This Day In History, 1984: The Premiere of Romancing The Stone - Updated

🎬'Romancing the Stone' starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito premiered in theaters 34 years ago today, March 30, 1984 pic.twitter.com/ce6z18J7Au

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) March 30, 2018

I think this was the first movie I had on videotape and I watched it over and over again. Roger Ebert gave it three stars, calling it a "high spirited chase picture," with the same spirit and sense of adventure as Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Read the entire review here.) If you've never seen Romancing the Stone, or if it's been 34 years, check it out again.

Tuesday afternoon update: Guess what's happening at 11.45 p.m. tonight? Turner Classic Movies is showing Romancing The Stone, part of a Prime Time tribute to Michael Douglas. My DVR is set.

This Day In History, 1969: Eisenhower Dies

“Eisenhower Dead at 78 As Ailing Heart Fails”—New York Times today 1969: pic.twitter.com/pMmZYEQLhX

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) March 29, 2018

Actually, President Eisenhower died on March 28; the New York Times issue with the story, shown above, was published on the 29th.

Back in December, 2014, I wrote a post that included this, about the death of presidents:

I'm interested in presidential history, and the death of any president is a milestone in our country; a time for grief and reflection, and it doesn't happen that often.

In the last 70 years, two presidents have died in office: FDR on April 12, 1945, followed by JFK on November 22, 1963. Prior to 1945, the last president to die was Calvin Coolidge, in January, 1933. After Roosevelt and Kennedy, there have been seven additional presidential deaths:

October 20, 1964: Herbert Hoover
March 28, 1969: Dwight Eisenhower
December 26, 1972: Harry Truman
January 22, 1973: Lyndon Johnson
April 22, 1994: Richard Nixon
June 5, 2004: Ronald Reagan
December 26, 2006: Gerald Ford

Read the entire post here. 

Our two oldest living former presidents are both 93. George HW Bush turns 94 on June 12; Jimmy Carter hits that milestone on October 1. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are both 71 and Barack Obama is 56. The current president is 71, turning 72 in June. 

Junior v. Jeb!

Nice to see that the First Lady's anti-cyberbullying initiative is having an effect:

Jeb! I love everything about my father. I love that he’s a fighter, I love that he has guts, I love that he’s President (all those things you’re not)

Also love that he learned enough about politics in a few weeks to dismantle you piece by piece despite it being your life’s work https://t.co/4fcnA1AgAa

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 29, 2018

This is what got him going:

Jeb Pokes Trump: My Kids ‘Actually Love Me’ https://t.co/RZLCCcpVMX pic.twitter.com/sqlQBGyL2h

— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 29, 2018

And was junior trying to have a baby with Aubrey O'Day during his soon-to-be-dissolved marriage? US Weekly says yes:

Read about it here. 

Mariska Hargitay - Updated

Issue dated April 9, 2018: Mariska Hargitay


Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay gets the cover this week, promoting a new movie that the magazine strangely doesn't name, either on the cover or in the teaser article at people.com. IMDB says Hargitay produced a documentary called I Am Evidence in 2017, which is apparently about to be released. "The Kennedys' Darkest Secret" refers to Chappaquiddick, which is a small island off Martha's Vineyard, an incident involving Ted Kennedy in 1969 and a new movie; Megan's "major hint" is that she and Harry plan to have kids. As I said in the Guessing Game post, that's hardly breaking news.

People is still ignoring all the president's women.

Saturday morning update: I should have said that People is ignoring the president's women on the cover. I've now read the current issue and there is a story about Stormy Daniels inside. FWIW, I really thought she'd be on the cover this week.

Last year at this time: Issue dated April 10, 2017

Things I Don't Care About: The New Roseanne - Updated

Original post:
Seriously. Is there really an audience for a reboot of this show, which originally ran from 1988-1997? It starts tonight, we'll know soon if anyone is actually watching.

Wednesday morning update: I don't care about this show but a lot of people do, or at least a lot of them watched. Ratings were through the roof:

The first two episodes of Roseanne, a full hour at the top of the ABC lineup, won the night by both adults 18-49 and total viewers. The show averaged a 5.1 rating in the key demo and 18.1 million viewers, rising from the first half hour to the next. The first number alone is enough to make Roseanne the highest-rated regularly-scheduled scripted show of the last few seasons, since Empire at its peak, as well as the highest-rated sitcom broadcast in over three years.

