Greetings!  Required reading at the Pentagon:  Pete Hegseth’s tome The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Up Free, published in June.  BTW: Did you notice that the subhead refers to the men who keep us free, ignoring the estimated 229,000 women in the military including 3,800 in combat roles…A Wall Street Journal editorial outlines why RFK Jr. is a clear and present danger to public health…Right wing Substack newsletters are on the rise:   Three that have caught my attention: Karlstack, a newsletter from Chris Brunet, whom The American Conservative credits as “the man behind Claudine Gay’s ouster at Harvard”;  the National Populist Newsletter, helmed by Ryan Girdusky, who was famously banned by CNN late last year for saying on live TV to Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan, "I hope your beeper doesn't go off”; and Arthuriana, from  Arthur Bloom, a veteran of  The American Conservative, Daily Caller and the Catholic Herald….Hollywood in Toto notes with some schadenfreude that Jewel is begging “fans to forgive her Trump inauguration gig.” The 90s singing sensation  performed at a ball to  honor RFK Jr and then took to her Instagram to apologize…Weekday Must Watch:  Check out the new Smithsonian National Zoo Giant Panda Cam.  It’s easily the  most heart-warming show coming out of D.C in these trying times…If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! I’m surprised the right isn’t up in arms over the 13 Academy Award  nominations showered on “Emilia Pérez.” The musical chronicles the tale of a Mexican drug cartel boss, who happens to be trans.  “Emilia Perez” stars Karla Sofia Gascon, the first trans woman to receive an Oscar nom in the best actress category.  As of this morning, in the more than 30 sites I follow, only PJ Media expressed outrage.  As for most of the rest of the Oscar-nominated films, the majority seem misaligned with not only MAGA-nation but with much of mainstream America (not the first time in Academy history, BTW).  But at this perilous point in time, it makes the Academy, and by extension Hollywood, look out of step with the country.   I expect record-low ratings for ABC’s telecast of the March 2 Oscar ceremony.  I also expect the show to be a rather somber affair. The devastating LA fires and a flurry of Trump executive orders have put any celebratory Hollywood vibe on life support.  In the current environment, where most media executives have bent the knee to the Trumpists, who will dare to make a comment critical of the Trump administration?  And will Trump’s special envoys to Tinseltown attend?...Somehow I overlooked the 20th wedding anniversary of those May-December lovebirds Donald and Melania. They married January 22, 2005.  The Palm Beach Post has complete coverage from that day 20 years ago (including photos).  The Post’s coverage also features the guest list from the nuptials which includes Bill and Hillary Clinton, Matt Lauer, Anna Wintour, Shaquille O’Neal and Katie Couric…Weekend Watch: Try Apple+’s Prime Target which follows the harrowing travails of a young English math whiz who may have uncovered a way to access every computer in the world and is on the run. I’ve watched the first  two episodes and I’m hooked. New episodes drop every Wednesday…If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard