Did I miss it? This was a compelling, chilling, tangible connection to Trump by his newly-installed Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller who had the National Guard stand down. It placed special conditions on authorizing troops, limitations on resources and orders for troops to refrain from engagement and arrests. This was from Trump's guy. It is no stretch to say that the memo had Trump's fingerprints all over it and was done in anticipation of what he KNEW was going to happen. It showed his participation in the process, his influence in the horrific outcome. It severely compromised the safety of the Capital and law enforcement personnel.

Why wasn't this front and center?

Maine officials say they will take vaccine away from hospitals that violate guidelines

Gov. Janet Mills criticized MaineHealth on Tuesday for not following guidelines, calling it an 'insult' that the state's largest health care organization gave doses to out-of-state contractors who came here to disrupt a union-organizing effort by nurses.

snip

Last week, it came to light that Augusta-based MaineGeneral Health offered vaccine to donors when piloting the network’s inoculation effort, something that administrators there said was unintended. And this week MaineHealth, which includes Maine Medical Center in Portland, came under fire after a column in the Maine Sunday Telegram reported that it vaccinated staff and contractors who have no contact with patients. Current state and federal guidelines prohibit that practice, but it previously was allowed and was carried out by other health care networks as well.

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/09/maine-officials-say-they-will-take-vaccine-away-from-hospitals-that-violate-guidelines/

As reported on CNN. Also reportedly stated that tRump is "worried" about being criminally charged. He can't find any decent lawyer to represent him. The shortcomings of this situation are on full display in the disgraceful Impeachment proceedings. tRump has apparently gone from orange to red, screaming about his defense.

Why on earth wouldn't he be charged? If not for this, what kind of message is it sending for any other asshole who doesn't accept the results of an election?

Big hair dye appointment? Appointment with a bill collection agency?

Tough day for the tRump legal team. I guess having no basis for your position presents real obstacles for attorneys who are not allowed to rely on unsubstantiated myths.

What will happen when this plays out in a criminal trial? tRump should be worried. What makes him--or anyone--think that all the DOJ people he has screwed aren't hard at work building their case against him for one of the biggest crimes against our country in history?

MTG has successfully created her image in the spirit of her beloved cult leader, ex-former-wannabe-pResident Trump, (born into money, credited herself for it, boundless sense of entitlement, general arrogance and universal disrespect, even public crotch-grabbing https://twitter.com/actdottv/status/1357504563134287880.) Her surrogate tRumping has made her the darling of the Implosion Party and its why she got their backing last week despite her unconscionable behavior and aggressive public displays. If they can’t have The Don, then it appears that they’ll settle for The Dawn. For now.

But in a show of amazing restraint, President Biden refuses to comment on her, even mention her name. He has taken the approach of ignoring her demonstrative bluster while he quietly and impressively takes down everything tRump held dear and holds up everything voters have been begging for. He is throwing haymakers and flat-out getting things done. All the while, R’s scream amongst themselves and get absolutely nothing for their constituents. While the Quack-anon Queen spouts about gun rights in the Capital, bullshits her way around her despicable social media posts and flips off anyone who disagrees with her, nothing changes. Nothing, that is, that Joe Biden didn’t change.

In the 2 years it will take for R’s to have a chance to be relevant again (and they are already screwing that up), passion without performance will be wearing thin on the whole base, even the RWWJ’s. Lawsuits, law enforcement and social media companies are silencing RW conspiracies, and there is no fascist leader to give cover to violent extremists. After the Impeachment trial, tRump and his tRumpettes will have very little relevance. It’ll be about COVID and the economy like it should always have been. MTG, Gaetz, Boebert and the Radical Right will be seen as the obnoxious voices of a powerless, pathetic party with no platform for struggling voters. Time is running out on their hissy fits.

Clarence Thomas' wife apologizes to his former clerks for divide that developed amid fallout over Capitol riot

This is really rich. "God Bless" was her message to the Insurrectionists as she linked to a livestream to Trump's rally.

snip
"My passions and beliefs are likely shared with the bulk of you, but certainly not all. And sometimes the smallest matters can divide loved ones for too long. Let's pledge to not let politics divide THIS family, and learn to speak more gently and knowingly across the divide," Thomas wrote to the former clerks.

"I would ask those of you on the contrary side to have grace and mercy on those on my side of the polarized world, and feel free to call and talk to me individually about where I failed you as a friend here," she said. "I probably need more tutoring ... Otherwise, on behalf of both of us, be assured of our love for each of you."

