Patriot Games: The House committee investigating the January  6^th insurrection has recommended criminal contempt charges to be brought against Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, for his refusal to cooperate with the investigation.

  A trove of 9,000 documents Meadows handed over before going silent reveals that Meadows, Donald Trump Jr., and an array of Fox News hosts were trying to get through to Trump that day to convince him to call back the rioters.

  Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney read out loud a message to Meadows from Don Jr. in which he said, “He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP.” 

  “I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows responded. “I agree.”

  In another message, Don Jr. said, “We need an Oval address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

  “These text messages leave no doubt,” Cheney said. “The White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol.”

  Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Brian Kilmeade were also trying to get word to the president. “Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home,” Ingraham said. “ He is destroying his legacy.”

  The Foxies revealed in their messages that they were not acting as journalists that day, but participants with an active interest in the outcome for Trump. Kilmeade wrote, “Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

  Also revealed in the documents is that the administration had the National Guard on standby, not to protect the Capitol, but the demonstrators described in communications as  “pro Trump people.” 

  That synchs with testimony by former Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who said that in a January 3rd conversation with Trump he was told “do whatever was necessary to protect the demonstrators that were executing their constitutionally protected rights.”

  Eventually the Guard was called out to protect the Capitol from those same pro-Trumpers whose demonstration turned into an insurrection.

Nailing the Landing: USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee have reached a  $380 million settlement with hundreds of female gymnasts sexually abused by the former team doctor Larry Nassar, putting an end point on the scandal that rocked the sport. 

  Among the big names who will benefit are Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, but there are legions of lesser-known young women involved in the lawsuit, as many as 500.

  Many of the girls and women abused by Nassar have suffered mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Some have attempted suicide.

  Rachael Denhollander, a Nassar victim and member of a survivors’ committee involved in negotiations said, “No amount of money will ever repair the damage that has been done and what these women have been through.” 

  Nassar is serving what amounts to life in prison.

Twister: At least 74 people were killed in Kentucky alone by the weekend tornado, with more bodies expected to be found. President Biden is set to visit the state on Wednesday.

  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell actually praised Biden for his response after the president approved a major disaster declaration. It will take some time before actual aid arrives, including emergency housing. Thousands of people are without homes, and jobs, even cars. In Mayfield, Kentucky, the water and sewer systems are down. There’s been little reporting so far on where people are going to eat and sleep.

Covid Nation: The US in the past 24 hours broke the mark of 50 million Covid cases. That’s 15 percent of the population.

  New cases are up 49 percent in the past two weeks, deaths up 40 percent.

  As the pandemic drags on, the Supreme Court yesterday declined to block New York’s requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus even when they raise religious objections. Justice Neil Gorsuch filed a 14-page dissent saying that the majority had betrayed the court’s commitment to religious liberty.

  With virus variants surging, a New York rule went into effect mandating that all businesses and venues must require masks or proof of full Covid vaccination. And in California, starting tomorrow, the state is reimposing indoor mask mandates in public settings for everyone, regardless of vaccination status. 

The Spin Rack: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of murder in the traffic-stop killing of motorist George Floyd, has indicated he will plead guilty to federal charges of also depriving Floyd of his civil rights. The 45—year-old Chauvin has begun a 22-year prison sentence. — Scientists say that a crucial Antarctic ice shelf could fail within five years. 

The Obit Page: Mexican ranchera singer Vicente Fernández, considered the king of his genre, whose career spanned decades as his music spread from cafes and job sites to the rest of the globe, died Sunday at age 81. 

  He represented the macho Mexican man with a soft side who wallowed in love and loss.  One of his greatest hits, a ranchera anthem, was “Por Tu Maldito Amor” (“Because of Your Damn Love”). 

“Because of your damn love

I can’t accommodate my feelings

And my soul continues to consume me

Because of your damn love

Because of your damn love”

  It’s better in Spanish.

Refreshing News: Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey is in the dog house with lovers of the company’s less-popular brands after taking them off the shelf. Quincey killed the diet drink Tab, the Odwalla smoothie, and Zico coconut water. (Never had one.) He threw out about 200 brands in Coke’s biggest move since the introduction of “New Coke” in 1985 and we all know how that went.

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