D-DAY+80, 2024

Bannon to Prison -- A federal judge has ordered former Trump administration advisor and MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon to prison by July 1, The Hill reports. Bannon is appealing his 2022 conviction on contempt of Congress charges for failing to appear for a deposition ordered by the since-disbanded House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.

•••

From WWII to Today – The allied effort of the U.S. and the rest of NATO to stand up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “direct extension” of the battle for freedom throughout Europe during World War II, President Biden observed at the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Omaha Beach (per The New York Times). Biden’s speech was held next to the burial site where 9,388 American military are buried, most of whom were part of the invasion. 

"Democracy is not guaranteed," Biden told the crowd, which included among world leaders attending, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but not Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, "and every generation must fight for it."

•••

Fighter Jets Hit UN School – As Israel’s fight with Hezbollah threatens to spill into southern Lebanon, there are reports of Israeli fighter jets attacking a United Nations school overnight in Central Gaza, killing at least 35 people, according to The Washington Post, which quotes Phillipe Lazzarini, commissioner of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. 

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner countered Thursday, saying 20 to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters had been using a compound from inside the school.

•••

Biden Slipping? – Some Democrats and others who have worked with President Biden recently say the 81-year-old “appears slower now, someone who has both good moments and bad moments,” according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday. The report, which says Biden “spoke so softly at times that some participants struggled to hear him” in a January meeting in the West Wing with congressional leaders to negotiate a deal to fund Ukraine, no doubt jolted his party’s leaders.

Sources who were quoted anonymously included “(s)ome who have worked with him … including Democrats and some who have known him back to his time as vice president…” It quotes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) saying; “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house … He’s not the same person.” The WSJ notes that “White House officials dismissed many of the accounts … as motivated by partisan politics.”

But the story got little attention elsewhere Wednesday, except for News Corp. sibling Fox News, until The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on which the host coupled The Wall Street Journal’s story with news about its recently retired CEO, 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch, marrying for his fifth time.

•••

Final Four? – Senators J.D. Vance (OH), Marco Rubio (FL) and Tim Scott (SC), and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are the four finalists vying to become presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump’s running mate, per Forbes magazine. The running mate-race remains fluid, however, and could change before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee, July 15. 

There could be extra weight added to Trump’s choice, as the RNC begins four days after the ex-president is to be sentenced for his falsified business records/hush money conviction July 11.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 6/5/24

Border Politics – “Why now?” is the question NPR’s Michel Martin repeated several times to Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas on Morning Edition, asking about President Biden’s executive order meant to restrict crossings at the southern border. Mayorkas, fresh off a Senate impeachment acquittal stressed the need to “properly fund” Homeland Security and the enforcement of border laws. 

Biden’s executive action Tuesday restricts the number of migrants seeking asylum and allows border officials to stop processing claims when illegal crossings surge, as they have, as we approach the November 5 elections. Capitol Hill Republicans, who in the House killed off a bipartisan border bill earlier this year, attacked the White House’s “weak” response to the crisis.  

“To protect America as a land that welcomes migrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now,” Biden said Tuesday.

Until then-President Trump referred to “shithole countries” during his administration, no one would have admitted to the glaring reason behind much of immigration restriction in the U.S. over the centuries, that of discrimination against minorities from Italians and Irish to Latinos, Hispanics and Muslims. Beside angst over criminal activities that data on undocumented aliens constantly prove to be unfounded, there are two underlying concerns: First, that undocumented immigrants will take entry level jobs from Americans – they do, but largely at minimum wage or less, and Second, the one primarily for Republicans, that the undocumented will become Democrats after they become citizens. 

•••

Has Modi’s BJP Peaked? – We would be remiss if we ignored national elections in the world’s largest democracy and fastest-growing economy, India, where nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain prime minister, but his BJP party lost significant ground to the Congress party. 

