NATIONAL BOOTLEGGER'S DAY UPDATES
A Cruel Holiday for Those of You Enjoying A Dry Month ...
-Mere hours after his win in Iowa (more on that momentarily), Ex-President Trump XCI moved to a Federal courtroom in New York City for the second damages proceeding in the wake of the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. In the first trial, Trump was ruled to have ‘sexually attacked’ Carroll and defamed her to the tune of $5 million – only to be charged by Carroll to have continued to defame her, and successfully bringing Trump back to court to increase the fines and sanctions if it can be proven he did, indeed, defame her.
-Did he? Well, DURING JURY SELECTION, Trump posted anywhere between 20-30 social media posts that all seem to be attacking Carroll again. And, THIS JUST IN: at the trial, while Carroll herself was testifying, Trump – who is attending this trial – is being charged by Carroll’s attorneys of talking out loud and slamming his hand on the table, continuing to call Carroll a liar and demanding (as his remaining attorney, extraordinary parking garage barrister Alina “Do These Streaks Make Me Look More Like Ivanka (eye bat eye bat)” Habba, asserted in her opening statement yesterday) that he – Trump – is the REAL victim in the entire episode.
-In between Carroll’s testimony, Habba has been repeatedly and pointedly admonished by Judge Lewis Kaplan on everything from stopping her from re-trying the Trump case (this proceeding is wholly about extending the punishment if the jury agrees to) to her apparent inappropriate and/or inept presentational style (Kaplan yesterday to Habba after an attempt to protest a Habba objection that Kaplan overruled: “When the ruling is made that is the end not the beginning of argument” … and, “The argument is over” … and, this morning, “SIT DOWN!”). Trump is allegedly going to testify next week.
-Now, back to Iowa. What kind of victory did Trump get? There is a bit of a debate about that. Those who give Trump his due point out that the margin between him and second-place Ron DeSantis was historically large, that Trump won all but one of the 89 counties (and the county he lost he lost by one vote to Nikki Haley), and that in certain demographics including college-educated voters, his share of votes went up, all indicating an unstoppable machine that all, in particular Democrats, need to fear.
-Those views are countered by other pundits, who point out that an overwhelming favorite and virtual incumbent only got 51% of his party’s vote against weak opponents, that overall turnout in the state was the lowest since 2000, that the overall trend of Republican underperformance that has held for all but the 2020 Presidential election continues, and that certain polling reveals weaknesses that can be exploited (such as a significant percentage of Nikki Haley voters claiming they will vote for Biden in the Fall and that 20-30% of those who voted for Trump would rethink their vote if Trump is convicted of any one of his numerous trials) – and that, even if all of that were not as important, that a significant number of voters are telling pollsters (according to various news stories) that they are simply refusing to believe Trump will be the nominee, thus withholding support for Biden or others.
-Which is it? Who knows? All we know is, we are on to New Hampshire, where Trump is facing Haley in a virtual one-on-one matchup (DeSantis has chosen to campaign in South Carolina), which is likely to explain Trump mocking Haley’s Indian name in a social media post this morning. Trump is always gonna Trump.
-Last night, Team Trump filed a 68-page tome before Trump fave Judge Aileen Cannon that is essentially a throw-it-all-against-the-wall attempt to stall the trial involving Trump’s grabbing of classified documents by the footnotes and taking them to Mar-a-Lago (if not other places). The motion, whose second paragraph blathers about Trump’s Iowa results, essentially asks if they can investigate everything the Biden administration has been doing in relation to the case, on the utterly bat-shite crazy theory that it is the Biden administration that is victimizing poor Donald Trump and that Team Trump needs two weeks or so to find the evidence to do so. Special Counsel Jack Smith has yet to respond, but given a number of rulings by Cannon that many believe have given Team Trump everything they wanted in order to delay what is arguably the most straightforward criminal trial facing Trump to get it before a jury in 2025 (unless Trump wins in 2024 and Trump can erase the proceeding and give himself Ultimate Super-Duper Power to Do Everything He Wants), the fear is that Cannon will continue playing the super-long game.
-The UltraMAGA House Subcommittee investigating America’s Most Heinous, Hunter Biden (dumDUMdummmm), appears to be backing down from many of their threats to charge Hunter in contempt after Hunter’s attorneys discussed the possibility of Hunter testifying to the Committee behind closed doors – a motion they previously refused to do, which led to a carnival of hilarity when Hunter came to their hearing last week ready to testify in public and Chair James Comer (HunteR!, KY) to have to say Hunter was defying a subpoena despite sitting right in front of Comer. Negotiations continue between the parties.
-We’ll stop with music news, as this morning the newest members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame were announced – and they are: country music songwriter Hillary Lindsay (“Jesus Take The Wheel,” “Don’t Walk Away”), Dean Pitchford (“Fame,” “Holding Out For A Hero,” “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”), Timothy Mosley, aka Timbaland (“Promiscuous,” “SexyBack,” “The Way I Are”) the duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - aka Steely Dan (“Peg,” “Reeling In The Years,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”), and the quartet of Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe – aka R.E.M. (“Losing My Religion,” “Nightswimming,” “Radio Free Europe”). Enjoy your songlist, readers!
-On this date in 1893, the monarchy in Hawaii was overturned by a group headed by fruit magnate Sanford Ballard Dole. On this date in 1950, over $2 million in cash was stolen from a Brinks Armored Car Depot in Boston, MA (the perpetrators were caught just before the statute of limitations expired on the crime in 1956). On this date in 1961, Dwight Eisenhower warned America of a “military-industrial complex” that had an inordinate amount of power in defense and governmental institutions that could undermine American democracy. On this date in 1976, the Sex Pistols broke up. On this date in 1984, the Supreme Court ruled private recordings on VCR cassette tapes did not violate copyright laws. And on this date in 1994, former AR state clerk Paula Jones accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
-Notable debuts: The Professional Golf Association (PGA, 1916), Popeye the Sailor (in the comics, 1929), the Corvette (1953), Jacques Cousteau (first network telecast, 1954), Operation Desert Storm (1991).
-Happy Birthday to Benjamin Franklin, Catherine Booth, Mack Sennett, Noah Beery, Cus D’Amato, Betty White, Eartha Kitt, Vidal Sassoon, Jacques Plante, Don Zimmer, Douglas Wilder, James Earl Jones, Maury Povich, Kip Keino, Muhammad Ali, Mick Taylor, Andy Kaufman, Larry Fortensky, Steve Earle, Paul Young, Steve Harvey, Susanna Hoffs, Jim Carrey, Sebastian Junger, Cyrus Chestnut, Andy Rourke, Michelle Obama, Shabba Ranks, Tiesto, Zooey Deschanel, Dwayne Wade, Jake Paul, and Rep. Maxwell Frost.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Chang and Eng Bunker, Rutherford B. Hayes, Juliette Gordon Low, T.H. White, Barbara Britton, Gregory Corso, Richard Crenna, Virginia Mayo, Art Buchwald, Bobby Fischer, Erich Segal, Don Kirshner, Johnny Otis, Marty Springstead, and Yvette Mimieux.
-Feed the Worms: Arnold Rothstein, Al Capone and Kid Rock entered Earth on this date. Gary Gilmore was executed on this date.
-Environmental attorney turned freakish vaccine-denier and erstwhile Presidential nomineet Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.