Month: April 2021

We keep hearing that January 6th was just some tourists in DC for a big speech taking a stroll through the Capitol. They certainly didn’t hurt anyone or cause any damage, amirite? And none of them had planned to storm the capitol, it just happened spontaneously:

Not sure how I didn’t see this before, but here’s a map from TheDonald on 12/28 talking about storming the Capitol on January 6th.

In the comments, people are talking about sabotaging the tunnels so lawmakers can’t escape when they overwhelm their estimate of 3500 guards.

Originally tweeted by Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) on April 13, 2021.

And, by the way:

Prosecutors on Monday revealed what they said was a suspected effort by Oath Keepers to stash weapons in Virginia ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. 

The so-called “Quick Reaction Force” — a spoken-of group of armed Oath Keepers waiting for their command to join the fight — has been mentioned before by prosecutors in the cases of several Oath Keepers charged with conspiring to disrupt the certification of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6. 

Defense attorneys have argued that there is little evidence the QRF existed, beyond text message chatter between the Oath Keeper defendants ahead of Jan. 6. 

But Monday’s filing from the government, advocating for the continued detention of Oath Keeper Kenneth Harrelson (circled in red, above), argued explicitly that “the evidence suggests that Defendant Harrelson was both aware of the presence of an armed Quick Reaction Force and likely contributed weapons to it.” 

Prosecutors referred first to a Dec. 30 message between co-defendants Thomas Caldwell and Jessica Watkins, in which Caldwell referred to someone that prosecutors call “Person Three” and allegedly said, “As we speak he is trying to book a room at Comfort Inn Ballston/Arlington because of its close-in location and easy access to downtown because he feels 1) he’s too broken down to be on the ground all day and 2) he is committed to being the quick reaction force anf [sic] bringing the tools if something goes to hell.” 

“That way the boys don’t have to try and schlep weps on the bus. He’ll bring them in his truck the day before,” Caldwell allegedly added, apparently referring to weapons.

Prosecutors say Person Three stayed at the Comfort Inn in Ballston, Virginia — where gun laws are more lax than in D.C. — and that co-defendant Kelly Meggs paid for two other rooms at the same hotel in Person Three’s name. 

On Jan. 5, Harrelson allegedly asked in a group chat, “We get that QRF hotel address yet?” to which Meggs responded “Dm,” — a reference to using a direct message, rather than discussing the matter with the entire group. 

Three hours later, according to prosecutors, Harrelson arrived “in the area” of the Comfort Inn Ballston, where he allegedly remained for roughly an hour before returning to Washington, D.C.

“It is reasonable to believe that during this hour, Defendant Harrelson was dropping his weapons with Person Three and the QRF,” the government alleged. 

The day after the attack, on Jan. 7, Harrelson again messaged the group chat, “So we’re just leaving DC and I would like to know where my shits at since it seems everyone’s gone already.”

Another member of the chat responded, “Did you leave it at Comfort Inn in that room?” 

About twenty minutes later, Harrelson was allegedly at that hotel. Prosecutors shared a surveillance camera still which they said showed him “rolling what appears to be at least one rifle case down a hallway and towards the elevator.” 

More:

Just a bunch of patriots peacefully protesting.

I’m sure you’ve heard that the J&J vaccine has been paused so the CDC and FDA can evaluate whether the 6 people out of five million got a rare blood clot presents a larger problem. Here’s some perspective on the risk:

“We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, issued in a joint statement. “Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare.”

Notably, there have been 5 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines administered in the United States, with only six cases of blood clots. According to CDC estimates, around 60,000-100,000 Americans die of blood clots every year, or between 160 and 275 every day. The average American’s lifetime risk of developing a blood clot falls between 2 to 5 percent, and their relative risk increases with age, obesity, illness, and surgery.

