Random News: August 2, 2023

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s August 2, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. Some things definitely happened yesterday, and we should review them in the style to which we’ve all become accustomed, so let’s go ahead and do so…

• Yesterday, Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges. Yes, again. Yes, these are new charges.
• He is charged with a number of crimes for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the failed coup attempt by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
• The four-count indictment is the third criminal case against Trump this year, and it’s pretty serious. It’s 45 pages long and includes detailed backstory on Trump’s criminal actions. I highly recommend you read the whole thing.
• Here are the specific crimes that Trump is being charged with in this case…
• 18 U.S. Code § 371 - Conspiracy to defraud the United States
• 18 U.S. Code § 1512k - Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
• 18 U.S. Code § 1512(e) (2) - Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding
• 18 U.S. Code § 241 - Conspiracy against rights
• I’m going to reiterate my personal prediction, which is that Trump will never spend a minute behind bars. Never ever.
• That being said, the law specifically states that “if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section… they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.”
• And we know that deaths did occur at the Capitol as a result of this crime. So if this criminal was any other person, he or she would be facing capital punishment.
• Let’s talk about unnamed co-conspirators. Six of them were described in the indictment. Based on their description and a flurry of analysis, I know with 100% certainty who five of them are.
• Co-Conspirator 1 is former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
• Co-Conspirator 2 is former Trump lawyer John Eastman.
• Co-Conspirator 3 is former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
• Co-Conspirator 4 is former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.
• Co-Conspirator 5 is pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro.
• But Co-Conspirator 6 is anyone’s guess. That person is described as “a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
• Speculation on Co-Conspirator 6 has been rampant since the indictment was released. Some people feel it could be the wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas. Other names being tossed around who all seem to fit the descritopn in various ways include former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, longtime Republican activist Roger Stone, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, or former White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, among others.
• Back on Trump himself. This is by far the worst thing a president or former president could be accused of doing. The indictment, with charges including conspiring to defraud the United States government that he once led, is stunning in its allegations that a former president assaulted the “bedrock function” of democracy.
• Never before in the 247 years of our country has a defeated leader try to cling to power after a free and fair election. It’s an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy. Trump was given many chances to prove his claims of election fraud, claims he still makes to this day. No evidence was ever provided the was based on fact.
• He lost. He tried to take over the country through illegal means. To discourage any other person from trying this again, Trump needs to be the example for future generations of Americans.
• The judge who will presiding over this case in the Washington, D.C. federal court is Judge Tanya Chutkan. She’s the one who ruled in fall 2021 that the House Jan. 6 select committee could access reams of Trump’s White House files — a ruling that was subsequently upheld by an appeals court and left undisturbed by the Supreme Court.
• That evidence — call logs, memos, internal strategy papers and more from the desks of Trump’s most trusted advisers — became the backbone of the committee’s evidence and shaped much of the public’s understanding of his effort to seize a second term he didn’t win.
• Much like the judge who is trying Trump in his Florida document felony case, Chutkan was randomly selected to preside over Trump’s third criminal case in the last four months.
• So, all of this is a historical event that your grandkids might ask you about, and that will be the topic of future movies. The only other thing I have to add is that tomorrow, Thursday August 3 at 4PM ET, Trump is due to appear in court.
• Prosecutors will outline the four conspiracy and obstruction counts Trump faces and Judge Chutkan will set bail conditions. She will also set out a schedule for pretrial motions and discovery.
• Okay. Enough on that for now. There will be many, many, many more discussions about this and the other criminal trials Donnie will face in upcoming months. We’ll cross those bridges when we come to them.
