IMPORTANT READS

SEDITION--Whatever you want to call the violent assault in Washington on January 6, 2021—a mob action, a siege, a coup attempt, a riot, domestic terrorism, an insurrection—the fault clearly lies with the president.

AN OPEN LETTER TO MAGA MARCHERS--When Donald Trump incited you to assault the Capitol, he said he would be with you.

He wasn’t.

POLITICS--“No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday’s [January 6^th] coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway.” 

WHO WE ARE OR WHAT WE’VE BECOME?-What’s wrong with people? Has the savagery, selfishness, and raw, animal hatred within the human species finally come out of the darkness to devour our society? 

FANATICISM AND RAGE--You know and I know it. This is how Trumpism was always going to end.

DERELICTION OF DUTY-Will he leave in the middle of the night, embarrassed by his four years of crude, rude, lying, and beyond belief incompetence? 

ELECTION TAMPERING-Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with Georgia’s secretary of state will go down in history as a classic case of election interference, totally in keeping with Trump’s disdain for democratic processes and perfect willingness to use any means, legal or otherwise, to get his way.

TRUMP TIRADE-In his infamous one-hour shakedown of Georgia’s Secretary of State, wise-guy Donald Trump TWICE calls himself a “schmuck.” It’s a gross undershot. 

DEMOCRACY--On October 7, 2020, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah tweeted, “Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prosperity are.  We want the human condition to flourish.  Rank democracy can thwart that.”

SHOULD NOT SEE TV-A few years ago, there was an obscure little broadcasting channel called AWE that referred to themselves as “Wealth TV.”

GUEST WORDS-I don’t put much stock in all the articles and news reports that envision President Donald Trump, once smoked out of his Oval Office hole, suddenly becoming a perpetual motion machine --

OTHER WORDS-With the new COVID-19 vaccine available, Dr. Anthony Fauci says  Americans can begin to achieve herd immunity by next summer.

2020-A LOOK BACK--People who work for President Donald Trump typically meet one of two fates.

THE RELIGION GAP-Here’s a dramatic example of the growing power of Americans who say their religion is “none”:

POVERTY POLITICS--In the wake of Sunday night's agreement on a roughly $900 billion Covid-19 relief package that is far smaller than economists say is necessary,

GUEST COMMENTARY--With Pfizer's welcome COVID-19 vaccine here, so are America's unwelcome rich and privileged, clamoring for their entitled spot at the head of the line.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES-The Eye of Providence on the back of the $1 bill has become symbolic of secret societies and conspiracy theories more generally. 

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM-Here’s a tiny fact. 300,000 Americans are dead of a preventable lethal illness.

VIEW FROM HERE-While President Trump pouts and plots, and President-elect Biden anticipates and appoints, there is an October news clipping from Sonia Perez of the Associated Press that I have not been able to get out of my head.

POLITICS-After opposing another round of stimulus checks for months in the face of deteriorating economic conditions and widespread suffering, Republican congressional leaders have finally agreed to include direct payments in a coronavirus relief package that could be approved by the end of the week.

ELECTION EXPOSED---Following is an excerpt from the diary of outgoing President Donald Trump, apparently written in early December 2020.  The excerpt has been edited for clarity, spelling, grammar, and context.