News For Troops

"American servicemen and women gather in front of "Rainbow Corner" Red Cross club in Paris to celebrate the unconditional surrender of the Japanese." August 15, 1945 (Wiki Commons)

A bit before noon on Friday, the heavens opened and hail started coming down in the Bay Area. The children went wild with excitement. May it be a harbinger of wetter weather for parched California, where weather experts have been fearing this could be another drought year, which would lead to more destructive wildfires.

Meanwhile, nothing would please me more than if this Facebook page became a forum for airing important new information and ideas for how to improve our society. It would be even better if those ideas were contributed by people other than me.

In that spirit, thanks to Jack Brodbeck for drawing attention to the questionable practice by U.S. military officials who play Fox News on televisions in installations worldwide. Given Fox's track record of giving credence to Trump's lies and disinformation, this is a dangerous practice.

It appears that CNN and MSNBC also get some air time, but Fox reportedly gets the most.

By misleading our troops, which could in turn lead them to develop an affinity for conspiracy theories instead of news, this definitely qualifies as a national security issue.

But in the spirit of fairness, I also have to question whether the other two cable networks deserve that kind of airtime either. MSNBC's heavily left-leaning presentation of the news disqualifies it as an objective source of information. 

When it comes to CNN, I've long hoped it would be closer to my ideal of a neutral news provider, but in recent years the blatant bias of certain of its anchors has badly reduced its credibility.

Even then, it is the best of the three. As for the traditional non-cable networks, ABC, CBS and NBC carry too much non-news programming to be helpful.

All of this raises the issue of what military officials *should* do about providing TV options to our armed forces personnel around the world. That leads me directly back to the argument I made yesterday, that licensing mass media appears to be the U.S. government's best tool for precluding blatant propaganda from masquerading as news.

Nobody, certainly no journalist, wants Big Brother to be censoring the content we produce. But when the powerful amplification of biases stirs up forces that would overturn the rule of law and the democratic transfer of power, something has to be done.

So where does that leave us on the main issue: How can the cable news networks obtain government approval for their TV content on military installations? I have a suggestion here for the heads of Fox, CNN, MSNBC and any others who wish to play.

Develop pure news shows without commentary. Just the facts. Try it, it's not so bad. Public broadcasting has been doing it for many years.

Alternatively, another option would be for the government to provide much more funding for PBS, which is able to afford very little television news content compared to the commercial outfits.

On the other hand, as important as TV is for older people, most young soldiers probably access Internet sites for their news, where the algorithm-driven disinformation problem is even worse than on the cable networks. That is another problem that will require attention going forward.

***

There was a major news development yesterday that might easily be overlooked in the U.S. and that is the agreement by Google to pay French news sites that send them traffic, as reported by ArsTechnica.

This won't result in much income at first, but as the public gets educated on how Google make money at the expense of local news organizations, perhaps that will change.

Equally importantly, the French model should spread rapidly to the rest of Europe and we desperately need a similar arrangement here in the U.S.

(Note: no more numerical palindromes for now, I promise, even though today's date is one, and yesterday's and tomorrow's.)

***

The news:

* Google agrees to pay French news sites to send them traffic (ArsTechnica)

* For Prosecutors, Trump’s Clemency Decisions Were a ‘Kick in the Teeth’ -- Commutations in high-profile Medicare fraud cases have elicited anger among those who spent years pursuing complex prosecutions. (NYT)

* NEW POLL: Hawley, Cruz see approval ratings plummet in wake of Capitol riot. (The Hill)

* President Biden signed a string of executive orders and presidential directives on Thursday, rolling out a “full-scale, wartime” coronavirus strategy, including requiring masks on some planes, trains and buses. (Reuters)

* Biden to increase federal food benefits among executive actions aimed at stabilizing U.S. economy (WashPo)

* Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who has repeatedly flouted the magnetometers that were installed near the House chamber after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, set off the metal detectors while trying to enter on Thursday. When an officer with a metal detector wand scanned him, a firearm was detected on Harris’s side, concealed by his suit coat. [HuffPost]

* The First Capitol Riot Arrests Were Easy. The Next Ones Will Be Tougher. -- An initial wave of arrests was based on news accounts and social media. Proving a conspiracy could be much more challenging. (NYT)

* New Brazil coronavirus variant found in nearly half of Amazon city cases (Reuters)

