Our picks: Democracy watchHow MAGA Extremism Ends | Time for Consequences | 3 Terrifying Plots to Overthrow Government, and more

How MAGA Extremism Ends (Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic)
If Trump keeps losing, the risk of future violence will abate.

House Democrats Briefed on 3 Terrifying Plots to Overthrow Government (Matt Fuller, HuffPost)
One plot includes surrounding the Capitol and murdering Democrats to allow Republicans to take control of the government.

Extremists Intensify Calls for Violence Ahead of Inauguration Day(Rob Kuznia, Curt Devine, Scott Bronstein and Bob Ortega, CNN)
In the weeks, days and hours ahead of Wednesday’s siege on the Capitol by President Donald Trump’s zealous supporters, the warning signs were clear: online posts from hate groups and right-wing provocateurs agitating for civil war, the deaths of top lawmakers and attacks on law enforcement.
And now, as the dust settles and the country struggles to make sense of the violence that left five dead — including an officer with the US Capitol Police — experts warn that the calls for violence have only intensified ahead of Inauguration Day, when President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as commander in chief.

The Capitol Riot Shows the Growing Danger of Right-Wing Extremism (Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune)
In 2009, Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security published a report on the rising danger posed by right-wing extremists. The Great Recession, the authors warned, “could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities.”
Maybe they were onto something. But a lot of people didn’t want to hear it.

Canadian Proud Boys in “Panic” as Platforms Go Offline and Government Talks of Terror Listing (Stewart Bell, Global News)
The bulk of the online platforms used by the Canadian branches of the Proud Boys were gone on Monday, as the group faced mounting pressure in the wake of last week’s violence in the U.S. capital.
The Proud Boys Canada page, as well as those of the Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and three other regional chapters, were all on the social media platform Parler, which went offline.
The Edmonton Proud Boys website, which is used for recruitment, also went down over the weekend but then resurfaced Monday afternoon.
“There’s definitely a sense of panic,” said Elizabeth Simons, deputy director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

Social-Media Watchdogs Detect Signs of Ongoing Extremist Threat (David Uberti, Wall Street Journal)
Warnings come as National Guard boosts Washington presence to at least 10,000

Harvard Removes Republican Elise Stefanik from Advisory Committee (Stephanie Murray, Politico)
The Harvard Institute of Politics removed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) from its Senior Advisory Committee in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, pointing to her unfounded claims of voter fraud in the November election.
“Elise has made public assertions about voter fraud in November’s presidential election that have no basis in evidence, and she has made public statements about court actions related to the election that are incorrect,” Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf wrote in a letter released Tuesday. “Moreover, these assertions and statements do not reflect policy disagreements but bear on the foundations of the electoral process through which this country’s leaders are chosen.”
The school initially asked Stefanik to step aside, according to Elmendorf. When the New York lawmaker declined, the school removed her. Stefanik was among the 147 House Republicans who voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Time for Consequences (James Fallows, The Atlantic)
President-elect Joe Biden must look forward—but the rest of us must contend with the past.

Twitter, in Widening Crackdown, Removes Over 70,000 QAnon Accounts (Kate Conger, New York Times)
The actions followed the barring of President Trump from the service last week, as Twitter has moved to distance itself from violent content.