All of the violence, rioting, and looting that is exploding across the country due to the death of George Floyd is now being blamed on another set of factors that might help explain why things are so intense. According to psychologists and pandemic researchers, things are so bad right now due to everyone being cooped up for months during the coronavirus lockdowns that had taken place across the United States earlier this Spring. Historian John Berry, who has written numerous books on the subject of past pandemics, said, “I do think the pandemic aggravated things.” Here’s more from The Washington Examiner: Tension built up during the lockdowns due to the massive joblessness — especially for those making less than $40,000 a year, African Americans disproportionately getting sick from the virus, and people being shut in the house for months, Berry said. “One can’t understate the role of pandemic in the protests,” said Alec MacGillis, former Baltimore Sun reporter, on Twitter. “For weeks, people have been told to stay home. They’ve had no social contact with large groups, which humans crave. Now, they can.” If you take a look at Minnesota, where the incident with Floyd took place, folks had been social distancing there for almost two full months. There were no bars, no hair salons, or restaurants or movie theaters open during that time. In fact, they weren’t allowed to open until the beginning of June, and even then there are a lot of restrictions still in effect. “No doubt in my mind that the pandemic has eroded people’s capacity to tolerate additional frustration and anxiety,” Dr. Kenneth Eisold, a practicing psychoanalyst, told the Washington Examiner. “I also suspect that the riots reflect an unconscious protest against the lockdown.” Dr. Joe Pierre, a health science clinical professor with UCLA, said…

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has come out and admitted that if he possessed the knowledge he now has, back before signing the FISA warrant for Carter Page, he would never have signed it. Well, you know what they say. Hindsight is 20/20. Everything had a tendency to look clearer when you reflect back on it after the fact. The problem, of course, is that by then it is too late. This is why it is important to operate from a set of well-grounded principles that will guide you when things seem unclear. Just a thought. Here’s more on this from The Washington Examiner: Rosenstein, who also appointed special counsel Robert Mueller while overseeing the Russia investigation after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, testified in a public session with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he was unaware of the serious flaws with the Page FISA process that were uncovered by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. “If you knew then what you know now, would you have signed the warrant application?” Graham asked. Rosenstein replied: “No, I would not.” Graham went on to ask if the reason why he wouldn’t have signed it looking back on it now was because Mr. Horowitz found that exculpatory information was withheld from the court. “Among other reasons, yes sir,” Rosenstein said. The report from Horowitz slammed the Justice Department and the FBI for what it called “17 significant errors and ommissions” related directly to the FISA warrants against Page in 2016 and 2017, along with the bureau’s heavy reliance upon the dossier put together by British spy Christopher Steele, which is also considered to be flawed. Steele was commissioned to put together the package containing his “research” by Fusion GPS, which was funded by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign,…