Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
After the Real Thing, Nunes Gins Up a 'Coordinated Attack' on Democracy
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 4 years ago on
January 11, 2021

Share

Rep. Devin Nunes isn’t a lawyer, but he plays one on TV.

He isn’t a political scientist either, yet he throws around words without understanding their meaning.

And, he certainly isn’t a statesman trying to appeal, as Abraham Lincoln said in his first inaugural address, to the “better angels of our nature.”

Portrait of GV Wire News Director Bill McEwen

Bill McEwen

Opinion

Nunes is a flame-thrower for whom a day without headlines is a day of regret.

That makes the Republican Tulare congressman one of the most dangerous elected officials in America at a time the radicalized right seeks to incite our nation’s second Civil War.

Without Parler, Nunes Says He’s Been Silenced

I don’t know whether Nunes’ rantings flow from political ambition, deep-rooted insecurities, or a combination of the two.

Given a forum by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo to address the nation on Sunday after the Capitol Riots, Nunes talked about his recent book “Countdown to Socialism” and blasted the decisions by Amazon, Apple, and Google to suspend the conservative social media platform Parler.

There “should be a racketeering investigation on all the people that coordinated this attack on not only a company but on all of those like us,” Nunes said.

“I have 3 million followers on Parler. Tonight I will no longer be able to communicate with those people and they’re Americans.”

Typical Nunes. Again playing the victim. Again peddling fake news.

For the record, Nunes still has a Twitter account and The Devin Nunes Podcast, which is available on multiple platforms. I mean who wouldn’t want to listen to “Pee Tape Truthers Should Not Be Confirmed” again and again?

Moreover, Nunes could schedule an old-fashioned, in-person town hall, which he is loath to do because he might actually hear from Democratic constituents. He also has carte blanche from Fox News.

As for a coordinated attack on democracy, that’s what took place Wednesday in D.C.

Thus far, Nunes hasn’t been concerned enough to issue a statement condemning the death and destruction at our nation’s Capitol.

Yet we don’t hear Nunes telling the radicalized right to stand down. Or for Americans to come together. He’d rather conjure more unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, deny that Biden won the election, and sow division.

Amazon, Apple, and Google are businesses. Clients agree to their terms and conditions. If you violate them, you get cut off. Pulling the cord on Parler had nothing to do with censorship or free speech. It was a business decision and a recognition that some of the people using Parler were afforded free rein to plan their attempted coup and keep President Donald Trump in office.

But this no-shirt, no-shoes, no-service reality didn’t stop Nunes from falsely claiming the decision was a violation of First Amendment rights. As Schenck v. United States in 1919 determined, free speech doesn’t protect the right to incite actions that would harm others.

Nunes Must Have Slept Through Poly-Sci Classes

Nunes the wanna-be political scientist is as dangerously inept as Nunes the wanna-be lawyer.

Depending on the day, he describes the left as socialists, communists, or fascists.

The reality is, America’s many governments are hybrids. They blend capitalism and socialism.

That is, to say, our governments combine free markets while providing public education and building Nunes’ beloved highways and dams. The U.S. also offers a public safety net — unemployment insurance, food stamps, and social security, for example. There are subsidies to farmers so they can grow the crops that feed Americans and people around the world.

Nunes may hate socialism, but I’ve never heard him complain about government help for farmers.

Fascism, meanwhile, opposes state ownership. The far-right ideology promotes extreme nationalism and authoritarianism and could care less about economic inequality. Fascist countries typically are led by dictators. Which Trump pined — and still does — to be.

Nunes Really Is a Farmer: He Sows Division

Earlier this year, we saw the seeds of insurrection when protestors stormed past police into state Capitol buildings in Idaho, Michigan, and Oregon.

Last Wednesday, some of the insurrectionists in D.C. wore black t-shirts proclaiming “Civil War Jan. 6, 2021.” And, the FBI says that extremists are exhorting Trump supporters to “storm” the U.S. Capitol again and stage “armed protests” at state government buildings across the country ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Yet we don’t hear Nunes telling the radicalized right to stand down. Or for Americans to come together.

He’d rather conjure more unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, deny that Biden won the election, and sow division.

[activecampaign form=19]

 

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Felony DUI Cases Drop Sharply in 2024, DA’s Data Shows

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man With Multiple DUIs Gets 30 Years for Crash That Killed Two

DON'T MISS

JOANN Fabrics and Crafts to Close Visalia Distribution Facility, Shedding 209 Jobs

DON'T MISS

Meux Home, Once Questioned by City Council, Now Honored

DON'T MISS

Kings County Sheriff Says Arrested Homicide/Kidnapping Suspect Had Fled to Mexico

DON'T MISS

Man Rescued After Falling 25 Feet Into Drainage Pipe in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Has Fresno Unified Finally Planted the Flag for an Academic Revolution?

DON'T MISS

Italy Blocks Access to Chinese AI Application DeepSeek to Protect Users’ Data

DON'T MISS

What’s In a School Name? Central Trustees Opt Not to Seek Communitywide Input This Time

DON'T MISS

Super Bowl 2025: Time, Channel, Halftime Show, How to Watch Chiefs vs. Eagles Livestream

UP NEXT

Trump Is Going Woke on Energy

UP NEXT

Why CA Fire Response Could Make or Break These Political Careers

UP NEXT

Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.

UP NEXT

Trump’s Plan to Crush the Academic Left

UP NEXT

Trump Leaves Democrats Dazed and on the Defensive

UP NEXT

What’s in Store for California if It Splits From the US?

UP NEXT

Trump Is Already Making America Weaker and More Vulnerable

UP NEXT

LA Fires Add Tricky New Wrinkle to Trump-Newsom Feud

UP NEXT

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

UP NEXT

Even This Year Is the Best Time Ever to Be Alive

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Meux Home, Once Questioned by City Council, Now Honored

16 hours ago

Kings County Sheriff Says Arrested Homicide/Kidnapping Suspect Had Fled to Mexico

16 hours ago

Man Rescued After Falling 25 Feet Into Drainage Pipe in Fresno

17 hours ago

Has Fresno Unified Finally Planted the Flag for an Academic Revolution?

17 hours ago

Italy Blocks Access to Chinese AI Application DeepSeek to Protect Users’ Data

18 hours ago

What’s In a School Name? Central Trustees Opt Not to Seek Communitywide Input This Time

18 hours ago

Super Bowl 2025: Time, Channel, Halftime Show, How to Watch Chiefs vs. Eagles Livestream

18 hours ago

Collision Between Helicopter and Jetliner Kills 67 in Nation’s Worst Air Disaster in a Generation

19 hours ago

World Champion Russian Skaters on American Airlines Jet Built a New Life as Coaches in the US

19 hours ago

Fresno County Confirms Two Flu Deaths While Nationwide Stats Rise

19 hours ago

Fresno County Felony DUI Cases Drop Sharply in 2024, DA’s Data Shows

Fresno County saw a notable decrease in felony DUI cases in 2024, with fewer cases filed and significantly fewer sentences compared to the p...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Fresno County Felony DUI Cases Drop Sharply in 2024, DA’s Data Shows

A repeat DUI offender, Jaime Figueroa, 68, of Fresno, was sentenced to 30 years to life for a 2022 Fresno crash that killed two people on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Fresno County SO)
15 hours ago

Fresno Man With Multiple DUIs Gets 30 Years for Crash That Killed Two

15 hours ago

JOANN Fabrics and Crafts to Close Visalia Distribution Facility, Shedding 209 Jobs

16 hours ago

Meux Home, Once Questioned by City Council, Now Honored

A 19-year-old Hanford resident is in stable condition after being shot in the Santa Rosa Rancheria early Thursday, and a juvenile male suspect, wanted for a prior homicide, was arrested with a loaded handgun. (Kings County SO)
16 hours ago

Kings County Sheriff Says Arrested Homicide/Kidnapping Suspect Had Fled to Mexico

Fresno fire saves a man who fell down a 25 foot drainage pipe on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Fresno FD)
17 hours ago

Man Rescued After Falling 25 Feet Into Drainage Pipe in Fresno

17 hours ago

Has Fresno Unified Finally Planted the Flag for an Academic Revolution?

18 hours ago

Italy Blocks Access to Chinese AI Application DeepSeek to Protect Users’ Data

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend