“I’m Not Smart. I’m So Stupid. I’m An Asshole. I’m A Piece Of Shit.”

Sorry, D.J., but you'll have to pardon me if I don't disagree with you

Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez, the Donald Trump fanatic who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and was arrested for electroshocking D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Mike Fanone a month after he was identified in a HuffPost story, spilled his guts to the FBI after his arrest, repeatedly crying as he told special agents he was a “fucking piece of shit” and worried that his “mom’s going to find out” what he did….

Rodriguez, according to a transcript of his FBI interview filed in court by his defense attorney on Friday, said that he became radicalized watching videos on InfoWars and from conservative commentators like Steven Crowder, Mark Dice, and the Hodgetwins that convinced him of the conspiracy theory that Trump actually won the election. Rodriguez repeatedly referred to himself as “stupid” for believing that the pro-Trump mob he was a part of could take over the U.S. Capitol and install Trump as president for a second term.

I’d wager that most of us have done things we wouldn’t want to see the light of day, things that might cause us, um, significant embarrassment. On the one hand, that’s called “growing up.” On the other, most of our mistakes probably didn’t involve trying to overthrow the federal government, storming the US Capitol, and attacking federal police officers.

Those who attempted to take the Capitol on January 6th were True Believers. And they wanted to destroy the government because they sincerely believed history (and Donald Trump) had called them to save the country.

They’d traveled too far down the MAGA rabbit hole to recognize that what they were about to do involved committing several federal crimes.

“Are we all that stupid that we thought we were going to go do this and save the country and it was all going to be fine after? We really thought that. That’s so stupid, huh?” he told the FBI.

“I understand what it ― it’s very stupid and ignorant, and I see that it’s a big joke, that we thought that we were going to save this country, we were doing the right thing and stuff. I get it,” he said.

Rodriguez told the FBI that he “volunteered for Trump” and “did door-to-door and everything” for Trump’s campaign, and said he wanted to join the Army once Trump became president, and even went to the recruiting office.

“They didn’t take me. And I just thought that I could still contribute by ― you know, I didn’t take an oath, but I could still stand up for those same things on my own, you know?” Rodriguez said.

It’s a pretty frightening prospect to contemplate. Thousands of angry, radicalized Trumplethinskins, whose emotions had been manipulated and ratcheted up to the nth degree, had flocked to the Capitol. Some were armed and ready to rock and roll.

I can remember watching news coverage of the events of January 6th and thinking, “What in the world are these idjits thinking?” In some cases, I’m not sure there was any actual, honest-to-God thought process occurring. With so many thousands together and enraged, the mob mentality seized control early and didn’t let go. Any sense that they might be held accountable for their behavior had long since left the building.

If sense- common or otherwise- had even been there in the first place.

They were patriots. They were going to take back their country. OF COURSE, America would welcome with open arms.

Or something like that.

Rodriguez, like millions of Trump supporters, was suckered by ludicrous conspiracy theories about a stolen election, he told the FBI.

“My beliefs are that an overwhelming number of people came out to vote for Trump and he actually did win that election, the popular vote and the electoral vote,” Rodriguez said. “They made sure that the election was lost and there’s no point in voting anymore, so it’s like ― I’m thinking they’re going to come, like, you know ― they’re going to come round us up.”

No. No. One thousand times NO!! Despite what intellectual and moral giants like Rodriguez may believe, Donald Trump did NOT win the election. Wanting the results to turn out a certain way won’t change anything, nor will a putative revolution, “fraudits,” or any number of re-votes.

Trump lost. That’s been officially certified by the states and by Congress. No matter what Mattress Mike Lindell might be thinking, Donald J. Trump is NOT going to be “reinstated,” whatever that might mean.

I’d bet that if you asked someone like Rodriguez for specifics about what Trump did to “Make America Great Again,” you’d get a deer-in-the-headlights” stare. They might BELIEVE that they KNOW…but they don’t know. They’re holding on to a vision of an America in which a President hates the same people they do, which is the only thing Trump offered to his base- and they adored him for it.

In the end, two months after he’d lost the election and on the day Congress was due to certify the Electoral College count that would make his defeat official, Trump unleashed the furies. His appearance at the “Save America” rally on the morning of January 6th had one purpose- fire up his supporters and then get the Hell out of the way. There’s no doubt but that Trump knew precisely what he was doing.

He couldn’t win re-election fair and square, so he tried to win it through a violent uprising. Fortunately for America, that didn’t work, either. And so he was left with the threatening phone calls, the “fraudits,” and other efforts to bully his way back into the White House. Almost ten months later, Donald J. Trump is no closer to his goal than he was at the beginning of last November.

A boatload of low-information idjits like D.J Rodriguez will end up doing hard time for someone who doesn’t give a damn about him or his compatriots. Don’tcha just LOVE America?

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