One of the most cited facts about January 6th was a mock gallows brought by some protesters who named Vice President Michael Pence as a candidate for the noose. The media continued to reference and show the gallows in its coverage. It has shown less interest in the appearance of a guillotine at prior pro-Palestine protests, at the Trump inauguration, and in the protests on Saturday against Donald Trump.
The appearance of the noose on January 6th was roundly condemned, including on this blog, at the time, but then became a talking point on the left to show that this was a violent attempt to overthrow the government. Harvard Professor Lawrence Tribe has even claimed that Trump should have been charged with the attempted murder of Pence.
The media seems less alarmed by such images on the left. At the Hands Off! protest organized by Indivisible, some apparently felt it was better to focus on heads off and the divisibility of their political opponents.
The reappearance of the device associated with “The Terror” of the French Revolution was a crude handicraft this weekend and carried by just a couple of protesters. It was a small, rather pathetic version in comparison to the earlier replicas. It was only meant to convey the anger of these particular protesters about what should happen to the likes of Musk and Trump.
The point is not that everyone in this protest, or even this couple, was encouraging violence. After all, these were just two unhinged protesters among thousands. Rather, this is how we treated rage rhetoric that is the point, which I discuss in my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Rage is a curious thing. If you agree with the underlying grievance it is righteous, if you disagree, it is dangerous.
For those who hate Trump, it is merely the amplification of their views and emotions. Indivisible and many Democratic politicians have been fueling the claim that democracy is dying and that we are living under a fascistic or oligarchic regime. On its website, Indivisible claims:
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way.
“They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam. They’re handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich.
If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.”
The reappearance of the guillotine on the left is ironic given the analogies in my column this weekend of this rising radical movement to the Jacobins for the French Revolution.
What is missing now is just a couple powdered wigs, a tumbrel, and a catchy tune.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
“Shuttering Social Security offices”
Yet the Biden administration kept Social Security offices closed to the public until April 22, a full year after vaccines were generally available, more than two years in all. And somehow the sky did not fall. Seniors,got their payments.
“Gutting Medicaid”
Total annual spending on Medicaid rose to $683 billion in 2020, the pandemic lockdown year. Then it ballooned during Biden-Harris, to $914 billion in 2024. Cutting Medicaid ŵill not gut Medicaid
About this Trump rage:
I haven’t seen any rage when “confused” biden was tripping around.
How is it possible that there are still people willing to follow liberals?
– Only fools dont understand what America is.
– Only fools would ever follow shadowy leader/ instigator G Sorros
– Only failed and thoroughly corrupt justice system can tolerate hardcore criminals like soros, gates etc etc.
Its the same failed system that stigmatizes and destroys innocent people (J6), while people like soros are clearly above the law.
The guillotine doesn’t necessarily mean the protesters are ready to hurt people. Obviously they’re saying that, next the government will just execute dissenters.
#9. Soros will spare no dollar providing all the Hollywood trappings for the paid actors he buses in all gussied up in their commercial tee shirts and assembly line banner signs. And of course, the Rockefeller Brothers, Hollywood elitists, with barely one of them able to articulate just exactly what it is they are protesting. As long as they get their free meals, travel expenses, and hotel rooms, their good!
These people might have a single brain cell bouncing around in their heads; likely many if them are simply empty.
Oh, and why do protestors wear masks? Because they are (nearly) all the SAME funded damn people, every time. And there were *single* BLM protests before cuts bigger than this was *collectively nationwide*. Funny how much has changed coinciding with USAID matters.
https://x.com/TonySeruga/status/1908704326379593779
” The left decries political violence like January 6th”
How many are still falling for this hoax? The only purported riot in world history launched by a crowd of middle-aged and elderly people.
Who actually committed the violence ? (I mean aside from violence of police assaulting non-violent protesters, there’s plenty of video evidence of that.) Four were killed that day, at least three died at least partly as a result of police actions, and none of them had been fighting with police. No cops died on January 6, Brian Sicknick died of natural causes the next day. It’s pure speculation that the J6 events had anything to do with his death by stroke on Jan 7. Daily life in any major US metroplitan area is full of incidents that could cause someone susceptible to have a fatal stroke.
The most violent protester on J6 was a homeless, unemployed black guy named Emanuel Jackson who was eventualy deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. He was charged with hitting police repeatedly with a baseball bat. He sounds like a likely recruit for one of the DNC’s “bird-dogging” operations against Trump supporters. You can find hits for Democrat “bird-dogging” even on Google, but other search engines will provide more.
