Only 6 things happened in the US yesterday

1) House Republicans did what Donald Trump told them, unanimously voting for Michael Johnson as Speaker. The least experienced guy, in time served, in 140 years.

Then they went out to celebrate on the Capitol steps like they won a war or conquered cancer. They basically elected Trump Speaker with Johnson as his front man.

This guy:

He opposes all abortion with no exceptions for Mom's health, rape or incest. He repeats the lie about post-birth abortions. He thinks abortion providers should get 10 years in jail and wants women who have one imprisoned too.

He voted AGAINST the Violence Against Women Act.

After the 2020 election, he contacted every Republican member of the House directing them to challenge the majority votes in 4 swing states.

He used to be a Constitutional lawyer before he forgot it includes a Bill of Rights.

This guy:

The Biden White House provided this response:

Stephen Colbert: “Our long national nightmare is finally different,” the late-night host informed the audience,

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2. Another mass shooting, in Lewiston, Maine. A poolhall/restaurant/tavern. A kids’ tournament at a bowling alley. A 20 yr military reservist with some delusion issues that had him confined in a mental health facility for 2 weeks last summer. An AR-15. A regular consumer of MAGA propaganda.
   
   Details remain slim but a city councilor there said 22 are dead. Reports of more than 60 wounded keep circulating. As of 2 a.m. Eastern time, the gunman - 40 year old Robert Card - is still at large. Lewiston and nearby Lisbon are under warnings to stay inside. Schools won’t open Thursday. At 5 am Eastern, the NY Times is reporting only 7 dead. Confusion still reigns.
   
   Can anyone recall a time, anywhere outside a war zone, when an AR-15 proved to be useful and necessary to stop a crime or a bear or anything? Why does anyone need a weapon of rapid multiple murdering?
   
   Imprisoning a woman who decides to abort a zygote is called pro-life. But there is no pro-life when the same people don’t protect hundreds from mass killing machines.

   

   
   

3. When fake religionists endanger everyone with their blind assertions of divine supremacy, it’s often destructive.
   

4. Mr Fraud is about to get the heave-ho.
   
   Republicans will move forward with a resolution to expel George Santos from the House as early as this week.
   
   Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro says he expects a quick timetable for a vote. “George Santos is a liar and a fraud who should not be a member of Congress. Since he won't resign and with the House Ethics Committee not moving at the pace we had hoped, we're adjusting our approach and pushing forward a resolution to expel him,” he said.
   

5. At his bank fraud trial in NYC yesterday, Trump was fined $10,000 by the judge for violating the gag order a second time. Trump then left the courtroom, muttering ‘Unbelievable.’
   

6. Via the NY Times yesterday:
   The terms of the private loan were as generous as they were clear: With no money down, Justice Clarence Thomas could borrow more than a quarter of a million dollars from a wealthy friend to buy a 40-foot luxury motor coach, making annual interest-only payments for five years. Only then would the principal come due.
   

   But despite the favorable nature of the 1999 loan and a lengthy extension to make good on his obligations, Justice Thomas failed to repay a “significant portion” — or perhaps any — of the $267,230 principal, according to a new report by Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. Nearly nine years later, after Justice Thomas had made an unclear number of the interest payments, the outstanding debt was forgiven, an outcome with ethical and potential tax consequences for the justice.
   

   “This was, in short, a sweetheart deal” that made no logical sense from a business perspective, Michael Hamersley, a tax lawyer who has served as a congressional expert witness, told The New York Times.
   
   So it appears the principal was forgiven and per ethics rules, Thomas didn’t report it properly to the court and the Senate Finance Committee is also checking to see if he paid the proper taxes on it.
   
   And this from a guy whose job is to interpret the rules for everyone.
   

7. You can’t trick me. Only 6 things happened yesterday. Go away.
   

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   If you’d like to see a bit more of this Speaker Mike Johnson guy, here’s a video from 4 years ago, with Jon Stewart giving testimony to the House. From the 5:47 point to 7:30, Stewart speaks directly to and about Johnson.