7 Things: Trump makes it clear he isn’t messing around with Iran, Byrne calls out pro-Iran views, impeachment could finally move forward and more …

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January 6, 2020

7. Golden Globes host roasts Hollywood

Comedian Ricky Gervais was the host of the Golden Globe Awards where he preceded to rip into Hollywood for their elitism, support for Harvey Weinstein and Jeffery Epstein and hypocrisy when it comes to working for companies like Apple, who runs sweatshops.
He also implored Hollywood to drop the politics, reasoning, “You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.” But this didn’t stop fellow comedian George Lopez from making a joke about killing the President of the United States.

6. Birmingham named top travel destination

Forbes has released a list of the world’s best winter 2020 travel destinations, and Birmingham, Alabama was one of the nine cities picked.
Forbes said that Birmingham has produced “an amazing food scene, where high-end culinary chops meet down-home flavors.” Some of the other cities that were chosen were Rome, San Diego, Chicago, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Cartagena, San Antonio and Toronto.

5. Attack on U.S. military base in Kenya

Three Americans have been killed during an al-Shabab, an al-Qaida linked group, attack on Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya; the five people who attacked the base were killed during the attack.
One U.S. serviceman and two U.S. Department of Defense contractors killed, but al-Shabab originally claimed that there were 17 Americans dead and nine Kenyan soldiers killed.

4. Iraq parliament has voted to ask troops to leave

While on Sunday morning news shows, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the United States’ strategy after the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani. Pompeo also dismissed the Iraqi caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s request for a timetable for all foreign troops to leave Iraq.
Trump already dismissed this and is deploying more troops. Pompeo said that Mahdi is “the resigned prime minister” and “the acting prime minister,” but Pompeo also stated that they “are confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counterterror campaign.” He added, “And we’ll continue to do all the things we need to do to keep America safe.”

3. Graham is prepared to act if Pelosi doesn’t send articles

The two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump are expected to be sent to the U.S. Senate this week, but if the articles don’t make it there, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is prepared to push to change rules.
Graham intends to seek that the chamber change the impeachment rules so that the Senate would be allowed to proceed with the impeachment trial without having the articles. Graham said that his “goal is to start the trail in the next coming days, not let [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi take over the Senate.”

2. Byrne is questioning Omar’s loyalty

After U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reacted to the killing of Qasem Soleimani by saying that she was “outraged” and saying that she would “step in and stop him” from starting a war, while overlooking that Soleimani was labeled a terrorist and instead saying he was an assassinated “foreign official,” and now U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) is drawing attention to her comments.
Byrne said that “Omar diminished 9/11, opposes Israel, and now she is upset that President Trump took out a murderous terrorist – at this point we have to wonder what side is she on?” He also added that she might wish “Obama were still here to bow before the Ayatollah.”

1. Trump promises a ‘disproportionate’ response

On Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump warned that “should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner.”
Trump has also said that there have been 52 Iranian sites identified that could be “HIT VERY FAST AND HARD” if Tehran were to attack any U.S. assets or Americans.