7. Marijuana possession penalties could be decreased if Democrat legislators get their way
- A bill by State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that would reduce the penalties individuals face for marijuana possession, making fines the only penalty.
- Currently, someone can be charged with a felony for possessing marijuana that’s not for personal use, or if they’ve previously been convicted of possession. Under Singleton’s legislation, people would be fined up to $250 for their first possession, up to $500 for second possession and up to $750 for their third possession. The first two would be misdemeanor charges, and the third would be a Class D felony.
6. Biden wants race as the main decider in Supreme Court and NFL coach picks
- After the Super Bowl, President Joe Biden made it clear that he’s unhappy with the demographics of the NFL’s coaches, claiming a lack of diversity. Biden said in an interview that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “pointed out, they haven’t lived up to what they committed to.” He added, “They haven’t lived up to being open about hiring more minorities to run teams.”
- The NFL previously committed to hiring more black head coaches, as there is currently only one black head coach, but about 70% of the players are black. Biden went on to say, “The whole idea that a league that is made up of so many athletes of color, as well as so diverse, that there’s not enough African-American qualified coaches to quote, ‘to manage,’ these NFL teams, it just seems to me that it’s a standard that they’d want to live up to. It’s not a requirement of law, but it’s a requirement I think of some generic decency.”
5. Canadian trucker convoy doesn’t stop Super Bowl despite media fretting
- Over the weekend, the Canadian government decided they had enough of some of the COVID-19 restriction protests and worked to end some of them, but the protesters remain in Ottawa. Talk of new protests persists worldwide.
- In the week leading up to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, the American media were fretting over the potential impact new protests would have on the game. The Department of Homeland Security allegedly warned that the trucker convoys in Canada could cause problems with the game somehow. Not shockingly, this did not manifest itself in any real way.
4. Pringle weighs in on the congressional district dispute
- The congressional maps laid out by the Alabama Legislature were previously denied by a panel of three federal judges, who asserted that the maps need to be drawn considering race and Alabama’s 27% black population. State Representative Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) disagrees with the idea that race should be considered at all.
- Pringle explained, “[O]ur guidelines have come from the 90s forward, and all we do is adjust them based on new court rulings.” He added, “This three-judge panel — they have reinterpreted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a way we never expected them to do…Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected to numbers equal to their proportion of the population.” The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed redrawing the districts since the primary election is in May.
3. The world is done with the pandemic
- Democrat states have started removing some coronavirus mandates like masks in schools, and now there are countries across the world that are ending restrictions and mandates as cases have dwindled.
- Despite countries fighting to be done with economy-wrecking mandates, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are attempting to keep mandates in place. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan described removing mandates as “foolish,” but even countries like the United Kingdom are receiving criticism for ending restrictions, despite their 80% vaccination level.
2. Calls for Biden to undergo a cognitive test mount
- U.S. Representatives Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) and Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) have both signed a letter requesting that President Joe Biden undergo cognitive tests due to the public’s doubt in his mental fitness.
- Carl mentioned that he signed a similar letter last year that received no response. Moore said, “Providing the American people assurance that the man who possesses our nuclear codes is mentally fit to do his duties is not a partisan issue. Why won’t President Biden follow the example set by President Trump and take a cognitive test? What is Biden hiding behind that blank stare?”
1. The Clinton campaign did indeed spy on Trump at Trump Tower, the White House
- In a story that should be a massive scandal, not only because of what happened but because of those that claimed it was reckless to even allege it, special counsel John Durham now asserts that Clinton campaign operatives infiltrated Trump Tower and White House computer servers. The filing shows the campaign paid to create a narrative that would lead government agencies to link Trump to Russia.
- Durham says the government will prove that Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann paid tech operatives to access, “(i) a particular healthcare provider, (ii) Trump Tower, (iii) Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and (iv) the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP).” In response to this latest news, former President Trump says Durham’s filing shows “indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia.”
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