AUSTRAILIA DAY UPDATES

This Here is the Wattle, It's the Emblem of our Land - You Can Stick It In a Bottle or You Can Hold It In Your Hand - A-MEN!

-We are ending the first week of the second Trump regime, and perhaps the word that best describes most of us is "reeling." The "Shock and Awe" promised is indeed happening, and while much more of it is likely to be delayed if not stopped by various courts and the arrogant ineptitude (accompanied by, yes, endless legal actions) that has always been the signature of any entity Trump has had to actually run, what will fall through the cracks to actually happen is now something we must all sadly stay vigilant about while preserving our sanity and, at long last and finally, fight back against (lest we lay back and become just as much of a reason for a lot of the bad to happen as the MAGAts who voted for Trump and have spent the week in at-least-nearly orgasmic glee at their lib-owning).

-The most immediate threats continue to be towards immigrants. While the massive raids promised by Trump and head anti-immigration thug Tom Homan have not yet happened in major cities, reports of smaller raids in smaller cities have begun. Most notoriously, a raid in Newark, New Jersey resulted in in the detention of a Puerto Rican-born military veteran whose credentials were questioned by ICE agents - agents who, according to witnesses, did not ask for identification from Caucasians in the warehouse, and who Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Sen. Cory Booker claim did not have a proper warrant. There was also an incident in a Chicago grade school in which the principal of the school denied what she said were agents wearing ICE jackets from entering the school - although in this case, the Secret Service stepped in and confusingly claimed they are the ones that were trying to enter the school (as if that was any better).

-That we know raids continue are re-enforced by reports that Mexico and, just moments ago, Columbia, are refusing to allow American jets with deportees aboard to land in their countries and disgorge the deportees. This of course raises the specter of what happens as these raids build and where deportees will go if countries will not receive them, and what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in an after-hours statement in the House, warned are private prisons and camps - many of which are created by companies owned by Congresspeople - and everything that entails.

-THIS JUST IN: CNN reports long-awaited immigration raids in Chicago have begun today, Sunday. Because that is what Jesus would want. In addition, Newark has a fresh set of raids, as well as New York City, Denver, the why-would-Trump-pick-THESE cities of San Francisco and St. Paul, MN, and in what has to be said is The Ultimate Dick Move by The Ultimate Dick, raids going on this afternoon in BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

-Speaking of J.C., this morning on CBS, Vice President J.D. Vance took time from a donut run for Trump and Acting President Elon Musk to hop on and try to do his best Trump threat by attacking the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (and presumably by extension Pope Francis) for daring to state they will and should support immigrants over the likely criminal and definitely cruel Trump actions, claiming that doing so represented some sort of federal cash grab and do not really have the best interests of immigrants at heart ... or ... something ... it's hard when anyone not named Trump tries to sound like Trump with threats, because whatever else you can say about them, They Are Not Trump.

-Feel free to bookmark that last sentence, by the way. Sooner or later that will become important.

-Seeking of doing cruel and likely criminal things, on Friday night - the best time to do really illegal shit - the administration claims to have fired most of the Inspector General in the U.S. Government. These civil servants serve as watchdogs to oversee potential corruption and actually find and prosecute waste, fraud, and abuse - so you can see why Team Trump would rather they not be there (except for one lone IG, who - and you'll NEVER believe this! - is the only IG who, during the first Trump regime, made rulings favoring Trump) (no word on whether that is a relative of "Judge" Aileen "ofTrump" Cannon or not).

-IGs can only be removed by an act of Congress after a 30-day notice thanks to regular protocols and a 2022 law signed by President Biden - but that not only did not stop Team Trump from wielding a scythe from doing so, it was done via one of those Federalist Society/ChatGPT-drafted Project 2025 Special Orders, meaning (for those who still care about such things) there is a CLEAR trail of evidence that goes right into the White House, making the attempt not only hella illegal on its face and proof that Trump wants to treat civil servants like he has always treated contractors in his buildings and construction sites, but quaintly tee him up for a potential record-breaking third impeachment.

