7 Things: Biden visits border; Rogers and Gaetz make nice; and more …

7. Soccer player who would not kneel during a ‘unity statement’ gets $100k

• When ex-Virginia Tech soccer player Kiersten Hening decided she was not going to go along with the demands of her coach, the media, and the woke mob to take a knee, she did not care that it would result in her benching. Her stance, though, has now made her $100k.
• Hening and her ex-coach Charles “Chugger” Adair were scheduled for court this week for a civil lawsuit on First Amendment grounds, but an agreement has been reached. Hening claims she was benched and pressured to leave the team by the coach who claimed she was  “b–tching and moaning” and then was putting his finger in her face. Two other players were not benched for not kneeling and the settlement does not assign wrong-doing.

6. How many people raided the presidential palace? About a Brazillian

• A mob of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro supporters took to the country’s capital city and illegally entered the presidential palace, executive office buildings, Congress and Supreme Court.
• Anger over this is everywhere because in America you can only attempt to attack the White House, Senate office buildings, the Supreme Court, and American cities without condemnation, the Congress is where the line is drawn. The American media, being experts on Brazillian politics, drew connections to Jan. 6 and former President Donald Trump, with Reuters referring to Bolsonaro as, an “acolyte of Trump’s who has yet to concede defeat.”

5. Top-rated maternity care at UAB

• The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s hospital was ranked as one of the best in the nation in a study of maternity care provided by the hospital. The “high-performing” ranking came from the very specifically named “2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals for Maternity Care rankings.”
• Warner Huh, M.D., chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology said, “This recognition is a full reflection of the amazing quality of care and expertise that our nurses, staff, advanced practice providers and faculty provide every day.” Recently, UAB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was ranked No. 5 in the nation among obstetrics and gynecology programs, the highest ever for the school.

4. Mall shooting in Madison County leaves 2 dead

• The Madison County Sheriff’s Department received a call for shots fired at 12:30 a.m. Sunday at a strip mall in Madison County. When they arrived they found two dead and “numerous people” injured.
• HEMSI reported that four additional people were taken to the hospital in stable condition with gunshot wounds and multiple others transported themselves to the hospital with gunshot wounds as well. The suspect is still on the loose.

3. New Speaker, who dis?

• Late Friday evening a new Speaker of the House was selected and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) secured the honor after the Freedom Caucus “rebels” acquiesced following multiple rounds of talks and concessions that were negotiated for days.
• The concessions include caps on spending to balance the budget, the creation of a subcommittee to look at the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” lower the threshold for someone to challenge the Speaker’s position, an agreement to keep the Congressional Leadership PAC out of primaries, an agreement to give Congress 72 hours to read bills, votes on term limits and border security bills, and an agreement to put House Freedom Caucus members on the rules committee that controls which bills get to the floor.

2. Gaetz vs. Rogers at Wrestlemania 39

• In the final moments of a tense debate on the floor, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) was physically restrained with his mouth covered as he was scolding Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) before another vote was taken. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) may have summed it up best saying, “Let’s remember that a little temporary conflict is necessary in this town in order to stop this town from rolling over the American people.
• Rogers has apologized to Gaetz and Gaetz tweeted, ”
  @RepMikeRogersAL and I have a six-year productive, working relationship. We’re going to work together wonderfully going forward. I don’t think there should be any punishment or reprisal just because he had an animated moment. He has my forgiveness.” “

1. Biden to the border, everything is fine

• President Joe Biden finally visited the border this week and wouldn’t you know that the migrant center he visited was fresh out of migrants? His press team aptly explained it as just a coincidence, “There just weren’t any at the center when he arrived. Completely coincidental. They haven’t had any today.” Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott met Biden at the airport and hand-delivered a letter demanding the border be secured.
• The visit to El Paso comes as the number of migrants crossing into that city has dropped after local/state officials have upped the security and physical border measures. Biden assured reporters that he would provide every resource needed at the border but the focus of the trip appears to be dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants, not stopping it.