NATIONAL GOOF OFF DAY UPDATES
I Mean, It's What I Do On These Updates!
-So, is TODAY the day!? Potentially, as the NY Grand Jury is regularly scheduled to meet to accept any requests from Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg about whether to indict Ex-President Trump (or others) for crime or crimes connected to a 2016 payoff of porn star Stormy Daniels over a three-minute stand that occurred between the two in 2006. Should there be indictments, legal analyst Alison Gil notes that they would be under seal and only revealed publicly when anyone who is indicted appears for a hearing after being booked - unless, of course, someone who gets indicted happens to mention it first ...
-... and that not only appears to involve Trump, but if other reports are true, Trump is looking forward to it - going so far as to reportedly defying his lawyers and hoping that he is perp walked to the court. Such an act, along with his mug shot, would break the Internet and (in Trump's view) create a money bomb for his "2024 Presidential campaign." All of that comes amid other reports that Trump is not as engaged in the actual details of this or any of the other cases that are reportedly thisclose to indictments, but all of it apparently makes Trump hopeful, as he clearly intends to continue to run for President even while under indictment.
-There is precedent for running while under indictment - or worse. In 1920, Socialist Eugene Debs was arrested and imprisoned for his opposition to the U.S. entering World War I - sedition! - and while in prison (buttons were created to "Vote For Prisoner 9630) managed to win nearly one million votes. That election was won by Warren Harding, whose administration became mired in the Teapot Dome graft scandal, and whose personal record of multiple mistresses and salacious letters to one of them - available in the Library of Congress! - might even put Bill Clinton and Ex-President Trump to shame.
-Anyway, back to the 2024 election, where Trump and his supporters have launched attacks at their primary primary opponent, FL Governor Ron DeSantis, after DeSantis finally went after Trump and his scandals, sort of. On Monday DeSantis attempted a one-liner about "(not knowing) what goes into paying hush money to a porn star" before appearing on yet another Fox News ally's show - this time Piers Morgan - to flat-out state that he (DeSantis) would be able to defeat President Biden (and polling as of right now backs that up). DeSantis' statements drew fire from Trump supporters for daring speak ill of Dear Leader, as well as Trump opponents who continue to demand DeSantis not wilt under Trump bullying - and Trump himself went full bore at DeSantis, dusting off a story about DeSantis drinking with teenagers while DeSantis taught high school before flat-out accusing DeSantis of being a pedophile, possibly with boys. The 2024 Republican primary will ... not likely rival the Lincoln/Douglas debates.
-Filings were accepted overnight in the appeal made in connection with the investigation into classified documents being taken by Ex-President Trump and compelling testimony from his attorney, Evan Corcoran. Trump attorneys completed a short response to allow Corcoran to continue to claim attorney-client privilege and prevent Corcoran from testifying - and attorneys from Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's office responded six hours later with a 6,400-word response defending a ruling that in this case, Trump is believed to have used that attorney-client privilege to lie about and cover up information about the true whereabouts of those classified documents. Should a ruling on the motion occur - and given the demands by the appellate court to demand these responses, the ruling could come at any moment - it could result in Corcoran testifying today. STAY TUNED!
-In sports news, Japan defeated the United States 3-2 to win the World Baseball Classic, and did so with one of those you-would-have-been-laughed-out-of-the-writing-room-if-you-pitched-it endings: two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, who began the game as the designated hitter (he went 1-3 with a walk), came on in the 9th to save the game and face his Anaheim Angels teammate and fellow MVP, Mike Trout for the final out - and struck him out on a slider. Ohtani will be a free agent after this season and will likely demand a contract worth at least $700 million while continuing to be an All-Star hitter and pitcher.
-On this date in 1765, the Stamp Act was imposed on the American colonies by the British crown. On this date in 1933, Prohibition ended. On this date in 1934, the Augusta golf club hosted the first Masters tournament. On this date in 1983, the AM General Corporation won a contract from the Pentagon to develop a vehicle we now know as the Hummer. And on this date in 2019, Robert Mueller released his report on Trump's firing of then-FBI director Andrew Comey, pointedly noting that the report did NOT clear Trump of wrongdoing but refusing to indict because of a long-standing rule not to do so with sitting Presidents.
-Happy Birthday to Chico Marx, Ruth Page, Louis D L'Amour, Karl Malden, Wilfrid Brambell, Lew Wasserman, Werner Klemperer, Marcel Marceau, Bill Wendell, Stephen Sondheim, William Shatner, M. Emmet Walsh, Roger Whittaker, Haing S. Ngor, Billy Collins, Dick Pound (actual guy - runs the World Anti-Doping Agency), George Benson, James Patterson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bob Costas, Lena Olin, Stephanie Mills, Carlton Cuse, Matthew Modine, Brian Shaw, Reese Witherspoon, Joey Porter, Juan Uribe, Constance Wu, J.J. Watt, and Captain James T. Kirk.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mike Todd, Steve Olin, Dan Hartman, Walter Lantz, William Hanna, Dallas Green, Morgana King, Wayne Huizenga, and Elgin Baylor.
-Evangelist oddball and right-wing broadcaster Pat Robertson was born today. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.