INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY UPDATES
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
-"We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait. I hate him passionately." As Tucker Carlson attempted for a second night to flog his attempt to rewrite the events of January 6, 2021 (with no video footage last night), a second trove of text messages were released by attorneys representing Dominion Voting Services in their $1.6 BILLION (not counting additional potential personal or punitive fines), among them the above statement sent by Tucker on January 4, 2021. Many other communications were also released with the same clear message: Carlson and other Fox News hosts knew Trump lost the 2020 election, knew Trump's arguments were absurd and ridiculous, knew the people making the arguments were not particularly credible (one, cited by Sidney Powell, literally claims she is walking around the Earth headless and saw the evidence of Trump's win "in a dream") - but continued to flog the "Big Lie" anyway.
-The history rewrite attempt does not seem to be penetrating any new ears. Senate Republicans in particular were openly contemptuous of Carlson's claims, with NC Sen. Thom Tillis going so far as to call them "bullsh*t" - all, that is, except Sen. Josh Hawley, whom Tuckums was trying to rehabilitate the last two nights after a security camera saw him fleeing in a full sprint away from the encroaching mob (and after giving that same mob a fist-up salute heading into the chambers that morning). And of course the UltraMAGA GOP members of the House had nothing but praise for the "reports" which were fed by the handing over of security footage to Tucker "exclusively" by Kevin McCarthy (SINO, CA).
-Meanwhile, in real legislative news, President Biden has begun preparing his 2024 budget in preparation for a series of showdowns with McCarthy and the UltraMAGAts over spending, the debt ceiling, and will do so in full in a speech in Philadelphia tomorrow. Biden's plan includes a surtax on people making over $400k/year to keep Medicare solvent, a pay hike for federal workers of 5.2%, and begin work on deficit reduction exacerbated over the last four years by Ex-President Trump, who single-handedly created 25% of the total federal deficit the country is currently facing. Republicans, in addition to trying to use the debt ceiling as a cudgel against the White House, will undoubtedly prepare variations of the budget plans they have presented for over 40 years: tax cuts for the richest Americans while "reducing the federal budget" and "the size of government" (over that same period, with the exception of 1991-92, only Democratic administrations have reduced federal deficits).
-The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut continues to be the object of numerous potential strategies as Russian forces continue to send waves of soldiers there in an attempt to capture it, many of them contradictory. Even as members of the Wagner Group - Putin's private paramilitary force - continues to beg for ammunition and logistical support to avoid a total loss, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy told CNN that numerous Ukrainian cities would be "exposed" to Russian takeover if they lost the city, thus denying earlier reports that Ukraine would withdraw from the city. And all of those reports come amid other reports that Ukraine is stringing out the fight in Bakhmut in an effort to weaken Russian forces so Ukraine can make a push for Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014.
-The Bakhmut news was somewhat overshadowed by a New York Times report claiming it had intel that claimed Ukrainian forces were responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, a once-vital Russian source of income and European source of fuel. The question of who did that deed has been hotly debated, with everyone from Russian forces to America forces to Aquaman being responsible for the pipeline's demise, and yesterday's report, rather than add clarity, instead became further fodder for various rumor mills.
-Slava Ukraini!
-In closing, Twitter CEO and billionaire weirdo Elon Musk formally apologized on his social media site after a back-and-fort with Halli Thorleifsson, a software developer based in Iceland whose company was purchased by Twitter (but not Musk) who believed he was terminated by the struggling social media company without cause. When confronted, Musk accused Halli of making up demands that Halli be given special accomodations - only to have Halli discuss his story of being wheelchair-bound and suffering from Muscular Dystrophy, with an accompanying photo. Halli is an interesting dude worth looking up (he is a hero in Iceland!), Musk ... is ... not.
-On this date in 1917, the Russian Revolution that led to the end of the Romanoff reign began. On this date in 1971, Muhammad Ali returned to the ring after a three-year absence (over his Vietnam War stance) and suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Joe Frazier. On this date in 1993, BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD premiered on MTV. And on this date in 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight 370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members, veered off course in flight near Kuala Lampur and has never been seen or heard from ever.
-Happy Birthday to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Alan Hale Jr., Cyd Charisse, Ron Taylor, Jim Bouton, Susan Clark, Dick Allen, Lynn Redgrave, Micky Dolenz, Randy Meisner, Carole Bayer Sager, Jim Rice, John Kapelos, Gary Numan, Aidan Quinn, Lester Holt, Camryn Manheim, Shaun Gayle, Kenny Smith, Shawn Mullins, Freddie Prinze Jr., James Van Der Beek, and Kat Von D.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Hector Berlioz, Millard Filmore (his immortal last words: "The nourishment is palatable"), Ferdinand von Zeppelin, William Howard Taft, Sherwood Anderson, Harold Lloyd Sr., George Stevens, Billy Eckstine, Ray Nitschke, Joe DiMaggio, Peggy Cass, George Martin, and Max Von Sydow.