That's an incredibly strong start for the sitcom, thus far only committed to nine episodes. The easiest comparison is another revival, NBC's Will & Grace. The other reboot, one that helped jumpstart Roseanne and the current trend, premiered with a 3.0 rating in the key demo and just over 10 million viewers at the start of the season. (From The Hollywood Reporter, read the entire story here.) 

The President's Lawyers - Updated

Or maybe it should be "The President's (lack of) Lawyers." There's news this morning that two more lawyers have declined to represent Trump (read about it here,) and, in comments from a reader, Talking Points Memo serves up an interesting reason why:

Most firms now have at least a few powerful female partners and they ALL have 50 percent young women as associates. Of course many of the men despise Trump too, but it is the women who are saying you represent this fucking pig and I will quit tomorrow and everyone knows they mean it. And any firm that represented Trump may as well just give up on attracting female associates. It would become their entire brand overnight, and it is a terrible black mark. The top firms are interchangeable, so it doesn’t take much to drop to the bottom of young associates’ list. Yes, the fact that he won’t pay, will fucking lose spectacularly and along the way will inevitably force his lawyer to choose between suborning perjury and quitting (if he can), but the truth is it’s the Trump brand they just can’t afford. He’s a Swastika.  Read the entire post here.

Wednesday morning update: At 7.30 this morning the lead headline at CNN.com is "The President can't find a lawyer." The story calls it an "unheard-of problem" and includes this:

Five large law firms are passing on the opportunity to represent the President after a shakeup last week on his private defense team and as he anticipates giving possible testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Well-known Washington lawyers cited several reasons for declining the President in recent weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with their decisions. Among them, Trump appears to be a difficult client and has rebuked some of his lawyers' advice. He's perceived as so politically unpopular he may damage reputations rather than boost them. Lawyers at large firms fear backlash from their corporate clients if they were to represent the President. And many want to steer clear of conflicts of interest that could complicate their other obligations. Read the story here. 

The Morning After

photo credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

As I'm writing, at about 10.25 a.m. Monday morning, the president still hasn't tweeted about Stormy, or shown any reaction to last night's interview. He did tweet this out, including the (correctly spelled!) word "voluminous"

So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. But through it all, our country is doing great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2018

You know he really wants to blast Stormy to smithereens but someone (Ivanka? Melania? John Kelly?) has effectively restrained him on that subject, at least so far. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. 

He also hasn't done anything drastic to distract from the story, but hey, it's early.

In the meantime, look at this seriously unpleasant picture of the president, which I believe was taken yesterday. (You can see a larger version here.) In previous posts I've said that he looks tired, overwhelmed and every day of his 71 years. He still does, along with now, possibly, a tiny bit fearful of what may be coming down the pike. (Actuarial note: the president turns 72 in 80 days.)

Stormy's Big Night

Just a few more hours until the big Stormy Daniels interview uncorks on 60 Minutes, and frankly, I'm beginning to think it's going to be a bit of an anticlimax, or at least a bit of a letdown for those expecting something salacious or presidency-ending for Donald Trump. Daniels' lawyer appears to agree, trying to manage expectations with this tweet from this morning:

Note: (a) not all of our evidence will be mentioned/displayed tonight – that would be foolish; (b) we are not sure what CBS will include but we know a lot from the full interview will have to be cut bc of the time allowed; (c) tonight is not the end – it’s the beginning. #basta

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2018

Remember, the interview is airing on network television at 7.00 p.m Eastern/6.00 p.m. Central time, right at the dinner hour and before the kids have gone to bed. For that reason alone, it's almost certain to be "G rated." Further, the bones of the story are already out there -- the affair, the sex, the money to keep quiet, etc., and it doesn't appear to have harmed Trump much so far, at least in any serious and lasting way. For people who don't like or admire the president the entire "affair with a porn star" story is just more evidence that he's a degenerate pig. For his admirers, even if, deep down, they don't really believe his denials, it's still just Trump being Trump. I can't imagine anything will be shown tonight that changes anyone's mind about anything. 

Random thoughts:

What's on that CD? Who knows. (He likes to be tied up? He likes to wear women's lingerie? He takes Viagra? His hands aren't the only part of his body that is... small? Yawn to all.) Whatever it is, we almost certainly won't see it tonight.

How does Melania feel about all this? Who knows. On Thursday she posed for and posted a tweet that appeared to want to convince the world that everything's fine...