-Until then, the IGs have informed the White House that they will properly reject Trump's bluster as being illegitimate and will report to work Monday morning - as legal actions against them are likely being drafted as this update is also being drafted (but I am not doing any of that writing - I am not an attorney and will never try to play one).

-And while all of THAT is going on, another wave of would-be firings took place late last week connected with one of those things MAGAts hate anyone not MAGA for: trying to treat anyone who is not a white Christian cisgendered (presumably) male fairly and humans. Across the Government, directives to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs have been issued, including large-scale layoffs (it is unclear if they included severance packages, although again, see "Trump Treatment of Contractors") and further directives to expose any department who so much as thinks of repackaging DEI programs under other abbreviations or names. It went so far that one report claimed the Air Force edited out a passage about the Tuskegee Airmen that had been a regular part of one of their training videos - and in fact any celebration of Black History Month and Women's History Month and Hispanic History Month are now forbidden, presumably to be replaced by The Month of Adoration of The Mighty Hands and Fingers of Trump, The Glorious Trump Penis Celebration Month, and The Heavenly Aroma of Trump Gastrointestinal Emanations Month. (Maybe. That's just speculation.)

-For those looking at the above, laughing, but still despairing, remember this is all happening in the first week in an effort to not fight back and let Trump just do what he wants - but that fighting back can take place. Witness last Friday afternoon when Trump went to California on the invitation of nobody to "assess" the Los Angeles wildfires and continue to demand the faucet in the American Northwest that literally only exists in Trump's brain goo be turned on to put the fires out. Trump did not invite CA Govenror Gavin Newsom - but Newsom not only met Trump (and a woman claiming to be Melania silently nearby), he eyeballed Trump and turned the Trump-power-handshake thing Trump does against Trump, all while standing straight while Trump's body leaned forward in a manner consistent with people with certain kinds of dementia.

-For further evidence, please remember a ton of what Trump is trying to get away with via executive orders can only be done with any degree of permanence with Congressional approval - and several outlets reported that Trump lackey House Speaker Mike Johnson told him that the soonest the always-fractured House might get to what Trump is calling "one big, beautiful bill" (likely to contain most of the Project 2025 crap) is April. That is due to several special elections that must take place in order for Johnson to try to restore his tenuous three-vote majority before trying to do anything - and also because House Democrats, in stark contrast to their squishy Senate colleagues, are holding firm on giving Johnson zero help in passing debt ceiling or basic budget bills and allowing MAGAts to choke on their horrifically-unpopular policies they are trying to pass as if they actually are.

-And another bit of evidence: based on the most important metric Trump seems to have - television ratings - Trump II would be lucky if it were doing as well as the Arnold Schwarzenegger-hosted APPRENTICE. Ratings for last Monday's inauguration were brutal - according to The Wrap, Trump's ratings not only fell 27% from the Biden inauguration, but 17% from his 2017 inauguration where we know nobody was watching and allowed Sean Spice to become the first on the altar of Self-Humiliation for Trump. Roughly 24.5 million, or roughly 7.2% of America, glanced at the proceedings - which, in contrast, was smaller than the Beyonce halftime show on Netflix, which you could only access with a paid Netflix subscription. Womp womp indeed ...

-And one more bit of evidence on why fighting Trump can work: cracks and tears continue to appear in the now Vivek Ramaswamy-less Government Efficiency commission (IT IS NOT A DEPARTMENT) that is headed by Elon Musk. While Musk is off in Germany telling the far-right Fascist party there that it's time to chill about all that stuff your grandparents told you about how bad Nazis were and that Nazi-ism can make you as cool as Elon (HOO BOY), at home the not-a-Department's lead attorney resigned to join Ramaswamy, who was apparently ousted by Musk for being too annoying (and can you imagine THAT?!).