Because mass vaccinations involve millions of people, it is not uncommon for unrelated, random illnesses to be misinterpreted as resulting from the vaccine. Statistically, in a sample size of 5 million — the number of people who have been given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the United States — between 2.4 and 4.2 of those 5 million people would, on an average day, die of a blood clot for reasons unrelated to the vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson has maintained that there is “no clear causal relationship” between their vaccine and the blood clots, according to CNBC, but the company is currently working with regulators to investigate the incidents. In a statement provided to Fox News, the pharmaceutical giant said that “safety and well-being of people who use our products” is still its first priority, and that it was already aware of an “extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine.”

The blood clot, called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, is primarily seen in people with low platelet levels. However, it is extremely rare and requires a specific kind of treatment. “Treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that might typically be administered,” the CDC and FA stated. “Usually, an anticoagulant drug called heparin is used to treat blood clots. In this setting, administration of heparin may be dangerous, and alternative treatments need to be given.”

I understand why they are doing this. The vaccines were rolled out very quickly and there have been so many lies and conspiracies during COVID, particularly around the use of drugs (Hydroxychloroquine anyone?) they believe they have to be extremely scrupulous about investigating any possible side effects in order to maintain the confidence of the public. They are caught between a rock and a hard place because many of the vaccine hesitant are looking for reasons to reject the vaccine and as long as they do that they continue to provide a host for the virus to mutate into vaccine resistant variants and risk spreading the virus to others. But, at the same time, they simply cannot cover anything up or they risk the same thing , and all future credibility, when these reports of rare side effects inevitably get out.

This is yet another effect of our diseased information system, poor science education and general loss of faith in institutions. I think they’re doing the best they can. Our society is in very poor shape right now in many ways, but this may be the most dangerous to our ability to survive in the future.

That’s from the White House website fact sheet. Note the title of the plan. Here’s the opening of the sheet:

While the American Rescue Plan is changing the course of the pandemic and delivering relief for working families, this is no time to build back to the way things were. This is the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China. Public domestic investment as a share of the economy has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The American Jobs Plan will invest in America in a way we have not invested since we built the interstate highways and won the Space Race.

The United States of America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet we rank 13^th when it comes to the overall quality of our infrastructure. After decades of disinvestment, our roads, bridges, and water systems are crumbling. Our electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages. Too many lack access to affordable, high-speed Internet and to quality housing. The past year has led to job losses and threatened economic security, eroding more than 30 years of progress in women’s labor force participation. It has unmasked the fragility of our caregiving infrastructure. And, our nation is falling behind its biggest competitors on research and development (R&D), manufacturing, and training. It has never been more important for us to invest in strengthening our infrastructure and competitiveness, and in creating the good-paying, union jobs of the future.

Like great projects of the past, the President’s plan will unify and mobilize the country to meet the great challenges of our time: the climate crisis and the ambitions of an autocratic China. It will invest in Americans and deliver the jobs and opportunities they deserve. But unlike past major investments, the plan prioritizes addressing long-standing and persistent racial injustice. The plan targets 40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities. And, the plan invests in rural communities and communities impacted by the market-based transition to clean energy. 

It goes on to describe the plan in detail if you’re interested.

I’m kind of curious as to why they decided to message this as infrastructure instead of jobs in the first place. I guess they felt it would work better but I’m not entirely sure that anything ever works better in American than “jobs.” But in any case, the arguments that this isn’t really an infrastructure bill because things in it don’t include roads and bridges can be refuted by simply pointing to the actual name of the bill.

Big news day so far:

A pause in the J&J vaccine announced after 6 out of 6 million got a blood clot.

Biden announces plan to withdraw from Afghanistan by 9/11

Biden proposes meeting with Putin amid rising Ukraine tensions

Officer killed in Capitol attack lies in Rotunda

Puts what we consider to be wild news days into perspective, doesn't it? https://t.co/MllMBTWrLt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2021

We have big problems. But there are bigger ones.

