LUMPY RUG DAY UPDATES
Yes, I Saw The Meme Of The Large Dog Laying Down With Rug Swatches On Him. Adorbs!
-So how well is Ex-President Trump (R-apist) LXXXVIII's New York City campaign interference trial involving catching and killing the Stormy Daniels sexual encounter going? So well that a social media post from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen in which he refers to the former President by the name "VonShitzHisPants" was read into the record of the trial (and subsequently by Jake Tapper of CNN) - specifically in yet another hearing involving Trump breaking his gag orders.
-By most accounts, the case being painted by Alvin Bragg and his prosecutors are painting a damning picture in which every person involved in the Daniels scheme was acutely aware of its illegality and the need to hide it to try to prevent future prosecution (unless Trump pardoned them, of course). Trump attorney Todd Blanche is also coming under increasing criticism for what observers are noting are lines of questions and attacks that do not serve the legal goal of finding a way to cast doubt on the scheme and more in the service of demands from Trump to be "aggressive" and "attacking" and trying to go after Judge Juan Merchan rather than follow the law (though attorneys are obliged to follow the orders of their clients). Rumors that Trump is not happy with his attorneys is unsurprising given Trump's tendency to run through them, but stories that Blanche would be replaced are false because New York law basically ties attorneys to clients once trials start, with only the judge being able to replace them under extreme circumstances - and no, "representing Trump" does not yet fall into that category.
-Testimony continues today, with the anticipation Daniels herself may be close to testifying - something that might keep Trump awake in between his farting. Trump himself is now claiming that Judge Merchan's gag order is preventing him from testifying in the trial, and ... uh ... no. Utter nonsense. Total claptrap. Full Trump BS. (And THIS JUST IN: Judge Merchan told him the same thing in court moments ago.)
-In an effort to apparently salve Trump's ego because he is not getting any followers to rally for him in front of the courtroom, the Trump campaign (and possible defense team) have resorted to staged events meant to bolster his fragile ego. Such was the case earlier in the week when Trump gingerly carried pizzas into a local fire house to show how much he supports what he posted as "the NYFD" - only to have to take the posts down after being savaged for calling the Fire Department of New York (FYND) "the NYFD," and noting how someone who allegedly grew up in and had most of his businesses in New York City would screw that up.
-All of this is amusing - and Trump is clearly very, VERY touchy about being mocked (which is why it must be done every chance you get) - but reactions are also coming in for Trump's TIME Magazine interview this week where he openly and freely advocates for turning the Presidency into a full Fascist state, right down to again challenging and fomenting violence (as he did in 2020 and, if you remember, 2016) if he does not win in 2024.
-It also, as reporter Aaron Rupar notes, an example of just how utterly stupid Trump is, noting that the interview showed absolutely no knowledge or understanding of any of the issues he was asked about, resorting to loops of catch phrases and buzz words which are also on display in any of his campaign appearances (and even the pre- and post-court press gaggles - notice how many times he will repeat a handful of phrases even if the phrases have nothing to do with the question asked or even the location he is in.) Nonetheless, there is not only no attempt by Trump or his team to hide his intentions - they increasingly are being placed front and center of his 'campaign.'
-A 'campaign' that will culminate or begin or hit its depths, depending on your viewpoint, in Milwaukee this July during the Republican National Convention, which the newsletter Semafor reports will have as its catchy and sophisticated theme "Donald Trump," and will likely be a live repeat of the virtual convention Trump held in 2020 while using the White House and the strafed Rose Garden (thanks, Melania ... grrr ...) as a backdrop to feed Trump's ego and show off a glimpse of what a Trump term could look like.
-That leaves President Biden, who increasingly is looking at a wedge being driven between a number of constituencies that were fully committed to his election in 2020: younger voters, Jewish voters, and Muslim voters. The spreading protests demanding Biden end American military support for Israel to end Israel's vicious attacks in Palestine in the name of ending HAMAS - a war that some reports are admitting are not fulfilling the stated goal of ending HAMAS but has triggered a massive and ongoing humanitarian crisis.
