Saturday, January 9, 2021

And another day of watching American democracy hold on by a thread comes to a close. These seditionists must be held accountable for their treasonous actions. 

“If impeaching Trump would "further divide the country," as Republicans claim, then what did the GOP think challenging Biden's election win would do?” — Kyle Griffin

“So let me get this straight: Republicans in Congress wanted to impeach Obama for passing the Affordable Care Act, but they don't want to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection.” — Robert Reich 

“If you are in Congress and you don’t back impeachment you’re an accomplice.” -- Scott Dworkin

Death

US: 381,480 (+3331)

World: 1,934,813 (+12,717)

Cases

US: 22,699,938 (+243,036)

World: 90,077,471 (+721,099)

Countdown: 11 days.

The day America realized how dangerous Donald Trump is. -- Despite the fact many of us warned about him for years.

Extremists intensify calls for violence ahead of Inauguration Day. "We are seeing ... chatter from these white supremacists, from these far-right extremists -- they feel emboldened in this moment," said Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks and counters hate. "We fully expect that this violence could actually get worse before it gets better."

'He's on his own': Some Republicans begin to flee from Trump. — They still need to be held accountable.

More than 200 members of the U.S. House and Senate support the removal of President Trump.

Top Republican says Trump committed ‘impeachable offenses’. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he believed Trump had committed “impeachable offenses.” But he stopped short of saying whether he would vote to remove the president from office at the conclusion of a Senate trial if the House sent over articles of impeachment.

Can Trump be tried in the Senate on impeachment charges even after he leaves office? Some experts say yes.

‘It Was No Accident’ Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on surviving the siege. Then we started getting alerts on our phone that security had been breached. And we began hearing the noises, perhaps even before people on the floor could hear them. We could hear the insurrectionists coming in. Then we saw the Speaker and the leadership being taken off the floor; there was a brief suspension of proceedings, but by then we were seeing all the social-media posts of what was happening outside. And the noise was getting louder and louder...I think this whole myth that you have to be dispassionate, that you can’t feel things, was constructed by men in power and is an excuse for why we have bad policies. But when you feel the pain of a family not having health care or losing their home, or being in poverty or losing a child to police violence, you are more inclined to address it.” — Read the rest. It’s all good.

Now it's sinking in: Wednesday's Capitol Hill riot was even more violent than it first appeared.

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection. Flags, signs and symbols of racist, white supremacist and extremist groups were displayed along with Trump 2020 banners and American flags at Wednesday's riot at the US Capitol. The pictures tell part of the story of the beliefs of some of those who chose to show up on that day -- from passionate and peaceful Trump supporters to extremists who showed their hate with their symbols as well as their actions. The mixing of the groups is one issue that experts who track extremism and hate have long been concerned about...Mark Pitcavage, a historian and expert in extremism with the Anti-Defamation League, identifies the symbols to help us understand the chilling messages of tyranny, white supremacy, anarchy, racism, anti-Semitism, and hatred they portray. -- There were many. Learn what the symbols mean.

Houston Chronicle calls on Cruz to resign, argues his actions helped fuel pro-Trump mob.

Authorities are more than twice as likely to break up a left-wing protest than a right-wing protest. And in those situations when law enforcement chose to intervene, they were more likely to use force — 34 percent of the time with right-wing protests compared with 51 percent of the time for the left.

Pipe bombs found at DNC and RNC buildings were viable.

Republican West Virginia legislator Derrick Evans resigned from office Saturday after he was arrested and charged in relation to the Capitol riots that occurred Wednesday.

DOJ announces charges against the man carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's podium and others in US Capitol riot.

Trump is preparing to lean into his fight with Twitter and other social media platforms, a Trump adviser said, using his permanent ban from Twitter as an opportunity to shift the narrative away from the Capitol Hill riot earlier in the week.

Apple has removed Parler from the App Store, following accusations that the social media app was fostering calls to violence ahead of, and following, the raid on the US Capitol.

Amazon Is Booting Parler Off Of Its Web Hosting Service. Amazon's suspension of Parler's account means that unless it can find another host, once the ban takes effect on Sunday Parler will go offline.

YouTube Kicks Steve Bannon’s War Room Podcast Off the Platform.

Vice President Mike Pence will attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, sources say.

“"Controversial" lawyer Alan Dershowitz, huh? That's the adjective? Dershowitz was accused of raping an underage girl procured by his client Jeffrey Epstein -- just like Trump, who was accused in court of raping a thirteen-year-old Epstein victim. But they won't talk about that.” -- Sarah Kendzior. Everyone should read her book, “Hiding in Plain Sight.”

In case you missed it: Arizona now has the highest COVID infection rate in the entire world.

Houston Methodist, a Texas hospital system with more than 26,000 employees, is offering a $500 bonus to workers if they get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. -- Only in America do healthcare workers need to be paid a bonus (bribed) in order to get a vaccine.

More cases of COVID-19 strain first identified in U.K. found in New York.

11,000,000 people locked down in China's Hebei province to prevent spread of new coronavirus outbreak.

US employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, according to the latest jobs report. Women accounted for all the losses, losing 156,000 jobs, while men gained 16,000. — Sexism running rampant.

Many cops are using the chaos in Washington as yet another opportunity to criticize the Black Lives Matter movement to hold police accountable.

After spending 76 days in jail, a white man who intentionally drove his vehicle through racial injustice protesters will have his record cleared and avoid prison if he stays out of trouble during three years of probation. — White privilege on display. 

Spain's biggest snow storm in 50 years kills four.

Sriwijaya Air plane carrying 62 people goes missing after takeoff from Jakarta.

South Korean court orders Japan to pay "comfort women," WWII sex slaves, reparations.

The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: Your Kids Think Helen Keller Is Fake. His evidence? There isn’t any evidence; it’s the internet. Other TikTokers have taken it further and contend that Keller never existed at all.

New data shows millions of K-12 students falling behind in math and reading.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.