• I have little to offer in other news stories compared to that one. Except this…
• Diversity, equity and inclusion programs were abolished yesterday from Walt Disney World’s governing district, now controlled by appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
• The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said in a statement that its diversity, equity and inclusion committee would be eliminated, as would any job duties connected to it. Also axed were initiatives left over from when the district was controlled by Disney supporters, which awarded contracts based on goals of achieving racial or gender parity.
• That would have interfered with De Santis’s goal of total white supremacy and to eliminate gay people.
• Let’s go back to Trump for a sec.
• Two Michigan Trump allies, including a former Republican state attorney general candidate, were charged yesterday in connection with an effort to illegally access and tamper with voting machines in the state after the 2020 election.
• Attorney Matthew DePerno was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, while Daire Rendon, a former Republican state representative, was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses.
• Both were arraigned yesterday afternoon. Michigan is just one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
• Keep this firmly in mind: anyone connected to that guy will continue to pay a heavy price long after he’s gone. Hope it was worth it for you folks.
• There are many other shitty people in the world, of course. For example, there’s Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.
• Yesterday, he directed state agencies to use narrow definitions of “female” and “male,” in the latest attack on transgender rights in a state that already has laws targeting bathroom use, health care and sports teams for transgender people.
• Stitt signed the executive order flanked by women from the anti-trans group Independent Women’s Voice.
• “Oklahomans are fed up with attempts to confuse the word ‘woman’ and turn it into some kind of ambiguous definition that harms real women.”
• I’d love to stick my real man foot up his pansy ass.
• And now, The Weather: “Rudolph” by MJ Lenderman
• Let’s do a brain clean in the form of some music charts.
• On August 1, 1981, I was in between 7th and 8th grades. As atrocious as middle school is, I was feeling good about getting into the top tier of Margate Intermediate School. Meanwhile, I was playing guitar and surfing a lot that summer. I also had a little girlfriend to make out with, so I was feeling pretty good about myself.
• 1. Jessie's Girl (Rick Springfield). 2. The One That You Love (Air Supply). 3. Theme From "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It or Not) (Joey Scarbury). 4. I Don't Need You (Kenny Rogers). 5. Elvira (The Oak Ridge Boys). 6. Slow Hand (The Pointer Sisters). 7. Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes). 8. Boy From New York City (The Manhattan Transfer). 9. Hearts (Marty Balin). 10. Queen Of Hearts (Juice Newton). 11. You Make My Dreams (Daryl Hall and John Oates). 12. Gemini Dream (The Moody Blues). 13. (There's) No Gettin' Over Me (Ronnie Milsap). 14. Endless Love (Diana Ross & Lionel Richie). 15. Time (The Alan Parsons Project). 16. Touch Me When We're Dancing (Carpenters). 17. Lady (You Bring Me Up) (Commodores). 18. The Stroke (Billy Squier). 19. Sweet Baby (Stanley Clarke/George Duke). 20. It's Now Or Never (John Schneider)
• From the Sports Desk… literally nothing.
• Today in history… The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC). Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later (1274). During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay (1610). The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place (1776). The first United States Census is conducted (1790). Jaoan’s Edo society class system its abolished (1869). General strike in Vancouver, BC (1918). Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of Warren G. Harding (1923). The positron is discovered by Carl D. Anderson (1932). Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg (1934). The Marihuana Tax Act makes cannabis illegal in the USA (1937). Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to the Gulf War (1990). 
• August 2 is the birthday of architect/engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant (1754), physicist John Tyndall (1820), electrical engineer/businessman Elisha Gray (1835), actress Myrna Loy (1905), Israel president Shimon Peres (1923), writer/activist James Baldwin (1924), actor Carroll O’Connor (1924), NFL executive Lamar Hunt (1932), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Garth Hudson (1937), director Wes Craven (1939), singer-songwriter/drummer Jim Capaldi (1944), songwriter/guitarist Andy Fairweather Low (1948), singer-songwriter/guitarist Andrew Gold (1951), songwriter/producer Butch Vig (1955), singer Apollonia Kotero (1959), actress Mary-Louise Parker (1964), singer-songwriter Charli XCX (1992), and NBA player Kristaps Porziņģis (1995).

That’s all. Enjoy your day.