-A number of the protests have led to damage on some college campuses, full-on clashes in others, outside agitators reported in multiple clashes - often by student reporters and school newspapers - and on Wednesday, led to a rare and mortifying moment of unity on the UCLA campus where encamped students and outside protestors both chanted "FUCK JOE BIDEN!" as if Biden were in control of the Israeli military or could remove Benjamin Netanyahu.
-Republicans who have been scrambling to find effective lines of political attack on Biden in the wake of Biden's State of the Union address retiring (at least for a few months) the BIDEN B OLD line and the continued relative strength of the economy (the inflation numbers remaining annoyingly high), have begun trying to further exploit the campus protests, running ads in battleground states attempting to link Biden's student loan debt relief plans to the unrest on campuses, flat-out stating that the rioters are a result of "YOUR TAX DOLLARS." Biden has come out asking for peaceful protest, and Biden-led negotiations attempting to broker a cease-fire and hostage/prisoner exchange continue, but there is no question these protests - especially if they continue through the summer and in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention in August - continue and/or escalate.
-In Sportsball News, the NBA playoffs and will already have a vastly different look to them than they have in the last 20 years, as three of the league's marquee superstars - LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant - have had their teams eliminated, with the first round of the playoffs not even completed. Defending champion Denver (who eliminated LeBron's Lakers) have advanced, along with prohibitive favorite and blue blood Boston and the most overinflated "traditional" team, the New York Knicks, whose fans love yapping about Madison Square Garden as if it was the center of the basketball universe even though they have not won a world title since 1970 (but, it must be said, have one of the toughest and best emerging superstars in the league in Jalen Brunson). Cleveland is in Orlando and the L.A. Clippers are in Dallas tonight.
-We close as we continue to watch the apparent implosion of a once-highly-regarded potential Trump Veep candidate, Kristi Noem (Animal KilleR, One of the Dakotas), who continued to try to spin her brutal killing of a 14-month old German Wirehaired Pointer (and a goat - in memory of the goat) on Sean Hannity's show yesterday, and in her 'defense' of her cruelty as an example of making 'tough choices,' she is also promoting the book where she voluntarily told the dog murder story. But advance copies of the book point to a different issue she has: telling the truth.
-In her work of fiction apparently disguised as a biography, Noem talks about being threatened by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, which Haley continues to deny, and worse discusses a meeting Noem claimed to have had a meeting with North Korea dictator and Trump crush figure Kim Jong Un ... only she has now admitted that story is just that: a story. The implosion is so great that Trump's people do not have her on the 'short list' of Veep candidates, though they also admit that right now, Trump is not really focused on that.
-Instead, THIS JUST IN: VonShitzInPants is asleep in court. Again. Corroborated by multiple reporters.
-Sad!
-On this date in 1918, Chevrolet was purchased by General Motors. On this date in 1945, German forces surrendered to Allied forces in Italy. On this date in 1979, the world got much worse as Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of Great Britain. On this date in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by American special forces in the Pakistani city of Islamabad.
-Debuts on this date: GOOD HOUSEKEEPING (1885), a sighting of "the Loch Ness Monster" (1933), THE CBS EVENING NEWS (1948), the Kentucky Derby on national television (1952), THE FANTASTIKS (1960), Spam e-mail (1978).
-Happy Birthday to Richard D'Oyly Carte, Jacob Riis, Beulah Bondi, Golda Meir, Mary Astor, Norman Corwin, Stu Hart, Betty Comden, George Gaynes, Pete Seeger, Sugar Ray Robinson, Tom O'Horgan, James Brown, Frankie Valli, Ron Popeil, Greg Gumbel, Christopher Cross, Akio Toyoda, David Ball, Joe Murray, Jeff Hornacek, Ron Hextall, Bobby Cannavale, Christina Hendricks, Dule Hill, Ryan Dempster, Tyronn Lue, Cheryl Burke, and Brooks Koepka.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Robert Alda, Christine Jorgensen, Earl Woods, Wally Schirra, and Jackie Cooper.
-Feed the Worms: ultra-evil autocrat David Koch entered Earth on this date. In addition to bin Laden, Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover bought it on this date.
-Machiavelli and crooning abuser Bing Crosby were born on this date. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday or if they Feed the Worms.