Last week’s failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, committed by thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump who surrounded and then smashed their way into the building as a joint session of Congress ground through the final steps in confirming Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, has become a watershed moment in American democracy like nothing we’ve experienced in our lifetimes. For Republicans who supported Trump through his months of denial of the result of the 2020 elections, culminating in Wednesday’s last deadly gasp of Trump dead-ender desperation, what was once considered a “harmless” means of extracting political support from Trump’s base is now a direct threat to their political futures.
For Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, after winning office as a no-compromise Trump devotee who never really tried to repudiate the “QAnon” conspiracy theory she was tagged as a supporter of early on, Wednesday’s insurrection was an unparalleled disaster that effectively shattered her entire raison d’être in politics. As readers know, Boebert’s support for Wednesday’s insurrection went well beyond signing on to the votes to challenge the results in swing states, in which she was joined by dozens of her Republican colleagues and for which many of them are facing calls to resign.
Today is 1776.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 6, 2021
This Tweet by Boebert early on Wednesday morning has been widely interpreted as an unambiguous call for the violence that ensued later that day, and has fueled the growing movement calling for Boebert to immediately resign for having helped incite Wednesday’s riot.
But there’s another question being asked today as the investigation into Wednesday’s deadly violence expands: did Rep. Boebert actually attempt to help insurrectionists find their targets as they stormed into the Capitol?
These are Tweets sent by Rep. Boebert to her over 350,000 followers on Twitter, whom we’re willing to postulate included at least some of the rioters who marched from Donald Trump’s speech near the Washington Monument to the Capitol. In Boebert’s ominous speech made shortly before the rioters breached the building, Boebert boasted how her “constituents” were outside. Boebert sent the first Tweet at 2:17PM Eastern Time, and the second a moment later–in literal real time with the breach of the Capitol by insurrectionists that NPR reports took place at 2:16PM.
This is battlefield intelligence, folks. The only question is whether Boebert consciously understood that she was supplying vital information to the insurrectionists storming the U.S. Capitol at that exact moment, or is just so impossibly ignorant in this life and death situation that she did not realize the stupendous security mistake she was making by broadcasting these details to her far-right followers.
Whether by cluelessness or collusion, these Tweets undeniably add a whole new dimension to Boebert’s responsibility for what took place on Wednesday. Boebert’s profound ignorance about how American elections work is not an excuse for the comfort, and possibly deliberate aid, she has provided to the violent insurrection against the body she was sworn into just days before.
These are unprecedented times, and Boebert’s name is forever linked now to an unprecedented crime.
We honestly hope this isn’t as bad as it might in fact be.
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Recall election needs to be started this week. No delays. She doesn't deserve the privilege of serving in the United States of America Congress. Traitorous wench.
"There is no way to recall a member of Congress before their term ends, nor has there ever been. No Senator or member of the House of Representatives has been recalled by the electorate. Americans are unable to remove an elected member of the House or Senate from office because there is no recall mechanism set forth in the Constitution."
Thanks for the clarification Dave. I figured if you can recall the governor than you can recall a box of nails. Guess freedom to regret only applies to state positions.
The House can expel a member. I saw an article recently that the Senate did this to several members in 1861. Not surprisingly, from many of the same states as the current Insurrection Caucus.
– delete previous comment –
edit to:
the cases of expulsion I can think of had someone convicted in Court BEFORE the House was willing to expel.
And even then, they sometimes rise and get elected again.
There actually is, it's in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, section 3:
Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
By the 14th Amendment, "No person shall be a…Representative in Congress…[if she] engaged in insurrection or rebellion". It should be raised under the 14th Amendment for all of these traitors!
Now all someone has to do is come up with a plan to prove to all those
radical Ttumptian terroristsRepublican Congressional Constitutional scholars that there’s actually more than two amendments . . .Come on- to be fair most of them are aware of the 5th. And Section 1 and 2 of the 14th.
