Today is the 21st day of the year 2021. Make a wish, or something. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
► President Joe Biden is doing more in his first 24 hours than former President Donald Trump accomplished in the last three months (BTW, we enjoyed typing “former” as much as you enjoyed reading it). Here’s a quick (and by no means comprehensive) list thus far:
♦ As part of an aggressive effort to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden signed executive orders mandating the use of masks in all federal buildings as well as requiring masks on airplanes and many trains, buses, and other forms of intercity transportation.
► Meg Wingerter of The Denver Post has more on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic here in Colorado:
Outbreaks at schools and universities are back at levels last seen before COVID-19 surged throughout Colorado in November, but it’s not clear what will happen as more students return to their classrooms.
As of Wednesday, 78 schools serving K-12 students and eight university settings reported current coronavirus outbreaks, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Most of those are ongoing and predate students’ return to school this month.
The state defines an outbreak as two or more cases linked to a place or event, so students testing positive at the start of a semester don’t count as a school-based outbreak — though they could be tied to a different outbreak if they attended the same party, for example.
Outbreaks in Colorado’s K-12 schools generally have tracked with the overall number of cases in the state. Only three schools reported outbreaks in August, but the number accelerated throughout the fall, with 203 buildings reporting clusters of COVID-19 cases in November.
Check this separate story in The Denver Post for more information on the status of vaccinations in Colorado.
► A pro-Trump rally that was supposed to take place at the State Capitol on Wednesday kinda fizzled out. For more on the Denver “protest,” check out Colorado Newsline.
More political (and coronavirus) news is available right after the jump…
As Promised, More Words…
► As The New York Times reports, white supremacist groups are very sad that Donald Trump did not do whatever it was they thought he would do before leaving the White House:
After the presidential election last year, the Proud Boys, a far-right group, declared its undying loyalty to President Trump.
In a Nov. 8 post in a private channel of the messaging app Telegram, the group urged its followers to attend protests against an election that it said had been fraudulently stolen from Mr. Trump. “Hail Emperor Trump,” the Proud Boys wrote.
But by this week, the group’s attitude toward Mr. Trump had changed. “Trump will go down as a total failure,” the Proud Boys said in the same Telegram channel on Monday.
As Mr. Trump departed the White House on Wednesday, the Proud Boys, once among his staunchest supporters, have also started leaving his side. In dozens of conversations on social media sites like Gab and Telegram, members of the group have begun calling Mr. Trump a “shill” and “extraordinarily weak,” according to messages reviewed by The New York Times. They have also urged supporters to stop attending rallies and protests held for Mr. Trump or the Republican Party.
As the Times explains, the Proud Boys expected Trump to be more active in championing their attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
► The Proud Boys aren’t alone in questioning their previous loyalty and beliefs regarding former President Trump. As Chris Cillizza explains for CNN:
And thus died one of the longest-lasting and most widespread conspiracy theories of last four years — organized loosely under the flag of the group known as QAnon. Adherents to the conspiracy theory, which had become a sort of conspiracy catch-all for people who saw Trump as some sort of savior figure, were left wondering what the heck happened.
It’s hard to know if QAnon is really dead, or even dying, but the inauguration of Joe Biden was a big blow to the group. As The New York Times explains:
…some appeared to realize that they’d been duped.
“It’s over,” one QAnon chat room participant wrote, just after Mr. Biden’s swearing-in.
“Wake up,” another wrote. “We’ve been had.”
Hold up…you’re saying that it might not have been true that Democrats are operating a Satan-worshipping global child trafficking operation?
Ron Watkins, the former 8kun admin who helped keep QAnon afloat for years (and who some suspected of being Q himself), is throwing in the towel. pic.twitter.com/HJdBrOexO2
► Now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) can turn his attention back to more important matters…like worrying about policies that might allow “biological men” to compete in women’s sports.
