Tuesday News: “Yes, It Was a Coup. Here’s Why.”; “This Putsch Was Decades in the Making”; “Impeach, Convict and Disqualify”; “The U.S. must punish sedition — or risk more of it”; “I’m Not Listening to Republican Calls for ‘Unity'”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 12.

• Coronavirus causes largest U.S. greenhouse gas emissions drop since World War Two: report (We need to lock that in and go much further with the greenhouse gas reductions.)
• Israel Wants to Derail Biden’s Plan to Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal (Screw that.)
• Climate change causing one-third of flood damage in United States, Stanford study finds
• China Reimposes Lockdowns as It Battles the Worst Virus Outbreak in Months
• Jared Kushner briefed Jake Sullivan on Trump’s Middle East policy
• Jabs equal jobs? Fed sees possible economic boom if vaccine gets on track
• Coronavirus mutations: Here are the major Covid strains we know about (“The new coronavirus has undergone several major mutations, and it’s likely that more, significant variations will emerge.”)
• Giuliani Allies Were Part of “Russia-Linked Foreign Influence Network,” US Government Says
• Inside Pelosi’s push to impeach Trump: This time it’s personal (“She views the siege of the Capitol as an attack on the lawmakers, aides and support staff who she considers her family.”)
• Years of bad leadership from Trump, and now no leadership at all
• “America is Anxious”: Experts Discuss Mental Health Toll Of Unrest
• America confronts dark forces (“Trump is leaving US in a vortex of violence, sickness and death” In other words, “American carnage,” as Trump spoke about – bizarrely – in his inauguration address.)
• Impeach Trump Again
• Yes, It Was a Coup. Here’s Why. (Fiona Hill: “Trump disguised what he was doing by operating in plain sight, talking openly about his intent. He normalized his actions so people would accept them. I’ve been studying authoritarian regimes for three decades, and I know the signs of a coup when I see them.”)
• Troops Flood a Rattled Washington Ahead of the Biden Inauguration
• FBI warns ‘armed protests’ being planned at all 50 state capitols and in Washington DC
• Trump should be impeached. But that alone won’t remove white supremacy from America. (Hillary Clinton: “It is not enough to scrutinize — and prosecute — the domestic terrorists who attacked our Capitol. We all need to do some soul-searching of our own.”)
• The military has a hate group problem. But it doesn’t know how bad it’s gotten (“The rise of extremism in the ranks is seen as a ‘crisis issue’ but the military’s efforts to weed out radicals are ‘haphazard’ at best.”)
• Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trump’s failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol
• House GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifa
• McCarthy: “Undisputedly” no evidence Antifa participated in deadly Capitol siege
• Scoop: Trump falsely blames Antifa for Capitol insurrection (Another Big Lie by Trump)
• Is Trump Actually Still in Control?
• Trump enters final week as president with few allies, no Twitter and an impeachment effort
• Everything Is Different Now (“The U.S. Capitol did not fall the way the Twin Towers did, but the American idea it embodies was brutalized. We must remember 1/6 the way we remember 9/11.”)
• Impeach, Convict and Disqualify
• Trump Officials Try to Keep Away From the ‘Violent Toddler’ (“Members of Trump’s Cabinet are pushing their personal political agendas, while some of his political aides are just trying to keep him from blowing up the country—again.”)
• House Set to Give Pence Ultimatum Before Moving to Impeach Trump
• This Putsch Was Decades in the Making (“G.O.P. cynics have been coddling crazies for a long time.”)
• The U.S. must punish sedition — or risk more of it
• To save American democracy, truth needs to beat fantasy
• The Coup Began Years Ago (“Republican lawmakers have shown their supporters that there is no line they cannot cross.”)
• False fraud claims fanned Capitol riot. Now they’re fueling GOP efforts to restrict voting. (100% unacceptable. Congress needs to act on this, forcefully!)
• ‘Supremely self-absorbed’: Isolated Trump unlikely to mount an aggressive impeachment defense
• Before Capitol Riot, Republican Lawmakers Fanned the Flames (Any consequences?!?)
