January 6 and January 7
Dates of historical importance, thanks to MAGA
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January 6
This past January 6 marked the fifth anniversary of the Capitol Insurrection, where supporters of Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
Yet, CBS News with newly-minted anchor Tony Dokoupil, in marking this anniversary, gave a 16-second “both sides” overview with visuals focused on the Trump supporters, not the criminal activities. [1]
Below are the visuals, which include one of Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, an organization that the FBI had designated as "extremist group with ties to white nationalism." [2] Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison on seditious conspiracy and other charges related to January 6 U.S. Capitol breach, [3] but he was pardoned by President Trump. [4]
More details can be found in a previous post on January 6 and Trump’s first week of his second term, where he “pardoned and commuted the sentences for all of the convicted January 6 defendants.” [5]
Just a few reminders of the criminal activity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in America, an act that is one of the greatest crimes one can commit against the Republic.
From NPR archives and reporting: “This is not a peaceful protest!” [6]
In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, American political leaders almost universally condemned the riot as an act of domestic terrorism that threatened democracy. Now, President Trump calls Jan. 6 a “day of love” and the rioters “great patriots.” And since he issued mass pardons to the rioters, his administration has been trying to rewrite history.
NPR has tracked every Jan. 6 prosecution in a public database, and, drawing on thousands of hours of footage and years of reporting, created a front-line account of the riot. The evidence vividly shows the planning for “revolution” and the brutality of violence on a day that continues to shape American politics.
Congress created the January 6 Committee – here is the full report (it’s a very large file consisting of a deeply researched record comprising 845 pages and 99 MB – if you open it, it may take time to load): [7]
From the Executive Summary, pg 1 [8]
On October 31, 2022, in a Federal courthouse in Washington, DC, Graydon Young testified against Stewart Rhodes and other members of the Oath Keepers militia group. The defendants had been charged with seditious conspiracy against the United States and other crimes related to the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress. In his testimony that day, Young explained to the jury how he and other Oath Keepers were provoked to travel to Washington by President Donald Trump’s tweets and by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 Presidential election was “stolen” from him. And, in emotional testimony, Young acknowledged what he and others believed they were doing on January 6th: attacking Congress in the manner the French had attacked the Bastille at the outset of the French Revolution.
Reflecting on that day more than a year and half later, Young testified:
Prosecutor: And so how do you feel about the fact that you were pushing towards a line of police officers?
Young: Today I feel extremely ashamed and embarrassed. . . .
Prosecutor: How did you feel at the time?
Young: I felt like, again, we were continuing in some kind of historical event to achieve a goal.
* * *
Prosecutor: Looking back now almost two years later, what would that make you as someone who was coming to D.C. to fight against the government?Young: I guess I was [acting] like a traitor, somebody against my own government.
Further reminders of January 6, 2021:
ProPublica has a public database of January 6 videos [9] from the social media platform Parler “which caters to right-wing voices and was temporarily booted offline following the Jan. 6 insurrection” [10]
President Trump was indicted for leading the conspiracy to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, as he "did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States-that is, the right to vote, and to have one's vote counted." [11]
The level of disinformation from the Trump administration ratcheted up a level when they released a (gross) website about January 6. [12]
January 7
Renee Good was killed by ICE agents in Minnesota this week. ABC News has a frame-by-frame review of the incident, where peaceful protests of ICE activities led to the death of one person by gunshot at point blank range. From ABC News reporting: [13]
The killing of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer inspired a vigil Wednesday night, and it's sparking protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere on Thursday. Reactions to the shooting reflect outrage over Good's death and a deep divide in how it's portrayed — as either a tragic abuse of power or an officer acting in self-defense.
NPR identified the ICE agent who fired the gun as Jonathan Ross by cross-referencing court records with details about the officer released by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Wednesday news conference. Noem — without naming the officer — said he had been in a previous confrontation with a motorist.
Vice President JD Vance responded in an angry display to the press and finger-wagged the American people who dared to question whether federal agents should have the right to shoot and kill American citizens. From NBC News reporting: [14]
Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday that the woman fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was “brainwashed,” suggesting without evidence that she was tied to a “broader, left-wing network.”
Vance, his voice at times rising in anger as he took questions in the White House briefing room, also lectured the media for its coverage of the incident while offering few details to back up his version of events.
“I’m not happy that this woman lost her life,” he said of Renee Nicole Good, 37, who was fatally shot during a confrontation with ICE officers Wednesday. President Donald Trump has said that Good was "resisting" orders and "viciously ran over the ICE Officer" during an immigration-related operation in the city. Officials and an eyewitness have disputed this account.