For background, here’s my Salon piece from yesterday. Last night he addressed the issue. It isn’t pretty. CNN’s Oliver Darcy from the Reliable Sources newsletter:

Typically, when Tucker Carlson provokes outrage, it is a good bet that he will address the controversy by doubling down on his initial remarks. But his apparent endorsement of the racist “great replacement” theory crossed a bright red line last week. Even for those who might be desensitized to his incendiary commentary, it was shocking to watch. And it led to a bigger PR problem then usual for Fox, with the Anti-Defamation League calling for the right-wing talk channel to fire him.

Which is all to say that before Carlson went on air Monday evening, I was not so sure he would follow his usual playbook and sneer at his critics while repeating his initial remarks. Naively, I thought he might have started a fire too hot for even him to touch. Perhaps, I imagined, the Murdochs, while publicly defending Carlson, privately told him to knock it off.

I could not have been more wrong.

… goes on and on about “demographic change”

Obviously, Carlson was never going to apologize for or retract his remarks. But he could have chosen to ignore the controversy, move on, and let it die out. Instead, he did the opposite. Carlson opened up his show by first replaying the comments he made last week — comments in which he essentially endorsed the “great replacement” theory. Then he mocked critics who were outraged he had done so. “It is amusing to see them keep at it,” Carlson said of those who have called for him to be removed from Fox’s air, a group that now includes the Anti-Defamation League. “They get so enraged! It’s a riot!”

Making a mockery of those with very real concerns about his rhetoric wasn’t enough for Carlson. He then went on to recite the core element of the “great replacement” theory, describing it to his millions of viewers as accurate. “Demographic change is the key to the Democratic Party’s political ambitions,” Carlson said. “In order to win and maintain power, Democrats plan to change the population of the country.” Carlson told his audience that the “goal” is “to make you irrelevant.” He said it is “provably true.” Over and over again, he referenced “demographic” change.

Murdoch defends

Before Carlson went on the air, Lachlan Murdoch defended his rhetoric. In a letter to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who called for Carlson to be kicked off the air, Murdoch said that Fox saw no problem with the comments Carlson had made about the “great replacement” theory. “Fox Corporation shares your values and abhors anti-semitism, white supremacy and racism of any kind,” Murdoch wrote Greenblatt on Sunday. “In fact, I remember fondly the ADL honoring my father with your International Leadership Award, and we continue to support your mission.”

“Concerning the segment of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on April 8th, however, we respectfully disagree,” Murdoch continued in the letter. “A full review of the guest interview indicates that Mr. Carlson decried and rejected replacement theory. As Mr. Carlson himself stated during the guest interview: ‘White replacement theory? No, no, this is a voting rights question.'”

>> The sound of silence: I texted a Fox spox after Carlson’s latest remarks and asked whether Murdoch continued to believe that Carlson rejects the “great replacement” theory. I didn’t hear back…

ADL responds

Greenblatt responded to Murdoch in a Monday letter, which was also sent before Carlson’s latest comments. “Although I appreciate the sentiment that you and your father continue to support ADL’s mission, supporting Mr. Carlson’s embrace of the ‘great replacement theory’ stands in direct contrast to that mission,” Greenblatt wrote.

Greenblatt said Carlson’s “attempt to at first dismiss” the replacement theory “while in the very next breath endorsing it under cover of ‘a voting rights question’ does not give him free license to invoke a white supremacist trope.” He wondered who had done the “review” Murdoch referenced: “I don’t know which experts you consulted in your review, but, as your letter rightly pointed out, we are the experts.”

And in a particularly pointed section of Greenblatt’s letter, he fired back at Murdoch for referencing the ADL once honoring his father. “As you noted in your letter, ADL honored your father over a decade ago,” Greenblatt wrote, “but let me be clear that we would not do so today, and it does not absolve you, him, the network, or its board from the moral failure of not taking action against Mr. Carlson.”

