And another day of anniversaries, rewinding the TV, pictures saying thousands of words, many warnings, taking Republicans at their word, attacking multiracial democracy, divided families, vexed parents, an exploding star, and dogs understand foreign language comes to a close:
“Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm?” — President Joe Biden
Deaths
US: 855,843 (+2231)
World: 5,489,717 (+7809)
Cases
US: 59,564,116 (+758,930)
World: 300,800,312 (+2,543,259)
“If we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand.” — Vice President Kamala Harris
“They want to rule or they will ruin.” — President Joe Biden
“The ‘brilliance’ of Steve Bannon is that he has convinced tens of millions of people to believe that destroying democracy is a noble/patriotic objective as long as it occurs while chanting ’America First’. — Nick Carmody
“I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally — the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power — has become dangerously fragile at home.” — Former President Jimmy Carter
“There is no more left vs right. It’s now democracy vs authoritarianism, voting rights vs white supremacy. If Democrats fail to protect the right to vote, we will fall to fascism. We're already on our way.” -- Robert Reich
"You can't love your country only when you win." — President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden's remarks on January 6 anniversary. -- This is the transcript of his speech.
President Jo Biden’s speech. -- This is the video of his speech.
Biden decries Trump backers’ ‘dagger at throat’ of democracy. President Joe Biden on Thursday forcefully condemned Donald Trump’s relentless election-overturning efforts that sparked the deadly breach of the Capitol by his supporters and continues to motivate deep national division. He marked the anniversary by saying the rioters had held a “dagger at the throat of democracy” but failed to succeed. Biden’s criticism was blistering of the defeated president whom he blamed for the attack that has fundamentally changed Congress and the nation, and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy.
Stephanie Grisham said Trump was so "gleeful" as he was watching the Capitol riot that he was rewinding his TV to watch it again. ”Look at All Those People Fighting for Me.”
Trump did not want to tweet 'stay peaceful' during January 6 riot, key former aide says. A former Trump White House official said then-President Donald Trump initially refused to tweet the words "stay peaceful" as the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was escalating.
When supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, The Associated Press had nine photographers inside and outside the building. As the chaotic day unfolded, they shot hundreds of photos that were transmitted live within minutes, giving the world a front-row seat to the shocking events. -- Pictures say thousands of words.
Romney on Capitol attack anniversary: "Ignore the lessons of January 6 at our own peril". “Democracy is fragile; it cannot survive without leaders of integrity and character who care more about the strength of our Republic than about winning the next election," said Romney. "I said last year that the best way we can show respect for voters who are upset is by telling them the truth," he added. "The responsibility that elected officials have in this regard is fundamental to reversing the malaise gripping our current politics and ensuring that our democracy endures.”
“This is the crucial point: the insurrection is still continuing through other means. The same people who tried to violently overthrow American democracy on 1/6 are now leading the charge to pass 440 new voter suppression laws & overturn future elections to nullify will of voters.” -- Ari Berman
But wait, there’s more...
They stormed the Capitol. Now they’re running for office. At least 57 individuals who played a role in the day’s events — including some who were arrested on charges related to the Capitol attack — are running for office in 2022. -- The assault on our democracy continues.
A year later, GOP accuses Democrats of 'exploiting' Capitol riot. Republicans are playing down Trump's culpability, and their own, while giving GOP voters comfort, political experts say.
Trump maintains grip on GOP despite violent insurrection. But one year later, Trump is hardly a leader in exile. Instead, he is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential nomination.
"We are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.” -- Former President Jimmy Carter
Let's just take Republicans at their word when they say they’d overturn an election. Mitch McConnell says it’s “ridiculous” to think GOP-controlled legislatures would subvert the will of voters. Uh, really? But whether or not these guys are “idiots” is not really the point. Politicians are measured by how they use their power, and on that point McConnell has already been proven wrong—Republicans at the state level have indicated quite clearly that they would support overturning the will of the people in a presidential election...But such a defense relies on a sleight-of-hand about how such power grabs are invariably justified. Most lawmakers who supported Trump’s efforts weren’t grabbing a microphone and shouting, “We’re autocrats now!” Republicans are not going to “overturn” the results of the election, in their telling, because they deny that those results are legitimate in the first place. They have a different notion of which votes should be counted and which batches of votes shouldn’t. And next time, they hope, they’ll have the administrative machinery to back up their version of events.