• American Jewish Congress Report Ties Capitol Storming to Neo-Nazi, QAnon, and Antisemitic Activity
• Trump, Pence have ‘good conversation’ after breach in wake of Capitol riot (Bizarre, after Trump basically sent his thugs to the Capitol, and said thugs changed “Hang Mike Pence!”)
• Inside the remarkable rift between Donald Trump and Mike Pence
• After break with Trump, Pence charts a new path forward
• Democrats grapple with how to impeach Trump without hindering Biden’s agenda
• McCarthy says Trump accepted some responsibility for Capitol riot
• I’m Not Listening to Republican Calls for ‘Unity’ (Nope, they’re a complete joke.)
• How Inauguration Day Is Shaping Up: Beefed Up Security, Limited Public Access
• Business titans pull back from GOP after Capitol insurrection (It’s about f’ing time!)
• Justice Dept. Pursues at Least 150 Suspects in Capitol Riot (“Federal law enforcement officials have embarked on a nationwide manhunt as they grapple with the fallout from the government’s failure to protect the Capitol.”)
• Trump Takes One Last Look At His Border Wall As Congress Considers Impeachment
• The Scary Power of the Companies That Finally Shut Trump Up
• Twitter Bans Over 70,000 QAnon Accounts in Conspiracy Crackdown (Twitter should have done this year ago.)
• How White Evangelical Christians Fused With Trump Extremism
• Biden charts his course with a Democratic Congress
• Trump Can’t Be Allowed to Escape Justice Yet Again
• Parler deserved to be taken down. We still need new rules for the Internet.
• Police bias explains the Capitol riot (“Law enforcement didn’t treat the Capitol rioters as a threat. The consequences were disastrous.”)
• Facebook targets ‘stop the steal’ content and says Trump ban may be permanent (Facebook should have been a LOT more proactive and aggressive about this the last couple months. Why wasn’t it???)
• If It’s Still Trump Party, Many Republicans Like Me Will Leave
• Officers Sicknick and Liebengood showed what real patriotism looks like
• Lies, Patriotism, and Consequences
• Parler Sues Amazon After Tech Giant Kicks Site Off Its Servers
• ‘Hate in their heart’: Lawmakers fear more violence after Capitol attacks
• Republicans who aren’t willing to act against sedition are complicit
• Republicans responsible for sedition now want ‘unity’ (“No unity before purging the anti-democratic enablers.”)
• We need to expand the notion of accountability for the Capitol attack
• House Democrats Briefed On 3 Terrifying Plots To Overthrow Government
• Several Capitol police officers suspended, more than a dozen under investigation over actions related to rally, riot
• ‘They Got a Officer!’: How a Mob Dragged and Beat Police at the Capitol
• Some members of Congress fear the Capitol mob attack was an inside job
• Jayapal Tests Positive for COVID-19 Following Lockdown at Capitol With Republican Lawmakers Who Cruelly and Selfishly Refused to Wear Masks
• Watson Coleman Receives Positive Coronavirus Test Following January 6 Capitol Lockdown
• New York City to consider ending contracts with Trump that bring his company $17 million a year
• Deutsche Bank to Pull Back From Business With Trump and His Company
• An Urgent Reckoning for the Trump Brand
• Congressional Republicans struggle to mount a response to Capitol riot (How about do the right thing, for once?)
• Fox throws in the towel on its “news” side (It’s a pure, far-right propaganda network. That’s it.)
• Fox’s Dan Bongino melts down over Parler being offline, yelling “they’re coming for Fox now”
• Acting US homeland security secretary Chad Wolf resigns (“Wolf, who played key role in president’s hardline immigration policies, says exit prompted in part by ‘recent events’”)
• Pro Golf Finally Cancels Donald Trump (“He’s got to be devastated.”)
• A Disgruntled Employee Changed The State Department’s Website To Say That Trump’s Term Ends Today, Sources Say
• ‘Stop F—ing Lying’: Congress, Trump Officials in Heated Exchange Over Terrorism Designations
• Bill Belichick Rebuffs Trump’s Presidential Medal Offer
• Melania Honors Dead Pro-Trump Rioters and Claims She’s the Victim (Worst First Lady ever. By far.)
