NATIONAL CARTOONISTS DAY UPDATES
One Of The Worst Casualties Of The Demise Of Daily Newspapers
-Lots and LOTS of legal news yesterday on multiple fronts ...
-Let's start with the Proud Boys conviction, which makes Attorney General Merrick Garland 3-for-3 in getting convictions for sedition in connection with the January 6 insurrection and, more critically, showed he can get a conviction on that charge for someone who was not physically rioting but who could still be shown had a hand in creating the events of the day (that is in reference to Enrique Tarrio). Garland took an uncharacteristic victory lap to first answer the evergreen question WHAAAR MAARIK GAAHLANN!?!, and second to simply not that "the work continues" on other cases.
-As if we don't know who Garland is likely talking about, it was also another Not Good Legal Day for Ex-President Trump. Testimony ended in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial after Trump's attorneys rested without presenting witnesses, instead depending on a taped deposition in which Trump reiterated that stars can get away with stuff like (ALLEGEDLY) rape and then agreeing that he is "a star," then claiming he "did not recall" whether he had ever cheated on one of his wives.
-On top of that, a wave of subpoenas were also issued in connection with the ongoing investigation into classified document removal, with a particular focus on the potential that Trump obstructed justice by lying about moving the documents and manipulating security footage. And most terrifyingly for Trump, reports confirm an "insider witness" who "works" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf resort is "fully" cooperating with investigators on the documents case.
-And then there's Clarence Thomas. The Supreme Court Justice started the day with a ProPublica story revealing billionaire patron Harlan Crow paid for the tuition of an adopted child of Thomas to an exclusive private school in GA - tuition that averages $6,000 a week.
-As if that didn't add even more heat on him, at the end of the day the Washington Post reported that Thomas' wife Ginni received over $100,000 of off-the-books "consultancy fees" from Federalist Society President Leonard Leo - at a time when several Federalist Society-sponsored cases, most notably the Shelby County case that killed voting rights enforcement in Southern states, were approaching SCOTUS (with former Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway being the bag lady delivering many of those payments). Of course there is no hint from Thomas or Chief Justice Roberts that Thomas is getting so much as a modest talking-to about what appears to be an ever-widening ring of corruption around Thomas.
-In sorta/kinda response, Republicans in Congress are insisting the REAL scandal that MUST be investigated involves, of course, the Biden family. Over multiple appearances on various right-wing media, GOP politicians from Reps. James Comer, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace to Senators Ted Cruz and Charles Grassley, insisted there is a massive trove of damning evidence they have all seen to prove that the feeble and doddering Joe Biden is also the ruthless head of an international prostitution ring that could be laundering money for China with the help of The Most Evil Person On Earth According To The UltraMAGAts - HUNTER BIDEN (cue Dramatic Squirrel)! Of course, whenever any of these individuals are pressed for actual evidence, they have all hemmed and hawed and insisted it's coming ... it's coming ... it's ... coming ...
-M'kay.
-Two videos released this morning by Wagner Group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin are undoubtedly raising heat and paranoia in the Kremlin this morning, as an angered and profane Prigozhin first showed a group of apparently recently killed mercenaries under his employ who were working in the beseiged city of Bakhmut, Ukraine - and then threatening the Group will pull out of Bakhmut if his solider employees do not get ammunition and supplies from the Russian military. Prigozhin insists the pullout would happen May 10 so as "not to embarrass" Vladimir Putin on the May 9 national holiday marking the end of World War II, though the videos clearly do that on May 5. The videos are also released as the world awaits an anticipated counter-offensive by Ukraine that many military experts believe could be decisive in the war.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-Prince Charles is being coronated in Great Britain tomorrow, if you care.
-Also tomorrow, the Kentucky Derby will be run - and while it is also a time for celebration (see below), there is an undercurrent of gloom, as four horses (including a Derby contender) have had to be put down this week for various reasons. One trainer who worked with two of the horses have been suspended, and questions about why the multiple fatalities have occurred are under investigation. For those who wager, there is no clear favorite and no massive longshot as there was last year when 80-1 and perfectly named Rich Strike won the Run for the Roses.
-THIS JUST IN: The World Health Organization has declared that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a global health emergency. (It's still bad, just not an emergency.)
-On this date in 1862, Mexican forces repelled invaders from France in the Battle of Puebla, thus enshrining the Cinco de Mayo holiday. On this date in 1901, Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in professional baseball history. On this date in 1961, the first American, Alan Shephard Jr., was launched into space. On this date in 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, setting a Derby track record that still stands. On this date in 2002, the Tobey Maguire SPIDER-MAN became the first movie to top $100 million in box office receipts in a weekend. And on this date in 2018, Childish Gambino's video for "This is America" was dropped.
-Happy Birthday to Nellie Bly, James Beard, Tyrone Power, Rep. Leo Ryan, Ann B. Davis, Pat Carroll, Lance Heinriksen, Tammy Wynette, Michael Palin, John Rhys-Davies, Roger Rees, Kurt Loder, Bill Ward, Ian McCulloch, Charles Nagy, Naomi Klein, Tina Youthers, Vincent Kartheiser, Henry Cavill, Adele, Brooke Hogan, and Chris Brown.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Bret Harte, Paul Klipsch, Irv Robbins (of Baskin and- fame), Arthur Laurents, Sweet Pea Atkinson, and Del Crandall.
-Feed the Worms: Presidential assassin Leon Czolgosz entered Earth on this date. Napoleon Bonaparte bought it on this date.
-Karl Marx was born today, and Bobby Sands died today. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday/Rest in Peace or Power or if they Feed the Worms.