Random News: October 20, 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 October 20, 2023, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I’m your host, a man on a mission, delivers information to help you make decisions.

• President Joe Biden delivered a rare primetime speech from the Oval Office last night, telling Americans that it is vital to U.S. national security to assist both Israel and Ukraine amid their ongoing wars against Hamas and Russia.
• The president said that today, he plans to send Congress an urgent budget request for national security funding that will include military assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
• He also confirmed that the deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza was not caused by an Israeli airstrike.
• But he also said that he warned the Israeli government "not to be blinded by rage" in the wake of the coordinated attacks by Hamas on Israel. "Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
• The speech was given good marks across the media spectrum… even by Fox News.
• Per a Quinnipiac poll, the huge majority of Americans are supportive of Israel in this conflict. Just 13% of registered voters answered that their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis based on what they know about the Middle East.
• Sixty-one percent said their sympathies lie with Israel, which was the highest amount of support Israel had received on this question since Quinnipiac first started asking it in 2001.
• Let’s move on to some immediate — as in, right now — news.
• As most of you know by now, Jim Jordan (R-OH) canceled another vote yesterday where he would have lost the vote for Speaker of the House for a third time. He’s neither liked nor respected among many of his peers in Congress… or by most Americans, for that matter.
• So for a little while, it seemed that Jordan and possibly a good amount of the GOP House majority were backing a plan to temporarily empower interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC) until January.
• I wasn’t opposed to this in theory. It would allow the House to stop its current frozen status and enable them to do some actual fucking work in the face of two wars and a looming government shutdown.
• But then, in discussing how to put together a resolution to empower McHenry (who was appointed as speaker pro tempore after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker on October 3), they realized they didn’t have the votes for that either.
• A reminder that as it stands now, the speaker pro tempore role is only legally able to aid in the selection of a new Speaker… nothing more.
• Is McHenry a good guy? Nah. Is he among the worst of the Republicans in the House? Also no. He’s a 10-term congressman representing the 10th District in North Carolina. He chairs the House Financial Services Committee. He was first elected 2004 at age 29.
• He’s mostly known for a) being really small, b) wearing bow ties, and c) serving as the Republican Party chief deputy whip for awhile.
• He’s a good pal of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), which is why he was named by McCarthy for the pro tem role he currently has.
• But he’s also the guy who, in one of his first acts as temporary speaker, ordered former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to immediately vacate her hideaway office in the Capitol.
• At least you can say that McHenry — unlike Jordan — voted against overturning the 2020 election. He’s a small step above the MAGA contingent.
• And that being said, a nearly four-hour internal meeting yesterday afternoon about the idea of temporarily empowering McHenry, House Republicans abandoned the idea. They have no virtually no path forward, and Jim Jordan is now saying they should have a third vote with himself as the nominee.
• The insider view of that meeting had some hilarity. At one point, while speaking at the mic during the gathering, McCarthy mentioned Gaetz by name. Gaetz stood up to interrupt him, and McCarthy screamed, “Sit your ass down!”
• Gaetz started to say something back, and then the whole room started yelling at him. Apparently Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) had to be restrained while trying to lunge at Gaetz.
• Ladies and gents, your Republican party!
• The third vote to see if Jordan can be named Speaker is scheduled for (checks watch) right now, 10am ET. They’re calling the quorum and getting ready to start their little speeches while I’m writing these words. We’ll see if Jim magically got more popular overnight.
• Moving on… back to the Middle East.
• Yesterday, a U.S. Navy warship intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement from Yemen. Everyone is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war.
• In case you’re unclear on military terminology, “intercepted” in this use means “shot down”.
• The destroyer USS Carney was operating in the northern Red Sea when it brought down the projectiles and there were no injuries.
• In related US news, a national Muslim civil rights group said yesterday it is moving its annual banquet out of a Virginia hotel that received bomb and death threats linked to the group’s concern for Palestinians caught in the Israel-Hamas war.
• The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, canceled plans to hold its 29th annual banquet on Saturday at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
• People are fucking idiots. Blaming all Muslims for the actions of a terrorist group is like blaming all Christians for the actions of the KKK or of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
• Back in the USA…
• Newly-appointed Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA) announced yesterday that she will not seek election to a full term in 2024. It avoids what would have been a costly and bruising race for the seat held for three decades by the late Dianne Feinstein.
• Butler, who was named earlier this month by Gov. Gavin Newsom to complete Feinstein’s remaining term, said she made the decision after considering “what kind of life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward.”