* Trump is returning to a family business ravaged by pandemic shutdowns and restrictions, with revenue plunging over 40% at his Doral golf property, his Washington hotel and both his Scottish resorts. Trump’s financial disclosure released as he left office this week was just the latest bad news for his financial empire after banks, real estate brokerages and golf organizations announced they were cutting ties with his company, further battered by the ex-president's divisive misconduct. [AP]

* U.S. Home Sales Reach Highest Level in 14 Years (WSJ)

* U.S. Military Moves To Try 3 Guantanamo Suspects Linked To Indonesia Bombings (NPR)

* Social network MeWe began as a privacy-focused alternative to Facebook. Trump supporters and right-wing groups disillusioned with mainstream social media have flocked to it since the Jan. 6 riot. (AP)

* How a 'Hamilton' song helped Amanda Gorman overcome a speech impediment --You wouldn't know it from her commanding delivery at the inauguration, but up until a few years ago, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman struggled to overcome speech impediment. For much of her life, including when she was still an undergraduate at Harvard, Gorman had trouble pronouncing the letter "R." To practice saying the letter, she'd listen on repeat to one song she said was "packed with 'R's'" -- "Aaron Burr, Sir" from Lin-Manuel Miranda's historical opus, "Hamilton."(CNN)

* Slim majority of Americans want Senate to convict Trump (Reuters/Ipsos) 

***

Come, you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world

Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won

You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire

Then you sit back and watch
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
While the young peoples' blood

Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear

That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatenin' my baby

Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned

But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?

Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I'll follow your casket
On a pale afternoon
I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

-- Bob Dylan

Regulating Hate

Sucker for numerical patterns that I am, yesterday's date naturally appealed to me -- 1/21/21.  My granddaughter Daisy (7) is the youngest of three and sometimes gets frustrated that everyone else in the family thinks they know more than she does.

So yesterday afternoon I quietly pointed out the day's numerical pattern to her so she could surprise the rest at dinner. We had it all planned out.

"What's special about today, Daisy?" I prompted.

"It's 1-2-1-2-1!" she answered.

Of course, well after dinner came an additional numerical landmark when the clock struck 21:21:21 on the 21st day of the 21st year of this 21st century, but by then Daisy was in bed.

Oh well, she'll be a year older by the time the next big moment arrives on 2/22/22. And maybe by then she'll be able to stay up to witness 22:22:22.

***

Repeatedly over the past year I've fretted about the gathering crisis in journalism, freedom of the press, mass media and censorship. As much as I strive for clarity in everything I write, this topic feels so complex and so loaded that the best I have been able to do is to inch up to it.

And usually it still somehow comes out wrong, as some of you are inclined to remind me in the comments section. (BTW, I appreciate the criticisms.)

All of this might seem to be only of academic interest until we confront the ugly reality that white supremacist extremism has burst out of the shadows to directly threaten our democracy.

How that happened has a lot to do with media of the mass and social variety and in that context, my long-time friend Jay Hirschman drew my attention to an article by Karen Attiah in the Washington Post about the media's role in promoting the rise of Trump his white extremist ideology.

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/20/media-had-role-play-rise-trump-its-time-hold-ourselves-accountable/?fbclid=IwAR0IOXA5D-4wBSGf53vgaO7ZA3QOIv3vQzp3P4KASeb54sGjkh21sUh9G2k>

To many in the media, Trump was simply too good a story to ignore, partly because he was seen as a  buffoon unlikely to win an election but also due to his fine-tuned ability to focus media attention on himself.

Once he attained the job of President, he set to work on consolidating his grip on power by perfecting the art of the Big Lie, which is a technique of authoritarians. His ability to manipulate his followers reached such a point that he was able to sell preposterous fantasies  to otherwise rational people.

He couldn't have done this without Fox News and Twitter, frankly.

It was embarrassing to hear our fellow citizens espouse far-fetched conspiracy theories with the sincerity of true believers. They sounded like the cult members who would ultimately commit mass suicide in the People's Temple massacre,

All the while, Trump was repeatedly issuing coded messages to his most extreme followers in the Three Percenters, Proud Boys, Neo-Nazis and others. His message was that the time for white supremacy had arrived. This eventually culminated in the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.