► From the “my words don’t mean what I said they meant” department, here’s House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, via The Washington Post:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was among the House Republicans who voted earlier this month to reject the electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, states won by Joe Biden. He was also among the 126 Republicans who signed onto an amicus brief last month in a lawsuit that would have invalidated the results from four states that Biden won.
But at a news conference Thursday, the top House Republican argued that he did not vote to “overturn” Biden’s win.
“What I voted on wasn’t to overturn an election, because it wouldn’t. It would not overturn it,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters.
While Biden would have won the White House even without the electoral votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona, the amicus brief McCarthy signed onto would have invalidated the results from enough states to hand victory to President Donald Trump.
Classy.
► As POLITICO reports, Congressional Democrats are starting to remember what it feels like to be in charge:
Senate Democrats are signaling they will reject an effort by Mitch McConnell to protect the legislative filibuster as part of a deal to run a 50-50 Senate, saying they have little interest in bowing to his demands just hours into their new Senate majority.
McConnell has publicly and privately pressed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to work to keep the 60-vote threshold on most legislation as part of their power-sharing agreement. Democrats have no plans to gut the filibuster further, but argue it would be a mistake to take one of their tools off the table just as they’re about to govern.
► Ruh-roh, Lauren Boebert:
Both Pelosi and McCarthy agree that any member who coordinated or gave inside information to the rioters should be prosecuted. Both suggested it’s not clear yet if that’s the case, while Pelosi noted those questions will be answered pending investigation
► Here’s a double-dose of “firsts”: The first female Vice President and the first “Second Dude” watching the fireworks in Washington D.C. on Wednesday:
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff attend a televised ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images)
► Grand Junction political leaders are concerned that the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management might be moved back to Washington D.C. after being relocated to Colorado in 2019. If the BLM does move, it would be another demerit on the resume of former Sen. Cory Gardner.
► The State Health Insurance Exchange saw another increase in the number of Coloradans requesting coverage.
► Denver Water is getting a tad nervous about ongoing drought conditions in Colorado.
► Being Donald Trump is not turning out so well. As The Washington Post reports:
Another one of former president Donald Trump’s banks said Thursday that it is closing his accounts, as Trump returns to a business hammered by covid-19 and the backlash to Trump’s role in the deadly attack on the Capitol.
“We no longer have any depository relationship with him,” Bank United said Thursday. The bank declined to give a reason for its decision.
The Florida-based bank had held some of Trump’s money since at least 2015, according to the former president’s financial disclosures. At the end of 2020, Trump said he had two money market accounts at Bank United, containing between $5.1 million and $25.2 million combined. The financial disclosure forms allowed Trump to list his assets in ranges, rather than exact dollar amounts.
► If “non sequitur” were its own country, then Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert would be its queen:
Joe Biden: “I will be a President for all Americans.”
Also Joe Biden: Vet the National Guard to make sure they’re loyal to me.
► Denver7 reports on a post-Trump prediction from a CU Boulder professor with a really complicated job title:
Benjamin Teitelbaum, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, international affairs and extremism, said there is a population in the U.S. who believes democracy does not work for them.
Teitelbaum said he predicts many of these people will flock to new social media apps. He noted that one alternative app called Telegram grew by 25 million subscribers after crackdowns from other mainstream social media sites.
“Of course, that means an even more isolated echo chamber than what we’ve seen in the past, less communication, and more parallel universes and parallel truths in our society,” Teitelbaum said.
We’d argue otherwise, but who are we to question an ethnomusicologist?
► Don’t miss the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, where hosts Jason Bane and Ian Silverii lament that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Rifle) is as bad as they thought she would be:
Don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter.
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January 21, 2021 11:24 AM UTC
1 Comments
Today is the 21st day of the year 2021. Make a wish, or something. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (
Meanwhile, back at the Royal Armory Grille in Nonsequituristan . . .
. . . without Q how will
Q-bie have any idea what she thinks??“To Q, or not to -bie, that is the question . . .”