The GA mugshots, per CNN: RICO, no suave.

The first thing I thought when Judge Tanye Chutkan announced the court date for Trump's Jan. 6 criminal trial—the one in D.C., as opposed to the ones in NYC, Miami or Atlanta—was: Isn't that the old Inauguration Day? From like early in our history through Franklin Roosevelt's first term? It is. Or was. Lincoln was inauguarated on that day. So was Jefferson. In fact, ever since Adams, our No. 2 man, until and including FDR, that was the day. Then life quickened and a five-month lame duck session seemed overlong, so it was shifted to Jan. 20—my birthday.

Not many people have mentioned this coincidence. I guess you pay more attention to Inauguration Days when they include your birthday. That said, I hope next March 4 we inaugurate the fucker—and not into the office he hopes to hold.

FURTHER READING:

• No court date was set for the 19 defendants involved in the RICO election matter in Georgia. But then one of the 19, lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, demanded a speedy trial, and Fulton County DA Fani Willis said “How's Oct. 23?” and the judge said yes. So now Trump is moving to sever his case from Chesebro's. Per Jennifer Rubin: “Chesebro's ability to go to trial so quickly might harm Trump's protests that he will need years to prepare.”
• And what's the deal with former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows taking the stand? He wants his case to be federal rather than state, and apparently needed to argue his point. But that point—overturning the election results in Georgia was part of the job description—might well fly on Fox News but it's a little more doubtful in a court of law. Rubin again: “Most damning, Meadows's direct involvement with the phony electors could not possibly have fallen within any official duties, since selection of the electors, certification of the votes and eventual counting of the electoral votes constitutionally do not include the president. These duties are left to the states and to Congress. Not surprising, Meadows could not explain how that conduct related to any of the president's duties under Article II.”
• Peter Sagal (yes, of NPR's “Wait, wait...”) writes for The Atlantic about the Trump cult, and cults in general, and how the inculcated are weaned from the source of their malediction. Answer? Not easily. He thinks Trumpists may just die off. He also points to the dispirited rallies as a sign that some may be quiet quitting: “They stop posting Facebook memes, put away the MAGA hat, get back into cooking or sports or whatever it was that interested them before Trump. As said, it's tough to admit you've been conned, so they don't publicly denounce their former beliefs—unless, of course, they're trying to get a lighter sentence.”