Which brings me back to the to the role played by the mass media. We've managed to banish Trump, at least for now. We also need to ensure that his kind of authoritarian regime never assumes power again. For that reason, the mass media cannot be allowed to distribute the racist, white supremacist hate speech that has re-emerged from the darkest days of our history to once again threaten the republic.

We fought one bloody Civil War over this in the 1860s; we cannot afford a second in the 2020s.

Therefore, we need to enact new forms of censorship in the mass media, (including social media) that banish white supremacist hate speech back to the dark shadows from where it emerged. This won't violate anyone's First Amendment rights if it is done as a matter of licensing in accordance with the Fairness Doctrine and other precedents.

Big Media and Big Tech may object but it's time to consider breaking them up under antitrust standards anyway -- they were complicit in the rise of Trump's supremacist movement and failed to stop it.

So this now must be done; before hate makes its inevitable comeback.

***

There, did I finally get it right?

***

The headlines:

* The media had a role to play in the rise of Trump. It's time to hold ourselves accountable. (WashPo)

* A new NPR analysis finds that nearly 1 in 5 defendants charged so far in relation to the attack on the U.S. Capitol are veterans or active-duty military. (NPR)

* Amanda Gorman Captures the Moment, in Verse -- The youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history read “The Hill We Climb,” which she finished after the riot at the Capitol. “I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen,” she says. (NYT)

* Amanda Gorman: “This is a long, long, faraway goal, but 2036 I am running for office to be president of the United States,” she said. “So you can put that in your iCloud calendar.” (NYT)

* Yellen's call to 'act big' reflects long re-think on big government debt (Reuters)

* For Many Across America, a Sigh of Relief as a New Era Begins -- “I feel lighter,” said a woman in Chicago. For many in an exhausted, divided nation, the inauguration was a sea change, not just a transition. (NYT)

* After Michael Flynn floated idea of martial law, Army falsely denied his brother’s key role in military response to Capitol attack (WashPo)

* Biden administration suspends federal oil and gas permitting (Reuters)

* Biden plans for tougher stance on Russia -- He is also preparing to impose new costs on Russia, pending an assessment of alleged interference in the 2020 election, involvement in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a cyber breach of U.S. agencies and other activities. (WashPo)

* Shortly after taking office, Biden asked for the resignation of Peter Robb, the controversial general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. After Robb refused to resign, Biden fired him. Pushing Robb out now leaves the Republican with no more time to pursue anti-labor policies at the NLRB. [HuffPost]

* The coronavirus variants could dash our hopes of getting back to normal. (WashPo) * U.S. officials: Biden proposes 5-year extension of nuke treaty to Russia (AP) * Current, Deadly U.S. Coronavirus Surge Has Peaked, Researchers Say (NPR) * Harris swears in Sens. Warnock, Ossoff, Padilla as Democrats cement party power in Washington (WashPo) *  Biden revokes Trump report promoting ‘patriotic education’ (AP) * In California, a pro-Trump Republican leader — Shannon Grove, a state senator from Bakersfield — was ousted from her caucus leadership role after repeating false claims about the Capitol mob. (Sacramento Bee) *  Biden’s U.S. revives support for WHO, reversing Trump retreat (AP) *** I've got my ticket for the long way round The one with the prettiest of views It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers But it sure would be prettier with you. When I'm gone When I'm gone You're gonna miss me when I'm gone You're gonna miss me by my walk You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh You're gonna miss me when I'm gone When I'm gone When I'm gone You're gonna miss me when I'm gone You're gonna miss me by my hair You're gonna miss me by my everywhere Oh you're sure gonna miss me when I'm gone -- Anna Kendrick  -30-

A National Treasure

Now the transition of power has been completed without violence, accountability for those responsible for the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol will soon take center stage. Law enforcement agencies are actively identifying and arresting the rioters all across the country.

As to what will be the fate of those who incited the rioters, probably the first key indication will be Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate. Now that Mitch McConnell has freed the Republican caucus to vote their conscience, it is conceivable that Trump will be convicted.

That's a start. Other investigations by federal and state authorities may expose Trump and his key lieutenants to further legal liability. 

All of this has to happen because we are a nation of laws. But there are many other critical matters that require immediate attention -- the pandemic, climate change, racism, wealth disparity, economic disruption, our Constitutional rights, monopoly power, political extremism and more.