The only way to get a member of Congress booted early is expulsion. U.S. Const. art I, § 5 (" Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.").
Oh, there's definitely grounds for expelling QBert. I just don't think the House will do it.
Nope, the Democrat Appeasement Caucus would never go for it. They are already trying to stall impeachment or make it go away, even after being directly attacked by Trump’s armed brown-shirts. Some of whom openly said they were there to kill Democrats, especially Pelosi.
We don't have a 2/3s majority in the House however there should be a call for expulsion and get a vote. It will go down in a flaming rubble BUT we'll get it on record.
Comment deleted, for now
I doesn’t help her case that moments before, in her speech, she yells in a threatening manner “Madame Speaker, I have constituents outside this building right now” and reports that her q-a-mom was in that crowd.
What does the rest of her twitter activity show?
Did anyone in the mob tell her to keep them posted? Was she posting Pelosi's 20 to be helpful to someone?
Does she have any twitter feeds not in her own name? Wouldn’t surprise me if she moved her Q’Anon stuff to a different name under Republican consultant advice after she won the primary.
The NSA will have any texts and social media posts she sent out on Jan 6th, as a part of their “Collect Everything” motto. They could trace them to her phone(s), no matter the name of the account.
That creep has a Twitter account called Rep Lauren Boebert's Glock. She actually included "Rep" in the account name. (This is where I would insert the "I'm going to vomit" emoji.)
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 (at least with Nunes we get a cow with a sense of humor)
Even God has taken notice: (she’s reportedly deleted all of her tweets from the last two days. Who’s going to tell her? )
(and Craig Silverman)
Nope – they are all still there – on her personal account @laurenboebert, although I have reported them to Twitter
Merci..
Gracias!
We need to keep constant pressure on to get her the hell out of Congress.
If you're in her district, here is a petition to sign requesting that she resign. I know she won't, but it lets her know what people think of her.
https://www.change.org/p/boebert-must-resign?recruiter=49982879&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=77efb9b0-9a32-0130-4f2a-3c764e0483d1&utm_content=fht-26754776-en-us%3A6&fbclid=IwAR0Bxr9m60yE7QbNWc2UuVwGcv4lZgwjFW_f0HwvzBGzn_eyUUCUIt8yXJY
Signed, by a 3rd district registered voter.
Thank you!
Also signed by a 3rd district registered voter.
Thank you!
3rd District folks: Has Boebert ever acknowledged publicly that she is also supposed to represent the 49% of constituents who did not vote for her?
Oh hell no. She's a trumpian all the way. She attacks Democrats on almost every tweet.
Why would she do that?
First she would have to acknowledge that there are voters in her district that deserve representation that did not vote for her. That does not seem likley.
Is there a statewide petition to get her expelled?
From what I've read, she can't be expelled. She can resign and this petition is requesting her to do that. I'm sure she won't, but it will let her know what people think of her actions:
https://www.change.org/p/boebert-must-resign?recruiter=49982879&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=77efb9b0-9a32-0130-4f2a-3c764e0483d1&utm_content=fht-26754776-en-us%3A6&fbclid=IwAR0Bxr9m60yE7QbNWc2UuVwGcv4lZgwjFW_f0HwvzBGzn_eyUUCUIt8yXJY
Oh, yes she can be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_from_the_United_States_Congress
And if the terrorists had broken in to the room she was in, I don't think she's smart enough to realize – she could easily have been killed. That crowd was not interested in making careful distinctions, they wanted blood. Some of them would have happily killed every Congressperson they could and then figured out what that meant later.
Exactly!
Dang! I thought it'd take her at least a month to do something so terminally stupid it would get her thrown out of Congress. One week. Has to be a record.
She has the attention of Keith Olberman now, he labeled her a "Cop Killer". Her legacy is exactly how she wants it.
As a first step, her phone, twitter, email, and other communications during the critical period should be subpoenaed.
