Wacko in Waco 🌻 🌻 🌻

 Cults and Cultists:  Watchers of HGTV know that Joanna and Chip Gaines of Fixer Upper and Magnolia Network fame are based in Waco, Texas. Their episodes which celebrate their impossibly cute family and unbelievably inexpensive rehabs of dated homes have gone far to improving the reputation of a town that was previously associated, at least outside of Texas, with the FBI siege that led to the death of David Koresh and his wacked out cult of anti-government, gun hoarding polygamists. Despite the Gaines’ best efforts, Waco is still attracting destructive gun loving, anti-deep state cultists, only now the cultist in chief is Donald Trump rather than David Koresh and as dangerous as Koresh was, at least he never had control of the nuclear football as Trump did and may have again if he has anything to say about it. While in Waco, Trump labeled Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the courts, at least the ones ruling against him, rather than Putin, Xi or Kim as the greatest threats to America. He also attacked that other Floridian, Ron DeSantis, governor of the state where discussing menstrual cycles may soon be illegal because once you go after books, periods are next?  Before going off to rally in Waco, Trump warned of “potential death and destruction” if he is indicted in the so-called hush money probe, one of a series of warnings and threats that led to one diehard cult member sending a threatening package of white powder to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg but at least so far hasn’t resulted in any notable demonstrations in NYC, not counting the faux one staged for the newest Batman spinoff.  Penguins aside, Trump’s threats should be taken seriously, he’s nervous about impending indictments and he should be because his problems don’t just originate from New York as Special Counsel Jack Smith appears to be making progress with his investigation where a gaggle of former Trump officials, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Personnel Chief and aide John McEntee, personal aide Nick Luna, national security advisor Robert O’Brien, social media director Dan Scavino, Director of National Security John Ratcliffe, speech writer/advisor Stephen Miller, and Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli have been ordered to testify. Fani Willis and Fulton County still loom which likely explains why Trump’s House cultists, led by Kevin McCarthy, Gym Jordan and Margie Q, who together with Panhandle Putz Matt Gaetz and wacko Dr. Ronny Jackson also appeared at his Waco rally, are threatening to pass legislation that would protect former presidents from being prosecuted for their crimes.

 

Senate Update: Mitch McConnell who is a threat to America but not in the way that Trump means, is out of rehab, finishing up his recovery at home in Kentucky.  He’s expected back in DC after the Easter break.  John Fetterman’s office reports that his stay at Walter Read is nearing its end and that he’ll be back in the saddle soon though they still haven’t said when.  No word though from Diane Feinstein as to when or even if she’ll be returning but one thing we do know is that California Congressman Ro Khanna will not be running for her seat. Yesterday he endorsed Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the 76-year-old African American progressive who is best known for being the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing the war in Afghanistan.  That endorsement frees Khanna from having to choose between the two announced candidates: Adam Schiff, who is currently leading in the polls and Katie Porter who currently trails Schiff by a significant margin.        

 

World on Fire: Ukraine is Ukraine and Vlad remains Vlad, now threatening to move tactical nukes to Belarus. France is still burning, a reaction to Prime Minister Macron’s decision to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.  That change puts France more in line with the US and most members of the EU while also responding to the reality of changing demographics, simply put: too few young people to support an aging population. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is what happens when you cross a Donald Trump with a Kevin McCarthy in a fractious parliamentary democracy with a barely there coalition government.  Like Trump, Bibi fears that losing his position, again, will result in him finally being jailed for his alleged crimes, like McCarthy he can only hold on to that power by placating the extremists in an already extreme hanging by a thread coalition.  As one of my former Israeli clients, a centrist former government official puts it, the insanity that’s going on in Israel right now “is a fight between those who want religious state that is controlled by them including full control of the courts.” Facing resignations, labor strikes, pushback from the US, and those impressively huge civil demonstrations Bibi appears to be freezing his plan to “rein” in the country’s fiercely independent judiciary, at least for now. Stay tuned.