Some sanity:

In the last 120 days I've noted several places within the constitutional process of a change in power where Trump could have properly, appropriately, and without resistance progressed towards seizing power Hitler-style.

All passed without incident.

I've also noted, which is supported by folks far more learned that myself, that the legal shenanigans were just theater.

There is no real path to seizing power at this point and having any excuse to do so.

But... there could be something behind how the 6th is being sold.
Trump could be ... maybe ... a slim chance ... cleaning up his own mess to some degree and we're about to witness state security forces cracking down on far right activists while they are all gathered in one place.

Other than that possibility, it's just more performance.
Without physically seizing and holding the places where power resides in DC, which is improbable at best, there is absolutely no chance at this time for anything other than Biden being sworn in at the end of the month.

The panic is purely for clicks and ratings.
Seriously think about it.

What are the chances of the Proud Boys invading and then holding Longworth in order to prevent elected officials from conducting the business of government?

If you've ever actually been there you know how ludicrous the suggestion is.
Things most people don't know:

There are underground tunnels connecting most of the offices in the capitol that everyone uses because it's faster than walking across the street.
Not only is there the problem of purely organizing that sort of invasion, but then there is the entire tactical dimension of trying to hold it.

The concept is just stupid.
There's the tweet.
https://t.co/xldZoTxioc
DCs streets were designed to make it difficult to invade because the BRITISH BURNED IT DOWN ONCE.

That's why it has weird shapes like pentagrams in the design: those sharp angles make direction confusing and defense easier, like a medieval castle.
If you're trying to take over the area and you're constantly checking your map and compass (or GPS on your phone) you are more vulnerable to counterattack.

This is the sort of thinking that went into the urban design of DC that most people don't think about.
Does this sound extreme?

Well, it is. However if you're looking to topple the American government then that's what needs to happen.

This is what outlets like @MSNBC want you to ignore when they promote their fear porn.

More from Trump

This is mostly right but strikes me as it needing said that I don't think the left or the intelligentsia have the slightest idea how low institutional trust in anything coming from a left mouthpiece is now. Except in-network, the best heuristic is "the opposite of what they said"


If you look at the situation from a predictive models perspective instead of the more rigorous and appropriate (under normal circumstances) "prove your case or gtfo" perspective, trusting the opposite of whatever the left side says has an AMAZING track record, as we know it.

Literally, the best heuristic most people have right now, in terms of how often it gets things right versus *completely* wrong, is "whatever CNN, the NYT, public health officials, and the Democrats said... yeah, the opposite." That is, they're wrong WAY outside of statistics.

They're also not just wrong. They're *completely* wrong, backwards, often transparently covering something up that they don't want known or refuse to believe. This isn't just a legitimation crisis because there's a heuristic: whatever the official left narrative is, is wrong.

There are a few reasons why such a heuristic would be more predictive than not. One of those is conspiracy, and another is mass hysteria with ideological capture. We know at least one of those is happening and have rather strong evidence both are. That makes conspiracy reasonable

You May Also Like

"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."


We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.

Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)

It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.

Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".