Here is one of her Parler posts during the coup attempt 1/6/21:
This was posted on Wednesday, 1/6/21, probably before her speech about not accepting Arizona’s electors. What was so epically important about the next 48 hours? Surely, even she wouldn’t be so naive or stupid as to think that the futile attempt to stall certification was that earth shaking event. But a violent coup attempt – that would be – and will be- one for the history books.
So clearly, she had some knowledge about the coup attempt beforehand. Instead of warning the Speaker or her colleagues, she chose to keep it to herself, but couldn’t resist showing off her knowledge in posting about the “48 hours . . . most important days in American history”.
I think this shows complicity in a criminal act.
And fundraising off of it, to boot.
Totally agree.
Maybe she can't be impeached, but surely she can be prosecuted? Can someone represent their district from prison?
I believe she has to be expelled from Congress or resign before she can be arrested or indicted once Congress is in session.
Not sure about that.
Nope … there are a few protections saying elected members of Congress cannot be hindered which Congress is in session, but there are a fair number who have continued serving after arrest, trial and even conviction.
I'm not certain the Representative can represent the district (in the usual sense), but convicted individuals have continued to serve.
See the wonderful story of Jim Trafficant. Convicted in April 2002, Trafficant was expelled by the House in July 2002. I cannot see that there was any effort to hold the seat through Court action, and Trafficant lost election in November to a former aide, now Rep. Tim Ryan.
Intent, or no, Q-bie is undoubtedly too stupid to understand just how very lucky she is that nothing more happened to Pelosi that day.
My personal opinion, following along those same lines, is that Q-bie is also just not smart enough to be so subtle in intentionally giving information without also clearly implicating herself.
. . . I could, however, be wrong and she could be smarter than I imagine — that’s an admittedly low bar.
In the end, she’s either a direct menace, or too stupid to not be a menace.
FBI arrests Nashville zip-tie suspect from assault on U.S. Capitol
I would suggest Morgan Carroll convene a teleconference of 3rd CD chairs and include any state central committee members willing to participate. The discussion should be a paid person, if need be, to issue releases and give interviews regarding Lauren’s actions to date and in the future. It’s time the Dems leadership got off of their asses and started helping us turn the 3rd CD around in 2022. Our local chairs can only do so much alone. If we don’t get her out next time – the odds are you’ll be moaning and groaning about her(as you do Lamborn) for years.
I know lots of people tried very hard to get Diane Mitsch Bush elected instead of Boebert. Unfortunately, it's a very conservative gun loving district. We'll definitely try again in 2022.
One thing she has going in her favor is that she is dumber than a box of hair, and her tweets might be just honest (albeit really stupid) mistakes made in the heat of the moment. Occam's Razor might be the best explanation for this incident.
Redistricting can not come soon enough.
Yep. Haven't heard that comparison before but it's true. Just an ignoramus.
I’m in agreement with KirkDogg. Boebert is really that dumb. Our only semi-immediate help would be expulsion from the House but that is a long shot. We’ll need redistricting to somehow fashion a competitive 3rd CD or surviving rational Republicans to put forward one of their own kind.
Dan Thurlow comes to mind
See yesterday's paper. Thurlow left the party.
Really? well, good on him.
I personally know Diane Mitsch Bush, I like DMB, I donated money to DMB, and naturally I voted for DMB. All that being written, DMB (or to be fair, maybe more her team) ran an epically shitty race.
DMB had 2+ million dollars more than Q-bert, so why did I get 3-4 mailings for every 1 of DMB's through the postal service? Why did I see 2-3 advertisements for Q-bert for everyone of DMB's on television? Whoever ran her campaign should be permanently exiled from politics.
Agree completely. I've said so on this blog during and after DMB's "campaign.''
No campaign visits anywhere. Other Democratic candidates in the state had in-person campaign stops, masked and distanced, quite safely.
The bulk of her TV money went into the expensive Denver market. Her TV buyer cut a fat hog. Third CD campaigns are not won on facebook, but in person, some mailings and a shit load of small market radio–an avenue kissed off by DMB's campaign manager's malpractice.
Yard signs and billboards? Ha! Few and far between.
Meanwhile, DMB and her campaign manager blew off calls from good Dems in the 3rd who actually know how to run campaigns here. Just blew them off. Boebert is partly their fault.
My impressions, from far, far outside, was that the DCCC took over DMB’s campaign after Boebert made them think they had an opportunity. Certainly a lot of DCCC money came in, and that almost always comes with demands to appoint the campaign manager. If you know more of that story, as a 3rd district citizen who now lacks all representation in the House, I’d like to hear about it.
To me, the problem in the final numbers was the same as the rest of the Democrats in the country. The urban areas of Pueblo under-performed. And, as usual, the DCCC Dems just simply don’t offer anything to anyone who doesn’t have investments. Campaigns that say $15 min wage and say it often work, because that gives people a reason to go vote. They might even get a few rural white votes who also want a raise, although these days not so many since they are on their own planet.
Trump has shown that modern campaigns are all about appealing to your base and turning out your voters. DCCC Dems don’t do well in this, because they despise their base.
Lurker: sure, blame it on the DCCC. Whatever gives you warm fuzzies.
Let's review: DMB won the Democratic primary going away because progressives don't sell in the 3rd. She was the candidate and screwed up her most important job: hiring a campaign manager. It was her decision alone, and instead of hiring someone who knew the state, she hired an itinerant Democratic “pro.''
Blame it on the DCCC all you want. It was Diane's call and she blew it. The big Dem money would have come either way.
gertie97 … given your sensible comments, is there someone in CO-3 who ought to be encouraged to start campaigning soon to oppose Q-bert in 2022?
I have a follower on Twitter who says she's going to be moving to Durango in the next year or so, and she plans on running against Boebert. I don't know her personally, so can't vouch for her.
If she moves into town and runs for office right away she may be seen as a carpetbagger by some locals.
Don't you think that DMB's purported support for Medicare for All had an effect? My impression is that DMB did not reflect the conservative makeup of CD3. We need candidates that reflect their district.
Ttump!
. . . fer’ him, or agin! him?!!
That’s the only policy the CO-3 majority needed to reflect upon.
If another election were held again tomorrow, Ttump and Q-bie would both still win. That’s the district in the looking glass.
I sent money to DMB in both of her Congressional races. But Gertie has convinced me she just didn't wage the vigorous campaign West Slope voters want. And ignoring radio in a district like this is fatal.
The $200 I sent to DMB this year was wasted on dumb out of state consultants. But the $200 I sent to Georgia gave me two U.S. Senators.
Can we clone Stacy Abrams?
Drive in Rallies seemed to work, at least somewhat. Elsewhere that is. You’d think they could be copied? Plenty of open ground around Alamosa to park cars and set up a sound system. I’d suspect that’s generally true across the low population density 3rd.
This is a strange state, because there is still a lot of Denver TV down here. Many times I’ve seen people worried about a blizzard just because Denver TV was saying Denver was going to get a foot and a half of snow. So, you know the local forecast is for an inch, but you are in the grocery store with people who are stocking up for a blizzard. But yes, Denver TV would be very expensive.
@gertie: what about Grand Junction TV, in terms of value in getting out a message?
Pretty good because Denver TV is a little harder to find in Mesa County. The top way of reaching GJ voters is radio. It's the same all over the district and it's cheap. People spend a lot of time in their trucks and cars.
Bobo The Clown attracted the attention of Dred Pirate Roberts.
That's great! Good for him!
The Feds arrested someone who was tweeting quite openly that they wanted to put a bullet into Pelosi’s noggin. If Q’bert was providing the location of the Speaker to that person or others who had deadly intent, then Q’bert might need to be more worried about Biden’s AG bringing charges than expulsion. Maybe we will get to chant “Lock Her Up!”
