Last week former Vice President Mike Pence was the keynote
speaker at a Florida meeting of the conservative Federalist Society. He
surprised his audience when he broke with his former running mate (DJT) and clearly
stated that he was wrong when he claimed that Pence could have changed the
results of the election in his ceremonial role during the counting of the
elector votes. To resounding applause, he continued, stating that January 6th
was a dark day for America and that no one man had the right to select the
President in America.
So, what is next for Pence? Will there be a place for him
in DJT’s Republican Party? This party just censured the two Republican members
of the Select House Committee investigating the events of January 6th
at a periodic party meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The incredible resolution
was approved with no open discussion, by a voice vote, almost unanimously by
the delegates. The Salt Lake Tribune
reported that it said in part:
“WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating
in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate
political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political
affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan
purposes, therefore, be it- RESOLVED:
That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference.”
Republican senator Mitt Romney (UT) condemned
the move and said on Twitter:
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”
Romney is
one of the few Republicans who voted for the impeachment of the former
president and has been consistent in the condemnation of his actions.
It is
ironic that his niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, is the head of the Republican National
Committee (RNC) and has been all-in on supporting the lies of the former
president. The party is even paying many of the legal bills for the appeals and
other court battles he became embroiled in.
As reported in Vanity Fair, DJT has recently upped his attacks on his former sycophantic Veep, even calling for an investigation of his actions on January 6th. Almost a year later, after Pence certified Biden’s win, the former president told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that his former V.P. deserved the chants on January 6 calling for his hanging. The Washington Post opined that the departure by Pence was not such a noble act of courage, since he was being trashed more frequently in recent weeks. And, while he has not yet testified before the Select Committee, his aides have given several hours of testimony and assisted in the transmission of important documents. Perhaps Pence might be the next one the RNC chastises, who knows? I think he is probably not likely to testify, but it appears that his aides can provide much of the information he might relate to. He has already released some of his communications stating why he believed that his role at the Certification was to accept the votes and note them. This was purely ceremonial, and he had no authority to do otherwise.
Now that the National Archives have released many of the documents the former president tried so hard to protect, the Committee is learning many formerly unknown details about the days surrounding the insurrection. One surprising fact reported by the Washington Post (well, I guess it should not be so surprising since he flouted many rules) was that DJT tore up many official communications and other documents which by law under the Official Presidential Records Act must be preserved and stored. Many of the documents the committee has received have been taped back together by staff to allow them to be read. Hundreds of hours of testimony have now been logged by the staff investigators, most of who are former prosecutors. It has recently been revealed that, besides previously reported efforts to use the Military to seize voting machines, the White House also tried to get Homeland Security and NSA to take actions to prove the election was stolen. Rumors of foreign influences or voting machine mishaps were circulating and the White House wanted the NSA to investigate phone records of certain “suspicious actors”.
The NY Times reported recently that the committee is using methods that have been employed in criminal prosecutions of organized crime activities. If you remember, when DJT’s former lawyer/fixer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress during the Mueller investigation, much of the vocabulary used and the actions described reminded many of dialogue from crime shows; the only odd thing was, it was from daily activities in the entrepreneurial world of the former president. Paying off strippers or mistresses was nothing new, nor was killing tell-all stories in deals with sensational tabloids. By reviewing phone records, the committee has learned that Congressman Jim Jordan spoke with the White House on the morning of January 6th, not later in the day, as he has claimed. Conspiracy theorist host Alex Jones claimed he took the Fifth for many of the questions he was asked when he appeared before the committee, but he said, they had my phone records and emails, so they already knew the answers. If he had communicated with someone who provided their side of the conversation in emails or memos sent, then he could not restrict those communications. The phone records received are just noting the calls between identified numbers and the length of the calls; they do not have information on the content of such calls.
But, as all know, the committee has yet to hold open hearings. They need to do this sooner, rather than later, as the opposition is trying to delay, delay, delay, hoping the investigation will run into the midterm elections and be stymied. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee, has said he hopes the hearings will start in late April or early May and be held in prime time, so the American people can get the true story of what happened that day and how the former president was complicit in those destructive acts. While the committee cannot prosecute, but only issue findings and recommend related legislation, many on the committee hope the Attorney General will take up their findings and bring them before a grand jury. Representative Liz Cheney has noted she believes that several actions of the former president crossed the threshold into illegal acts and deserve prosecution. Doing that would be a step that many do not think that this cautious Attorney General will take; however, as we have not yet seen all the evidence that the committee has, those moves are unclear.
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Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is now identified in half the states, according to data from the Mayo Clinic, but it is not yet dominant here as it is in Denmark, where it accounts for 95% of the new cases. The current vaccination covers this variant. In the United States, Omicron cases have dropped along the Eastern US by 50% in some states and 70% in Maryland. Vaccination rates continue to creep up in the country and in Maryland, which has now reached 73%; (Frederick County reports 75%). West Virginia currently has the highest rates of hospitalization and is among the lowest in vaccination rates. Even with these decreases, we are averaging over 2500 new cases daily and will expect to record over one million deaths soon.
Covid Stats NY Times:
U.S. Totals: Total Cases: 76,419,014. New Cases: 295,922.
Total Deaths: 901,405. New Deaths: 2,565.
Maryland Totals: Total cases: 964,815. New
cases: 1,478.
Total deaths: 13,724. New Deaths: 37.
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To the surprise of many, the January jobs report demonstrated a strong showing for new jobs with 467,000 new hires and a revision upwards from the previous two months to over 700,000. Unemployment rose a bit, but those numbers might reflect new people entering the jobs markets. Then our troops located the head of ISIS, who killed himself and his family by detonating a bomb, before he could be captured. This terrorist was said to be the cruel person behind the massacre and sexual enslavement of the Yazidi ethnic group in Iraq. This was a good news week for President Biden, who could use a few more enjoyable weeks. Next, he has to slow down inflation, solve the Ukrainian crisis with Russia and hold the EU and NATO nations together in opposition to Russia’s aggression. Oh, and deal with recalcitrant Democrats, along the way.
The Washington Football Team (WFT) introduced the team’s new name after an 18-month search with polls and focus groups…. drum roll, please…. it is….The Commanders…!! If you are like me, you remain underwhelmed. No new name would be an improvement if this is the best that they can do, IMHO. [Many have said since that is the name of the Oppressors in The Handmaids Tale, the selection committee must not be very well read.] I am also not thrilled with the month-long honoring of the military by the NFL each fall, with staff wearing fatigues. Bad idea, NFL. We are a peace-loving nation, not a militaristic one, and this practice encourages a combat image. I do not mean this comment to disparage the enlisted military, but with all the local militias already out there (Three percenters, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and others) as seen on January 6th, do we need to cheer them on? As for the NFL sitting on sexual misconduct claims against the WFT, do we need this? Transparency, folks!
‘Til next week-Peace!
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