NATIONAL PENGUIN DAY UPDATES

He Does Look A Bit Butch Up There on the Telly ...

-The new GOP-led House ‘ran’ on a ‘promise’ to defund and close the IRS, which admittedly might sound appealing – except the government needs at least some money to do some things (probably just military if the UltraMAGAts had their way). So how to generate income? Well, the new majority has an idea, and it was just filed as a bill in the House: a 30% flat tax on the sale of all goods and services sold in the United States! Everyone from Democrats to Republican Senators to economists are gleeful at the idea, which would result in an even larger shifting of the tax burden onto lower- and middle-classes without generating nearly enough money to do even the skeletal government envisioned by the GOP. And while the bill is undoubtedly never going to come close to passage, the fact that the bill has been filed has made conservative campaign managers reach for the Rolaids as a tailor-made-for-Democrats issue for 2024 …

-The report released by Chief Justice John Roberts that claimed he could not find the people who leaked the Dobbs decision ending the right of women to choose when to have a baby is being roundly criticized by legal reporters. They note that the ‘investigation’ apparently did not interview any of the nine Justices or their aides, leaving the impression that the institution either did not want to really find out who leaked the report or may want to conceal who did. Recall that Roberts claimed the leak “was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations” and that at the time right-wing media immediately charged it was pro-abortion rights SCOTUSes that leaked the report – so this shrug of a report calls Roberts’ initial quote into question (and perhaps gives more weight to liberal/progressive analysis that a pro-Dobbs SCOTUS, most likely its author, Samuel Alito, released the decision as a way to ensure he got the majority he wanted).

-Any parallels between the Dobbs leak ‘investigation’ and the ‘investigation’ into allegations against now-SCOTUS Brett Kavanaugh are TOTALLY coincidental (though may be investigated in a new documentary that has just been added to the Sundance Film Festival in a couple of weeks about the Kavanaugh hearings).

-On to today’s episode of “What Did ‘George Santos’ Do NOW?” When we last left the NY-3 “Republican” (we think), he had been accused of stealing from a GoFundMe drive that was supposed to save the life of the service dog of a homeless veteran and instead led to the dog’s death. Nobody seemed to bat an eye on the GOP side – but that may change after a former roommate of “Santos” released videos from Brazil of a drag queen named “Kitara Ravache” – and, yes, you guessed it, the roommate insists Kitara IS “George Santos”! While “Santos” let the dog death slide, he did NOT do the same with the former roomie, insisting that NO HE IS NOT KITARA RAVACHE! (And given that attacks on transsexuals and the LGBTQI community are quickly becoming part of GOP stump speeches, “Santos” may realize that of all the charges against him, THAT could be the one that may finally make Kevin McCarthy (SINO-R, CA) back off keeping “Santos” in the House).

-Fresh off having been ripped by a Federal judge of using the Courts to drive some of his voluminous personal grievances – and being forced to pay over $130,000 in fines to Hillary Clinton – Ex-President Trump has slowly been amping up his public appearances while continuing to lash out at all the investigations continuing against him. Trump has appeared on far-right ‘news’ sites trying to ‘warn’ presumptive non-Trump GOP 2024 Presidental front-runner Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL, man) not to run, claimed that the documents that were ‘found’ at Mar-a-Lago were in mislabeled file folders (EYEROLL), continued attacking Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, and promoted his appearance at a funeral service for Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway, half of a comedy duo of black sisters who made multiple appearances at Trump rallies. Trump also announced that he will have the first “campaign rally” of 2023 in South Carolina on January 28 (in case you need a date to finally get that dog of yours washed).

-Need any reminders that #COVIDIsNotOver ? Here are a couple: multiple reports that attendees at the Golden Globe awards – including Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Michelle Pfiffer – tested positive after attending the event … and a COVID breakout within the Northwestern University men’s basketball team has led to the cancellation (and possible forfeit) of two of its Big Ten league games. But such reminders don’t pass muster with the aforementioned FL Gov. Ron DeSantis, who this week decreed that the state will ban and punish any businesses and schools who try to impose vaccine or masking mandates. It is generally believed FL’s death rate from COVID is far above what DeSantis has reported.

-January 20 first became the date for Presidential inaugurations in 1937, so you can extrapolate from there all the Presidents who have been inaugurated since then on your own. In addition to those, on this date in 1892 the first game of basket-ball was played in Springfield, MA … on this date in 1942 Nazi leaders held a conference laying out the “Final Solution” of Jewish genocide in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee … on this date in 1981 the inauguration of Ronald Reagan was accompanied by the release of 52 Americans that were held hostage for 444 days in Iran … and on this date in 2008, BREAKING BAD premiered.

-Happy Birthday to Leadbelly, George Burns, Joy Adamson, Juan Garcia Esquivel!, DeForest Kelley, Federico Fellini, Slim Whitman, Patricia Neal, Arte Johnson, Buzz Aldrin, Tom Baker, David Lynch, Paul Stanley, Bill Maher, Lorenzo Lamas, Ozzie Guillen, Ron Harper, Rainn Wilson, Brian Giles, Questlove, Jalen Rose, Phillippe Cousteau, Evan Peters, and Nick Foles.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Josh Gibson, Alan Freed, Johnny Weissmuller, Barbara Stanwyck, Audrey Hepburn, Gerry Mulligan, Curt Flood, Bobo Brazil, Al Hirschfeld, David “Fathead” Newman, Etta James, Paul Bocuse, and Meat Loaf.

-Actress and Right-Wing … Commentator (I guess?) Stacey Dash and would-be GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley were born today. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.