Today is Wednesday, January 12, 2022. Today we learned that the human incarnation of the fictional Grinch, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, might be staring at a sizable stint in jail as his former girlfriend who is seen as a key witness in the investigation into alleged sex trafficking involving the Florida Republican testified before a grand jury investigating the far-right fringe congressman.

This late-breaking development is contained in a CNN article on my smartphone entitled “Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testifies before grand jury investigating the Florida congressman,” written by David Shortell, Paula Reid, and John Couwels.

It is reported that CNN spotted the woman arriving at a federal courthouse in Orlando, Florida, with her lawyer today. She has since concluded her testimony in the ongoing Gaetz case and left the courthouse.

The identity of this woman who has been linked to the contemptible congressman as far back as the summer of 2017, which is exactly the period of time when the congressman is accused of having sexual contact with another woman, who was only 17 years old at the time, has been identified as a former Capitol staffer.

“Legal experts say the former girlfriend’s testimony is an essential step prosecutors would take before charging Gaetz and that it signals federal prosecutors may be close to indicting the congressman.” If this action were to happen, the criminal charges would have to be approved at the highest level of the Justice Department. It would be interesting to see then how Attorney General Merrick Garland would authorize such an indictment against a sitting lawmaker.

Just as expected, the Grinch has denied wrongdoing and has – yet – been charged with a crime. But we shall see! For those of us who are impatient with hearing the expected news of the congressman’s being charged with several criminal charges, this development might predict an upcoming indictment against the Dumpf toady which would bring some long-delayed relief to the majority of us fed-up true “patriots” with the glacial pace of the investigation into Gaetz’s alleged criminal wrongdoing.

Have you heard about the 75-year-old baby who was being interviewed on NPR in a nine-minute interview who hung up on his interviewer midway during the interview? This just happened the other day when the Great Divider inexplicably agreed to be interviewed by phone by Steve Inskeep for National Public Radio and indignantly hung up when the line of questioning pivoted to accusations of election fraud upon which Inskeep relentlessly pursued the questioning for upwards of ten minutes. This offended the demagogue, so he did what most immature individuals do: leave the room, which in this instance, was hanging up the phone. We should all feel a sense of relief that the interview went so badly for the Orange One. Maybe his delusional frame of mind will finally be recognized by those of us who would still be stupid enough to pledge allegiance to the grifter.

This outrageous story was covered in an online Express Online article by Kyle Farrell. I was asked by my Cherry Hill friend, “Harold,” to listen to the tape of the interview, but I just respectfully declined, saying that since millions of us were forced to listen to this bloviator for four interminable years, and now when I can voluntarily decide to listen to his annoying voice, I can presently forgo the “pleasure” of listening to him.

It’s unbelievable what the clown still persisted in talking about during the interview: that Joe Biden was unable to attract a sizable crowd at his campaign rallies and could not believe he secured more votes than him. Isn’t this conclusive evidence of a warped, delusional mind-set if there ever has been!

When Inskeep politely suggested that the reason for Biden’s victory was the divisiveness of his own campaign, Dumpf went on to say that there was election fraud in Detroit, which is totally baseless.

Then the journalist inquired that the reason that Dumpf has repugnicans in his corner is that they have to baselessly insist that the election was rigged, Dumpf began to mangle the English language: “They are going to do whatever they want to do, whatever they have to do, they’re going to do.” Which tells us nothing, doesn’t it? The ex-dictator fulminated on: “But the ones that are smart, the ones that know, you take a look . . .at how Kari Lake is doing running for governor. She’s very big [everyone is big, in his mind] on this issue, she’s leading by a lot. People have no idea how big this issue is and they don’t want it to happen again. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen and they don’t want it to happen again. And the only way it’s not going to happen again is you have to solve the problem of the presidential rigged election of 2020.” If you can understand what the Orange Menace means here, you are better at untangling the tortured language of the ex-president than I. You can receive a MAGA hat in the mail if you so desire.

At least the old fool thanked Inskeep before cutting the interview off. We should now cut the asshole off by deciding not to listen to him anymore.

Today I deviated a bit from my usual Wednesday routine by going out for breakfast with Elliot at the Austin House Diner after 11. So I am able to change my habits if I have to, as you can see.

The reason I did this is because I discovered that only one comic book was waiting for me, so I realized that I did not have to be there by 11. I met my small knot of “breakfast ladies” in the restaurant when Elliot and I entered. They seemed to be happy to see us.

When Elliot got up to run some errands, I walked up to the sitting ladies and schmoozed. I mentioned to “Carol” that I wanted to go to the New York Historical Society tomorrow to see the exhibit on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was very pleased to hear this. I also mentioned that I intended to give her a piece of my cheesecake that I made yesterday.

After breakfast, I then took the car to Metropolitan Avenue and attended to my Wednesday morning patterns. I did not enter the Forest Hills coffeeshop this time and decided to go to the Asian bakery instead, where I had a buttered roll and coffee. The book I did read was Number 11 of The Joker.

I also spent a few minutes in the North Forest Library and contemplated borrowing a book of Marcel Proust’s short stories, which I didn’t even know existed. But they do now! I resisted the temptation since I’m still reading two books at once. I don’t need to add a library book to the mix.

The rest of the day was uneventful, except that at six, Elliot and I left the apartment to have dinner at this Italian restaurant at – guess where? – Metropolitan Avenue once more. The restaurant’s name is La Vigna and it’s a small cozy spot with French doors that open to the street. I don’t think we’ve eaten here before.

Our dinner was memorable for good, sizable portions and the delicious taste of the food. There were only a few diners in the eatery when we came in close to 6:30. We were asked to provide proof of vaccination and we were ushered to a table by the small bar in the rear.

After looking at the voluminous menu, I decided on the prix fixe dinner that cost just $34 and included an appetizer, soup or salad, entree, and tea or coffee. I started with eggplant rollatini, then moved to lentil soup, and had my entree, pollo alla parmigiana, and ended with a cup of coffee. Elliot ordered off the regular menu and decided on pollo alla vecchia maniera, chicken breast with prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella in light tomato sauce.

I won’t say that we did have a dessert between us.

We drove home after 8 or so, with me parking the car in the garage since there were no appropriate spots on the street.

Now it’s getting late here.

I will let you know if I travel into Manhattan tomorrow.

Stay safe and be well.