Best and the Brightest? 🌻 🌻 🌻

 Counting 🐑 🐑:   Never one to miss a holiday, Trump posted a truly offensive message on Truth Social.  This one, directed at “liberal Jews” celebrating Rosh Hashanah, opened with “Wake up Sheep” before going on to say that by voting against him they had “voted to destroy America and Israel,” and that he “hoped” they had learned from their “mistake” and would “make better choices next year.” Nothing like starting a new year by being compared to a farm animal by a once and possibly (ugh) future president.  What’s next, Trump sponsored trips on cattle cars?  That’s the same Trump that NBC’s Meet the Press tried to normalize on Sunday’s broadcast in order to gin up ratings for their new host Kristen Welker’s debut.  He spewed lies, many of which went unchecked during the interview and also, confessed to some of his crimes while admitting that he didn’t listen to his lawyers because they were just RINOS, and he was president which gave him license to do whatever he wanted to do.  He also tried to distance himself from 6-week abortion bans, calling the one signed by his opponent, Florida’s Ron DeSantis, a terrible mistake, although he didn’t seem all that concerned about the one signed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds because she’s endorsed him and that’s all that matters. Trump, who appointed the three judges who moved the court into full anti-abortion mode, refused to say whether he’d sign a 15 week or shorter ban were he to be reelected only because he knows that the majority of Americans don’t want a ban, not because he wouldn’t sign one. He’s despicable and untrustworthy but he’s also a shrewd politician and unlike most of his Republican opponents he cares little about the issue, his only concern is figuring out a position that doesn’t lose him the anti-abortion crowd but lures back into his fold some of those general election voters who like those “liberal Jews” voted to destroy America in 2020 and during the midterms. Naturally, Trump who also said he appreciated the nice compliments he’d received from his BFF Putin, the charmer who canoodled with North Korea’s Kim Jong un last week, has also continued to target all those deranged Communist prosecutors going after him.  Special Counsel Jack Smith’s concern that the mango maniac’s words and social media posts are intended to intimidate witnesses and taint the jury pool is why he has asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose a limited gag order to prevent Trump from making any statements about the identity of witnesses in the election interference case that “could be considered “disparaging or intimidating.”  An ordinary citizen acting like Trump would have already been told to shut up or put on an orange jumpsuit, but if we’ve learned anything by now Trump doesn’t get ordinary treatment.  What would Judge Chutkan do if he violated a gag order?  Toss him in jail, unlikely. Accelerate the start of the trial? Fine his lawyers?  Your guess is as good as mine. 

 

Only the Best? Last week Senator Mitt Romney pointed out that many of his Republican colleagues didn’t vote for Trump’s impeachment over concerns that doing so would lose them their seats and crater their political careers. Sadly, that concern isn’t unique to those serving in Washington, it extends to Texas.  Over the weekend the state’s obviously guilty Attorney General, Ken Paxton was acquitted of all of the 16 impeachment charges brought against him by the state’s Republican dominated lower chamber.  To be clear, everyone knows Paxton committed the charges that he was accused of by his own Republican appointees, but only two Republicans had the cojones to vote against him. Paxton, who had been temporarily removed from office pending results of the Texas Senate hearing, is now back in office. Paxton wasn’t the only Republican in the news this weekend, so were Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. Just days after Politico published an article about how Boebert was working hard to clean up her image among voters in her district, she was thrown out of a showing of Beetlejuice for vaping, dancing, and displaying an excessive amount of PDA.  The 36-year-old grandmother also gave the finger to the security professionals who escorted her off the premises.  Of course, Boebert initially denied doing anything wrong until incriminating footage landed on TV and social media, at which point, she apologized, blaming her actions on the difficulties of navigating a public divorce. Colorado voters might turn on Boebert, she almost lost her seat during the last election, but Kevin McCarthy won’t because he needs her vote and anyway it’s not like anyone didn’t already know about her rather extensive rap sheet.  It turns out that Governor Noem who’s been busy auditioning to be Trump’s VP pick, or failing that, obtaining a cabinet nod, isn’t much of a moral model citizen either.  Reports are that Noem has been having a not very discrete extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s one time campaign manager.  Lewandowski, who is also married, has previously been credibly accused of sexual harassment.  Of course, sexual harassment and marital affairs even by so called family first politicians are hardly disqualifiers in Trump world.

 

And: Kevin McCarthy and his band of broken toys may be getting closer, or further away depending on who you ask, from passing a short-term resolution to keep the government open. If they manage to pass anything, it will be chock full of drastic cuts to non-defense spending that won’t pass the Senate which means the government could still be headed into shutdown mode at the end of the month. The United Auto Workers “limited” strike remains unresolved.  And, this morning ABC reported that Iran plans to finally free five “detained” Americans today in a prisoner, money swap that involves the release of $6 billion of Iran oil revenues that had been held frozen in South Korea as the result of US sanctions.