How Efforts To Make It Harder To Vote Are Tied To Jan. 6. Starting at virtually the same time as the storming of the Capitol, Republican state legislators proposed a record number of bills last year that aimed to restrict voting access or enable partisan interference in elections…In other words, these laws were passed to ostensibly solve a problem that doesn’t exist. There is another reason Republican legislators might have wanted to push these bills, though — to tilt elections in their party’s favor. Trump’s fraud accusations were almost always leveled at jurisdictions, demographics and voting methods that skew Democratic. Sometimes, this subtext even became text, such as when a Georgia Republican urged the legislature to tighten the state’s voting laws “so that we at least have a shot at winning.” And a few of the most extreme bills that Republican legislators introduced overtly sought to throw out the 2020 election results and appoint new electors in states Biden won, like Arizona and Pennsylvania.
What January 6 revealed about the attack on multiracial democracy. Incited by then-President Donald Trump, the January 6 insurrectionists took aim not merely at democracy but also at multiracial democracy. The siege of the US Capitol fits into a history of White backlash, as yet another effort to maintain a strict racial order. -- Fucking white supremacists. Such embarrassments to the human race.
Inslee statement on efforts to stop violence fueled by election lies. Gov. Jay Inslee released the following statement today announcing his support for legislation currently being written that would outlaw attempts by candidates and elected officials to spread lies about free and fair elections when it has the likelihood to stoke violence.
Majority of business leaders believe democracy is threatened. Seventy-two percent of business leaders say they are concerned that U.S. democracy is under threat, according to a Morning Consult poll of 400 company executives released on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot. The survey, commissioned by the research group Public Private Strategies, also found that 85 percent of business leaders believe that capitalism in the U.S. depends on a well-functioning democracy.
January 6 Insurrection: One Year Later, Families Are Still Divided. This is what it's like to be the child of a January 6 insurrectionist. A year has passed since that chaotic day, but many of those who were present are still haunted by it. And many families who saw their loved ones join in the melee are still picking up the pieces. Some young people whose parents participated in the insurrection tell Teen Vogue that they don’t think those relationships can ever be fully repaired.
“Dick Cheney ... welcome to the resistance.” -- Aaron Rupar
Dick Cheney visits Capitol for Jan. 6, criticizes GOP leadership. Former Vice President Dick Cheney accompanied his daughter Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to the Capitol for events marking anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and expressed disappointment with GOP leadership .“I’m deeply disappointed we don’t have better leadership in the Republican party to restore the Constitution.” -- Back the Blue, my ass. Liz and Dick Cheney were the only two Republicans in the House for the moment of silence given for the Capitol Police Officers who died on January 6, 2021. The only two. That speaks volumes, all of it negative, about the current Republican Party.
“Dick Cheney is a war criminal who shot a man in the face, and he still has more honor & integrity than 98% of the Republican Party. He’s also not a traitor.” -- The USA Singers
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” -- Ancient Proverb
Omicron surge vexes parents of children too young for shots. Afternoons with Grammy. Birthday parties. Meeting other toddlers at the park. Parents of children too young to be vaccinated are facing difficult choices as an omicron variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases makes every encounter seem risky.
South African scientist thinks she may have solved the mystery of long COVID-19, which afflicts 100M people. A recent study by Resia Pretorius and her team at Stellenbosch University in South Africa suggests that long COVID-19 may be triggered by microclots.
A hard lesson for Novak Djokovic: patience with vaccine sceptics is wearing thin. But instead the world No 1 tennis champion – and noted vaccine sceptic – is cooling his heels in an Australian quarantine hotel, while an international row rages over whether he should be kicked out of the country altogether...Around the world, patience with those who are wilfully unvaccinated is running out in the face of yet another viral surge. Just over a month ago, I wrote about how the mood might harden as intensive care beds filled with patients realising too late that they should have got the jab, while restrictions once again loomed over people who had done what was asked of them. Now that scenario is unfolding, with France’s President Macron playing to the gallery by vowing to do everything he can to “piss off” those who are unjabbed, while angry callers to British radio phone-ins demand anti-vaxxers be stripped of their right to NHS treatment if they get sick.
Italy extends COVID vaccine mandate to everyone over 50. Italy on Wednesday made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people from the age of 50, one of very few European countries to take a similar steps, in an attempt to ease pressure on its health service and reduce fatalities. The measure is immediately effective and will run until June 15.
Dogs understand foreign language, brain scans show. Our canine pets are such good social learners that they can detect speech and distinguish languages without any explicit training.
Giant dying star explodes as scientists watch in real time — a first for astronomy. However, the star at the heart of this new research, located in the NGC 5731 galaxy about 120 million light-years away from Earth, was 10 times more massive than the sun before it exploded. Before they go out in a blaze of glory, some stars experience violent eruptions or release glowing hot layers of gas. Until astronomers witnessed this event, they believed that red supergiants were relatively quiet before exploding into a supernova or collapsing into a dense neutron star. Instead, scientists watched the star self-destruct in dramatic fashion before collapsing in a type II supernova.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
