You don’t have to agree with Mr Carlson’s interpretation of the videos, to conclude that the Democrats in leadership, for their own part, have cherry-picked, hyped, spun, and in some ways appear to have lied about, aspects of January 6, turning a tragedy for the nation into a politicized talking point aimed at discrediting half of our electorate. //

The reason for a tightly scripted chain of command and an absolutely ironclad security plan in these buildings, is so that security crises such as the events of Jan 6 can never happen.

The fact that so much confusion in security practice took place on Jan 6, is hard to understand. //

There are other aspects of the Jan 6 breach that seemed anomalous to me from the start. I study the relationship in history of buildings such as The White House and the Capitol, to the US public; I follow the way in which the public is either welcomed into or barred from these structures.

In the media furore around Jan 6, it was erased from memory that the White House itself and the Capitol too have always been open to US citizens and foreign visitors. The interior of the Capitol is open to the public. These are public buildings. //

The violence of Jan 6 and its subsequent service as a talking point by the Democrats’ leadership, risks its use also to justify the closing off of our public buildings from US citizens altogether.

This would be convenient for tyrants of any party.

Leaving aside the release of the additional Jan 6 footage and how it may or may not change our view of US history —- I must say that I am sorry for believing the dominant legacy-media “narrative” pretty completely from the time it was rolled out, without asking questions.

Those who violently entered the Capitol or who engaged in violence inside of it, must of course be held accountable. (As must violent protesters of every political stripe anywhere.)

But in addition, anyone in leadership who misrepresented to the public the events of the day so as to distort the complexity of its actual history — must also be held accountable.

Jan 6 has become, as the DNC intended it to become, after the fact, a “third rail”; a shorthand used to dismiss or criminalize an entire population and political point of view. //

Republicans, conservatives, I am sorry.

I also believed wholesale so much else that has since turned out not to be as I was told it was by NPR, MSNBC and The New York Times. //

Because of lies such as these in legacy media — lies which I and millions of others believed — half of our nation’s electorate was smeared and delegitimized, and I myself was misled.

It damages our nation when legacy media put words in the mouths of Presidents and former Presidents, and call them traitors or criminals without evidence.

It damages our country when we cannot tell truth from lies. This is exactly what tyrants seek — an electorate that cannot know what is truth and what is falsehood. //

But I like the liars who are our current gatekeepers, even less.

The gatekeepers who lie to the public about the most consequential events of our time — and who thus damage our nation, distort our history, and deprive half of our citizenry of their right to speak, champion and choose, without being tarred as would-be violent traitors - deserve our disgust.

I am sorry the nation was damaged by so much untruth issued by those with whom I identified at the time.

I am sorry my former “tribe” is angry at a journalist for engaging in —- journalism.

I am sorry I believed so much nonsense.

Though it is no doubt too little, too late —

Conservatives, Republicans, MAGA:

I am so sorry.

Capitalism and free markets are messy. They work best when non-idiots are at the helm but manage to plug along no matter what. If the nation decides that the government must insure every penny deposited in a bank, then sure as the sun rises, two things will follow. Next, stockholders and creditors will be protected because it wouldn’t be “fair” otherwise. Next, the federal government will take a much more active role in managing banks bringing with it all that implies.

I imagine the Federal Reserve will find some way to rescue the depositors. I’m ambivalent about that – I suppose it will happen – but I have to ask them what part of ‘guaranteed up to $250,000’ didn’t you understand? //

A lot of folks are claiming that not making depositors whole will create a loss of faith in the system. From my point of view, the problem with our financial system is entirely too much faith. Bankers have mutated from the ultra-cautious figures of the 40s and 50s into casino hustlers. Staid, fiscally conservative local and regional banks have been absorbed by behemoth companies who insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions by being “to big to fail.”

The availability of government bailouts to depositors and investors has prevented anyone from learning the lessons of the past. With barely a decade separating us from the 2007 catastrophe, you’d think that someone would remember that when gambling with investors’ money. //

I will NOT support a taxpayer bailout of Silicon Valley Bank. pic.twitter.com/s3wAV26iNL

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 11, 2023

I hope Matt Gaetz gets support in the House and the Senate. We need to draw a line in the sand here, for the good of the financial system and the nation. If you are a bank and become insolvent, you will be shut down. If you have more than $250,000 in your insured account, you’ll get back the exact amount that is insured. Companies that fold, even if they are cute little tech companies with bazillions in venture capital backing, are just roadkill. We can’t afford to perpetually subsidize the lousy judgment and cavalier attitude that seems to infest the financial services and banking industries any longer.