-For those of you wondering how many Republicans will take the released indictment of Ex-President Trump and his handling classified documents and use it to move away from him, perish that thought. On this morning's talk show circuits, UltraMAGA leader Jim "Gym" Jordan did what he does best and looked the other way, insisting that if Trump said he unclassified documents (even though according to the indictment he literally did the opposite) then he did, and Jordan will believe him ... Sen. Lindsay Graham breathlessly called the entire 37-count indictment "absolutely ridiculous" ... and GOP Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy fell in line with fellow candidate Ron DeSantis and promised he will pardon Trump should he ever become President.
-And all of them, of COURSE, invoked the GOP's favorite binky of the last 30+ years to whatabout Trump's actions ... HILLARY! ROD - hey, you in the back? I can't HEEEAR YYOOOUUU - HILLARY! RODHAM! CLINTON! and her emails (which, while undoubtedly a breach of security, never hit the levels of this charge due to a combination of cooperation once the private server was exposed, a search of the hard drive done with the cooperation of Clinton, and legal exoneration from multiple GOP-LED investigations - so DON'T EVEN ...).
-As for the man in the center of it all, Trump went out on the campaign trail (for the last time in a while if he is effectively placed in house arrest? Probably not, but we're still in the dream stage) in GA and NC, and you bet he played the self-pitying grievance hits for the crowds, insisting he was totally innocent ("You've got a box, I've got a box!") compared to Biden's handling of documents (Biden is fully cooperative when such documents were found, Trump was not - and if Trump was, he would likely not have ever been indicted for this) and the email servers (see previous point), and adding various threats and weird statements that are a simulation of a campaign speech for the man who is still the GOP 2024 Presidential front-runner. Among the, erm, 'highlights' ...
-Again mentioning Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's wife ("I wish her a lot of luck") ... Insisting the US is in danger because "Ukraine has our ammunition. All of it. Just about" ... Claiming that if he were President, Venezuela would have given all their oil to the U.S. ... Promising he will end the use of electric cars in the U.S. on his first day in office ... Also promising on the first day of office he alone will prevent "obliteration of the entire world" ... Calling GOP Party Leader Marjorie Taylor Greene "beautiful" ... Noting that he gets more standing ovations by slandering the transsexual community than calling for tax cuts ... And wrapping up with this bit of wisdom even those of us who might not like Trump can admit has some value: "All of the sudden, you see that big fat dump, that big dump at 3:02 in the morning."
-(Credit for all these, by the way, is the social media feed of MN-based reporter Aaron Rupar, who watches all those speeches so the rest of us don't have to. His is an excellent follow - and he is also on Substack!)
-On a more worrying note, with Trump's arraignment set for Tuesday afternoon, Trump's social media feed is now veering towards the same kind of QAnon rhetoric that preceded the January 6, 2021 insurrection, right down to "MEET ME IN MIAMI!" where the courthouse is. There is, indeed, a QAnon-called 'rally' set to take place starting Tuesday morning, prompting concerns about the security and safety of the building. And as if that weren't a bit worrying enough, Trump follower Kari Lake spoke at the same GA event as Trump, and Lake continued to make her case to be Trump's Vice Presidential candidate with this passage: "If you want to get to President Trump, you're going to have to go through me, and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA. That's not a threat, that's a public service announcement."
-And for those of you fretting about how "unprecedented" this is and how horrible it may be for the US to prosecute a former President, I close by taking note of what's happened just in the last 48 hours or so in Great Britain. There, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who moved from 10 Downing Street to the Parliament, was forced to resign from that seat after an investigation found he lied to his party members about his conduct during the country's COVID lockdown - and this morning, the recently-resigned former Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested as part of an investigation into her finances. Britain continues to function, however, through a heat spell and amid celebrations of Manchester City's soccer treble (Premiere League title, FA Cup win, and European Champions League winner).
-Imagine that ...
-On this date in 1919, Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown. On this date in 1963, George Wallace allowed two black students to enroll in the University of Alabama. Also on this date in 1963, a Buddhist monk protested events in South Vietnam by immolating himself. On this date in 1982, ET was released. And on this date in 2002, AMERICAN IDOL premiered.
-Happy Birthday to Ben Johnson, Richard Strauss, Jeanette Rankin, Ernie Nevers, Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, Jacques Cousteau, Vince Lombardi, William Styron, Charles Rangel, Athol Fugard, Gene Wilder, Chad Everett, Christina Crawford, Jackie Stewart, Henry Cisneros, Frank Beard, Gary Fencik, Joe Montana, Hugh Laurie, Peter Dinklage, Diana Taurasi, Shia LeBeouf, and Maya Moore.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to John L. Lewis, John Wayne, Karen Ann Quinlan, Ray Sharkey, Jack Hannah, DeForest Kelley, David Brinkley, Teofilo Stevenson, Ruby Dee, Dusty Rhodes, Ornette Coleman, and Ron Moody.
-Feed the Worms: Richard Loeb and Henry Hill entered Earth on this date. Timothy McVeigh was executed on this date.
-Ray Nagin and Mehmet Oz were born on this date. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.