The results are considered a shock and/or jolt to Modi and the BJP. The Election Commission of India announced Tuesday that Modi’s BJP won 240 parliamentary seats to Congress’ 99, The Times of India reports. While this might seem a pretty good result for the incumbent, that’s down from 303 seats the BJP won in 2019 elections, which was on an upward trend from 284 seats secured in the 2014 elections. We’ll keep you posted on what this means for democracy in India and around the globe, going forward.

•••

MAGA Republican Defeated in New Jersey – Trump-endorsed Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner lost the New Jersey GOP primary for Bob Menendez’s U.S. Senate seat Tuesday to real estate developer Curtis Bashaw, The Hill reports. Bashaw had the influential support of most the county Republican Party organizations in the state and faces Democrat nominee Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ). 

Menendez, the Democratic senior senator from New Jersey who is under indictment with his wife on bribery charges, has said he is running for re-election as an independent.

Primaries were also held Tuesday in Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.

--TL

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TUESDAY 6/4/24

Border Policy by Exec Order – President Biden gathers border-city mayors at the White House Tuesday -- three months after the House scuttled a bipartisan immigration bill to keep the issue alive for GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump -- with plans to sign an executive order that would greatly reduce the number of asylum-seekers allowed into the U.S., NPR’s Morning Editionreports. Although no details were leaked ahead of the announcement, the executive order is expected to significantly cut the number of immigrants allowed, according to NPR immigration correspondent Sergio Martinez Beltrán, who notes that Mexico has been cracking down on border crossings from its side at the request of the U.S.

•••

Fauci Faces Conspiracy Theoryfest – Erstwhile top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called “simply preposterous” Republican allegations that he had tried to cover up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic at a House subcommittee hearing Monday. Leading the questions based on a litany of conspiracy theories was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who refused to address Fauci as a doctor and later called for him to be locked up as a “mass murderer.”

All this prompted Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to apologize to Fauci, according to the HuffPost.

“They’re treating you, Dr. Fauci, like a convicted felon,” Raskin said of such MAGA Republicans as MTG. “Actually, you probably wish they were treating you like a convicted felon. They treat convicted felons with love and admiration.”

•••

Hunter Biden Trial, Day Two – Jury selection was completed Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, with opening statements to begin Tuesday in the criminal trial of the president’s son, Hunter Biden. He has been charged with lying on a 2018 gun license application on which he stated he was not addicted to illegal drugs.

--TL

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MONDAY 6/3/24

Trump Conviction Bump? – Down-ballot Democrats have been running better in the polls than President Biden for this November’s elections, but the expected bump in Donald J. Trump’s popularity after his 34-count conviction last week may help some of his most fervent supporters running for congressional seats, according to David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report

“This conviction might have some slight upside for down-ballot Republicans, not in a major way,” with a bump in turnout among pro-MAGA voters, elections analyst Wasserman told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Monday. That could be good news for Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, but not for heretofore never-Trumper and Maryland Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan.

Be sure to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s take on Trump’s remorse (or lack thereof) and House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) response, now in the right column.

Hunter Biden’s turn Trial of the president’s son on charges he lied on a 2018 gun-purchase application begins in Wilmington, Delaware, Monday. The younger Biden allegedly claimed he was not addicted to illegal drugs when he filled out the paperwork.

•••

Cease-Fire, Or Not – Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza cease-fire agreement as outlined by President Biden Friday afternoon, The Hill reports. Their resignations would force new Israeli elections, as suggested by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) weeks ago. That’s something Netanyahu, whose leadership hangs from a string, does not want.

“This is a reckless deal, Ben-Givr said, “which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel.”

By Saturday Netanyahu already reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas retained governing and military power, The New York Times reported Sunday. By Monday, NPR reports that Netanyahu has said privately he backs the proposal.

Biden said Friday the proposal would begin with a six-week cease-fire during which Hamas would release women, the elderly and wounded Israeli hostages it has held since its October 7 attack. Israel would withdraw from major population centers in Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian hostages and allow at least 600 trucksful of humanitarian aid per day. 

