INTERNATIONAL MOTHER EARTH DAY UPDATES
She Is Pregnant for the Third Time - For Y'all have Knocked Her Up ...
-As this update is assembled, opening statements are in process in the first criminal trial of Ex-President Trump (R-apist) LXXXVIII. In their opening, prosecutors for Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg laid out what they see as happened: in 2016, Trump, through former attorney Michael Cohen, agreed to “catch and kill” porn star Stormy Daniels exposing the sexual affair she and Trump had in 2008 by paying her $130,000 and disguising the payment via Cohen using monies that came from Trump personal funds to reimburse Cohen – and two of the payments were made from Trump’s personal checking account in 2017 after Trump became President.
-Trump attorney Todd Blanche started his opening statement thusly: “PRESIDENT Trump is innocent. PRESIDENT Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office should never have brought this case …. (PRESIDENT) Trump is cloaked in innocence!” In short, the defense will echo Trump’s social media posts, attack the credibility of the witnesses (particularly Cohen), deny that he and Stormy Daniels ever fked (which could be technically true given how tiny his manhood reportedly is), argued that “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election – it's called ‘an election,’” (that statement was objected to and sustained by the prosecution) and, contrary to the rest of the court, will continually call their defendant “PRESIDENT Trump.”
-While today’s day will be cut short by a dental procedure for an alternate juror, the first prosecution witness has been called - and that is former National Enquirer publisher and way-too-on-the-nose named David Pecker, who will likely testify to Trump and Pecker working together over a number of years to “catch and kill” a number of stories involving Trump affairs with women who were not his wife that weren’t published or pushed by Trump himself. The testimony is both setting the table for the events of this crime (Pecker’s refusal to pay the $130,000 after Trump stiffed him on a different story was the reason for the Stormy Daniels scheme – ALLEGEDLY for the moment) and designed to inoculate Cohen, who has admitted to committing perjury on a different court trial connected to this case (though Cohen claims he did so to protect Trump).
-TRUMP TRIAL WATCH: Among the reporters attending today’s settings: Rachel Maddow! And among those not in attendance – as has been true of every single Trump court appearance since Trump left the White House – not one single member of Trump’s family. None of the kids, none of the in-laws, certainly not Melania (although she is apparently doing some election appearances and selling a gold-plated necklace for $245 a pop) … nobody is there at Trump’s side. (Huh.)
-TRUMP NAP WATCH: During jury instructions, Trump did reportedly doze off noticeably enough to have to disturb him and have Blache slip him a note.
-TRUMP FART WATCH: No report thus far about noxious gases emanating from Trump at this time.
-At the same time these opening statements are being made, a second hearing is taking place regarding the $175M bond Trump must post in order for him to appeal the $454M penalty he must pay in connection with the fraud case involving The Trump Organization. The issue is whether the California bond company can cover that amount – and THIS JUST IN: an agreement has been reached involving a Schwab account that will be used to post the bond that the state of New York will accept – meaning that the bond must be in cash and Trump must have no control over the cash.
-While all that is going on, a different set of Trump defendants are preparing to go before Trump BFF Judge Aileen Cannon tomorrow, that involving motions connected to the classified documents theft … and while THAT is going on, this Thursday Trump will have his I-am-a-God-that-can-do-no-wrong immunity claim before the Supreme Court.
-Not shockingly, Trump’s cash reserves are reportedly being depleted because of all the legal fees he is shelling out, putting focus on the Republican Party fundraising and their open commitment to give Trump help in those legal fees first and foremost.
-MEANwhile …
-Israel Intelligence Minister Aharon Haliva resigned today over his failure to properly warn or stop the October 7, 2023 HAMAS terrorist attack in Israel. Haliva becomes the first government official to resign as a result of the attacks, and comes amid continued and sustained pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu over both allowing the terrorist attacks to occur and the violent response against all Palestinians in Gaza, killing thousands, creating a humanitarian crisis there, and sparking both worldwide condemnation of Israel and, horrifically, waves of antisemitism as well in Europe and the United States.
-The latest area where all the anger of all sides are meeting in one place in the United States is at Columbia University in New York. There, a peaceful protest by students demanding withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to American support of the Israeli military was met with police dragging protestors off campus and switching the final sessions of the Spring semester to an online modality. This was done on the orders of Columbia University President Minouche Shavik, who last week testified before the House Education Committee under the gavel of UltraMAGA Grandma, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NAAAAAOOOO!, NC), who framed the student protest as both anti-Israel and, by implication, pro-HAMAS. Shavik has come under attack from virtually every side – students angry at the protest arrests, the NYPD who admit the protests were not violent, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) for Shavik’s apparent squashing of student protest, and MAGA for not coming to heel as they wanted her to.
-While there was no such indication that was the case with the student protests, a video depicting protestors that did seem to be pro-HAMAS that was at least near where the students were sleeping got to the White House, who issued a condemnation of the video “call(ing) for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students,” adding yet another layer of at best misinformation and at worst deliberate manipulation of the case to drive wedges into blocs of voters.
-In short, what a mess …
-There is a LOT of news coming this week with all these darn court trials, so we’ll wrap early. If I can, I will work to create summaries of the trial – and may be able to do so in a couple of weeks when my semesters end (I teach at two Chicago universities, and finals week are very close!). No promises (especially since they are not being broadcast), but I’m’a gonna try! BUT …
-We close with Labor News – CONGRATULATIONS to the United Auto Workers, who completed an organizing effort in a Volkswagen assembling plant in the savagely anti-union state of Tennessee, which voted 73%-27% to organize that plant and begin negotiations on their first collective bargaining agreement! And, CONGRATULATIONS to unionized writers for Sesame Street, who announced a tentative agreement on a collective bargaining agreement to avert a strike at the beloved children’s show!
-Can you say “SOLIDARITY?!” I know you can!!
-On this date in 1889, what became known as the Oklahoma Territory was opened for settlement of white people. On this date in 1945, Adolph Hitler admitted he had lost World War II. On this date in 1976, Barbara Walters became the first woman to anchor a nightly network news show (on ABC). On this date in 2016, the Paris Agreement was signed to fight to reduce greenhouse gases to stop continued climate change.
-Notable debuts on this date: “In God We Trust” on American coins (1864), the National League (Baseball) (1876), SWAN LAKE (1876), chlorine gas as a weapon (1915), the McCarthy Army hearings (1954), The Blues Brothers (1978), the Holocaust Museum (1993).
-Happy Birthday to Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Nabokov, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Eddie Albert, Charles Mingus, Aaron Spelling, Bettie Page, Charlotte Rae, Glen Campbell, Jack Nicholson, Jason Miller, Louise Gluck, Steve Fossett, John Waters, Spencer Haywood, Peter Frampton, Paul Carrack, Joseph Bottoms, Arthur Baker, Terry Francona, Ryan Stiles, Byron Allen, Jeff Hostetler, Chris Makepeace, Sherri Shepherd, Sheryl Lee, Ken Dorsey, Kaka, and Marshawn Lynch.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Miguel de Cervantes, Henry Royce, Will Geer, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Ansel Adams, Cesar Chavez, Erma Bombeck, Pat Tillman, Paul Davis, Richie Havens, Erin Moran, Shirley Knight, Guy Lafleur, and Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage).
-Feed the Worms: Vladimir Lenin entered Earth on this date. Richard M. Nixon bought it on this date.
-Amber Heard and Machine Gun Kelly were born on this date. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.