Inciter in Chief: House impeachment managers yesterday made a compelling case that in the weeks preceding the Capitol insurrection, President Donald Trump riled up his base with groundless claims of election fraud culminating with his fiery January 6^th speech and  a mob assaulting and occupying the Capitol.

  They argued that it wasn’t just the few times that Trump used the word “fight” in his speech, it was everything he said, did, and tweeted for two months that incited the riot.

  They bolstered their case with vivid video taken by rioters, reporters, and Capitol security cameras showing how the insurgents smashed their way into the building, fought with police officers, and went roaming in search of politicians and even the vice president they were vowing to kill.

  They could be heard chanting “Hang Mike Pence!”

  The lead House manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland Democrat of Maryland, said, “This mob got organized so openly, because as they would later scream in these halls, and as they posted on forums before the attack, they were sent here by the president. They were invited here by the President of the United States of America.”

  Raskin said, “Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander in chief and became the inciter in chief of a dangerous insurrection.” Raskin said, “He told them to fight like hell and they brought us hell that day.”

Go to the Video: The House managers did a masterful job of marshalling video clips and merging them in timelines with Trump’s statements and tweets.

  Security video previously not seen showed Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, New York’s Chuck Schumer, Vice President Mike Pence ushered out with his family. Two minutes after Pence was removed, Trump tweeted an attack on him.

  Trump didn’t call his vice president or make any effort to see that he was safe. Instead, he tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”

 The managers repeatedly drove home the point that while the entire congress and their staff were in danger, Trump did nothing. Raskin said, “And when his mob overran and occupied the Senate and attacked the House and assaulted law enforcement, he watched it on TV like a reality show.

  While the riot was still going on, Trump issued a video statement saying, “This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people.” He said, “So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel.”

  Manager Joaquin Castro of Texas, said, “On January 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.”

A Star is Born: One of the best and most moving of the managers was Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the US Virgin Islands who didn’t even have a vote on the impeachment. A 54-year-old lawyer now, she was a Capitol staffer during the 9/11 attacks.

  Plaskett spoke of how Trump failed to condemn right wing violence and white supremacists in the weeks following the election, in effect giving license to the January insurrection.

  She said, “Some of you have said there is no way the president could have known how violent mob would be. That is false. The violence was foreseeable,” she said, arguing that the “violent attack was not planned in secret and the insurgents believed they were doing the duty of their president.”

Viral News: Instagram kicked out Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist and prominent anti-vaccine activist, for spreading false information about the coronavirus. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement.

  Junior is still on Facebook, where he campaigns against vaccines. He has posted several times in just the past several days that the Pfizer vaccine can kill you.

  It is true that some people appear to have died of adverse reaction to the vaccine, but 471,764 Americans are dead of the virus itself.

Not Fitting: Conspiracy theories aren’t limited to guys in beards and MAGA hats. In a meeting with some local Republicans, Michigan State Sen. Mike Shirkey denied that Trump supporters comprised the mob that took the Capitol. “That wasn’t Trump people,” Shirkey said,  “That was all pre-arranged. That’s been a hoax from day one.”

  Caught on video, Shirkey later issued the classic non-denial denial saying, “I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve. I own that. I have many flaws.”

  You can say this about him, though. He truly represents many of his constituents.

The Obit Page: Larry Flynt, publisher of the raunchy porn mag Hustler and campaigner for First Amendment freedom who was paralyzed in an assassination attempt, has died at age 78. Flynt who was sued, prosecuted for obscenity, jailed for contempt, and gagged for obscene outbursts in court, thrived on the controversy.

  Bad taste was his business and he was good at it.

  He published frontal nudity of both men and women as well as crude cartoons. Deriding the soft porn of his more staid competitors Playboy and Penthouse, he once told an interviewer, “I sensed that raw sex was what men wanted. And I was right.”

Blunder Road: Jeep has pulled the Bruce Springsteen ad appealing for unity unveiled during the Super Bowl after finding out that the boss was arrested for DWI last November.

  According to reports, Bruce was riding his motorcycle in Sandy Hook, New Jersey when he pulled over to have his picture taken with fans. One of them gave him a shot of tequila and Park Police saw Springsteen shoot it down.

  He tested .02, a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey, but they arrested him anyway.  A Jeep spokesman said of their ad, “It’s a message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned.”

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