•••

Mexico’s New President – Just as a U.S. president in his late 70s or early 80s is inevitable after November’s elections, Mexicans went into voting booths Sunday to inevitably elect its first female president. Climate scientist and ex-Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum took between 58.3% to 60.7% of Sunday’s vote, The Guardian reports, easily beating Xóchitl Gálvez. Though counted as a liberal, Sheinbaum’s mentor is authoritarian-leaning outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term.

•••

Putin ‘Controls’ China – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend criticized China for attempting to put thekabosh on a peace summit to be held June 15-16 in Switzerland by pressuring other countries not to attend, the Financial Timesreports. 

Zelenskyy said China is “in the hands” of Russian President/Dictator Vladimir Putin and he criticized China, once Ukraine’s biggest trade partner, for supplying Russia with dual-use equipment that the U.S. says is being used to rebuild Moscow’s defense industry.

•••

Fauci on the House Grill – A 15-month House Select Subcommittee investigating the coronavirus pandemic has failed to connect Dr. Anthony Fauci, the retired immunologist and government scientist, to the beginning of COVID-19. He faces testimony to the subcommittee beginning Monday, (The New York Times), anyway, where pro-MAGA Congress members will try to shift blame for the slow response and inevitable need for shutdowns across the country away from the Trump administration. 

The subcommittee also has uncovered emails from Fauci aides that appear to state concerns over Fauci’s public image as the agency he led for 38 years, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, faced scrutiny over funding questions.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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[CPI at 3.2% -- As some economists (and the Biden campaign) eagerly anticipate an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve sometime this year, the Consumer Price Index has ticked up to 3.2% in February, from an annual rate of 3.1% in January, the Labor Department reports. That’s the wrong direction from the Fed’s target 2% rate. The month-over-month increase was 0.4%, with shelter and gas accounting for 60% of the increase. Energy was up 2.3%, while food, and food at home, was unchanged.]

IDES OF MARCH 2024

Fulton County, Georgia – Atlanta Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday morning that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the election interference case against Donald J. Trump, but only if her former romantic partner, Nathan Wade, withdraws from the case …

Mar-a-Lagogate – U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appears to have handed prosecutors in the confidential documents case against Trump a win by ruling against the ex-president’s attorneys’ motion that the Espionage Act behind the indictments are “unconstitutionally vague.” However, Newsweek notes that Trump appointee Cannon instructed his attorneys in the ruling that they should bring up the “unconstitutionally vague” argument in “connection with the jury instruction briefing” …

Hush Money Case – New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg says his office is willing to delay Trump’s hush money case after receiving late evidence from the U.S. attorney’s office, to give defense attorneys sufficient time for review. The trial was scheduled to begin March 25, and may now be delayed by 30 days.

--TL

•••

The Schumer-Netanyahu Split – After Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for new Israeli elections on π day Thursday in frustration over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigence on a ceasefire in Gaza, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the Senate floor to “remind” Schumer that Israel is not an American colony, calling his remarks “grotesque” and “unprecedented” (per Punchbowl News).

But just as Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition continues to consider Palestinians and their Hamas “leadership” in Gaza one and the same, so too do the staunchest U.S. supporters of Netanyahu refuse to distinguish between the Israeli government and the Jewish people. This despite the fact that even before the vicious, horrible Hamas attack October 7, Netanyahu was long-resistant to a two-state solution with Palestinians in Gaza.

Meanwhile ...

Gaza's health ministry has accused Israel's military of firing on Palestinians awaiting aid in Gaza, killing 20 and injuring 150, The Guardian reports. The Israeli military denies the reports.

Influencing our November election

In trying to save his own power, Netanyahu has helped to throw the November U.S. presidential election to Donald J. Trump, and he knows it. Biden has ceded substantial votes to “uncommitted” in the Michigan and Minnesota Democratic primaries as he tries to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza in vain. 

While Biden has known Netanyahu for a very long time, going back to his time in the Senate, Trump and Netanyahu had a closer relationship during the Trump administration – until Netanyahu congratulated Biden for his victory in 2020, which of course led Trump to criticize the Israeli prime minister for his “disloyalty.”