But since it is Biden, I’m not holding my breath. Prosecuting any of his Republican friends would go against everything he’s ever been in his life. You’d think an armed insurrection that attempted to deny him his election would get his attention, but like I said, I’m not holding my breath.
@High Valley Lurker: perhaps Biden is aware of 222 vs. 211, with two vacancies. That’s the margin the Dems have in the new US House. Rs need to get to 218. What might Biden be thinking about to keep that margin, and add to it, in next year’s mid-terms.
Will Pelosi’s impeachment effort help or hinder Biden’s agenda and keeping control of the House next year. Or will it enable Trump to portray himself as a “victim” to his gullible millions?
“prosecuting any of his Republican friends……” Why should Biden take attention away from his agenda for prosecuting his R “friends,” whoever they might be.
Feds will prosecute who they need to prosecute, and who they can find. I agree with the poster who a couple days ago complained about all the free PR on Colorado Pols for Q-Bert. Keep an eye on her, but why all the freebies?
Possible upsides to 'slow burn' impeachment:
– freezes dump's worst impulses
– gets buy-in from potential R pres candidates to get it done and eliminate dump from the race
impeachment w/conviction is important so that the vote to bar him from future office is possible and it eliminates dump's secret svc, office and facilities support
@kickshot: yes, maybe, possibly, probably not; a lot of moving parts here.
Impeachment w/conviction is a real long shot and and the effort may not be worth expending hard won political capital.
Bear in mind that the NY State AG and the Manhattan DA are waiting for Trump to exit office. There is the defamation lawsuit from one of Trump’s “women,” and maybe other suits. And the government of Scotland may look into his business practices there. None of these have the “firepower” to keep his supporters’ jihad going and, to me, will be far more effective at bringing him down than impeachment.
There are very few guarantees in the affairs of government. But this issue right now is important because of all of the events over the past 4- years and the crescendo of Jan 6.
Votes on these issues will be recorded and they will be questioned if these congress critters want to continue in their positions. Cruz and Hawley are under the most intense fire and deservedly so. Their partners in the big lie only slightly less so.
Nobody knows how this issue will evolve over this coming election cycle. But there is definitely going to be some longevity to this. It's time to wake up the short-attention-span goldfish so that they don't forget.
I support forcing the issue ASAP because the stain will linger and linger if we don't do it now.
You've already got your precious vote. Look at the tallies for the objection to Pennsylvania's electors.
Copy and paste does not work in a legislative body.
Politically it might but on bills and resolutions, no.
R's will win back House in 2022.
The required minimum seats can be named now. It will be minimum + 20.
MattC what’s your source for that gloomy prediction?
I appreciate the strong and consistent historical precedent for a President's party to lose House seats in the mid-term election.
Given the situation with Trump & his supporters, COVID-19 and inoculations, and the economic conditions, I think there is also a chance for the exception to the usual. See 1934 for all the elements which went into breaking the "usual" outcome.
Twitter world is going wild to have miss q put into FBI hands. She has gotten a lot more than the usual "if they spell my name right" fame. Of course this makes her a princess in the white supremacists world.
The FBI will get her if she did what it appears she did.
I'm guessing there are far more communications between Boebert and the terrorists beyond Twitter and Parler. Perhaps the FBI is already reviewing some of those . . .
There were quite a few replies and comments on Boebert’s Parler posts, as you can see. (313 comments, 615 shares, 2657 likes or upvotes on the “next 48 hours” post). I couldn’t see those, as I wasn’t able to open a Parler account with one of my spam-catcher emails.
I haven’t searched for her activity on Reddit 4chan or 8chan.
But the FBI is undoubtedly perusing Parler and Reddit, as well alternative sites, closely.
That she doesn't know the year is confusing, but the fact that she doesn't know the century…. explains a lot.