-It's the sorta-kinda First Day of Fall, so that means we are more or less done with Indictment Summer for Ex-President Trump XCI and moving on to all the trials! The focus will be on GA, where the formal arraignments for whoever is left of the 19 people indicted for The Enterprise to steal GA's 2020 Presidential election votes from the winner, Joe Biden, and GA's provision to ask for a speedy trial is focusing on October 23 - which Fulton County DA Fani Willis has said is a great day to begin the trial for all 19 defendants. Whether the trial actually happens, or how many of the 19 will actually begin on that day, remains to be seen as several defendants are trying to get tried by Federal court (Mark Meadows), are demanding a trial away from everyone else (Sidney Powell) or hoping to delay the trial until The Twelfth of Never (Trump, of course).
-While all that is going on, both CNN and Politico report a number of witnesses appear to be flipping and pointing the finger at the person they see as The Big Cheeto of the GA, FL, DC, NY, and INSERT VENUE HERE cases: InDicted Donald Trump.
-All of this could be explaining Trump's now-building-on-dozens of posts decrying virtually everyone who Trump sees as attacking The Self-Proclaimed-Most-Innocent-Man-on-the-Face-of-The-Earth in a ginormous conspiracy against him. That Trump is doing all of that on his Truth Social sigte - a site that has millions of dollars due to be paid to numerous creditors next week and, if not paid, could result in the collapse of that site - is not missed on very many people.
-Oh, and if you're thinking if Truth Social goes under Trump can go to The Site Formerly Known as Twitter, be aware that on that site, now known as X, CEO and billionaire weirdo Elon Musk has been openly and loudly attacking the Anti-Defamation League for ADL's loud (and by all accounts correct) criticism of the explosion of racist and anti-semitic posts on TwiX or whatever the Hell the site is called now.
-OH, and if you're thinking, well, Trump has been selling his mugshot on T-shirts and coffee mugs and beer coozies and will use some of that money to help him with his defense and Presidential campaign ... WELL ... there is an open question about whether Trump doing so may be, in fact, a copyright violation against Fulton County, who took the mug shot. If so, that would potentially result in yet another lawsuit for Team Trump to deal with.
-So. Much. WINNING!!!!
-Anyway, we do have Congress reopening to look forward to, with the legislators looking to deal with the numerous climate crises erupting across the nation, protecting the ballot box from other attempts to upend it for the benefit of one person, and debating fiscal policy to benefit the populace.
-I'm sorry, no, I'm being told that the above is NOT what the agenda for Congress is going to be, at least in the UltraMAGA House.
-In the House, the priorities are to continue to act as an adjunct arm of both the Trump Defense Team and the Reinstallation of Trump 2024 'campaign' by continued attacks on The Biggest Public Enemy America Has Ever Seen - HUNTER BIDEN (DUMDUMDUUUUMMMM!), adding so many poison pills to their budget (including a national abortion ban, defunding the Justice Department, and increased funding to the fossil fuel industry) that a September 30 government shutdown is more than possible, and a promised thrust to impeach Joe Biden for (by the admission of Kevin McCarthy (SINO-R, CA)) no criminal reason except as a bothside counterweight to the Trump trials heading into 2024. Gird your loins.
-Meanwhile, the situation in Ukraine continues to percolate, with foreign news sources and Russian military bloggers warning that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is breaking through the toughest Russian defense lines and are again on the verge of major advances and retaking of their country - and counter Vladimir Putin's claim today that the counteroffensive "had failed." It apparently not failed enough that Putin announced he will be meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un to discuss weapons transfers. No word on whether the two will bring in their biggest cheerleader, Donald Trump, into the meeting.)
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-You probably know this from people in your life - I know I do - but COVID IS NOT OVER. A new and continuing spike is now confirmed nationally with no other flu strain out there, and the highest-profile person to test positive as of yesterday was Dr. Jill Biden (who is reportedly having 'moderate' symptoms and has isolated from President Biden, who is not testing positive). With an updated vaccine penciled in for later this month, please be safe out there and have your tests at the ready if need be!
-In closing, it is now official: after this weekend's box office, BARBIE is now the biggest movie of the year, nosing past the newest (rebooted?) Mario Bros. movie and heading to home streaming. The next big movie event for the fall is the other summer disruptor, Taylor Swift, who created her own network of movie theatres for a screening of a filmed version of her Eras Tour show. Tickets are moving fast, and to the benefit of AMC Theatres, who got the rights in an independent distribution deal they made with Swift, frustrating the rest of the major studios already grappling with striking writers and actors (SOLIDARITY!) and creating another event for the yet-to-be-slowed-down Swift.
-On this date in 1793, the Reign of Terror began in France. On this date in 1957, ON THE ROAD was published. On this date in 1972, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich, Germany (all would perish as a rescue attempt went awry). On this date in 1975, former Charles Manson follower Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried and failed to assassinate President Gerald Ford. On this date in 1976, THE MUPPET SHOW premiered nationally. And on this date in 2017, the most powerful hurricane so far was recorded, as Hurricane Irma's winds hit 185 mph.
-Happy Birthday to Nap Lajoie, Arthur C. Nielsen, Darryl F. Zanuck, Sunnyland Slim, John Cage, Jack Valenti, Bob Newhart, Bill Mazeroski, George Lazenby, William Devane, Raquel Welch, Werner Herzog, Al Stewart, Dennis Dugan, Freddie Mercury, Loudon Wainwright III, Cathy Guisewite, Brad Wilk, Dennis Scott, Dweezil Zappa, Rose McGowan, Carice van Houten, Elena Delle Donne, and Bukayo Saka.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Crazy Horse (the man, not the band), Gert Frobe, Mother Teresa, Sir Georg Solti, Allen Funt, Heywood Hale Broun, Justin Wilson, and Hugh O'Brian.
-Feed the Worms: Outlaw extraordinaire Jesse James and phenomenally overrated actor Michael Keaton (I have always disliked him and there is no rational reason why, but I still do) entered Earth on this date. Anti-woman conservative harridan Phyllis Schlafly discovered she wound up in a much hotter place than Heaven on this date.
-Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.