Good News Friday, Vol. 5 March 22-28
All the President's men are morons, and their mistakes are good news for us.
Can you believe we are on Volume 5?! It does not seem like its been more than a month since I posted the first Good News Friday. In a way, that is the first item of good news. We have been consistently winning. Which means, I have consistently had content for this weekly series. I didn’t always feel this way.
The last few weeks it has been a struggle to compile good news for the week. The onslaught of bad news has been unrelenting. I was struggling with whether or not I should even continue this weekly column. But, this week my hope was renewed in the age old saying that “good things do come to those who wait”. This week’s good news should serve as a reminder to keep the faith. So, without further ado, all the good news that has happened in the last seven days!
Elise Stefanik’s nominations yanked
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the Congresswoman from New York, was nominated for UN Ambassador, with little fanfare. She wasn’t the best choice. Yet, she wasn’t the most controversial nominee Trump has put forth as he builds his regime. There was no scandal surrounding her nomination, so the news it was rescinded suggests something else is at play. Originally, as Trump began selecting his nominees for various roles, there were mumblings and rumblings that he was choosing too many members of both the House and Senate, given that both chambers have razor thin margins.
In the absence of a scandal, Stefanik’s withdrawal from consideration is a sign that the administration is gravely concerned about the special election happening in Florida on April 1st. The seats, representing the 1st and 6th district were left vacant by Matt Gaetz, (who unceremoniously dropped out of consideration for Attorney General) and Micheal Walz, who left the House to become the CIA director, will not shift the majority in the Chamber if a Democrat wins. Yet, a win by Gay Valimont in the 1st, and Josh Weil in the 6th, sends a strong message that the Trump regime that their policies are widely unpopular. Citing the results in several other special elections since Trump won the presidency, it is fair to say that simply being a district a Republican won by several points the last election, is not guarantee that it will remain a stronghold for the party.
Pulling the Stefanik nomination only makes sense if you are afraid to lose another seat in the House, because you anticipate that Florida may flip.
Signalgate
I know, this seems like a strange one to put on a list of good news. I think most people would say this was not a victory. Instead it was a national embarrassment. You’d be right. A poll conducted by YouGov in the wake of the scandal showed 60% surveyed, which included Republicans, agree.
Further, in a rare act of bi-partisanship, Sen. Roger Wicker (D-Miss) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) of the Armed Services Committee sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Pentagon asking for an independent and expedited investigation into the use of a Signal group chat to plan the bombing of Yemen.
Sometimes the universe smiles on you. That’s what happened when The Atlantic broke the story the day(s) before Congressional hearings which featured members of the intelligence community testifying. The hearings were scheduled, in both the Senate and the House, to go over the annual global threat assessment report. Typically, pretty boilerplate stuff. China and Russia is bad. Hacking is a danger. Ect. Very rarely do these hearings make waves, or receive much press. However, as you can imagine, it quickly devolved into a conversation about Signalgate. This meant that C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard were asked direct questions, some of which they directly lied about during the Senate hearing. Of course members of the House, which held their hearing the following day, were quick to point that out. And it is all on record.
This may be the beginning of their undoing.
Rep Bacon publicly comes out against Trump’s tariffs.
In a further fracturing of the Repubilican front, Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon seems like he has just about enough. He has had plenty to say about Signalgate, including that the White House is “in denial” that it was not classified inforamtiaon and they should “just own it”. He also would like to see tariff power return to Congress In an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room”, Bacon said that the way Trump is imposing his tariffs will hurt consumers, following up with the idea that Congress should limit the president’s power to impose them, calling previous legislation “a mistake”.
“However, I think we made a mistake in the past. We passed legislation that gave the president some temporary tariff authorities, and I think we should look back and maybe restore the power back to Congress and take away the authorizations that we’ve allowed the presidents.”
While it is unlikely that any legislation to limit Trump’s power of the tariff would pass. The good news here is that Republican’s are speaking out against one of the major campaign promises Trump is following through on, and was feverishly defeated by his supporters.
Any crack in the foundations is a good crack.