Greetings from @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/mjuHFqglYz

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 22, 2018

... but the very next day, Friday, she once again refused to fly with the president on Marine One. (I wrote about the first time here.) She refused to go to Davos with him earlier this year, and traveled separately to the State of the Union too, all of which would appear to indicate that Melania is not happy to learn about her husband's various affairs. And yet, her carefully constructed public persona is that she's strong, smart and independent, not just a "hot piece of ass" decorating Donald Trump's arm. If she's really surprised to learn that Donald Trump hasn't been faithful to her, she's not nearly as smart and savvy as she wants us to believe. 

Will Melania be watching tonight? Maybe, but not with The Donald. He's on his way back to Washington from Palm Beach, Melania and Barron are staying in Florida for Spring Break. 

Will this be my last post about Stormy Daniels? Almost certainly not. To tide you over until the next post, here's what I've written previously: 

January 18: Stormy Indeed

January 21: The Cheater-In-Chief

January 27: The President and The Porn Star

February 16: The President, The Porn Star And The Playboy Model

March 17: Stormy Weather

March 20: How Does This End?

One more thing: Will Trump do something dramatic and/or drastic this afternoon to distract from the Stormy interview? Possibly. Stay tuned. 

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

The Porn Star and the Playboy model: I've had both of them on the Guessing Game list before, now with Stormy's 60 Minutes interview tonight and Karen McDougal's on CNN this past Thursday, the spotlight is getting brighter on both of them. Another possibility is Summer Zervos, the former Apprentice contestant who is suing the president for defamation
Meghan Markle: People is milking her story for all it's worth, turning a bland comment about baby products into a "major royal baby hint," as if the fact that Meghan and Harry will at some point have children is some kind of surprise and not just the natural order of things. (The story that accompanied the headline was actually pretty bland, including the "no kidding" statement that Meghan is "already thinking about her own royal baby." Read it here.)
Emma Gonzales and/or Sam Fuentes: And all the young people who Marched For Their Lives yesterday
Sister Jean: The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers are this year's March Madness Cinderella team, now heading to the Final Four; 98-year-old nun Sister Jean is their chaplain and good luck charm
The Sharp family: An American family of four, vacationing in Mexico, died from toxic fumes in their rented condo
The Americans: The Cold War-era spy show returns for its final season
Charlotte Casiraghi: Engaged. She's the granddaughter of Princess Grace and the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco. This one's a stretch, but People does like royal engagement stories

Note: I've made a slight change to the way I post updates. Up until now, I've posted them at the top of a post, so the most recent item is at the top. Looking over old posts, however, it's clear that that can be confusing. So now updates will be posted at the bottom. I'll put an "Updated" note in the title of the post.

Sunday night update: Star Jones: Got married over the week-end

Tuesday morning, update #2: Beyonce. Someone bit her???

Wednesday morning, update #3: See the new cover here.

Tweeting The Trump

Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2018

What, exactly, does this mean? Only the POTUS knows for sure... 

Trolling Ted Cruz

I admit, I don't admire Ted Cruz, so I laughed out loud when I saw this tweet...

Got to meet someone who supposedly represents me today. Not for much longer, though! #BetoForTexas @SenTedCruz @BetoORourke pic.twitter.com/7S4yVR5uAj

— Rebecca (@LazyyMillennial) March 23, 2018

...and wondered how the picture came about. The answer was in the comments: 

Comment: Did you stealth shade this dipshit? You are the best person on the internet. Or is he so stupid he didn't read your lanyard? (Apologies for the language, I copied-and-pasted verbatim)

Response from Rebecca: Unbuttoned the blazer at the last second 

Go Rebecca, you rock! 

Tweeting The Trump

Trump's tweets are frequently misspelled, grammatically incorrect messes; this one is especially sloppy:

*pulls out red editing pen* pic.twitter.com/DBcp4BYxDO

— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) March 21, 2018

POTUS issued a correction but he still can't get "counsel" right: 

“Special Council is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists or not. I was opposed to the selection of Mueller to be Special Council. I am still opposed to it. I think President Trump was right when he said there never should have been a Special Council appointed because.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

Although it's not clear initially, POTUS is actually quoting Alan Dershowitz; here's the rest of the quote: 

...there was no probable cause for believing that there was any crime, collusion or otherwise, or obstruction of justice!”  So stated by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

So far no response from Alan Dershowitz.

Chrissy Metz

Issue dated April 2, 2018: Chrissy Metz


This Is Us star Chrissy Metz gets the main cover slot, promoting her upcoming book titled This Is Me. This is her second cover, you can see her first, dated February 20, 2017, here.

