January 1, “Crazy’ Nancy Pelosi Making Trump Squirm

This Day in History | 1981

Elizabeth Jordan Carr becomes the first American child born as a result of in-vitro fertilization in Norfolk, Virginia.

Good Morning Middle Americans, 

Keeping with a trend we talked about yesterday, one could say the president has too much time on his hands whilst on vacation in Palm Beach Florida. That is especially true if you have been watching the tweeter feed of Donald J. Trump.  He’s commenting on Home Alone 2 edits that cut him out of a Canadian broadcast of the film in 2014. And he’s retweeting all kinds of wild stuff.  What ever’s going on, its hilarious and a little scary at the same time. 

One of the reason President Trump seems to be upset is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. More specifically the tactics she is employing during this impeachment process. Hurry up and wait. She’s still sitting on the House-passed articles of impeachment.  And it’s apparently driving the president nuts. 

We also have an interesting update about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and the charges he faces in FL. Prosecutors want to up the misdemeanor prostitution charges to felonies.  This, after a court tossed most of the evidence in the case because. The judge ruled that the evidence, including video surveillance was not collected properly. 

Two men have been kicked out of the National Guard over their ties to a white nationalist group.  Disney Characters tell police they were groped by tourists. And we say goodbye to radio legend Don Imus, who died yesterday at 79. 

‘Trump is Powerless’: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Is Doing to the President What No One Has In the 3 Years Since He Took Office

(Business Insider) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing to President Donald Trump what no one else has in the nearly three years since he took office: She’s making him squirm.

In the wake of an impeachment inquiry and with a looming trial in the Senate, the president has become increasingly frustrated by Pelosi’s unprecedented decision to withhold the two articles of impeachment against him from the upper chamber until Majority Leader Mitch McConnell guarantees a fair and impartial trial.

Pelosi’s refusal to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate has robbed the president of what he wants most: “total and complete exoneration” following a trial.

Trump, for his part, has made no secret of his fury. He spent Christmas evening ranting about Pelosi and impeachment to his 68 million Twitter followers.

“Why should Crazy Nancy Pelosi, just because she has a slight majority in the House, be allowed to Impeach the President of the United States? Got ZERO Republican votes, there was no crime, the call with Ukraine was perfect, with ‘no pressure,'” Trump tweeted on Wednesday night.

Prosecutors Turn Up the Heat on Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Over Prostitution Charges

(Sun Sentinel) – Florida prosecutors just raised the stakes in New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s fight against prostitution charges.

It’s been nearly a year since the 78-year-old part-time Palm Beach resident paid for sex acts at a Jupiter massage parlor likened to a brothel.

But now lawyers for the state are arguing for the first time that Kraft — charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution — actually committed a felony.

The latest court filing from the Attorney General’s Office suggests Kraft could face a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, if the state wins its appeal of a lower court order favoring the billionaire.

2 Kicked Out of National Guard Over White Supremacist Ties

(ABC News) – Two men have been kicked out of the Army National Guard after liberal activists uncovered their membership in a religious group with white supremacist ties.

Brandon Trent East told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Alabama National Guard sent him a separation notice on Dec. 14.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia National Guard said Dalton Woodward is no longer a member. She declined to comment on the terms of Woodward’s separation.

Woodward didn’t respond to a request for comment left with his friend East.

Earlier in 2019, the Atlanta Antifacists group published a report saying East and Woodward were leaders of the Norse pagan group Ravensblood Kindred. The group is part of the Asatru Folk Assembly, which researchers say endorses white supremacy.

Find out more here

Disney Characters Say Tourists Inappropriately Touched Them

(AP) -Walt Disney World employees who portray Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck each filed police reports this month claiming they were inappropriately touched by tourists.

The woman inside the Mickey Mouse costume went to the hospital with neck injuries caused by a grandmother patting the character’s head, while the employees wearing the Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck costumes were groped by tourists, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Office reports.

The incidents come after a 51-year-old man was arrested in November after an employee portraying a Disney Princess told investigators he groped her breast while getting a photo taken.

Read more about these handsy tourists at Disney here

Radio Legend Don Imus Dead at 79

(Politico) – Disc jockey Don Imus, whose career was made and then undone by his acid tongue during a decades-long rise to radio stardom and an abrupt public plunge after a nationally broadcast racial slur, has died. He was 79.

Imus died Friday morning at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in College Station, Texas, after being hospitalized since Christmas Eve, according to a statement issued by his family.

Imus survived drug and alcohol woes, a raunchy appearance before President Clinton and several firings during his long career behind the microphone. But he was vilified and eventually fired after describing a women’s college basketball team as “nappy headed hos.”

His April 2007 racist and misogynist crack about the mostly black Rutgers squad, an oft-replayed 10-second snippet, crossed a line that Imus had long straddled as his rants catapulted him to prominence. The remark was heard coast to coast on 60 radio stations and the MSNBC cable network.

The 7 Biggest Stories of 2019

 #7) The US Women’s National Soccer Team and Equal Pay Push 

#6) Internet Censorship

#5) Hurricane Dorian Slams the Bahamas, Barely Misses US

#4) The Streaming Wars Heat Up

The Decade Internet Eclipsed Cable: Who Won And Lost The Streaming Wars

(Forbes) – The last decade saw the media world transformed—the long-delayed promise of the internet taking over as entertainment’s primary distribution vehicle was fulfilled as Netflix and YouTube became industry leaders. Legacy giants splurged on M&A to keep up: Disney bought (most of) 21st Century Fox, AT&T bought Time Warner and DirecTV, Comcast bought NBCUniversal and Viacom merged with CBS, a total of $240 billion spent in the hope of maintaining some semblance of control.

The decade may be ending, but not the battle for eyeballs.

Read more about the winners and losers here