That's some analytical ingenuity

One of the first arrested in the wake of last week's pro-Trump riot at the Capitol Building was Brad Rukstales, President and CEO of Cogensia.

Cogensia is a marketing technology company that helps companies analyze their client data so they can keep existing clients and find new ones. At least that's how I interpret their marketing-speak on what they do, which is focus on:

The Five Pillars of Customer Intimacy

Building data insights that are deep and meaningful enough to consistently power unique and personalized customer experiences which create an emotional connection, increase engagement and build loyalty.

Clients presumably bring on Cogensia because they trust in the wisdom of the company's leadership:

With decades of combined experience, our leaders fuse industry understanding with analytical ingenuity, providing you with comprehensive, real-world solutions that get you closer to your customers.

Brad Rukstales is no longer one of those leaders. And it's his own damned fault.

Rukstales was in the mob that invaded the Capitol and he's now facing several Federal charges.  (The initial charges were relatively modest. They were DC - not Federal - related, and were about unlawful entrance.)

His firing is not about free speech. It isn't about holding opinions that I might not agree with. 

Rukstales is entitled to want tax cuts for the rich. To oppose abortion. To think global warming is a hoax. To want out of NATO. To believe that Democrats don't say "Merry Christmas." 

Maybe he admires Trump's business "acumen."

Maybe he just thinks he looks cool in a red MAGA cap.

But for a company leader who's supposedly full of "analytical ingenuity" to buy the "Steal the Vote" bullshit? 

Oh, well, now that I think of it, it does take some analytical ingenuity to look at the evidence of Joe Biden's compelling win - by more than seven million human votes, and with 306 Electoral College votes - and come away believing that Trump won. 

Every state certified their election results. Scant (infinitesimally small) evidence of election fraud was found - and most of that was one or two MAGAs voting on behalf of their dead mothers. With one minor exception, every frivolous case brought by Trump's attorneys was tossed out. 

Was the "evidence" that Rukstales bought into Trump's claim that he couldn't have lost because his rallies were bigger than Joe's?

After his not-so-excellent adventure in Washington, DC, Rukstales - a bit chagrined by his experience - hightailed it back to his affluent Chicago suburb - the sort of comfy, upscale 'burb made famous by John Hughes in films like Ferris Bueller and Home Alone. Interviewed while standing in his doorway, Rukstales said:

"It was great to see a whole bunch of people together in the morning and hear the speeches, but it turned into chaos.” (Source: CBS Local Chicago)

What was it about those speeches?

Was it Don Jr. warning the members of Congress who, in his opinion, are "zero not a hero" that "we are coming for you"?  Was it Rudy Giuliani asking for "trial by combat"? Was it Trump himself telling his followers that "you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength"?

Was he all that surprised by the chaos? Had he missed Trump's invite, issued in December, to come to DC on the sixth of January, promising that "it will be wild"?

The nuns were always harping on the need to avoid occasions of sin. One would think that not getting involved in this event to begin with, or, once you were there, at least being smart enough not to barge into the Capitol, should have been something that the CEO of a tech company could have figured out. 

What was he thinking as he marched on the Capitol? Maybe he didn't see the gallows erected on one side of the Capitol Building. Or the noose put in place. But didn't he notice that many of his fellow demonstrators were wearing combat gear? Didn't he ask why some were carrying baseball bats? Didn't he hear the chants about finding Pelosi and hanging Pence? 

What was he thinking when glass started breaking, when rioters started beating on cops?

Rukstales is all crocodile tears now. 

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I regret my part in that...Everything that happened yesterday I think was absolutely terrible,” Rukstales said. “I’m sorry for my part in it.”

I'll bet he is sorry. Shamed. Unemployed. Facing costly lawyers' fees and possible prison time. 

Cognesia didn't waste much time ridding themselves of their suddenly troublesome CEO. In making the announcement,

[COO and Acting CEO Joel] Schiltz noted, "This decision was made because Rukstales' actions were inconsistent with the core values of Cogensia. Cogensia condemns what occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, and we intend to continue to embrace the values of integrity, diversity and transparency in our business operations, and expect all employees to embrace those values as well." (Source: PR Newswire)

And I would add: who's going to pay for expert advice from someone who is so lacking in judgment that he chooses to accept - with no evidence whatsoever; in fact, the evidence is to the contrary - that there was widespread voter fraud? Not me!

Never-Trump Republican operative Rick Wilson famously wrote a book entitled Everything Trump Touches Dies. You can add Brad Rukstales career to that list.