By Editor Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This time last year, we were experiencing the snow on the ground after the white Christmas in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I wrote:

“As the sun comes up over the smokies, reflecting the first morning light off a thick layer of Christmas white snow covering the ground and the trees, it’s amazing how quiet it can be in a city. As much as we love remote mountain campgrounds and log cabins in the woods far from paved roads and hordes of people — especially in the time of COVID — it’s enough to have a morning break from road noise with the first cup of hazelnut coffee. It’s so cold in the teens that the birds are even taking a long, winter’s nap, huddling in the snow-covered bushes and waiting on the sun to shine before coming out for morning songs and breakfast.”

The Final Say on 2020: White Christmas Quiet

We hunkered down in Covid lockdown and somehow made it from the Hellscape year of 2020 into 2021 — with the help of strong drink and smokes — where we were asking ourselves, “now what?”

It didn’t take long to find out.

Donald Trump, the criminal president, made that infamous phone call to Georgia trying to overturn Biden’s election to install himself as dictator rat king.

“So much for the ‘law and order” president and his law and order friends, fans and followers and Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud by Democrats,” I wrote. “The lawlessness from the Republican White House that dominated the presidential campaign of the hellscape year of 2020 continued into 2021 on Sunday when Trump finally got the Georgia Secretary of State on the telephone and berated and browbeat him to commit election fraud and overturn the state’s duly counted and certified results.

“According to official tallies, Joe Biden received 2,473,633 votes in Georgia, 49.5 percent. Trump got 2,461,854 votes, or 49.26 percent. So Biden won by 11,779 votes and the state’s 16 Electoral College votes, as certified by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“Congress is expected to vote to certify the official election results on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in spite of a challenge by some of Trump’s most ardent Republican sycophants in the House and Senate.”

Donald Trump, the Criminal President, Does it Again in Phone Call to Georgia

Then came January 6, 2021, a day that will live in infamy. Yet in spite of the violence and chaos, it ended in a final vote in Congress confirming Joe Biden as president.

Congress Stands Up to Trump’s Angry Mob, Confirming Biden’s Electoral College Win: Democrats Win Historic Victories in Georgia and Take Control of Power in the Senate

We immediately began compiling an archive of all those arrested and charged for their involvement in the insurrection, starting with the first 13 Trump followers who marched from the “Stop the “Steal” rally on The Mall by the White House to the U.S. Capitol building, incited by a rambling, nonsensical speech by the outgoing president calling for violence against our government and democracy like nothing ever seen on American soil.

“The lawless destruction of the U.S. Capitol building was an attack against one of our nation’s greatest institutions,” said Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.

“My office, along with our law enforcement partners at all levels, have been expeditiously working and leveraging every resource to identify, arrest, and begin prosecuting these individuals who took part in the brazen criminal acts at the U.S. Capitol,” he said. “We are resolute in our commitment to holding accountable anyone responsible for these disgraceful criminal acts, and to anyone who might be considering engaging in or inciting violence in the coming weeks.”

“Know this,” he added. “You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Among those charged was Richard Barnett of Arkansas, whose picture sitting at the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was all over the internet, along with Lonnie Coffman of Alabama, who was arrested with 11 Molotov cocktails ready to detonate.

Rioters Charged for Crimes Committed During the Trump Insurrection Rally and Violent Attack on U.S. Capitol

It did not take long to report that the entire attack was no last minute accident.

“There is no way that the failure of law enforcement and the military to protect the United States Capitol building on Wednesday, Jan. 6, was somehow an accidental failure of intelligence — as the story is being framed so far as of Monday — with too few cops on duty to hold back the ‘unexpected’ mob that stormed the building and breached the citadel of American democracy,” we reported.

“Multiple sources with direct contacts inside the Capitol Police force and who are knowledgable about how the agency works — who cannot be publicly identified because they would lose their jobs and put their lives at further risk — tell The New American Journal EXCLUSIVELY that officers were told to “stand down” over the radio even as throngs of rioters inspired by the incendiary language of the lame duck president at his insurrection rally were storming into the building.

“Stop and think about that. The formal security guards for the United States Capitol were ordered to ‘stand down’ — as Trump’s right-wing militia were flooding into the unlocked doors and breaking windows to breach the Capitol.

“The sergeants at arms for both the House and Senate stalled ordering up more officers and calling in troops — as the breach was occurring.

“It also looks like there was a stand down order across the Potomac River at the Pentagon, where new reporting shows the mayor of D.C. and the head of the Capitol Police were begging for National Guard troops, who were still being held back and not on the way — hours after the breach took place.

