It's beginning to look a lot like 1984

 Kelly Conlon, her daughter and some other Girl Scouts came into Manhattan to see the Radio City Christmas show.  It did not go well.

"Woman with long dark hair and a gray scarf," an unseen voice intoned, and Conlon was pulled out of line.  She had triggered the facial recognition system.  A functionary demanded ID but already seemed to know who she was.  Conlon works for a law firm which is pursuing a personal injury case against MSG Entertainment, operator of the Music Hall.  As such, she is forbidden to enter the theater.  At least her daughter was admitted.

These are the Rockettes.  They are not actual members of the military.  For now.

President Zelensky is meeting President Biden in the White House at this hour.  Among other things, they are discussing the $44 billion and the Patriot Missiles the US is sending Ukraine.  Afterwards, they may share a grim laugh over this story in Business Insider about a Russian tank commander in Zaporizhzhia who deliberately fired on a Russian national guard checkpoint (according to a Russian drone operator who says he witnessed it).  Apparently the regular army despises the Rosgvardia, which reports directly to Putin.  I understand there was similar tension between the Red Army and the NKVD political units, not to mention the Wehrmacht and the SS.

This evening Zelensky will address a joint session of Congress.  Trumpanzees who plan to heckle are advised that he was a successful comedian before entering politics.

Speaking of comedy, the Trump White House had an ethics lawyer named Stefan Passantino who seems to have suborned perjury.  Thank you, I'm here all week!  Oh, you need more?  Passantino was assigned to represent Cassidy Hutchinson as she gave evidence to the House Select Committee and told her, "They don't know what you know.  They don't know that you can recall some of these things.  So you saying 'I don't recall' is an entirely acceptable response to this."  Even at twenty-six Hutchinson knew that omerta is not the correct response when under oath, so she found her own lawyer.  Her testimony made for gripping television and infuriated Trump, which is a good day's work.  

All right, strap in:  Mike Lindell is going to bat for Charlie Crist.  According to Pillow Man's algorithms, Ron DeSantis won too big in Miami-Dade County.  Must be fraud!  "I don't believe it.  So it's just going to show everybody -- just like we always tell you about Democrats where they stole their elections -- I'm going to find out if Dade County [sic] -- what happened there."  He wonders "if there was problems with the election, things with the machine or whatever."  Mike really hates machines.  Dominion machines are suing him for $1.5 billion and he wants to melt down all the machines into prison bars, presumably silicon ones.  Machines...no good!  DeSantis bad for Trump!  This time there's method to his madness, but not much.

Noted manhood experts Josh "Running Man" Hawley and Tucker "Testicle Tanner" Carlson met in Tucker's man-cave to share advice on how to "rebel against liberal culture."  All you have to do is swear off porn and start a family.  Breed, white men, breed!  She can't have an abortion and soon she won't be allowed contraception either.  There's never been a better time to drug her and take her to your cabin.

Here they come!  After being "under audit" since roughly the invasion of Grenada, Trump's tax returns have been released by the House Ways and Means Committee.  Oh, look!  Trump's Treasury Department forgot to perform mandatory audits of Trump in 2017 and 2018 because they were busy auditing James Comey and Andrew McCabe.  The real outrage of 2020 was the joint-filing Trumps paying no federal income tax and claiming a refund of $5.47 million.  But that just proves how smart he is, right?

How's this for pornography?

  

Trump supporters (most recently Hugh Hewitt) have been pushing what they call the Agnew Option as a way to avoid "political and civil chaos" by having Trump agree to quit politics and the Justice Department to stop "persecuting" him.  Even Hewitt has to admit that the worst criminal in American history would never admit to any wrongdoing, even a sort of nolo contendere.  Besides, Agnew resigned the vice-presidency, clearing the way for Nixon's removal.  No matter what his flunkeys tell him, Trump has no office to resign.  Agnew wrote a six-figure check to the state of Maryland and paid a fine for cheating on his taxes.  Trump stole tens of millions and endangered everyone in this country.  And if he promised never to run for office again, who could hold him to it?  Above all, he's a liar.  Also, there's the little matter of insurrection, which Hewitt doesn't believe.  A failed coup is a rehearsal.

What do you say, Mr. Smith?  Probation and a fine?

Mr. Smith says naaaah.