By 
On January sixth, 2021, President Donald Trump, the previous actuality tv star of NBC’s The Apprentice, escalated his assault on 244 years of democratic rule by inciting a mob of his supporters to interrupt into the US Capitol constructing. In pictures that may hang-out our republic for generations, Trump’s crazed supporters terrorized our elected representatives and their staffs and compelled them to evacuate the seat of American authorities. CBS Information studies that 4 individuals died within the ensuing chaos.
Trump is now lastly dealing with a ban from Fb and Twitter. For greater than 4 years he has polluted the web, turning massive swaths of our shared areas into fever swamps of conspiracy and hatred. At finest, platforms have quickly restricted his capacity to put up — at common, they’ve labeled his tweets with delicate warnings about their accuracy.
In fact, no one with a rational bone of their physique is confused in regards to the intentions or character of the president. He started his presidential marketing campaign with a racist diatribe and has labored diligently since then to stoke partisan strife all through the nation. In 2017, I argued that Twitter must ban Trump as a type of direct motion. And final June, after Trump ordered armed federal authorities to assault peaceable protesters in Washington, DC, I argued that platforms ought to ban each Trump and people in Congress who continued to allow his violence.
It’s fashionable for some within the tech press to ascribe the entire evils of our current second to the mechanisms of web platforms. I perceive the temptation. However Fb and Twitter are usually not solely liable for the president’s harm, nor that of his supporters. Nonetheless, it’s true that these platforms have immense and unprecedented energy over human speech. And their guidelines usually privilege these already in energy. On Fb, Twitter, and different platforms, Trump has to this point been largely exempt from the restrictions positioned on those that converse in opposition to him. Trump, in any case, as soon as mentioned that he loves Twitter as a result of it’s like proudly owning a newspaper with none of the losses. He’s confirmed that the platforms we’ve praised for increasing speech may be hijacked to assault it.
However what’s executed is completed. For now, I’ll settle for the meager sense of aid supplied by Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey in declaring {that a} bodily assault on democracy is the road that may’t be crossed by an American president. Possibly they’ll revert to enterprise as normal — however I hope they really feel the identical shock and worry tens of millions of us felt on January sixth as we watched the inside sanctum of our democracy defiled by meme lords and pathetic insurrectionists dragging accomplice flags.
However, finally, Zuckerberg and Dorsey aren’t elected officers. Highly effective? Sure. Formally accountable to guard constitutional authorities? No. These can be the members of Congress, who simply days in the past swore to guard the legal guidelines of the land. Extremely, after returning to Congress by means of blood and shattered glass, 146 of those members voted to proceed inflaming the misguided passions of those that have been deluded by web conspiracy theories and different harmful lies. They voted to assist the president’s lie that the election was stolen, even after the president directed his supporters to assault the Congress.
Listed below are their names:
(Replace January seventh, 3:25AM: 17 names have been added to the unique record of 129 following a vote to object to the outcomes of the Pennsylvania election.)
United States Senate
Josh Hawley (R-MO)
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
John Kennedy (R-LA)
Roger Marshall (R-KS)
Rick Scott (R-FL)
Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
United States Home of Representatives
Robert Aderholt (R-AL)
Rick Allen (R-GA)
Jodey Arrington (R-TX)
Brian Babin (R-TX)
Jim Baird (R-IN)
Jim Banks (R-IN)
Cliff Bentz (R-OR)
Jack Bergman (R-MI)
Stephanie Bice (R-OK)
Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
Dan Bishop (R-NC)
Lauren Boebert (R-CO)
Mike Bost (R-IL)
Mo Brooks (R-AL)
Ted Budd (R-NC)
Tim Burchett (R-TN)
Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Kat Cammack (R-FL)
Jerry Carl (R-AL)
Earl Carter (R-GA)
John Carter (R-TX)
Madison Cawthorn (R-NC)
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Ben Cline (R-VA)
Michael Cloud (R-TX)
Andrew Clyde (R-GA)
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Rick Crawford (R-AR)
Warren Davidson (R-OH)
Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Byron Donalds (R-FL)
Jeff Duncan (R-SC)
Neal Dunn (R-FL)
Ron Estes (R-KS)
Pat Fallon (R-TX)
Michelle Fischbach (R-MN)
Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI)
Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
C. Scott Franklin (R-FL)
Russ Fulcher (R-ID)
Matt Gaetz (R-FL)
Mike Garcia (R-CA)
Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
Carlos Gimenez (R-FL)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Bob Good (R-VA)
Lance Gooden (R-TX)
Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
Sam Graves (R-MO)
Mark Inexperienced (R-TN)
Marjorie Greene (R-GA)
Morgan Griffith (R-VA)
Michael Visitor (R-MS)
Jim Hagedorn (R-MN)
Andy Harris (R-MD)
Diana Harshbarger (R-TN)
Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)
Kevin Hern (R-OK)
Yvette Herrell (R-NM)
Jody Hice (R-GA)
Clay Higgins (R-LA)
Richard Hudson (R-NC)
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Ronny Jackson (R-TX)
Chris Jacobs (R-NY)
Mike Johnson (R-LA)
Invoice Johnson (R-OH)
Jim Jordan (R-OH)
John Joyce (R-PA)
Fred Keller (R-PA)
Trent Kelly (R-MS)
Mike Kelly (R-PA)
David Kustoff (R-TN)
Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
Jake LaTurner (R-KS)
Debbie Lesko (R-AZ)
Billy Lengthy (R-MO)
Barry Loudermilk (R-GA)
Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)
Tracey Mann (R-KS)
Brian Mast (R-FL)
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Lisa McClain (R-MI)
Daniel Meuser (R-PA)
Mary Miller (R-IL)
Carol Miller (R-WV)
Alexander Mooney (R-WV)
Barry Moore (R-AL)
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
Greg Murphy (R-NC)
Troy Nehls (R-TX)
Ralph Norman (R-SC)
Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Jay Obernolte (R-CA)
Burgess Owens (R-UT)
Steven Palazzo (R-MS)
Gary Palmer (R-AL)
Greg Pence (R-IN)
Scott Perry (R-PA)
August Pfluger (R-TX)
Invoice Posey (R-FL)
Man Reschenthaler (R-PA)
Tom Rice (R-SC)
Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Harold Rogers (R-KY)
John Rose (R-TN)
Matthew Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT)
David Rouzer (R-NC)
John Rutherford (R-FL)
Steve Scalise (R-LA)
David Schweikert (R-AZ)
Pete Periods (R-TX)
Jason Smith (R-MO)
Adrian Smith (R-NE)
Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
W. Gregory Steube (R-FL)
Chris Stewart (R-UT)
Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
Thomas Tiffany (R-WI)
William Timmons IV (R-SC)
Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)
Beth Van Duyne (R-TX)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Jackie Walorski (R-IN)
Randy Weber, Sr. (R-TX)
Daniel Webster (R-FL)
Roger Williams (R-TX)
Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Robert Wittman (R-VA)
Ron Wright (R-TX)
Lee Zeldin (R-NY)
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