Police in Belgium on Monday tracked down and canceled the 45 year-old Islamic terrorist suspect who hours earlier had shot dead two Swedish men and injured and third person whilst screaming “Allahu Akbar!” near the stadium where the Euro 2024 tournament was being held, the BBC reports.

The gunman, Abdesalem Lassoued, was an illegal Tunisian immigrant who had posted a video online saying he had killed people in the name of God after the Monday shooting incident.

Colorado Republican Ken Buck says that wannabe Speaker Jacketless Jim Jordan is taking steps in Buck’s opinion to gain the Speakership, and as Buck describes it, those steps are incredibly pathetic.  One is to acknowledge that January 6th was a really bad thing, which Jordan did, but the second was harder:  to state that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly.  Jordan still can’t admit it, according to Buck:  “The best answer I’ve got so far is, I just don’t know.”

Incumbent Republicans fighting to keep their seats in battleground House districts outraised incumbent Democrats in similar situations, federal filings for the 2024 election cycle show, Roll Call reports.  In 33 toss-up or “leans” races, incumbent Republicans raised an average of $580,000 to the average of $529,000 raised by 31 battleground Democrats.  Republicans also have more “cash on hand” versus Dems:  $1.5 million for Republicans to Democrats’ average $1 million.

The trend wasn’t true in each race.  One embattled Colorado Republican, theater seat filler Lauren Boebert, raised just $854,000 versus her expected Democratic opponent Adam Frisch’s haul of $3.4 million.  Frisch has $4.3 million in cash versus just $1.4 million for the failed Rifle restauranteur.

On the Senate side:  Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin raised nearly $3 million in the Senate race to replace the retiring Debbie Stabenow; her opponent, actor Hill Harper, raised $1 million, with nearly half coming from personal donations and loans.  In Texas, Ted Cruz (R-Quintana Roo) suckered $3.1 million from donors; his expected Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, raised $4.7 million.  Allred also has a $2 million cash advantage over the Cuban-Canadian Cancun junketer.

Sean Hannity still thinks he runs the Republican Party.  The Trump advisor shows his frustration about the leaderless, rudderless House Republican Caucus being unable to get enough members to elect a leader.  Hannity’s message:  run over the weak, force your will on them.  Having spoken to “a few of them this weekend,” Hannity thinks he’s in a great position to demand the minority of Republicans simply impose their will on the rest of the Party.  Oh, and on the Democrats, too.  … ’cause there’s nothing authoritarian about that, right?

After hours of discussions with Israel’s leadership, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced Monday night (Washington, DC time) that President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday, saying the United States will work with Israel and other allies to create a humanitarian zone for refugees from Gaza, noting that getting aid to the civilians in Gaza is a priority.  Blinken repeatedly stated the United States’ and the Biden Administration’s support for Israel following the sudden attack by Hamas.

Jim Jordan’s quest for the House Speakership seems to be getting closer to the goal of 217 Republicans taking him over the needed threshold.  Various reports have put him within single-digits of the goal.  And a kinda throw-away tweet from Punchbowl News’ John Bresnaham might hold a clue about Jordan’s strategy:

.@RepMcCaul is a yes on Jordan. He said Jordan told him “he could see” Ukraine aid coupled with Israel & border security funding

— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) October 16, 2023

Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, is a strong supporter of aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.  The problem is, others who also support Jordan–like noted anti-Semite Marjorie Taylor Greene–are staunchly against funding Ukraine’s defense.  At this point, it’s not a matter of who Jordan betrays, but when.  If Jordan somehow becomes Speaker and allows a bill to fund Ukraine to come to the floor–a bill that will divide the GOP but will have overwhelming Democratic support–Jordan could find himself the subject of another palace coup.

Richard Engel of NBC News, appearing on MSNBC, reports that a Hamas spokesman appeared in a video saying Hamas will release all 200+ Israeli and foreign hostages will be released when “field conditions are right.”  The video has not yet been authenticated by Israeli or US officials, but Engel reports Hamas officials he’s spoken to have verified the offer.

The offer may be an effort to fend off a pending invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces, which have conducted scout and reconnaissance missions in the area.  Hamas may also be attempting to placate the Biden Administration, which has positioned to US aircraft carrier attack groups in the eastern Mediterranean.

Update 8:04 p.m. ET:  The offer from Hamas covers only non-Israeli hostages.

Later the fat bastard also said “What they don’t understand is that I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again.” Prove it.

Federal prosecutors on Monday filed a notices of appeal of the sentence of Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zach Rehl, Joe Biggs, and Dominic Pezzola, arguing that the five pro-Trump fascist gangbangers, four of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy, did not get the prison time they deserved for their crimes against democracy by planning the Capitol riot.

Right wing propaganda website and now sort of lifestyle brand The Daily Wire on Monday launched “Bentkey,” a new subscription streaming service meant to provide a “non-woke” alternative to Disney. Per Axios, the service costs $99 a year and carries “over 150 episodes across 18 different shows, four of which are original. The rest of the content is licensed,” which we guess means there was no creative input from dickheads like Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, or Candace Owens.

The Daily Wire still plans to invest $100 million into creating this whole entertainment ecosystem which, the last we checked in, centered on some weird superhero B-movie starring Cary Elwes.

We just joined Truth Social, mostly because we thought it would be very funny.

Follow us there for truths and retruths or whatever they call them: https://t.co/tKNFKcOsUE pic.twitter.com/Jofjex8kp9

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) October 16, 2023

“Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,” says a press release attributed only to a “Trump Spokesperson.”

Note that the statement only mentions Biden (as if he was the one sitting in the goddamned courtroom and issued the order), and not Jack Smith or Judge Tanya Chutkan, even obliquely.

