Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
NEW: Possible Motive in Cybertruck Explosion Revealed
For many, suspicions will remain that there's something more to this story. Still, this latest reported fact pattern does make some sense.
Biden Returns From Vacation With Unexplained Injuries, Wild Remarks
Did he take a header and fall? Or did something else happen?
Biden's Net Neutrality Rules Get Laughed Out of Federal Court
Nuking net neutrality is an unalloyed good. It restricts the ability of the FCC to meddle in the marketplace, and reduced meddling usually results in more liberty, more innovation, less rent-seeking, less power by lobbyists, and better outcomes for citizens.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
The day has arrived: The 119th Congress will be sworn in, and the House will hold its election for the next Speaker. (Technically, in reverse order.) All eyes are on the House GOP to see if they can get it together well enough to get current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) the 218 votes needed to be reelected. If not...it could be a long, very long, very, very long day. The festivities formally commence at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, with the 118th Congress convening to adjourn sine die, and then the Speaker election beginning at noon. C-SPAN will be carrying the action in both chambers, though the House is where most will be focused.
White House What's Up
Following an awkward ceremony bestowing the Presidential Citizens Medal on Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on Thursday, President Joe Biden will host a Medal of Valor ceremony on Friday afternoon, followed by the Medal of Honor ceremony Friday evening. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will hold a press briefing at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
Full Court Press...
A Missouri appeals court held on Thursday that Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) has the authority to appoint the next St. Louis County prosecutor (to replace the outgoing Wesley Bell (D), who's being sworn into Congress Friday, replacing Cori Bush (D)) rather than St. Louis County Executive Sam Page (D). (This is a good thing. Congratulations to Melissa Price.)
#BreakingNews -- MO Court of Appeals in unanimous 3-0 ruling finds @GovParsonMO -- not @DrSamPage -- appoints the next StL County Prosecutor; Melissa Price-Smith, not Cort VanOstran, will be sworn into office -- @FOX2now pic.twitter.com/ZYvPOKR3Io
— Andy Banker (@andybankertv) January 2, 2025
As part of my court updates, I regularly reference the well-known cases involving President-elect Donald Trump. Left unmentioned are the scores of lesser-known cases involving him — but here's one I'll note: On December 29, Joanne Denison filed a 112-page complaint for injunctive relief in the Northern District of Illinois against Trump, seeking to prevent him from taking office (pursuant to the 14th Amendment). Denison sought leave from the court to proceed in forma pauperis (i.e., without paying the usual court fees), but the court, citing her annual rental income, Social Security payments, and food stamps, along with the value of her home, said, "Nope" on Thursday. We'll keep an eye on this one to let you know if there are any significant developments.
MORNING MUSING
Long, long ago, back when I was still practicing law, I was involved with a case that really tugged at the heartstrings. I won't go into the specifics, but a young girl was killed in essentially a freak accident, and I was defending the organization that had set up the event in question. It was a big enough case that we held a mock trial to assess how a potential jury might react to the evidence and the arguments. There were questions as to what had actually gone wrong — was this a matter of equipment failure or human error or just a senseless accident? — and there weren't truly any satisfactory answers. In presenting my argument to the mock jury, I noted that it's human nature to want — maybe even need — satisfactory answers. We want/need the world to make sense. That's somewhat of a self-preservation thing, I believe. When you can understand what went wrong, you can better protect against it going wrong again.
All too often, though, we're presented with seemingly senseless tragedies — whether they're born of intentional, violent acts or accidents, they call out for answers. There aren't always answers — there are some things we'll never understand this side of Heaven. But the frustration/dissatisfaction with that is compounded — heavily — when we're given "answers" by people in authority that really make no sense. That's something I wish more authorities would bear in mind when holding press conferences and such regarding tragic events. It's okay to say you don't have all the answers — that you are still working to find them. It's not okay to give contradictory answers — or answers that simply outright don't pass the smell test.
LIGHTER FARE
Floof!
— Doglover (@puppiesDoglover) December 30, 2024
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