Two of my Guessing Game guesses made the cover, Donald Trump Jr's divorce, which I was thinking might be the main story, and the House of Horrors family. Still no sign of Stormy, or of Melania.

Read the Guessing Game post here.

Last year at this time: Issue dated April 3, 2017

How Does This End? - Updated

Update on April 12: Stormy has apparently taken her Twitter feed private, and since I'm not one of her "confirmed followers" her tweets are no longer visible to me. That's why the tweet below no longer looks like a tweet. The language is still there but the unique twitter formatting no longer appears.

Update #2, April 19: Stormy's Twitter feed is public again and the tweet below is back to looking like a tweet, at least for now. Will things change again? Who knows.

Original post:
I admit I'm interested to see how the Stormy Daniels story plays out. She's not shy on Twitter, that's for sure:

Technically I didn't sleep with the POTUS 12 years ago. There was no sleeping (hehe) and he was just a goofy reality TV star.  But I digress...People DO care that he lied about it, had me bullied, broke laws to cover it up, etc.  And PS...I am NOT going anywhere. xoxoxo https://t.co/Js9sEnanIk

— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 20, 2018

And as Eugene Robinson pointed out in his live chat today, Trump rage-tweets about pretty much everything, except this woman. What exactly has she got on him? (Read the chat transcript here.) 

The Guessing Game

Wednesday morning, update #3: See the new cover here.

Monday afternoon, update #2: Cynthia Nixon. The Sex And The City star announces she's running for governor of New York.

Monday morning update: a few additions and a picture:
Ben Affleck: Some kind of weird tattoo


The Turpin (house of horrors) family: The adult children have been released from the hospital and are living in freedom somewhere in rural California
Hope Hicks: Lots of interesting info in an article at New York magazine (Read it here)

Original post:
What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

Stephen Hawking: Died at age 76
Donald Trump Jr. and/or his wife Vanessa: Divorcing
Stormy Daniels: I've had her on the list before but things are heating up, with the president filing a $20 million lawsuit against her and her 60 Minutes interviewed scheduled to run next Sunday
Anderson Cooper: Broke up with his longtime boyfriend
Elizabeth Holmes: Built a billion dollar fortune with tech company Theranos, now being investigated for fraud
Scandal: The series is ending, Friday was the last day of production. I think the finale airs April 19
Irgo: The dog who was mistakenly sent to Japan by United Airlines. BTW, he was flown home on a private jet, how about that?
Andrew McCabe: The former Deputy Director of the FBI was fired just hours before he was scheduled to retire, thereby denying him his pension
James Comey: His book doesn't come out until April 17, but it's already #2 on Amazon's best seller list.
Yann Arnaud: Cirque du Soleil performer who died after falling during a performance
Sarah Palin: Gave a speech at the Palm Beach, Florida GOP's annual Lincoln Day dinner, which was held at Mar-A-Lago. According to local reports attendees, who paid $350 and up, were not impressed:

Many in the audience lost interest about a quarter of the way through the speech. Attendees voted with their voices, which kept getting louder and louder as Palin spoke, eventually sounding like a roar — so noticeable that she made a couple of comments noting the audience’s lack of attention.

“The first 10 minutes was inspirational. The last 10 minutes was blah, blah, blah, blah. She went way too long,” said Lori Konis of Coral Springs, an independent who voted for Trump in 2016. (Read more here.)

Palin was paid $15,000 for her trouble, which isn't nothing but is a big jump downward from the six-figure fees she supposedly earned in 2009-2010. I'm also wondering if she had been hoping to spend a little quality time with the president. (Ask him for a job, perhaps? Rumors are that he's got vacancies...) Alas, POTUS stayed in Washington this week-end. Sarah had to be content with soon-to-be-divorced Don Jr. 

Strong Words

Two retired public servants are speaking out against the president, in strikingly strong terms. John Brennan is a former Director of the CIA:

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will  not destroy America...America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

... and this is the tweet he's commenting on:

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018

Barry McCaffrey is a retired four-star Army General:

Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to US national security. He is refusing to protect vital US interests from active Russian attacks. It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Mr Putin.

— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) March 16, 2018

Stormy Weather

Questions worth asking: why is @realDonaldTrump so afraid of Stormy Daniels? Why is he working so hard to silence her? What is he afraid she will say? Trump doesn’t care if people know he’s unfaithful. He never has. His base doesn’t care. Why is he fighting her so hard?

