Mitch McConnell and the RNC

For John, BLUF:  What prompted this?  I think the Senate Minority Leader wants to show he is an independent person.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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McConnell blasts RNC resolution, calling Jan. 6 ‘violent insurrection’

From The Old Gray Lady, by Reporter Jonathan Weisman, 8 February 2022, 5:54 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, pushed back hard Tuesday on the Republican Party’s censure of Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and its characterization of Jan. 6 as “legitimate political discourse,” saying the riot was a “violent insurrection.”

The remarks from McConnell, the normally taciturn Kentucky Republican, added to a small but forceful chorus of GOP lawmakers who have decried the action that the Republican National Committee took Friday, when it officially rebuked Cheney and Kinzinger for participating in the House investigation of the Jan. 6 attack, accusing them of “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

McConnell repudiated that description, saying, “We saw it happen. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.”

In the days since the RNC passed the resolution at its winter meeting, a handful of Republicans have criticized the move as everything from a political distraction to a shame on the party. McConnell was among the most blunt.

I think "violent insurrection" is applying a broad brush to a lot of different actions and motivations.  For example, at least one person has said that Ashley Babbitt was trying to calm things down when she was shot and killed by a Capitol Police Officer.

Then there is the recent question of the woman who died, who was seen on the ground being struck by a police officer several times.  It is a good thing for Speker Pelosi that the crowd wssn't from AntiFa or Black Lives Matter.  That would present her with a dilemma..

Senate Minority Leder McConnell was correct in saying the Republicn National Committee should not have condemned Representtives Cheney and Kinzinger for participating in the House Committee investigating the 6 January 2021 imbroglio.  He went too far in saying it was an insurrection. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff