The 7 Things You Should Be Talking About Today

1. House Intelligence Committee votes to release documents; senators seek criminal probe against dossier author

— The ongoing saga over dueling memos will now move to the floor of the U.S. House; Speaker Ryan supports its release.

— Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have released their request for a criminal probe into Christopher Steele and his connections to the Clinton campaign and how it wasn’t disclosed.

2. Dow Jones index suffers largest drop in history, with big drops over the last two trading days

— The drop of the 1,175 points is the largest point drop, but not the largest drop percentage-wise.

— Coupled with Friday’s drop of 666 points, lots of questions are being raised about how wise it is for the president to claim the stock market as an accomplishment,  even though all presidents do it.

3. Roy Moore asks for defamation case against him to be dismissed because it is scheduled to be held in Montgomery

— Moore is being sued for denying that he sexually assaulted Leigh Corfman decades ago and impugning her motives for coming forward.

— Moore has also asked that the trial be relocated to Etowah County, where both Moore and Corfman live, instead of Montgomery, where none of the alleged acts would have taken place.

4. The flu continues to wreak havoc on Alabama; Huntsville middle-schooler is the state’s 54th death

— 12-year-old Aaron Masterson, a student at Huntsville Junior High with cystic fibrosis, lost his life to complications of the flu.

— There is an app that will show you where the flu is most damaging, down to your zip code.

5. Alabama legislators want to change ethics laws to make outside employment rules more clear

— Sen. Trip Pittman is attempting to pass a law that will change the process in which the Alabama Ethics Commission can clarify what kinds of outside business lawmakers can engage in.

— Sen. Dick Brewbaker claims that without clarification, “You’re going to end up with a Legislature with nothing besides lawyers and retired people.”

6. President Trump jokes about those who didn’t clap at the State of the Union being treasonous; media reacts 

— Trump pointed out that Democrats refused to cheer positive economic news and said Democrats “would rather see Trump do badly than our country do well”.

— Trump’s comments have fueled an absurd debate about actual traitors, including CNN putting together pieces on Benedict Arnold and Tokyo Rose.

7. Drunk driving illegal alien kills NFL player on Super Bowl Sunday

— The illegal alien, Manuel Orrego-Savala, was using an alias and had been deported at least twice.

— A breath test administered at the scene found Orrego-Savala’s blood-alcohol content was 0.239 percent when he struck the Colts’ Edwin Jackson and ride-share driver, Jeffrey Monroe.