The Supreme Court and Ginni Thomas did not immediately return requests for comment.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/politics/ginni-thomas-clarence-thomas-supreme-court/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon and turned into an online shopping behemoth, is stepping down as the company’s CEO, a role he’s had for nearly 30 years.

He’ll be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon’s cloud-computing business. Bezos, 57, will then become the company’s executive chair.

In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he plans to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. And he said he’ll have more time for side projects: his space exploration company Blue Origin; the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post; and his charities.

https://www.boston.com/news/business/2021/02/02/jeff-bezos-amazons-founder-will-step-down-as-ceo

There is little doubt that the Repub’s will make lots of noise, and create plenty of smoke and fear at the Hearing. But by killing their own credibility amongst voters and sane Republican's, the party won’t survive the next election. Lack of credibility and an empty platform built only on Angry Opposition are already the reasons Trump is on the outside looking in. Still, many R's are doubling down on their ostracized leader. Good for them. This week was a perfect parallel—while MTG and McCarty/Trump got all the headlines, Joe Biden quietly put on an absolute clinic of Presidential proficiency, beating the raging Repubs 40-something to nothing in real world politics. The Raging RW minority didn’t get anything for their bluster this week or in November for that matter. But the chickenshit R’s can’t seem to figure this out.

House/Senate R’s caving in to appease tRump is a false economy for their party. Yes, some of the loudest, most passionate and radical voters are Trump’s base. But what Repub pols are not factoring into their math is that Trump energized Democratic voters like never before, too, far outdistancing the vocal RWWJ minority in the landslide victory. New Dem registrations were off the hook and an anti-Trump energy propelled the Democratic party in numbers like never before. Trump is and will continue to be a bigger catalyst for Dem pols and voters than the Repubs.

Now, huge numbers of registered Republicans switching parties. Corporations are divesting and social media shut tRump up. So while Radical Trumpettes may represent 2/3 of the Rep base, they only represent 1/3 of voters, and that number is falling. This math will doom the Repub’s at every poll despite all the noise. But like we see in so many abusive relationships, the Repub pols are still putting fear over facts as they cow-tow to the threatening members of the tRump cult. Like tRump, the party is valuing power over politics and it is foolishly staking its future on an angry, irrational, threatening mob of outcasts which resembles its leader in every way.

The R's would be smart to convict tRump, move on and get back to the business of the country.

Last week, Donald tRump seamlessly went from the White House to the golf course like he has done hundreds of times before. Only this time, it was after failed assassination attempts of important political figures and an attempted coup of the most powerful Democracy in history. Several people died, including police. If this were nearly any other legitimate government, he would have been thrown in jail (or worse) for the evidence pointing to his likely part in the highest crime against his country. But because our country is built on the Constitution and due process and because our judicial process has been so compromised by radical political agendas, tRump is free to go to his luxury resort and play another round.

Sorry, but it just seems so wrong.


Fortunately, unlike the politics of Impeachment, our criminal justice system does not rely on beliefs, assertions, factoids, Q-anon myths or blanket denials. The Impeachment trial won’t “prove” anything. Fortunately, tRump may not be able to run for office even if he isn’t convicted in the Senate. Because if justice prevails, Federal prosecutors will prove their criminal case and tRump will spend the rest of his natural life in jail. Think about that—he should be doing life for one of the biggest crimes anyone’s ever attempted. Ever. Based only on public information, there is a mountain of evidence for our Justice Dept. to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law now that it is free from RW political pressure and can do its job again. The Feds win 90% of their cases. They aren’t worried about their poll numbers, calls for unity or the future of the Republican party, just facts.

There are conspicuous omissions on the FBI Wanted list. No mention of the tRump family or their associates or any active politicians, despite shocking public evidence against these parties. But that doesn’t mean that the ongoing case being quietly built against them isn’t going to be the real story. The evidence is piling up, from the laundered dark money trail to the expansive video surveillance to the Atlanta phone call and tRumps own Tweet history. The Buffalo-head spiritual leader of the coup rolled on tRump the minute he got busted, and there's no doubt the Feds are squeezing all the other soldiers and Capo’s to build cases on the underbosses (Cruz, Hawley, Et Al.) and ultimately, The Don himself. This was organized crime. The organizers cultivated, emboldened, coordinated, funded, transported, directly addressed and incited unrelated groups, some of which even had conflicting interests, but united towards one common goal. It could not have happened without tRump’s say-so. And with cell phone records, un-deletable social media posts, thousands hours of audio/video records and a chorus of turncoat witnesses, the politicians responsible for this needn’t worry about “political fallout.” If convicted, they aren’t going to get community service for this; they are going to jail.

The Impeachment is about politics. The criminal trial will be about facts, evidence and ultimately, justice.