Before he gets to any of this, the way Biden and his regime holds Trump accountable will probably define his first two years in office, maybe more. It's a balancing act, because further alienating the millions of citizens who stand by Trump will not unify the nation, which is Biden's overarching intent.

But allowing what Trump did to go unpunished would be unconscionable. So may justice be done.

 ***

Friends: Probably like many of you, I'm exhausted. It's partly the pandemic. It's partly Trump. But trying to process the news every day and find something hopeful to say about it -- month after month over the past year -- has drained me. It's required every ounce of optimism and faith in humanity I could muster.

When Biden finally took his oath, I let out a sigh of relief, and then an emotional deflation set in. All kinds of thoughts occurred to me. One was how hard this has been for everyone with chronic depression, just how much energy it has been taking to mask hopelessness with any glimmer of hope.

Then came a new face with a new voice. When I listened to Amanda Gorman's poem yesterday, I broke into tears. Rather than try to write anything myself, I just reposted her words.

She is visible proof that our better nature as a people has prevailed, if only for now. And living proof that words matter. She is a national treasure.

***

Headlines:

* Wall Street sets record as Netflix jumps, Biden inaugurated (WSJ)

* Biden issues mask mandate in federal buildings and on some transportation. (CNN)

* The FBI on Wednesday arrested a Florida-based member of the right-wing Proud Boys group on charges of storming the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago in a crowd of Donald Trump supporters challenging his election defeat, the Justice Department said. (Reuters)

* After Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterms, they introduced and passed the For the People Act as H.R. 1 — the first bill of their majority. It aimed to restore voting rights, reform campaign finance laws and enhance ethics enforcement. Senate Democrats have now done the same after reclaiming the chamber majority with the introduction of S. 1, their version of the For the People Act. [HuffPost]

* Biden Will Extend Student Loan Payment Freeze Through Sept. 30 (NPR)

* Biden Announces Broad Plan to Reverse Trump Immigration Policies -- Legislation he proposed on his first day as president will give undocumented immigrants the chance to become citizens and restore and expand programs for refugees and asylum seekers. (NYT)

* The country’s top Republicans skipped Trump’s departure ceremony in Maryland. Pence attended Biden’s inauguration ceremony. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell -- who finally admitted Tuesday that the Capitol rioters were provoked by Trump -- accepted Biden’s invitation to attend Mass and also the inauguration. [HuffPost]

* U.S. soldier arrested in plot to blow up NYC 9/11 Memorial (AP)

* Trump leaves a scorched landscape. But Biden brings hope at last. (WashPo)

*

Biden puts U.S. back into fight climate change, including by rejoining the Paris Accord. (AP, CNN)

* QAnon believers grapple with doubt, spin new theories as Trump era ends: ‘We all got played' (WashPo)

* Just a half-mile from where Trump spent his last night in the White House, rows of lights on the National Mall marked Joe Biden's first inaugural event. At 5:33 p.m., 400 rectangular lights, each representing a thousand Americans dead of COVID-19, lit up on either side of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument as bells at the National Cathedral rang 400 times. [HuffPost]

* Controversial head of Voice of America resigns hours after Biden sworn in (WashPo)

* New CDC director takes over beleaguered agency amid crisis (AP)

* Army secretary departs amid questions about National Guard and Capitol riot  (WashPo)

* Biden rescinds support for Keystone XL pipeline permit. (CNN)

* Missing: One Black Hole With 10 Billion Solar Masses -- One of the biggest galaxies in the universe seems to lack its dark centerpiece. (NYT)

***

Oh oh this train, I'm riding this train
Don't you wanna ride 
(This train)
Oh get on, get on (this train)

Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks
You don't know where you're goin' now
But you know you won't be back
Darlin' if you're weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We'll take what we can carry
And we'll leave the rest

Big wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion
For this part of the ride
Leave behind your sorrows
Let this day be the last
Tomorrow there'll be sunshine
And all this darkness past

Big wheels roll through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
I said, this train dreams will not be thwarted
This train faith will be rewarded
This train hear the steel wheels singin'
This train bells of freedom ringin'

This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
I said, this train carries broken-hearted
This train thieves and sweet souls departed
This train carries fools and kings
This train, all aboard 

I said, this train dreams will not be thwarted
This train faith will be rewarded
This train hear the steel wheels singin'
This train bells of freedom ringin'

