Dominion Voting Systems announced yesterday that they are suing Rudy Giuliani for a cool $1.3 billion for defamation.  Defamation is putting it lightly, since he spewed pure bullshit and fantastical conspiracy theories blaming the company for Trump’s loss at the polls.  The funny thing, though, is that three hours after being sued, Rudy suddenly came to his senses and announced on his radio show on WABC that “As far as this election is concerned, it’s over.” and, “Biden’s the president, she’s the vice president.”

Later, in a formal statement he complained that Dominion was trying to “intimidate” him with the large demand, and threatened discovery in his counter suit.  I’m sure they’re quaking in their boots.

I burst out laughing at this one, and thought you might enjoy it, too.  Bryan Betancur, a self professed white supremacist and member of the Proud Boys, was arrested by the FBI for his role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th.   That’s not news, since a lot of white supremacists have been arrested for their role in the attack where 5 people died and scores injured.  The news is how Betancur was tracked down…he was wearing an ankle monitor stemming from a conviction for burglary.  That’s right folks, this genius participated in insurrection against the federal government while on probation for a felony conviction.  Sheesh.

It gets even better – he’s from Silver Spring Maryland and lied to his probation officer that he was going to DC to…wait for it…pass out Gideon Bibles.  He’s been tracked to the Trump rally at the Ellipse just south of the White House to the Capitol with the rest of the criminals.  He’s now in FBI custody for not only his role in the attack, but also for violating his probation by lying to his probation officer and his continued participation in several white supremacist organizations.

White supremacists, like gun-nuts, are generally not known for their intelligence, but this guy takes the cake.  If stupidity was a violin, this guy would be the Stradivarius of stupidity.

Yesterday, the goofy and well-armed Qanon crowd woke up that they’ve been played for chumps for the last 5 years.  When the power grid didn’t fail, the military didn’t turn on Biden, and Trump actually fled Washington, they suddenly realized that the jig was up and they were the losers.  The Q bullshit not only drove a national insanity, it actually got people killed in the failed attack on the US Capitol 2 weeks ago.  Trump did not declare martial law; the military didn’t take over; Trump is no longer President.  Oops.

On top of the Q crowd getting disillusioned, the hard right social conservatives are not happy with their current lot.  During Trump’s term, he lost the House, then the Senate, and now the White House.  The religious right is now soul searching about how they betrayed their own faith to follow a fornicating, lying, corrupt, spray painted television game show host.  Oops.

Mainstream conservatives are also assessing the damage wrought by Trump.  One, Kevin D. Williamson, posted a scathing rebuke of those who followed Trump in the National Review today titled Witless Ape Rides Helicopter, Goodbye to Donald J. Trump, the man who wanted to be Conrad Hilton but turned out to be Paris Hilton.  It is a must read piece.  A few choice tidbits:

“They pissed that away like they were midnight drunks karaoke-warbling that old Chumbawumba song: In 2021, they control approximately squat.”

“You Trumpish Republicans sneered that Joe Biden was too corrupt and too senescent to win a presidential campaign, that he was one part mafioso and one part turnip.  That turnip just kicked your dumb asses from Delaware to DC. So you rioted. Real smart move, Cletus.”

“‘Trust the plan,’ the QAnon cultists say. Is this what you were planning? I know you are stupid, but you are not that stupid.”

This piece speaks for a lot of conservatives who may not yet be willing to admit Trump’s folly, but you know are thinking it.  Such are the smoldering ruins of the Rein of Trump; with any luck, he’ll get banned from holding office again.  If that fails, certainly his civil and criminal liability will keep him too busy (or incarcerated) to keep him from running again.

And the pendulum swings.

Note: For those who may have trouble reading the Williamson piece on NR, here it is on Yahoo News.

The end of our long national nightmare.  Now the work begins.

Trump just boarded Air Force One bound for Florida to begin his fight to stay out of jail for the rest of his life.  The crowd was sparse, but the Army did give him the 21 gun salute and the band played Hail to the Chief.  During his remarks, he immediately veered off script, which is normal for him.  The written remarks had him wishing Biden and Harris success by name, but he couldn’t bring himself, even now, to even do that.  Instead, he boasted that he stopped the pandemic, took credit for the vaccines, and said he was more popular with veterans than any president in history.  The rest of his speech was his normal self aggrandizing bullshit.  Mercifully, the speech was much shorter than his normal word salad filled diatribes.

His plane is now on the runway.  I hope I never hear his voice again.

Today, Pro Publica published an amazing archive of over 500 videos of the attack on the Capitol posted to Parler by the insurrectionists who horrified all normal people on January 6th.  They are in sequential order and cover the time from noon until 6pm Eastern time.

The level of violence can disturb some, so be warned and cautious sharing this around.  This is significant work and preserves for all time how Americans attacked Americans because they didn’t like the result of a free and fair election and followed a profoundly corrupt man to the Capitol and now to jail for a long time.