Bonfire of the Insanities: After a day in which an angry mob inspired by President Trump stormed the Capitol building, Congress overnight validated the Electoral College vote officially certifying Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.

  With some members of the cabinet discussing invoking the 25^th Amendment to remove Trump before he finishes his last 14 days in office, the President at long last issued a begrudging statement saying, “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20^th.” 

  For the first time in American history, a crowd of protesters fanned by the incumbent President seeking to overturn the results of a lost election occupied the US Capitol and stopped the proceedings as Congress moved toward confirming Biden’s election. 

  Thousands of demonstrators waving Trump flags, the American flag, and the yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, occupied the Capitol steps and terraces and entered the legislative chambers. They climbed the exterior walls.

  One woman wrapped in a Trump flag was fatally shot trying to break into the House chambers. Police seized guns from several protesters.

  As members of Congress donned plastic hooded gas masks and dropped to the floor, quick thinking Senate aides grabbed the Electoral College certificates and took them to safety.

  With President Trump silent at the White House, President-elect Biden assumed the mantle of leadership, stepping in front of a camera and saying, “At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times, an assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself.”

  Earlier in the day Trump spoke at a rally telling his crowd to march on the Capitol. He said, “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

 After the mob acted, Trump waited hours before speaking, then issued a video feeding the fury in which he said, “I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election. And everyone knows it, especially the other side.”

  Trump claimed, “This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace.” His supporters at the Capitol did not respond by leaving.

  He tweeted absurdly, “WE are the Party of Law & Order.”

The Twitter Riot:  Much of the information about events at the Capitol came over Twitter. Reporter Erik Wasson of Bloomberg News tweeted,  “There’s an armed standoff at the House front door. Police officers have their guns drawn at someone who is trying to reach the front door.”

  Michigan Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee tweeted, “I am in the House Chambers. We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks. Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber.”

  One rioter had his picture taken sitting at the Senate president’s desk where Vice President Mike Pence was presiding earlier today. Another was sitting at the office desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One man walked through the rotunda with a Confederate flag.

  Emily Cochrane of The NY Times reported that, “There’s pounding on the chamber door. Guns are drawn by police officers. Those of us left are laying low on the floor of the gallery.”

 Outside, CNN correspondent Alexander Marquardt tweeted that, “Protesters swarmed and mobbed my team at the Capitol after figuring out who we are. Extremely aggressive, had to get out fast.”

Patriot Games:  While the Trump mob stopped the government, his family and cronies described the participants as “patriots.” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani addressed one message, “To all those patriots challenging the fraudulent election.”

  Trump’s daughter Ivanka in a tweet she later deleted called the mob “American patriots.”

  The President himself tweeted, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!

  Later in the day Twitter blocked his account.

Amazing Grace: The Trump riot eclipsed what had been an historic moment. The House and Senate were debating Republican objections to accepting the Electoral College vote from battleground states. Before the chaos took over, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell delivered what might have been the speech of his life, breaking with the President and calling for the confirmation of Biden as President-elect.

  McConnell said, “President Trump claims the election was stolen. The assertions range from specific local allegations to constitutional arguments, to sweeping conspiracy theories. I supported the President’s right to use the legal system.” He went on, “But my colleagues, nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale, the massive scale that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence.”

The Quiet Win: Lost in the day’s events was that Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff defeated Republican incumbent David Perdue, taking the second Georgia Senate seat and control of the Senate for his party.

A More Perfect Union: Just after 5 pm with the light falling, Police cleared the Capitol with teargas and flash-bang grenades. Speaking after the Senate reconvened, Utah Senator Mitt Romney said, “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

     January 6^th, 2021 is the day the Trump Presidency ended in rubble with the President holed up in the White House desperately clinging to his power and lies. Former Defense Secretary and retired Gen. James Mattis said, “Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form a more perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country.” 

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