Inside Job: Were the U.S. Military and Capitol Police Ordered to ‘Stand Down’ to Allow Trump’s Mob to Storm the Capitol? Evidence Suggests The Insurrection on Jan. 6 was Not a Spur of the Moment Accident: It was An Attempted Overthrow of American Democracy and Almost Succeeded

It also didn’t long for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to demand the resignation of the sergeants at arms and bring impeachment charges against Trump.

U.S. House Votes to Impeach Trump Again for Inciting Violent Insurrection

I must admit I went a little Hunter Thompson there for awhile, even going so far as to create a new drink called a “Frozen Fog,” and went off on a rant: The Frozen Fog of War and the End of the Golden Shower Presidency

“The news has been churning for a solid a week and a half since 8,000 marauding militiamen and bleary-eyed neo-Nazi thugs marched from the National Mall to the Capitol steps and somehow, with a little help from Republicans and their racist friends in the Capitol Police, actually crashed their way into the building,” I wrote.

“Live from Here It’s Saturday Night”

“After reading and sharing all that insane news from Washington from Wednesday through Saturday on Facebook, I had to stop and find a drink just before dark. There were four kinds of rum in the bar in this old house. I grabbed them all and began frantically pouring shots into a plastic cup until it was full, then dumped that into a tall glass with a Christmas Holley pattern on it and added just a splash of Sprite and Mango juice, along with a twist of lime, to the ice.

“There’s no name for this drink and the thought hit me that maybe a name would come to me if it turned out to be any good. Frozen Fog occurred to me since the local weather casters had just used that exact term to describe what was about to happen outside. Literally the fog was going to freeze in the trees and the air. And to be brutally honest, that’s exactly what my head needed, a frozen fog to stop the adrenaline and blood from pumping so fast and hard in my temples. Grabbing a silver tumbler cocktail mixing glass from the bar, I turned it upside down and shook it three times. Like James Bond says, ‘shaken not stirred.'”

With a little help from our rum-making friends in Cuba, we made it to January 20, Inauguration Day. Biden’s swearing in went off without a hitch — thanks to a major show of force by the National Guard — and Trump slunk out of town without even having the class to attend the swearing in ceremony.

Much of America breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Trump Departs Washington With No Fanfare, Joe Biden Sworn In as President Without Incident

Public Opinion: Biden’s Presidency Greeted With Optimism, Trump Called the ‘Worst President Ever’

We continued to cover the insurrection developments at every turn.

The American Public Deserves the Whole Truth: Will All Those Involved in the Capitol Insurrection Be Held Accountable?

Biden was riding high in his presidential honeymoon.

Biden’s Initial Job Approval Rating Is Higher Than Trump’s Ever Was

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville was implicated in the plot to overturn the election on Trump’s behalf, but it is still unclear if he or Mo Brooks and other complicit members of Congress will face investigation, much less charges and jail time.

I could not escape writing about the stress of it all, wondering again, where do we go from here?

A Failure to Communicate: Where Do We Go From Here?

Once again, it didn’t take long to find out.

The Year of the Rat was over, and the Year of the Ox arrived.

Of course the Republicans in the Senate showed no moral fortitude at all, and let Trump jump the hook.

Senate Finds Trump ‘Not Guilty’ of Inciting Insurrection, Impeachment Trial Falls Ten Votes Short

Prompting a prominent Congressman from Mississippi and the NAACP to file a lawsuit in federal court under a historic law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act charging the 45th president and his lawyer with conspiring to incite the violent Capitol insurrection to prevent the official certification of election results.

Mississippi Congressman and NAACP Sue Trump and Giuliani for Inciting Violent Capitol Insurrection

Google, Facebook and “Big Tech” came under fire for their role in failing to stop the spread of misinformation and propaganda, aiding in Trump’s insurrection, and the public began to take notice.

American Public Turns on Big Tech as Support for Government Regulation Grows

Sure enough, Capitol Police officers were placed under investigation for their role in aiding the insurrection from the inside.

Capitol Police Officers Face Investigation for Role in Capitol Insurrection

After a solid year of fear and grief, we asked: Are We Finally Turning the Corner on the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Well, no, we now know. But at least we got a break from the stress and worry.

Congress began holding hearings looking into the Trump insurrection, and started by grilling all those involved in the failure of security that happened Jan. 6.

Capitol Insurrection Investigation: First Senate Hearings Probe Congressional Security Officials

Biden got his first major legislative victory when, after working late into the night on a Friday, the House passed a $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus bill called the American Rescue Plan by a party-line vote of 219 to 212.

House Passes Biden’s $1.9 Billion American Rescue Plan With $15 an Hour Minimum Wage Increase

The Senate followed suit, but dropped the minimum wage increase.

Relief is On the Way: Senate Passes Biden’s $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan

I found a way to transition back to some heavy duty environmental reporting, turning my attention back to the massive problem of coal ash from dirty coal-fired power plants.

