Variety: “Linda Ronstadt, one of this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees, had sharp words for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday night during a State Department reception for the Kennedy Center kudos… Ronstadt rose to the microphone a few feet away from the host’s table and looked straight ahead.”
Said Ronstadt: “I’d like to say to Mr. Pompeo, who wonders when he’ll be loved, it’s when he stops enabling Donald Trump.”
DNA testing has established, “with scientific certainty,” that Hunter Biden is the father of an Arkansas baby, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports.
Biden, son of former vice president Joe Biden, had denied being the father but “is not expected to challenge the results of the DNA test or the testing process.”
“Trump is not a billionaire he’s a fake president. He calls everything else fake because he knows he’s fake…Everything that he says that are negative about other things or other people is what he is saying about himself. So he’s fake. He’s a loser. He is a genuine loser.”
— Actor Robert DeNiro, in a MSNBC interview.
“Kanye West has announced his plans to run for president in 2024 — but before potentially moving into the White House the rapper might change his name,” People magazine reports.
Said West: “When people say it’s crass to call yourself a billionaire, I say I might legally change my name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West for a year until y’all understand exactly what it is. It will be on the license plate.”
Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle told the Washington Post that President Trump’s rhetoric is why he won’t join the World Series champions during their visit to the White House next week.
Said Doolittle: “There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.”
He added: “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”
For those not paying attention, Sean Spicer is somehow still competing in Dancing with the Stars, despite not knowing how to dance.
Trevor Noah explains how: “He’s been getting the lowest scores and should’ve been gone a long time ago, but Dancing with the Stars factors in both scores and the viewer votes at home. So, once it became clear that he wasn’t going to win over the judges, Sean Spicer… started going on the far-right website Breitbart to turn this dance competition into a full-on civil war.”
BuzzFeed News obtained documents that show rapper Eminem was interviewed by the Secret Service for his “threatening lyrics” about President Trump and his daughter, Ivanka.
The Secret Service characterized Eminem “exhibiting inappropriate behavior” and noted that he, via the rap, “threatens protectee.”
“Inspired by the climate activism of a Swedish teenager, Jane Fonda said Friday that she is returning to civil disobedience nearly a half-century after she was last arrested at a protest,” the AP reports.
“Fonda, known for her opposition to the Vietnam War, was one of 17 climate protesters arrested Friday at the U.S. Capitol on charges of unlawful demonstration by what she called ‘extremely nice and professional’ police.”
“Now 81, Fonda said she plans to get arrested every Friday to advocate for urgent reduction in the use of fossil fuels. She hopes to encourage other older people to protest as well.”
Pete Buttigieg dismissed concerns that the new movie, Joker, might encourage real world acts of terror, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Said Buttigieg: “I think it’s a cop-out to blame pop culture for violence… What I will say is that the culture we produce, reflects us. And if you see a dark dystopian film doing well, it might be because the American people are feeling unsettled and bothered and maybe dark in a time like this.”
As the impeachment probe intensifies and Syria devolves into chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, President Trump is encouraging his supporters to vote to keep “good guy” former press secretary Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars.
Robert De Niro, star of The Irishman, in which he plays a mafia killer, renewed his criticism of Donald Trump, telling The Guardian he is a “gangster president.”
Said De Niro: “We have a real, immediate problem in that we have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants … the problem is, if he actually gets away with it, then we all have a problem.”
He added: “Oh, I can’t wait to see him in jail. I don’t want him to die, I want him to go to jail.”
Georgia Republicans blamed last night’s humiliating playoff defeat for the Atlanta Braves because of their efforts to ban the “tomahawk chop” chant, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The team didn’t distribute the trademark foam tomahawks to fans at the decisive National League Division series game after St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, called the chop disrespectful.
Porn star Stormy Daniels accepted a $450,000 settlement for her lawsuit against the city of Columbus, Ohio, over her arrest last year at a strip club, NBC News reports.
Daniels accused police of staging the arrest in a bid to protect President Trump.
Sean Spicer launched a “campaign ad” for “Dancing with the Stars” votes.
Sean Spicer is “counting on the president’s support to continue appearing” on Dancing with the Stars, the New York Times reports.
“Trump, according to someone familiar with the plans, is expected to weigh in on Twitter again with his support ahead of ABC’s vote next week….Spicer’s pay, reportedly $125,000, increases each week he is able to hang on.”
Former White House press secretary and current “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Sean Spicer on Tuesday implored viewers to vote for him to “send a message to Hollywood that those of us who stand for Christ won’t be discounted,” The Hill reports.
Daily Beast: “Despite its best efforts, America could not shame Sean Spicer out of joining Dancing With the Stars. So there was the former White House press secretary on the ABC reality show’s 28th season premiere on Monday night, wearing a frilly yellow shirt that evoked Big Bird and a pair of tight-fitting white pants.”
“It didn’t get any better after that.”
“Todd Palin appears to have filed for divorce from former Alaska governor and one-time vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, his wife of 31 years,” the Anchorage Daily News reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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