

[MicaelS]

60. They thought it was going to be their long awaited 2nd American Revolution.

And they would the heroes of the revolution, and new founding fathers.

[Mr. Sparkle]

64. It happened to a certain degree in Florida in 2000

The Brooks Brothers riots was used to try and steal an election, and to a certain extent it worked.