-Further, Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has been working to physically keep Musk away from Trump, denying access even though the two have offices down the hall from each other in the White House and even though Trump has not yet said anything negative about the guy whose $250M in-kind donation of cyber-misinformation likely drove just enough voters to Trump to win (yes I heard the Trump remark about Musk supposedly changing votes in PA - without more evidence I'm not biting, sorry). The continued reports about everyone but Trump having had it with Apartheid Boy continue to persist - but Apartheid Boy's ever-present threat to write checks and algorithms to go after anyone who crossed him or Trump also linger.

-So as you can see, it's pretty stable and amenable to running a government - and that means telling Congresspeople who are resisting and not voting for Trump appointees thank you, telling Congresspeople who are allegedly Democrats who are to STOP DOING THAT, and to those who say they are fighting but are so verbose in their attacks it makes you go to sleep, to pound them with calls and posts and tell them to sharpen and up their game.

-At least we have the NFC and AFC title games this afternoon to take a little attention off the madness - or at least direct the madness onto phantom calls against Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen’s latest attempt to be the man by beating the man with glory on the line, whether Jayden Daniels will become the first rookie to make it to the Super Bowl as a starter, or if the redemption of Saquon Barkley is achieved (and who will Philadelphia fans boo today - the Puppy Bowl? The sun? Superman? - and why we love them for doing it!). Assuming nothing nuttier breaks, of course, try to enjoy, gather your energy, help people who need it, and let's get going ...

-BUT NOT BEFORE finding out Things That Happened Today!

-EVENTS ON THIS DATE: In 1500, the first European entered Brazil. In 1789, Europeans discovered Australia and thought it would be a great place for a prison colony. In 1962, the Bishop of Buffalo, NY banned Catholics from dancing The Twist. In 1980, the United States voted against attending the Olympics in Soviet-ruled Moscow. In 1986, DAAAAAA (Chicago) BEARS won the Super Bowl. In 1998, President Bill Clinton insisted he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, (Monica) Lewinsky." (Narrator's voice: He had sexual relations with that woman.)

-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: COSI FAN TUTTE (1790), television (1926), the world's largest diamond (1905), India as an independent country (1950), BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (1970), THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (1979), Andrew Lloyd Weber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1988), TONIGHT: FRANZ FERDINAND (2009).

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mary Mapes Dodge, Douglas MacArthur, Sean MacBride, Jimmy Van Heusen, Akio Morita, Paul Newman, Roger Vadim, Gordon Solie, Jules Feiffer, Bob Uecker, Sal Buscema, Harold Lederman, Gary Moeller, Scott Glenn, Angela Davis, Gene Siskel, David Strathairn, Lucinda Williams, Anita Baker, Eddie Van Halen, Wayne Gretzky, Andrew Ridgeley, Jose Mourinho, Susannah Melvoin, Wendy Melvoin, Vince Carter, Sergio Perez, Joseph Quinn, and the Suleman Octuplets.

-REST IN PEACE/REST IN POWER: Edward Jenner, William Wrigley Jr., Edward G. Robinson, Nelson Rockefeller, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Jose Ferrer, Don Budge, Al McGuire, Christian Brando, Abe Vigoda, Barbara Hale, Michel Legrand, Kobe Bryant, and Billy Packer.

-FEED THE WORMS: Mobster Frank Costello, Watergate break-in leader James McCord, and doomed-as-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy entered Earth on this date. Mobster Lucky Luciano bought it on this date.

-Ellen DeGeneres was born on this date. You decide if she gets a Happy Birthday or if she Feeds the Worms.

-ON THIS DATE IN POP CULTURE: The Number One Movie in America on this date ... in 2025, FLIGHT RISK ... in 2015, AMERICAN SNIPER ... in 2005, ARE WE THERE YET? ... in 1995, LEGENDS OF THE FALL ... in 1985, BEVERLY HILLS COP ... and in 1975, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.

-TODAY'S MUSIC INTERLUDE: Rest in Peace to Mike Connors. Theme composed by Lalo Schifrin.