Fighting Words: As former President Trump’s impeachment trial formally opens today, his lawyers plan to argue that nothing he said in his speech of January 6^th incited the Capitol insurrection and that Congress has no authority to put him on trial while he’s no longer in office.

  A 78-page legal brief says, “Of the over 10,000 words spoken, Mr. Trump used the word ‘fight’ a little more than a handful of times and each in the figurative sense.”

  It goes on to say that “Notably absent from his speech was any reference to or encouragement of an insurrection, a riot, criminal action, or any acts of physical violence whatsoever.”

  What the brief does not do is quote Trump in context or the things he said to put the crowd in a fighting mood without using the word “fight.” He repeated his claim that the election was rigged and stolen and that dead people voted. He blamed “radical left Democrats” and the “fake news.”

  His lawyers did not quote him saying, “Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore.” They did not quote him saying, “And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

  The Trump defense will also rely heavily on procedural objections. His lawyers claim the Senate “lacks jurisdiction” to try a former rather than a sitting president. In effect, what they’re saying is that a president can do anything in the closing weeks and months of his term when it’s too late to do anything about it.

  They say the impeachment violates Trump right to free speech.

  The majority of Americans believe Trump should be convicted, according to a new ABC News/Ipsospoll released Sunday. The poll found that 56 percent of Americans say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again, and 43 percent say he should not.

  But, conservative columnist Bret Stephens says in The NY Times, “The simple fact is that Trump is very likely to get away with inciting an insurrection against Congress and American democracy, thanks to the complicity of spineless and unprincipled Republicans.”

Stimulating: House Democrats rejected a Republican proposal to reduce eligibility for the next round of economic stimulus payments and are moving forward with legislation to provide $1,400 stimulus payments per person. Under the Democratic plan, individuals earning more than $100,000 and couples earning more than $200,000 would be ineligible. 

Viral News: Texas Republican Rep. Ron Wright, who’s been under cancer treatment for years, died Sunday after being hospitalized with covid-19. He was 67 and the first sitting member of Congress to die of the virus.

  As the virus continues to prove its reach, concern is growing that the mutated variant first discovered in Britain is rapidly spreading in the US, doubling its infections every 10 days. It is predicted to be the dominant strain in the US by next month.

  While new cases continue to drop, people are still dying. In the US, another 2,902 people died in the past 24 hours.

Sixteen Tons: As President Biden calls for an increase, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would increase wages for at least 17 million people, but also put 1.4 million out of work, according to a study released by the Congressional Budget Office. 

  Minimum wage raises always backfire for some people. The CBO wrote that, “Young, less educated people would account for a disproportionate share of those reductions in employment.” But a phase-in of $15 wage would also lift some 900,000 out of poverty, according to the CBO. 

The Bulletin Board: The Justice Department, possibly even today, is expected to ask 56 Trump-appointed attorneys general around the country to resign. Sometimes AGs are fired or asked to reign by a new administration, but never on this scale. — Former Trump associate Paul Manafort cannot be prosecuted in New York because he was pardoned by President Trump, New York’s supreme court has ruled. They say prosecuting Manafort would violate the double-jeopardy rule.

The Obit Page: Mary Wilson, a founding member of The Supremes, the greatest of the Motown girl groups, has died at age 76. They had 12 No.1 singles including “Where Did Our Love Go?” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me” and “Stop.” Diana Ross, the most famous of the group, is now its only survivor.

— Joe Allen, who grew a New York hangout for actors into an international business, has died at age 87.

  His original restaurant named Joe Allen opened in 1965 not far from the then seedy and dangerous Times Square. He then opened Orso right next door on 46^th Street. Allen was the pioneer on a street that came to be known as Restaurant Row. 

  Allen later opened an Orso in Los Angeles and one in London. There were five Joe Allen restaurants: London, Paris, Los Angeles, Miami Beach and Ogunquit, Maine.

Natural Selection: A Louisiana woman who used Gorilla Glue as a replacement for hair product can’t get the stuff out of her hair because, you know, it’s Gorilla Glue. She has retained a lawyer to explore the possibility of suing the company because the label on the glue doesn’t say don’t use this on your hair. 

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