Morning Reads for Epiphany (January 6)
Good morning! Today, in my faith tradition, we step into a new period, leaving the Christmas season as we celebrate Epiphany. Most of you will have removed decorations nearly two weeks ago, which is far more customary now in the United States, but my family will spend today taking ours down.
It’s also National Bean Day, apparently. You probably have some in your cupboard, so today would be a good day to partake. Just please don’t withhold food from your child for six hours to prove a point in the process, yeah?
Let’s get onto the news, because it’s kind of a big deal today…
Pat Conroy
- We have two brand new U.S. Senators! Congratulations to Senators-elect Warnock and Ossoff. (And yeah, they’ll both win.)
- It looks like Bubba McDonald will retain his seat on the Public Service Commission. (Alternate link.)
- The obvious lesson for Republicans is that to win statewide, do your job, run on actual ideas rather than scare words, and don’t tell people their elections are rigged when they clearly are not.
- In case you haven’t read enough analysis about voter outreach in the runoff election, this article on engaging young voters is particularly interesting. Tinder? Really? (Alternate link.)
- The other big news yesterday was that the new, more highly-contagious COVID strain is present in Georgia.
- Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer on The Call, has resigned from her law firm.
- President Trump lost in court again yesterday in his attempt to overturn our November election. (Alternate link.)
- President Trump didn’t want to do the Dalton rally. It showed.
Alice Walker
- Republicans are now worried that today’s Electoral College stunt will come back to haunt them. (Spoiler alert: It will.)
- Vice President Pence had to tell President Trump that he will not have the authority to overturn the Electoral College vote during today’s count.
- The protests over the Jacob Blake decision remained peaceful overnight in Kenosha.
- This was not the case for the Trump rally in DC.
- You can now order a COVID test via Amazon for $110.
- Pennsylvania Republicans, who hold a majority in their state senate, shamefully refused to seat a Democrat who won his election yesterday, and then they kicked the lieutenant governor out of the chamber. (Alternate link.)
- Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri claimed Antifa attacked his Virginia home, but unfortunately for him, the facts don’t back him up. (Alternate link.)
- A U.K. judge has rejected the U.S.’s extradition request for Julian Assange.
- China has blocked the World Health Organization’s attempt to study COVID’s origin.
- Hong Kong has arrested 53 pro-democracy advocates in raids overnight as part of the new “security law”.
Flannery O’Connor
- A sword taken from a Revolutionary War statue in the 1980s has finally been returned.
About Author
Holly Croft
Holly is an archivist at one of Georgia's institutions of higher learning. In a past life, she was a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill. She cares a lot about records management, open records laws, and privacy laws. Political persuasion? It's complicated. What's not complicated is that she's proudly equal parts Bulldog and Tar Heel.
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I used to love to watch them dive for the cross in Tarpon Springs growing up. https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/01/06/epiphany-2021-heres-what-you-need-to-know/
Coincidence that those that want to turn our country into a socialist state elected those that will be the beginning of it, on the anniversary of the German Worker’s Party founded on Jan. 5, 1919. I pray we do not repeat history.
Watch out! The boogeyman gonna get ya!
Just heard Rick Santorum, of all ppl, decry the scare tactics of throwing abt socialist labels (which has been done like a paranoid boy obsessed with crying wolf). His argument seemed to be that the tactic sowed so much fear in voters that it propelled the party to justify its own anti-Constituional extremism. I guess we’ll see how much perfect 2020 hindsight will be (trademarked).
i hate to be that guy, but if senator isakson in failing health had not run again in 2016 some other republican would likely have won that november (kingston or collins or someone like that ) and there would not have even been a special election this time around…and even if ossoff had pushed perdue into a runoff, i doubt there would have been this much energy and money and motivation for the dems for a race that would not change senate control or send the pastor of ebenezer baptist to dc…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-elections-companies/corporate-group-urges-officials-to-consider-quick-removal-of-trump-idUSKBN29B2WR
I agree with them and arrest him for treason.
Would he also be an accessory to murder since the woman who was shot died?
This is surreal….even after most of us were conditioned to the insanity of 2020.
Lock him up!
Lock him up!
Lock him up…
25th amendment:
The 25th Amendment, proposed by Congress and ratified by the states in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, provides the procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation. The Watergate scandal of the 1970s saw the application of these procedures, first when Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president, then when he replaced Richard Nixon as president, and then when Nelson Rockefeller filled the resulting vacancy to become the vice president.
Section 4: Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
I think Trump will be gone by tomorrow. May he rot in hell.
I forgot to post the link:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv
I wish I could punch Ted Cruz.
Any Republicans want to post and condemn this sedition? Or are you too scared ?
Where are you Charlie, where are you Lawton? You approve of this invasion of the US Capitol?
Where are you Lawton, you took over this forum and have no response? Tells me a lot about you.
Yo – take it easy. Today was horrific. Everyone is processing in their own way.
Knee jerk reactions and responses got us into this mess.
Your comments are clearly baiting an online argument….knowing that Charlie and Lawton couldn’t possibly condone today’s events.
Not inciting more drama tonight is probably the most responsible thing they can do.
Your right,sorry.
“Knee jerk reactions and responses got us into this mess.”
No they didn’t. A disturbed human being spent the last 4 years picking this fight.
Former elected, appointed & career public officials warned of it.
Mental health professionals wrote hundreds of opinions of what was to come.
Right wing media and a contemptible GOP instigated it.
Wasn’t a thing about what happened yesterday that was “knee jerk”.
If anyone needs a reminder, I ask that they read the closing statement of Adam Schiff from the impeachment record.
“Not inciting more drama tonight is probably the most responsible thing they can do.”
No, a prompt & complete condemnation of yesterdays behavior would be the most responsible thing they can do.
The conservative contributors of this site went into hiding over the felony phone call from last Saturday as well.
Shirking any responsibility is the choice they have made.
Silence is acceptance. Patriots my ass.