CORRECTION: Three died by nonviolent means on Jan 6 and one was murdered in cold blood….a female veteran named Ashli Babbit….killed by a racist cop, a coward named Michael Byrd. Jan 6 IS observed as Ashli Babbitt Day.
Ashli Babbit DIED of the Big Lie. She was breaking the law when she was lawfully shot by a Capitol Police Officer in the line of duty, defending the last barrier to the Speaker’s Lobby. She was in a place she had no right to occupy and proceeded through a broken window despite guns being pointed at her. In fact, Capitol Police used excessive restraint on January 6th. The machine guns should have come out when the Trump Army broke through the police barricades.
In a civilized society, you don’t shoot and kill unarmed citizens, without warning, for hypothetically “trespassing! Are you a brainless heathen, Lefty? WTF! Get a grip! Me thinks you are mentally ill…..indeed, one sick puppy.
No, Ashli Babbitt was not shot and killed. That was not real.
Thank you Professor Turley for linking your recent article in “The Hill” – Re: “The liberals’ license:” comparing today’s Left to the radical Jacobins of the 1790’s who instigated the “Reign of Terror” during the the French Revolution.
“The Jacobins were a radical group in France that propelled that country into the worst excesses of the French Revolution. They were largely affluent citizens, including journalists, professors, lawyers, and others who shredded existing laws and destroyed property. It would ultimately lead not only to the blood-soaked “Reign of Terror” but also to the demise of the Jacobins themselves as more radical groups turned against them.”
Rather than “as more radical groups turned against them” I believe it would be more accurate to say more Moderate groups turned on them – i.e. “The Thermidorian Reaction refers to the period following the overthrow and execution of Maximilien Robespierre on July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, Year II), marking the end of the Reign of Terror and the beginning of a more moderate phase of the French Revolution.”
There may be some hope for us after all.
Thank You, Prof.Turley.. In support of your Spot On analysis, let’s be clear: There Is NO OLIGARCHY. No one is taking over or being given Private Ownership of Govt. Owned or Supervised Entities or Properties.. a good example of which is what happened in the USSR/Russia.. which put the CORE Major & Enormous Wealth of the Country, once Govt. supervised or owned, into the PRIVATE OWNERSHIP of a small circle Private Individuals. In the USA, Both Trump & Musk have their own wealth and neither is being paid for their Govt. roles. Major players at DOGE have also earned their own wealth in business, etc. and are Volunteers. As far as taking over or getting rid of Govt. Entities like Social Security, etc.. Musk has been Explicit that NONE of these Govt machines & benefits are going away and indeed would benefit as well by stopping the flow of the Fraud pipeline. Trump, as in his first term, gives his full 4 years salary (except $1.00 for a legal reason) back to the Govt. and Musk is an SGE serving as a Volunteer. In uncovering the Massive Fraud, low hanging fruit first, many Good & Patriotic established Govt. Staffers who had seen what was going on, gladly worked with DOGE and this work has hit the nerves of those who prefer that such things appearing to be NGO Money Laundering schemes remain in tact & uncovered.. of those many of whom are funding these ‘protest rallies’ and whipping up the Dem/Radical Left Hate fervour… Re: the ‘gallows’ that very early on broke into the peaceful march portion of J6.. many witnesses reported it was brought in suddenly by persons who came into the ranks of the peaceful protesters down on the Mall even before any of them even knew what Pence was doing… Many present then suspected that this was a prop devised by the Non-Trump Supporters who knew what was going on inside Congress & wanted to instigate violence., as the ‘energy’ was ‘off’ from all the peaceful Mall walkers where this infiltrated.. As for this weekend’s ‘protest rally’ down on the adjacent little park area off the Mall, my Mall Walking there can attest that this was by no means ‘Massive’ as the MSM portrayed.. the rabble rousing clueless people given their ‘Hate & Violence’ orders by celebrities like Raskin… the pardoned J6 Inquisition member… Can even 1 of these people answer why uncovering such Fraud & Corruption and dismissing disloyal people who maintained this ‘cottage industry’ within the Govt. is Not a Great Achievement for the USA & All of us?
What about this line: “If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.” implies a call to violence? Nothing. And Americans ARE FIGHTING to save the freedoms our predecessor fought for–peacefully. There were over 1,200 peaceful protests all over America yesterday, in red and blue states and cities. All kinds of Americans–young and old alike–showed up to tell Trump, Musk and Repubicans “Hands Off”. Their signs and artwork were amazingly creative.
