Kansas Surprise: Kansas voters surged to the polls to protect the right to abortion in their state. By a margin of 59 to 41 percent as of this morning, the voters shot down an amendment that would have removed the right to abortion from the state constitution.

  “The voters in Kansas have spoken loud and clear: We will not tolerate extreme bans on abortion,” said Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which led the effort to defeat the amendment.

  Registered Republicans far outnumber Democrats in Kansas so the vote is evidence that defending the right to abortion motivates voters.   Value Them Both, a group leading the effort to remove the right to abortion, said on Twitter, “This outcome is a temporary setback, and our dedicated fight to value women and babies is far from over.”

The Trump Factor:  Primary victories in Arizona and Michigan demonstrated Donald  Trump’s  continued hold on the Republican Party. Trump-endorsed Blake Masters won the nomination for Senate as did his choice for secretary of state, Mark Finchem, an election denier who is affiliated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia. 

  Also a victory for Trump, Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona House who testified against Trump in the January 6th congressional hearings, lost his bid for State Senate.

  In Michigan, Tudor Dixon, a confirmed election denier, won her party’s nomination for governor.

 China Syndrome: Ignoring advice that she would upset international relations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, sticking a diplomatic thumb in the eye of China which claims it owns the independent island country.

  Pelosi is the highest ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. In a statement released after her arrival she said, “America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”

  After Pelosi landed, China immediately announced it would conduct live fire drills in the strait that separates Taiwan from the mainland, possibly even in Taiwan’s waters. That didn’t leave Pelosi shaking in her pumps. 

Living Hell: The father of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified yesterday that conspiracy monger Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” with claims that the murders were a hoax staged by actors to spur gun control.

  As a result, Neil Heslin said he has been subjected to online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street. He testified that his home and car have been shot at.

  Heslin and his wife, Scarlett Lewis, are suing Jones for $150 million. Heslin described holding his son’s body with a bullet through his head. Jones on his broadcast claimed that never happened. Heslin said, “Alex started this fight, and I’ll finish this fight.”

  Jones was not in court to hear Heslin but he was for Lewis, who said while looking at Jones, “It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this, that we have to implore you — not just implore you, punish you — to get you to stop lying…It is surreal what is going on in here.”

  Jones later testified that he believed what he said was true, resulting in a scolding from the judge who said, “You believe everything you say is true, but your beliefs do not make something true.” 

Burn Pit: The Senate voted 86-11 last night to pass bipartisan legislation to expand health care benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service. 

  Republican resistance to the bill had riled up veterans, spawning a protest at the Capitol

  The bill would cover has many as 3.5 million veterans assigned to burn pit duty who inhaled toxic fumes and developed illnesses later in life. 

Abortion Suit: The Justice Department sued the state of Idaho over its abortion law that is so restrictive it prevents the procedure when the life of the mother is in danger. It is the first lawsuit of its kind brought against a state by the Biden administration.

  The lawsuit argues that Idaho’s abortion law violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that prohibits states from imposing restrictions that would prevent emergency treatment of women who have a potentially fatal problem. 

Faking It: Two Arizona Republicans recruited to be “alternate” electors to swing the state to Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election told lawyers working on the scheme that they feared they could be accused of treason, The NY Times Reports. 

  Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, and Kelly Townsend, a state senator, both expressed legal concerns. 

  Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer working for the Trump campaign, wrote in a December email to the legal team that included Rudy Giuliani that, “Ward and Townsend are concerned it could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote on Monday if there is no pending court proceeding that might, eventually, lead to the electors being ratified as the legitimate ones.”  Chesebro described it as “a valid point.”

  Nonetheless, the Times reports,  Ward ultimately joined the effort and signed a document that purported to be a “certificate of the votes of the 2020 electors from Arizona” and claimed that Trump had won the state’s 11 Electoral College votes. Townsend did not sign.

The Obit Page: Baseball announcer Vin Scully, who was “the voice of the Dodgers” from the days of Jackie Robinson to Clayton Kershaw, has died at age 94. Scully was known for a delivery that was so comfortable it was as if he was in your living room.

The Spin Rack: Donald Trump’s lawyer crony Rudy Giuliani is being sued by his ex-wife, Judith Nathan, who claims Rudy owes her $262,000 as part of the divorce settlement. — Golfing great Tiger Woods turned down an offer of  $700 million to $800 million to join the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, chief executive Greg Norman revealed.

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