The Wells Report for Monday, January 8, 2024

Today's First News and Comment....

US MILITARY:

SECDEF HOSPITALIZED, POTUS UNINFORMED FOR 3 DAYS 

NBC NEWS:

Amid tensions in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, including spending four days in the intensive care unit, according to two senior administration officials.

The Defense Department did not inform senior officials in the White House’s National Security Council of Austin’s hospitalization until Thursday — three days after he arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a U.S. official confirmed. Politico first reported the delay.

Austin was admitted to the hospital Monday night for “complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” the Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said in a statement Friday evening

Austin released a statement Saturday taking responsibility for not disclosing his condition sooner.

"I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better," Austin said. "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”

TWR:  One of the first (painful) lessons I learned during my Military Career was this…

“Don’t Blind-side the Boss.” 

It’s a big mistake.  To have a retired General Officer make that mistake is…Odd.

However in reality, this is little more than a tempest in a teapot…An inside the Beltway temper tantrum.

Our National Security was never compromised…The Defense Department was not rudderless…

SECDEF HOSPITALIZATION CAUSES BIDEN CAMPAIGN IMPLICATIONS 

USA TODAY:

The White House promised on President Joe Biden’s first day in office that the new administration would bring transparency and trust back to government.

But the secrecy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization is casting doubts on whether the administration is living up to that promise.

Austin was hospitalized Jan. 1 for what the Pentagon has described complications following an elective medical procedure, but the Defense Department didn't alert the White House about Austin's condition until Thursday, three days after he was admitted. Neither the Pentagon nor Austin has provided any details about why he is in the hospital or what medical procedure he underwent.

Austin’s decision to keep his hospitalization and serious illness a secret, even from the White House and his top deputy, has whipped up a political firestorm that officials say has damaged the Pentagon’s credibility and raised questions about the administration’s commitment to transparency.

“Heads have to roll,” said Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and expert in crisis communications who worked in the White House under then-President Barack Obama. “This is not a minor miscommunication. It’s about the confidence that our national security structure has in its leadership and that the leadership is acting in a transparent way.”

POTUS:

DID BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FABRICATE A PAPER TRAIL TO SHUT DOWN CHEMICAL PLANT? 

FOX NEWS:

The Biden administration appears to have intervened in a supposedly nonpartisan science review, manufacturing a paper trail in support of its environmental justice efforts targeting a major chemical plant, according to court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital.

In stunning testimony late last year, Michael Morton — who serves as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 science liaison to the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) in Washington, D.C. — admitted that he didn't author a key July 2021 email sent from his email address.

That email called off a scientific review of health risks associated with chloroprene emissions which are at the center of an ongoing federal lawsuit with vast economic implications.

"I didn't write that," Morton told lawyers for synthetics manufacturer Denka Performance Elastomer (DPE) during a deposition in November. "I didn't say that. For – for that part, I didn't – I don't know that, so I don't know who wrote that," he added when pressed on the email.

Morton's testimony and revelations from additional information made public in recent months may ultimately derail the Biden administration's lawsuit against DPE which, if successful, could threaten the future operations of the company's major manufacturing facility in LaPlace, Louisiana, and further set a precedent broadly threatening the multi-billion-dollar U.S. petrochemical industry. 

TWR:  Executive Branch Agencies have gone rogue…

Here we have apparent forgery taking place in an effort to distort or outright fabricate “scientific” evidence in an effort close a Louisiana Chemical Plant, and damage the US Petrochemical Industry.

This is reminiscent of the Obama-Era “Fast and Furious” scandal, where Administration officials allowed illegal US straw purchases of firearms in the hopes of generating momentum for another round of Democrat Gun Control.

When reality is supplanted by politics…The yawning abyss beckons, threatening to become irresistible.

ISRAEL/HAMAS:

CONFLICT HITS 3-MONTH MARK 

USA TODAY:

As the grueling Israel-Hamas conflict hit the three-month mark Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed forward with an urgent Middle East mission amid fears the tinderbox region could explode into a wider war.

Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military would “continue to deepen the achievement” there but focus on the central and southern parts of the territory.

The Biden administration has repeatedly implored Israel to limit its offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas' brutal attacks on Israeli border communities Oct. 7. The militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 people hostage. Israel's potent military response has left more than 22,000 dead and 58,000 injured, distressing Arab leaders.

“This is a conflict that could easily metastasize, causing even more insecurity and even more suffering,” Blinken said Sunday. “So from day one, among other priorities, we have been intensely focused on working to prevent the conflict from spreading.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to stand firm Sunday that the war won't end until Hamas is crushed and the hostages are returned.

TWR:  This is the grim work of Justice.  Those who would attack, rape, torture or kill their neighbor face a reckoning.

That reckoning is essential for the sake of civilization.

ISRAEL VOWS TO TAKE OUT TERROR LEADERS WORLDWIDE 

USA TODAY:

Last week, in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, Israel promised a repeat of the covert “Wrath of God” assassination campaign launched after the deadly Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

As it did half a century ago, Israel plans to neutralize those it believes are responsible for the Hamas operation that killed 1,200 people, saw 240 people dragged back to Gaza as hostages and launched a war that threatens to expand into a complicated regional conflict.

The Mossad is “committed to settling accounts with the murderers” behind Oct. 7, David Barnea, the chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, said last week.

Barnea disclosed the existence of the new effort during his eulogy Wednesday for Zvi Zamir, the Mossad leader who oversaw the early years of the post-Munich campaign. “It’ll take time, as it took time after the Munich massacre,” Barnea said, “but we will put our hands on them wherever they are.”

TWR:  Let the word go forth from this time and place…

If you kill Jews…They will kill you back.

TRUMP:

NY AG LETITIA JAMES URGES JUDGE TO FINE TRUMP 370-MILLION 

FOX NEWS:

New York Attorney General Letitia James is in the hot seat again, this time after urging a judge on Friday to force former President Trump to shell out $370 million for alleged shady real estate practices in addition to permanently barring him from the New York real estate industry.

"Ms. James has, in my mind, always been a bit of a fame-hungry human being that has put her politics in front of the interest of New York State," Alina Habba, an attorney representing the former president, told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."

According to USA Today, that "figure grew as additional buildings and valuations were revealed during the 44-day trial to determine damages."

"She wants to completely wipe clean the bank account of the Trump Organization. She wants to hurt individuals who have done nothing wrong. 

TWR:  This is a career-ending mess for soon to be former New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

Ms. James is pathologically proving that the Law, in the hands of a political sociopath is a weapon that can be used to ruin anyone.

She is also now the Poster Child for tyrants guilty of Oppression under Color of Office.

TRUMP CALLS FOR RELEASE OF JAN 6TH RIOTERS 

USA:

Former President Donald Trump campaigned in Iowa on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot Saturday, shrugging off the event as "patriotic and peaceful," then attacking the lead prosecutor bringing charges against him and the congressional committee that investigated the insurrection.

Trump persisted in falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden was "rigged" — the same exhortations that prompted his supporters to breach the Capitol in an attempt to halt congressional certification of the results — and he dismissed both the lead-up and aftermath of the riot that resulted in multiple deaths.

"Nobody thought J6 was even a possibility," he told supporters at Des Moines Area Community College's Newton, Iowa, campus.

During his remarks at a later campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa, Saturday evening, Trump called for the release of those convicted and imprisoned for crimes relating to the riot, describing them as "J6 hostages" and calling on President Biden to release them.

TWR:  Hostages?  No.  Political Prisoners?  Yes.

Every day those people sit in jail while BLM Rioters, Looters, Arsonists, Murderers walk free, is a glaring, sneering monument to American Leftist Hypocrisy.

2024 ELECTION:

DESANTIS WILL CONTINUE IF HE LOSES IOWA 

FOX NEWS:

GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis responded to rumors he may drop out of the 2024 race should he lose to former President Trump in the Iowa caucuses. 

