ST. PATRICK'S DAY UPDATES

May The Road Rise To Meet You, All You Fine Things!

-In his latest quasi-campaign video, Ex-President Trump - taped with odd lighting that made his complexion more copper-like and erratic voice modulations - made it very clear that he still very much sees himself more of an ally towards Vladimir Putin than Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the video, Trump insists Russia is not a threat to Europe (a view backed up by GOP House Leader Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Z-Q-R, GA), who claimed Putin has never invaded Europe, apparently not realizing Ukraine IS IN EUROPE), again made clear his desire to leave NATO, again promised to try to fire most of the Defense, State, and Intelligence departments, and claimed that the biggest reason America is currently "on the brink of World War III!" was ... "ourselves."

-And if you haven't seen the video, well, um, you are ... in luck? Because THIS JUST IN: YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, has announced they have lifted their ban on Ex-President Trump from using their platform to distribute his videos. So, now, you can see them for yourselves much easier than before. (Hooray?)

-Trump also is amping up his attacks on now-GOP 2024 rival Gov. Ron DeSantis, insisting in a different video (and subsequent Truth Social posts) that DeSantis would massively cut Social Security and Medicare - and, it must be said, an inspection of DeSantis' voting record while a member of the House in the early 2010s shows that yes, indeed, DeSantis was a consistent vote to cut social safety net services, ending the Affordable Care Act, slashing funding, and consistent support for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. It must also be said that in his four years, Trump supported many of the same votes that he is now ripping DeSantis on - because, going back to the 1930s and the creation of Social Security under Franklin Roosevelt, all of the above have kind of been Republican boilerplate policies, in goals if not in degrees.

-As Silicon Valley Bank formally declares bankruptcy this morning, Fox News and various GOP representatives continue to attempt to pin the blame for the collapse on the new Republican/UltraMAGA binky, "wokeness." Several Fox News evening hosts attempted to use an SVB corporate video promoting diversity in staffing and loan services as 'proof' that bad financial decisions were made as a direct result of that video - and other Fox hosts, notably Jesse Waters and Larry Kudlow, even claimed SVB made a $75 million donation to "Black Lives Matter."

-How true is any of this? Apparently ... none of it. The New York Times did an examination of SVB records and concluded that loans and/or too many loans had little to nothing to do with SVB's collapse - and that, contrary to the video and Waters and Kudlow, the SVB board had all of one person of color on it, and that SVB contributions to "Black Lives Matter" came to a grand total of ZERO - in large part because there is no such thing as an organization of any kind called "Black Lives Matter" (same with "Antifa," by the way).

-Turning to COVID - it's still with us - the New York Times reported that new genetic and biological research obtained from the Wuhan area gave the strongest indication to date that COVID likely jumped from an animal to humans, probably somewhere in a now-famous open-air market located in that city. COVID origins are a central mystery in the rise of the pandemic, and are also a major area of controversy, with some conspiracy theorists believing the virus was man-made and released deliberately by China in an act of biological warfare. Much research must be done, particularly as China has been very reticent about releasing such information, and because a international lab that was located in Wuhan that opened in 2002 by former President George W. Bush was closed in the summer of 2019 by Ex-President Trump. Womp womp.

-Speaking of China, next week newly-re-'elected' Chinese President Xi will be meeting with the aforementioned Vladimir Putin, raising the specter of new Chinese support for Russia and its military in its continued slogging invasion against Ukraine. This comes as Poland delivered four new fighter jets to Ukraine and material continues to build towards what most observers see as an imminent counter-offensive in Crimea this Spring (which officially starts Monday, y'all!)!

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-Besides the obvious ... on this date in 1905, the aforementioned Franklin Roosevelt married his fifth cousin, Eleanor, creating what arguably was the greatest power couple in American history (don't look at me like that, Barack and Michelle). On this date in 1969, Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel. And on this date in 1992, a multiracial electorate voted to end apartheid in South Africa.

-Happy Birthday to Gottlieb Daimler, Homer Plessy, Bobby Jones, Bayard Rustin, Sammy Baugh, Hank Sauer, Nat King Cole, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Rudolf Nureyev, Paul Kanter, Pattie Boyd, Michael Hayden, Patrick Duffy, Kurt Russell, Gary Sinise, Danny Ainge, Rob Lowe, Billy Corgan, Alexander McQueen, Melissa Auf der Maur, Stormy Daniels, Kyle Korver, Grimes, Hozier, John Boyega, Rhian Teasdale, and Katie Ledecky.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Marcus Aurelius, Christian Doppler, Fred Allen, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Helen Hayes, Sunnyland Slim, Jermaine Stewart, J.J. Jackson, Oleg Cassini, Ray Meyer, Alex Chilton, Derek Walcott, and Lyle Waggoner.

-Feed the Worms: The man who made clowns and crawlspaces even more disturbing than they were before him, John Wayne Gacy, entered Earth on this date. Also sadly born on this date: hedge fund dudebro jackass Martin Shkreli.