Toxic Coal Ash is Back on the Agenda as an Environmental Issue of Our Time

TVA Coal Ash Disaster Revisited: Is it Time for EPA to Regulate the Toxic Sludge as Hazardous Waste?

Then there was that weird street bombing in Nashville, which didn’t seem to stay in the news for long nationally, maybe because it was never linked to “terrorism” per se.

Christmas Bombing in Nashville Was Not Terrorism, FBI Concludes

The Biden administration managed to bring the Environmental Protection Agency back online after being gutted by Trump’s industry goons.

Reversing Trump Policy, Biden EPA Brings Back Climate Change Science Online

There was also good news on the biodiversity front, as it was announced that the American bald eagle was back from the brink of extinction.

American Bald Eagle Population Soars Back From Near Extinction

At about the same time, in a development that could be a harbinger of better times to come for American politics, church membership was shown to have fallen with less than a majority of Americans attending for the first time.

Implications Good or Bad at Easter? Church Membership in the U.S. Falls Below a Majority for the First Time

By Earth Day, scientists were saying the human response to the pandemic showed we are not even close to being prepared to deal with the very real threats of nuclear war or climate change.

Earth Day 2021: Ineffectual Response to Coronavirus Pandemic Shows the World is Not Prepared to Deal With Threats From Nuclear Weapons or Climate Change

Yet Biden’s public approval rating remained strong, showing his honeymoon lasting 100 days.

President Biden’s Job Approval Rating Stands at 57 Percent in First 100 Days

In a bit of brilliant filmmaking in such a difficult year to make films, or see movies other than at home on streaming services, a little gem about escaping and surviving in a camper van stole the show at the Academy Awards.

Nomadland Steals the Show at Socially Distanced Academy Awards

And somehow the word on the problem of climate change finally reached half the people of America. Duh.

Half of American Voters Now Realize Climate Change is a ‘Critical Threat’

Vaccinated

Then finally, after an excruciating waiting game to get lined up for a vaccination in April and finishing some work on the camper van, we made the trek back to the Washington, D.C. region in May, just in time for a bug invasion.

The View from Here: Back in Washington, D.C. Just in Time for the Brood X Cicada Invasion

After reconstituting itself after being muzzled and castrated by Trump and his corporate goons, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a comprehensive report online about the very real threats from climate change.

Biden EPA Issues Authoritative Report on Global Warming and Climate Change

With vaccinations on the upswing and covid cases falling, people here found a way to see live music and dance again for the first time in a year and a half.

Vaccinated People in DC Dance as CDC Relaxes Coronavirus Mask Requirements

By Memorial Day and into June, we settled into a comfortable pattern of camping in the coolness of the mountains of the Mid-Atlantic region, venturing inside the Beltway in D.C. only when necessary and mainly on weekends, quite successfully escaping the worst effects of global warming and climate change in summer.

Finding An Escape From Global Warming in the Mountains of the East

And it came as no real surprise when scientists showed that conservative Republicans in the U.S. were full of authoritarian tendencies, making them susceptible to manipulation by Trump and Steve Bannon’s propaganda.

Research Shows Many American Conservative Republicans Suffer From Right-Wing Authoritarian Tendencies

By the Fourth of July, events made me question the health of American patriotism.

Vive la Liberté: Has American Patriotism Suffered a Fatal Blow?

Then the numbers started coming in showing more record high temperatures in the summer of 2021.

June Sets Record for Hottest Ever in North America

But in the middle of a severe drought, an out of control wildfire season and overcrowding in the national parks out West, Americans flocked to the great scenic outdoors in record numbers anyway. It beat sitting at home alone in the air conditioning, I guess.

Americans Flock to Western National Parks in the Middle of a Heat Wave

Meanwhile with early hope of an end to the pandemic, the Delta variant emerged and began to ravage Dixie. At least hearings began on Trump’s insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Delta Variant Grips Dixie: Capitol Insurrection Investigation Hearings Begin

The uneducated rednecks were still not listening, but back in the 1980s, into the 1990s and as recently as this year, scientists, science writers and environmental activists warned people and governments that human industrial activity fueled a catastrophic greenhouse effect that was warming the planet and changing the climate. The United Nations led the early warning system, and said in a report back when that if people and governments did not act collectively to slow the burning of fossil fuels for energy, the consequences would be “profound” for humans and nature.

Well, “the scientists were right” according to coverage of a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It described in more detail than ever before how industrial activity has altered the natural environment at an “unprecedented” pace, and provided details on some of the “catastrophic” impacts that are coming — unless the world dramatically and rapidly begins to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The report leaves no room for any remaining scientific doubt about humans fueling global warming and climate change. It is “unequivocal” in that conclusion, leaving no room for partisan politics to stand in the way any longer in convincing the people to get on board and act.