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 17, 2018

I agree with Joy. What is Trump so desperate to hide? It also feels like a good day to re-post this cartoon. Why? Because I can.

pic.twitter.com/zkOKX27ikb

— 🖕🏻Aunt Crabby 🖕🏻 (@DearAuntCrabby) January 27, 2018

This Day In History, 1968: Bobby Kennedy Announces He's Running

🇺🇸On March 16, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination 'because disastrous, divisive policies in Vietnam & at home could be changed only by changing the men who are now making them' pic.twitter.com/56Y2BFwmSy

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) March 16, 2018

The Emperor Has No Clothes...

Issue dated March 26, 2018


Another magazine cover that Trump isn't going to like. Read how it came about here, an interesting article that includes the phrase [artist] "Blitt honed the cast and contour of certain love handles." 

A Trump Divorce?

Friday morning, update #2: A criminal attorney? For an uncontested divorce? Really? I told you this was going to be juicy. Details here.

Thursday afternoon update: It's on. Vanessa Trump has reportedly filed for divorce from the president's eldest son this afternoon. People and Talking Points Memo currently have coverage, with more undoubtedly to follow.

And if you're wondering, no, this isn't the first time a presidential offspring has had marital troubles during their father's presidency. A quick Google search revealed that George H.W. Bush's daughter Doro got divorced (and remarried) during his term, and one of Jimmy Carter's sons separated from his wife while his father was in the White House.

Original post:
No, not Donald and Melania. Whatever the truth about their marriage is, and regardless of what really happened between The Donald and the porn star, the Playboy model and who knows who else, for the moment, the POTUS and the First Lady are still together, at least publicly.

Possibly not so much for Donnie, Jr.:

JUST IN: Donald Trump Jr.'s marriage looks like it's on the rocks. @PageSixEmily will be on #PageSixTV tomorrow with the inside scoop https://t.co/U5RFhaLk0l

— Page Six TV (@PageSixTV) March 14, 2018

This tweet was issued mid-afternoon today (Wednesday,) and as I'm writing (also mid-afternoon Wednesday) the story's not getting much coverage. (There's a lot of other stuff going on...) Will that still be the case tomorrow? Maybe, if there's really nothing to it. My guess? Yes, Donnie Jr. and his wife are probably breaking up, yes, it's going to be covered everywhere, and yes, it's going to be juicy. 

This Day In History, 1964: Jack Ruby Found Guilty

54 years ago today, a Dallas jury took 2 hrs to reject Jack Ruby's 'temporary insanity' defense, finding him guilty of killing Lee Oswald + sentenced him to death in the electric chair.The verdict caused pandemonium in the court Ruby's atty, Melvin Belli, screamed he would appeal pic.twitter.com/8OIsgIOEmD

— Gerald Posner (@geraldposner) March 14, 2018

Ruby's convinction was later overturned on appeal and he was granted a new trial, but he died of cancer on January 3, 1967, before the second trial took place.

Meghan (Again)

Issue dated March 26, 2018: Meghan Markle


It's Meghan, again, with a picture from her appearance with the Queen on Monday. This is Meghan's 5th cover story since her engagement was announced in November (and she was at the top of my Guessing Game list.) Colin Firth and Tim McGraw were also on the list, read it here.

Last year at this time, in a break from tradition, Nick and Vanessa were downgraded to a sidebar headline, with Prince's ex-wife's new book getting the main cover slot.

Last year at this time: Issue dated March 27, 2017

One Of My Favorite Songs

🎶Billboard Hot 100 (For Week Ending March 12, 1983) pic.twitter.com/AslJQJYw8G

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) March 12, 2018

No, not Billie Jean, I was never a Michael Jackson fan. I'm talking about Back On The Chain Gang, by The Pretenders. 

Rexit!

March 22, update #4: Final thoughts about Rex? For now at least. I debated whether or not to update this post with the tacky denouement of the "Rex is fired" story, namely the "way too much information" detail that leaked about just exactly where Tillerson was when he found out he was going to be fired. I decided not to go there, specifically, but I will share this tweet:

You’re Rex Tillerson. You’re the most powerful man in the world’s most powerful industry. You decide to leave it all to perform an act of public service. You are tormented by your new boss and humiliated during your time at State.

