BIG BANG DAY UPDATES
As We Wait For A Big Bang of a Totally Different Kind
-Is this the day? Chances are, actually, no - the NY Grand Jury contemplating issuing charges against Ex-President Trump in connection with payoffs made to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 Presidential election next meets tomorrow. Nonetheless, because Trump himself (with no inside information) claimed over the weekend today would be the day, NYC police have erected barricades and have informed all officers to be at the ready starting early this morning should/whenever the announcements be made.
-The expectation that tomorrow will be the day was accentuated after Trump's rebuttal witness, attorney Robert Costello, did not trigger a further response from the person believed to be the object of Costello's testimony, Michael Cohen, who stayed on standby for two hours but was told he was not needed by NYC prosecutors. So, the world waits ...
-Meanwhile, another one of Trump's attorneys, the looks-exactly-like-a-Trump-attorney-looks Joe Tacopina, got himself into a little weirdness yesterday. You see, Tacopina is now attacking Daniels and claiming Trump is innocent because Daniels was blackmailing him - except journalists found a 2018 appearance Tacopina made on CNN in which he essentially DEFENDED Daniels and described the circumstances surrounding Cohen's payoff (in which Cohen took a home equity loan out and paid back the loan from a check cut to him from Trump after Daniels approached the National Enquirer about the story) (the story was going to be released in 2016, the three-minute-stand occurred in 2006) (the Enquirer and their owner, Trump crony and perfectly-named David Pecker, had paid off a different Trump mistress earlier in the election cycle and told Trump to "take care" of Daniels himself) (there will be a test), declaring that the entire circumstance was 'likely' fraud and Trump was guilty. It is unknown whether Tacopina told Trump about what would normally be a conflict of interest if ethics were being paid attention to ...
-And while all of THAT was going on, UltraMAGA Trump House allies Reps. Jim "Gym" Jordan (OtheR Way, OH), James Comer (HunteR!, KY) and Bryan Stiel (R, WI) issued a letter to Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg demanding he appear before their Oversight Committee with a slew of documents, calling Bragg's entire prosecution political and claiming that as a former President and current candidate, nobody should DARE interfere with Trump with an arrest and criminal prosecution! In reality, elected officials are indicted for felonies every day (ask us here in Chicago about that!), and since the House has zero jurisdiction over local prosecutions as the one in NYC is, there is some talk that the letter and request could be interpreted as an attempt to obstruct justice.
-AND, as if all of THAT wasn't enough, there is also a new lawsuit filed yesterday by a Fox News producer in connection with the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against that network and a slew of other Fox News hosts. The producer alleges, in essence, that Fox officials are trying to frame Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo for the entire incident, documenting a culture of misogyny that goes back to the days of Roger Ailes and Bill "Loofah" O'Reilly.
-Dang.
-In a little bit of other news ... President Biden issued the first veto of his Presidency yesterday, killing a bill forbidding the Federal government from using screeners such as environmental impacts, diversity and gender inclusion - aka "woke" (what else?) - factors in investing monies in various funds. Given the 50/50 split in Congress and its severe polarization, the bill will not be overturned.
-As Chinese Ruler Xi continues his meeting with Russian Ruler Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met yesterday with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida in a surprise visit (Slava Ukraini!).
-Tonight, the World Baseball Classic will pit Japan - the favorite - against the United States - the defending champion - in a one-game winner-take-all game that has taken the event to unprecedented popularity, even here in the U.S. Last night, Japan came from behind in the 9th to beat Mexico 6-5 in an intense game, so if you're just a bit impatient to the start of the Major League Baseball season (next Thursday, March 30!), go find the game and enjoy!
-On this date in 1952, the Moondog Coronation Ball was hosted by DJ Alan Freed in Cleveland - now recognized as the first rock concert. On this date in 1963, Alcatraz Prison was closed. On this date in 1965, the march from Selma to Montgomery, AL began. On this date in 1973, John Dean warned Richard Nixon that the Watergate scandal was quickly becoming "a cancer on the Presidency." And, two big events on this date in 1980: Jimmy Carter announcing the U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the shooting of J.R. Ewing on the TV show DALLAS, triggering one of the medium's greatest cliff-hangers.
-Happy Birthday to Modest Mussorgsky, Albert Kahn, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Forrest Mars Sr., Russ Meyer, Peter Brook, Tom Flores, Solomon Burke, David Lindley, Rosemary Stone, Timothy Dalton, Eddie Money, Slavoj Zizek, Roger Hodgson, Brad Hall, Gary Oldman, Slim Jim Phantom, Matthew Broderick, Rosie O'Donnell, and Ronaldinho.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Pocahontas, Spider Sabich, Michael Redgrave, Robert Preston, Leo Fender, John Ireland, Dack Rambo, Macdonald Carey, Bobby Short, Pinetop Perkins, Chuck Bednarik, Chuck Barris, and Martin McGuiness.
-Feed the Worms: Putin flunky Sergey Lavrov and Brazilian Trump wannabe Jair Bolsonaro entered Earth on this date.