Trump himself responded with the typical all-caps screaming on Truth Social, writing “A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY – GAG ORDER!” and “WILL APPEAL THE GAG ORDER RULING. WITCH HUNT!” but again without any direct mentions of Smith or Chutkan.

Tim Scott’s super PAC which has a super stupid name of “Trust in the Mission” is super out of money before their candidate has even had a chance to reveal his super secret girlfriend’s identity and is canceling their TV ad buys in a sign that the end is coming super soon, Politico reports.

“We are doing what would be obvious in the business world but will mystify politicos – we aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready for a Trump alternative,” wrote super dipshit “Trust in the Mission” co-chair Rob Collins in a memo to donors. “Money spent on mass media isn’t going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting.” Super sad!

DC Circuit Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday slapped disgraced former President Trump with a gag order prohibiting Donald from issuing any statements about herself, her staff, special counsel Jack Smith, and any potential witnesses in the post-2020 election coup attempt case against him, saying that running for president again does not allow him to conduct a “public smear campaign.”

Trump is free to rip on DC and the Biden Administration (and Mike Pence because he’s supposedly running a presidential primary campaign against Trump), but that’s going to be cold comfort to him and his deranged fanboys who are going to absolutely lose their shit over this order. Chutkan did not mention any possible sanctions on Trump if he violates the order before ending the hearing.

The dominoes are falling for spandex-wearing grapple-freak Congressman Jim Jordan’s speakership bid and he tells CNN’s Manu Raju that he’s taking it to the floor at noon on Tuesday.

Gym had previously told Raju he wanted to make sure he had 217 locked down first, but he’s doing it anyway now. “I do think that’s, that’s ideal, but… I don’t know if there’s any way to ever get that in the room. I would love that. But I think the only way to do this the way the Founders intended.”

It’s too difficult to write a real article summarizing the shitshow that was Monday’s hearing in DC Judge Tanya Chutkan’s courtroom as she weighed a motion from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s team to slap disgraced former President Trump with a gag order ahead of his trial in the district for his post-2020 election coup attempt conspiracy, so let’s just try to go in a straight line as sourced from top talent present in the courtroom such as CBS’s Scott MacFarlane and Politico’s Kyle Cheney. It’s already going pretty badly for the fat bastard:

Trump Defense lawyer John Lauro started off by arguing his client is “entitled to speak truth to oppression.. he’s even allowed to say things insulting to these prosecutors..as difficult as it may be for them to hear,” before mentioning something about “tyranny and the Biden Administration,” to which Chutkan cut Lauro off, saying she doesn’t want to hear “campaign rhetoric.”

Chutkan then told Lauro “Mr Trump is a criminal defendant. He is facing four felony charges. He is under the supervision of the criminal justice sytem and he must comply with the conditions of release. He does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases,” and that she’s not moving the trial start date. March 4, 2024 stands, deal with it loser.

Lauro then complained that any gag order would be “asymmetrical” and wouldn’t apply to Joe Biden. Chutkan then reminded him that “Joe Biden isn’t a party to this case… And he’s not under release conditions.” She then checked his whining with “Mr Lauro, let’s tone this down a bit.”

A group supporting Democratic candidates in next month’s big Virginia legislative elections is making a six-figure ad buy to capitalize on the House GOP’s dysfunction, Politico reports on more potential windfall for Old Dominion Dems still keeping an eye on Capitol Hill for material.

🚨BREAKING🚨

We are investigating whether classified documents President Biden was caught mishandling included sensitive information related to specific countries involved in his family’s foreign business schemes that brought in millions for the Bidens.@RepJamesComer is… pic.twitter.com/9m6f4u1kwg

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) October 16, 2023

House Oversight Chairbilly James Comer’s got nothing better to do these days, so he might as well just pretend there’s some connection between Joe Biden’s vice presidential classified documents fuckup and his son Hunter’s fake business selling access to foreign scumbags. Why not, right?

“Tomorrow is a big day for Democracy. A Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith, who has a terrible record of failure, is asking a highly partisan Obama appointed Judge, Tanya Chutkan, who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said, to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI. They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself.”

“In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. It is strictly Banana Republic kind of ‘stuff.’ These political Hacks and Thugs are destroying our Country. Let’s see what happens on Monday in Judge Chutkan’s courtroom. Will America survive, or not? I’ll be campaigning in the Great State of Iowa, where I am leading by 50 Points!!!” wrote fat former President Trump in a Sunday night Truth Social post, spewing exactly the kind of shit that prompted Jack Smith to a gag order in the first place.

The hearing starts at 10 AM EDT. White nationalist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is reportedly in attendance, in case it wasn’t already obvious that this is a big deal in MAGA world.

Florida MAGA activist and donor Steve Alembik, famous for his 2018 “FUCK THAT MUSLIM [N-WORD]!” tweet about Barack Obama that caused headaches for Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott during their campaigns, is dead after he shot his wife in the parking lot of a Delray Beach, Florida BurgerFi location and then turned the gun on himself last week, Boca News Now reports.

Alembik’s wife, name withheld from the article, was shot in the arm and back before she ran into the BurgerFi for help as she bled profusely. She remains in critical condition at a local hospital.

“Steve Alembik was a wonderful, and kind hearted man, and I was very sad and shocked to learn of his death today. I wrote about him in my book, as he was the person who gave me the first initial push to run for US Congress in 2020. I made the decision to run for Congress when we had a meeting in his office in Boca Raton, and he worked hard to support me every step of the way… Sadly, those of us who knew Steve understood that he struggled with his mental health at times, which he ultimately succumbed to when he died this week, but he always put on a smile for those around him and never complained,” tweeted fellow racist MAGA scumbag Laura Loomer in a lengthy response to Alembik’s self-cancelation. She didn’t mention the Obama n-word tweet.