Doggie

Joe Biden has only been in office a little over a week, but I've got to say that I am thrilled by how great he has been so far, as a person and as a president. So gald he won!

'Im Just a Singer

This Moody Blues song, I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band) (1972/3), is my earworm of the day. Here are the lyrics, written by John Lodge ...

More death

Second police officer died by suicide following Capitol attack

[...] Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told House appropriators during a closed-door session on Tuesday that Jeffrey Smith, a D.C. Police officer, and Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood both “took their own lives in the aftermath of that battle.” Smith’s death had not been disclosed prior to Contee’s testimony.

A third member of law enforcement, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died from injuries he sustained during the Capitol attack ...

Now 7 people have now died because of the Capitol riot. The riot created and fed by Trump, supported by Republicans. The riot meant to replace the winner of the presidential election with the loser. The riot that failed.

Trump and the Republicans want us to "move on" now. Those defenders of law and order believe we should just "get over it". No consequences.

I never thought of "evil" as existing outside of fantasy novels and Star Wars movies. Trump and the Republicans have changed my mind.

Dark & stormy

It is "a dark and stormy night" here. I've learned that when you have wind gusts of 38 mph, your pop tent can turn into a giant kite. Lost power for about 30 minutes. Heard a big boom about an hour ago and i'm worried that a tree may have fallen down, but I'm to cowardly to go out and look until morning.

So instead I'm watching the news. I'm so disgusted to hear that 45 of the Republicans in the Senate voted that the second impeachment of Trump shouldn't go forward. Those Republican Senators, those craven and cynical nihilists ... so afraid of their former master, so afraid of their own conspiracy-riddled voters, and so nakedly avid to remain in power at any cost. I hope their political party is destroyed.

Quiet

Tonight on The 11th Hour, Brian Williams played a video of a performance by MILCK and a choir at the 2017 Women's March against Trump of her song Quiet. The video above is MILCK and the choir doing the song on the Samantha Bee show.

The Republicans want us to forget about impeaching Trump. They want us to just move on. They hope we will forget all the terrible things Trump did, the terrible things he has been responsible for. And they hope we will forget how they aided and abetted him with those terrible things. We won't forget, we won't move on, we won't be quiet.

New Senator

One of the new Democratic Senators sworn in today by VP Harris was the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He was on Rachel Maddow's show tonight ...

Happy

Today I watched the inauguration, something I've never done before. And I watched VP Kamala Harris swear in the 3 new Democratic Senators. And I watched President Biden sign executive orders, including one about rejoining the Paris Climate Accord.

At last, at long last, Trump is gone.

I know there are incredible challenges ahead, but for right now, I'm happy :)

Almost inauguration

So close now to finally getting rid of Trump! I think even Mitch McConnell wants to dump him ...



But we still have to get through tomorrow without anything going terribly wrong. I saw that 12 members of the National Guard in D.C, have been removed today, two for their ties to right-wing extremism. Scary, as QAnon members have discussed posing as National Guard at the inauguration.

Meanwhile, Trump will slink off, with an early morning military going-away event at Andrews Air Force Base (he wants a 21 gun salute) ...



Looking forward to tomorrow with some trepidation.

New video

New video of the Capitol rioters (almost exclusively white and male) from The New Yorker.

At one point the rioters tell the police that they have been sent by Trump, that they are eally all on the side side. Sort of.

At another point, you can see the retired Air Force officer with zip ties in the Senate chamber, photographing documents (he's now been arrested). Also a cop in the Senate chamber, outnumbered, watching all this and doing nothing. Oh, and then the rioters prayed, because nothing says Jesus like a bloodthirsty mob.

Riot aftermath

It's been hard to write a blog post lately. I'm still thinking about the Capitol riot. Every day brings new information about it, and it only gets worse.

It appears likely that some Republican House members helped the rioters, giving them tours and stategic info days before the riot ... Republican lawmakers are accused of giving Capitol tours to insurrectionists before the riot as new inquiries are opened.

And who were these rioters? Some were on a FBI terrorist watchlist ... Dozens of people on FBI terrorist watch list came to D.C. the day of Capitol riot. Many of them were retired military, and some of them were police ... Capitol rioters included highly trained ex-military and cops

And they were violent, looking to hang Mike Pence, shoot Nancy Pelosi, and harm or kill any Capitol police who stood in their way ...



And now gun-toting Republican House members refuse to go through metal detectors to go on the House floor ... House Republicans Disobey Police, Dodge Metal Detectors in Capitol. And Lindsy Graham has returned to the fold ... Lindsey Graham is reportedly back in Trump's 'good graces' after breaking things off last week. And the first of the rioters has asked Trump for a pardon ... The fur-wearing, face-painted 'QAnon Shaman' has asked Trump for a presidential pardon.

Will Trump pardon his brownshirts before his impeachment trial in the Senate?

Will the few moderate Republicans be able to wrest their party from Trump or will it be eaten alive by QAnon?

Stay tuned.

Arnold

From NPR: Recalling Nazis From His Childhood, Arnold Schwarzenegger Decries The Capitol Assault

I've got to say, if I ever would have voted for a Republican (for CA governor), it would have been for Arnold. I've watched almost every movie of his since Stay Hungry, and read his book, Arnold : the education of a bodybuilder (1977), after taking a couple of weight training classes at college.

