‘Lindsey! Get away from the window!’

Someone shouted that at Senator Lindsey Graham as a mob of Trump supporters overtook the Capitol building, as those in the building remained unaware of the magnitude of events that occurred on Jan. 6.

This is but one detail revealed by Jonathan Swan of what went down amongst U.S. Senators sheltering in a secure location as a mob ransacked the Senate chamber, in the final episode of his remarkable podcast detailing the events of Jan. 6, How it Happened.

After weeks of reporting and a stunning amount of evidence presented in former president Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, it would seem odd to still be learning details from that fateful day, but here again, Swan parades his reporting excellence in great detail.

This is Do Not Miss reporting.

Truth Commission

California Rep. Sara Jacobs is calling for a “truth commission” to establish a “common narrative” in the United States around issues including race.

“Lots of countries, lots of places have ideologies that are extreme, people who have ideologies that are extreme have conflict, have disagreements within their community,” Jacobs noted in a weekend interview with CNN’s Brian Stelter. “But there are only some areas where that actually turns into violence, and that’s the role of conflict entrepreneurs — or in other words, leaders.”

Jacobs advised that leaders could use “the enabling environment of our media ecosystem” to establish a narrative.

Travelgate

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is facing scrutiny after flight logs revealed that she used the state airplane for travel to conservative political events, a possible violation of state law.Noem reportedly used the plane to travel to events during 2019 that included an NRA conference in San Antonio, a Turning Point USA gathering in Dallas, a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas, and organizational meetings with other Republican governors in Aspen, Boca Raton, and Kentucky.

And more.

Acquitted But Not Vindicated

ABC's Jon Karl put succinctly on Sunday what so many are saying about the conclusion of former President Donald Trump's second at-bat in impeachment history. "The evidence was laid out for the world to see, and for history, leading to the most bipartisan guilty vote ever," said Karl on This Week.

"Donald Trump is acquitted, but he’s not vindicated, not by a long shot," he said.

‘Easily Disproven Lies’

CNN’s John Avlon calmly and dispassionately listed many of the "easily disproven lies" Donald Trump’s legal team pushed throughout his impeachment trial, which he followed with the serious consequences they may face for advancing them.

Searing Op-Ed

The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote a blistering column on Sunday, arguing that although the Senate voted to acquit, Donald Trump, “he won’t win another national election.”

The brutal, crushing op-ed argues that the GOP can either move on from Trump or "remain in the wilderness."

Two-Thirds Want New Third

A new poll has found that a record number of Republicans think the United States needs a third mainstream political party to represent the American people.

Gallup has released a collection of polling data they gathered in late January, which finds that only 33 percent of adults think that the Republican and Democratic parties adequately represent the country. By contrast, 62 percent of respondents think that a third part is necessary, a 5 percent increase from when Gallup asked the same question in September.

The findings seem especially applicable to Republicans since Gallup found that conservatives are now almost as likely as independents to say the country needs a new party.

The numbers in the GOP are astonishing.
 

Situational ethics, like moral relativism, is a phrase frequently used in political punditry to ascribe to an opponent a lack of principle or to imply opportunistic or self-serving behavior. Separate from the philosophical definitions, in this context the essential premise is not that one judges the ethics of an act based on context, but rather that a person has or does not have ethical standards at all, depending on whether having them is beneficial or detrimental to one’s immediate ends.

It is in that context that CNN’s Chris Cuomo used the phrase on Saturday, in tweeting about Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell taking to the microphone to offer a blistering condemnation essentially calling former President Donald Trump guilty of all the things that McConnell had just moments before voted to acquit him of.

It is an interesting criticism coming from the CNN anchor who has spent the last several days, if not the last several years, either avoiding negative reporting about his brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, or actively attempting to counter that reporting. And worse, that his network seems to have adopted that same policy.

Situational ethics indeed...

Cow Rampage

A bizarre incident took place in Colombia over the weekend when an escaped cow apparently charged into a hospital and wreaked havoc in the lobby area.

The room was left disheveled after the cow pushed chairs, slipped on the floors, and became increasingly belligerent. The dangerous situation was captured on video. 

Again, a cow attack was caught on video. A cow attack. Video.