The ‘Vance Vacation’ has been cancelled
The Vance’s are not welcome in Greenland. I mean, this should come as no surprise.
Usha Vance announced her cultural trip to Greenland via a bizarre video which made her seem more like a hostage than a willing participant in this trip. (Usha, blink twice if you are in danger. I mean I won’t come to help, but maybe somebody will.)
The original itinerary was for the Second Lady to visit cultural attractions (ie: photo ops at local diners and the like) and attend a dog sled race to “meet with the people”. When the backlash came swiftly from both the people and the government of Greenland, J.D. Vance thought it would be a great idea to announce he was going to make the trip too. (Um, yeah, that oughta help)
This was met with even more resistance. Usha Vance’s visit may have been offensive, but at least she holds no office and wields no real power. Unlike her husband, she hasn’t been actively calling for the annexation of Greenland via every new program that will have her. After the announcement by the Vice President, Trump doubled down that Greenland will be under US control, saying,
"So, I think we'll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark,"
The scope of the trip has now been scaled back to hilarious proportions. In fact, neither the Vice President nor his wife will arrive on mainland Greenland at all. Rather, they will be visiting the U.S. military base on the North Artic island of Pituffik. It’s too bad they won’t be able to meet with the people donning MAGA hats…and by MAGA, I mean the newly designed “Make America Go Away” hats that are popping up in Greenland since the visit was first announced.
Greenland’s government has called for political unity in the wake of the announced visit, against a common enemy; the Trump regime.
Social Security Administration Walks Back Plans to Cut Phone Services
Are they doing it, or are they not? Apparently, it depends on the day. Leaked information earlier in the month indicated that the Social Security Adminstration was planning on ending phone services for identity verification and direct deposit support. The move would have required that people needing assistance either go on-line or to in-person to their local office. There was immediate outcry, citing the issues of those in rural areas, people with disability and the elderly, who may not be able to access either option. There was also concern with the availability of local offices as the SSA had planned to close 47 locations.
The SSA was quick to deny the claim.
Until, they weren’t. A week later, it appeared that despite the initial denials, the plan to cut phone services was real.
After a few weeks, we now have new guidance. There is still a plan to cut services for some beneficiaries. However, the new guidance delays implementation. The official statement also carves out exemptions to the policy. It’s not the best news. But, it will help protect the most vulnerable of the populations who receive benefits from the agency.
“In addition to extending the policy’s effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers, Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.”
Again, it’s not the best news. But, it will help protect the most vulnerable populations who receive benefits from the agency. Sometimes you just have to celebrate the minor victory while the war wages on.
Trump continues to lose in court: Every single day.
The amount of lawsuits that have been filed against the regime are too many to list updates on all separately. I suppose that’s what happens when you try to legislate through executive order and let a ketamine addicted tech nerd loose in government computer systems. But, there has been some developments and three major losses that are of note.
The appellate court has upheld Judge Boasberg’s original ruling for an injunction against the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling cited that there would be no immediate harm to the regime if they held off on the flights until a full hearing before Boasberg was held. It has been appealed, as of today, to the Supreme Court. There is no word if the court has accepted the case.
Elon’s DOGE doings may be required to become public record. So far DOGE has acted shrouded in mystery. No one is really sure what they are doing, or what they actually have access to. That may change. A federal court in D.C. has issued a ruling that DOGE must make materials and information available when a FOIA request is made.
Judge Boasberg, who is also presiding over the Signalgate case, ordered that all messages from the infamous group chat be preserved. No word on whether the regime will comply. He was sure to put his entire ruling in writing this time.
Have some good news, or victory to share? Leave it in the comments. We all could use a celebration, even if it is a small victory. Every battle counts. Every day we push back matters!
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As always, thank you for reading! — Courtney
I am hoping Stafanik is so steamed by the loss of her plum job that she will not suck up to Trump in future. That would be fun.
Yyu are such a great writer- i love your knowledge and ability to explain things so informatively while also making it interesting and often humorous (with your stellar wit)!
Love this Friday Goodness series too🩷 Great Job Courtney!!