The Triumph of Hate

A gallows was erected by pro-Trump rioters outside the U.S. Capitol.

This is what this country has come to -- vicious, hate-filled mobs led by a despot spouting lies and inciting insurrection.

I am ashamed for my country.

You can't say that we didn't see this coming. Like many journalists, I have felt an impending sense of doom for weeks, but I hoped that somehow I was misinterpreting all the signs pointing to a coup attempt.

Now I realize I was too cautious, too understated, too forgiving of the false sense of grievance fueling Trump's rise and now his fall from power.

We cannot stand idly by and simply endure this assault on our democracy. We must act and we must demand our elected representatives act.

Pence, McConnell, even Graham stood up today. Good for them, finally. Romney and Biden were eloquent.

But we the people need more. We are much angrier than the mob that invaded our Capitol. We want arrests, trials, convictions and jail for the many traitors in our midst.

Every last one of them.

***

News:

* In the gravest assault on the symbol of American democracy in more than 200 years, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat, forcing Congress to temporarily postpone a session to certify President-elect Biden's victory. (Reuters)

* Chaos, violence, mockery as pro-Trump mob occupies Congress (AP)

* World leaders on Wednesday expressed their shock as supporters of Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building where Congress meets in an attempt to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election won by Joe Biden. (Reuters)

* World leaders appalled by U.S. rioting, urge peaceful transfer (AP)

* The riotous mob that laid siege to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was the product of the destructive forces that Trump has been stirring for years, culminating in the disruption of a democratic ritual that would formally end his unconstitutional bid to stay in power. (AP)

* Washington Post editorial board calls for Trump’s removal (Poynter)

* The head of a major U.S. business group that represents 14,000 companies including Exxon Mobil Corp, Pfizer Inc and Toyota Motor Corp urged senior U.S. officials to consider removing Trump from office after supporters of the outgoing president stormed the U.S. Capitol. (Reuters)

* 17 members of Congress sign letter to Pence asking him to invoke 25th Amendment to remove Trump​ (KTVU)

* Ex-President Bush Condemns Attack as ‘Sickening’ (WSJ)

* Protesters swarm Statehouses across U.S.; some evacuated (AP)

* A moment in America, unimaginable but perhaps inevitable (AP)

* Police Weren’t Prepared for Rioters, Authorities Say (WSJ)

* Twitter Inc, Facebook Inc and Snap Inc temporarily locked the accounts of Trump about the U.S. presidential election amid riots in the capital. (Reuters)

* Never in recent memory have the events of a single 24-hour period so shaken two presidencies, the very Capitol of the United States and the nation itself as they did on Wednesday. (WSJ)

* Democrats take control of U.S. Senate as Ossoff defeats Perdue (WashPo)

* It Spied on Soviet Atomic Bombs. Now It’s Solving Ecological Mysteries. -- Imagery from the Cold War’s Corona satellites is helping scientists fill in how we have changed our planet in the past half century. (NYT)

* Federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland will be nominated to serve as attorney general in the administration of President-elect Joe Biden, NPR has learned from two sources familiar with the process. (NPR)

* Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Senate have refused to seat a Democrat elected in November because of a lawsuit brought by his defeated rival, plunging the chamber into chaos. The Democrat, Jim Brewster, beat GOP opponent Nicole Ziccarelli to represent Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. Although the race was a close one, state officials certified Brewster’s win last year. [HuffPost]

* Mr. Warnock becomes the first Black Democrat to be elected to the Senate from the South. (NYT)

* Arnold Schwarzenegger warned fellow Republicans in Congress that they “will live in infamy” if they don’t “step back from the partisan battlefield and accept the results of the election.” Mr. Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, added that Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, is “a true hero.” [The Economist]

* Hong Kong police arrested 53 former lawmakers and democracy proponents for allegedly violating the new national security law by participating in unofficial election primaries for the territory’s legislature last year. The mass arrests, including of former lawmakers, were the largest move against Hong Kong’s democracy movement since the law was imposed by Beijing last June to quell dissent in the semi-autonomous territory. [AP]

* Trump administration seeks to undo decades-long rules on discrimination (WashPo)

* The U.S. could soon be giving at least a million COVID-19 vaccinations a day despite the sluggish start, Dr. Anthony Fauci said as he warned of a dangerous next few weeks as the coronavirus surges. As hospitals across the country report slower than expected coronavirus vaccination rollouts, a Northern California county reportedly managed to dole out its entire supply of vaccines within two hours after a freezer storing the vials suffered a power outage. [AP]

* Plan for Tokyo state of emergency moves forward as COVID-19 cases surge (Reuters)

* The N.I.H. and Moderna are examining whether doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine can be halved to double the supply, while scientists look for other ways to extend availability. (NYT)

* Helen Viola Jackson, the last known widow of a Civil War soldier, has died at 101. She died Dec. 16 at Webco Manor Nursing Home in Marshfield, Missouri, where she had been a resident for many years. In 1936, when Jackson was 17 years old, she married James Bolin, a 93-year-old widower who served in the 14th Missouri Cavalry during the Civil War, which ended 156 years ago. [HuffPost]

* Serbia Deploys Peacekeeping Forces To U.S. (The Onion)

***

The top headlines in the Drudge Report:

CAPITOL IN CHAOS...
Guns out, windows smashed: Halls of power turn Battlefield...
Pentagon scrambles to protect...
UPDATE: Armed standoffs stun world...
Bombs found in DC... Mayor Orders Curfew...
ROMNEY FURY: 'This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection'...
Trump hides in motorcade after claiming he'd march...
Watched chaos unfold on TV at White House...
FOXNEWS Cuts Jr. After He Screams Profanities... Ivanka Deletes Tweet Calling Rioters 'American Patriots'...
MAGA fans scream 'f**k fake news' as they ambush, destroy equipment...
MATTIS: Trump will 'deservedly be left a man without a country'... 

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