There's a long video going around with about 40 mins of footage of the breach of the Capitol. I don't feel good about linking to it, so I won't, but I'm sure you can find it if you want to. But a few things are obvious from the video itself.

One is that there clearly was a plan. You'll hear cries throughout of "We did this." Another is that there is a total spirit of anarchy. "Burn it down." Yet another is the myth of support for the police. "We don't want to hurt you but we will."

The guy who shot the video claims to have just been documenting the scene, according to some news stories. I don't buy it. He offers his knife several times to help break down doors, and he's clearly one of the guys saying, "Let's burn this **** down."

Another striking thing is the total mental and emotional captivity to the "stop the steal" lie. The frenzied energy of people on the front lines of it. It's really disturbing.

But even as you look at this fringy and deranged behavior, you can't separate it from the elites who inspired it and egged it on. Arendt (AGAIN) nailed the phenomenon:

"The temporary alliance between the elite and the mob rested largely on this genuine delight with which the former watched the latter destroy respectability." – Hannah Arendt, "Origins..."

She goes on in the passage to talk about how it wasn't high-minded political philosophy that shaped these world-changing events, but rumors, conspiracy theories, and the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" that served as their primary fuel.

*THIS* is why politicians who absolutely know better are indulging nonsense theories about the election, the constitution, and free speech. It's not ignorance or stupidity, it's opportunism and a lust for power, and a cynical belief that they can...

leverage the mob to achieve their own lust for power and celebrity. They have blood on their hands now, and I hope and pray the American people can have the good sense to shut them out of public life forever.