NATIONAL BAGEL DAY UPDATES

It's Pick-Your-Political-'Scandal' Weekend!

-SO many scandals of varying degrees of importance and severity, and lots happening on many of them, so let’s stick to the three most prominent political ones, shall we?

-“GEORGE SANTOS.” Man, where to start with this guy – assuming he’s a guy, because literally everything else about him has been brought into question, including his name (videos from 2019 reveal he identified himself as “Anthony Devolder”), his sexuality (both men and women claim he dated them) and his religion (Jewish? Catholic? Convert? Who knows?!) thereby launching a cottage industry of memes (George Santos is a Central American strongman! George Santos taught Jeff Beck how to play the guitar!) – but the more serious rounds of questions involves money and actual alleged criminal wrongdoing.

-There is one report that he participated in a scheme involving defrauding senior citizens through a company in Brazil, and another report that the $750,000 that mysteriously appeared in his bank account and financed his House campaign came from financiers with Russian connections. And all of these have raised concerns that, as a House member, he now gets access to security briefings and classified documents (not that there’s ever anything you need to worry about with classified documents – RIGHT?!), leading to six members of the NY GOP delegation demanding “Santos’” resignation.

-Will that happen? Not likely. Even with a district that leans GOP, the majority that Kevin McCarthy (SINO-R, CA) has is likely to continue to leave “Santos” in place unless something really egregious comes up.

-Something like, well, misplaced classified documents – and that leads to “scandal” two: the Joe Biden Classified Documents thing. There are now 20 documents secured by Biden after being discovered in three different areas, and while the Biden team is working with FBI, CIA, and national security teams in trying to figure out how the documents got there and who is responsible, even a few right-wing commentors (including, of all people, Karl Rove) are saying Biden’s document issue doesn’t hold a candle to the obstruction, lies, sensitivity of the documents involved, and sheer number (the number of documents that Ex-President Trump have that have been identified are now approaching 200), the equivalency game that both Biden’s and Trump’s problems are equal is starting to be made, including from alleged left-leaning sources as The Guardian and Rolling Stone.

-There is no question on a short-term political level the Biden documents ‘scandal’ may knick his ratings – ratings that have been steadily increasing as the midterms ebb and the economy stabilizes – and that will impact his decision to run for re-election in 2024 (which is not quite as far away as we’d like to think). There is also a clear issue with document security that needs to be addressed. But there is also still no equivalency in severity – or should be – between Biden and Trump as far as sensitive documents and their (mis)handling are concerned.

-What may be of more concern is the third level of scandal: the multitude of investigations into the 2020 election won by President Biden, specifically the waves of subpoenas issued over the last several weeks by January 6 Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. And it appears that Trump has noticed, as he has spent this past weekend incessantly posting on his ‘Truth’ social media site by calling Smith at least 20 different names – among them “Hater,” “Angry,” “Communist,” “Tyrant,” “Mentally Deranged,” “Savage,” “Unfair,” and “Flame-throwing lunatic.” (Remember, this is TRUMP calling Smith these names.) Trump has also claimed Smith’s wife is a “Trump hater,” and that if the country knew about the Hunter Biden “laptop” (show me the actual physical laptop and I’ll begin to listen to what might be on in) then Trump would have won the 2020 election (which (a) he didn’t and (b) sorta-kinda contradicts everything else he’s been saying that he DID win in 2020, which he didn’t).

-There was also the matter of a deposition released by a judge in charge of the defamation case against Trump filed by retired journalist E. Jean Carroll. In that deposition, Trump not only appears to proudly admit he sent emails and social media posts attacking Carroll, Trump also attacks Carroll’s attorney, the judge overseeing the proceeding, claims Carroll was trying to claim she was ‘turned on’ by getting raped, and even that mail-in voting is a “hoax” (a word he used dozens of times in the exposition). In short, a typical Mar-a-Lago weekend.

-Plenty happening this week, including the notice that the Treasury Department has warned of the U.S. debt limit being hit on Thursday and that “extraordinary measures” will need to be taken to extend that deadline until June when the Ultra-MAGA House leaders are promising they will plunge the world into economic turmoil unless Democrats agree to draconian cuts in everything from Social Security and Medicare to the FBI (defunding the police!) and tomorrow’s Martin Luther King Jr., as well as continued Indictment Watches, so Watch This Space this week!

-On this date in 1870, the donkey first appeared as the mascot of the Democratic Party. On this date in 1967, Green Bay beat Kansas City 35-10 in what was then called “The AFL-NFL World Championship” and is now called the Super Bowl. On this date in 1981, HILL STREET BLUES premiered on NBC. On this date in 2001, Wikipedia first went online. And on this date in 2009, Airline Captain Chet “Sully” Sullenberger successfully landed an Airbus airliner into the Hudson River with no fatalities after engines were damaged thanks to flying geese.

-Happy Birthday to Joan of Arc, Lord Frederick Stanley, Ray Chapman, Aristotle Onassis, Edward Teller, Gene Krupa, Lloyd Bridges, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Martin Luther King, Jr., Captain Beefheart, Vince Foster, Ronnie Van Zant, Charo, Bob Clearmountain, Mario Van Peebles, Lisa Lisa Velez, Regina King, Drew Brees, and Pitbull.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Fannie Farmer, Jack Teagarden, Ray Bolger, Sean MacBride, Dee Murray, Sammy Cahn, Harry Nilsson, Junior Wells, Ruth Warrick, Kim Fowley, Dan Haggerty, Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, Edwin Hawkins, Joe Frank, Carol Channing, and Joe B. Hall.

-Feed the Worms: Famous mobster Meyer Lansky bought it on this date.

-The #1 men’s college basketball team on this date … in 2023, Houston … in 2013, Connecticut … in 2003, Connecticut … in 1993, Kansas … in 1983, North Carolina … and in 1973, UCLA.