[snip]

The most dangerous lie: The coronavirus was under control.

This was more like a family of lies than a single lie. But each one -- the lie that the virus was equivalent to the flu; the lie that the situation was "totally under control"; the lie that the virus was "disappearing" -- suggested to Americans that they didn't have to change much about their usual behavior.

[snip]

The most depressing lie: Trump won the election

Trump's long White House campaign against verifiable reality has culminated with his lie that he is the true winner of the 2020 presidential election he clearly, certifiably and fairly lost.

To many of us, it's ludicrous nonsense. But to millions of deluded Americans, it's the truth. And it has now gotten people killed.

The nation's truth problem, clearly, isn't just a Trump problem. With this last blizzard of deception and the Capitol insurrection it fomented, Trump has shown us, once more, just how detached from reality much of his political base has become -- or always was.


https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/01/16/politics/fact-check-dale-top-15-donald-trump-lies/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

Early pundits pointed to economic anxiety fueling Trump’s supporters, but this was only partially true. The average Trump voter in 2016 earned well above the national median income. What was predictive of Trump support: high levels of anti-Black sentiment, according to the National Election Survey, said Gabriel Lenz, a political psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Those who have said they were Trump voters because they like his tax policy, his judges, his description of himself as pro-life simply have to ask themselves if it was worth it and how they feel about the camp they are in,” said Anderson. “It includes a man who wore a ‘Camp Auschwitz’ T-shirt to take Capitol Hill.”

A more accurate understanding of American politics would have to account for the repeated cycles of Black progress followed by broader white backlash, often punctuated and enforced by bloody events, Anderson said. It’s illustrated in the Jim Crow era and the terror of lynchings that followed the Civil War, the staunch segregation that followed Black involvement in World Wars I and II, and the assassinations that disrupted the civil rights movement’s major gains, said Thomas C. Holt, a history professor at the University of Chicago.

Bloody, violent coups occurred across the American South during Reconstruction, forcing Black politicians from elected office and replacing them with white officials. In Wilmington, North Carolina, Black elected officials were rounded up in 1898 and given a choice: resign or die. Many of the white men involved in that coup and others like it around the South were or became mayors, governors, lawmakers, newspaper publishers and prominent businessmen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/trump-fueled-riot-shocked-america-some-it-was-long-time-n1254465

Late last year, firefighters were the first city workers given access to the shots. After an initial burst of activity, the number showing up to get the vaccine has plummeted. This past week only 143 firefighters visited one of the department’s vaccination centers, according to data released by the city Friday night. So far, 1,944 of the agency’s just under 3,400 members have been inoculated, leaving four in 10 vulnerable to the highly infectious coronavirus.

The reluctance of L.A. firefighters adds to the list of healthcare workers in the state who are declining to take the vaccine, a trend that health experts say could have serious public health implications.

Firefighters are on the front lines of the pandemic, with many working as paramedics and emergency medical technicians. More than 830 city firefighters — nearly one-quarter of the force — have tested positive thus far. Two have died, most recently Capt. George Roque, 57, a 22-year veteran.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/push-to-get-l-a-firefighters-vaccinated-against-covid-19-loses-steam-as-many-fail-to-show-up/

"A man who was seen in the Capitol holding a Confederate flag during last week’s riot by supporters of President Donald Trump turned himself in to authorities on Thursday.

Kevin Seefried and his son Hunter surrendered to the U.S. Marshals' office Thursday morning in Wilmington, Delaware, the FBI confirmed to NBC News.

The Seefrieds face one count each of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and depredation of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

Kevin Seefried admitted to investigators in a voluntary interview that he had brought the Confederate flag from his home in Delaware, where it is usually displayed outside, according to charging documents."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-holding-confederate-flag-capitol-during-pro-trump-riot-turns-n1254307?cid=referral_taboolafeed


So much for the claim that the Confederate battle flag just represents "Southern pride." These guys are from Delaware. The Confederate battle flag represents white supremacy. Period.

(CNN)President Donald Trump, irritated at being impeached for a second time, has told people to stop paying Rudy Giuliani's legal fees, a person familiar with the matter tells CNN, though aides were not clear if the President was serious about his instructions given he's lashing out at nearly everyone after the day's events.

Trump has been blaming his longtime personal attorney and many others for the predicament he now finds himself in, though he has not accepted any responsibility in public or in private, people familiar with his reaction told CNN. Giuliani is still expected to play a role in Trump's impeachment defense but has been left out of most conversations thus far.

"He's been holed up in the residence, that's never a good thing. He's by himself, not a lot of people to bounce ideas off of -- whenever that happens he goes to his worst instincts," that person said. "Now that Twitter isn't available God only knows what the outlet will be."


https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/politics/donald-trump-rudy-giuliani-legal-fees-white-house/index.html

A Los Angeles police officer has been ordered by LAPD Chief Michel Moore to tell FBI agents about his attendance at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The unnamed officer told police officials that he attended the large pro-Trump rally on the National Mall on Jan. 6, where Trump spoke, but left “prior to any other activity and did not participate in anything that occurred at the Capitol,” Moore said.

The officer said that he was back at his D.C. accommodation when he saw on television that people had left the rally and stormed the Capitol, Moore said.

Moore stressed that while simply attending the rally would be a protected 1st Amendment activity, any involvement in the attack on the Capitol would not be and could expose an officer to criminal charges. A department spokesman said the LAPD would cooperate with the FBI if additional investigation into the officer is necessary.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lapd-officer-who-attended-trump-rally-ahead-of-capitol-attack-directed-to-speak-with-fbi/

During the struggle, Sicknick, 42, was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, two law enforcement officials said to the Associated Press.

The officials could not discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The FBI asks anyone who recognizes the man to contact them at 1-800-225-5324.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/sen-bill-cassidy-shares-photo-of-suspect-sought-in-connection-with-murder-of-capitol-police-officer/35193980

The manatee lay still, floating in the shallow waters of a Florida river over the weekend when a woman on a boat noticed something odd. As she moved closer and filmed with her phone, Hailey Warrington found a one-word message scrawled on the marine mammal’s back: “TRUMP.”

“This is just disturbing. One hundred percent disturbing,” Warrington, who discovered the defaced manatee in the Homosassa River, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Now federal and local authorities are investigating who is responsible for etching the president’s name on the threatened animal’s back. Harassment of a manatee is a criminal offense punishable by a $50,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/12/manatee-trump-florida/

https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1348061242284515328


But no charges against the murderous insurrectionists for wearing flags or "crowding"!!