NATIONAL HAVE A BAD DAY DAY UPDATES
Talk About Being On The Nose ...
-This morning, President Biden and the White House are working to broker a temporary cease-fire in the Israel-HAMAS War in an effort to try to get hostages released from Gaza and HAMAS. At the same time, an op-ed published in the Washington Post by Biden advocates for a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine in the long term - a solution that will need to be long-term given that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has built his entire political career on opposition and outright hostility to a two-state solution (though Netanyahu's long-term political career is very much an open question).
-As Biden works on these solutions, his polling continues to take a hit, especially with younger voters who increasingly want a cease-fire to protect Palestinians caught in the literal cross-fire of the War. Today's NBC poll is yet another opportunity for Democrats to Pha-REEEEEK OUT! over the 2024 Presidential election and the continued apparent strength in the polling of Ex-President Trump XCI.
-That angst is not unearned. The Economist magazine overlooked HAMAS and Vladimir Putin and any number of anti-freedom leaders worldwide to name Trump as the single greatest threat to the planet in 2024. Trump's embrace of Project 2025 - a semi-secret plan aimed to essentially destroy the nonpartisan civil service system that runs the day-to-day functions of the U.S. government - and increasing use of actual Nazi rhetoric, combined with openly advocating for using the Department of Justice and Homeland Security to prosecute political opponents, mass deport would-be immigrants and DREAMers, create camps nationally, and being supported by UltraMAGA and religious fundamentalists - all do add up to some rather dangerous portents.
-Trump is apparently believing he is building on this momentum by speaking to the issues he apparently believes are important to his voters. Yesterday, at an event in a small Iowa gym, Trump decided, without any prompting by anyone whatsoever, to declare to the crowd once and for all that he did NOT - repeat, did NOT - hire prostitutes to urinate on him (a reference to the infamous Steele Report from 2015).
-However, his pee tape non-sequitur was delivered in a loud, boisterous, and sweaty manner - factors which some now believe are reasons why the 77-year-old Trump is seen by some voters as being "younger" and "more vital" than the 80-year-old Biden, who speaks in a rasp and sometimes a whisper, in large part because of his lifelong stutter - thus the "Biden is old" but Trump somehow is not perception as of this writing ...
-Political and legal commentators were openly confused at a ruling in CO last week in which a group of citizens attempted to block Trump from the 2024 Presidential ballot by arguing that his open embrace of the January 6 insurrection fits the 14th Amendment's provision denying anyone supporting the overthrow of the U.S. government from holding a position in the government - and therefore running the government. The judge ruled that Trump DID, in fact, support the insurrection, but that Trump could not be held off the ballot under the terms of the 14th Amendment because the position of President wasn't specifically listed as one of the offices that the 14th Amendment applied to. There is much suspicion that the Judge simply did not want to dare keep Trump off the ballot and essentially punted the decision to perhaps allow the Supreme Court to ultimately rule on the question should it ever get to them.
-Erp.
-Not that we should really care because it doesn't really affect us, but yesterday was kind of a bad day for Elon Musk. The second launch of the SpaceX Starship missile (touted as the most powerful missile ever created) was applauded for its first-stage release by SpaceX, though the booster exploded after release and after the rest of the rocket lost touch with ground control in an apparent catastrophic explosion shortly thereafter, making the overall experience kind of messy.
-Further, Musk's approval (via comment and 'like') of an antisemitic and pro-Nazi post on the social media site formerly known as Twitter has led to an exodus of some of the most prominent companies who advertised and posted on the site, including Apple, Comcast/NBC Universal, Disney, IBM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Musk for his part seems to be taking the massive loss of advertising and further devaluing of the service he massively overpaid for in stride, promising a "thermonuclear" lawsuit against nonprofit news services who first reported on Musk's amplification of the post, which after all was there for everyone to see (as that's the point of liking and commenting on posts in the first place).
-We close with Weird Music News: Andre 3000 has, over a decade after essentially retiring from OutKast, finally released his first solo album ... only, there is no rap on it. Not even a lot of voice. No, the 48-year-old musician/actor/rapper, claiming that he is too old to be in the rap game anymore and is now listening to a different muse, instead released an album of ... ambient flute music. The album is called "New Blue Sun," and if you think he's kidding, the actual title of the first track on the album is "I Swear I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album, But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time." Reviews are ... nice ... and it is available for streaming now!
-Also, Snoop Dogg announced he is giving up "smoke."
-It's a lot to process, so let's get to the wrap-up ...
-On this date in 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. On this date in 1953, professional baseball was ruled by the Supreme Court NOT to be a buisness - the only professional sport with such an exemption. On this date in 1969, Pele scored his 1,000th goal. On this date in 1975, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST premiered. On this date in 1977, Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel. On this date in 1985, Ronald Reagan met Mikhail Gorbachev for the first time. On This Date In 1990, Milli Vanilli became the first act to be stripped of Grammy Awards after being exposed as lip-synching front men. And on this date in 2007, the Amazon Kindle first went on sale.
-Happy Birthday to James Garfield, Tommy Dorsey, Peter Drucker, Indira Gandhi, Gene Tierney, Roy Campanella, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Larry King, Jack Welch, Dick Cavett, Ted Turner, Garrick Utley, Dan Haggerty, Eddie Raynor, Calvin Klein, Ahmad Rashad, Charlie Kaufman, Michael Wilbon, Allison Janney, Matt Sorum, Miss Elizabeth, Meg Ryan, Jodie Foster, Gail Devers, Kerri Strug, Adam Driver, and Patrick Kane.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Franz Schubert, Emma Lazarus, Joe Hill, Christina Onassis, Jim Ringo, Kevin Dubrow, Mike Nichols, Della Reese, and Mel Tillis.
-Feed the Worms: Nathan Leopold entered Earth on this date. Charles Manson left Earth on this date.
-Twitter founder Jack Dorsey was born on this date. Stepin Fetchit died on this date. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday/Rest in Peace or Power or if they Feed the Worms.
-The Number One Album in America ... in 2023, 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift ... in 2013, REFLEKTOR by Arcade Fire ... in 2003, SPEAKERBOXX/THE LOVE BELOW by OutKast (ah!) ... in 1993, VS. by Pearl Jam ... in 1983, SYNCHRONICITY by The Police ... and in 1973, GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD by Elton John.