-On what for many is a sacred day and for most should be a celebration of spring (despite whatever weather you're experiencing - it's chilly in Chicago!), the morning and the weekend is full of outrage and anger manufactured and real, on both sides of the aisle.
-On the left, fury is being directed both at Ex-President Trump (R-apist) LXXXVIII and Attorney General Merrick Garland over Trump's re-posting of a video (posted after Trump appeared at the wake of a slain police officer) which featured a pickup truck whose back trunk door had an illustration of President Biden bound and gagged as if he was taken hostage and was in said pickup truck.
-Combined with Trump continuing to name the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan - and posting photographs of her - and arguing in a New York court that the posts were clearly and specifically NOT in violation of the gag order Merchan placed on Trump as Trump's trial on paying off Stormy Daniels to suppress their ten-minute sexual encounter story from publication in 2016 - the incidents are being used by Trump opposition and decent humans everywhere to ask why Trump continues to not be punished (as in arrested and thrown in jail) like literally any other criminal defendant likely would be for threats and actions not nearly as provocative (or with the history of provocation) as what so many rightfully see as the poster boy for rich white male privilege.
-And on the right, the weekend has been filled with denunciations of President Biden and the White House for daring to release a statement in support of the Trans Day of Recognition (which actually happened in 2021 - the first such declaration by an American President), intertwining the two days in order to make Biden appear sacrilegious to the MAGA base that must continue to be enraged as Trump's polling numbers stagnate and wobble. Never mind that March 31 is always Transgender Day of Visibility and that Easter Sunday is simply early this year, or that Biden's statement does not tie the days together - it is simply yet another example of the right's need to find a wedge issue for their voters while promoting bigotry and the threat of violence in the process.
-But don't think MAGAts aren't using Easter to attack Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Jay-EE-Zuz!, LA) not only connected Easter to Transgender Day of Visibility, he went further and claimed that the White House had also banned any religious symbolism from the White House Easter Egg Roll. If you're thinking "Wait - that had religious symbolism? Wasn't it just an excuse for kids to run around with someone in an Easter Bunny suit join them in the fun?!" you would be right …
-…and the MAGAt statement not only led to White House pushback, but also pushback from, of all organizations, the American Egg Board, who pointed out that it "has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years" and rules keeping Gods off the lawn have "applied to the board since its founding, across administrations" - while also pointing out that the American Egg Board approves of "non-discrimination language," apparently now making the American Egg Board "woke."
-And THIS JUST IN: the Easter Brunch at Mar-a-Lago has a massive banner right now reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!
-Jesus ...
-Another emerging area of attack for the right is the cleanup after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse earlier this week in Baltimore. Of particular focus is Baltimore's young black Mayor, Brandon Scott, who in the midst of trying to find the bodies of six men (all Central American immigrants) in the wreckage while working to reopen the Port of Baltimore as quickly as possible (as it is a central nexus of supply chains and commerce nationally, including lots of Red States) has been criticized for ... not shaving and ... not appearing at the crime scene in a suit and tie and ... being another example of yet another MAGAt/GOP line of attack: being called "the DEI Mayor" (that's "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," of course) and doing so as a clear pejorative towards Mayor Scott. To his credit, Scott has dismissed the charges as "foolishness," but it is an example of what may is to occur in MD heading into November, where there is a hotly contested Senate election that features a real opportunity for alleged moderate Republican Larry Hogan to flip the seat red ...
-As for the Port itself, in the literal wake of the accident, the ship that lost power and rammed the support column that collapsed has put focus on a quiet but important item that has evolved over the last 10 years or so: the size of the cargo ships now in use to move goods between continents, particularly Asian countries. The Singapore-owned ship at the center of the disaster, the Dali, is 1000 feet long - which for comparisons, is longer than the Eifel Tower and larger than the Titanic. And the Dali is nowhere near the largest such ship on the seas, which for one thing makes navigation through and to ports much trickier (you may recall a container ship that hit a bridge and blocked the Suez Canal for a week, gumming up international supply chains for months after) and for another shows the dependence the world now has on these massive vessels to allow us to get everything from your Bluetooth speaker to ... well ... materials needed as part of infrastruture projects throughout the country ...
-In Congress, as the second week of the Easter break begins, calls to end the 'impeachment investigation' into President Biden continues, as Democrats led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) continue to point out that the investigations attempting to find something - ANYthing - to impeach Biden for have led to embarrassing and hysterical dead ends for the dogged 'investigators' of MAGAWorld. Indeed, even Fox and other non-Biden-investigator Republicans have been admitting for months there is absolutely no evidence of any kind of crime or anything that can be brought against Biden, with some wishing the investigations would stop.
-However, the backwoods Javert running the investigation, Rep. James Comer (HunteR!, KY) does not appear to be ready to stop stomping on rakes - in part, maybe?, because Comer may have a book deal about the inquiry, allegedly titled ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MONEY according to Axios - and subsequent inquires to the alleged publisher, HarperCollins, have been denied by Comer's office. Still, it may explain why this part of the MAGA Ritual Self-Humiliation fetish continues to be fed ...
-In closing, thanks for all the newer readers to this humble Substack. Keep telling your friends, keep subscribing to get the updates in your mailbox, keep watching as new columns (or as I call them, "tries") are produced in coming weeks, and I will humbly accept gifts in the form of paid subscriptions (as I figure out how to add a tip jar to each Update). Happy Easter to those who observe!
-On this date in 1776, Abigail Adams implored her husband John to "Remember the ladies!" as the Continental Congress debated and drafted what would become the Declaration of Independence. On this date in 1854, Japan signed a treaty with the United States that ended Japan's seclusion in world trade and other affairs. On this date in 1959, the Dalai Lama began his exile from Tibet. On this date in 1968, President Lyndon Johnson ended a speech about the Vietnam War by announcing he would not run for re-election.
-Debuts on this date: the first person of color to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870, in NJ), the Eifel Tower (1889), Daylight Savings Time (1918), the motion picture production code (1930), OKLAHOMA! (1943), Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar on stage (1967), the Golden Raspberry Awards (1981, 'won' by CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC), THE MATRIX (1999).
-Happy Birthday to Rene Descartes, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Nikolai Gogol, Jack Johnson, Etta Baker, Octavio Paz, Richard Kiley, Leo Buscaglia, John Fowles, Cesar Chavez, William Daniels, Lefty Frizzell, Gordie Howe, Liz Claiborne, Richard Chamberlain, Shirley Jones, Herb Alpert, Barney Frank, Patrick Leahy, Al Goodman, Christopher Walken, Mick Ralphs, Gabe Kaplan, Al Gore, Rhea Perlman, Ed Marinaro, Angus Young, Paul Mercurio, Samantha Brown, Steve Smith, Craig McCracken, Ewan McGregor, Pavel Bure, Brian Tyree Henry, Chloe Zhao, Jack Antonoff, and Baby M.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Sir Isaac Newton, Charlotte Bronte, Knute Rockne, Jesse Owens, O'Kelly Isley, Brandon Lee, Selena, Bella Abzug, Frank Perdue, Terri Schiavo, Frankie Knuckles, Nipsey Hussle, and John Brockington.
-Feed the Worms: Proto-Right Wing Hate Radio Host Michael "Savage" WIENER entered Earth on this date. Slave-defending secessionist turncoat John C. Calhoun and OG billionaire J. P. Morgan bought it on this date.
-Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.
-The Number One Movie in America on this date ... in 2024, GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE ... in 2014, NOAH ... in 2004, SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED ... in 1994, D2: THE MIGHTY DUCKS ... in 1984, POLICE ACADEMY ... and in 1974, THE EXORCIST.