Eleven Senators Who Oppose Escalating War in Ukraine

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Today the U.S. Senate passed a bill sending $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine, escalating the war in the nation and further provoking the nuclear-power Russia.

Only eleven Senators voted against the bill:

• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• John Boozman (R-AR)
• Mike Braun (R-IN)
• Mike Crapo (R-ID)
• Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
• Josh Hawley (R-MO)
• Mike Lee (R-UT)
• Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
• Roger Marshall (R-KS)
• Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)

The Senate leadership wanted to pass the bill last week after it passed the House of Representatives (with only 57 Republicans voting against it) but Senator Paul used a legislative maneuver to delay the vote until today.

The bill now goes to the desk of President Biden who supports it.

Norm Macdonald Posthumous Stand-Up Special to Appear on Netflix

The greatest comedian of our time, the late Norm Macdonald, secretly recorded, before his death last September, an hour worth of stand-up material for a Netflix special to be released May 30, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It is titled Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special. This is the first posthumous comedy special to appear on Netflix.

Norm’s partner Lori Jo Hoekstra shot the footage in Norm’s living room in one take during the summer of 2020 with his future uncertain. At the time, unbeknownst to the public, Norm had been in an eight year struggle with cancer, from which he ultimately succumbed.

“It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened,” said Hoekstra to the Reporter. “He looks great and the material’s fantastic.”

Friend and fellow comedian David Spade, who saw an early screening of the special, reviewed it in a discussion on his and Dana Carvey’s podcast Fly on the Wall:

It’s got classic Norm stuff. Some rough stuff where people would get offended, which is good. And some stuff just really kills and some stuff he meanders but he hasn’t had a chance to polish it. … He looks a little different and he’s a little gaunt [but] he was pretty sharp.

Spade, along with Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, and Molly Shannon, appear on the special and discuss Norm.

The Return of Free Speech

Things are changing. Elon Musk buying Twitter marks a beginning for the return of free speech. Much more is to come. Alex Jones, Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and anyone else wrongfully banned should all be brought back immediately (Unfortunately Trump says he will not come back to Twitter but instead use his social media creation TruthSocial). But this move is bigger than any single individual and ultimately it is bigger than Twitter itself. It signals a cultural shift.

Musk seems to have the correct mindset going in; specifying he will not make the same mistakes as the last regime:

I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

Joe Rogan Responds to Spotify, Neil Young, etc

Singer-songwriters Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others have pulled their entire catalogues from Spotify since the platform refuses to remove Joe Rogan’s podcast. Young et al claim the podcast spreads “dangerous misinformation.” In response, Spotify announced a new policy placing a warning label on certain podcasts.

Below, in full, Rogan responds to the controversy:

New Twitter Account Posts Old Trump Tweets

Ever since Twitter (and most other social media sites) banned President Donald Trump in January 2021, blaming him (wrongfully) for the January 6 Capitol breach, there’s been a huge void online. Trump used Twitter to speak directly to the public. His unfiltered statements provided a rare glimpse into the thinking and mindset of a president. It had never been so accessible. While Trump’s spokeswoman Liz Harrington maintains Trump’s Twitter presence by tweeting statements released through his Save America PAC, it just isn’t the same. Trump tweets had a special mystique.

That’s where the account @OldTrumpTweetz attempts to fill in. Every few hours or so the owner posts a screenshot of an old Trump tweet. It has done this ten times thus far. The account has been in existence for just a couple days but it has already amassed 80.8 thousand followers and counting.

Video Prompting Censure Vote of Rep Paul Gosar

Below is the controversial anime video Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted (and then deleted) that supposedly shows cartoon violence against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):

Ocasio-Cortez believes the video threatens violence against her person. A vote to censure Gosar is currently being debated in Congress. While a largely party line vote seems likely, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has indicated he plans to vote to censure Gosar.

In a speech on the floor of the House, Gosar says he is proud to be on a list of those the House attempted to censure including Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

Remembering Norm

The world reacted with shock last week at the news Norm Macdonald, a scholar and a gentleman, passed away at age 61 (or 59 as the Germans would have us believe). We didn’t even know he was sick! Initial reports on Wikipedia indicated Macdonald had died due to ass cancer or a Bible-binding accident whilst reading the Book of Job. In truth, Norm had spent the past nine years in a deeply-closeted struggle with leukemia. It was a national tragedy indeed.

Paintings of Presidents by Other Presidents

There are only three known instances of Presidents of the United States painting portraits of other Presidents of the United States.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower painted portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln using paintings of the subjects from earlier painters as a basis.

Eisenhower seems to have been the most talented painting president.

Three More Candidates Added to CA Recall Ballot

Per Ballot Access News, the California Secetary of State added three additional candidates to its list of ballot qualified candidates for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election.

Two of the candidates, Joe Symmon (NPP) and Kevin Kaul (NPP) had not provided their tax returns and benefited from the decision in the Larry Elder lawsuit, which found the state’s requirement for candidates to provide tax returns applied to primary races and not recall elections.

Rhonda Furin (R) was also added to the ballot after the Secretary of State determined she actually met the signature requirement.

There are now 45 candidates in total challenging Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election to be held September 14.

Larry Elder Wins Suit for CA Recall Ballot Access

As an addendum to yesterday’s story, radio host Larry Elder has now qualified for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall ballot. Superior Judge Laurie M. Earl today ruled Elder complied with the candidate requirements even though he did not redact his social security number on the 300 pages of his tax returns. Judge Earl determined the requirement to provide tax returns applies to candidates on the ballot for party primaries rather than for the recall ballot as in this case. She ordered the California Secretary of State to add Elder’s name to the list of candidates.

41 Candidates for 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election

Below is a list of the 41 ballot-qualified candidates challenging Governor Gavin Newsom (D) in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election on September 14:

Ramsey Clark Dies

As Friday marked the well-publicized deaths of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and rapper DMX, another prominent figure passed away with little notice. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the last surviving member of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, died April 9 at the age of 93.

Clark, the son of a fellow Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice (Tom C. Clark), became a noted defender of free speech and civil liberties, particularly after leaving government. His principled value for the rights of the accused guided him to provide a zealous defense for such notorious clients as Charles Taylor, Slobodan Milosevic, and Saddam Hussein.

The New York Times quotes Clark:

“There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.”

As of Sunday morning, no cause of death has been provided for Clark.

Congressman Paul Gosar Pens Letter about OnlyFans to Attorney General Merrick Garland

Representative Paul Gosar wrote the following letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland concerning the pornographic website OnlyFans: