7 Things: Jan. 6 Committee will try to question Trump; HSV schools say it is investigating drag queen; and more …

7. Biden administration loves to punish enemies using power of government 

• Potential 2024 presidential nominee and current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis  embarrassed the Biden administration by flying Venezulans from the border to Martha’s Vineyard, now the government wants to make him pay.
• Ignoring that this stunt worked, as Biden is now making Venezulans stay in Mexico, the Treasury Department has assured Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and five other Democrats that they are now investigating DeSantis to see if he used COVID-19 funds to pay for the flights even though the Florida legislature allocated money for migrant transportation.

6. I would quote a Jason Isbell song here but I don’t know any

• After Huntsville joined a growing list of cities seeking some of that sweet green cash from the medical marijuana racket, uninteresting preachy Twitter user and sometimes subpar musician Jason Isbell remarked, “More like bluntsville, am I right?” But… he is not right.
• Alabama’s tame medical marijuana bill is pretty uninspired, which is unknown to most burnouts. The bill allows marijuana use for 16 conditions, but can only come in the form of tablets, capsules, gelatins, oils, gels, creams, suppositories, transdermal patches, or inhalable oils or liquids. The law specifically forbids smoking medical cannabis or using it in edibles, it cannot get you high.

5. Call me crazy, but some killers need to be in jail forever

• When a group of prisoners with no real bargaining power went on “strike” demanding a list of things to make their lives in prison better, including the end of “life without parole.” Gov. Kay Ivey called the demands “unreasonable” but former Alabama Democrat Party chairman and State Rep. Christopher England (D-Tuscaloosa) thought, “there is nothing unreasonable about any of these proposals.”
• State Rep. Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) wants to make it pretty clear that this will not be happening, in fact he wants tougher sentencing and to see more death penalties carried out, “I think it’s cruel and inhumane to have people sit there for 30 or 40 years waiting for that experience. We need to speed that up and process that quickly.”

4. No one is happy Nicholas Cruz escaped the death penalty for Parkland shooting

• 17 people were killed by Nicholas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and he escaped the death penalty. The jury found Cruz should be spared because of his issues ranging “troubled history, from being raised in a dysfunctional family to serious mental and developmental issues” even though he purchased the rifle a year before the shooting and meticulously planned for seven months in advance.

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opined as well, saying, “I think that if you have a death penalty at all, that that is a case where you’re massacring those students, with premeditation and utter disregard for humanity, that you deserve the death penalty,”

3. Inflation up big on everything 

• As anyone with eyes, a job and a bank account knows, inflation is still up over 8% and up from last month to boot showing the inflation reduction part of the Inflation Reduction Act is not working too well. The number is actually artificially low as the drop from record-high gas prices because of the draining of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve played a factor.
• Everything is up over the last year, oil up 58%, gas utilities up 33%, gasoline up 18%, electricity up 15%, transportation up 14%, food up 13% and housing up 6%. Americans have lost $12-plus trillion in the stock market this year. The PAIN is everywhere, To put this all in perspective only 21% see their finances improving and 47% say their finances still getting worse.

2. Huntsville City Schools launches investigation, “death threats” are claimed

• The male teacher who was reading a children’s book dressed as a drag queen and who teaches at a Huntsville middle school is now at the center of a controversy. “Libs of Tik Tok” exposed him telling sexually suggestive jokes, to dogs and/or kids (no one is clear). The teacher gave an interview to WAAY-TV where he defended the jokes, claiming they are no different than humor in kids’ cartoons. Sure.
• Huntsville City Schools is refusing to explain what it is doing. Instead, it waited until the controversy broke and issued a statement claiming it can’t comment on a “personnel matter” but added the actions don’t represent their “community.” Of course with issues like these, when there is a contentious social issue, the people being criticized complain they are on the receiving end of “death threats.” But usually it is just stupid people online wishing death up on them, that seems to be what is happening here. The threats never lead to charges.

1. Jan. 6 Committee votes to subpoena Donald Trump 

• It seems as if the only people who seem to care about the results of the Jan. 6 Committee are employed on Capitol Hill or in the media covering them, despite their efforts to tell you how powerful those hearings are. Yesterday’s hearing promised bombshells but the real impact will probably be minimal.
• The subpoena of President Donald Trump, which he used to raise money, after almost two years and no evidence of legal wrongdoing surrounding the riots at the U.S. Capitol on his part got most of the headlines, but little other news emerged. Other threads of “importance” included the fact that their were online threats from people not at the  Capitol on the Internet, Pelosi said she wanted to punch Trump, Trump planned to declare victory and accusations that Trump knew he lost. Groundbreaking stuff here.