Dour and Sullen: Donald Trump ripped Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his Saturday speech denouncing  the just-acquitted former president.

  Widening the growing rifts in the Republican Party, Trump said, “Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again.”

  Say what you will about McConnell — he’s dour and unsmiling — but he’s no hack. He’s one of the savviest politicians alive, so it was a surprise when he turned on Trump blaming him for inciting the Capitol insurrection. “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” McConnell said.

  It’s clear already that that if he’s not in prison or mired in lawsuits, Trump intends to be a factor in the 2022 elections. Trump lashed back at McConnell, saying “He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership.”

You’ve Been Served: The NAACP together with some unhappy members of Congress filed a federal lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with the right wing Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia of conspiring to block legal certification of the November vote.

  The civil rights organization brought the suit on behalf of Representatives Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Hank Johnson of Georgia, and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey. 

  The lawsuit stands on the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that provides protections against violent conspiracies that interfere with Congress performing its duties.

  “The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence,” the suit says. “It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College.”

Do the Right Thing: As the fallout continues within the Republican Party over the senators who voted to convict Donald Trump, Dave Ball, the chairman of the Pennsylvania’s Washington County Republican Party has distinguished himself. Denouncing the vote of his senator, Pat Toomey, Ball said, “We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him there to ‘do the right thing’ or whatever.”

  Competing in the category of idiot Republican is Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who in an interview split hairs about whether the Capitol takeover was an “armed” insurrection. “When you hear the word ‘armed,’ don’t you think of firearms?” Johnson said. “Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask — how many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired?” 

  Many of the rioters were armed with flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bear spray, police shields, and even crutches. They managed to kill one Capitol police officer without using a gun. Law enforcement officials have said in court filings that guns, bombs, and other weapons were found on people who stormed the Capitol, as well as in their vehicles. 

The Mess in Texas: Another winter storm is expected to sweep across the South and East over the next two days. More than 100 million Americans are under winter weather warnings.

  In Texas, the energy state, some people are reported to be burning furniture and staying in running cars to keep warm.

  While some Texas Republicans blame frozen wind turbines and over-emphasis on green power for the state’s blackouts this week, it appears more evident that the primary cause is cheap power at the expense of being ready for winter.

  De-regulation, free markets, and bad weather have left millions of Texans without power the last couple of days. The Washington Post reports that  “the wholesale price of electricity in Houston go from $22 a megawatt-hour to about $9,000” and some power companies are telling customers to find another provider before they get a bill the size of a mortgage payment.

  Shocked that there’s incompetence in his state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for an investigation. “The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been anything but reliable over the past 48 hours,” Abbott said.

Being There: President Biden travelled to Milwaukee yesterday for his first domestic trip as President.

  Speaking at a CNN town hall, Biden pledged that any American who wants a vaccine can get one by the end of July. He said he wants elementary and middle schools to be open five days a week by the end of April. And he said that “by next Christmas, I think we’ll be in a very different circumstance.”

  Biden declined to answer questions about his predecessor. He said, “Look, for four years all that’s been in the news is Trump. The next four years I want to make sure all the news is the American people.”

The Bulletin Board: CNN daytime anchor Brooke Baldwin, one of the primary faces of CNN, says she’s leaving the network in April after 13 years to do something else with her career. She didn’t say exactly what. — The same day Rudy Giuliani got sued over the Capitol insurrection, the Trump camp announced that the former New York mayor is not currently representing the former president on legal matters. — Charges have been dropped against Amy Cooper, the New York “Karen” who called the cops on a black bird watcher. — Leo Brent Bozell IV, son of the prominent conservative activist and media critic, has been charged with involvement in the Capitol insurrection. An FBI affidavit says Bozell IV, who’s XLI years old, was seen inside the Capitol and moving a camera in the Senate gallery.

Idolatry: ABC is taking heat for exploiting 16-year-old Claudia Conway on “American Idol.” Claudia has publicly battled with her mother, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, and even called the cops on her. Her talent is being a teenager.

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