The aftermath...now what?

In the wee hours of this morning, the joint session of Congress reconvened, following an attempted coup 12 hours earlier, to affirm the election of President-elect Joe Biden. The question now is what to do about the current occupant of the White House, who incited a violent insurrection and remains in office for 13 more days. Though he issued a brief statement last night promising an "orderly transition," the statement attempted to justify the coup with continued delusional rants about a stolen election. He is planning to spend the weekend at Camp David, where he reportedly will contemplate whether to pardon himself. Total insanity. —The Wall Street Journal

• — Pelosi's ultimatum. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that if Donald Trump is not removed via the 25th Amendment, the House may move forward with a second impeachment. Other public calls for one or both actions have been issued by House Democrats, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, and the conservative-leaning National Association of Manufacturers. —Associated Press
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• — Death in the U.S. Capitol. Four people died as a result of the storming of the Capitol yesterday. Similar, though fortunately less violent, scenes played out at statehouses across the U.S. Right-wing figures in both media and Congress immediately sought to shift the blame to their favorite target, Antifa, with no evidence. The top House appropriator charged with funding the Capitol Police has vowed to investigate the law enforcement response, or lack thereof, and alluded to firings to come among the force. —Politico
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• — The ex-presidents weigh in. Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter each publicly condemned the mob of rioters who stormed the Capitol—and lawmakers who sought to delegitimize the presidential election results beforehand. "It is a sickening and heartbreaking sight," Bush said in a statement. "This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic—not our democratic republic." —Politico
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• — Running for the hills. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced she is resigning from the Cabinet, citing the "traumatic and entirely avoidable" violence at the Capitol. In resigning, Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, joins others in Trump's orbit who are leaving the administration: Stephanie Grisham, chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump; Sarah Matthews, a deputy press secretary; and Matt Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser. —NPR
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• — Not so social anymore. Two social media giants have taken action against Trump as a result of yesterday's coup attempt. Twitter deleted two tweets and then locked his account for 12 hours starting last night. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the platform has banned Trump from its platforms "indefinitely." The ban will not be lifted before Inauguration Day. —The Verge
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• — High alert until the inauguration. After Pence cleared the way, the National Guard intervened to assist in clearing the Capitol yesterday. The Guard will remain on duty in Washington, D.C., through Jan. 20, when Biden will, blessedly, be inaugurated. Mayor Muriel Bowser has indicated that a curfew will remain in effect in the city until then as well. —The New York Times

WaPo Ed Board: Trump must be removed immediately

"Rules, norms, laws, even the Constitution itself are worth something only if people believe in them. Americans put on their seat belts, follow traffic laws, pay taxes, and vote because of faith in a system—and that faith makes it work. The highest voice in the land incited people to break that faith, not just in tweets, but by inciting them to action. Trump is a menace, and as long as he remains in the White House, the country will be in danger." —The Washington Post

MORE: NYT Ed. Board: Trump is to blame for Capitol attack —The New York Times

Shafer: Pence steps up. Finally

"Mike Pence did the right and sane thing Wednesday when he refused President Donald Trump's demand that he illegally award Electoral College votes to Trump during Congress' certification of Joe Biden's election. As profiles in courage go, it was smaller than the raised-relief portrait on a Cameo ring. Even if Pence had wanted to throw the election to Trump, the ceremonial powers he commands would not have allowed him to do it. But even so, it marked one of the few times in view over the past four years that Pence met Trump craziness with grit rather than servitude." —Jack Shafer in Politico

Jack Shafer is Politico's senior media writer.

MORE: Frida Ghitis: Vice President Pence, remove Trump now —CNN

Flake: Trump has destroyed us

"It is hard to comprehend how so many of my fellow Republicans were able—and are still able—to engage in the fantasy that they had not abruptly abandoned the principles they claimed to believe in. It is also difficult to understand how this betrayal could be driven by deference to the unprincipled, incoherent, and blatantly self-interested politics of Donald Trump, defined as it is by its chaos and boundless dishonesty. The conclusion that I have come to is that they did it for the basest of reasons—sheer survival and rank opportunism." —Jeff Flake in The New York Times

Jeff Flake is a former Republican senator from Arizona and the author of "Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle."

