Today in Politics, Bulletin 44. 1/9/25

… Trump lost his appeal before the Supreme Court tonight in a 5-4 decision, so he must appear before Judge Merchan tomorrow for his criminal sentencing.

… ABC reported that Justice Alito got a call from Trump on Tuesday to ask him to appoint one of his former law clerks to a position in his Admin. This conversation took place just hours before Trump filed this emergency motion with the Court seeking to block the sentencing in NY. Conflict of interest rules for courts don’t apply to the Supreme Court apparently, where they are able to accept gifts and talk to litigants with pending cases where every other judge in America would be removed for it.

… Yup, you guessed it. Alito was one of the four Justices who sided with Trump. Go figure.

… JD Vance responded that Democrats who complained about this latest Trump “perfect phone call” to Alito are “such insufferable dorks.” Dude gets intimate with couches and wears mascara and he’s calling us dorks.

… This morning, the New York Court of Appeals, which is the highest appellate court in New York, also denied Donald Trump's request to postpone his sentencing this Friday in NY.

… Naturally, Trump is fundraising off of it, despite no longer being able to run for office. This was the email he sent out: “Today is your last day to activate this special deal. Sign my petition to DROP ALL CHARGES, and donate any amount before my sentencing day TOMORROW! Once you do this, I’ll throw your name in the hat for the drawing!”

… But Trump SHOULD be formally adjudicated as a convicted felon tomorrow, although he is likely to not face any other sanction. But that is something.

… The Danish news channel DR reports that Trump’s team paid homeless people in Greenland to put hats on for Don Jr and Charlie Kirk’s propaganda trip, where they claimed that they had “hundreds” Greenlanders supporting their ploy to join the US.

… DR News reports that while Don Jr and Charlie Kirk posted on X that the people in their videos were “from the local community in Nuuk,” many people from the local community recognized them as something different: “A portion of people who appear in the video are homeless and socially disadvantaged, who often find themselves outside the Brugsen in Nuuk, which is just across from the Hotel Hans Egede.”

… Local Tom Amtoft: “It was homeless and old people who can’t make ends meet who can suddenly eat at a restaurant they’ve never been to before. All they have to do is put on a cap and be in Trump’s staff’s videos.”

… Amtoft said that he watched Trump’s team talk to people about wearing the hats while telling them to be enthusiastic when they were being filmed: “It was a very aggressive and selective selection of people who would say that Greenland could be bought.”

… Employees of the hotel confirmed that Trump’s people were walking around outside in the street handing out hats and inviting them into the hotel for a free lunch. One of the individuals recruited to be in the videos was living under a bridge nearby.

… Greenland MP Aaja Chemnitz said that she also recognized some of the people who were there being used as props: “I don’t think it’s right. As I see it, people have been given a free meal to wear a cap and be extras in videos for social media.

… The judge in Rudy Giuliani’s case is calling his bluff on his lame motion to try and skip his contempt hearing on Friday, citing medical issues. The judge said “in order to assess the seriousness and veracity of his medical conditions and security concerns” (Rudy also claimed Iran is trying to assassinate him), he must file by the end of the day a sworn affidavit that he has been unable to travel anywhere for these reasons for the past 30 days and will not travel anywhere for the next 30 days.

… Of course, this is a perjury trap because the judge knows very that Rudy has been galavanting all over the place and this is just a BS excuse. So, if he submits this affidavit and lies he will go to jail. Or he will have to withdraw his motion and show up tomorrow. Rudy always thinks he is smarter than everyone else in his court cases, and always ends up losing.

… Elon Musk is already backtracking on his promise to propose $2 trillion in spending cuts to the federal budget, which was never possible without touching Social Security and Medicare. Musk says he now thinks that his DOGE committee “will have a good shot” at coming up with half the cuts they promised. The entire budget of discretionary spending is only $1.7 trillion.

… Musk recently claimed that he just became one of the top ‘Diablo IV’ players in the world by ranking. The WSJ journal interviewed gamer experts who said that there was no way he could have pulled that off without playing the game for many hours every single day for a very long time. While he runs 6 huge companies. And the country.