>> In response to Carlson on Monday challenging Greenblatt to appear on his show, an ADL spokesperson told me, “As noted in the letter, ADL believes in dialogue. It is not uncommon for ADL representatives, including our CEO, to have both private and public dialogue on difficult issues with people we have past or even current disagreements with. What ADL will not do is legitimize a discussion on the appropriateness of espousing a white supremacist ideology…”

Tucker Carlson doubles down on his belief in replacement theory: "Demographic change is the key to the Democratic party's political ambitions. In order to win and maintain power, Democrats plan to change the population of the country." pic.twitter.com/sOhbjRISxH

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) April 13, 2021

This goes beyond even Ann Coulter’s “Adios America” which made the case that Democrats want to import immigrants to boost their voting power (a somewhat more dubious case after so many Hispanics voted for Donald Trump, but whatever.) Tucker is explicitly using the “replacement” language as a piercing dogwhistle to hardcore extremists and garden variety racist Trump voters who know very well what this theory is all about. And he’s mainstreaming the rhetoric among the rubes who may not yet realize what this means but who will be primed for the full theory when Tucker gets around to telling them.

They marched in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil.” Tucker knows that. We all know that. Was that a “voting rights protest” for white people that just happened to be called by Neo-Nazis to protect confederate statues? How odd …

“Republican officials dislike postal voting in 2021 because in 2020 Biden voters were much more likely than Trump voters to use a postal ballot,” writes David Frum at The Atlantic. Thus, new rules proposed in Republican-controlled state after Republican-controlled state aim to limit voting by mail in spite of the potential that the Democratic vote-by-mail surge of 2020 was a “once-in-a-lifetime event” driven by the global pandemic.

Photocopies of your photo ID may be required under some new rules. Maybe two copies. Easy if you work in a Democratic-leaning, suburban Atlanta office park, Frum notes. Tougher for the less tech-savvy or poorer without the know-how for scanning an ID wih a cell phone and the printer for making a hard copy.

As I have argued repeatedly, Republican legislators play the percentages. They weigh the harm such measures might do to Democratic performance against how much they might harm their own voters. If the advantage is on their side, harm to their own voters is acceptable. All their ballot integrity and stolen vote alarmism is bullshit and they know it.

Frum concurs, but he wonders if Republicans have checked their math:

You might assume that Georgia Republicans have absorbed such negative information, balanced it, and coldly calculated that the trade is worth it: They may lose some of their older, poorer, or sicker rural voters, but if they can thwart a larger number of Black or young voters, they will emerge ahead.

But in the Trump and post-Trump era, local Republican power holders have again and again demonstrated that they are not good risk assessors. They refuse to acknowledge awkward truths. They believe their own inflammatory propaganda. The result is that they make self-harming decisions based on inaccurate information.

“Misperceptions and the rage are blinding Republicans,” Frum believes. Their efforts at shrinking the voting pool might do more harm to them than good. He cites four ways in which their legislative election sabotage could backfire. But perhaps the least obvious is failing to make democracy work for them:

Winning votes is better than suppressing them.

In 2020, many of the precincts with the most immigrants moved most strongly to Trump. In Chicago, the precincts with the most people of Mexican descent delivered 45 percent more votes to Trump in 2020 than in 2016. Yet these Republican-leaning new voters figure high among those most negatively affected by Republican-sponsored voter suppression.

State-level Republican officials have sought to reduce the number of early-voting days. They hope that by cramming more voting into Election Day itself, they can lengthen voting queues and discourage minority voters. Almost everywhere in the country, minorities must wait longer to vote than whites; urban and suburban voters must wait longer than rural voters.

So it’s natural to assume that by further extending the lines on Election Day, Republicans can gain an even greater advantage.

Natural, but wrong.

They could try to try to speed minority voters to the polls rather than try to deter them. “Republicans would be smarter to switch off the race-baiters on cable news, read the precinct reports, and do the solid work necessary to earn and secure votes from voters who are ready to vote Republican if only the party will allow them to vote at all,” Frum suggests.

