IMPORTANT READS

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.

TRUMP’S UNKEPT PROMISES-Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie showed “a lack of genuine commitment” to addressing a high-profile sexual assault allegation in a VA hospital and focused instead on denigrating the veteran who made the complaint, according to an investigation by the department’s internal watchdog. 

PERSPECTIVE--If you’re American, take a moment to congratulate yourself. You’ve just survived the tenure of the worst President in American history.