Mitch McConnell's Missing Soul
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There is no human soul in that vessel
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He knows he has to keep his caucus together. This is the way to do it. His feelings about Trump haven’t changed. Notice he said nothing about supporting him for the nomination.
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@FarmerJayhawk lots of people do despicable things at work. That doesn’t make it right.
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So this is not surprising!!
The Topeka man arrested last week for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol invasion contacted the FBI’s online tip system six days after the riot to turn himself in, according to newly unsealed court documents.
“I was in the Capitol on January 6,” William Pope wrote on Jan. 12 in a message to the FBI, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the case. “I did not damage any property or engage in any violence. I am loyal to the United States and was only there to exercise my freedom of speech. I left the building voluntarily.”
Pope included an image of himself standing on the Capitol grounds, wearing a long-sleeved red sweatshirt, a red, white and blue USA ball cap and holding flags in both of his gloved hands.
Pope, 35, was taken into custody without incident and released on his own recognizance pending trial. His next court hearing is scheduled for Monday. Pope’s brother, Michael Pope, of Sandpoint, Idaho, also was arrested last week by FBI special agents within the Salt Lake City Division.
They are charged with obstruction or impeding an official proceeding; civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; impeding passage through the capitol grounds of buildings; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
According to the affidavit, the FBI interviewed a witness on Jan. 8 who provided a Facebook Live video that was copied from William Pope’s Facebook page on Jan. 6. The witness knew Pope and identified him as the person in the video, the affidavit said.
In the video, Pope said he was marching to the Capitol, explained why he was marching and introduced Michael Pope, who he said had flown from Idaho to join him.
On Jan. 8, the affidavit said, the FBI interviewed a second witness who provided a screen capture from MSNBC News that showed William Pope in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol during the riot. The FBI interviewed William Pope on Jan. 21, the affidavit said, and he admitted to entering the Capitol building with his brother during the riot.
“William Pope stated that he and Michael Pope stayed within several feet of each other all day on January 6, 2021, for their own safety and so they didn’t get separated in the crowd,” the affidavit said. “William Pope further stated that he posted the video to social media from his cellular phone shortly after they left the U.S. Capitol building.
“When asked why he went inside the U.S. Capitol, rather than stay outside, William Pope stated that their purpose for entering the building was to express their concern about the direction of the nation. Specifically, William Pope explained that questionable things happened during the election and that citizens deserved a full election audit.”
During the interview, the affidavit said, William Pope “reported that they had witnessed other rioters fighting and battering police officers and rioters damaging the U.S. Capitol Building.”
William Pope told the FBI that he’d planned the trip with his brother, who lives in the Idaho panhandle. He said he rented a car and drove from Topeka to Philadelphia, and his brother flew from Spokane to Philadelphia to meet him. Pope said the two were going to make a vacation out of the trip and camp at parks along the coast before returning home.
“William Pope admitted that after seeing the gravity of the situation after January 6, 2021, he and Michael Pope changed their plans and wanted to return home as early as possible.
They drove to West Virginia but Michael Pope couldn’t rent a car to drive home, so William Pope drove him to Pittsburgh and he flew back to Idaho from there, the affidavit said.
On Jan. 22, the FBI interviewed a U.S. Capitol Police officer who appeared in a photo to be restraining William Pope inside the Capitol. The officer told the FBI that he was inside the Senate doors on the east side of the Capitol when he came in contact with William Pope.
“The USCP Officer remembered William Pope due to his large size and his passive resistance to the officer’s attempt to stop William Pope from entering the U.S. Capitol. The USCP Officer also reported that William Pope was blocking law enforcement officers from closing the door as law enforcement was working to prevent other rioters from entering. The USCP Officer stated that he gave William Pope repeated verbal orders to leave the building and attempted to physically grab and push William Pope from the building, but that William Pope resisted by tensing up and refusing to move.”
William Pope also was identified on surveillance videos inside the Capitol, including footage that showed him and his brother in the hallway outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices, the affidavit said.
William Pope ran for Topeka City Council in 2019 and has been listed as a student with Kansas State University’s Leadership Communication Doctoral Program and is a graduate teaching assistant.
A university spokeswoman responded to news of Pope’s arrest in an email last week. "Kansas State University condemns the Jan. 6 insurrection that occurred in the United States Capitol,” Michelle Geering said. “A graduate assistant at K-State has been charged with federal crimes in conjunction with this event. The university is conducting an internal review and will not comment on future personnel actions.”
Just wow how many people are in an alternative world. Guys like this are in every city, town and suburb. Frightening.
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@approxinfinity watch the invisible primary for 24 and the real primary in 22. It will be all out war between McConnell-backed candidates and Trumpy weirdos
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@FarmerJayhawk… Unless it’s in Mitchs best interest to back Trumpy weirdos then, in which case he will back Trumpy weirdos.
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@FarmerJayhawk @approxinfinity
As M Greene goes, so will the Republican party. If the Repubs continue to let her get away with all her crap, the McConnell crowd will fall in line, likely by the end of this year, and the Liz Cheneys will be pushed out in 2022.
So predicts Mayjaydamus!
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@approxinfinity he’ll back conservatives that can win. So Christine O’Donnell types are going to be a big old nah Dawg. If leadership has to get behind a candidate they don’t love because they need the seat, well, that’s been a thing for 200 years.
@mayjay I hope folks just start ignoring her. Every time the press runs another story she raises a ton of cash. Best way to get rid of her is just forget she exists. Ditto on the D side with Rep. Omar.
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@FarmerJayhawk said in Mitch McConnell's Missing Soul:
Best way to get rid of her is just forget she exists.
I am now getting old enough to think that it is unlikely that I will be around to see the political culture divides bridged. So, sometimes I feel inclined to forget anything outside our little circle in our golf community. (Especially her!)
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Forgetting these people exist is not possible. Time for the Republican Establishment to stop acting like a bunch of reproductive parts, imo.
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No but we don’t need CNN breathlessly reporting everything down to her office decor. It’s Congress, not a race for high school student council. Though they cover them with about the same amount of intellectual rigor.
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The Republican Party is a dumpster fire regardless of CNNs coverage. Do you really think a Trump supporter has any awareness of whats on CNN?
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@approxinfinity said in Mitch McConnell's Missing Soul:
The Republican Party is a dumpster fire regardless of CNNs coverage. Do you really think a Trump supporter has any awareness of whats on CNN?
No doubt. Right of center covering of media has been a fixture for a loooooong time. Like there are entire think tanks that just do media bias stuff, like they did Media Matters well before Media Matters was a thing. Fox opinion shows regularly have media bias segments. And that’s not including social media. The Right looooves a good media takedown.
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@FarmerJayhawk So Fox News takes convenient bits and pieces of CNN coverage about whackjob Republican politicians, applies their spin, and the conclusion is that the leftist media is to blame?
Why do a good job when you’re better than the other guy at making the other guy look worse?
Why acknowledge that you’re bad at being good when you’re good at being bad?