But decades of race-baiting and immigrant-hating have produced a kind of ideological muscle memory that logic and electoral math will not easily overcome. What Republicans may want, deep down, is a return not to the 1950s but the 1850s, to a time when white, male property owners controlled it all and did not have to share power with anyone.

The spate of police killings (or near-killings) of non-white Americans has to reach a tipping point and trigger reform sometime, doesn’t it? That is, if there is justice in the universe, or karma, or enough cell-phone video. (Yes, that’s a desperate hope.)

The weekend police shooting (“accidental discharge,” per Brooklyn Center, Minn. police) of a Black motorist just miles from the site of the Derek Chauvin murder trial for the killing of George Floyd provoked protests and curfews last night. State law enforcement has called in the National Guard around the Twin Cities area.

Here's the latest on the unrest in Brooklyn Center.

— The overnight curfew ended at 6 a.m.

— All schools in Brooklyn Center & Brooklyn Park will be in remote learning today. ​

— MN State Patrol troopers will standing guard.

LATEST UPDATE: https://t.co/lDtEaBFGWK pic.twitter.com/e8KcX5C644

— WCCO | CBS News Minnesota (@WCCO) April 12, 2021

Conservatives routinely complain that Democrats’ answer to problems is to throw more money at them. Conservatives’ better answer is to ignore the problems exist and throw more money at the military and police. Which is why in the aftermath of September 11 the government up-armored local police with surplus military equipment to have hanging around the po-lice officer station just waiting to be used on somebody. Demonstrators would do in a pinch.

We were at war. Ostensibly, with foreign terrorists. In their absence, non-white others make convenient practice targets, as they have since slave-patrol days.

Policing is broken in this country. Police training is broken. Police culture is broken. A couple hours of unconscious bias seminar will not even put a dent in it.

Perhaps if we put some people in near the top who see there is a problem (Washington Post):

President Biden has selected Anne Milgram, a former state attorney general, prosecutor and longtime advocate for reform of the criminal justice system, to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, the White House announced on Monday.

Milgram, who once declared, “there’s no system that is more old-school and broken and problematic than the criminal justice system,” currently works as a lawyer in private practice, and as a law professor and podcaster.

The White House touts Milgram’s work to develop “a screening tool that can be used by law enforcement to identify individuals suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders who can safely be diverted into treatment.”

She is also an advocate for better use of data in policing (New York Times):

“Without data and without information, a system that’s run really subjectively based on our gut and our instinct, we don’t know what we’re doing. We don’t know whether we’re doing it well. And we don’t know whether or not we can do it better.”

Milgram is expected to focus on fighting the opiod epidemic at a time when marijuana laws around the country are easing.

A popup at the Center for Policing Equity where Milgram serves on the board reads:

As the call for reimagined public safety has grown louder, our work must accelerate. The Center for Policing Equity has always centered vulnerable communities through the most effective means at our disposal. Now, the nation is calling into question core assumptions about who and what keeps us safest. 

That and the fact that Milgram has appeared on CNN means her nomination will draw fire from Senate Republicans who feel police exist to keep the lower classes in line.

There has been some criticism of Fox from the Never Trumpers, but the criticism of Rupert Murdoch himself from center-right politicians has been somewhat muted, even from Trump. Australia’s former conservative PM, Malcolm Turnbull, is letting it all hang out:

Australia’s ex-prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has long accused Rupert Murdoch of bringing his prime ministership down—and, at a parliamentary hearing Monday, it was very clear that he’s out for revenge.

Turnbull, a former journalist who has known Murdoch for more than four decades, delivered a furious takedown of one of his country’s most notorious sons during Monday’s evidence session. He accused Murdoch of doing more to divide America than Vladimir Putin, and blamed his media empire for causing the presidency of Donald Trump as well as the Capitol riot that marked the disgraceful climax of his time in power.