And then, on the way out, this is done to you. https://t.co/A5FSlYpi4m

— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 16, 2018

This is the tweet Stein is referring to:

John Kelly actually told reporters that Tillerson was on the toilet when he told him he was gonna be fired https://t.co/AbYrxGle4v

poop scoop from @swin24

— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 16, 2018

I'll also share this item from Eugene Robinson's Live Chat on Tuesday,
March 20:

Q: Rexit

I didn't admire Tillerson as Secretary of State, but I feel some sympathy at the inglorious end to his career. You don't get to be Chairman of Exxon by being stupid or incompetent, yet he sure didn't succeed as S of S. Granted nobody in their right mind would agree to work for Trump in the first place, but with his towering success in the business world, Rex probably figured he could outsmart and outlast Donald Trump. Then to be fired via tweet and with Kelly's TMI detail about the bathroom. Yuck. The whole thing is a disaster and I wonder what's he's thinking now. Regret at taking the job in the first place? Regret that he didn't resign in disgust before the moron could fire him? How did someone as dumb as POTUS get the better of me? I'm hoping he's already planning his revenge memoir, with all the juicy details about what it was really like working for Trump.

A: Eugene Robinson

From your lips to God's ear, about the book. Seriously, I have the same feelings about Tillerson. He was a lousy secretary of state but he's a smart man who, working with Mattis, probably saved us from countless foreign policy disasters. He's also a very proud self-made man and I have to wonder if he'll take such treatment lying down.

Saturday afternoon, update #3: And then there were three, this time with animation:

Another one bites the dust... https://t.co/lHbHtJxrq3 pic.twitter.com/VOvM8GljH6

— New York Post (@nypost) March 13, 2018

Thursday morning, update #2: An interesting tidbit from CNN:

Just after Rex Tillerson's sudden firing, American diplomats were surprised and disturbed to receive guidance from Washington telling them not to post or retweet a statement from undersecretary Steve Goldstein on how Tillerson was fired by President Trump https://t.co/lUQ1IyJI6h pic.twitter.com/6NlgvejEPj

— CNN (@CNN) March 15, 2018

The tweet is not completely clear, i.e., "guidance from Washington" could be anything from the White House Chief of Staff to Jared Kushner to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The CNN story the tweet links to says that the guidance came from a "deputy assistant secretary." 

And one more thing. As I re-read the statement from Steve Goldstein (below,) I realized that even the State Department could use a good editor. I assume the last paragraph is supposed to say "But he is grateful..." #EditorsAreImportant

Tuesday evening update: Steve Goldstein, the State Department spokesman quoted below, was also fired this afternoon, apparently for speaking the truth about how Tillerson was fired.

Original post:


This New York Post cover is from last July, shortly after the Mooch was fired. Will they update it with today's news that Rex Tillerson has been fired? Maybe.

And consider this statement from the State Department:

Remarkable statement from State Department spokesman on Tillerson firing: pic.twitter.com/iBpLaK1tXw

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 13, 2018

Apparently Tillerson found out he was fired by reading a tweet. ("The Secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason.") Yikes. For all of Trump's tough guy posturing on The Apprentice, in real life he doesn't have the guts, much less the professional courtesy, to stand face-to-face with someone and tell them they're fired.

I can't help wondering if Tillerson is wishing he had resigned in disgust at some point, which he had been rumored to be considering. And did he, Mattis and Mnuchin really have a so-called suicide pact:

I guess we're gonna see whether this is true now huh. https://t.co/LLTZtWnKsR

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 13, 2018

We'll see.

The Guessing Game

See the new cover here.

Monday afternoon, update #3: A few more possibilities: Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey Hepburn's favorite designer, has died at age 91; Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education gave a disastrous interview on 60 Minutes; and CNN anchor Erin Burnett is expecting baby #3 at age 41. Note that the cover is usually finalized on Monday night, so if anything cover-worthy happens tomorrow it will have to wait for next week's issue. Oh, and one more thing: Bachelor/Bachelor In Paradise/Bachelor Winter Games alum Ashley Iaconnetti has broken up with whoever it was that she was involved with.

Monday morning, update #2: Tim McGraw, who collapsed due to dehydration during a concert in Ireland, and Cameron Diaz, who may or may not have "retired" from acting. (Vanity Fair has the scoop, here.)

Sunday evening update: O.J. Simpson. His "If I did it..." interview from (I think) 2006 airs tonight on Fox.

