We should never forget what insurrectionists did at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. With President Trump’s encouragement, overwhelmingly white men and women stormed the building, hunted for elected officials, flew the Confederate flag, erected a gallows and killed a member of the Capitol Police.  We should also not forget what we saw, as they sported such disturbing and bizarre iconography –from KKK tattoos, Holocaust denial tee shirts and QAnon costumes to Pepe the Frog flags to crusader crosses. More pernicious due to its very ordinariness, however, was their display of every type, style  and color of “tactical” or paramilitary apparel and gear.

Far too much coverage of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings has focused on her role as a mother of seven. Republican and Democratic senators alike have admired her “beautiful” and “well-behaved” children. In apparent awe, they have queried, “How do you do it?” In response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Coney Barrett relied on a familiar deflection: “I have eyes in the back of my head.”

It is hard to imagine a good reason for President Trump to hold a rally as planned this week.  So clear are the risks of contracting the novel coronavirus in crowded indoor arenas that the Trump campaign has included a legal notice limiting its liability should anyone who attends become ill.