If Netanyahu continues to reject ceasefire in Gaza (it is necessary to note that Hamas has done very little to help, either) the Israeli prime minister might very well be able to make it up to Trump by congratulating him this November.

--Analysis by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY π Day 2024

Schumer Calls for Israeli Elections -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), wants Israel to hold new elections, saying its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has "lost his way" (per The Hill). "As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7," Schumer continued. "The world has changed -- radically -- since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past."

•••

VP to Abortion Clinic -- Vice President Kamala Harris visits a Twin Cities, Minnesota abortion clinic Thursday, Axios reports, a first-ever such appearance by a sitting veep according to the White House. 

•••

Meanwhile, in Ft. Pierce, Florida – Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon holds a hearing Thursday morning on two of the ex-president’s requests to dismiss his 40-count federal indictment in Mar-a-Lagogate. Donald J. Trump’s attorneys claim the section of the Espionage Act accusing him of mishandling classified documents and obstructing federal officials’ attempts to get them back to the National Archives Washington is “unconstitutionally vague as applied to President Trump,” The Washington Post reports. 

Meanwhile, in Fulton County, Georgia: Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee Wednesday dismissed three of 13 counts against Trump in the election interference case (per WaPo). Prosecutors may refile the charges, however.

•••

Schumer's Watch is Slow – The Senate may take its time in taking up the House bill passed Wednesday, 352-65, that would force ByteDance to sell its U.S. interest in TikTok, or face some sort of blockage or shutdown in the country. 

“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” CQ Roll Call quotes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). 

This, despite obvious House urgency for the bill sponsored by Select China committee chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). 

Not on Warner's watch: From its interview with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Semafor has a much different take on the upper-chamber's timing on the TikTok bill. "We're going into a 24-hour election cycle, where literally millions of Americans get a lot of their news from this site," said the chairman of the Senate Select committee. "And if that can be manipulated against American interests -- I don't care whether you're Democrat or Republican, that is not in America's interests."

The Trump factor: Politico reports of worry that billionaire Jeff Yass, who has a 15% stake in TikTok, has influenced Trump’s flip-flop on the issue, as he has since objected to removing the social media platform from the nation. Former Trump administration Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway has signed on with Club for Growth to counter the push to ban TikTok on national security concerns. 

Our take: Two things. A.) It’s a notable shift if the Senate, and not the House, takes up Trump’s cause. But after all, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now a solid Trump backer. B.) If ByteDance is forced to sell TikTok to an American entity or face shutdown, wouldn’t Yass be in the catbird seat to buy up the 85% he doesn’t already own?

--TL

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Tick...Tick...Tick...

WEDNESDAY 3/13/24

Rrrrring -- The House passed HR 7521 Wednesday morning, 352-65, (per The Hill) that would force ByteDance to divest U.S. interest in TikTok within 165 days. That clock doesn't start ticking until the Senate passes the bill. President Biden, whose re-election campaign has used the social media platform to reach young voters, is in favor of the bill and presumably will sign it.

How to Stop a Clock – The House is expected to pass HR 7521 Wednesday, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would force China’s ByteDance to divest its U.S. interest in TikTok within 165 days over national security concerns, or face shut-down here. This, even though the House needs two-thirds majority to fast-track suspension of rules procedures that the Republican leadership plans to use, Punchbowl News reports, and even though the leader of the GOP, Donald J. Trump, has reversed his position calling for the social media phenomenon’s removal.

TikTok flip-flop: Much has been speculated about Trump’s reversal on TikTok. He proposed a ban in 2020, but more recently said that its shut-down here will give more power to Facebook, which a 2022 “documentary” blames for Trump’s 2020 re-election loss. One theory that sticks out more than most is that billionaire Jeff Yass, who has a “huge financial stake” in ByteDance according to Axios, has invited Trump to a retreat by Club for Growth, a conservative group that also opposes the ban. Yass has previously contributed $4.9 million to Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign.

