"JUST DO IT" DAY UPDATES

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-You would have thought by the speeches after yesterday’s New Hampshire Primary that the candidate who did not win on the GOP side, Nikki Haley, actually did win, at least from the tone of the guy who did get the most votes (albeit with only an 11% victory margin, which was an underperformance by him and well below polling that anticipated anywhere from a 15%-25%+ win) – but then, we are talking about Ex-President Trump XCI, and in what was supposed to be a victory speech it instead turned into a typical carnival of shameless projection, outright lies, and public bringing to heel of anyone he deems not puckering up enough to kiss his presumably bronzed heinie.

-Trump lamented how Haley “denied!” the fact that she was in second place and would not admit that she lost. Really. Seriously. Trump DID say that (and was supported by known professional liar Kellyanne Conway, who went so far as to literally call Haley an “election denier.”), and also for good measure insulted her dress, sparked a chant of “Birdbrain” from his followers, and ended with a mob-by threat to investigate her for … things she did … if she did not bend her knee.

-And to be honest, there are several red flags in the NH results for Trump – starting with that margin of victory, noticeably smaller than the 20% margin in 2016, moving on to the independent vote that Haley won handily, and especially the exit polling that revealed over 40% of Haley voters were likely to vote for Biden. All of them may raise concerns for people in the campaign not named Donald John Trump.

-In any event, back to his spewing, Trump turned to one of his on-stage props, SC Senator Tim Scott, and claimed Haley “must!” “hate” Scott for Scott endorsing Trump. Scott showed off his skills at being a lackey by instead grinning at Trump and exclaiming “I just love YOU!” before attempting to hug Trump in between the Trump stink. (We should also ‘congratulate’ Scott at his ‘engagement’ over the weekend, but his fiancé just moved back to Canada so we can’t.)

-Trump also tried to upstage President Biden’s showing (Biden won by over 50% by organizing a write-in campaign within the last two weeks for the Democratic primary) by claiming Trump “won New Hampshire three times!” In reality, Trump has only run for President twice – and both times, Trump lost to Biden (in 2020) and Hillary Clinton (in 2016).

-Was Trump confused? Well, it’s hard to say confusion may be the best thing you can call Trump given his speech he delivered on Monday, in which Trump continued to make people wonder what he was talking about when he delivered the following statement: “We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.” The campaigns move to South Carolina, Haley’s home where she is far behind Trump in polling there.

-Biden, for his part, campaigned in VA yesterday with Vice President Harris and delivered a speech reiterating Trump’s pride in supporting Roe v. Wade and the GOP/UltraMAGA desire to ban abortion and birth control nationally. The speech was interrupted numerous times by a group of protestors angry at Biden’s support of Israel in their war against HAMAS in Palestine – legitimate protests to be sure, but going too far by chanting the vile “Genocide Joe” at Biden, a slur favored by leftist extremists apparently hopeful getting someone in power that would get at least emotional pleasure out of bombing Gaza into glass.

-The Biden administration, for their part, continue to try to get Israel to move towards a two-state solution – a solution not likely as long as Benjamin Netanyahu is Prime Minister, as he has instead endorsed an Israeli occupation rather than bend towards co-habitation. (And truth be told, HAMAS has also eschewed a two-state solution.) Fighting has somewhat toned down, but the humanitarian crisis in occupied Palestine continues.

-And in the other armed conflict, Ukrainian military sources claim they are ‘investigating’ an incident where a Russian military plane reportedly carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war being transported to a prisoner swap crashed, killing all 79 on board. Russia claims the plane was shot down.

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-As yesterday’s Academy Award nominations are sorted out amid some genuinely awesome news, including the nomination of the first Native American actress (Lily Gladstone for KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON) and the first-ever nomination for a Godzilla movie (Best Visual Effects for GODZILLA MINUS ONE), the news continues to center around BARBIE and the failure of the Academy to nominate Greta Gerwig for Direction or Margot Robbie for Best Actress – while still nominating Ryan Gosling for his performance as Ken. Many wits and critics noted that the entire scenario is a literalization of the plot of the movie itself, and Gosling himself released a statement expressing his disappointment, adding “BARBIE does not exist” without Gerwig or Robbie. It should be noted that Gerwig has been nominated for the screenplay (with co-writer and partner Rian Johnson) and the two are co-producers on the Best Picture nod.

-We end with BREAKING NEWS: Jon Stewart will rebound from his sudden cancellation of his series on Apple by returning to THE DAILY SHOW, taking a page from Rachel Maddow by becoming Executive Producer of the show (hostless since Trevor Noah’s exit last year and the apparent scuttling due to controversy of reported host favorite Hasan Minhaj) and by returning behind the host desk once a week through at least this year’s election season. Stewart’s first re-appearance will be February 12.

-On this date in 1848, gold was first found in them thar California hills. On this date in 1935, Kruger Beer out of Virginia became the first beer to be sold in cans. On this date in 1956, the murderers of Emmett Till admitted their crime after their acquittal in a story published by Look magazine. And on this date in 2006, Disney purchased Pixar.

-Notable debuts: the first Boy Scout troop (1908), THE GRAPES OF WRATH (movie, 1940), the Apple Macintosh computer (1984), the Department of Homeland Security (2003), Adele’s 21 (2011).

-Happy Birthday to Edith Wharton, Estelle Winwood, Jean Yawkey, Jack Brickhouse, Walter Haas Jr., Ernest Borgnine, Doug Kershaw, Robert Downey Sr., Bobby Beathard, Ray Stevens, Aaron Neville, Neil Diamond, Sharon Tate, Klaus Nomi, John Garamendi, Michael Ontkean, Warren Zevon, Michael Des Barres, John Belushi, Yakov Smirnoff, Adrian Edmonson, Jools Holland, Nastassja Kinski, Rob Dibble, Mary Lou Retton, Matthew Lilliard, Ed Helms, Tatanya Ali, Mischa Barton, Sean McVay, and Luis Suarez.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Winston Churchill, Bill W., Larry Fine, George Cukor, Gordon McRae, Thurgood Marshall, Chris Penn, Randy Salerno, Pernell Roberts, James Farentino, Joe Franklin, Butch Trucks, and Lance Kerwin.

-Feed the Worms: Contra arms supplier Elliott Abrams entered Earth on this date. The Emperor Caligula, horrid writer turned worse quasi-religious figure L. Ron Hubbard, and mass murderer Ted Bundy both bought it on this date.

-Televangelist Oral Roberts was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.