TRUMP AND OSCAR

First, the international media seem to have come to a conclusion that the world has dramatically changed, for there is now good reason to believe that the USA has become a partner of Russia.  Next, the New Power Axis with China, North Korea and Iran?  Incredible.  Further, the 25% tariff on two of our closest allies, Canada and Mexico, will most likely take effect tomorrow.  From the New York Times this morning.  But something first from Justin Trudeau.

• 
  Trump directed federal agencies to consider ways of bypassing environmental regulations to expand timber production in national forests.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the measles outbreak in West Texas is a top priority. But he has shied away from loudly and directly encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated.  By the way, I'm adding this, but the U.S. in 2000 officially announced it had eliminated measles.
• There are now 100 active suits in federal court against Trump administration actions. The White House is mounting political attacks on judges who rule against it.
• Trump has severely damaged the government’s ability to fight climate change, David Gelles, Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer write.
• So based, much wow: On X, Elon Musk tries to use the language of the internet to marshal his followers in support of DOGE.
• Media lawyers and some of Trump’s allies say the concessions have emboldened the president’s legal team. More lawsuits are likely. They will probably be accompanied by other attempts to delegitimize the press — an important strategy for a White House that uses lies to advance its agenda.

Any chance that Democrats can summon the guts to all just not show up at President Trump's joint congressional address tomorrow night?  The answer will be no.  Don't confuse this with a State of the Union address, which usually occurs in January or February of the second and third year of the term, fourth too if re-elected.  Guarantee that all members of the Supreme Court and his cabinet will appear.  Well, actually no, for there will be a designated survivor.  

• Picking this failsafe person only began in 1981 during the Reagan reign.
• Of course, you've seen the ABC series starring Kiefer Sutherland, that aired from 2016 to 2019.  I remember watching it, but only today found out that Rotten Tomatoes gave it a mediocre 71/53 score.
• Here is one example.

Alberto Gonzales, Bush's attorney general, was the designated survivor during the 2007 State of the Union. He said White House chief of staff Josh Bolten called a few days before and gave a couple of options for where he could hunker down. 

Gonzales chose to be in flight, and he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to find “members of every major department and agency” there to ride with him. They carried thick binders stuffed with memos and protocol instructions, just in case.

He said there were a series of briefings that may have stretched right into Bush's speech, which he watched from the air.

“It was during that time that it sort of suddenly hit me, if something happened in the Capitol and everyone's killed, that I'd be president,” Gonzales said. "It's sort of sobering. And you wonder, would I be up to governing a wounded nation?”

• Hey, that was interesting.  Here is another DS story.

“It focuses your mind. It also enhances your prayer that it doesn’t happen to you,” James Nicholson, who was President George W. Bush's veterans affairs secretary and designated survivor during the 2006 State of the Union, said of possibly becoming president after a cataclysmic event. 

Nicholson said Bush’s then-chief of staff, Andy Card, had asked him a few weeks before the State of the Union to take on the role. He was a natural fit given that his agency played an important role in continuity of government exercises due to its numerous hospitals and clinics nationwide. 

Nicholson flew by helicopter to a destination only divulged once he was in the air, and later sat in a command center, where he underwent briefings before watching Bush’s speech. 

He was served a “wonderful” dinner, prepared onsite by personnel from the White House mess, though he can't recall if it was T-bone steak or prime rib or something similar. “It made you think that, at least, if this awful thing happened, you’d be well fed," he said. 

“The enormity of that job. You think about, remote as it is, this is something you might have to do,” he said of becoming president. Nicholson's wife was attending the State of the Union, meaning that if something happened, she could be among the victims, which only added to the pressure. 

When it was over, Nicholson wasn't asked to fill in his predecessor in the role, Gonzales, or future designated survivors. 

“We don’t have a club,” he laughed. "We should.”

How will our lives be affected by all the above?  Enjoy your current state of confusion and concern.  It will probably only get worse.  On that note, let me escape to entertainment and the Oscars.

• The big winner was Anora, a comedy-drama about an exotic dancer from Brooklyn who marries the son of a Russian Oligarch.  Rotten Tomatoes 93/89.
• Won five Oscars, including Best Picture, with the upset of the night Mikey Madison as Best Actress and Sean Baker for directing.  25-year old Madison edged out 62 year old Demi Moore.

• Only cost $6 million to make.

• 
  The three-hour epic about a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor, The Brutalist, won three, including Best Actor, by Adrien Brody.  Rotten Tomatoes, 93/80.  This is his second BA award, and both as a Holocaust survivor.
• Conan O'Brien did fine as moderator, and will no doubt be asked to repeat next year.
• Fashion is always the highlight on the Red Carpet.  Here is Ariana Grande:

Cynthia Erivo.

Doja Cat.

Timothée Chalamet.

Jeff Goldblum.

And the victorious Anora group.

-