• “Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign. I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go. It may not be the decision people expected, but it’s the right one for me.”
• Good call. That’s impressive. If you’re not in the know, there are already three very viable Democratic candidates who’ve declared themselves as running for the seat in 2024: US Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Katie Porter (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) — and even a guy who once played first base for a baseball team, Republican Steve Garvey.
• And no, I have not yet decided which of the three Dems I’m voting for. I’ve got months to make up my mind; California’s primary is on Super Tuesday, aka March 5, 2024.
• Hey, wanna hear something neat I learned via the trial of El Dumpo?
• Fun fact: China owns the 21st Floor of Trump Tower. Saudi Arabia owns the 45th Floor of Trump Tower. Russia owns the 63rd Floor of Trump Tower. Go check for yourself. It’s true.
• These people who blindly worship Orange Julius Caesar are worse than fools.
• In more Dumpy news, this time related to his election interference case in D.C., Jack Smith’s team urged a federal judge to reject the former presidumb’s attempt to dismiss his indictment on charges the former president conspired to overturn the 2020 election results. They asserted yesterday that there was no such thing as absolute immunity for former presidents for conduct that occurred in office.
• In their 54-page filing to the US district court judge Tanya Chutkan, prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith cited a range of information, but their central argument was that in the United States, the law applied to everyone.
• Fuck yes it does.
• Moving on.
• Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King, 23, the guy who ran into North Korea before being returned, is in a lot more trouble than I’d initially realized.
• King is charged with eight counts, including desertion in connection with his dash into North Korea, soliciting a Snapchat user to produce child pornography, and possessing a video of what appears to be a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
• That guy is not going to have a happy life.
• In our continuing coverage of January 6, 2021 insurrectionists being brought to justice, meet Justin Lee. This is a special kind of asshole, as you’ll see.
• Lee is a Montgomery County, MD police officer. In July, he shot and killed a teenager, an act for which he was already being investigated. 
• But now he’s also charged in a seven-count indictment regarding his actions on January 6, including felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, and several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and act of physical violence in the capitol grounds or buildings.
• Fuck that guy.
• And now, The Weather: “Dry” by Drauve
• Rest in peace to DJ Mark the 45 King, who produced or co-produced such hip-hop classics as Eminem’s “Stan,” Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” and early Queen Latifah hits like “Wrath of My Madness” and “Ladies First.” He died yesterday at age 62; no cause was cited.
• Some residents in California, Oregon, and Washington has a rude awaking yesterday. The USGS ShakeAlert earthquake warning system had a test that was set go off at 10:19am, and it did.
• Except they set it for 10:19am UTC, which is 3:19am here on the West Coast. Imagine waking up some some screaming alarm and a voice saying “THIS IS ONLY A TEST” from a phone on your nightstand at 3:19am.
• From the Sports Desk… some big comebacks going on in baseball playoffs. The Diamondbacks staved off elimination by grabbing a game against the Phillies, and are now down 2-1 in the NLCS. The Astros pulled off an even bigger win, getting two straight on the road and evening their ALCS series 2-2.
• Also, a surprisingly good Thursday night NFL game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New Orleans Saints. The Jags were leading by a lot, but the Saints clawed their way back in the fourth quarter, only to lose 31-24. Jacksonville is doing quite well, leading the AFC South with a 5-2 record.
• Today in history… The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase (1803). The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length (1818). The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade in WWII (1944). The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years (1947). Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. The Sydney Opera House is opened (1973). Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashes in woodland Mississippi (1977). Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party amid the country's political crisis, serving for 49 days before resigning (2022).
• October 20 is the birthday of polymath/architect Christopher Wren (1632), UK prime minister Henry John Temple (1784), poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854), composer Charles Ives (1874), actor Bela Lugosi (1882), musicologist Robert Craft (1923), journalist Art Buchwald (1925), music producer/engineer Tom Dowd (1925), psychologist Joyce Brothers (1927), MLB player Mickey Mantle (1931), actor Jerry Orbach (1935), singer-songwriter/guitarist Tom Petty (1950), MLB player Keith Hernandez (1953), film composer Thomas Newman (1955), NFL player Dave Krieg (1958), inger/songwriter/bass player Mark King (1958), actor Viggo Mortenson (1958), US vice president Kamala Harris (1964), rapper Snoop Dogg (1971), US senator Brian Schatz (1972), and actor John Krasinski (1979).

Those fools are trying to elect Jim Jordan again at this second, but I’m going to go work out and hopefully get done in time to see him most likely lose a third time. Enjoy your day.