LAKE SUPERIOR DAY UPDATES
Celebrating The Day The Lake Became ... Superior?
-Is it early? It is. Can things change? Of course. Have crazier things happened? You betcha! Having said all of that, the Presidential campaign of FL Governor Ron DeSantis appears to be in even worse shape than it has appeared this week - which was already pretty bad ...
-Last night, DeSantis fired about a dozen campaign staffers in one of those moves floundering campaigns make to "shake things up" and try to change what is usually a downward slide. And DeSantis continues to slide - not only is his polling so bad in Iowa he didn't appear at an evangelical meeting among a group of voters that did not Twice-Indicted (so far) Ex-President (TIsoEP) Trump in 2020 (much less 2024), Chris Christie is all but caught up to him in New Hampshire as well. More dangerously, NBC reports DeSantis may already be in a cash crunch despite raising over $20 million so far - he is spending freely, most of his donors have maxed out on what they can donate to him directly, he is not gaining new donors, and other GOP leaders are now backing away from him because of all of the above.
-The main issue, however, appears to be the DeSantis strategy of wanting to Trump harder than Trump, what with all the hatred towards teachers and the trans community and Disney and all that. Simply put, when given the choice between Trump and Trump-ish with lots of whine, GOP voters still appear to want the real stuff, and it has left what was supposed to be the GOP establishment's not-Trump looking like an also-ran before even the first debate.
-As for Trump, well, his "campaign" continues whether we want it to or not. He appeared yesterday at a Turning Point Action conference (whatever that is) promising to bring back his travel ban, creating a commission to investigate why kids are getting fat (no word on whether he will investigate his weight gains), again claiming falsely that he built the wall in Mexico (a direct response to Christie), continuing to assert the Ukraine war would not have happened under his watch because of his relationship with someone named "vladimor" (SLAVA UKRAINI!), and continuing to insist that each indictment from "radical left Democrats" is "a badge of honor" because "I am being indicted for you" ("you" being "all of you who took classified documents without authorization and didn't return them like Clinton, who hid all his documents in a "socks" drawer”, presumably).
-That last bit about the documents was interesting given a Truth Social post in which he asked why Biden is not getting prosecuted like Trump is (because documents Biden had in his possession after his Vice Presidency were returned immediately and was followed by full cooperation to double-check to see if he had any others), but in so doing wrote that Biden has "20 times more documents than I have ...." Note, if you will, that phrase - and that it was written in present tense. The fact that the entire post was deleted (only it wasn't, because the internet!) only makes the post all the more curious, and observers note that it could be yet another admission Special Prosecutor Jack Smith may put in his hopper.
-There's stuff to be said about that as well, but I need something to post tomorrow, so y'all will have to wait!
-Fear not, though, because we still have one more story on the 2024 campaign beat, and it is a beaut (if by "beaut" you mean "vile"). It involves UltraMAGA's favorite Democrat, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who fresh off a somewhat hysterical fundraising meeting that featured two old men literally screaming and farting at each other (see my previous update), decided he needed more attention for himself and that any attention is good attention ... so, at an appearance over the weekend, Kennedy took his vaccination denialism and penchant to accept conspiracy theories to a sickening new low by saying that it was his belief that "there's an argument that (the COVID-19 virus) is ethnically targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people" ... and furthermore, "The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese." Needless to say, Jewish organizations demanded a retraction (not to mention that the Chinese population was hardly immune from the virus) - and so far, Kennedy's only 'defense' is that the statement was supposed to be off the record (even though it is on video and the event organizer says it was not).
-You will get a chance to hear more from RFK Jr. this Thursday, as he is scheduled to testify before the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government chaired by UltraMAGAt Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan. Getcha Pepto ready ...
-With that, we'll wrap what turned into a mostly 2024 Not-Democratic Presidential Update with the usual commemorations ...
-On this date in 1935, the first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, OK. On this date in 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated in Almogordo, NM (there's a little movie about it coming out this Friday, in case you haven't heard). On this date in 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off to the moon. On this date in 1973, Alexander Butterfield stunned the country at the Watergate hearings by revealing the existence of a secret audio recording system in the Oval Office. On this date in 1979, Saddam Hussain became President of Iraq. On this date in 1995, Amazon went online. On this date in 2004, Millennium Park opened in Chicago. And on this date in 2017, Jodie Whittaker was cast as the first female Doctor Who.
-Happy Birthday to Ida B. Wells, Roald Amundsen, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Fritz Mahler, Barbara Stanwyck, Orville Redenbacher, Ginger Rogers, Barnard Hughes, Bess Myerson, Max McGee, George Perles, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Johnson, Rep. Barbara Lee, Pinchas Zukerman, Ruben Blades, Stewart Copeland, Tony Kushner, Michael Flatley, Phoebe Cates, Miguel Indurain, Will Ferrell, Barry Sanders, Rain Pryor, Corey Feldman, Ed Kowalczyk, Tim Ryan, Bobby Lashley, and Gareth Bale.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Thomas Kyd, Mary Todd Lincoln, Harry Chapin, Heinrich Boll, Frank Rizzo, Gorgeous George, Juan Manuel Fangio, John Panozzo, John F. Kennedy Jr., Celia Cruz, Johnny Winter, Alan Vega, Nate Thurmond, George A. Romero, John Paul Stevens, Pat Bowlen, and Biz Markie.
-Grand Slam champion and racist homophobe Margaret Smith Court was born on this date. You decide if she gets a Happy Birthday or if she Feeds the Worms.