The Coup That Wasn’t: The website Politico has revealed the draft of a December 2020 Donald Trump executive order that would have commanded the Pentagon to seize all the voting machines in the country, essentially staging a military coup to prevent Joe Biden from taking office as president.

  The order titled “PRESIDENTIAL FINDINGS TO PRESERVE COLLECT AND ANALYZE NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION REGARDING THE 2020 GENERAL ELECTION,” was never signed by Trump. It would have authorized the defense secretary to “seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention under” a US law that relates to preservation of election records. 

  The authorship of the order has not been revealed.

  The election order dated December 16^th  would have given the defense secretary 60 days to evaluate the 2020 election and present it to the president It’s unclear whether the expectation was that Trump would still be president even after the January 20^th inauguration day for Joe Biden. 

  Singling out Dominion Voting Systems, the order says the company “is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.” 

  Neither nor the order delivered proof of election fraud. Yet the order says in language and reasoning difficult to decipher, “The stealth vote alteration or operational interference posed by malware that can be effectively invisible to detection, whether not, are high once implanted, if equipment and software systems cast votes without burden, long wait times, and intentionally seeded or are not properly protected, implemented, and audited.” 

  Politico also published excerpts from a draft document labeled “Remarks on National Healing” in which Trump was to have said, “The Demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American Democracy.” It went on to say, “To those who engaged in acts of violence and destruction, I want to be very clear: you do not represent me. You do not represent our movement. You do not represent our country. And if you broke the law, you belong in jail.”

  Trump never delivered those remarks. What he said was “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.”

The Ukraine Squeeze: The US and Russia agreed to keep talking about Ukraine while both ratchet up their military capabilities in case it comes to gunfire.

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Russia’s counterpart Sergey Lavrov that he would give written responses to Russian demands. The Russians want a guarantee that NATO will not expand to the east or allow former Soviet states like Ukraine to become members. They want the western alliance countries to pull back from  Poland and the Baltic republics that joined NATO after 1997.

  But even while the talks are alive,  Russia has been moving more troops, armor, and antiaircraft weapons toward Belarus, the Russian ally that borders Ukraine to the north, tightening the squeeze on Ukraine. 

Viral News: Covid booster shots are highly effective at preventing infection and death among people50 and older, the Centers for Disease Control reports.

  The CDC says that in December, unvaccinated people ages 50 and older were 17 times more likely to end up in the hospital than those who had completed the first round of immunization but did not get a booster. 

  The number of people hospitalized with the virus nationwide remains at or near record levels as the Omicron variant peaks.  

The Spin Rack: A New York City police officer was killed last night responding to a call for a domestic dispute. He was only 22. — Thousands of people took part in the annual March for Life in Washington yesterday, hopeful for the first time since the 1974 Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal, that this year the Supreme Court will curtail abortion rights. — The FBI this week raided and searched the home and campaign office of Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar. The Bureau declined to give details, but several news reports say the searches are part of a federal investigation into the involvement of some American businessmen with the country of Azerbaijan. Cuellar was first elected to the House in 2004 and was recently a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus. — After first denying it, the Peloton exercise equipment company admitted that it might slow production and lay off some workers. Peloton business has been sinking as workers return to the office and the company competes against less-expensive bike machines. 

The Obit Page: Louie Anderson, the heavyset veteran comedian and game show host has died in Las Vegas of lymphoma at age 68. Anderson made his national television debut as a guest of Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show” in 1984. He made a career mostly of guest shots on television sitcoms and dramas. Anderson played the only white character in the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy “Coming to America.” He won an Emmy in a supporting role playing a woman in the FX series “Baskets.” — Marty Roberts, who was half the campy lounge act Marty & Elayne that played for decades at the Dresden on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Angeles, has died at 89. The couple played six nights a week at the famous hangout in the Los Feliz section of LA and were featured in the 1996 movie “Swingers” about Hollywood hipsters. The Dresden used to be the office bar for The Rooney Report.

Nurturing Mother: The fight over pandemic mask mandates continues. A mother in Page County, Virginia was arrested yesterday after telling the school board in an open meeting that her kids would not wear masks to class.  After she appeared to threaten school board officials while they met to vote on whether to lift a mask requirement. “Alright. No mask mandates,” said 42-year-old Amelia King. “My children will not come to school on Monday with a mask on. That’s not happening and I will bring every single gun loaded and ready.”

  She didn’t say how she feels about wearing handcuffs.

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