Five Years 😱🤡 ✡️🌻😱🤡

History Rewrite:  Yesterday on the fifth anniversary of a very dark day, the White House posted on its website a whitewashed rewrite of the events that took place on January 6, 2021.  The alternative facts post, describes the marauders who attacked the Capitol as peaceful and orderly pro-Trump “marchers” while accusing the brave Capitol police some of whom were critically injured of escalating tensions and fueling violence. It downplays Trump’s escalatory rhetoric while reupping the false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen. Sadly, given that Trump has pardoned and/or commuted the sentence of those convicted for their actions on that horrible day, the North Korean style history revision isn’t shocking.  Ironically, because the pardon that Trump bestowed upon the Capitol attackers was written so broadly, some legal pundits believe that a credible argument can be made that it will apply to Brian Cox, the recently captured man who planted the unexploded bombs outside of the RNC and DNC headquarters. At the very least Cox’s lawyers will argue that any sentence he receives for his alleged crime should be immediately pardoned.  As to Trump, the instigator of the January 6 events, yesterday in a truly incoherent and rambling speech delivered to Republicans gathered at the recently renamed Kennedy Center during an all-hands Republican 2026 kick off meeting, Trump warned that losing Congress during the midterms would likely lead to his third impeachment. He may or may not be right about another impeachment, but for all practical purposes he may have already lost the House.  On Monday, one Republican representative, California’s Doug LaMalfa died as a result of a brain aneurism and another, Indiana’s Jim Baird was hospitalized following a serious car crash.  The party line is that the 80-year-old Baird will recover but it’s fair to assume he won’t be available for any house votes in the near future. With Marjorie Taylor Greene now gone, pending Baird’s return and a few upcoming special elections, Speaker Mike Johnson has only two votes to spare, really one since Republican Thomas Massie is a habitual naysayer.  That impeachment Trump fears isn’t on the immediate horizon but it’s getting closer, and not a moment too soon.

War:  We now own Venezuela, warts, and all and some of those warts are already playing out on the streets of Caracas where various factions are duking it out, not with boxing gloves but with guns.  The backstory about the decision making that led to the Maduro abduction and the taking over of Venezuela is about as absurd as one would expect given this administration’s players. Not surprisingly given his long-term antipathy for all things Marxist, Secretary of State Marco Rubio who sees the ousting of Maduro as a steppingstone to the overthrow Cuba’s regime is one of its architects.  More surprising is that Stephen Miller who previously was laser focused on domestic issues was also all in on the Venezuela mission.  Apparently, Miller who horrifyingly has been suggested as a possible Venezuela overlord since Rubio has his hands filled with so many other jobs, believes by controlling Venezuela he’ll be able to achieve two of his lifetime objectives: stopping the flow of Venezuelans to the US and invoking the Alien Enemies Act, something that could facilitate his and Trump’s aim to “legally” employ the military throughout blue cities.  During Trump One, Trump’s Secretary of Defense and Legal team put the kibosh on his plans to overthrow Venezuela but this time around there was no pushback because the war guy is Pete Hegseth and the law gal is Pam Bondi and neither ever says no to Trump. Worth noting that neither VP Vance nor Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have had much to say possibly because neither are all that into international forays. Gabbard has however been posting pictures of herself doing yoga poses in Hawaii.  At least for now Maduro’s number two, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is the nominal head of Venezuela, she was sworn in yesterday as Maduro’s replacement. Rodriguez has long been a Maduro loyalist, but she’s apparently earned some credit from Trump because she’s done a somewhat reasonable job of managing the country’s oil resources.  Though Trump claims that he didn’t promote opposition leader Maria Corina Machado because she’s not strong enough, reports are that despite her efforts to cozy up to him, he’s mad at her because she didn’t give him her Nobel Peace prize. That may sound crazy but it’s in keeping with reports that Trump made his final decision to move forward with the Maduro abduction after seeing a video of Maduro making fun of his dancing style.

Next Up:  Trump has now ramped up his Greenland threats because having gotten Venezuela and its oil, he now feels entitled to Greenland’s valuable minerals. Yesterday, shortly after Secretary of State Rubio told Senators attending a Venezuela update meeting that Trump was just saber rattling in order to force Denmark into selling him Greenland, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released the following statement: “Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal." Using military action against Denmark, a member of NATO, would be a very, very bad thing.  Putin and Xi would be happy, our allies, or at least our former allies not so much. Forget about the post WWII world order, it will be tossed into the history bin along side the real events of January 6^th.

Midterm Madness:  Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has fallen victim to the Minneapolis social service fraud mess.  Facing criticism for not getting out ahead of the fraud possibly over what some critics say was his concerns about alienating left leaning Minneapolis voters in the run up to the 2024 election, he announced that he won’t be running in November for what would have been an unprecedented third term.  His decision is a relief to state Democrats who feared he would drag down the rest of their ticket in the reliably blue state. Senator Amy Klobuchar who easily won reelection by 15 points in 2024 is considering running for Governor. By Minnesota law, she won’t have to step down to run.  If she runs and wins, either she or the retiring Walz would get to pick her successor. A special election for the Minnesota seat would then be held, probably in November 2027. Minnesota’s other Senate seat is up for grabs this November since Democratic Senator Tina Smith is not running for reelection.  Here in NYC, George Conway, the former spouse of Kellyanne “alternative facts” Conway has thrown his hat into the crowded NY 12 House race for the seat being vacated by the retiring Jerry Nadler. Among others that race also includes JFK grandson Jack Schlossberg.  Conway is positioning himself as a possible wingman to Maryland’s Jamie Raskin who will become Judiciary Committee Chair if the Democrats win control in 2026.  No doubt he’d be good at that, but it’s hard to forget he supported most, if not all of the Conservative Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe and who brought us the imperial presidency. Moreover, Raskin already has a very competent wingman, New York 10’s Dan Goldman who served as the Democrat’s counsel for the first Trump impeachment. Unfortunately, Goldman who received the endorsement of Hakeem Jeffries and the rest of the Democratic House leadership team this week, is being primaried by several on the left as well as the anti-Israel crowd including Mayor Mamdani’s pick Brad Lander who judging by the countless solicitation emails I’ve received is helping fund his campaign.    

More 💩:  Emperor wannabee Trump announced that he is freezing $10 billion in funding for childcare subsidies to five Democratically run states including California, Colorado, Illinois, Minneapolis, and New York to punish them for the “corruption” in Minneapolis but really because he’s an evil creep who can.  RFK Jr who promised the truly gullible and complicit Louisiana Senator/Dr Bill Cassidy that he wouldn’t screw around with children’s vaccine schedules is screwing around with them.  Vaccines previously recommended by the CDC for all children including those for rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, and seasonal flu are now being recommended only for those at high risk. Those vaccines will still be available and at least for now will still be reimbursed by insurance companies but by removing them from the recommended list, the CDC is feeding fear about their safety.  The expected result of that fear stoking will be more sick kids, heading to hospitals.  This year’s flu season is being called the worst since 1997. Emergency room visits and respiratory related hospital stays are up all while insurance rates are going up, and hospital funding is being cut.  What could possibly go wrong?  And lastly, for today, Secretary of War Hegseth has notified former astronaut and decorated veteran Senator Mark Kelly that for speaking the truth about what to do when receiving illegal orders, a truth that Hegseth is on video once saying himself, he is being censured, which could result in Kelly losing his former rank as well as some of his military retirement pay. Stupid and petty but oddly good for Kelly whose getting lots of good press and raising lots of money as a result.