The Democratic leader lamented how the Capitol is being guarded by troops today, one day before Joe Biden's nomination, because of the violent attack on the building by a pro-Trump mob earlier this month.

"As we speak, there are more troops in and around the Capitol than there are in Afghanistan," Schumer said.

Looking ahead to Trump's impeachment trial, Schumer made an impassioned case for the president's conviction. Schumer argued Trump would continue to "poison the public arena" if he was able to launch another presidential campaign.

"Somehow, it felt like the preordained coda of a presidency that repeatedly pressed all limits and frayed the bonds of the body politic. With less than a week to go, President Trump's term is climaxing in violence and recrimination at a time when the country has fractured deeply and lost a sense of itself. Notions of truth and reality have been atomized. Faith in the system has eroded. Anger is the one common ground."

According to the Washington Post, relations between Trump and Giuliani have dramatically cooled. Trump has instructed his aides not to pay Giuliani's outstanding fees. The president is reportedly offended by Giuliani's demand for $20,000 a day - a figure the lawyer denies, but which is apparently in writing. White House officials have even been told not to put through any of Giuliani's calls.

I'm no lawyer, but $20,000 a day seems excessive.

Pardon me while I fall off my chair laughing.

The rift with the president may sink Guiliani's lingering hopes of receiving a presidential pardon. Last year, Giuliani held discussions with Trump about receiving an amnesty over his work on the president's behalf in Ukraine.

The detention memo, written by justice department lawyers in Arizona, goes into greater detail about the FBI's investigation into Chansley, revealing that he left a note for Pence warning that "it's only a matter of time, justice is coming".

"Strong evidence, including Chansley's own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government," prosecutors wrote.
...

In Chansley's case, prosecutors said the charges "involve active participation in an insurrection attempting to violently overthrow the United States government", and warned that "the insurrection is still in progress" as law enforcement prepares for more demonstrations in Washington and state capitals.

They also suggested he suffered from drug abuse and mental illness, and told the judge he posed a serious flight risk.

"Chansley has spoken openly about his belief that he is an alien, a higher being, and he is here on Earth to ascend to another reality," they wrote.

The star of the show has already asked Trump for a mulligan.

Jacob Chansley -- who is known as the "QAnon shaman" for following the QAnon conspiracy theory and being photographed wearing a fur hat, face paint and holding a spear -- has been charged with unlawful and violent entry of the Capitol building, as well as "active participation in an insurrection" to overthrow the US Government.

But his lawyer Albert Watkins told CNN Mr Chansley was not a violent person and should be pardoned as he felt "he was answering the call" of Mr Trump by entering the building.

"My client did not break into the Capitol, my client had the doors of the Capitol held for him by Capitol police," Mr Watkins said, adding Mr Trump invited him to enter the Capitol during his speech prior to the riot.

Mr Watkins said Mr Trump "needs to be accountable" for encouraging the rioters, "and the only honourable thing for him to do for those who were peace-loving, for those who did go there with peace in mind, who weren't going there to be violent" was to "own" those protesters and pardon them.

The lawyer for the "QAnon shaman" who was part of the deadly siege on the Capitol last week publicly petitioned President Trump on Thursday to pardon his client, Politico reports.

Attorney Albert Watkins told CNN his client, Jacob Chansley, "felt like he was answering the call of our president."

"Online far-right movements are splintering in the wake of last week's Capitol riot, as some radical anti-government movements show signs of disillusionment with the relatively hands-off approach of some QAnon conspiracy theorists amid warnings of future violence," Collins reported. "Users on forums that openly helped coordinate the Jan. 6 riot and called for insurrection, including 4chan and TheDonald, have become increasingly agitated with QAnon supporters, who are largely still in denial that President Donald Trump will no longer be in the Oval Office after Jan. 20."

"QAnon adherents, who believe Trump is secretly saving the world from a cabal of child-eating Satanists, have identified Inauguration Day as a last stand, and falsely think he will force a 10-day, countrywide blackout that ends in the mass execution of his political enemies and a second Trump term," Collins explained. "According to researchers who study the real-life effects of the QAnon movement, the false belief in a secret plan for Jan. 20 is irking militant pro-Trump and anti-government groups, who believe the magical thinking is counterproductive to future insurrections."

First, once in office, Biden should announce he would share authority to use nuclear weapons with a select group in Congress. He should also declare that the United States will never start a nuclear war and would use the bomb only in retaliation.

Second, to make that pledge more credible, Biden should retire the land-based ballistic missiles that are stationary and more vulnerable to be taken out in a first strike--which could force a president into a quick "use-them-or-lose-them" decision. These missiles are not needed for deterrence, which is ensured by survivable submarine-based weapons. We can and should get out of the "use-them-or-lose-them" mindset.

Excuse me but I would bet there is not a form or method of communications on earth, or at least widely available, where authorities can't hear everything they want to hear.

I can see why the authorities might tell reporters to say this so the loonies will think they are safe.