Whence The Narrative?

It's plain that the QAnon Trump conspiracy theory of the January 6 Capitol demonstration has been collapsing for months, and news reports on the Justice for J6 rally in Washington yesterday indicate that it was attended by roughly 400 people who were at least not clearly identifiable as FBI or provocateurs, although of even the presumptive ordinary citizens, it's hard to know how many of those were also agents of some sort.

A fascinating episode was captured in the video at this tweet, wherein Capitol police in full Star Wars Trooper regalia surround an individual dressed as an Antifa type, complete with black bandana mask, only to discover that he's undercover -- and not just undercover, but given his outfit, clearly a government provocateur. Without arresting him or cuffing him, they escort him from the scene, at that point to keep reporters away.

And that was the big event of the afternoon. From occasional remarks by conservative YouTubers, especially after the FBI-led "conspiracy" to kidnap Gov Whitmer, they're contacted now and then by people who make crudely transparent attempts to bring them into something or other, but they're not hard to identify and shoo away.

The big event that turned Bill Clinton's presidency around following debacles with Hillarycare, Mogadishu, and Waco was the Oklahoma City bombing, a legitimate conspiracy among right-wing paramilitary types. Clinton was able to perfect a strategy of triangulation, portraying himself as the safe and sane middle between extremes. In retrospect, Clinton was sometimes successful as a moderate, especially in comparison to Biden.

I think the agenda behind the Justice for J6 event, which Trump correctly labeled a "setup", was to portray Trump supporters and Republicans in the same light as the Oklahoma City bombers, complete, it would seem, with black-clad provocateurs to make sure something like that might take place. Biden's handlers could then turn him into some sort of moderate uniter a la Clinton. The simple problem is that Biden isn't Clinton.

The actual result looks more like a good plot for an Austin Powers sequel. As an Aristotelian, I look for causes. Who thought this woulld be a good idea? Who had the juice to put all those agents in bermudas and sunglasses on the job?

I don't think either Biden or his handlers are capable of this; right now, they're in heads-down mode trying to solve their daily humiliations. The strategic thinker here is Speaker Pelosi, who's been trying to gain traction with January 6 since it took place, first impeaching a lame duck Trump days from his leaving office, then trying to gin up a House investigation.

Her strategy is pretty clearly to try to portray Republicans -- or at least, Republicans who aren't Lynne Cheney -- as domestic terrorists. She's trying to do this with an extremely slim House majority and a tied Senate, with every likelihood that with the next election, she'll lose the Speakership. As of now, she's calling the shots. I think it's reasonable to assume that if she called Gen Milley to give him orders, she's done the same with Director Wray and Attorney General Garland.

It reminds me a little of Winston Churchill, who late in World War II evaluated the option of trying to assassinate Hitler. Together with his generals, he decided the problem with that would be the Germans might replace Hitler with someone competent. Best to keep Hitler in place.

Same with Pelosi.