Lights in the Darkness: Joe Biden, his wife Jill, and extended family arrived in Washington last night and immediately went to a memorial for the Covid-19 dead at the reflecting pool on the National Mall.

  Biden spoke after a rendition of “Amazing Grace” sung by Lori Marie Key, a nurse from Detroit who sometimes sings it in the hospital hallways. 

  With a natural empathy never heard from his predecessor, the President-elect said, “To heal, we must remember. It’s hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal. It’s important to do that as a nation. That’s why we’re here today. Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness, along the sacred pool of reflection, and remember all whom we lost.”

  As daylight dimmed, Biden spoke with reflections of light off the pool, the Washington Monument behind him, and the Capitol standing bright in the distance. During the day, the pandemic dead had passed the 400,000 mark.

  Biden and his family had arrived at Joint base Andrews aboard an unmarked private jet, snubbed again by Donald Trump who didn’t send the customary military plane to pick up his successor.

  The President yesterday issued a video farewell, claiming great success in his administration and that, “I stand before you truly proud of what we have achieved together. We did what we came here to do, and so much more.”

  He didn’t mention Joe Biden by name but promised, “Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning.” 

Exit Right: As Trump does the walk of shame leaving Washington this morning, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for the first time laid blame for the Capitol insurrection on the President, saying that the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6th were “provoked by the president and other powerful people.” 

  McConnell has not said he will vote to convict Trump in his impeachment, although he’s been reported to have admitted privately that Trump committed impeachable offenses. He did say, “The mob was fed lies” by the President and others “and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

  Trump is scheduled this morning to take a helicopter to Joint Base Andrews for a ceremony before Air Force One whisks him off to Florida. Vice President Mike Pence is not expected to attend. Former Chief of Staff John Kelly declined.

   Invitations to the departure included a “plus five,” meaning invited guests could bring five more. They were trying to build a crowd. 

  Trump’s first press secretary Sean Spicer is expected to provide the crowd estimate to the press. 

Last Minute: In the final hours of his presidency, Trump pardoned his friend Steve Bannon, accused of plundering a fund for building the border wall, and Elliott Broidy, a lobbyist who broke foreign influencing laws.

  Also excused were three corrupt former House Republicans, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a Democrat who used the office to make money.

Capitol Conspiracy: Federal prosecutors levelled the first significant conspiracy charges on a leader of the right-wing Oath Keepers movement, charging that the Virginia man was involved in “planning and coordinating” the January 6^th assault on the  Capitol.

   It’s the first legal recognition that the attempt to take over the US Capitol was more than the spontaneous act of a mob run wild.

  Thomas Caldwell, 65, is charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, and “Violent entry or disorderly conduct.”

  Caldwell coordinated during the insurrection with a group of eight to 10 people wearing combat gear with Oath Keeper markings. The charging affidavit said the group  moved “in an organized and practiced fashion and force their way to the front of the crowd gathered around a door to the US Capitol.” 

  Fellow Oath keepers Jessica Watkins, 38, an Army veteran from Ohio, and Donovan Crowl, a former Marine also of Ohio, were charged as well with conspiring “to forcibly storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said.

  The Oath Keepers is a militia movement the members of which believe the federal government has been taken over by a conspiracy to strip Americans of their rights. They recruit primarily from current and former members of the military and law enforcement. 

Grand Display: With the national Mall in Washington closed for security, the long stretch of park that would normally be jammed with a couple of hundred thousand people witnessing the inauguration of Joe Biden has been turned into a field of 200,000 flags lit up at night in voiceless celebration. The flags represent every US state and territory.

Make Your Own Bed: Several retail outlets that sell Mike Lindell’s “My Pillow” are ending their relationship with the company because Lindell’s advocacy for upending the presidential election left executives sleepless. Lindell has claimed he has proof that the election was stolen from Trump.

  Corporate Political Action Committees are also separating themselves from many of the 147 members of Congress who voted to overthrow the election. The Washington Post reports that 20 out of 30 major corporate PACs are rethinking who gets their money.

  In Lindell’s case, executives of Kohl’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Wayfair were all tossing at night knowing Lindell’s pillows were in their stores.

  If you think that’s bad, try actually sleeping on one.

You Have 50 Minutes: The College Board, which administers the SAT college admissions test, is dropping the optional essay question. A little late, some might argue. The company is actually struggling during the pandemic and colleges were beginning to drift away from requiring applicants to take the SAT. 

  Your response to this news should build an argument with persuasive elements and be written in legible handwriting.

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