It Just Happened Here

As Trumpist goons stormed the Capitol, I felt a now-familiar mixture of sadness and rage. If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       It Can Happen Here. It Has Happened Here.   Here's Charles P. Pierce on Wednesday's chaos at the Capitol: I can't balance rage and sadness any more. They're mixing in a terrible combination in me, and I'm not sure I can resolve it. I still get a huge charge about working in the Capitol but, at the same time, for the past four years, there's been an undercurrent of anger and cynicism and unreality about that work. Since I began in this racket covering the 1980 presidential campaign, I have watched American conservatism, and the Republican Party that is its primary political vehicle, sliding inevitably toward Wednesday's events. More and more, I'm starting to look back at the Terri Schiavo episode as being vastly more significant than it even seemed at the time. The seeds of a lot of our present misery are now clearly seen: the basic irrationality of the issue, the threats of violence against civilians, threats of violence against federal judges and members of Congress, and all of this in stubborn service to a cause that even their political opponents told them was politically suicidal. I just saw Jeh Johnson draw a parallel between Wednesday's assault on the Capitol and the British invasion of Washington during the War of 1812. That's a good one, too. And the visual of a guy outside the Senate chamber with a Confederate flag standing under a glowering portrait of John C. Calhoun was pretty much on brand, too. And Senator Josh Hawley is going to regret that picture from Wednesday morning in which he is shown outside the Capitol throwing the power-fist up for the protestors. Sadness will have to wait. Rage wins for today. Read More           With Victory in Georgia—and the Senate—It's Time for Democrats to Take the Handbrake Off   What's that? Is something good happening? I'm not sure what to do with my hands. It appears that both the Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock and the not-reverend, not-doctor Jon Ossoff have triumphed in the Georgia Senate runoffs, writes Esquire Politics Editor Jack Holmes. That means the two cartoon plutocrats they were running against, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, will no longer be United States senators, a job they seemed to see as a pipeline for stock tips. But it also means that the Democratic Party will control the Senate along with the House of Representatives through Joe Biden's first two years in the White House. And it also means Mitch McConnell is now the Senate Minority Leader. He has lost his scythe as the Grim Reaper, and will no longer be able to deal death to vital legislation addressing major national problems on the basis that "the donors want it" and "he can." That job will now fall to Joe Manchin. But the time for fantasies of high-minded compromise are over. It's time to embrace the pragmatic transactionalism of Tammany Hall. Read More           The North Face's Denali Jacket Hit Icon Status in '95—And Stayed There Ever Since   Fashion soothsaying is a notoriously tricky business, but when it comes to the fleece's resurgence, we aren't all that surprised. Back in the elementary school days, the coolest damn piece you could own was a fleece jacket, not unlike any of the styles circulating today. The brand du jour behind one of the absolute sickest versions of the silhouette? You guessed it, baby: The North Face. And since time is truly a flat circle (and everything you hated wearing as a kid suddenly looks ludicrously fire right now), it stands to reason if you're trying to log onto your next Zoom call with the confidence of the slickest shithead in your 8th grade class, the brand's Retro '95 Denali is just the jacket for you. Here's why. Read More           The Trick to Nailing Today's Best Waist Bags Is All About How You Wear Them   The waist bag might go by many names, but, in the bard's immortal words, a waist bag by any other name would smell as sweet—or, ah, store your shit as effectively. So call it what you want (though for god's sake, try to refrain from calling it a fanny pack) as long as you wear it the right way. You can, of course, strap it around your midsection like a divorced dad on vacation with his two miserable children. Or you can sling it over your shoulder—or, hell, across your chest—as modern wearers (and more and more runway stylists) are wont to do. It's all your call! Forget the world: the waist is your oyster. But if you want to avoid looking like a plucky middle-aged tourist (not so hot right now) you better make sure you snag yourself a good one. Luckily for you, your concerns are our concerns, and we wouldn't let a single solitary reader of this site, say, wander aimlessly around the Duomo while the locals mock you in rapid-fire Italian and gesticulate wildly at your poor choice of accessories. So with your dignity in mind, here are 14 can't-miss waist bag options to help you sidestep those snickers and finally convince your loved ones—if not the gently condescending docent at the Parthenon—you are, in fact, the cool dad/son/brother you've been telling them about for years. Read More           This Is Happening in America: Photos of a Trumpist Mob Storming the U.S. Capitol   On January 6, 2021, the President of the United States incited his supporters to storm the nation's Capitol Building to disrupt a joint session of Congress tasked with certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. The House and Senate had met to confirm that Donald Trump lost, and that he will leave office on January 20, but the session was disrupted when the protests outside turned to riots and the security perimeter around the national legislature collapsed. It culminated with a standoff between Trump's foot soldiers and state security forces at the door of the House chamber. We have been headed here for some time, and yet it is an abominable day for the American republic, a day of disgrace and disrepute for the Republican Party—but for the rest of us, too. Read More           Make 2021 the Year You Join Our Club—We'll Send You Something (It's a Magazine)   But that's not all you'll get by joining Esquire Select, our new membership program. In addition to an annual print subscription, you'll also get unlimited access to all of Esquire.com—including Politics with Charles P. Pierce and every Esquire story ever published via Esquire Classic. Plus, we'll send you a weekly, subscribers-only email, and give you exclusive access to deals and discounts from our favorite brands. It's just one way your year is sure to be better than the last—we guarantee it. Read More         Read More on Esquire.com       Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019