Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalPeyote-Loving 'QAnon Shaman' Vowed to Attend Inauguration, Left Chilling Note for Pence: Docs
Daily Beast
Pilar Melendez
The so-called QAnon Shaman who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week in Viking garb before sitting in Vice President Mike Pence’s chair on the Senate dais admitted to federal agents he intended to return to D.C. to “protest” President-elect Biden’s inauguration.
“I’ll still go, you better believe it,” Jacob Chansley bragged in an interview with FBI agents the day after the violent insurrection. “For sure I’d want to be there, as a protestor, as a protestor, fuckin’ a.”
The admission by Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, is one of several prosecutors detailed in an 18-page detention memo arguing for the 33-year-old Arizona man to be held before trial.
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Prosecutors said Chansley should be detained because the “self-proclaimed leader” of QAnon has previous felonies, doesn’t have a stable job, and lied to authorities about his drug use, telling them he only smoked weed “three times weekly in the past” but bragging on a podcast about taking mushrooms and peyote regularly.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/peyote-loving-qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley-vowed-to-attend-inauguration-doj-alleges?ref=home
Surprised he didn't demand fresh organic peyote with his jail meals.
'Saved by the Bell' star Dustin Diamond diagnosed with cancer
Agence France-Presse via Raw Story
The actor Dustin Diamond, best known for playing Samuel 'Screech' Powers in hit US children's TV show "Saved by the Bell", has been diagnosed with cancer, according to his representatives.
His official Facebook page confirmed the news in a statement Thursday, asking fans to "respect Dustin's privacy during this difficult time."
The 44-year-old's representative Roger Paul also confirmed the diagnosis to USA Today and said Diamond was undergoing treatment at a Florida hospital for stage 4 cancer.
https://www.rawstory.com/u/agence_france-presse
Trump Supporters' Main Problem Was Never The Economy
HuffPost
Emily Peck
Safe to say, the Donald Trump supporters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol last week weren’t short on cash or propelled by severe economic anxiety.
The insurrectionists came to Washington by plane. They stayed in Airbnbs and at the Embassy Suites. They wore costumes and carried weapons and iPhones. Some were cops. There were doctors, lawyers, a Chicago real estate broker, teachers ― even a school therapist. A CEO.
Sure, some of them could’ve been impoverished former coal miners, as so many pundits have described a certain sect of Trump voters. But these people weren’t raging over the decline of the carbon-based economy. This was a riot about race and power. If there was economic anxiety, it was spurred by the rioters’ false notion that their place in the world isunder threat.
We can stop talking about how white Americans voted for Trump because of economic interest. His appeal was never about money. (And Trump is leaving office with the economy in tatters, by the way. On Thursday, 1.15 million more people filed for unemployment.)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-core-support-never-about-economy_n_6000b785c5b62c0057bb6dfc
These Textbooks In Thousands Of K-12 Schools Echo Trump's Talking Points
HufPost
By Rebecca Klein
Christian textbooks used in thousands of schools around the country teach that President Barack Obama helped spur destructive Black Lives Matter protests, that the Democrats’ choice of 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton reflected their focus on identity politics, and that President Donald Trump is the “fighter” Republicans want, a HuffPost analysis has found.
The analysis, which focused on three popular textbooks from two major publishers of Christian educational materials ― Abeka and BJU Press ― looked at how the books teach the Trump era of politics. We found that all three are characterized by a skewed version of history and a sense that the country is experiencing an urgent moral decline that can only be fixed by conservative Christian policies. Language used in the books overlaps with the rhetoric of Christian nationalism, often with overtones of nativism, militarism and racism as well.
Scholars say textbooks like these, with their alternate versions of history and emphasis on Christian national identity, represent one small part of the conditions that lead to events like last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, an episode that was permeated with the symbols of Christian nationalism. Before storming the Capitol, some groups prayed in the name of Jesus and asked for divine protection. They flew Christian and “Jesus 2020” flags and pointed to Trump’s presidency as the will of God. The linkage between Christian beliefs and the violent attack on Congress has since pushed evangelical leaders to confront their own relationship with Trump and their support for the rioters.
“These textbooks made this brand of nationalism more mainstream,” said Kathleen Wellman, a Southern Methodist University history professor who is working on a book about the two Christian publishers. “I’m struck by how coherent of a worldview [the textbooks] promote and how thoroughly it resonates in current culture.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christian-textbooks-trump-capitol-riot_n_6000bce3c5b62c0057bb711f
Biden Twitter account 'starts from zero' with no Trump followers
BBC
US president-elect Joe Biden has been given his new official presidential Twitter account, but has been forced to start it with zero followers.
