Today is Saturday, January 6, 2023, the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection.   And in obeisance to that anniversary, the Justice Department just released new footage from that infamous attack that shows a dramatic moment of rioters shouting through broken glass at two Republican lawmakers.   This development is covered in an online article for CNN entitled “New January 6 footage shows tense exchange between GOP congressmen and Capitol rioters” and it’s written by Hannah Rabinowitz, Melanie Zanona, and Kaanita Iyer.  

The video adds to the trove of footage and firsthand accounts of the violence that took place that day, even as some Republican lawmakers continued to whitewash the insurrection. 

In the newly released eight-minute clip, rioters stare down Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and Republican Senator Markwayne Mullen of Oklahoma - who at that time was a member of the House – through cracks in the entrance to the House chamber as they face the guns pointed at them by two members of law enforcement.

Here is Nehls, sporting a face mask with the Texas state flag on it, attempting to talk to the insurrectionists, but his voice is drowned out by the rioters shouting at the two congressmen.    He can be heard shouting. “I’ve been in law enforcement in Texas for 30 years, and I’ve never had people act this way. I’m ashamed!”

The video, it seems, was shot by Damon Beckley, who was found guilty of obstructing the electoral college certification and of civil disorder.  Beckley is supposed to be sentenced in February. 

While this footage would bear out how dangerous that day was for House members, it is revolting that some Congress members are still downplaying the riot. 

Two of those asshole members are Georgia (it figures!) Mike Collins who was not even a member of Congress in 2021, who called it the “lamest insurrection” in history, while calling for January 6 defendants to be pardoned and falsely claiming that the mob was “unarmed.”

Collins also incorrectly added that the only person who died during the attack was rioter Ashli Babbitt.    A bipartisan Senate report found that seven people died in connection with the riot and nearly 150 hundred police officers were injured that day.

Another of those misinformed House members is Rep. Jim Banks, a Trump ally who is running for Senate in Indiana, who reposted Chump’s tweet from January 6, 2021, asking “everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful” – a post that repugnicans have used to argue that their Dear Leader was not responsible for the violence that day and sought peace.   Which was definitely not true!

Evidence from the House January 6 select committee found that Dump had initially resisted pleas from his aides to urge people to stay peaceful as he watched the violence unfold on television. 

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign today attempted to highlight Little Donnie’s role in the insurrection with a real-time tick-tock of how it unfolded, which included Dump’s speech and tweets from that day.  The campaign video comes a day after the president made clear during a campaign speech that “Trump did nothing” to stop the insurrection on January 6. 

Today marked the first day with Atticus, our new feline companion.   As I wrote yesterday, Elliot and I isolated him in the bathroom and have taken him out periodically during the day.    Elliot prefers to sit with him in his Barcalounger and pet him.   Atticus seems to really enjoy this as he begins to purr constantly.  We’ve noticed that he is eating and is going to the bathroom, which is very good. 

During the day, we took turns leaving the house and leaving someone with Atticus. However, around 4, we both went out and drove to Metropolitan Avenue to buy some cat supplies at Wagging Tails and had dinner at Nick’s Bistro.   We left Atticus in the bathroom and, when we came home, he was all right.   However, we had an incident with him about an hour ago, in which he bolted out of the bathroom, and raced around the apartment – until I captured him sitting in the magazine basket.  We couldn’t corner him, no matter what we tried to do.   He was just faster than both of us.   We almost were going to leave him out, but we couldn’t let him roam the apartment – not just yet. 

Oh, when we went out at 4, it had started snowing a little.  I don’t think it’s snowing right now.   I’m wondering if this forecast of snow really affected areas in the tristate area.  We’ll know more tomorrow, I guess.

Have a good Sunday.

Stay safe and be well. 

Here’s the handsome devil.