Today is Martin Luther King Day, and I think we all should pause and remember the greatest leader of our lifetime. His last speech, delivered the night before he was murdered, still makes me shiver with anger and brings tears to my eyes.
A week before he was shot, a carload of us from Ann Arbor traveled to Memphis to take part in and cover his last march, which was organized by the city's sanitation workers as a mass demonstration.
The black men carried signs reading "I AM a Man."
We were idealistic young activist-journalists from the north who participated under the watchful eyes of the U.S. National Guard as well as the taunts of an angry crowd of white people screaming at us and calling us "ni--er-lovers."
It was an exhilarating experience but also one steeped in dread because virtually everyone we met during that visit the week before his assassination told us that King was going to be killed.
Then, at 6:05 pm on April 4, 1968, it happened. There was confusion about who did it and why until a small-time criminal named James Earl Ray was captured in London. Ray pled guilty to murder, but at his trial no testimony was heard.
Ray later recanted his confession, saying he was the victim of a conspiracy, but he died in prison without the matter ever being resolved.
Young investigators and historians, please note: 53 years later there is work that remains to be done on this case. I consider an unsolved murder conspiracy; participants unknown.
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So far during this pre-inauguration interregnum, I think most of us are breathing a sigh of relief that extremist violence hasn't occurred. But we still have two days to go. For me at least, that's allowed some of the worst kind of anticipation and stress to give way to a more reflective mood of appreciating leadership wherever and whenever we may find it.
The best thing about this government transition is that soon the adults will be in control at the White House once again. And not a moment too soon, with the coronavirus mutating and spreading at unprecedented rates, sickening and killing our fellow citizens at unfathomable rates.
The news:
* Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders -- The Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol followed events planned by establishment Republicans and their activist allies. (Robert O'Harrow Jr./WashPo)
* Post Trump, Republicans Are Headed for a Bitter Internal Showdown -- G.O.P. leadership would like to blunt President Trump’s influence over the party. Mr. Trump and his allies want to punish those who have crossed him. A series of clashes looms. (NYT)
* Proud Boys, Seizing Trump’s Call to Washington, Helped Lead Capitol Attack (WSJ)
* Gen. Milley key to military continuity as Biden takes office (AP)
* Before the Capitol Riot, Calls for Cash and Talk of Revolution -- A network of far-right agitators across the country spent weeks organizing and raising money for a mass action to overturn President Trump’s election loss. (NYT)
* Members of Trump’s failed presidential campaign played key roles in orchestrating the Washington rally that spawned a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to an Associated Press review of records, undercutting claims the event was the brainchild of the president’s grassroots supporters.A pro-Trump nonprofit group called Women for America First hosted the “Save America Rally” on Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, an oval-shaped, federally owned patch of land near the White House. But an attachment to the National Park Service public gathering permit granted to the group lists more than half a dozen people in staff positions for the event who just weeks earlier had been paid thousands of dollars by Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Other staff scheduled to be “on site” during the demonstration have close ties to the White House. (AP)
* Russian police detain Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on arrival in Moscow (Reuters)
* Companies Race to Develop Drugs That Stay Ahead of Mutations (WSJ)
* Republicans call for unity but won’t attest Biden won fairly -- Many Congressional Republicans have refused to acknowledge the election was not stolen, the baseless claim that drove thousands to take part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (WashPo)
* Unidentified gunmen killed two female judges from Afghanistan's Supreme Court on Sunday morning, police said, adding to a wave of assassinations in Kabul and other cities while government and Taliban representatives have been holding peace talks in Qatar. (Reuters)
* Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter, a major batch of clemency actions that includes white collar criminals, high-profile rappers and others but -- as of now -- is not expected to include Trump himself. (CNN)
* Capitol Attack Could Fuel Extremist Recruitment For Years, Experts Warn -- An ideological jumble of far-right extremists and hate groups flourished under President Trump and claimed new energy after the attack on the Capitol. Now they are debating their next moves. (NYT)
* Facebook to ban ads promoting weapon accessories, protective gear in U.S. (Reuters)
* Are Videogames the Future of Remote Work? (WSJ)
* In Home District, McCarthy Faces Some Backlash From the Right -- In conservative Bakersfield, Calif., Kevin McCarthy enjoys solid support. But in the days since impeachment, some Republicans now say he has not been loyal enough to President Trump. (NYT)
* In final Trump administration days, Israel approves new settler homes (Reuters)
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