“I’m not happy that this woman was there at a protest violating the law by interfering with the law enforcement action,” Vance added. “I think that we can all recognize that the best way to turn down the temperature is to tell people to take their concerns about immigration policy to the ballot box. Stop assaulting and stop inciting violence against our law enforcement officers. That’s the best way to take down the temperature … We’re not going to give in to terrorism on this and that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Video of the incident has gone viral, with Trump, Vance and other high-ranking members of the administration saying the footage shows the shooting was justified. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, called the claims "bulls---," while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused the administration of promoting "propaganda."
Update on betting markets
In a previous post, I mentioned the hazards of newly-formed betting markets such as PolyMarket and Kalshi, inviting the opportunity for corruption: [15]
From Kalshi’s website, they describe that their platform and activities are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and stresses that “[r]egulation offers a framework for the security of transactions and safeguards against fraud and manipulation, protecting your investments.” (emphasis added)
They say that this is a “regulated marketplace,” but the only real regulation is on the agreements of payout - if one agrees to make a payout to a bettor based on the outcome, the regulations provide reliability about how the payout happens. The transactions for placing bets and paying off wins and losses are regulated – the events on which the bets are being placed are not.
And that’s a problem.
It’s the same as if someone wanted to place a bet on the 1919 White Sox losing the World Series, and the regulation would oversee that that bet was paid off when they did lose.
However, nothing appears to prevent the behind-the-scenes corruption of fixing the outcome on the regulated bets that are placed.
Such established and legal marketplaces might be great for financial professionals creating new instruments used to hedge their investments. However, these derivatives open up the potential for manipulation of outcomes by those with more insider and potentially corrupting information about these outcomes.
Well… the Wall Street Journal first reported that someone made more than $400,000 on a bet made just five hours before U.S. military entered Venezuela to extract President Nicolás Maduro. [16]
Here is an overview of the betting market controversy from Reuters: [17]
An unknown trader has raked in a profit worth about $410,000 after betting that Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro would be ousted from his position.
The trader's account on Polymarket, opens new tab built up positions in contracts tied to Maduro's removal on terms that implied long odds before the weekend raid. Those wagers, which were worth about $34,000 prior to Maduro's capture, surged in value after news of the U.S. military operation on the Venezuelan leader emerged, Polymarket data shows.
Major stock indexes jumped and oil prices gained earlier on Monday, while energy shares notched big gains after Maduro was captured by the U.S. military during the weekend. The country's default-hit government bonds surged, buoyed by expectations of a large and complex sovereign debt restructuring. Bonds issued by the government and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, jumped as much as 10 cents on the dollar, or almost 30%, as bullish investors swooped on the developments.
The mystery trade is likely to attract scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers who have been pushing for stricter insider trading rules, including a bipartisan effort to potentially ban trading of stocks by lawmakers. After news of the Maduro trades emerged on Monday, Democratic congressman Ritchie Torres said he plans to introduce a bill this week that would bar elected officials, lawmakers and federal employees from placing bets on prediction market platforms where they could potentially access material non-public information.
The anonymous account was created last month, with the trader buying up $96 worth of contracts on December 27 that would pay off if the U.S. invaded Venezuela by January 31. The trader then made several more similar bets in the following days.
Another anecdote that may be purely coincidental:
In August of last year, Donald Trump Jr., through his 1789 Capital investment firm, invested “double-digit millions of dollars” in Polymarket and joined the company’s board as a strategic advisor [18]
Congress Stepping Up
There were three Congressional votes that gave subtle indicators of pushback against the excesses of the Trump Administration:
In response to the military extraction of Venezuelan President Maduro, the U.S. Senate “advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the Western Hemisphere.
Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House. Still, it was a significant gesture that showed unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid over the weekend.” [19]
After the House delayed any action on extending Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies, GOP members broke with their leadership to advance these subsidies. From AP reporting: [20]
In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday, 230-196, that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as renegade GOP lawmakers joined essentially all Democrats in voting for the measure.
Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called "discharge petition" to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a similar bipartisan compromise.
Together, the rare political coalitions are rushing to resolve the standoff over the enhanced tax credits that were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis but expired late last year after no agreement was reached during the government shutdown.
"The affordability crisis is not a 'hoax,' it is very real — despite what Donald Trump has had to say," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, invoking the president's remarks.
"Democrats made clear before the government was shut down that we were in this affordability fight until we win this affordability fight," he said. "Today we have an opportunity to take a meaningful step forward."