Original post:
What will be on the cover of People this week? I've got a whole bunch of all-over-the-place guesses:

Meghan Markle: Baptized into the Church of England, making her first public appearance with the Queen on Monday
Stormy Daniels: Suing the president. Gradually her story is coming out, does anyone seriously believe that Donald Trump didn't have an affair with her?
Melania: What is she thinking, about anything? I keep putting her on the list, People continues to ignore her
Becca Kufrin: The new Bachelorette
Adam Rippon: Meets Reese Witherspoon, will he dance on Dancing With The Stars?
Timeless: The NBC show that was cancelled, then uncancelled, returns Sunday night
American Idol: Also returning Sunday night, now on ABC
Colin Firth: His wife had an affair, now the man is stalking them. (Read the story here)
Princess Madeleine of Sweden: Gives birth to baby #3
Michelle Obama: A cute meeting with a small girl who liked the Smithsonian painting, will she and Barack produce videos for Netflix?
True Crime: Stand-off at a veterans home in California ends with the gunman and three hostages dead
Camilla: Will she be Queen when Charles accedes to the throne? British tea-leaves readers think it's possible
Mallory Ortberg: The Toast co-founder and current "Dear Prudence" advice columnist announces she's transitioning female-to-male
Scott Baio: His wife has a brain disease

Arie & Lauren

Update #2, Tuesday March 13: A fun tweet from Jason Mesnick:

Man oh man...  history does repeat itself... Even with the titles from @people.  Small group of “Betrayers” but we are 💯 in Bachelor Relationships! pic.twitter.com/c20XUKmzma

— Jason Mesnick (@jason_mesnick) March 12, 2018

And the response from Kate Coyne:

Oh hon... unless I’m wrong about you, you didn’t make sure Molly would take you back *before* you dumped Melissa (Arie Move No. 1) & you didn’t lie, ambush & totally blindside her w/ the breakup (Arie Move No. 2.) Don’t sell yourself short, pal. (And we’ll see about Arie’s 💯) https://t.co/dPZgf9MOxt

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 13, 2018

Update: Yeah, Kate Coyne really doesn't like Arie.

Oh and now #Arie claims he ambushed and devastated Becca on-air because he “wanted her to have a chance to be The Bachelorette.” Oh, what a PRINCE you are! (And buddy: she was getting that gig whether you humiliated her on national TV or not.) #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

Original post:
Issue dated March 19, 2018: Arie and Lauren

Hey if it ain’t broke.... #HereWeGoAgain #TheBachelor #DefinitelyBetrayalThisTime #BeccaCoverSoon #ByeArie pic.twitter.com/VbsczeCZGU

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

There it is, Arie and Lauren are the main cover story, and yes, the headline is the same as Jason Mesnick's. Truthfully, based on Kate Coyne's tweet last night: 

Hey, #Arie...just a head’s up that if you felt even an ounce of panic when @jason_mesnick brought up his “Bachelor Betrayal” cover of @People, you might want to have a nice stiff drink before heading to newsstands tomorrow. 😘 #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

... I thought the cover might be even more negative towards Arie, but the words "wanker," "douche-nozzle" and "total flaming crap heap of a soul," all of which have been directed at Arie by various non-fans over the last 48 hours, the last one by Kate herself, are nowhere to be found. Based on Kate's newest tweet this morning (above,) Becca will get her own cover soon (#BeccaCoverSoon) and Arie's days in the spotlight are over (#ByeArie.)

The main headline at people.com, as I'm writing at 7.00 Wednesday morning, reads: "The Bachelor's Arie Luyendyk Jr. Says He & Lauren Burnham Will Wed This Year: 'We're So Ready!' I say pigs will dance on Mars before Arie and Lauren get married. In fact, as I said in the Guessing Game post, I give it six months, tops.  

There's also an Oscars recap and more about the Parkland shooting survivors.  

See the Guessing Game post here.

Last year at this time: Issue dated March 20, 2017

The Guessing Game

Wednesday morning, update #2: See the new cover here.

