THE REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. UPDATES
For Peace ... For Justice ... For All ...
-Ex-President Trump XCI ended his wooing of Iowa caucus voters yesterday in just the same sort of way you would imagine he would: spewing bile that to rational people sound like the rantings of an old man that needs institutionalized, but to too many other people sound like the inner voice of their souls brought to bronzed and stenchy life. Take his final pitch to his supporter to brave what is anticipated to be record cold to support him tonight: "You can't sit home. If you're sick as a dog you say 'Darling, I gotta make it.' Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it, remember." (And remember, Trump is the only President on record who has gone on the record as being a dog-hater, so ...)
-In the same speech, Trump repeated a promise that, if he were to get back in power, his first act as President would be to reinstall the ban on Muslims as well as the largest exportation of immigrants in American history - a promise re-enforced by Trump's right hand, racist ghoul Stephen Miller, who posted that the deportations would start "at Noon on January 21, 2025.)
-Again, in case you run into any Democrats thinking about not voting or pissing their vote away on a third-party protest-but-really-Trump vote ...
-Trump is also working to get the party in line in that would-be crime boss way that he does. He attacked NH Gov. Chris Sununu for his support of Gov. Nikki Haley in NH even though Sununu bent the knee and said he would still vote for Trump in the general election if Trump is a prosecuted and (perhaps?) criminal felon by the time November rolls around. Trump also went on social media attacking Fox News for daring to have Haley and soon-to-be-humiliated FL Gov. Ron DeSantis on their morning show today even though Trump was given an hour of fluffing at the same time as the last Haley/DeSantis 'debate' last week.
-All of which culminated in a moment captured by the Wall Street Journal's Molly Ball, who watched as Trump mused about his campaign and his seemingly inevitable third GOP nomination and, according to Ball, was "thinking about all the ways (Trump) had been betrayed." "Do you think this is fun? Actually?" Ball quotes Trump, before answering "It's not fun, but we're getting our point across."
-And people may very well vote for him sicker than a dog tonight ...
-One person that Trump likely does still have on his good side: Federal Judge Aileen Cannon. Over the weekend, in response to a complaint by Special Counsel Jack Smith that Team Trump was not turning over any evidence in preparation for the FL trial of the removal of classified documents - a case that Smith has said could be presented on his side in three weeks and most legal experts agree is the most open-and-shut case against Trump - Cannon continued to bend over backwards on his knees and lifted up her robes to allow Trump full access by essentially ignoring Smith's complaint and refusing to create any calendar for Team Trump to prepare for trial.
-The move, combined with her record of granting Trump attorneys every motion they have made to delay the trial until well past the 2024 election (in the hopes of Trump returning to power, granting himself the power to read and do anything with documents that he wanted, and possibly reward Cannon - who was appointed after Trump lost the 2020 election - with Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court seat) (but Biden is old, AMIRITE?!), is making legal observers wonder whether Smith will allow the foot-dragging to continue or make a move (including removing Cannon or charging Trump in another area where the documents were believed/are believed to be stored, including New Jersey) remain to be seen, starting tomorrow when courts are reopened.
-In censorship news, the book banning push in Florida took two extreme twists - one infuriating, one with at least some schadenfreude attached. The infuriating: the Florida Freedom To Read (anything we deem worthy of reading) Project announced a successful effort to have Escambia County ban reference books, including five dictionaries, eight encyclopedias and the Guinness Book of World Records, from that county's schools - though district officials have said they have not been banned (for, literally, dirty words) but only "pulled for further review to ensure compliance ..." of soon-to-be-GOP Presidential Loser DeSantis' legislation to ban books in FL schools.
-But there's another "author" whose books have shown up on to-be-banned lists, and that's the karma - former Fox News host, notorious sexual pest and loofah afficionado Bill O'Reilly, whose books are also not allowed in schools. (And yes, we can and must ask, "You mean Bill O's soft-core porn WAS allowed in FL schools?!?!?!?").
-Finally, in todays' report of "What is the Right Wing Ticked Off About NOW?!" we have a repeat answer: arguably the most watched and most powerful woman in the world right now ... Taylor Swift. While Taylor rocked a custom-made jacket with boyfriend Travis Kelce's 87 while watching the genuinely frigid Kansas City/Miami playoff game, homophobic NBC commentator Tony Dungy snorted that the presence of 'celebrities' like Swift were making a mockery of the seriousness we should take NFL playoff games. This must explain why the game, exclusively streamed on NBC's Peacock streaming service, saw over 28 million accounts stream the game, easily a record for a streaming event.
-That was on the heels of Fox Sports jackass Skip "I Could Beat LeBron James In A Pickup Game That's How Much LeBron Sucks!" Bayless, who recently sneered that he was sure Taylor and Travis were the reason the Chiefs ... (checks score) ... advanced to the second round of the NFL playoffs ...
-And then there's Trump's favorite guitar player, self-defecating pedophile (AHA!) Ted Nugent, who applied the kind of talent that brough us "Wang Bang Sweet Poontang" to ... criticize the multi-Grammy and billionaire-selling record-breaking Taylor ... for not being a good musician.
-In case you couldn't guess, Taylor has advocated against Trump, in support of abortion rights, and got at least 50,000 Swifties registered to vote after one social media post, which is why there is so much MAGAt disgust at Swift - not to mention a BF who is making commercials asking people to (GASP!) get the latest Covid vaccination!
-The only shock is that Trump himself hasn't attacked them yet ... but there's time ...
-On this date in 1559, Queen Elizabeth I began her historic reign. On this date in 1892, Triangle Magazine published the rules to a new game created by James Naismith he called "basket ball." On this date in 1969, Muammar al-Qaddafi became premiere of Libya. On this date in 1973, Richard Nixon suspended fighting in Vietnam. On this date in 2009, U.S. Airways Pilot Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger successfully landed an Airbus airliner in the Hudson River after its engines were damaged by flying into a flock of geese with no loss of human life.
-Notable debuts on this date: the British Museum (1759), the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party (1870, credit to cartoonist Thomas Nast), the Ford Foundation (1936), the Super Bowl (1967), HAPPY DAYS (1974), HILL STREET BLUES (1981), Wikipedia (2001).
-Happy Birthday to Joan of Arc, Frederick Stanley, Ray Chapman, Aristotle Onassis, Edward Teller, Gene Krupa, Jean Bugatti, Cy Feuer, Lloyd Bridges, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Martin Luther King Jr. (his actual birthday!), Margaret O'Brien, Captain Beefheart, Andrea Martin, Ronnie Van Zant, Charo, Bob Clearmountain, Randy White, Mario Van Peebles, Lisa Lisa Velez, Regina King, Drew Brees, Pitbull, Skrillex, and Eric Dier.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Fannie Farmer, Elizabeth Short, Red Smith, Ray Bolger, Sean MacBride, Dee Murray, Henry Iba, Sammy Cahn, Harry Nilsson, Minnesota Fats, Junior Wells, Michael Bilandic, Ruth Warwick, Kim Fowley, Dan Haggerty, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Dolores O'Riordan, Joe Frank, Carol Channing, and Joe B. Hall.
-Feed the Worms: Ben Shapiro, who will never understand how owned he will always be by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion - just ask his wife - entered Earth on this date. Gangster Meyer Lansky bought it on this date.
-Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.