Bonus social media gossip: Trump last summer asked The World’s Second-Richest Man Elon Musk whether he wanted to buy Truth Social, The Washington Post scoops Wednesday morning, citing two people “with knowledge” of the matter. Musk apparently demurred, but the conversation indicates an even closer relationship between the 91-times indicted ex-president and the owner of X than previously known.

•••

It’s … Trump v. Biden – In sports terms, the 2020 race would be Biden v. Trump, but however you put it, November’s presidential election is a rerun of the last. Ex-President Trump and President Biden both clinched their parties’ nominations Tuesday, winning primaries in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington. In addition, Donald J. Trump took the Hawaii Republican primary (Biden earlier won the state). 

Georgia on my mind: Pundits point to Georgia, the state where Trump begged for 11,780 extra votes in ’20. While Biden took 95.2% of the Democratic vote (Marianne Williamson, 3%, Rep. Dean Phillips, 1.8%) Trump took 84.2% of the Republican vote, with 13.2% going to Nikki Haley and 1.3% to Ron DeSantis. 

Democrats shouldn’t get too excited, though: Republican voter turnout in Georgia was more than twice that for the Democratic Party.

History: November will mark the seventh time in U.S. history that the two major party candidates will be the same as in the previous election. For those of you who are about to be contestants on Jeopardy! here are the previous six, according to Pew Research:

1952 and 1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower v. Adlai Stevenson.

1896 and 1900: William McKinley v. William Jennings Bryan.

1888 and 1892: Grover Cleveland v. Benjamin Harrison.

1836 and 1840: Martin Van Buren v. William Henry Harrison.

1824 and 1828: John Quincy Adams v. Andrew Jackson.

1796 and 1800: John Adams v. Thomas Jefferson.

•••

Not With Hur --  Perhaps it’s a sign of how well Robert K. Hur, special counsel on President Biden’s documents case, did his job that both Democrats and Republicans took shots at him in a congressional hearing Tuesday. Hur argued that he did not “exonerate” Biden in his report, and he defended his questioning of Biden’s memory, according to The Washington Post.

“I did not exonerate him. The word does not appear in the report, congresswoman,” he told Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) called him “part of the Praetorian Guard” preserving the Washington “swamp.”

Responding to a question by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on the federal documents case against Donald J. Trump; “Sir, I’m not here to express any opinion with respect to a pending case against another defendant.”

You can read Hur's full report for the U.S. Department of Justice here.

--TL

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TUESDAY 3/12/24

Buck Out -- Rep. Ken Buck (D-CO) said last year he would not run for rr-election this November. On Tuesday, he told reporters he can't wait that long to leave.

"This place just keeps going down, and I don't want to spend my time here," Buck said (per The Hill). The 65-year-old congressman often breaks from his party on various issues, and has criticized Trumpian election denial. With his unexpected early departure, the GOP now has 218 members to 213 House Democrats.

•••

Tuesday’s Primaries – Georgia is the big one for both Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald J. Trump. There are also primaries in Mississippi, Washington and the Northern Mariana Islands, with Hawaii holding GOP caucuses, per U.S. News & World Report. The organization Democrats Abroad also hosts a primary.

•••

Biden Budget v. House GOP – The Biden administration proposes a $7.3 trillion budget for fiscal year 2025, up 4.7% from this year, but with tax raises on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade (per USA Today). The proposal would restore the child tax credit from the American Rescue Plan, launch a program for affordable, high-quality childcare available from birth to kindergarten and provide new mortgage relief for home buyers. 

The White House’s budget is a wish list that will get lots of attention by both the Biden campaign and the Trump campaign between now and November (as Congress likely extends this fiscal year’s budget past its September 30 end), as will an alternate proposal just passed by the GOP-led House Budget Committee, according to the Huffpost. That “budget blueprint” for 2025 would shrink the deficit by $14 trillion over the next decade while extending the Trump tax cuts, which expire next year. HuffPost says “vulnerable” congressional Republicans are balking at taking a full House vote on what would be the first such Republican alt-budget to hit the floor since 2014.

