by John Walters
Tonight, His Count Ends
His commitment to the conceit has been impressive. Every night that Brian Williams has been on air the past four years, he has opened his program, The 11th Hour, by saying, for example, “Good evening, it is Monday, January 18th, Day 1,460 of the Trump presidency.”
Every night he has noted the day of the Trump presidency, i.e., the Klandemic.
Tonight his count ends.
Now, never mind that Williams’ show actually airs in the day’s 24th hour, he’s been our favorite cable news anchor during the Trump presidency. Understated, wry, extremely gracious with all of his guests without being obsequious, and occasionally, when needed, he provides the stinger. Simply the best.
Pillow Balk*
*The judges will also accept “Not Sleeping With The Enemy”
A number of big-box stores, among them Bed, Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s, have terminated their business relationships with My Pillow. Seems they find that having the founder and CEO, Mike Lindell, being photographed carrying an insurrection playbook into the White House three days after the attempted insurrection is not a good look.
Worth noting that Lindell’s previous wife, Dallas Yocum, divorced him after just a few weeks of betrothal. Maybe there’s a pattern.
Perhaps the stores should donate all of their inventory to the National Guardsmen sleeping in the Capitol?
Mall Of America
Two weeks after the MAGA ghouls and goblins marched the mile from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol, that same space is awash in American flags ahead of tomorrow’s inauguration. Approximately 200,000 flags are festooning the mall to replace spectators who cannot be there due to the pandemic and, of course, safety concerns of Insurrection 2: Boogaloo Boogaloo.
By the way, let’s not forget this photo of Donald Trump rushing into the White House and forgetting all about his wife, while the Obamas see to being kind hosts (notice: His back is already turned to the trio). This after her husband spent four-plus years ladling out the filthy birther lie.
Neither Trump will be on hand at the White House to welcome the new first family. Probably for the best.
A Dagger From Steph
It’s a few years removed from the Warriors-Cavs battles, but we never get tired of seeing Steph Curry put a frown on the face of LeBron James. Last night the Warriors visited Los Angeles and trailed by 11 entering the 4th quarter.
They stormed back, though, taking down the defending champions with a 34-21 blitz in the final quarter. The exclamation point was the above three by Curry with 1:07 left. Kids, if you’re watching at home, this is what a legal step-back three looks like.
Monumental
In the South, a statue goes up! And it’s another sign of progress. The University of South Carolina erected a statue to former women’s hoops star A’ja Wilson, who led the Gamecocks to their first national championship in 2017.
The following season Wilson swept all the national player of the year awards, was named SEC player of the year for the third consecutive season (a first), and was selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft by the Las Vegas Aces. Her speech above is worth your time.
Re Brian Williams, aren’t we all just looking forward to not having to think about Trump every day? What an exhausting daily burden it’s been. It was around March 2016 when it became apparent that Trump would be the Republican nominee. That’s nearly five years of daily drumbeats of worry, anger, sadness, fear, shock, etc. Thank God it’s over.
Also, among those happiest that Jan. 20 is nigh are Fox News, Rush, Glenn Beck, etc. No more having to come up with a defense for Trumpās nuttiness and setting themselves up for ridicule on a daily basis. Democrats controlling both the White House and Congress means right-wing media can get back to what is far easier and more profitable, which is the daily socialism/wokeness/cancel culture watch.