PLANT SOMETHING DAY UPDATES
A Tree, A Rose Bush, Some Basil, A Flagpole, Your Butt - You Plant You!
-Each of our main political parties is dealing with a situation involving a legislator that probably should not be in their seats anymore but are for political reasons. On the Republican side, "Rep." "George Santos" ("R", "NY") watched as House Republicans voted to refer a motion by Democrats to expel him to the House Ethics Committee (which was followed by shouting matches on the House steps led by "Santos" and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Z-Q-R, GA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)), where the motion will undoubtedly languish. The motion was made after "Santos" was indicted on 13 felony counts of crimes connected to his 2022 election campaign. "Santos" has announced a run for re-election in 2024.
-On the Democratic side, Senate leaders are facing demands from multiple sides of the aisle that they make moves to force Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to resign. After missing nearly three months of work for treatments of shingles and what the New York Times called "complications" (including encephalitis and a neurologic condition known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome), a frail Feinstein, 89, returned to Washington but told a reporter she had been working in DC for all those months. While Feinstein has announced she will not run for re-election in 2024, reports continue that she is refusing to resign her seat.
-The reasons why each party is clinging to these folks? The most basic political reason of all: each party needs that vote. For "Santos," he is part of a tenuous five-seat majority as well as a hedge for the dominant UltraMAGA faction which allows them to call a vote to end the Speakership of Kevin McCarthy (SINO, CA) if he does not do their bidding (as he tries to balance appeasing their demands to endanger the world economy by using the debt ceiling to force passage of draconian social safety net budget cuts). For Feinstein, the problem is in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Republicans have piously called for sensitivity to "their dear colleague" while insisting they will block any attempt to replace Feinstein on the Committee, which will allow them to block any further judge nominees to be confirmed for the duration of this Biden term. So unless voting math changes on either side and/or further legal and/or health issues emerge, expect both to stay in their seats in the near future.
-Meanwhile, another hearing of the "Special" House Oversight Committee turned into yet another Dance of the Self-Whacking Rakes on to the noggin of its Chair, Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan (OtheR Way, OH). A hearing that was plotted by Jordan to feature three "whistleblowers" that would prove the FBI was and is a hotbed of liberal bias and sharks aimed at corruptly tearing apart their Dear Leader, the self-proclaimed Most Innocent Man In The History of Ever, Ex-President Trump, kind of went sideways in a number of ways ...
-First, in a pre-hearing press conference, it was revealed that at least two of the witnesses were being paid to stay in DC and testify by Trump ally (and figure in the classified documents scandal) Kash Patel (real name) - a charge Jordan defended with a plaintive "they have to EAT!!" Maybe so, but it then was revealed by the FBI that the three 'whistleblowers' had been removed from the Bureau and had security clearances revoked not because of whistleblowing but because they expressed sympathy and support for a number of arrestees connected to the January 6 insurrection. THEN, it was FURTHER revealed that the FBI released the information about the witnesses after they first told Jordan about the issues of the so-called-by-Jordan "whistleblowers" and Jordan simply rejected their report. And finally, as the hearing began, Jordan was exposed by Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) as violating House rules by not handing over that and other information - including a transcript of a pre-testimony interview of at least one of the witnesses - to Democrats prior to the hearing.
-Perhaps instead of "Gym" we should call him "Sideshow Bob" Jordan?
-Yesterday, FL Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will finally make what he's been doing for months official on Wednesday by formally announcing his candidacy for President, with the proud slogan "Make America Florida." Shortly after that announcement, The Disney Corporation, locked in an all-out battle with DeSantis over DeSantis using the company as an example of his platform of attacking "woke" sociocultural institutions ("woke" being defined as "anything vaguely liberal that needs to be punished and vilified because they hurt white men's fee-fees") announced what making America like Florida could mean by cancelling a $1 billion development project that was likely to create over 2,000 permanent high-paying jobs and potentially billions in tax revenue for the state. DeSantis leads in polling against Biden but is now well behind Trump in Republican primary polling in what is shaping up to be a vicious primary season in which DeSantis, to his credit, has appeared soft, testy, peevish, and empty of any kind of charisma or ability to communicate.
-Get that popcorn ordered and enjoy the show ...
-On this date in 1884, the Ringling Brothers created their circus in Baraboo, WI. On this date in 1962, Marilyn Monroe serenaded John F. Kennedy with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" as part of a Democratic fund raiser at Madison Square Garden (?!). On this date in 1989, DO THE RIGHT THING premiered at Cannes. On this date in 1997, the first cases of Avian Flu appeared in Hong Kong, spurring fears of a pandemic (ah, more innocent times ...). And on this date in 2018, Britain's Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle (perhaps you've heard of them?).
-Happy Birthday to Florence Chadwick, Malcolm X, John Stroger, Lorraine Hansberry, Bill Fitch, David Hartman, Dick Scobee, Nancy Kwan, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., Nora Ephron, Curly Neal, Peter Mayhew, Pete Townshend, Andre the Giant, Grace Jones, Dusty Hill, Joey Ramone, Phil Rudd, Rick Cerone, Martyn Ware, Kevin Garnett, and Sam Smith.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Anne Boleyn, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Booth Tarkington, Coleman Hawkins, Ogden Nash, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Millie Bush, Dorothy Donegan, Susannah McCorkle, Tony Randall, Alan Young, and Morley Safer.
-Feed the Worms: Pol Pot entered Earth on this date (although he did give The Dead Kennedys an awesome outro), as did all-time NBA punk Bill Laimbeer.
-Ho Chi Minh was born on this date. T.E. Lawrence died on this date You decide if they get a Happy Birthday/Rest in Peace or Power or if they Feed the Worms.