“What does Vladimir Putin want to do with his operations in America? He wants to divide America and turn Americans against each other,” said the ex-PM, who first met Murdoch in 1974. “That is exactly what Murdoch has done: Divided Americans against each other and so undermined their faith in political institutions that a mob of thousands of people, many of them armed, stormed the Capitol.”

Strong words from Malcolm Turnbull about Murdoch's attacks on Australian Muslims to the #MediaDiversityInquiry

He says Murdoch is "essentially doing the work of the terrorists" by reinforcing their message that Muslims aren't accepted in our society. #MurdochRoyalCommission pic.twitter.com/2VaPV4EBtN

— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) April 12, 2021

The former PM, who led Australia’s center-right party from 2015 to 2018, was invited to give evidence to the inquiry that was launched after a petition calling for a probe into Murdoch’s media empire was signed by half a million Australians.

Turnbull is the second former prime minister to rip into Murdoch in front of the inquiry. Kevin Rudd, who led Australia’s center-left party, said, “Everyone’s frightened of Murdoch.”

Turnbull said that, although Murdoch has had far too much influence in the political processes of his own country, he was particularly sickened to see what the media mogul achieved with Trump in America. He went as far to suggest that Trump’s relationship with Fox News was similar to the the unwaveringly loyal state media in authoritarian countries.

“I’ve hung around billionaire media proprietors for a long time. I have never seen a politician as deferential to a media proprietor as Trump was to Murdoch, ever, in any country,” said the former leader. “Murdoch’s media in the U.S. had a symbiotic relationship with Trump.”

Once of the most blistering complaints that Turnbull leveled at Murdoch and his journalists is that they essentially carry out propaganda work for terrorists by stoking hate for minorities. The former prime minister said that, while he was in power, he did everything he could to try and overcome that division, but that his efforts were often drowned out.

Turnbull makes the case for #MurdochRoyalCommission, saying Murdoch’s News Corp operates like "a political party" but is unelected and unaccountable.

"Where does this end? Well, we saw that (at the US Capitol) on the 6th of January," he tells the #MediaDiversityInquiry. pic.twitter.com/8VAdcNzJTO

— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) April 12, 2021

‘These voices on the populist right, particularly from Murdoch’s organization, are essentially doing the work of the terrorists,” said the ex-prime minister. “They regularly seek to incite animosity towards minorities, particularly Muslims.”

Turnbull concluded that News Corp. had essentially become a political party that wasn’t accountable to anyone. He said that its network pumps out climate denialism and incites violence against minorities, he also accused it of playing a crucial part in disseminating the 2020 election disinformation that resulted in the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year.

“If you don’t think that is a threat to American democracy and undermining the strength and capability of our most important ally, then, you know, you are kidding yourself,” Turnbull told lawmakers.

I’m not kidding myself. I don’t think most of us are. But there just doesn’t seem to be the bandwidth or the guts to follow up with the kind of high profile commission this thing requires. As always, kitchen table issues are the only thing Democrats have the bandwidth for so the rights ongoing march to authoritarianism goes unchecked. And that is largely thanks to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Here’s the latest:

Cases are spiking in Michigan, placing the state among the worst of the nation’s hot zones. Michigan needs to “shut things down” rather than try to lean more heavily on vaccines, said Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a White House briefing Monday. Hard-hit regions should also rely on contact tracing and additional testing, she said.

“If we try to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we will be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work,” Walensky warned. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) had asked the White House at the end of last month to flood more vaccine to hotspots.

Elsewhere, some U.S. politicians have begun to boast that their communities are nearing herd immunity. This weekend, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) told the hosts of “Fox News Sunday” that it is a “whole lot more difficult” for the virus to spread to people in that state. Vaccination data show otherwise. 

Scientists do not have a firm threshold for when herd immunity will be reached – but infectious-disease specialists were confident that Texas, where 19 percent of people are fully vaccinated, isn’t there yet.