Thanks, Arnold.

Impeach!

There have been discussions about how Congress should facilitate Trump's departure. Some want him to be allowed to finish out his last few days without interference. Some want him to resign, and have Pence then pardon him. Some are hoping for Pence and the Cabinet to relieve Trump of command with the 25th amendment. But most Democrats want to see him once again impeached, and I'm one of them. Why?

First of all, we can't just do nothing ... he is a danger to the country and God only knows what he might do in the time he has left. And as for him resigning and getting pardoned by Pence ... he does not deserve a pardon, he needs to somehow pay for what he's done. And Pence will not invoke the 25th amendment ... Trump already has his zombie horde after Pence as it is.

But if he is impeached, there is one big benefit ... Trump will not longer have the option of holding office again.

Congress should impeach Trump again and bar him from holding any future public office

[...] The Constitution’s Article I, Section 3 provides for “disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States” as a penalty for an impeachable offense. And critically, while removal from office requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate, disqualification is different ....

Would the Senate vote to impeach Trump? They didn't last time, except for Romney, but I think this time would be different, if only because there are a number of Republican senators who want to run for president in 2024, but can't if Trump decides to run for president again.

Conservatives say we shouldn't impeach because it will cause division in the country. Seriously? That ship sailed a long time ago, and was dyed in the wool when Trump urged his followers to ransack the Capitol.

Impeach him.

New video

As the days go by, I'm getting more and more upset about the attack on the Capitol. More information is coming in - not from the authorities but from eyewitnesses and reporters - and that information is really disturbing.

The video segment above from Chris Hayes on MSNBC shows some new video of the mob attack. You cannot see that and believe anymore that this was just a protest by basically decent people. Did you ever see the movie about Benghazi? Think Benghazi.

And it's not just what the rioters did and tried to do. Why would the pentagon - the pentagon from which Trump recently fired the leadership, replacing them with his stooges - hinder sending in the National Guard? (The Pentagon blocked the DC National Guard from receiving riot gear or interacting with protesters without explicit approval from Trump's defense secretary)

People are dead. There better be a full investigation.

Trump party

UPDATE: I've altered the post. When I first wrote it, I thought this video was made while the mob was attacking the Capitol. Actually it takes place earlier that day, during Trump's ralley, the one which incited the attack.

So what were Trump and his family and his sycophants doing just before his rabid mob sacked the Capitol?

They were celebrating ...

Questions

The day after Trump's brain-dead followers invaded the Capitol, there are so many questions. Why were the Capitol police not prepared for something like this, and why were they so nice to the rioters? Joe Scarborough dwells on this, dropping the F word in his anger, which I see they dleleted from the video ("you open the f*cking doors for them") ...



When peaceful protestors filled Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020, they were met with a heavily armed and violent police presence - on horseback, for God's sake. Why were yesterday's rioters treated so differently? Because they were pro-Trump instead of anti-Trump?

Trump's coup

Who did not see this coming? Trump's zombie horde, whipped into a frenzy by his lies about a stolen election, have broken into the Capital.



From the L.A. Times Editorial Board: Trump is responsible for the violent storming of U.S. Capitol

The champions

It's atill early but it looks like both Democrats, Raphael Warnock and Jon Osshoff, have won their snate seats in Georgia ... What a Senate Majority Means for Democrats

This means that the Democrats will have the majority in the senate, given that the tie-breaker vice president, Harris, is a Democrat. Chuck Schumer, not Mirch McConnell, will be the majority leader. Biden's cabinet picks may well get approved. Bills from the House may actually get a vote. And senate committees will have Democratic leaders.

Yay! :)

How?

How is it possible that an unarmed and non-threatening man can be shot in the back at point blank range 7 times in front of his children, and there be no charges lodged against the shooter? One of the main points of "defund the police" was to change the incredilbe level of legal protection for police officers.

RIP: Gerry Marsden

Sad to see that Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers has died - Gerry Marsden, English Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 78

The Pacemakers were a band from the same time as the Beatles, same manager, and from the same place: Liverpool.

Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene. His unforgettable performances of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey remain in many people’s hearts as reminders of a joyful time in British music... pic.twitter.com/t1COAIwZVM

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) January 3, 2021

Trump audio

From The Washington Post, audio of Trump trying to force Georgia's Secetary of State to lie and say Trump won ...



God, he's certifiable!

The Lincoln Project

As more Republicans in Congress vow to contest Biden's win on January 6th, I was reminded of just how lucky we are that Biden did indeed win the election. And one of the key facotors that made that possible, I believe, was the help of The Lincoln Project.

I was reminded of this when I came across this 60 Minutes piece from a couple of months ago ...



Yes, they're Republicans, but thank God we had their help in dumping Trump. And they're not done - they plan to continue working against Trumpism after Biden takes office.

Go Now

The first song I ever heard from The Moody Blues was Go Now (1964). This was before The Moodu Blues that I especially like - the one with Justin Hayward - it was before Justin joined the band, and was sung by Denny Laine who left in 1966 ...



So where did he go? He joined Paul McCartney and Wings. Here he is doing that song again with them. I think I still like the original better.