Random News: March 4, 2024

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 March 4, 2024, and it’s a Monday. I’m feeling pretty well rested and ready to start a new week. Let’s see what’s going on in the world so I can be informed and aware on this lovely morning.

• Starting with some breaking news.
• As expected, the supreme court this morning unanimously allowed Donnie Dump to remain on Colorado’s presidential ballot, reversing a state supreme court decision barring him from the election because of his actions leading to the insurrection on January 6, 2021.
• The ruling leaves El Dumpo as the leading candidate for the Republican nomination and for now removes the Supreme Court from directly determining the path of the 2024 presidential election. The justices fast-tracked the challenge from voters in Colorado, and issued their decision one day before Super Tuesday when that state and more than a dozen others hold primary contests.
• Again, no surprise. I had predicted a 9-0 ruling on this matter months ago for many reasons, most of them having to do with the somewhat ambiguous language of the 14th Amendment as it relates to presidents and what an insurrection is.
• As should be obvious but I’ll mention it anyway, this means Dump remains on all state ballots, not just Colorado.
• The main basis of their ruling was that states do not have the power to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
• "Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.”
• Before you get all pissy about the three liberal justices agreeing with this, here’s what Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson wrote…
• ”Today, the majority goes beyond the necessities of this case to limit how Section 3 can bar an oathbreaking insurrectionist from becoming President. Although we agree that Colorado cannot enforce Section 3, we protest the majority's effort to use this case to define the limits of federal enforcement of that provision. Because we would decide only the issue before us, we concur only in the judgment."
• Makes sense.
• There are still at least two more cases that the highest court will hear regarding Dumpy that could affect his electability. Next month, the Supreme Court will hear Dump’s challenge to a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that said he is not protected from criminal prosecution by presidential immunity.
• The justices separately have agreed to review the validity of a law that was used to charge hundreds of people in connection with the January 6 failed coup attempt and is also a key element of Trump’s four-count federal election obstruction case in Washington.
• So that’s that for now. I will say this: ultimately, the courts will never save America and the world from Donnie Dump. The only thing that will is your vote. If we win, we win at the ballot box, not in any court.
• Count on that and plan accordingly. Polling has shown Dump ahead of Biden in key swing states like Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, with Biden ahead in Pennsylvania and the two candidates neck-and-neck in Wisconsin.
• Speaking of voting, yesterday, former South Carolina Gov. and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley won the Republican presidential primary in Washington, DC, after three days of voting in the nation’s capital.
• Don’t get too happy. First, Haley is awful. Second, she’ll be dropping out of the race after Super Tuesday, which is tomorrow. But Haley will receive all 19 delegates that were up for grabs in DC for her first win of the 2024 Republican nomination process.
• I’m just glad that it made Donnie super angry, because you know it did.
• In other news of  El Dumperino, former Dump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg will be pleading guilty to perjury charges today related to the testimony he gave in the New York civil fraud trial of Dump and his company.
• The plea is not expected to include a cooperation agreement that would require Weisselberg to testify at a future trial. It will almost certainly affect Weisselberg’s own punishment.
• Moving on.
• I was happy to see that Vice President Kamala Harris used strong and direct language yesterday in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that would last for six weeks.
• She made her comments as she spoke in Selma, Alabama, on the anniversary of the civil rights march later known as “Bloody Sunday”.
• She also delivered one of the sternest condemnations of Israel’s failure to allow humanitarian aid to citizens of the Gaza Strip from the White House so far, remarks that came after Israel’s military was widely criticized for opening fire as Palestinians swarmed an aid truck carrying flour. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in the incident.
• Good. I have nothing but respect for the VP. I voted for her as my state’s AG and Senator before she got called by Joe to help lead the country.
• This Thursday night, President Joe Biden will make his State of the Union speech. He’s going to ask a question: whose side are you on?
• Are Americans on the side of lower health care costs and democratic freedoms? Or on the side of drug company profits and tax breaks for the wealthy?
• It will be Biden’s third State of the Union speech, and he’ll use the moment to remind voters about hard-won legislative victories of which they’re mostly unaware.
• He’ll also look to ease growing unhappiness inside his own party about his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
• Hope it goes well.
• And now, The Weather: “ride around” by Goat Girl
• From the Sports Desk… huge congratulations once again to Caitlin Clark, who passed "Pistol Pete" Maravich for the most points in history scored by a Division I basketball player, men's or women's.
• Clark got the record by hitting two free throw with 0.3 seconds left in the half.
• You will hear some people whining that Maravich's NCAA scoring mark isn’t comparable to Clark’s. She’s played 130 games over four seasons, while Maravich averaged 44.2 points over 83 games during three seasons in an era when there was no 3-point line or shot clock.
• But every era in sports has its advantages and disadvantages. Purely based on the numbers, Clark is the best NCAA basketball player of all time, bar none. The honor is well deserved.
• Today in history… Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean (1493). The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter (1628). In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect (1789). Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state (1791). The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress (1794). John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4 (1797). The city of Chicago is incorporated (1837). The United States Department of Labor is formed (1913). Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives (1917). Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States, becoming the last president to be inaugurated on March 4 (1933). The USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin (1944). In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now” (1966). The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States (1985). The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex (1998). 
• March 4 is the birthday of French queen and my 26th great-grandmother Blanche of Castile (1188), violinist/composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678), painter William Payne (1760), football player/coach Knute Rockne (1888), businessman Richard DeVos (1926), actress Paula Prentiss (1938), singer-songwriter Bobby Womack (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Chris Rea (1951), actress Catherine O’Hara (1954), politician Tina Smith (1958), boxer Ray Mancini (1961), bass player Jason Newsted (1963), writer/musician/actor Chaz Bono (1969), NBA player Draymond Green (1990), and model/socialite Brooklyn Beckham (1990).

Well, March the Fourth be with you! Wait, that’s not a thing. Never mind. Enjoy your day.