https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/tapper-zelensky-interview-cnntv/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/tapper-zelensky-interview-cnntv/index.html

"...a onetime aide to Roger J. Stone Jr., joined a conference call with a group of President Donald J. Trump’s supporters and made an urgent plea...Mr. Sullivan told them that they had to go to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 — and “descend on the Capitol. Mr. Sullivan claimed that he was “not inciting violence or any kind of riots,” he urged those on the call to make their presence felt at the Capitol in a way that would intimidate members of Congress...He also pledged that Mr. Trump was going to take action on his own; the president, he said, was going to impose a form of martial law on Jan. 6 and would not be leaving office."

The recording of the call, which took place on Dec. 30, 2020, emerged as the Justice Department has expanded its criminal investigation of the Capitol attack. It is unclear if the Justice Department is aware of Mr. Sullivan’s conference call; the department declined to comment. The House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 was provided with a copy of the recording some months ago by the woman who made it, Staci Burk, a law student and Republican activist from Arizona."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-riot-sullivan-trump.html?referringSource=articleShare

You can access the entire article through this link: https://archive.ph/x2f4o#selection-533.0-533.176
My apologies if this link is not permitted. Assuming it is ok to share.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-15-2022?s=r

I don't think excerpts will do this 'Letter' justice, but I will do my best.

"The bullet that killed Lincoln...delivered by John Wilkes Booth, ...poisoned by the belief that Lincoln’s use of the federal government to end human enslavement...was tyranny. Since the 1830s, southern Democratic leaders had gotten around the sticky problem of the Declaration of Independence, with its insistence that “all men are created equal,” by insisting that democracy simply meant that men could elect their leaders at the state level...there was nothing the federal government could do to change them.

Since January 6, the Republican Party has shifted its focus to the states to undermine the federal government. Nineteen states have changed their election laws to enable Republicans to win their states regardless of the will of the voters...Encouraged by the Supreme Court’s “originalist” majority, which denies the ability of the federal government to protect civil rights in the states, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas have all overridden the constitutional right to abortion, and Republican lawmakers have indicated they are gunning for birth control and interracial marriage as well."

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-14-2022?s=r

This is what stood out to me in this morning's newsletter:

Democracies are at risk from authoritarianism today in large part because centralizing power in a few wealthy people permits those people to continue to pocket disproportionate shares of the national wealth..

According to Forbes, the wealth of the richest 25 Americans rose more than $400 billion from 2014 to 2018, giving them a combined wealth of $1.1 trillion.. It would take the wealth of 14.3 million ordinary American wage earners to get to that number. During those years, those 25 richest Americans paid $13.6 billion in taxes, a true tax rate of 3.4%....It is also behind the outcry today over the proposal of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, allegedly the richest man in the world, to buy Twitter for a cash offer of $43 billion in a hostile takeover of the popular platform. (According to ProPublica, Musk paid no income tax in 2018.)"

Ukraine was able to thwart potentially devastating and irreversible eclectic grid shut down. Russia eyeing North America for potential targeted cyber attacks.

Our democracy as at risk of being brought down by a bunch of lunatic morons. At this moment in time, if it wasn't for President Biden and his expertise, straight talk, and just plain sanity, we would be the laughingstock of the entire world.

This is all happening because selfish and greedy politicians are allowing it to happen. Well, I'm damn sick and tired of it and frustrated as hell. I suspect many of you are, too. Vote, donate, volunteer. Do what you can to stop this f*cking insanity.

And never forget these obscenely anti-democratic, selfish, corrupt, lying, pro-Putin bastards. I'm looking at you, Mitch McConnell and you, Tucker Carlson.

Thank you - Just my rant.

https://www.businessinsider.com/manchin-tears-into-biden-over-failing-to-stop-record-inflation-2022-4

"Manchin tears into Biden over failing to stop record inflation: 'The Federal Reserve and the administration failed to act fast enough'.

The scorching statement comes as the White House tries to quietly woo Manchin back to the table for talks on Biden's agenda. "When will this end? It is a disservice to the American people to act as if inflation is a new phenomenon," Manchin said in a statement. "The Federal Reserve and the administration failed to act fast enough, and today's data is a snapshot in time of the consequences being felt across the country."

There was a time in the recent past when I recorded The 11th Hour with Brian Williams so that I could begin my mornings enjoying his sharp wit, while his insightful guests informed me about world events. Suddenly, it seemed to me, he was gone.

Enter stage right, all gussied-up with a new look, was Stephanie Ruhle. Say what? You must be kidding. This giddy, overly effusive, light-weight is replacing THE Brian Williams. NOT! As time went by I became curious to see if Ms. Ruhle was ruling the nighttime air-waves or turning The 11th Hour into a comedy show.

Last night I held my breath and watched her show. So, she isn't Brian Williams, but then who is? She was still gussied-up. She actually looked pretty good - Just saying.

Her demeanor, it seemed to me, was very much toned down. The guests were first rate, that much hasn't changed. The questions she asked were the kind that you, or I, or any everyday person might ask. I liked that she wasn't afraid to put herself out there and ask what might be considered a naive question. She offered some blunt opinions, some of which I agreed with. When she was corrected, she took the correction with grace.

Well, I said to myself, maybe NBC was right to replace the irreplaceable Brian Williams with someone who could never be compared to him. She may just stand on her own. I will definitely watch her show again.