“The only real uncertainty that remains, its authors say, is whether the world can muster the will to stave off a darker future than the one it already has carved in stone.”

In announcing the report, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called the findings “a code red for humanity” and said societies must find ways to embrace the transformational changes necessary to limit warming as much as possible.

Code Red for Humanity: UN Report Warns of ‘Unprecedented’ and ‘Catastrophic’ Climate Change

The evidence was in the news all around us, as Hurricane Fred hit the Southeast, a tornado left damage in Southwest Georgia, and thousands lost power in Florida.

The News Deluge Lurches From One Disaster to Another

We did finally get a definitive account of where the coronavirus came from, although most of the press and media passed right over the story and never got it right.

New Report Shows Chinese Government Coverup of Covid-19 Origins and Spread From Outhouse in Wuhan Wet Market

Then right on hurricane season schedule at the end of August coming up on Labor Day, it was: Déjà Vu All Over Again (as) Hurricane Ida Moves Ashore in Louisiana

The nation’s oldest conservation organization suffered a major upheaval as some accused founder John Muir of racism, which was mostly countered by defenders, but not in time to save Michael Brune’s job.

People Paralyzed by Existential Threats: At Least We Can Say We Tried – Sierra Club’s Michael Brune Resigns Amid Accusations of Racism by John Muir

In September, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol began issuing subpoenas, starting with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Daniel Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel, and former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon.

House Select Committee Investigating Capitol Insurrection Issues New Subpoenas

But in some ways, it looked like the Democrats were having trouble getting together to govern in Washington, in spite of holding the White House and slim majorities in both houses of Congress.

What’s Your Survival Plan if Democrats Can’t Govern and the Trump Republicans Return to Power?

A federal government shutdown was ultimately avoided, but the way the Democrats were making hamburger meat in Congress it was touch and go at times and not so pretty to watch.

Government Shutdown Averted: Divided Democrats Still Threaten to Tank President Biden’s Agenda

And who can forget the day Facebook went down, causing a cascade of techno blues all across the land? Then the company changed its name to Meta in what the public viewed as a way to escape all the bad publicity.

Blue Monday: The Day Facebook Went Down

Halloween brought scary times back to Washington, followed shortly thereafter by scary times in Scotland, where climate talks made clear that the future of the planet was on the line.

It’s A Scary Season in Washington, and We Don’t Just Mean It’s Halloween

The Future of Democracy and the Planet Are On the Line, and It’s a Scary Future

But at least the Democrats finally got together and passed Biden’s infrastructure package.

Congressional Passage of the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is Huge

In more important legal and political news, prompted by Congress the U.S. Department of Justice finally found someone worth indicting for inciting the insurrection, our old friend Steve Bannon.

Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Indicted for Contempt of Congress for Refusing to Cooperate in the House Capitol Insurrection Investigation

And the United States seemed successful in rejoining the community of nation’s to fight climate change.

The United States is Back: The World’s Last, Best Chance to Save the Planet Must Not Fail!

By then camping inside the beltway in D.C., we celebrated the 400th anniversary of Thanksgiving with a toast to winning.

On the 400th Anniversary of Thanksgiving, 1621-2021, A Toast to Winning

And I nabbed one of my favorite pictures of the year, a barred owl hunting in daylight in Greenbelt National Park 10 miles due north of the Washington Monument.

By mid-December, the House did the right thing and voted to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress.

House Upholds Vote by Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol to Hold Mark Meadows in Contempt of Congress

As Christmas approached, research showed that many Americans had a simple, top wish for Santa.

Letters to Santa: The Number One Wish is to See Trump Behind Bars for Christmas

On Christmas Eve, I took a train ride down to Metro Center and a short walk over to the White House to photograph the National Christmas Tree, along with some of the state trees in the ellipse in President’s Park, and wrote about it.

A Christmas Carol for Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All in 2021 and 2022

On Christmas Day, NASA provided some sparks by launching a new universe exploring telescope.

NASA’s Webb Telescope Launches on Christmas Day

Then in a sad note as the year came to a quiet end, we found out that scientist E.O. Wilson from Alabama had died.

E.O. Wilson, a Pioneer of Evolutionary Biology and Scientific Studies of Ants and Human Behavior, Dies at 92

Happy New Year

With only two days left in 2021 as of this writing, and the weather unseasonably warm in D.C. which is fine with me, one has to wonder with the way things have been going over the past couple of years: What else could possibly go wrong?

Here’s to hoping many things will get better in 2022.

But we should not be complacent. There is more work to do to stamp out Covid, fix our democracy and save the planet.

Have a party and a Happy New Year.

But get ready to get back busy to build back better in 2022.

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