Sneaky Holiday Drops 🤡 ✡️🌻😱 ⚽️ 🏀 🏈 

Jack, Jack, Splat:  One of the best ways to diminish the impact of bad news is to release it during a holiday which explains why a few items hit the wire around the ball drop and also why there’s enough news for today’s View Q. The Republican controlled House Judiciary Committee released the 255-page transcript of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s December 17 closed door testimony on New Year’s Eve. Smith had wanted to testify before an open session, but wary Republicans refused his request because they knew that he would speak truth, wouldn’t mince words, and despite their efforts would put them to shame.  Smith testified what most of us, or at least those of us who haven’t overdosed on Trump Jello already know: that Smith’s team had developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump committed crimes in both the January 6th case and the classified documents case; that he would prosecute any former president who had committed those crimes regardless of their party affiliation; that he’d never prosecuted anyone he didn’t believe was guilty; that Trump’s January 6 behavior had endangered VP Mike Pence’s life; that had he made it to trial, his prosecution would have been based on testimony provided by Republicans including those who’d been pressured but resisted overturning legitimate election results despite threats to their lives; and that Trump’s actions weren’t just based on bad advice, he knowingly engaged in illegal acts even when he’d been told those actions were illegal. Smith added that his staff was suffering repercussions for doing the right thing and that he expected to be the victim of additional Trump retribution.   

Healthiest Guy Ever:  Yesterday, in an article titled “As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance” the Wall Street Journal published details from a recent interview with Trump. Trump must have thought that the best way to refute recent allegations about his health deteriorating was to charm his way through an interview, he thought wrong.  He doubled down on the assertion that his hands are bruised only because of his regular intake of aspirin adding that over the objections of his doctors he takes at least four times the recommended dosage because he “wants nice thin blood” rather than nasty thick and clotted blood.  He’s right in that aspirin can prevent clots from forming, but according to Dr. Google its use comes with the risk of excessive bleeding, possibly even hemorrhagic strokes, one of the reasons that Dr. CNN notes that medical guidelines stopped recommending daily aspirin for many adults, particularly those 70+, because the risks outweigh the benefits. As to his cankles, Trump says that he stopped wearing the recommended compression socks because they’re “uncomfortable.” By the way, his diet continues to include lots of sodium laden food like hamburgers and French fries because those cankles aren’t cankly enough? The article also reports that Trump’s been having trouble sleeping at night which could partially explain why he keeps falling asleep during televised cabinet meetings, something he denies, explaining instead that all those times he was caught on camera snoozing he was just resting his eyes. And the “preventative” MRI he had recently, he says it was a CT Scan and that going forward he won’t be taking scans of any type because they just provide fodder for press articles about his health.  The bottom line, he’s got issues and we probably don’t know the half of them. As to the WSJ, good article, but releasing it when few were reading on a holiday weekend, not so good. The Murdochs must have gotten a nasty call from Trump because today’s NY Post, also owned by the Murdochs, has a weird follow-on article that kind of says that since Trump is a big overweight guy it’s okay for him to overdo the aspirin.     

More ⚽️ 🏀 🏈;  Right before the ball dropped, Trump vetoed The Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act that provided funding for a major drinking water project in eastern Colorado. The Act wasn’t controversial; it had passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. The veto is Trump’s way of punishing Colorado Governor Jared Polis for refusing to pardon election denier Tina Peters who is currently serving time in a Colorado jail. Trump has pardoned Peters, but his pardon is symbolic and meaningless because presidential pardons only work for federal crimes. The veto is also intended to punish Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert who had refused to drop her support for the Epstein discharge petition despite intense pressure, including a Situation Room hug a thon, from Trump. Trump also vetoed a bill for a $14 million Florida project aimed at protecting an area within the Everglades that is inhabited by members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Native Americans. The tribe has fought Trump’s Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center which has since been closed down by a federal judge. Some people, make end of year charitable contributions, with Trump it’s last-minute retribution.  And Trump certainly could have afforded some large charitable contributions. As detailed by the NY Times, he, his family, and members of his cabinet and coterie have been bigly enriched this year by his decisions. Middle eastern hotels, crypto, chip quid pro quos, and even nuclear fusion.  Remember how Biden got skewered for son Hunter’s Ukraine business ventures, among the accusations was that Hunter was put on boards despite having little to no relevant experience. Raise your hand if you think that Don Jr is an expert in nuclear fusion or even knows what it is.         

Fog:  Though it’s hasn’t been getting a lot of press, somethings up in Iran where demonstrators have taken to the street to protest the country’s ailing economy and US intelligence agencies have confirmed what Ukraine said all along, that despite his claims to the contrary, Putin’s home had not been targeted by Ukraine forces.