Tuesday night, update #1: Blog readers know that I'm obsessed with the cover of People magazine each week, so you know I enjoyed a series of tweets from Kate Coyne tonight, during the two-hour live After The Final Rose show. Who's Kate Coyne? According to her Twitter bio, she's an Executive Editor of People, overseeing film, tv and music. I've followed her on Twitter for quite a while and she sometimes shows up on Good Morning, America to talk about pop culture issues, but until tonight I didn't know that she's the one who writes/edits the cover headlines. I learned something else tonight: she really doesn't like Arie:

Producers of #TheBachelor have a job: make riveting TV. But #Arie, as a supposedly decent human (lol), has a responsibility to show an ounce of concern for a woman he claimed to love. Producers aren’t mafioso; you can say no to them. Arie could have said no filming. #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

So Lauren has atrocious taste in men and/or is easily manipulated or mislead. Far from the only woman to suffer those afflictions. And as personal failings go, still miles away from the total flaming crap heap of a soul that #Arie has. #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

Well, what #Arie SHOULD be regretting is that he is deeply, permanently never going to be a man who even remotely deserves a class act like #Becca. This woman is way out of your league. #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

Then she referred to the Jason Mesnick cover that I posted below: 

So, as the editor of the Mesnick “Bachelor Betrayal” cover, I can tell you he complained, bitterly, about that coverline. I had little sympathy back then. But in light of #NotSorryArie and his antics? I’ll concede that Mesnick could have behaved far worse. #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

Finally, a warning. Tomorrow's cover is going to be a doozy: 

Hey, #Arie...just a head’s up that if you felt even an ounce of panic when @jason_mesnick brought up his “Bachelor Betrayal” cover of @People, you might want to have a nice stiff drink before heading to newsstands tomorrow. 😘 #TheBachelor

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) March 7, 2018

I can't wait. 

Original post:
What will be on the cover of People this week? The main cover story will almost certainly be Bachelor Arie Luyendyk and his current and former fiancees. Even when the story unfolds in the regular way, People usually features the newly engaged couple as the main story during the week the finale airs. (See past examples here.) For some reason, last year Nick and Vanessa were downgraded to a sidebar, bumped by a promotion for a new book by Prince's ex-wife:



This time around, as the whole world now knows, Arie "pulled a Mesnick" by getting engaged to Becca, then rejecting her a few weeks later to pursue his still-simmering romantic feelings for runner-up Lauren. Here's how people covered Jason's story back in 2009:



Tomorrow's new cover should look a lot like this one, possibly using several of the same words. What's different this time around is social media. During the live show last night, Chris Harrison could hardly mask his glee when, while trying to demonstrate compassion towards Becca, he also pointed out that the story was "blowing up on social media." No kidding. Bachelor Nation is excoriating Arie and it isn't pretty.

ABC, publicly salivating at the ratings gold a juicy scandal like this can now generate, has scheduled another live show tonight, two more hours of trauma and drama playing out live in living rooms across America. As I'm writing early on Tuesday morning, I'm actually expecting some serious backlash, not just for Arie but for the network as well. Filming the entire break-up, with not one but two cameras, then stretching the whole thing out over two nights and five hours of live television, is more than a little exploitative. Will they get the tone right on tonight's show? Almost certainly not. A few more thoughts:

The next Bachelorette. Is it Becca? Almost certainly.

Arie and Lauren. Are they together now? Apparently. Are they engaged? Possibly. Reality Steve says they may have gotten engaged last week-end, although he hasn't confirmed it. Will the two of them go the distance and actually get married? Don't make me laugh. I give it six months tops.

Chris Harrison. In one word, smarmy. He just doesn't have the acting chops to hit the right notes when he's supposed to be sympathetic, empathetic, or just plain kind.

Is there anything else going on in the world that might make it to the cover of People? Not much. I only have two other guesses, a Dead Celebrity (M.A.S.H. star David Ogden Stiers, who died last week) and the Oscars. Meet me back here tomorrow morning to see if I'm right, in the meantime, these are the stories currently posted at people.com:

The Bachelor's Becca Kufrin Breaks Her Silence After Arie Luyendyk Jr. Ends Their Engagement
Bachelor Nation Is Outraged with Arie Luyendyk Jr. for Dumping Becca Weeks After Proposing: 'So Heartless'
The Bachelor's Shocking Finale: Arie Luyendyk Jr. Proposes to Becca Before Dumping Her for Lauren
The Bachelor's Arie Luyendyk Jr. Explains That Heartbreaking Twist: 'I Made a Huge Mistake'

Mid-morning update: A couple more stories:

Chris Harrison Defends Filming Dramatic Bachelor Breakup: 'You Don't Get to Just Tell Fairytales'
It's a Breakover! Becca Kufrin Debuts Darker Hair After Dramatic Split from Arie Luyendyk Jr.

Alex Baldwin's Career Is Dieing

Trump goes after "Alex" Baldwin this morning, in a tweet that has now been deleted/corrected:

Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018

No big significance here, I just like calling out the stupidity of the current POTUS.