01/26/24
Good morning! It’s Friday, January 26th.
National Fun at Work Day.
I am of two minds here. One – totally. Yes. Have fun at work! Have so much fun at work!
Two… it’s work. You don’t need to have fun. I mean, great if so but I guess what I’m not into is the mentality of “we’re all having fun together! Have fun with us!” No… lemme get my money please!
And now, the news.
Alabama Execution
-via AP News
Starting with Alabama, where Kenneth Smith, a 58 year old man who was paid to kill a woman in 1988, has become the first person to be executed with nitrogen gas, which the state said would be humane and critics called cruel and experimental.
I talked about this a little yesterday, when I mentioned the Supreme Court had declined to halt the execution but litigation would continue through the 30 hour window that began Thursday morning.
He was pronounced dead at 8:25 PM.
Trump Testifies in Court
-via CBS News
And then over to the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, where Trump took the stand for a whole three minutes on Thursday.
Ahead of his testimony, the judge reiterated that Trump “in fact sexually abused” Carroll. This is a fact because he’s already been found liable. Trump reacted by mumbling under his breath, then while talking over his lawyer, that he intended to say he didn’t know Carroll. Which is a lie.
A lie he repeated on the stand.
Which doesn’t seem good, or legal, but what do I know? (A lot, actually, but not whether there will be ramifications for lying on stand since this is a trial to decide punishment in a case where there’s already been a ruling.)
So that’s where things stand right now.
Peter Navarro Charged
-via ABC News
And then the rest of this episode is, sorry to say, Trump, Trump Circle, and GOP related. But my intention, this year, is to really try and lean into these Friday shows when possible. So let’s have a little fun here.
Starting with… Peter Navarro, a former Trump aide, has been sentenced to four months in jail and a $9,500 fine to deying a congressional subpoena to talk to the January 6th House Committee.
He was convicted in September. Navarro’s attorney tried the classic “but but” defense, saying yes Navarro did wrong by also… hey! Marky Meads also did bad too!
Yeah man, we know. Don’t worry about what Marky does, okay? This is a conversation about you. We will worry about Marky when it’s time.
I mean, these guys are like children!
Something to keep in mind about Navarro is that he once called January 6th one of the worst days of his life. And then proceeded to do something to convict the person that perpetrated him.
There’s really a special place in, well it turns out, jail, for people like this.
RNC Draft Resolution
-via CNN and Washington Post
Alright, ready for this one?
Despite Nikki Haley’s better than expected night and vow to stay in the race, which again – great news for Democrats and actually fine I see no reason for her to drop out anyway… the RNC is considered a draft resolution that would formally declare Trump the party’s presumptive nominee today.
Now, Trump did push back on it. Not because he’s a good guy, famously he’s terrible!, but because he wants to be picked the old fashioned way. Literally that’s what he wrote on his very lame social media site.
Side note… calling the primary process old fashioned is so dumb. Because it’s not “old fashioned” (also he capitalized it and used quotes, because that dude has never heard of the Grammarly app). It’s just… it’s voting! It’s not old fashioned, it’s just the way it’s done ya dinkus. I don’t know why that’s annoying to me, but it is.
Oh, I guess everything he does annoys me. I guess that’s maybe it.
But it does boggle my mind that this was even considered for a second because here’s the thing: it is an easily proven fact that Trump is bad for the party. The number of people joining the party, versus leaving, is pretty lopsided. He is bad for the party and you could easily salvage what’s left by deciding, oh we hate this guy. And they do! Some people love him, but a lot just love the money his supporters bring in.
And so because they love the money they get now, they’re going to continue to support this guy that is, ultimately, bad for the party. And to prove how all in they are, they were willing to just ignore the voters that support Haley, which are Biden-curious and could vote for a Democrat, just to get Trump. Which then all but guarantees a bunch of those voters, who wouldn’t even get to cast a meaningful vote in the primary, will vote Biden.
In a close election, you’re so all in on a guy you hate that you’re willing to further bring your party down, just do you can help out a guy who will continue to bring your party down?
Make it make sense.
And don’t get me wrong! This is a party that wants to strip away the rights of anyone that isn’t a cishet rich white male in red states, so like… yes, yes, ruin yourself. We love it.
But also… make it make sense!
And that’s it. That’s the news.