PI DAY UPDATES
Cosine, secant, tangent, sine! 3.14159!
-The recriminations have begun on both sides of the aisle for who is to blame for the Silicon Valley Bank collapse over the weekend - the largest by bank size in American history. Democrats are pointing to a 2018 law passed by Republicans and signed by Ex-President Trump removing so-called "stress tests" and relaxing other regulations that Dems argue would likely have prevented the types of investments they believe led to SVB's collapse. Republicans are claiming that SVB's policies that 'favored' investments in green technologies and demands that loan decisions be made by what they call "woke" guidelines softened the bank up and exposed them to the implosion. Hearings and lawsuits are beginning to be scheduled and filed, so the dissection of its demise will begin soon enough.
-Trump also responded to Vice President Pence's comments over the weekend that "history will judge" Trump for his actions on January 6, 2021 - and Trump, in a move that may shock one or two of you out there, tried to blame ... Pence ... for the insurrection. You see, Trump made the argument that Pence really should have allowed the fake electors from various states to be seated that would have flipped several Electoral College representatives from President Biden - the actual winner of the 2020 Presidential election - to Trump, and when Pence did not do so (because, y'know, Trump lost), well, according to that poor sad sack Trump, what else were those poor angry rioters going to DO but demand to "HANG MIKE PENCE!"? Legal experts note that the comment also made it clear that Trump seems to be fully aware of what happened on January 6 - something Trump has attempted to fudge in the past.
-Speaking of fuzzy memories, a new Trump attorney is now presenting a different defense of Trump and his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks prior to the 2016 election. The new attorney, Joe Tacopina (who carries on the tradition of attorneys who look and sound EXACTLY like you imagine Trump lawyers look and sound like), told the helpful Sean Hannity that Trump, a man whose reputation is built on being a chaste and faithful husband and doting family man, was merely a victim of an extortion plot from a woman of ill repute LYING, LYING Tacopina tells you!, about ever having "an affair" with Trump. Daniels has never claimed she had 'an affair' with Trump, merely a three-minute stand - and the motive for why Trump made a payment is somewhat irrelevant legally, as the question is why the payoff was made and whether the payment was connected, financially or otherwise, with the 2016 campaign. It is believed a determination for indictments in this case could come as early as tomorrow afternoon.
-The two main competitors (at the moment) for the 2024 Presidential election made interesting appearances yesterday. FL Governor Ron DeSantis made the "softball interview" literal by allowing himself to be questioned by Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade while literally playing a game of catch baseball during the chat. DeSantis is spending more time in IA and NH without yet announcing his official campaign, which technically he cannot do because FL law demands politicians that run for President resign from their position, and a law that would end that requirement just in time for DeSantis to run for President has yet to be passed.
-Meanwhile. Trump released three videos on his 'campaign' site, in which he charged all the black D.A.'s investigating him are doing so because they are racist, 'warned' that World War III was imminent (because Biden is helping defend Ukraine) (Slava Ukraini!), and demanded that candidates pass the same "test" he passed because he passed it "with flying colors" and would "do better this year!" (Trump by all accounts is referring to the dementia test he took when he had to recall "Man, woman, person, camera, TV!").
-Trump also went to IA yesterday, still the first primary for Republicans. Amid a less-than-raucous crowd, Trump began the speech asking if people liked their children, ended by promising he would federalize the police in Chicago (making Chicago Mayoral hopeful Paul Vallas very excited, no doubt) (ALLEGEDLY), and in between gave this direct quote: "Insane asylums. A word you’re not supposed to use anymore. Words you’re not supposed to use… so two words. Insane asylum. A word. These are words you’re not supposed to be using anymore. It’s not politically incorrect."
-THIS JUST IN: A just-released CNN poll has Trump ahead of DeSantis 40%-36%, with a belief that an indictment of Trump (there are at least three cases where Trump is exposed to potential "imminent" indictments) will bump his support higher. Ssssssoooooo.....
-On this date in 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin. On this date in 1899, Ferdinand Von Zeppelin was granted a patent for "a navigable balloon" that soon bore his name (along with a kickass band a few years later). On this date in 1958, Perry Como received the first-ever Gold Record for his tune "Catch a Falling Star." And on this date in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the Soviet Union (he would be its last).
-Happy Birthday to Johann Strauss, Casey Jones, Albert Einstein, Les Brown, Lee Petty, Horton Foote, Hank Ketcham, Diane Arbus, Frank Borman, Don Haskins, Michael Caine, Quincy Jones, Eugene Cernan, Wolfgang Petersen, Michael Murphy, Wes Unseld, Billy Crystal, Roger Powell, Rick Dees, J. Fred Muggs, Adrian Zmed, Danny Meyer, Kirby Puckett, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate, Kevin Williamson, Larry Johnson, Meredith Salenger, Taylor Hanson, Antoni Porowski, Stephen Curry, and Simone Biles.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to George Eastman, Chic Young, Susan Hayward, Busby Berkeley, Fannie Lou Hamer, Howard Ashman, Fred Zinneman, Peter Graves, Stephen Hawking, and Razor Ramon.
-Karl Marx left Earth on this date. You decide if he Rests in Power or Feeds the Worms.