NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY UPDATES
Seems Appropriate, as it is also Better Breakfast Day
-As President Biden marches with striking auto workers, Republicans gather to try and (at least according to most pundits and, frankly, Republicans) fail to prevent the government from shutting down this Sunday. Kevin McCarthy (SINO-R, CA) has at least four bills that are attempting to at least create a stopgap measure, but none have enough GOP support to come close to passing – and in fact allow for other House Republicans to be enraged at each other for the efforts. McCarthy is working under an open threat from Rep. Matt Gaetz (Hey GiRl, FL) to end his Speakership if specific demands being made by GOP Leader Ex-President Trump XCI aren’t filled (more on that in a moment).
-Even in the Senate, where there has been bipartisan movement to a stopgap measure that would give the full Congress until late October to come up with a full deal, issues within the GOP caucus over funding for Ukraine (SLAVA UKRAINI!) are making a potential bill passage there uncertain (though more certain than in the House). This may be why reporters are focusing on the charges involving Sen. Bob Menendez (D-GoldBars, NJ) – though the fact that most Democrats (including fellow NJ Sen. Cory Booker) are demanding Menendez resign kind of makes that a little less fun and bothsider-y …
-And if you’re thinking the House is working hard to bridge the gap … have you met the UltraMAGA (or as another news service calls them, “The Wrecking Ball”) Caucus? Because while some of those members are concerned about a shutdown (and potential blame on the GOP for it) (which, as in all previous government shutdowns, is where the blame will properly be assessed), others are working very hard on UltraMAGA priorities. One hearing this week will focus on the financial dealings of America’s Worst Ever Presidential Family Member, Hunter Biden (dumDUMduuuum!) featuring Fox commentator Jonathan Turley, and another set of members traveling to Chicago for a hearing on the war-torn ultra-unsafe Thunderdome that are the streets of Chicago (never mind that crime in general is down in the city this year over the past five years).
-Back to Trump, who continues to rage and babble in a way to make you think maybe HE’S the one stories about old age and being addled should be written about instead of … y’know … President Biden. Witness the phalanx of social media posts made in the last 48 hours by Trump, where among other things, has called for shutting down any media site who dares to say bad things about him … the apparent arrest and potential execution of outgoing Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley … the aforementioned total shutdown of the government to stop all investigations into Trump and his allies (which won’t happen even with a shutdown, you NIMROD!) … a call for not just Menendez to resign, but for ALL Democratic Senators to resign (since according to impeccable Trump logic, all Senators apparently were given one of the gold bars Menendez was allegedly bribed with so they all knew how corrupt Menendez is) … and, for good measure, “shunning” Howard Stern after Stern proudly called himself “woke!”
-And as for his behavior, Trump appeared yesterday at a pro-gun conference in South Carolina, where in addition to mistaking George W. Bush from Jeb! Bush in describing both the 2016 election and the Iraq War, apparently purchased a Glock at a gun show – an actual crime even in SC if you have even been indicted on ONE felony count, much less ninety-one. (The social media post with a photo of Trump holding a Glock like it was a gold bar was taken down, as well as a spokesperson saying of COURSE Trump did NOT buy a weapon – perish the thought!).
-With all of this going on, it is hard to keep track of the Right-Wing Outrage Machine – but it’s been whirring in overdrive since Sundy for three reasons. The first: Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chief tight end who, thanks to a successful Saturday Night Live host stint, is now as ubiquitous a commercial presence as teammate Patrick Mahomes – and it is a commercial of Kelce proudly getting a Covid vaccine that has righties INFURIATED at Kelce, pointing out that in the past that woke bag also knelt in support of activist Colin Kaepernick, and just seems to be a nice and funny guy.
-RWOM Object of Scorn II: Taylor Swift. The ultra-giga-uber-super-star, who has already been on the record of being supportive of a woman’s right to choose in her home state of Tennessee, further flipped out righties when, over the weekend, a call on her social media sites to have her (massively under-40) fan base to register to vote in 2023-24 led to over 35,000 to register for the first day and estimates of over 115,000 having registered since then (also potentially putting to rest an ABC/Washington Post poll that claimed Trump has a 20% lead in voters under 40 and a 10% lead nationally in a poll so pilloried by experts from Larry Sabato to Nate Cohn that WaPo itself admitted it was a total steaming pile of a poll).
-RWOM Objects of Scorn III: Travis Kelce AND Taylor Swift. If you hadn’t heard, Kelse invited Taylor to the Kansas City Chiefs game over the weekend – and she went, watching the game in a press box with Kelce’s mom – then proceeded to leave together to throw a party for the team, where the possible new couple were “affectionate” towards one another, leading to massive are-they-or-aren’t-they speculation, and leading The Federalist to claim that the popularity of Taylor Swift and her liberal Democratic child women ilk is a primary reason America is going down the tubes. (No word about whether being a Chiefs fan does the same thing.)
-Almost makes you want to buy a Kelce jersey (which Swifties are – massively) or become a Switfie oneself …
-On this date in 1560, Sir Frances Drake returned to England after the first known circumnavigation of the world. On this date in 1960, the first Presidential debate in history between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon was broadcast from Chicago. On this date in 1971, Jim Palmer became the fourth Baltimore Oriole starting pitcher to win 20 games in one season, a feat that has never been equaled (the other three pitchers: Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, and Dave McNally) (they would lose the World Series in seven games to the Pittsburgh Pirates). Premieres and releases on this date: WEST SIDE STORY in 1957, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES in 1962, THE BRADY BUNCH and ABBEY ROAD in 1969.
-Happy Birthday to St. Francis of Assisi, Ivan Pavlov, T.S. Eliot, Martin Heidegger, George Gershwin, George Raft, Bill France Sr., Jack LaLane, Philip Bosco, Donna Douglas, Kent McCord, Bryan Ferry, Mary Beth Hurt, Olivia Newton-John, Jane Smiley, Carlene Carter, Linda Hamilton, Melissa Sue Anderson, Dave Martinez, Jill Soloway, Shannon Hoon, Jim Caviezel, Beto O’Rourke, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Serena Williams, and James Blake.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Daniel Boone, Levi Strauss, Bessie Smith, Bela Bartok, Anna Magnani, Betty Carter, Richard Mulligan, Robert Palmer, Byron Nelson, Bill Wirtz, Paul Newman, Gloria Stuart, Jacques Chirac, and Commander Cody.
-Activist who turned to violence Winnie Mandela feminist who believes all sex is coerced Andrea Dworkin, and corrupt ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine Petro Poroschenko were born on this date. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.