A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

Sad Trombone

Capitol Police were ready for a potential Jan. 6 redux, 100 National Guard troops stood by, fences were installed, people bit their nails. … but Saturday’s pro-Trump “Fight for J6” rally at the Capitol, was by all accounts a complete flop.

• Rally organizer ​​Matt Braynard, an ex-Trump campaign aide, was clearly prepared for failure. He insisted to MSNBC before the rally that “It’s not really a numbers game, it’s a message game” and so “already this rally is a success.”
• Footage of the rally posted by journalists and observers shows a smattering of actual Trump supporters and a ton of news camera crews. These threads have some videos and pics that give you a pretty good idea of how well it all went:

Lots of scenes like this- protester surrounded by reporters. Most argue —against reason and evidence — there was no violence on Jan 6. pic.twitter.com/oFJ27HGTYL

— Del Quentin Wilber (@DelWilber) September 18, 2021

i thought i spotted a crowd at the patriot grift event but when i got closer it was just 50 photographers taking pictures of one woman with an american flag talking to a cop pic.twitter.com/ppxzFOsgxc

— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) September 18, 2021

• I mean……

Justice for J6 organizer Matt Braynard’s security guard – who had only one AirPod – attempts to act as a secret service agent. pic.twitter.com/eTh4rFkL1Q

— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) September 19, 2021

• The goal was to whitewash the events of the Capitol attack by making out the violent insurrectionists to be “political prisoners” and “fighting the narrative about what actually happened on Jan. 6,” according to Braynard. You decide if that gambit paid off.
• Was this sad fart that much of a surprise? I mean, not really. You had a bunch of Trump goons like Roger Stone saying the event was going to be a “setup” and warning people not to go.
  • Despite releasing a statement a few days before the rally lamenting that “our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest,” Trump himself claimed the event would be a setup and, per the New York Times, believed it would be used against him by the media no matter what happened.
  • Even professional trolls like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who’s currently being investigated for sex trafficking, didn’t show up.
  • Far-right extremists, like the Proud Boys, fretted online that the rally would be infiltrated by law enforcement.

A Texas Doctor Openly Declares He Performed An Abortion

Alan Braid, a doctor in San Antonio, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post revealing that he had provided an abortion to a woman who was past the six-week limit to get the procedure in Texas under the state’s cruel new anti-abortion law.

• Braid wrote the op-ed fully aware of the consequences of the ban, including the fact that he could be sued for $10,000 by any private citizen.

I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care. I fully understood that there could be legal consequences—but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested.

The FBI’s Probe Into Threats Against Election Officials Escalates

The feds have ramped up their investigation into the threats by reaching out to victims for the first time, according to CNN.

• One of those victims, Milwaukee Election Commission chair Claire Woodall-Vogg, has gotten more than 150 threats, she told CNN.

GOP-Drawn District Map Gets Foiled

Nebraska Republicans’ map of the state’s new congressional district lines was defeated by filibustering Democrats and one Republican.

• A GOP state senator who chairs the legislature’s Redistricting Committee and the committee’s Democratic vice chair will lead discussions to create a new proposal, according to the Star-Herald.
• You can check out how state lawmakers hope to redraw their maps in these helpful graphics by the Washington Post.

A Jarring View Of COVID-19 Casualties

More than 600,000 flags across 20 acres of land have been planted near the Washington Monument in memory of Americans who died from the pandemic.

Quite stunning to see the COVID death toll represented like this. pic.twitter.com/mae0A9nWDw

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) September 20, 2021

West Virginia Governor Asks You To Get The Vaccine, And To Do It For His Dog

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) , who’s been repeatedly pleading his constituents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 during his press briefings, likes to bring this very good doggy to help persuade the unvaccinated:

? DO IT FOR BABYDOG ? pic.twitter.com/WzsF0v04l5

— The Recount (@therecount) September 19, 2021

I dare you to say no to that face.

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