SPRING EQUINOX UPDATES
Here Comes The Sun!
-Acting on two of his tried-and-true legal strategies - delay and hail-Mary maneuvers - Ex-President Trump is taking advantage of a NY rule that allows him to bring witnesses before a Grand Jury today, calling a witness his team believes will impugn Michael Cohen, the former Trump attorney whose testimony is believed to form the core of the Manhattan case involving Trump payoffs to porn star Stormy Daniels over a three-minute stand. The attorney, Robert Costello, was himself an attorney for Trump and Cohen (Trump runs through attorneys like he runs through porn stars) and is expected to essentially call Cohen an unreliable witness who did not know Daniels was "extorting" Trump. Manhattan A.G. Alvin Bragg has called for Cohen to be available to the grand jury as a rebuttal to Costello, and some legal analysts see the Trump strategy as being really bad, given that (a) the extortion story is new, (b) Costello opens himself up to other questioning in the case, and (c) the Trump strategy is now known long before any trial for the D.A. to plan for.
-The testimony could easily delay any potential announcement of an indictment, which Trump posted on his failing Truth Social media site would happen on Tuesday. That post, by the way, was never corroborated by anyone, and is thus believed to be just another Trump Truth post aimed at agitating his base (Trump posted at least seven such posts yesterday, including one in which he called on New York City police to ignore orders to arrest any Trump 'protestors' and a second calling on Bragg to be arrested for obstructing a Presidential campaign).
-As for that base, the buzz in the right-wing social media-sphere has reportedly called on creating what they are calling a "patriot moat" - a human wall of MAGA supporters surrounding the Mar-a-Lago golf resort where Trump has been residing to "protect" Trump from getting arrested. And while Trump attorneys have stated that, if Trump is to be arrested he will not fight it (and in fact reportedly believes that photos of Trump being perp-walked and a mug shot will create a spike of fund raising - which Trump is already doing - and polling), others simply point to all the times Trump has made a promise that he has kept, and expect a dramatic 24/7 media show. (Which, admittedly, certainly will happen given that Trump is on the verge of being the first President in American history to be arrested for a crime.)
-In non-Trump news, Chinese President Xi has arrived in Moscow for meetings with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, the primary focus of which is likely to be cooperation between the countries that would include sorely-needed military supplies for Russian forces currently stuck in Ukraine after their invasion last year. Xi hilariously refers to the meeting as "a journey of friendship," and it must be noted both Russia and China are reeling economically, not to mention that the two countries have many areas of conflict in Asia and other areas of influence.
-Nonetheless, Slava Ukraini!
-A third bank has been rescued this month - this one Credit Suisse, taken over by rival UBS as a measure to keep Credit Suisse solvent. Credit Suisse has a history of making financially risky investments and working with sketchy large clients, but in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures, bank stocks worldwide are taking a hit in worry that this wave of banking issues may escalate the way they did in 2008 (although most economists do NOT believe that is going to happen, as many of these issues are connected to bad investments in the wake of inflation and the collapse of cryptocurrency markets).
-Early voting has begun for two big races in the Midwest. Here in Chicago, early voting has begun in the Mayoral runoff that pits progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson against former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas. Vallas won the first round (that saw incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot miss the runoff), but early polling indicated Johnson may be closing the gap. Meanwhile, early voting begins tomorrow in a runoff for a State Supreme Court seat in WI. In that race, election-denying Republican Dan Kelly is trying to help the GOP maintain a 4-3 majority, faces progressive Democrat Janet Protasiewicz, who won the first round of voting in a race that is likely to determine everything from abortion rights to redistricting in the land of cheese. Election Day for both races is April 4.
-On this date in 1854, the Republican Party was founded. On this date in 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono. On this date in 1995, a Japanese cult opened several packages of sarin gas in Tokyo subways, killing 12 and injuring over 5,000. And on this date in 1999, the first successful circumnavigation of Earth by balloon ended successfully.
-Happy Birthday to Henrik Ibsen, Edgar Buchanan, BF Skinner, Ozzie Nelson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Marian McPartland, Carl Reiner, Ray Goulding, Fred Rogers, Hal Linden, Willie Brown, Ted Bessell, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Vaughn Meader, Jerry Reed, Brian Mulroney, Paul Junger Witt, Pat Riley, Bobby Orr, William Hurt, Jimmie Vaughan, Spike Lee, Holly Hunter, Sting (the pro wrestler), David Thewlis, Kathy Ireland, Alex Kapranos, Chester Bennington, Jamal Crawford, and Sloane Stephens.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to C. Wright Mills, Brendan Behan, Chet Huntley, Gil Evans, Conor Clapton, Lewis Grizzard, and Kenny Rogers.
-Feed the Worms: Watergate co-conspirator John Erlichman entered Earth on this date.
-The #1 non-fiction book in America: in 2023, THE COURAGE TO BE FREE by Ron DeSantis ... in 2013, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL by Ben and Cathy Carson ... in 2003, DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larson ... in 1993, HEALING AND THE MIND by Bill Moyers ... in 1983, MEGATRENDS by John Naisbitt ... and in 1973, DR. ATKINS' DIET REVOLUTION by Dr. Robert Atkins.