… The funeral of Jimmy Carter was held today at the National Cathedral. As Trump and Melania entered, they paused in front of Al Gore, Mike Pence, and Karen Pence. Gore and Mike Pence stood up and shook Trump’s hand and chatted briefly. Melania shook Mike Pence’s hand. But Karen Pence remained in her seat and glared at them. Melania attempted to talk to Karen but she wasn’t having any of it.

… This was the first time that Trump and Pence have been together in the same building at the same time since January 2021.

… Barack Obama was seated next to Trump (seats were assigned). Trump continued to chat him up with Obama politely nodding his head. But at one point, Trump got the shot that his social media team was looking for, as he said something that got Obama to laugh. Of course, Team Trump immediately blasted that photo out to everyone and Trump got exactly what he wanted from the trip.

… Kamala Harris, who was sitting in front and just to the right of Obama and Trump, appeared annoyed as she looked back at Barack twice but did not say anything. She wasn’t smiling.

… Michelle Obama did not attend.

… George W. Bush entered and walked quickly right by Trump and ignored him. He smiled at Obama and gave him a friendly tap on his stomach.

… I have to admit, I was incandescent for two hours after that. Furious. You could say that Barack was just being polite, but let’s put this in context. I got 500 fundraising emails last year from Obama telling me that Trump was Hitler and was going try to destroy the fabric of this Republic. I believed that then and I believe that now. And I get being polite and cordial. But laughing out loud to something Trump said at a funeral, knowing the cameras are on you and everyone is watching, is unacceptable to me right now.

… Sorry, that’s just how I feel.

… Trump and his team plans these moments. Everything they do is staged for optics and propaganda purposes. They got Chuck Schumer to laugh it up with Trump at the Al Smith Dinner right before the election, and blasted that all over social media. Now they just did it again with Obama.

… Most of the captions of the photo from right-wingers were different variations of Megyn Kelly’s post: “Hitler is funny now?”

… And now Trump is about to do it again to John Fetterman, as Democrats continue to normalize this madman while to calls for invasions of Greenland, Canada, and Panama while threatening to imprison people like Liz Cheney and Dr. Fauci.

… Because CBS is reporting that Fetterman has contacted Trump and asked to meet with him. I have zero problem with a US Senator meeting with the president in order to represent his constituents on a particular set of issues. But Trump has been in DC the last few days. He will be in DC a lot. But Trump doesn’t want to meet with Fetterman in DC, oh no. Trump is having him come to Mar-a-Lago.

… Thumbs up for the cameras!

… Fetterman was asked why he is going: “I think that one, he’s the president, or he will be officially. And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation - to have it. No one is my gatekeeper.”

… What these people do not understand is that these things are all power plays for Trump. When they go down to MAL, Trump and his team view that as a kissing the ring. Surrendering. They think that they own you because you flew all the way down to his house to see him on his turf, rather than meet him in DC or somewhere else on neutral ground. Joe and Mika didn’t get it, and Fetterman doesn’t get it.

… Either that, or he doesn’t mind being used by Trump because he represents a state Trump won in 2016 and 2024.

… OK, maybe Joe and Mike did get it but they were just afraid.

… Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) complained on the floor of the House that so few Democrats showed up this morning to debate a bill. Democratic Rep. James McGovern then jumped up to respond: “To the gentleman who just spoke, the reason why my colleagues are not here is because the Republicans scheduled this debate during President Carter's funeral.”

… Axios is reporting that when Trump and Policy Director Stephen Miller met last night with Republican Senators, Miller unveiled over 100 Executive Orders that Trump is prepared to issue immediately upon taking office. The vast majority of them reportedly deal with apprehending and deporting migrants.

… Fetterman and at least 7 other Democratic Senators are reportedly planning to vote for the Laken Riley Act, which will allow ICE to detain and later deport migrants with pending asylum and citizenship claims. That would give Republicans enough votes to overcome the filibuster.