MORE: Republicans meet their monster —The Atlantic

Warzel: America's reality crisis

"There's no easy solution to our current crisis, in part because there's no one culprit. Donald Trump's half-decade assault on the truth has played an outsize role. So have social media platforms and pro-Trump outlets like Fox News. The mainstream press has also struggled, especially earlier in the Trump era, to counter disinformation and not amplify lies and conspiracies. But that's just the supply side of our reality crisis. Equally important is the demand side, in which millions of Americans are actively courting conspiracies and violent, radical ideologies in order to make sense of a world they don't trust." —Charlie Warzel in The New York Times

Charlie Warzel is an opinion writer at large for The New York Times.

MORE: Mass delusion in America —The Atlantic

Collinson: The world fears 13 more days of mayhem

"The appalling scenes horrified an incredulous watching world and recalled the revolts and palace rebellions of unstable banana republics rather than the stately rituals of the supposed last best hope for democracy on Earth. 'This is not America,' Josep Borrell, a top European Union official, said on Twitter. Sadly, and to the contrary, this is the America wrought by the country's most vengeful President whose abominable four years in power have stoked an 'American carnage' more dangerous than the economic blight he decried in an inaugural address delivered nearly four years ago from the same steps overrun by his thugs." —Stephen Collinson on CNN

Stephen Collinson is a CNN political analyst.

MORE: David A. Andelman: The world watches Washington with horror —CNN

Grunstein: American democracy lives

"American democracy has always proven to be resilient. But it will only remain so if there are enough people who believe that, for all its very real flaws and shortcomings, it is worth not only defending, but also improving. The outcome of November's presidential election, as well as the Democratic sweep of Georgia’s Senate runoffs that were also held this week, suggest that is the case. As shocking as yesterday's events were, they should be recognized for what they truly represent: the last, desperate attempt by Trump and his mob, both outside of Congress and within it, to replace reality with fantasy. Words have power. Trump's insurrection failed. American democracy didn't." —Judah Grunstein in World Politics Review

Judah Grunstein is the editor-in-chief of World Politics Review.

In 1964, writer Hunter S. Thompson had just finished a book based on a year spent immersed in the world of the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels. Though he was not really one of their kind, they accepted his presence and for a time he was part of their world. He experienced the comradery of those on the fringe, and witnessed the violence and depravity they were capable of, but considered himself safe from it. That Labor Day weekend he rejoined them for a beach party near Mendocino that ended with him beaten nearly to death. For a few hours this afternoon, as Trump's rally-goers heeded his incitement to "fight like hell" at the US Capitol, I thought maybe he was going to recognize what a dangerous gang he's been riding with. Alas, though he exhorted his insurgents to walk down Pennsylvania Ave saying he'd be with them, he actually went to hide in the White House and lead his troops from the tweetboard.

Even if Trump didn't get it, others certainly did. Donald Jr. sounded near panic trying to dissuade the violent crowd at the Capitol. Republicans who only a few minutes earlier had been arguing to overturn Trump's election loss were on the phone begging him to end the seige. Ted Cruz, Trump's faithful henchman in the Senate, pleaded over Twitter for the rioters to "stop NOW."

Did these Republicans think they could ride along with the MAGA gang and be safe? Did they think that the likes of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and assorted white nationalist thugs were going to take orders from a bunch of suits when fists were flying and tear gas was in the air?  Maybe they did. As four o'clock rolled around and Trump tweeted out a conciliatory video telling the rioters he loved them, I realized that Trump was not the Hunter Thompson of this story, but the Sonny Barger, a founding member of the Hell’s Angels. Unapologetic, unrepentant, a creature of his element. Today was not Mendocino Beach in 1964, but Altamont in 1969, and some parts of the Republican Party are realizing that they, like the Rolling Stones, have made a contract with a gang that they cannot control.

The line has been crossed, and if the party won't cast out the thugs, then it is a party of thugs, and true patriots must forge a new party. The principles are what matter, not the party name. —Mike A., Maryland

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