01/09/23

Good morning! It’s Monday, January 9th. National Clean Your Desk Day.

And listen, sometimes some of these holidays are funny, but I’m fully behind this one. Don’t be gross. Clean your desktop.

Also, do it more than once a year. Really get in there. Treat yourself right.

And now, the news.

McCarthy Finally Wins Speakership

-via NY Times

As it was all week, the top story is, of course Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods… no no, I’m sorry. I mean the search for the next Speaker of the House.

But do you remember that show on MTV? I loved it. I was very invested. I was just talking about how much I love the Legally Blonde musical.

ANYWAY. Sorry, I’m very distracted because we talked about this story all week last week and it’s so boring by now. So I’ll make it quick: after a mortifying 15 votes, Kevin McCarthy is now the Speaker of the House.

In name only.

Which I say because he gave up every concession under the sun in hopes of getting the job, so except this little guy to get pulled in any and every direction the 20 original anti-McCarthy voters want to pull him.

And by the way, he will go willingly because one of the concessions he made is that, for the next two years, all it’ll take is ONE Congressmember deciding they don’t like the cut of Kev’s jib and they can bring the business of the House to a halt by forcing a vote on whether Kevin should be able to keep his job.

So, I guess we’ll see how it’ll go. Probably not great.

George Santos Flashes White Supremacist Symbol on House Floor

-via Twitter & Vanity Fair

 Hey, here’s a story not enough people are talking about. And I’m gonna need the news to get on board here and start making sure everyone knows.

George Santos, the freshman Congressmember who told a wide-ranging set of lies during his campaign and even since he won his election (including say he was sworn in last Tuesday, while Kevin McCarthy was losing votes one through three and therefore no one was sworn in), was finally sworn in on Saturday. 

But prior to that, as he laughed and laughed with Marjorie Taylor Green, and took votes on whether Kevin McCarthy should be the Speaker… he also flashed a white supremacist hand gesture. During the vote. When he knew he was being looked at.

George Santos is still a member of the House. And, as someone who flashed that gesture with no pushback from his party… very clearly, clearer perhaps than ever… a member of the Republican Party.

Six-Year-Old Shooting in Virginia

-via CNN

A six-year-old was taken into custody in Virginia as he shot at his teacher on Friday. The police chief of Newport News, Virginia, where the shooting took place, said this was not an accidental shooting. The teacher is in stable condition, and no other students were involved.

The school will remain closed today and tomorrow to allow the community to heal.

Yeah, that’ll do it. Two days, to heal from the time a six-year-old was able to bring a loaded gun into a school and shoot his teacher.

Two days.

Power Outage in Northern California

-via LA Times

More than 375,000 customers were powerless this weekend, the ramification of California’s winter storm that passed through last week and brought winds as strong as 60 MPH.

That was last week’s storm.

A new, more powerful storm, is expected again this week, starting today, with the bay area expected to see flooding as bad as 2017’s Coyote Creek Flood, which forced more than 14,000 residents out of their homes.

Biden Visits El Paso

-via Reuters

President Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday, his first visit to the Southern Border since he became president. He’s there as I’m recording this, so expect more information on this tomorrow but he’s what we know so far – he’s not having a great time.

Last week he announced a crackdown on illegal border crossings that was described as a “humanitarian disgrace” by human rights activists and some Democrats. While, Texas’ Governor Abbott passed Biden a note saying the “chaos” at the border was a “direct result” of the president’s failure to enforce federal laws.

Can’t win for losing, am I right?

Bolsonaro Supporters Have Breached Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace

-via CNN

Some breaking news as I’m recording this: supporters of Brazil’s ousted President Bolsonaro have breached the security barriers outside of the country’s Congressional Building, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace. Anti-riot police as well as Brazilian Armed Forces are also on the scene, while protestors are using furniture barricades to prevent police from entering the buildings while calling on the military to put Bolsonaro, who lost his re-election in October, back in power.

Congress is not in session and the President, who was sworn in two weeks ago, in not in the country. Bolsonaro is also not in the country. He is, actually… in Florida. So….

This story is obviously evolving. I will have more on it tomorrow.

And that’s it That’s the news!

I’m proud of… clean desks. Just… you eat and drink over it. You’re touching stuff with your grub hands, and that’s no an insult. That’s just science. You’re touching stuff. Make it clean. Make it nice.

But more than that, because I know you don’t always have grub hands, don’t worry. But even when you do… I’m proud of you.