Lindsey Graham Tells Police That If Trumpist Seditionists Get Out Of Hand Saturday, "Whack 'em"

Insurrectionist Roger Stone has been dodging process servers for over a month but was doing a live radio show when one caught up with him and served him with a summons for his role in the violent 1/6 Trump coup attempt. The idiot then posted the summons online, revealing his address to anyone who might want to pie him:

As you know, on Saturday, some far right groups have called for another pro-Trump rally-- although they're begging people not to wear Trump-branded clothing-- to protest the arrests of the first batch of insurrectionists-- who, taking their cue from Putin, they call "political prisoners." The Republican office holders who helped Trump incite the first riot-- like Mo Brooks (R-AL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Madison Cawthorn (Nazi-NC), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Bob Good (VA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Marjorie Traitor Greene (Q-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Lauren Boebert (Q-CO)-- are staying clear of this one. Only a handful of extremist candidates have announced they'll be addressing the mob, like the Trump candidate opposing Jaime Herrera-Buetler in Washington:

And the crackpot neo-fascist Republican running for Jody Hice's seat in Georgia-- one of over a dozen-- now that Hice is running as a Trump Revenge candidate against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger:

The unexpectedly huge landslide victory in California against Trump and the recall took the wind out of the fascists' sails and the Sept 18th rally is looking like it will be a bust, probably just a fraction of the number of original 1/6 rioters. The Trumpist organizer, Matt Braynard, tweeted a threat on Tuesday that anyone carrying a Trump sign will be "assumed to be an infiltrator," and "made famous." It's unlikely there will be even a thousand people showing up.

Writing for the NY Times yesterday, Luke Broadwater reported that "Not a single member of Congress has confirmed his or her attendance, even those who have been most outspoken in portraying the rioters as patriots who have been persecuted for their political beliefs. 'There are a lot of clearly angry people who want to march on the Capitol,' said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican. 'I haven’t talked to a single Republican up here in the Senate that has encouraged or enabled anything like that.'"

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Nevertheless, the “Justice for J6” rally, to be held at noon on Saturday at the foot of Capitol Hill, has created a predicament for Republicans, who are caught between a hard-right base including many voters who consider the rioters righteous and a desire to distance themselves from the attack and its political fallout.

“Anytime the attention is on Joe Biden it’s good for Republicans, and anytime the attention is on Jan. 6 it’s bad for Republicans,” said John Feehery, a Republican strategist and veteran of Capitol Hill. “The only hope Democrats have of keeping the House is to make Jan. 6 the issue of the campaign. They know that, and we know that. The only people who don’t seem to know that are the activists.”

That has left top Republicans in an uncomfortable spot, toiling to distance themselves from an event that is certain to dredge up the subject of the Capitol riot-- and that could potentially spiral out of control-- but wary of offending voters who sympathize with the cause.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, told reporters this week that he did not expect any lawmaker in his party to attend, but his office had no response to questions about whether he supported the rally or was dissuading people from attending. Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Elise Stefanik of New York, the second- and third-ranking House Republicans, have been similarly taciturn about the event.

Even Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who has been among the most vocal critics of the treatment of the Jan. 6 suspects, said she would not be attending the rally, even as she defended the inspiration behind it.

“There’s a two-track justice system in America, and the treatment of the J6 political prisoners compared with violent antifa/BLM rioters proves it,” she said in a lengthy email statement.

Greene said she condemned the violence that occurred during the riot, but said she believed that “illegal aliens are treated better than many of the J6 accused.”

In shunning the event, Republicans are following the lead of Trump himself, who has been uncharacteristically silent about it even though he has in the past defended the mob.

Trump, aides said, has little interest in engaging with the protest and has no plans to be anywhere near Washington on Saturday. Instead, his schedule includes a golf tournament at his Bedminster, N.J., club before he heads back down to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to people familiar with his schedule.

Trump views the planned protest as a setup that the news media will use against him regardless of the outcome, according to people familiar with his thinking.

But disquiet in the party is real on behalf of the Jan. 6 defendants, particularly those who are charged with nonviolent offenses, Feehery said. He said many Republican voters believed that the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol would have received lighter treatment if they had been supporting a left-wing cause.

“I can appreciate why Republicans don’t want anything to do with this,” he said, “but there is a lot of angst in the Republican base.”

...Braynard also announced that Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, would attend a future “Justice for J6” rally in Columbia, S.C. But Norman’s spokesman said he would not be attending.

Asked if he believed Republican leaders were discouraging his efforts, Mr. Braynard said, “You’d have to ask them that.”

In the Senate, Republicans have also worked to distance themselves from the rally, with many arguing that it is a distraction.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said he believed the police were “well equipped to handle” whatever might occur.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who led objections to President Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, said he was not attending and was focusing on other issues. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, another Republican who objected to the election results and was in close contact with Mr. Trump’s inner circle before and during the riot, also said he would not participate.

“I don’t expect a lot of people there,” Mr. Tuberville said. “I haven’t heard anything about it. I will not be there.”

Still others said they had little sympathy for the Jan. 6 defendants, and encouraged a forceful response from the police should Saturday’s crowd turn violent.

“They need to take a firm line, buddy,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an on-again, off-again ally of Trump’s. “If anybody gets out of line, they need to whack ’em.”