Lastly, the Congressional votes to force the release of the Epstein files have given Republican House members more backbone on other issues. From Fox News reporting: [21]
Dozens of House Republicans voted alongside Democrats on Thursday in a failed attempt to override the first — and so far, only — vetoes of President Donald Trump's second term.
Trump has only issued two vetoes thus far since taking office in January 2025.
Both veto override efforts failed, but it's significant that more than 20 Republicans voted to defy Trump's wishes on each measure.
It's a rare rebuke of Trump's actions while in office, particularly notable since Republicans control both chambers of Congress as well.
One of the bills was the "Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act," led by Trump ally Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
…
The second bill Trump vetoed is the "Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act," similarly led by Trump allies in his new home state of Florida.
From the Amazon overview [22]:
What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever.
"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.
“A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World
GIF Game
Notes and Sources
[1] Tommy Christopher, “CBS Anchor Tony Dokoupil Flayed Over 16-Second Report on New Trump Jan 6 Site: ‘Disgraceful and Disgusting’,” January 7, 2026, https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/cbs-anchor-tony-dokoupil-flayed-over-16-second-report-on-new-trump-jan-6-site-disgraceful-and-disgusting/
[2] Brandy Zadrozny and Corky Siemaszko, “The Boys and Girls of white nationalism: 'Proud' groups labeled 'extremist' in newly revealed FBI files,” NBC News, November 20, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-girls-white-nationalism-proud-groups-labeled-extremist-newly-revealed-n938546
[3] “Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison on Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach,” press release, United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, September 5, 2023, https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges
[4] “Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Event At or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” January 20, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/
[5] Mic Farris, “Unjustice,” January 26, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/unjustice
[6] “This Is Not A Peaceful Protest!” NPR, January 4, 2026, https://apps.npr.org/jan-6-archive/?utm_term=nprnews&utm_social_post_id=643740727&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=threads.net&utm_social_handle_id=9173694336003200#chapter-two
[7] Final Report, Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, 117th Congress Second Session, House Report 117-663, December 22, 2022, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf
[8] Ibid.
[9] Lena V. Groeger, Jeff Kao, Al Shaw, Moiz Syed and Maya Eliahou, “What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol,” ProPublica, January 17, 2021, https://projects.propublica.org/parler-capitol-videos/
[10] “Right-wing social media platform Parler plans to relaunch early 2024,” PBS, December 20, 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/right-wing-social-media-platform-parler-plans-to-relaunch-early-2024
[11] United States v. Trump, 1:23-cr-00257, (D.D.C.), Document 1, August 1, 2023, https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf
[12] “01.06.2021,” The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/j6/
[13] Kerem Inal, Chris Looft, Jared Kofsky, and Josh Margolin, “Minneapolis ICE shooting: A minute-by-minute timeline of how Renee Nicole Good died,” ABC News, January 9, 2026, https://abcnews.go.com/US/minneapolis-ice-shooting-minute-minute-timeline-renee-nicole/story?id=129021809
[14] Henry J. Gomez, “Vance says death of Minnesota woman killed by ICE was 'a tragedy of her own making',” NBC News, January 8, 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/vance-says-death-minnesota-woman-killed-ice-was-tragedy-making-rcna253063
[15] Mic Farris, “Terrible Decisions,” December 14, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/terrible-decisions
[16] Alexander Osipovich and Caitlin Ostroff, “A Mystery Trader Made $400,000 Betting on Maduro’s Downfall,” Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2026, https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/maduro-polymarket-bet-a2e5d100
[17] Anirban Sen, “Mystery trader garners $400,000-plus windfall on Maduro's capture,” Reuters, January 6, 2026, https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/mystery-trader-garners-400000-plus-windfall-maduros-capture-2026-01-05/
[18] Manya Saini, “Polymarket secures investment from Trump Jr-backed 1789 Capital,” Reuters, August 26, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/business/polymarket-secures-investment-trump-jr-backed-1789-capital-2025-08-26/
[19] Stephen Groves and Joey Cappelletti, “Senate pushes back on Trump’s military threats against Venezuela with war powers vote,” Associated Press, January 8, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/senate-war-powers-venezuela-trump-maduro-greenland-e1c5c8390eb2331779504b710fe85025
[20] Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking, “House passes bill to extend health care subsidies in defiance of GOP leaders,” Associated Press, January 8, 2026, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-a-rebuke-of-gop-leadership-house-heads-toward-vote-to-extend-health-care-subsidies
[21] Elizabeth Elkind, “Dozens of House Republicans defy Trump, join Democrats in failed veto override effort,” Fox News, January 8, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dozens-house-republicans-defy-trump-join-democrats-failed-veto-override-effort
[22] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Penguin Books, 2005, https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/
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