This is just another sad effort by Turley to undercut the significance of a president, in office less than 3 months, motivating citizens to take to the streets in protest and to equate protests against Trump and Musk with January 6th or to try to feed into his sad and empty theory that “the Left” is irrationally driven by “rage”–to try to sell books, maybe? There’s one YUGE difference–the “Hands Off” and other anti-Trump/Musk/Republican protests are RIGHTEOUS. To cheat his way back into office, Trump lied about immediately bringing down the cost of groceries and that he would not implement Project 2025–something he claimed he knew nothing about. Then, he immediately began hiring the authors of Project 2025 and implementing its provisions. Trump’s January 6 Insurrection, set off by the Big Lie is NOT RIGHTEOUS–it was the product of the massive ego of a narcissistic sociopath who refused to accept the will of the American people. The same American people who do NOT want the power to arbitrarily fire federal employees, cut off aid to starving people, cuts to Medicare, Social Security, school lunches, the elimination of the Department of Education and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sold to the world’s richest man, who was the highest bidder. And, it’s not just street protests–there are crowded town halls, massive increases in calls to members of Congress, and demonstrations outside Tesla dealerships. And, BTW, Teslas are being set on fire in France and Italy, too–are Democrats traveling overseas to do this? I’m asking YOU, Karen S.
Ain’t communism great? Merit and endeavor are not required. Everything is free for those who protest.
Did you forget about the leftists throwing fire bombs into Tesla dealerships? Or does that count as a “mostly peaceful protest” since no one was killed?
The Leftist media—-but I repeat myself—-deem protests mostly peaceful, even as the city in the background rages in flames.
#9. Hahaha, and with all that money that Soros throws into this, a whopping 1,200 paid and chauffeured malcontents managed to drag themselves to another grueling day at work pretending to protest something, anything really. The money’s not bad. Soros pays well.
If the cause is JUST, then have the courage to show your face in protest! Those with ‘veiled faces’ are rarely in the right, but only intent on rabble-rousing and destruction. And don’t bring a French symbol of ‘protest’ (guillotine). Long-standing inequities take tough measures to correct. Freedom and liberty come at a cost that has been neglected far too long.
America is simple; the complexity is unconstitutional.
The American thesis is freedom and self-reliance.
The communist thesis is dictatorship and sustenance by the state.
The American Founders gave Americans the freedom to endeavor and succeed, not the freedom to obtain the “free stuff” and “free status” of parasites and leeches.
Americans are also free to establish a charity in the free markets of the private sector and free to donate all of their assets to charitable organizations or causes.
The “manifest tenor” of the Constitution includes limiting taxation by Congress to that of debt, defense, and “general Welfare (i.e., roads, water, electricity, internet, post office, sewer, etc.),” not financial assistance, financial favor, and charity; it also includes limiting regulation by Congress to that of the value of money, commerce among nations, states, and Indian tribes, and “land and naval Forces”.
As but one example, Social Security may not be taxed for and funded per Article 1, Section 8, and is an unconstitutional, unviable, fraudulent Ponzi scheme that must have been struck down by the Supreme Court as such; Medicare and Medicaid are similarly unconstitutional and may not be taxed for or funded per the same Article.
Private property is not public property; the absolute 5th Amendment right to private property allows only the owner to “claim and exercise” dominion; the 5th Amendment denies any and all levels of government any power over private property other than its taking after just compensation.
The entire communist American welfare state of wealth redistribution and social engineering is unconstitutional.
No citation of the Constitution establishing a legal basis for any aspect of wealth redistribution and social engineering by the welfare state exists or is possible.
Never should the communist American welfare state have been allowed to illicitly flourish in America under its Constitution.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
I once again note that the Supreme Court held that Social Security was constitutional in Helvering v Davis (1937).
And the partial and biased Supreme Court of 1869 found that because secession is not prohibited, secession is prohibited.
And the totally corrupt Supreme Court of 1973 “decided” that abortion was a federal constitutional right.
You repeat the same idiocy.
Please cite the Constitution for any legal basis for Social Security.
Read Article 1, Section 8, which provides Congress the power to tax for and fund ONLY debt, defense, and “general welfare”—ALL WELL PROCEED—which is basic infrastructure to include roads, water, post office, electricity, internet, etc.
And the same Article provides Congress NO power to regulate the retirement investment industry.
Helvering v Davis (1937) is partial, biased, and laughable corruption exercised for the benefit of anti-Constitution progressives.
General Welfare—All Well Proceed—is not some, one, or a few; not individual welfare, specific welfare, or particular welfare; not favor; and not charity.
Social Security is not “general welfare,” understanding that it provides money to only 18.7% of the population.
If Social Security is “general welfare,” so are food, clothing, toilet paper, housing, toothpaste, transportation, entertainment, television, radio, air travel, and everything else in life.
