MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. On MLK Day, we look back at this Guardian profile on Coretta Scott King, including her positions (and MLK’s) on gay rights: “She also became a vocal advocate of gay rights and a supporter of same-sex marriage. In the late 1990s, despite criticisms from civil rights leaders and her own children, she reminded the nation that ‘Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.’ Scott King saw the struggle for gay rights as intimately connected to the one for racial justice and stood firm against those who would cast the battle for gay rights as dishonoring the spirit of the civil rights movement. In 2001, she highlighted the threat of AIDS as ‘one of the most deadly killers of African-Americans. And I think anyone who sincerely cares about the future of black America had better be speaking out.'”
PARIS HILTON. I’ve been playing a character for almost 40 years…
IT’S ALL HE DOES. Trump made an astonishing number of false claims in 2019. “In 2017, Trump made 1,999 false or misleading claims. In 2018, he added 5,689 more, for a total of 7,688. And in 2019, he made 8,155 suspect claims. In other words, in a single year, the president doubled the total number of false or misleading claims he had made in the previous two years combined. Put another way: He averaged six such claims a day in 2017, nearly 16 a day in 2018 and more than 22 a day in 2019.”
AND ANOTHER. Trump claims Democrats didn’t want John Bolton to testify.
JARED KUSHNER. Justice Department defies court order to release Mueller interview notes related to Jared Kushner.
SUSSEXIT. Prince Harry speaks about split from Royal Family.
DIRTY WATER. Trump to roll back Obama-era rules: “The change to the Waters of the U.S. rule was proposed in 2018 and would eliminate Obama-era environmental regulations for half the country’s wetlands and streams, according to the EPA. The rule set nationwide standards for creeks and streams that don’t flow year-round – known as intermittent streams – and sometimes only when it rains – known as ephemeral streams.”
MALE MODEL MONDAY. Tyler James, Sebastian Suave, Miles McMillan, Dean Perona, Kacey Carrig and more.
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. Adam Schiff huddles with Democrats in rare Sunday meeting.
COINED BAND OF THE DAY. Queen. “A who would have thought it moment…”
IOWA POLL. Biden leads Democratic field in new poll: “Biden is the top choice among 24 percent of surveyed Iowans in the Focus on Rural America poll released Monday. Biden’s support fell just 1 point since a September poll. Warren remained in second place with 18 percent, a 5-point decrease since the September poll. Buttigieg remained in third, but jumped 4 points from September to 16 percent.”
P!NK. Dear me, you’re getting older….
TRIBUTE OF THE DAY. Celine Dion sings “Over The Rainbow” for her mother, who died on Friday night at 92.
WEATHER DOWN UNDER OF THE DAY. Golf ball-sized hail in Australia. “The wild weather follows weeks where the Australian capital has been enveloped in smoke from nearby bushfires.”
TEASER OF THE DAY. Normal People.
MONDAY MUSCLE. Chris Sung.
