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- For the first time since he was sent to military school, Donald Trump’s schedule is being dictated by someone else during his New York criminal trial. He cannot walk out. He cannot have a temper tantrum. He cannot yell. He is subject to someone else’s rules and it will infuriate him.
- Threats to oust Preacher Johnson aren’t about politics. In politics, you win some battles and you lose some battles; that’s the nature of our American process. But far-right Republicans cannot accept that they lose political fights; they can’t believe Americans don’t support them. So they take public radical action to appease their hurt egos and try to show people they’re still in charge when they’ve lost self-control.
- I have little doubt that Trump’s handlers will sedate him, either with or without his knowledge, on the days he’s due in court for the criminal trial starting next week in Manhattan. He would be uncontrollable otherwise.
- Joe Biden’s got to walk a fine line: he cannot say anything that might influence any of Trump’s trials, but he needs to hammer Trump’s legal troubles home in the campaign. Simply reminding people that Trump’s sitting behind a defendant’s table instead of campaigning won’t do it, though; it plays into Trump’s desired role of a martyr. Biden has to continue to stress that Trump is being held accountable for his actions, not his political bent.
- No judge or courthouse should allow press conferences or media statements outside the doors of the courtroom. Do that outside the building. A symbol of our justice system, the courthouse should be reserved solely for the application of justice, not the promulgating of bullshit.
- Rewatched the original British Life on Mars series, a great concept pulled off well: a cop from 2006 is transported back to 1973 (or is he?) and he must cope with being a fish out of water. It’s refreshing because it’s a show written with modern sensibilities without being polluted by a reliance on technology.
- As much as I would like to be an American on a jury protecting our democracy against Trump, I would have been one of the 50+ in the jury pool to self-exclude. These cases are too crucial to America’s future to have even a whiff of bias.
- If Trump testifies in his trial, will he insist on being sworn in on one of his $60 Bibles to leverage the value of the product placement?
- For now, it appears that the Iran-Israel conflict has settled down (as much as it can in the region), but the military results are stark: US/Israel destroyed more than 95% of the 300 weapons fired at them nearly simultaneously, displaying serious capability advantage. If the US would apply that same technology to Ukraine, Russia would be begging for peace in a heartbeat, but Republicans like Marge Green and JD Vance don’t want to humiliate Putin.
- Most packing peanuts are made of environmentally-friendly starch: if you hold it underwater, a starch peanut will dissolve. Formed styrofoam or plastic, though, are still used for “secure” pieces such as in boxes shipping printers or phones. Just learned of an English company using waste product from mushroom farming to make biodegradable formed pieces. Environmentalism doesn’t kill jobs; it creates them because it fosters innovation.
- Trump’s 5% cut of down-ballot fundraising isn’t anything new if you think like a brand licenser, not a political candidate. He’s simply taking a licensing cut from those candidates.
- A good vegetable platter–or as Mehmet Oz calls it, crudités–needs the standard celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes, and you can get more daring with broccoli and cauliflower if you like, but the key is the dip. The standby onion-soup-mix-and-sour-cream is reliable, but a stronger dip will complete the plate. Make something simple but homemade, like a more subtle dill. And if you double-dip at a party, you should lose a finger.
- If you’re going to slander your opponent as a feeble “Sleepy Joe Biden,” you have one job when you’re in public….
- From its commercials, Vuori seems to want to be the new American Apparel.
- Information about every person on every jury–petit or grand–involved in a Trump case must be held in the strictest privacy particularly because the information would likely lead to intimidation and threats against the citizens, but also because MAGAts will inevitably target the wrong people and harass them endlessly. Plus, strict security should go into perpetuity; Trump’s cult holds grudges.
- Sour Patch Kids < Jelly Bellies < Haribo gummy bears
- Have you ever tried to figure out the story of the person in front of you in the grocery checkout line? This week’s sighting: a guy with a bottle of Febreeze, Lysol toilet cleaner, prepped pasta dinner, head of garlic, and condoms. My guess: 3rd date, dinner at his place.
- Marjorie Taylor Greene was an impeachment manager for the dismissed Mayorkas, which goes to show the shallowness of the talent pool on the GOP bench.
- Enjoy 4/20, the St. Patrick’s Day of the cannabis culture, except without the DUIs and drunken bar brawls. “I smoked grass a lot in college” = “I’m two percent Irish from my mother’s great uncle twice removed so I know all about Ireland.”