Come on this train
People get ready
You don't need no ticket
All you got do is just get on board 
On board this train
This train, people get ready
You don't need no ticket (oh I know you don't)
You don't need no ticket you just get on board (people get ready) 
You just thank the Lord (people get ready) 

Come on this train (people get ready)

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen / Curtis Mayfield

-30-

With One Voice

                                           "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman

Mr. President, Dr. Biden, Madam Vice President, Mr. Emhoff, Americans and the world, when day comes we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry asea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace. In the norms and notions of what just is isn’t always justice. And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man. And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried that will forever be tied together victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid. If we’re to live up to her own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare. It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it. We’ve seen a forest that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. This effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith we trust for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. This is the era of just redemption. We feared it at its inception. We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves so while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be a country that is bruised, but whole, benevolent, but bold, fierce, and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain, if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than one we were left with. Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the West. We will rise from the wind-swept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. We will rise from the Lake Rim cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.

Wish, Wish, Wish Not In Vain

 

Try to fathom the challenges facing our new President. Not only are we in the throes of a national pandemic so badly mismanaged that untold thousands of people have died unnecessarily. All over the country, our local economies are in shambles, especially small businesses. Millions of people are unemployed. Millions can't afford their rent.

An entire generation of young people have been locked out from leading a normal life, unable to find jobs or make new friends. This has become a very lonely country.

Old people are dying prematurely, taking the wisdom of a lifetime with them. Stories that grandchildren might have heard will never be told.

The U.S. has devolved into a divided nation where half the people believe the nonsense voiced by conspiracy theorists, including that Covid-19 isn't real, that the election was not honest, and that the truth journalists struggle to bring them everyday is "fake news."

This is the essence of what Biden has to deal with. And there may be but a brief moment that the nation is open to the healing he will call for in his speech.

Even that moment will swiftly pass if a sizable subset of the 75 million Trump voters cannot find their way back home to America, which is badly battered and needs all the help it can get.

***

Given the hysteria that has enveloped the media since the January 6th riot, it is comforting that we've made it to Inauguration Day with no further incidents of violence. Although many on the left are calling for revenge for the rebellion that occurred at the Capitol, a wiser course right now is to respect Biden's call for unity.

That is going to be difficult for all sides, but the stakes are high. Achieving political consensus is but one of the steps needed to begin dealing with the largest challenges we face. Climate change looms as the greatest threat to human survival short of Earth being wiped out by an asteroid, and it's time to get down to business and deal with that.

Global temperature increases aren't going to discriminate against rightists or leftists; it's an equal opportunity disaster that is looming.

In addition, the obscene disparity in wealth between the super-rich and everybody else must be addressed before it grows even worse. It is a serious threat to democracy and our domestic tranquility.

There is a major risk that our essential freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and religion will be  further eroded in the weeks and months ahead. We have to resist the calls from the left for draconian solutions to the problem of right-wing extremism. *That* problem is one of the heart -- we need to replace the hate in some peoples' hearts with a renewed sense of love and respect for one's neighbors. You can't legislate love.

This may all sound like a lesson preached from some pulpit but I'm no minister and religion is not my long suit. I'm talking about science, economics and liberty; about fairness, balance and tolerance. And, yes, the golden rule.

Personally, I do not feel threatened by ideas, even bad ones. But I do feel threatened when 75 million people subscribe to those bad ideas or at least follow a leader who espouses them. It's time for as many of those 75 million who can do so to come home to the real America and help us get to work on our actual problems, not the chimeras that have been sold by snake oil salesmen.

***

Like most people, my daily life is not really about climate change, economic disparities or the First Amendment at all, but about little things. My days fill up with tiny, irritating details that can prove overwhelming if I put them off, and yet introduce new ambiguities to my life when I try to deal with them.

Take the Covid vaccine. Who knows how the hell to get it? I applied online but don't know if or when that will result in anything. I tried my doctor's office but they have not received any instructions beyond prioritizing health care workers for the vaccine. They know I'm a journalist, so they actually asked me to call them if I find out something.  

This state's governor says everyone 65 and older should get vaccinated but there appears to be no process for ensuring that this actually happens. So most of us are left in a state of confusion.

Or take money. Once you retire and are existing on social security checks for your income, you rapidly find yourself well below the poverty line in any part of the country, particularly on this super-expensive west coast. If you've been diligent and saved retirement funds, once you reach a certain age (currently 72) you have to begin cashing in your retirement funds as "mandatory required distributions" and the IRS taxes that money as income.

