Tuesday Morning Minute: Remember the Pangolin!

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

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 — even as we reflect on some of the travesties of the recent past. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day. 

TOP O’ THE MORNIN’

Red-Hot at RedState 

John Fetterman Delivers Some Hard Reality to the Never-Trumpers on ‘The View,’ and It’s Glorious

In any case, love him or hate him, it was satisfying watching him leave the harridans of “The View” speechless. Who watches that shrill, illiterate nonsense is beyond me.

Supreme Court Fast-Tracks Case of FBI Botched Raid That Traumatized a Georgia Family

This is a significant case, given recent concerns about the weaponization of government and government agencies throughout the years.

Federal Judge Backpedals on Banning Oath Keeper from Washington, D.C.

This put Mehta in the embarrassing position of standing his ground and being made a laughing stock or backing down and trying to save a little bit of dignity. He chose the latter.

Trending Across Townhall Media

Those Michigan Mandatory Storage Laws are Working Out Swell

The law accomplished nothing. It did nothing. It didn’t stop this incident, which could have become far more tragic. Why? Because, as I said, the people you need to worry about aren’t going to follow the law anyway.

Federal Workers ‘Terrified’ By Trump

And, of course, the DEI staff terrorized people as part of their job, enforcing political correctness, so I have little sympathy for them.

Death to DEI: This Is the Real Reason White Lefties Are Panicking

Now that our long national DEI nightmare is finally ending, that sound you hear is the lamentations of their women (and beta men) — and it is glorious.

Thom Tillis Spoke With Pete Hegseth’s Former Sister-in-Law. Here’s What He Told Her.

Is Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) trying to get a primary challenge? This man is determined to carry out the political version of the Bataan Death March.

HAIL HYDRA: Anthony Mackie Says That Captain America … Should Not Represent America

As the saying goes, ‘It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see how that plays out for them.’

WHAT’S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill…

We’re seeing progress on the Hill as President Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee, Scott Bessent, was confirmed by the Senate Monday, with a vote due on Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy at noon on Tuesday. They’ll also vote at 2:15 p.m. Eastern to break the filibuster and begin debate on the bill sanctioning the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The House GOP continues its annual retreat in Doral, Florida, with Vice President JD Vance set to speak Tuesday. 

There are a handful of hearings set today, as well: 

• Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine defense innovation and acquisition reform
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation — Hearings to examine the Panama Canal and its impact on U.S. trade and national security, focusing on fees and foreign influence
• Senate Veterans’ Affairs — Hearings to examine the VA’s Community Care Program
• Senate Intelligence (Select) — To receive a closed briefing on certain intelligence matters

White House What’s Up

Fresh off his visit with the House GOP in Doral and signing multiple additional executive orders, President Trump is set to receive an intelligence briefing late Tuesday morning. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a press briefing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. “KL” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “KJP,” and something tells me this briefing will have a different vibe than the ones hosted by KJP. 

Full Court Press…

As noted previously, the Supreme Court is done with oral arguments until later in February, but they’re still issuing orders and taking up cases, as Joe Cunningham detailed for us in his article Monday evening about a botched FBI raid in Georgia. 

The judge who’d previously issued an order barring J6 defendant and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and seven other members of the group from entering Washington D.C. without the court’s permission has now vacated that order. 

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Big doings in the confirmation hearing department this week:

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Secretary of Health and Human Services – Jan. 29 (Senate Finance Committee)
• Howard Lutnick – Secretary of Commerce – Jan. 29
• Kelly Loeffler – Administrator of Small Business Administration – Jan. 29
• Kash Patel – FBI Director – Jan. 30
• Dan Driscoll – Secretary of the Army –  Jan. 30
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Secretary of Health and Human Services – Jan. 30 (Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee)
• Tulsi Gabbard – Director of National Intelligence – Jan. 30

Also look for committee votes on Pam Bondi for Attorney General (Wednesday), Russ Vought for Director of OMB (Thursday), and Elise Stefanik for UN Ambassador (Thursday)

MORNING MUSING

Plenty of things in this world make me angry, but I try not to live in that headspace, just from an overall health/well-being perspective. I was reminded, though, on Monday evening of something that, if I allow myself to dwell on it much, makes me furious: pangolins. I’d never even heard of a pangolin before early 2020. But suddenly, after an initial nod at bat soup, we were asked to believe that the nasty virus beginning to make the rounds had sprung from a wet market in Wuhan, China, and likely lept from animal to human via a pangolin. And when that origin story was rightly questioned — when many of us regular folks with the ability to do a bit of research and apply rational thought pointed to the lab nearby where research on coronaviruses was being conducted as a possible alternate explanation — we were told to slap an ineffective mask over our face, shut up, and sit down. In many instances, we were quite literally made to shut up, compliments of government mandates and censorship. 

And now, slowly but surely, it’s all coming out. And the people who clucked and tut-tutted at those of us who dared to question the official narrative are noticeably quiet about it all. I’m trying to afford grace to the many who just didn’t know and wanted badly to believe we weren’t being lied to. I get that. But as for the ones who knowingly lied — who pointed at the pangolin and who later did their utmost to silence anyone who questioned the official story and guidance — well, they’ve earned my enmity for life. And I hope they’re all thoroughly exposed for the Lying McLiarfaces they are and ostracized from polite society. Maybe they can go hang with the pangolins. 

LIGHTER FARE 

No idea what this is all about, but I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of it!

What are they arguing about? 😂 pic.twitter.com/NsNnGFEiuE

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) January 27, 2025

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