Mimosa, Bloody Mary, nice flute of champagne — or maybe a favorite tipple in your coffee. Make yourself one and join me at our own Algonquin Round Table, the spirit of Dorothy Parker abides.
Good Sunday morning, readers and friends.
— Pelosi Wishes You a Good Sunday Morning (@PelosiMorning) January 12, 2025
Our Darleen is currently away, so I am her stand-in for the morning. Today is the last full day of the Biden administration, and if that isn’t worth a celebratory drink, I don’t know what is. Please help yourselves and bundle up – those temperatures in the Washington DC area for the inauguration tomorrow are no joke.
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While the Democrats are busy mocking Donald Trump for moving the inauguration indoors, they seem to have forgotten last time a presidential inauguration had to be moved inside.
The Weather Channel records that the noon temperature in Washington DC on Inauguration Day in 1985 was a whopping seven degrees. Tomorrow’s temperature is predicted for the low to mid 20’s, but that is before the wind chill factor is added in – which could be anywhere from 18 to 35 mile per hour winds. BRRRRRR. While this has created havoc for those who have tickets and planned on attending the ceremonies, this is a “better safe than sorry” moment. Some of the attendees will be able to watch the inauguration at the Capital One Arena, which Trump has said he will visit after the ceremony.
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The wildfires in Los Angeles are still not completely contained. Twenty-seven people are confirmed dead, though not all of them have been identified. And there is plenty of righteous anger to go around.
We may not be able to do much about the weather, but we do need a better plan for putting out a burning city than waiting for rain. pic.twitter.com/6NXIAqHhIy
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) January 18, 2025
When Bill Maher is right, he’s right. He also had former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso on the show to talk about the fires.
The billionaire real estate developer and former L.A. mayoral candidate was a guest on the season 23 premiere of Real Time With Bill Maher, where the host asked him about how he would have handled the fires differently.
“To know there’s a fire coming, to know you’re in fire season,” Caruso said. “We had a fire three weeks ago in Malibu. Six years ago we had a fire in Brentwood, and for those that don’t know the Brentwood area, it’s 15 minutes from where the Palisades Fire was. There’s 40-year-old vegetation between Brentwood and the Palisades, and at that time, I said, ‘If that fire travels, it’s gonna come through and wipe out the Palisades.”
“I’m so sad that I was right,” he added. “It was predictable, Bill. And what’s predictable is preventable.”
He continued, “And then on top of it, to have a main reservoir out of service during peak fire season. I mean, that’s border negligence. And so we’ve got to get to the backstory of this, but you’ve gotta make good business decisions. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents and what everybody should have been saying, ‘We had all the alerts about the firestorm coming in or the winds coming in… why wasn’t more done?’”
The real question isn’t “what could have been done” to stop what happened. The real question is “what will Californians do to make sure nothing like this happens again?” Is a horrific event like this able to make voters in the Golden State at least think twice before voting solidly blue in the next election?
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Joe Biden says he’s going to write a book. HA HA HA HA HA.
President Biden plans to write a book after leaving office, the White House confirmed to Axios, giving him an opportunity to try and shape the narrative around his presidency and the tumultuous weeks leading to his historic withdrawal from the 2024 race.
Why it matters: There’s a glut of reporting coming out on Biden’s fateful decision to run again in 2024 and ultimately step aside after his disastrous debate with President-elect Trump — most of it unflattering to the 82-year-old president.
Biden’s own version of those events has hardly registered, beyond his contentious claims that he could have beaten Trump.
If the book project comes to fruition, it will be a chance for Biden to lay out, in full, his views on what he accomplished and why he handled the 2024 cycle the way he did.
Anyone who has read the transcript of the Hur interview with Biden knows exactly how this is going to go. Joe Biden is an “elderly man with a poor memory,” and there is no way that Biden himself will be writing this book. This book is going to be Jill’s attempt to rewrite history, and even though there is no book deal in place yet, this may be one of the last chances that the Biden family has to make money off Joe’s moldering corpse. Once the book is written, someone will likely be willing to publish it and give Biden a wad of money, but Jill is going to have to write like the wind in order to finish a book before Joe’s cognitive decline becomes overwhelming. Just wait until Hunter decides to write ANOTHER memoir that blows the lid off how Jill controlled Joe.
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The “People’s March” drew numbers, but not intelligence.
Women's Marcher tells @realDailyWire: "The Laken Riley bill is an immigrant bashing bill that needs to be defeated now."
Then tells me he does not know who Laken Riley is. pic.twitter.com/4ZfL5wbXhj
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 18, 2025
The keffyieh makes a nice accessory to the face mask, don’t you think?
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While football and hockey are currently active, some of us are staring out of our windows, waiting for Spring Training to start. Sadly, this year’s baseball season will be missing Bob Uecker, who passed away this last Thursday just ten days short of his 91st birthday. Uecker, who many know from his acting roles, was a former player and a Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster for 54 seasons. As tributes have poured in from Major League Baseball to Adam Sandler, there are also memories from people that display Uecker’s character.
Bob Uecker story:
My cousin is a cop. Near Am Fam, there is a police bar. He was in there one day with my aunt and uncle. The place is packed for lunch with police officers.
Ueck walked in. Took pictures with everyone and had his lunch. Then he left.
After he leaves, the PA…
— Robin Adams (@theotherRobin19) January 16, 2025
The full post reads:
Bob Uecker story:
My cousin is a cop. Near Am Fam, there is a police bar. He was in there one day with my aunt and uncle. The place is packed for lunch with police officers.
Ueck walked in. Took pictures with everyone and had his lunch. Then he left.
After he leaves, the PA announcer said over the loudspeaker: “All of your meals have been paid for.”
Bob paid for everyone’s lunch.
RIP Mr. Baseball.
The game won’t be the same without Uecker this season.
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For those of you who don’t follow college football, the National Championship game is happening tomorrow between Ohio State and Notre Dame. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and the commentators have already begun to gather in Atlanta. Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN sadly lost his Golden Retriever Ben in November after a battle with cancer. Ben had been a fixture on the sidelines and was much beloved by the college football teams and fans. Fortunately, Ben’s younger “brother” Peter is stepping up as his “dad’s” new sideline buddy.
The star of #CFBPlayoff media day Peter!!
Look at him just smiling while @KirkHerbstreit takes questions. pic.twitter.com/3Q1GqrwGkp— Alison Mastrangelo (@AlisonWSB) January 18, 2025
Here’s to Peter’s long future career as college football’s good boy.
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🚨 BREAKING: President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady have boarded an official U.S. government plane and will soon depart for Washington, D.C.
MAGA! pic.twitter.com/0144SK6Nhh
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 18, 2025
And I know it’s been said before, but DANG, Barron Trump is TALL.
A new administration begins tomorrow, history will be made, and Joe Biden will leave public office after 50 years of enriching himself and his family. Are you ready for it?
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Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but there is no school tomorrow and since I’m on the West Coast, I’m planning for Inauguration Day breakfast with my kids. May you have a wonderful Sunday, and remember – just ONE. MORE. DAY. Your regular hostess and moderator will be with you again next week. Cheers!
Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click
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