Other important news

Nearly 100 days after being closed, pubs and other nonessential shops in Britain reopened to great fanfare – including outdoor pints in the snow.  

The Supreme Court, citing the First Amendment, ruled that California’s attendance limit for at-home religious gatherings violated constitutional rights.

China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are not highly effective, a Chinese government official said Saturday. He suggested the dosage or number of shots may need to increase.

An ambitious study of how the virus spreads, involving vaccinated and unvaccinated students at 20 colleges, will help answer questions such as: When can we stop wearing masks?

I think that’s the big question for all of us who are trying to do the right thing and not expose ourselves or others to the virus. I’m not throwing away my masks. I plan to wear one on the airplane from now on, knowing that I often catch a cold when I travel and I think this might help me avoid getting one and spreading one. (I also tend to let my mouth open when I sleep sitting up and it’s hugely embarrassing so wearing a mask solves that little problem… 🙂

I’m sure that wingnuts are having a field day mocking this. But even elected officials can get PTSD. I have little doubt they were terrified that day. I would have been:

House Democrats still reeling from the Jan. 6 Capitol assault have found a new refuge: a group text chain in which they share everything from their anxieties to recipes and other attention-shifters.

“I liken it to that experience when I was in combat,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a decorated Army Ranger and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who’s one of about 20 members in the “Gallery Group.”

“When you go through a traumatic experience and a situation like that together, it brings you together in a way that is very unique,” Crow said.

The group — whose members hunkered down together in the House Gallery as a pro-Trump mob tried to break into the chamber — was organized by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Many lawmakers and staffers from both political parties still struggle with trauma and fear.

Some members have added cameras to their homes to increase security back in their districts. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) told Axios she now has a bulletproof vest.

Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) said she won’t be holding town hall meetings with her constituents for the foreseeable future. Crow gripped her wrist on Jan. 6 as they laid on the floor of the Gallery.

Aides to multiple Republican House members said their boss would not be comfortable speaking about the topics and would not facilitate connecting them to Axios.

Three months later, Congress has yet to decide on permanent security measures, including recommendations from a month-old report by a Capitol review panel.

The concern was rekindled on April 2, when a man rammed a car into the north entrance of the Capitol grounds. A Capitol Police officer was killed in the attack and two others were injured.

Lawmakers were amid a two-week recess at the time, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that Congress is “going to have to pass” legislation to improve on Capitol security “very soon.”

She gave no firm timeline, but lawmakers return this week.

The Democrats on the group chat connect through a secure app, virtual Zoom meetings and in-person gatherings.

It’s a group with wide-spanning ages, geographic locations and ideologies who share their communal bond from riding out the attack.

The Zoom meetings started four days after the insurrection, with the help of the Office of Employee Assistance. The congressional office routinely provides support services to the House of Representatives community.

Flashback:This particular group of lawmakers was among the last to evacuate the House chamber. Some of them walked past rioters being held at gunpoint by police, while other law enforcement officials whisked them off to an undisclosed location.

In the following days, the group text they’d begun became — for many of them — the first thing to read in the morning and the last before going to bed, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) told Axios.

Another member is freshman Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). The 32-year-old was just days into the job on Jan 6.

She ducked behind a chair in the Gallery and waited for guidance.

The group’s conversations have evolved to include discussions about their families, recipes and plans for the weekends.

Crow says he’s still subjected to “unrelenting hell” by the group for bringing cookies to a potluck gathering after initially volunteering to bring a key lime pie.

“That did not go over well,” he said with a laugh.

These people were very well aware of the violent threats Trump’s MAGA army commonly makes toward Democratic lawmakers. Thy certainly saw the plot against Michigan Governor Whitmer. They don’t hold back. So when they were confronted with a group of rabid Trump cultists coming for them they were frightened. Who can blame them? And who can blame them for forming a bond from that experience.

I think it’s completely unforgivable for right wing congressional monsters to refuse to take action in the face of what happened that day. They are all complicit.