--TL

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MONDAY 3/11/24

Orban Explains All -- Fresh back in Budapest from his visit to Mar-a-Lago, Hungary's authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, explained how Donald J. Trump will end the war in Ukraine if he is returned to the White House.

"He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russian war," Orban told Hungary's M1 TV channel, according to the BBC. "That is why the war will end. ... If the Americans don't give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then this war is over. And if the Americans don't give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over."

We have been warned.

•••

Sweden became NATO's 31st member nation Monday morning, NPR reports, after decades resisting joining the Western military alliance. Sweden and Finland applied for membership in May 2022. Finland joined last year, but Sweden had faced opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

•••

Trump Mocks Biden’s Stutter – After generally favorable reviews of his State of the Union address last Thursday for its display of the president’s energy if nothing else, Joe Biden’s stutter has become the subject of Donald J. Trump’s ridicule beginning with a rally in Georgia Sunday. Trump infamously mocked a New York Times reporter for his upper-body disability back in 2015, but this is his first such attack on Biden’s lifelong speech impediment. 

What stands out about this to John Hendrickson, himself a stutterer, writes in The Atlantic is, “the sound of Trump’s supporters laughing right along with him. This is a building block of Trumpism. The man at the top gives his followers to be the worst version of themselves.”

•••

Oscar Speech – Mystyslav Chernov, one of three filmmakers of 20 Days in Mariupol to win the Academy Award for Documentary Feature Film Sunday night said in his acceptance speech he wishes he could exchange his Oscar statue for “Russia never Invading Ukraine.” At last year’s Academy Award ceremony Navalny took home the Oscar for the same category. Its subject, Aleksei Navalny, who died under suspicious circumstances at a Russian prison last month, led the Oscar broadcast “death reel.”

Pope chimes in on Ukraine: Pope Francis "sparked anger" last weekend after he said Ukraine should have the "courage of the white flag" and negotiate the end of the war with Russia, CNN reports. On X, Business Ukraine magazine responded with the post that the Pope "might want to consider the famous words of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu on, "neutrality"; "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

•••

ICYMI – After all the hand wringing and folderol about the current fiscal year budget, its can having been kicked by continuing resolutions several times since last October, the Senate passed a $460 billion bill, 75-22 last Friday to avert a partial government shutdown (per The New York Times). Congress now has to March 22 to pass the other half of the federal budget. On Monday, President Biden unveiled his federal budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, which begins October 1.

•••

Up on the Hill – Both the full House and the full Senate are in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate only is in session Thursday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Stephen Macaulay

Amendment XXV, Section 4.  “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

As rioters attacked the Capitol, Donald Trump put up a video on Twitter—a tweet that carries a label “This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence” — read that again and let it sink in and realize that this is a message from the President of the United States.

He claimed he’d won the election by a landslide. That the election has been stolen from him. That “There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us—from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election. …”

Oh, and he said that the people that he loved should go home.

In the weeks following the election, neither he nor his supporters have presented any certifiable proof of any fraud. Any landslide. Any malfeasance that would lead to a change of the election results.

Yet he repeats it. Over and over. Nothing tangible. Nothing real.

There is what is generally accepted to be reality. Then there is something that is pure fantasy. Most people can discern the difference.

Not even the most rabid Marvel fanboy believes that he’s ever going to date the Black Widow. But if someone kept repeating that he was going to be dating Natasha Romanoff, would someone take him aside and suggest that that isn’t ever going to happen? That he should move on?

And if that fanboy kept repeating it, perhaps saying things like “They are keeping her from me,” wouldn’t it seem that that person is more than a bit off?

Would you allow that person to have the nuclear codes?

There is reality. Things break. Things can’t readily be put back together.

Have we not gotten to the point where people who are allegedly responsible step up and do their sworn duty to preserve and protect the United States?

—–