DeSantis told Fox News’ Bill Melugin at a town hall event in Grimes, Iowa, that the rumors were "categorically false" and a "lie." "Totally made up," he said. 

The Florida governor added that he believes the rumor was created to get people not to show up and vote. 

A December poll from NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom found Trump holding a commanding lead, with 51% of likely Republican caucusgoers saying their first choice is the former 45th president. 

DeSantis was in second place at 19%, followed by Nikki Haley at 16%. Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie were in single digits at 5% and 4%, respectively. 

TWR:  Governor DeSantis has a perfect opportunity. 

Stay in the race…If Donald Trump wins the Republican Party Nominee, he should be his running mate. 

VP first…Then run for the Presidency in 2028, then re-election in 2032…

AVIATION:

MISSING PART OF ALASKA AIRLINES PLANE IS FOUND IN PORTLAND

CNN:

Federal officials examining the horrifying midflight blowout of a section of an Alaska Airlines aircraft’s fuselage said Sunday the lost piece has been found – a key element in the investigation of what happened during the plane’s “explosive decompression.”

A Portland schoolteacher named Bob found the refrigerator-sized Boeing 737 MAX 9 fuselage door plug in his yard and reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.

The door plug had been missing since it blew off the aircraft Friday, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane as it flew at 16,000 feet shortly after taking off from Portland, Oregon, carrying 177 people.

Complicating the investigation is the loss of critical cockpit audio recordings because of a device setting, said Homendy.

The cockpit voice recorder, which captures sounds such as engine noises and pilots’ voices, was “completely overwritten,” since devices are currently only required to retain two hours of audio at a time, Homendy said.

“There is nothing on the cockpit voice recorder,” she said, noting the maintenance team went out to get the recorder around the two-hour mark when the devices begin a new recording cycle.

TWR:  Human beings are getting better at Flight. 

In the last 2 incidents, no one flying in a civilian aircraft lost their lives.

Airlines flying 737 Max aircraft need to be more vigilant when their planes tell them something is wrong. 

In this case, the aircraft told its crews that something was wrong.  A warning light indicating a cabin pressurization problem had lit several times, causing the carrier to restrict this plane to overland flights.

Next time, get the aircraft into a maintenance facility to determine why the light is lit.

CELEBS:

GOLDEN GLOBES BIGGEST MOMENTS 

USA TODAY:

Sunday’s awards show saw atomic-bomb drama “Oppenheimer” and HBO’s hit “Succession” run away with the lion’s share of trophies, but it was the unexpected moments that made the night.

Andra Day and Jon Batiste were a hilarious duo presenting a pair of music prizes, as were “Barbie” co-stars Issa Rae and Simu Liu, as they riffed on all the “white people roles” they long to play.

“Succession” star Kieran Culkin jokingly told Pedro Pascal to “suck it” during his acceptance speech, while “The Bear” actress Ayo Edebiri hyperventilated during her time onstage, apologizing to all the people she forgot to thank, “unless you were mean or something.” 

The stand-up comedian had a rough go in his first outing as Globes host, earning groans and even some boos during his opening monologue for off-color jokes about “Barbie” (“a plastic doll with big boobies”) and “The Color Purple” (“what happens to your butt when you take Ozempic”), among others. Koy tried to brush off the negative reactions and blame the writers, saying he got the job just 10 days ago.”

TWR:  While this year’s Golden Globes gave us genuine moments of fun, pathos, sweetness, triumph, wit, laughter…

Unfortunately, there are those who feel self-empowered to hammer anyone who tries to be the show’s Master of Ceremonies.

The very funny Jo Koy took the job with 10 days notice…Then was panned.

So now, after no one wanted the job in 2024, no one will want the job in 2025.

Honestly, Ricky Gervais was right.  The MC Job for the Golden Globes is the worst job in show business.

Jon-David Wells, Host - The Wells Report c: 2023

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