Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Hats off to Liz Cheney for her robust opening statement at today's special House committee to investigate the January 6th Capitol Hill riot, the biggest assault on DC since the War of 1812.

Here’s an excerpt:

“We cannot leave the violence of January 6th—and its causes—uninvestigated. The American people deserve the full and open testimony of every person with knowledge of the planning and preparation for January 6th.

“We must know what happened here at the Capitol. We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White House—every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during, and after the attack.

“Honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward. If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our Constitutional Republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system.

“We will face the threat of more violence in the months to come and another January 6th every four years.”

Cheney spoke powerfully, destroying the Republican effort to re-write the history of January 6th.

The Wyoming Congresswoman exposed the flat-out hypocrisy of her Republican colleagues.

She quoted an unnamed Republican who said during the riot:

“What is happening at the U.S. Capitol right now is unacceptable and un-American. Those participating in lawlessness and violence must be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'"

Those were the words of Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, who has now flipped and is trying to discredit the January 6th probe.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi nixed Banks and Trump lackey Jim Jordan of Ohio for membership on the committee.

That led gutless Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to pull all five of his nominations.

His snit enabled Pelosi to pick Cheney and Republican Adam Kinzinger, who advocates for a full investigation of January 6, for the committee and pitch the panel as bipartisan.

Pelosi simply outplayed McCarthy.

Mercury co-chair Barbara Boxer lives up to her name. She is one tough cookie.

The 80-year old was assaulted and robbed on July 26 while walking to her apartment in Oakland’s Jack London Square neighborhood.

She told the Los Angeles Times a guy jumped out of a car, shoved her on the shoulder, put his arm around her waist, grabbed her cellphone, ran back to his car, and sped off.

“I was standing and shaking and I just said to them, 'Why would you do that to a grandmother? I need to call my grandkids,’” she told the paper.

Boxer noted that though she was pushed hard, she did not fall to the ground.

Mercury clients are lucky to have tough-as-nails Boxer in their corner.

The PR halo earned by the pharmaceutical industry for its masterful performance in developing vaccines for COVID-19 is in serious jeopardy.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Big Pharma is leading the effort to kill the 15 percent global corporate tax agreement ironed out by 130 countries. The 15 percent tax rate is a major priority of the Biden administration.

A New York University analysis of taxes paid by drug companies found that Pfizer paid a 5.8 percent effective tax rate over the past decade. Johnson & Johnson paid a rate of 10.8 percent in 2020.

The drug companies claim those tax breaks help bankroll research that leads to breakthroughs such as the COVID-19 shot.

An all-out effort to thwart the global effort to create a more equitable tax system will squander the PR goodwill earned by Big Pharma for its COVID-19 efforts.