TGIF 2/16/24

What a busy few days we've had! Here are my good week and bad week lists. 

Jon Stewart returned to the host's chair on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and I thought he did fine. Of course, I'm not afraid of pointing out shortcomings on the Dem side of the aisle, just as I'm not afraid of pointing them out on the aisle's other side.

House Speaker Mike Johnson may think he had a good week, but I beg to differ. First, there was the declaration that the Senate's tripartisan border bill would be DOA in the House; then, the House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a purely partisan effort (even though he pretended that wasn't the case). And then? Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, won the special election for the NY-3 seat previously held by serial liar George Santos.

About that loss, many House Republicans are venting their frustrations about the decision to expel Santos back in December. Ethically challenged Matt Gaetz is one of course; and so is Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, who declared "...the only way you can win elections, is that you have to get into the slop with the pigs," or at least don't kick them out of the House.

Speaking of pigs, Colorado's Rep. Ken Buck referenced the same hoofed mammal as Nehls did when he explained his 'no' vote on the Mayorkas impeachment.

You can try to put lipstick on this pig, but it's still a pig. And this is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent. The first impeachment of Donald Trump was a bad impeachment. And we've got to stop this in this body, or we are going to - further lose our credibility with the American public. 

And, sticking with the bad impeachment theme, Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, saw another of his key Biden investigation witnesses get in trouble. This time, it was Alexander Smirnov, who was charged with lying to the FBI about Joe and Hunter Biden each being paid $5M by Burisma executives in 2015 or 2016.  

Last time, it was Gal Luft, head of a think tank, who alleged that the Bidens received payments from the Chinese, and that Hunter had a mole in the FBI. Luft is a wanted fugitive, indicted for arms trafficking, being an unregistered foreign agent, and other charges.

Sir Paul McCartney's week ended on a high note: his missing bass has been found. It was stolen in 1972 from a roadie's van. According to the folks responsible for tracking it down, it'll need some work before it can be played again. You can read more about the instrument, the search, and how it was found at The Lost Bass Project. 

And finally, Donald Trump was handed another nine-figure penalty by a judge, and NY AG Letitia James attempted to be funny with a Valentine's Day poem that was neither particularly funny, nor particularly poetic. And yes, I know most folks will say James had a good week, but we'll see what happens on appeal.

Who made your lists this week?