I'm not against taxation per se but it seems unfair to force this on elderly people who are not rich. The MRD should abolished for low-income people. Rather, they deserve a reward for their responsible saving behavior when others spent everything they earned and more, incurring large debts. It's an example of the mixed-up priorities while the super-rich earn 30 times more in a day than we earn in a lifetime.

So maybe that one isn't a tiny little detail so much as my call for a policy change!

***

On to the headlines:

* Prosecutors filed conspiracy charges related to the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, saying in a new complaint that three rioters from the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers had acted in an “organized and practiced fashion” and communicated before the breach to create a plan. (WSJ)

* The nation’s capital has been secured with checkpoints, tens of thousands of National Guard troops and miles of fencing and barricades. (Reuters)

* The "Deep State" -- A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently "burrowing" into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them. (Politico)

* Investigators Eye Right-Wing Militias at Capitol Riot -- The F.B.I. has arrested several members associated with violent right-wing extremist groups known as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters. (NYT)

* QAnon adherents discussed posing as Guardsmen to try to infiltrate inauguration, FBI intelligence briefing says (WashPo)

* A New Mexico county commissioner who heads Cowboys for Trump was arrested Sunday in Washington by Capitol Police after vowing to bring back his guns for Inauguration Day. Couy Griffin was wanted on an arrest warrant after storming the barricades of the Capitol Jan. 6. He drove back from his New Mexico home in time for the inauguration Wednesday, a journey he chronicled on Facebook. [HuffPost]

* Policymakers are eager to return to the period of low unemployment that preceded the pandemic and are less concerned than in previous eras about sparking inflation and taking on debt. (NYT)

* On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, only two days before Trump is cast out of office, the Trump administration released a 45-page report from its “1776 Commission” that reads in places like a right-wing manifesto: It makes excuses for slavery and the Three-fifths Compromise that declared slaves counted as less than full humans. It also rails against socialism and “identity politics.” [HuffPost]

* U.S. Senate leader McConnell says Trump 'provoked' Jan. 6 riot. “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” McConnell said. (Reuters)

* A vast majority of Americans do not approve of the riot at the Capitol. But experts warn that the widespread belief there was election fraud, while false, could have dangerous, lasting effects. (NYT)

* A fresh start for Republicans can come only if they abandon authoritarian populism (WashPo)

* The nation’s military has a history of downplaying white nationalism and right-wing activism, but the siege of the Capitol has created a new urgency for dealing with them. (NYT)

* Lawmakers who objected to election results are cut off from 20 of their 30 top corporate PAC donors (WashPo)

* Another coronavirus variant — separate from the more transmissible one found in Britain — has been linked to multiple large outbreaks in the Bay Area. [The San Francisco Chronicle]

* Most Americans say pandemic is out of control, despite Trump’s assertions, Post-ABC poll finds (WashPo)

* As Kamala Harris formally resigned her Senate seat on Monday, Alex Padilla was officially appointed to replace her, making history as California’s first Latino senator. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also nominated state Assemblymember Shirley Weber to replace Padilla as secretary of state. She will be the first Black person to hold the role in California. [HuffPost]

* High winds buffet California, raising wildfire danger and cutting power in some areas (WashPo)

***

"Bob Dylan's Dream"

While riding on a train goin' west

I fell asleep for to take my rest

I dreamed a dream that made me sad

Concerning myself and the first few friends I had

With half-damp eyes I stared to the room

Where my friends and I spent many an afternoon

Where we together weathered many a storm

Laughin' and singin' till the early hours of the morn

By the old wooden stove where our hats was hung

Our words were told, our songs were sung

Where we longed for nothin' and were quite satisfied

Talkin' and a-jokin' about the world outside

With haunted hearts through the heat and cold

We never thought we could ever get very old

We thought we could sit forever in fun

But our chances really was a million to one

As easy it was to tell black from white

It was all that easy to tell wrong from right

And our choices they were few and the thought never hit

That the one road we traveled would ever shatter and split

How many a year has passed and gone

And many a gamble has been lost and won

And many a road taken by many a first friend

And each one I've never seen again

I wish, I wish, I wish in vain

That we could sit simply in that room again

Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat

I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that

-30-