• Editorial: Why Republicans should take lead in removing Trump
• Hawley, Cruz face rising anger, possible censure (Censure would be the absolute, bare minimum. Expulsion is far more appropriate.)
• Florida Manatee Mutilated By Someone Who Etched ‘Trump’ Onto Its Back (Evil – find whoever did this and lock them up for a LONG time.)
• Twitter: An update following the riots in Washington, DC (“Following the horrific events in Washington, DC, last week, here are some of the steps we’ve taken to protect the conversation on our service from attempts to incite violence, organize attacks, and share deliberately misleading information about the election outcome.”)
• Horned D.C. protester makes first court appearance, refuses to eat in detention
• Spanberger co-sponsors article of impeachment against Trump
  
• Rep. Spanberger Demands Accountability for Wednesday’s Insurrection, Seeks Immediate Removal of President Trump, & Backs Articles of Impeachment
• Video: Former Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA02) Says He’s “Disappointed In My Friend Rob [Wittman]; I Repudiate [His] Vote” Not to Certify the Election Results (Rigell adds that those who assaulted the U.S. Capitol “were not patriots. They were insurrectionists. They were traitors in my view”)
• Political newcomer with ability to self-fund to enter race for Virginia governor (“Former Carlyle Group executive Glenn Youngkin plans to sell himself as an outsider.”)
• UVA’s Top Political Pundit Confers with Colleagues on Georgia and Chaos at the Capitol
• Virginia’s House Democrats push hard for Trump’s impeachment
• Chaos at the Capitol: Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) Virginia
• Monday (1/11) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +4,530 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 403,386), +87 Hospitalizations (to 19,182), +10 Deaths (to 5,393); Hospitalizations Hit Record High (3,117)
• Website translation mistake, long phone waits: Virginia vaccine advisers discuss struggles
• New Rules and Relief Programs Now in Effect for Virginia Tenants and Landlords
• Maps: Which Virginia U.S. House, State Senate, House of Delegates Districts Are Above or Below “Ideal” Population?
• Clean Water Advocates Sue to Stop Political Pressure to Bail Out Fracked Gas Mountain Valley Pipeline
• Forest Service grants pipeline’s request to pass through Jefferson National Forest
• An Early Look at Climate and Energy Bills In the 2021 Session
• Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) Introduces “Green New Deal Act” Calling for Fossil Fuel Moratorium, 80% Clean Energy in Virginia by 2028, Environmental Justice, etc.
• Virginia officials brace after FBI warning about possible inauguration week violence in state capitals
• Virginia prepares for potential armed protests at state Capitol; Northam urges Virginians not to attend Biden’s inauguration
• Virginia gun group pressing on with Jan. 18 event, despite violence in D.C.
• ‘We will return to school’: Fairfax Co. schools chief says goal remains the same
• CASEY: ‘Call Me Commander’ is a gripping, real-life read (“Recall the big scandal in Richmond in 2010, when a con man flimflammed the General Assembly into enacting a law that helped him perpetuate his scam? Now, an engrossing new book by Jeff Testerman and Daniel Freed describes how journalists in Florida exposed the con man and his multi-decade history of fraud.”)
• Alden sets its sights on Tribune and a shudder runs through what’s left of two Virginia newspapers (“The core Tribune group in Virginia of The Pilot, Daily Press and two smaller publications now has about 70 newsroom employees combined”)
• Richmond Council Puts Monument Avenue Plan on Hold
• Culpeper councilmember defends calling Capitol rioters ‘Patriots’ (“Councilmember Jon Russell says his description was a ‘term of endearment,’ but said the attackers became lawbreakers once inside the Capitol.”)
• Hampton to pick new sheriff in special election, has sworn in undersheriff during interim
• Prince William to administer COVID-19 vaccines at GMU Manassas campus
• Editorial: Designate Great Dismal Swamp a National Heritage Area
• Sunny skies return with a warming trend through the week