Bits 'n pieces from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling, still pivoting around the U.S. Capitol:

A day before the riot at the U.S. Capitol, Virginia’s FBI office sent a warning to D.C. about extremists planning to commit violence, the Washington Post reported, based on a review of internal documents. The Jan. 5 warning report from the Virginia FBI noted that it was not “finally evaluated intelligence” and that taking action on the report would require prior coordination. The Post also noted that some Capitol Hill staffers were told by their supervisors not to come to work on Jan. 6 owing to a high risk of danger. But Capitol Police failed to take the typical extra precautions used for events in proximity of the building.

An Associated Press analysis of the violent Jan. 6 riot revealed that high-level Republican Party members, including members of former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, were organizers. The AP examined the names on public gathering permits. And now it is being reported that, despite pleading ignorance of what could happen on Jan. 6, the Capitol Police were warned three days in advance by a 12-page internal intelligence report. That report included warnings about members of Congress being targeted for violence.

Those arrested for the violent invasion of the Jan. 6 Capitol building may be pleading a “public authority defense,” which means they will argue that Trump gave them permission. That defense can reduce or even eliminate some punishment. But it also makes the authority granting their permission more likely to face prosecution, according to the Washington Post.

To avoid another Jan. 6-style mess at the inauguration, about 25,000 FBI-vetted National Guard soldiers were brought to the Capitol, according to the AP.

The House impeachment process, for Trump inciting an insurrection, passed on Jan. 13. Ten Republicans joined 222 House Democrats while 197 Republicans voted against. This makes Trump the first president to be impeached twice.

Trend-bucking: It used to be that a presidential candidate was likely to win if voters prospered under their leadership. But a Washington Post report found that trend reversed with the 2020 election. Counties that saw an economic decline were more likely to vote for Trump. Those “better off” voted for Biden.

The second dose of the double-dose COVID-19 vaccine appears not to exist due to bungling under Operation Warp Speed, the Washington Post indicated. OWS stopped stockpiling a second dose at the end of 2020. In a scramble to get that second dose where it belongs — to people three weeks out from their first Pfizer dose, and four weeks out from their first Moderna dose — the plan appears to be: Use what is in stock and sideline, for now, the seniors and others scheduled to get the vaccination beginning Jan. 23.

Blast from the (recent) past: A year ago, Trump faced his first impeachment charges. The impeachment manager urged Republicans to look to the future, saying “you know you can’t trust this president to do what’s right for the country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump ... He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to.” Some of the Republicans who refused to vote to impeach the second time said they feared for their safety and their loved ones if they took action against Trump.

And another blast: When inaugurated in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced getting the nation back on its feet during the Great Depression. His plan: create jobs, protect people’s savings, provide relief for seniors and the sick, and to give a boost to industry and agriculture. He faced stiff opposition from Republicans and some in his own party (who harbored political ambitions of their own or who felt efforts should have gone further). FDR hoped to start all that within his first 100 days and he enacted 13 major laws, including the Emergency Banking Act, which temporarily closed banks so the federal deposit insurance would be in place when they re-opened. As a result, banks regained people’s trust. Within two weeks, half of the money people had hoarded was deposited back into financial institutions.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration spent $500 million for the desperately poor. The Civilian Conservation Corps created 2.5 million jobs with projects like planting trees, addressing soil erosion and fighting forest fires. FDR also signed 99 executive orders. When signing Social Security into law in 1935, FDR called it “a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete.”

In later years Social Security added benefits for the disabled and their families. In 1936, FDR’s Republican opponent for president called Social Security a fraud and a hoax. And he lost in a landslide.

FDR’s people-first stance won him was four presidential elections; he died in office in 1945.