curated news excerpts & citations
John Pavlovitz: The January 6th Insurrection Didn’t Fail, it Just Took Five Years
Boy, do I feel like an idiot.
I honestly thought January 6th, 2021, was going to be a catalytic moment for our nation.
Five years ago, watching a vicious, snarling cosplay army emblazoned with his name breaking through the barricades around the Capitol, I thought for sure the almost unthinkable horrors of that day would be a dealbreaker for even the most devoted of his sycophantic rank-and-file.
Back then, I believed that witnessing law enforcement members being beaten on the steps of Congress with flags bearing his likeness would have fully sickened even his most ardent supporters to the point of defection.
…
Five years ago, a few thousand insurrectionists attempted to disregard the laws of this nation for a single career criminal.
And what they could not accomplish then in the Capitol rotunda on January 6th, 2021, 77 million Americans did at the voting booth just over a year ago: the voices of our forebears have been rendered silent, the protections of our Constitution have been destroyed, and a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, and wannabe dictator has been given the keys to the kingdom of this nation.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess.
(John Pavlovitz more…)
Rebecca Solnit: Notes on Unbearable Stupidity, January 6, 2026 Edition
Mary Geddry: A Child’s Garden of Insurrection
Inside the White House’s attempt to turn a coup into a bedtime story
Joyce Vance: The Dangerous Revision Of Jan 6 History On The Official WH Website
NY Times: For Many Jan. 6 Rioters, a Pardon From Trump Wasn’t Enough
Some pardoned rioters have been rearrested. Others returned to poverty and mental health challenges. And many became consumed by resentment and demands for payback.
Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims: Five years later, these 10 corporations still aren’t funding election deniers
Farmers Insurance, Airbnb, Expedia Group, Nike, Clorox, Eversource Energy, Holland & Hart LLP, Qurate Retail, Lyft, Whirlpool
Michele Hornish: Another Wake Up Call: Republicans Keep Hitting Snooze
It’s Time to Be Their Alarm Clock
-
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – January 6, 2026
… in a rambling speech in which he jumped from topic to topic, danced, and appeared to mimic someone doing something either stupid or obscene, Trump explained the ideology behind his actions. He and MAGA Republicans have absorbed the last 40 years of Republican rhetoric to believe that Democratic policies are “horrible” and that only Republicans “have the right policy.” If that’s the case, why should Republicans even have to “run against these people?” Why even have elections? When voters choose Democrats, there’s something wrong with them, so why let them have a say? Their choice is bad by definition. Anything that they do, or have done, must be erased.
That is the ideology behind MAGA, amped up by the racism and sexism that identifies MAGA’s opponents as women, Black Americans, and people of color. In their telling, the world Americans constructed after World War II—and particularly after the 1965 Voting Rights Act protected Black and Brown voting—has destroyed the liberty of wealthy men to act without restraint. Free them, the logic goes, and they will Make America Great Again.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
-
NY Times: NPR’s C.E.O. Was a Right-Wing Target. Then the Real Trouble Started.
Katherine Maher has taken an unyielding approach to NPR’s biggest battles — which has sometimes put her at odds with her colleagues in public media.
(NY Times more…)
-
David Shuster and Blue Amp: Under Trump, U.S. Manufacturing Is in Retreat
Ten straight months of contraction—and no slogans can hide the math
(David Shuster and Blue Amp more…)
-
Bulwark: The Real Story Behind the Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal
You don’t have to buy the MAGA narrative to worry about how government failed here.
(Bulwark more…)Tangle: Tim Walz drops out amid fraud scandal.
-
Howard Yu: Did John Deere Build the Future, or a Cage?
One man’s harvest storm exposes the tech takeover of America’s heartland, and the fight to reclaim the keys
(Howard Yu more…)
-
404 Media: Here is the Agreement Giving ICE Medicaid Patients’ Data
-
Root: A Paralyzed Man Showed Us the Horrors of a Memphis Jail, And the City Responded With the Ultimate Petty Move
(Root more…)
-
Shanley Hurt: The Price of Politicizing Public Health
Collateral damage, broken trust, children in the crossfire of power, and a parent’s view of a public health collapse
-
Atlanta Black Star: Trump Falls for Reporter’s Trap, Realizes He’s About to Say Something Controversial, Tries to Stop Himself — Says It Anyway, and Noem Only Makes It Worse
-
RawStory: Republicans officially rebuke Trump’s MAGA rebrand of Kennedy Center
Jennifer Rubin: It will always be The Kennedy Center
-
Daily Beast: DOJ Admits Vast Scale of Epstein Files It Has Failed to Release
NOTHING TO HIDE?
Less than 1 percent of the files have been reviewed so far.
(Daily Beast more…)
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
Leave a Reply