… Democrats who are against the bill have a problem with the wording of one key part of it, and leadership is upset that these early announcements of support by Dems in swing states afraid of the issue has given away their leverage to negotiate that wording. The bill currently states that people can be put in detention if they are “charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admit to committing acts which constitute burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”

… Democrats want to require that someone actually be found guilty first, while the Republican bill simply states that detention can be ordered if they are arrested based on a police officer’s probable cause. It is certainly understandable that they would want that language changed, but it does not appear that is likely to happen based on the number of Senate Dems who have already pledged to vote for it as is.

… Politico (and just about everyone else) is reporting that Ron Desantis is likely going to appoint FL AG Ashley Moody to Marco Rubio’s seat in the Senate.

… Joe Biden canceled his trip to Rome to help deal with the disaster in CA from the fires.

… Trump continued to do what he usually does after natural disasters (or man-made ones) - blame Democrats. He continued to attack his nemesis Gavin Newsom, blaming him for the CA wildfires: “One of the best and most beautiful parts of the US is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”

… Newsom responded: “People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it. I stood next to a President today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden. And he had the backs of every single person in this community. He didn't play politics, didn't try to divide any of us.”

… Newsom’s office then put out a series of press releases to address each of the lies Trump continued to spew on social media point by point on the water situation and fire response. Newsom gets it - you have to respond immediately to their blizzard of lies with a blizzard of facts. Some others get it too, mostly younger Democratic elected officials, but the rest need to realize it is 2025 not 1995.

… Because those of us who fight back against the lies and have big followings that include hundreds of national and local journalists and producers need the facts. Quickly. From a reliable source. It is the only way we can counter the lies. Newsom put out the facts almost as fast as they could create new lies. That is rare for Democrats. It needs to become the norm.

… Newsom has also followed me on social media for a long time, so at least I know he hears me. Fetterman does too.

… Republicans also claimed that LA Mayor Karen Bass recently cut the Fire Department’s budget. According to Politico, that is also a lie: “The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in Nov. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million compared to the last budget.”

… Even Republican representatives at disaster sites rarely agree with Trump’s propaganda, as they are forced to admit. CA Republican Rep. Ken Calvert: “CA's mutual aid fire and emergency response system is designed to ensure communities have the necessary resources to respond in times of dire need. When devastating wildfires happen, we are stronger when we stand together. Grateful for everyone assisting in response to this disaster.”

… One day after Trump said in his press conference that “Canada has nothing we want or need,” Canada sent special planes used to douse wildfires to help extinguish the flames and save countless homes in the LA area. A spokesperson for Quebec's Transport Department told CTV news that the province's current California contingent includes eight pilots and four technicians.

… The CL-415s and their crews are sent to CA every fall as part of an annual contract in place since 1994. The contract normally begins in September and lasts for between 90 and 180 days, with crews rotating in and out to ensure staffing. Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel posted a message of support on X to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the province is ready to send additional firefighters to the state if they are needed.

… Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he's directed officials to send "every available water bomber" to the state: “We will provide whatever personnel and equipment is needed and spare no expense to help our closest friends and allies.”

… A little shorter bulletin than usual because I had to donate blood today. I have a rare blood type so the Red Cross is always on me to save someone’s life by sucking the blood out of me. So loss of time in middle of day plus loss of energy after made it tough. But I did my best.

… CNN contributor Scott Jennings claimed that CA wildfires weren’t extinguished because the LA Fire Department doesn’t have enough white male firefighters. The problem for Jennings is he was on the panel with Rep. Jasmine Crockett: “I’m so tired of this. There is a new stat that showed the most educated demographic in America right now is Black women. What DEI has always been about is saying ‘open this up.’ Don’t just look at white men. Recognize that other people can be qualified.”

… Crockett wasn’t done laying a beat-down on Jennings: “The last time I checked, y’all didn’t say anything was wrong with the White House. I can promise you, it was my ancestors that built the WH. If we are good enough to help build this country, and good enough to serve and die overseas in the military, then we are good enough to serve in other ways. Stop trying to act as if white men are the only ones who are