Social Security is a Ponzi scheme that is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors, per Wikipedia.
Social Security is not financially viable and will “wither on the vine” of self-destruction without infusions from the general tax fund.
As Roe v. Wade was finally struck down by a rational Supreme Court, so must Helvering v. Davis (1937).
If you would simply acknowledge existing Supreme Court opinions in your daily initial comments about constitutional issues, then I would not have to continue to bring them up.
You seem to consider the judges the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges … and their power [are] the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and are not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control. The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruptions of time and party, its members would become despots. It has more wisely made all the departments co-equal and co-sovereign within themselves … . When the legislative or executive functionaries act unconstitutionally, they are responsible to the people in their elective capacity. The exemption of the judges from that is quite dangerous enough. I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves. …. — Jefferson Letter to Mr. Jarvis, Sept, 1820
This case of Marbury and Madison is continually cited by bench and bar, as if it were settled law, without any animadversions on its being merely an obiter dissertation of the Chief Justice … . But the Chief Justice says, “there must be an ultimate arbiter somewhere.” True, there must; but … . The ultimate arbiter is the people ….— Jefferson Letter to Judge William Johnson, June 1823
“Nothing in the Constitution has given them [the federal judges] a right to decide for the Executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them. . . . The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves, in their own sphere of action, but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.” (Jefferson Letter to Abigail Adams, September 11, 1804)
“Our Constitution . . . intending to establish three departments, co-ordinate and independent that they might check and balance one another, it has given—according to this opinion to one of them alone the right to prescribe rules for the government of others; and to that one, too, which is unelected by and independent of the nation. . . . The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.” (Jefferson Letter to Judge Spencer Roane, Sept. 6, 1819)
“…[Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please;…”
“The laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Tar and feathering is more American.
The protests and the guillotine symbolize the increasing frustration among the people. Even Republicans are turning against the harmful tariffs, which will hurt our economy more than others and ultimately benefit China. China has the manufacturing capabilities to quickly produce what other countries need, and the risk of them forming trade agreements that exclude us is real. We may find ourselves needing to plead with China and others to resume trade.
Trump’s tariffs are a disaster, and those he put in charge are incompetent. The market is showing the negative impact, with many people’s 401(k)s suffering and social security threatened due to mismanagement similar to that seen in USAID and NIH.
Republicans are repeating past mistakes, creating a recession that usually hits them hard in the midterms, leaving Democrats to clean up the mess. Trump could have maintained a stable economy by staying out of it, but his ego compels him to take the lead. If Democrats gain control of Congress, Trump will be rendered ineffective in the next two years.
He’s also alienating independents and some of his own supporters, which is troubling for Republicans. Even in a divided Democratic party, they can quickly unite against a common threat.
Trump has effectively imposed a significant tax increase on all Americans through these tariffs, which has angered many. He promised to lower prices and curb inflation but has instead relied on tariffs to fund his tax cuts, while still pushing for $800 billion cuts to Medicaid.
Why do the ultra-rich still need tax cuts?
ONE TRILLION DOLLAR AMERICAN TRADE DEFICIT
No country can sustain a deficit of that magnitude; China et al. have been laughing their way to the bank for half a century.
The monumental and illegitimate tariffs of other countries are the problem that President Donald J. Trump is repairing for the benefit of the American economy and Americans.
Clearly George is a communist ally of China and a direct and mortal enemy of the American thesis of Freedom and Self-Reliance, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, actual Americans, and America.
You don’t know how trade works. Neither does Trump and that is the problem. That kind of incompetence and stupidity is what will hand over more power to China. They are in a position to engage in bilateral trade agreements with other countries or groups of countries and completely bypass our markets. China is making itself more attractive to even our allies. Canada can sell it’s oil to China instead of us. Mexico could do the same thing. OPEC would once again provide more oil to the US and put us in a position to rely on middle east oil once again.
Trump will either backtrack before the next two months are up. Or we will double down and give China the openng it needs to surpass US world influence.
^^^^^From George the Expert on trade, law, legislation, economy, medicine, education, and politics.
You just keep paying attention and get an education in the near future.
We can “circle back” to your fatuous words later.
Or we may pay them no heed and simply ignore them; it makes no difference.
yeh, the “nobody cares” expert known as george loses people’s interest and respect right after they read his kook. Most people lose interest in the news after a few months or years.
Did the Framers of the Constitution know how trade works?
Democrats are clear…they are Fascists…and they will DO ANYTHING to GET power and money
so CUT off the money
End Federal Aid to cities, states, non-profits, colleges/students
Ban Public Unions, which are an organized Political Army for Democrats!