If You Ever Leave. Tabs, Tues., Jan. 14, 2025
Come get all this knowledge.
Morning, let’s tab some tabs:
Now former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s January 6 and election stealing crimes is out. Initial reactions and updates from Chris Geidner. [LawDork]
Greg Kelly from Newsmax — yes, THAT Greg Kelly from Newsmax — writes in Newsweek that Pete Hegseth cannot be Defense secretary because him paying off the woman who said he raped her is literally the textbook definition of blackmail hello Jesus Christ. He’s also concerned about Hegseth’s reportedly absurd drinking and says even if Hegseth has changed or had a spiritual awakening, that’s about him, and not about the possibility of him leading the Pentagon. Sorry, we don’t have an instruction manual for how to handle Greg Kelly making sense. Hegseth’s confirmation hearings start today at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. [Newsweek]
Want to keep track of the rest of the confirmation hearing schedule? You can do that. [Senate]
Among all the other horrific losses in the California fires, 100,000 scores by Arnold Schoenberg, where they were kept by his family in Pacific Palisades. Meanwhile, winds are forecasted to pick back up tomorrow. [New York Times]
Cool, the Washington Post is endorsing Trump nominees and telling us which Nazis, perverts and freaks among that cohort they like best. Cool. Democracy died incredibly fuckin’ fast in that joint, didn’t it. [Jamison Foser]
The Neil Gaiman allegations are … oof. Very, very bad. [Archive link of Vulture]
Have you missed your every night Rachel Maddow? She’s coming back to it, but just for the first 100 days. [New York Times]
Jen Rubin has left the Washington Post and assembled one of the most impressive slates of contributors imaginable for a new Substack called The Contrarian, to defend democracy in these godawful times. Their tagline: “Not owned by anybody.” The only criticism we have is that LOL, Andy Borowitz? Really? [CNN/ The Contrarian]
While you’re subscribing to other Substacks, you should be signed up to my side project The Moral High Ground if you’re not yet. This week I went hard at all the absolutely disgusting freaks whose response to the LA wildfires is to look for racial minorities and LGBTQ people and women to blame, instead of doing something to actually help, like human beings. [The Moral High Ground]
Tommy Tuberville, the stupidest senator in history, says California doesn’t “deserve anything” unless it stops voting for “inner city woke policies.” So he’s just as fucking racist as we thought. [JoeMyGod]
Newt Gingrich is like OK COME ON YOU GUYS, we probably shouldn’t just deport EVERYBODY, we’re not MONSTERS. Newt Gingrich, everyone! [Guardian]
Carrie Underwood will be performing at Trump’s inauguration. Hope she enjoys being shunned by all decent and respectable people until the day she dies, because she made that choice freely. [CNN]
The Village People will be performing at one of the inaugural balls. Hope they enjoy continuing not to be taken seriously by humans who matter, because they’re still won’t be. [Daily Beast]
This cheesy one-pot stovetop mac and cheese with sausage and kale IS delicious and you WILL make it and you WILL like it. [New York Times]
Please watch the documentary 2073 as soon as you are able. Read director Asif Kapadia in the Guardian talking about it, and also journalist Carole Cadwalladr. It’s a warning about a future that in many ways already is here. Techno-authoritarianism is being inaugurated in the United States next Monday. It’s, um, horrifying. [Guardian / Carole Cadwalladr]
I got to see Flamy Grant — that awesome Christian drag queen/folk singer — live on Sunday night. (Actually got to see her last month too, which I wrote about at my other place.) Here’s a song that’s touching:
OK, that’s it for tabs. More posts as they come, and I’m live-blogging Hegseth hearing at 9:30, because that’s a confirmation hearing that is actually happening. What an unbelievably sick moment for this country.
Come back for that, you hear?
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It’s a pig parade, source info here: https://open.substack.com/pub/martiniambassador/p/little-piggies
And a meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/dc8d2267-d2e3-4d62-9d61-6f59c7b5811f?utm_source=share
People like Hegseth claiming to have been saved by Jesus are the very definition of cheap grace. They have done nothing in their lives to show that they truly have changed for the better. They are using Jesus to get people to not question their past. Greg Kelly makes a good point about Hegseth, even if he has changed for the better (doubtful). I hope that the Dems take note and hammer that home, but I ain't holding my breath.