The Biden campaign is unhappy with the move, which marks a change from the previous transition from Barack Obama.
The new account, @PresElectBiden, will transform into the official @POTUS (President of the United States) one on inauguration day on 20 January.
In its first six hours online it gained nearly 400,000 followers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55675826
Trump Struggles to Find Lawyers as Impeachment Trial Nears
Bloomberg
By Tom Schoenberg, Jennifer Jacobs, and Jordan Fabian
January 14, 2021
President Donald Trump, on the eve of facing a historic second impeachment trial for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, is having trouble finding a legal team to defend him.
Allies of the outgoing president have been canvassing Washington’s legal landscape looking for representation but so far are coming up short. Lawyers who defended him in the previous impeachment trial, including Jay Sekulow and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, have said no this time,according to people familiar with the matter.
Other lawyers who have defended Trump at times, including former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, Eric Herschmann, Pat Philbin and Marc Kasowitz aren’t interested in joining a team this time, the people said. Some of the lawyers who don’t want a role have privately said what Trump did was indefensible.
More broadly, a number of prominent law firms have refused to engage in any legal representation involving the president’s actions following the Nov. 3 election.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-14/trump-struggles-to-build-legal-team-as-impeachment-trial-nears?sref=3OTf8B4q
One has to ask, is this being done as a matter of principles, or do they know darn well they will never get paid?
Is T-rump on the No-Fly list yet?
Or are there plans to place him on it at 12:01 PM on January 20?
It sure would be fun to watch the tantrum that would follow.
Rep. Espaillat tests positive for coronavirus, says he received second dose of vaccine last week
Washington Post
By Felicia Sonmez
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Espaillat was among the lawmakers who spoke on the House floor Wednesday during the debate over impeaching Trump for a second time. The lawmaker also said he received the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine last week.
“I am following guidance from my physician and quarantining at home after having tested positive for COVID-19,” Espaillat said in a tweet Thursday morning. “I received the second dose of the #COVID19vaccine last week and understand the affects take time. I have continued to be tested regularly, wear my mask and follow the recommended guidelines.”
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Espaillat is the latest House member to test positive for the coronavirus in the wake of last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/14/trump-impeachment-biden-transition-live-updates/
Three House members introduce bill to award Congressional Gold Medal to a Capitol Police officer who
Washington Post
By Felicia Sonmez and Rebecca Tan
Three House members Thursday introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Eugene Goodman, the Capitol Police officer who faced down a mob of mostly White rioters and lured them away from the Senate chamber during last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The House members — Reps. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) — said in a statement Thursday that Goodman “valiantly put himself in harm’s way, luring a violent mob away from an unguarded entrance to the Senate chambers, protecting Senators, staff, and reporters inside.”
One of the lawmakers noted that Goodman’s actions and quick thinking likely prevented even greater horror from taking place at the Capitol.
“If not for the quick, decisive, and heroic actions from Officer Goodman, the tragedy of last week’s insurrection could have multiplied in magnitude to levels never before seen in American history,” Cleaver said in a statement. “With this prestigious award, we can show our gratitude to Officer Goodman for saving countless lives and defending our democracy.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/14/trump-impeachment-biden-transition-live-updates/
These Traitorous Traitors Must Be Expelled From the House
Daily Beast
Molly Jong-Fast, Editor-At-Large
Updated Jan. 14, 2021 7:26AM ET / Published Jan. 14, 2021 4:58AM ET
There are 535 members of Congress. Some of them are great. A few of them (Louie Gohmert) are dumb as a box of rocks. And then some of them are real true traitors who need to be expelled.
Fully 139 Republican congresspeople objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election win. In an ideal world, all of these people would be expelled. But it’s not an ideal world, and some of these members were just good Germans worried about a mean tweet. Are they cowards? Certainly, but they are not the nexus of the problem. It makes more sense for Democrats to focus on the rot in the center—the ooey gooey maggot-ridden core of the Coup Caucus.
It was Tuesday Jan. 12 when gun enthusiast Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado walked through Congress’ newly installed metal detectors and refused to allow the Capitol Police to search her bag. She caused a mini-fracas. Multiple Republican House members started refusing to be searched or refused to go through the metal detector at all. “I was physically restrained!” complained Arkansas Republican Steve Womack. Hell hath no fury like a congressional Republican forced to walk through a metal detector.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-traitorous-traitors-must-be-expelled-from-the-house?ref=home
(paywall)
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