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In the DOJ's first on-camera response to the Capitol riot, Acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen vowed "no tolerance whatsoever" for any further violence from "wrongdoers" - a move, many observed, that would have been far more reassuring if it hadn't come a week late, at midnight, on YouTube, from a weird guy with pandemic hair who blinked too much while seeming to try to sell us a can opener in a badly filmed hostage video from the 1970s. The consensus: "He inspires absolutely no confidence. Like, at all."

In the Justice Department's first on-camera response to the Capitol riot, Acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen vowed "no tolerance whatsoever" for any violence or other criminal acts at Biden's inauguration from "wrongdoers" who will be held accountable "until justice is done." Rosen's pre-recorded statement - coming as Trump was suspended from the platform and after an earlier briefing featured speakers from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office but nobody from DOJ - was widely considered as bonkers as all the other events of the last week, and many people had questions. Why was it released after midnight, a week after the event, on YouTube? Why were the two cameras not coordinated, and was Camera 2 really manned by Christopher Wray, who will reportedly be making his own statement on Tik Tok once he works out the dance moves? Is this sing-songy weirdness part of the whole coup thing, or is it just the same old well-oiled machine that is the Trump administration at work? Does Rosen look like everybody's 7th grade Social Studies teacher, or just some people's, and how acting is he, like are we talking Meisner Technique or more improv? Why does this look like the worst hostage video EVER by a guy who just got unchained from a radiator in the White House basement? Why does Rosen look like a cartoon villain in a pandemic hairdo, or a 1980s TV salesman trying to sell can openers, or a Just Say No PSA, and what do his blinks spell out in Morse Code? Why doesn't this make me feel any better? Are we in the upside down? The basic consensus: Yes. Given the past week, one observer deemed, the surreal video was, "Perfect. Damn Perfect." Also: "This would be funny, if it wasn't," "Was having trouble sleeping but I think I'm good now," "Make/Acting Attorney Generals/Give Normal Press Conferences/Again," "He inspires absolutely no confidence. Like, at all," and, "This dude is in charge. Everyone will die." Possibly.

Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

In the Justice Department's first on-camera response to the Capitol riot, Acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen vowed "no tolerance whatsoever" for any violence or other criminal acts at Biden's inauguration from "wrongdoers" who will be held accountable "until justice is done." Rosen's pre-recorded statement - coming as Trump was suspended from the platform and after an earlier briefing featured speakers from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office but nobody from DOJ - was widely considered as bonkers as all the other events of the last week, and many people had questions. Why was it released after midnight, a week after the event, on YouTube? Why were the two cameras not coordinated, and was Camera 2 really manned by Christopher Wray, who will reportedly be making his own statement on Tik Tok once he works out the dance moves? Is this sing-songy weirdness part of the whole coup thing, or is it just the same old well-oiled machine that is the Trump administration at work? Does Rosen look like everybody's 7th grade Social Studies teacher, or just some people's, and how acting is he, like are we talking Meisner Technique or more improv? Why does this look like the worst hostage video EVER by a guy who just got unchained from a radiator in the White House basement? Why does Rosen look like a cartoon villain in a pandemic hairdo, or a 1980s TV salesman trying to sell can openers, or a Just Say No PSA, and what do his blinks spell out in Morse Code? Why doesn't this make me feel any better? Are we in the upside down? The basic consensus: Yes. Given the past week, one observer deemed, the surreal video was, "Perfect. Damn Perfect." Also: "This would be funny, if it wasn't," "Was having trouble sleeping but I think I'm good now," "Make/Acting Attorney Generals/Give Normal Press Conferences/Again," "He inspires absolutely no confidence. Like, at all," and, "This dude is in charge. Everyone will die." Possibly.


In the Justice Department's first on-camera response to the Capitol riot, Acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen vowed "no tolerance whatsoever" for any violence or other criminal acts at Biden's inauguration from "wrongdoers" who will be held accountable "until justice is done." Rosen's pre-recorded statement - coming as Trump was suspended from the platform and after an earlier briefing featured speakers from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office but nobody from DOJ - was widely considered as bonkers as all the other events of the last week, and many people had questions. Why was it released after midnight, a week after the event, on YouTube? Why were the two cameras not coordinated, and was Camera 2 really manned by Christopher Wray, who will reportedly be making his own statement on Tik Tok once he works out the dance moves? Is this sing-songy weirdness part of the whole coup thing, or is it just the same old well-oiled machine that is the Trump administration at work? Does Rosen look like everybody's 7th grade Social Studies teacher, or just some people's, and how acting is he, like are we talking Meisner Technique or more improv? Why does this look like the worst hostage video EVER by a guy who just got unchained from a radiator in the White House basement? Why does Rosen look like a cartoon villain in a pandemic hairdo, or a 1980s TV salesman trying to sell can openers, or a Just Say No PSA, and what do his blinks spell out in Morse Code? Why doesn't this make me feel any better? Are we in the upside down? The basic consensus: Yes. Given the past week, one observer deemed, the surreal video was, "Perfect. Damn Perfect." Also: "This would be funny, if it wasn't," "Was having trouble sleeping but I think I'm good now," "Make/Acting Attorney Generals/Give Normal Press Conferences/Again," "He inspires absolutely no confidence. Like, at all," and, "This dude is in charge. Everyone will die." Possibly.
