let the rain fall...

CNN anchor Chris Wallace roasted Republicans for heckling President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, telling viewers the GOP “literally played into his hands.”

Biden delivered his first State of the Union address under the new GOP House majority Tuesday night, and a raucous majority it turned out to be. At one point during the speech, Biden invoked plans from several Republicans that would cause programs like Social Security to sunset every few years, and found himself flat-out arguing with Republicans screaming “LIAR!” in the middle of the speech.

Seconds after the speech ended, anchor Jake Tapper and his coverage team gushed about Biden’s performance and noted the heckling — Tapper even called it “an in-kind contribution” from the Republicans.

Tapper returned tot the theme later in the coverage, and Wallace opined that the scenario played out almost as if Biden and his team had planned it — and CNN anchor Abby Phillip agreed:

TAPPER: Very interesting. Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. And Chris Wallace, the point that you and Abby Phillip were making earlier, I just keep thinking about the idea that not only did the House Republicans, and again, it was a minority of them, it was not most of them, but the ones who were unruly and yelling and heckling the president, not only did they make themselves look bad, I think really (inaudible) an opportunity to look vigorous.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, absolutely. I mean, they literally played into his hands. You know, I don’t know if the people of the White House as they were drafting it at Camp David this weekend envisioned that happening the way it did, but it played out perfectly. And you know, I’m looking back at the end of that whole sequence where he was engaging back and forth with the Republicans, he said, so tonight, let’s all agree to stand up for seniors.

And of course, one of the things that you notice in the speeches is half the House, the Democratic side for Democratic presidents stands up, the other side sit on their hands. When he said let’s, all stand up for seniors, there was no politician who was not going to stand up for seniors. And so, they were standing up while he said, let’s all agree not to cut social security, let’s all agree not to cut Medicare.

As Nyliayh Stewart marched along Interstate 55 alongside protesters on Friday night, the moment of sorrow and anger felt familiar. Nearly a decade ago, in 2015, Stewart had been a teenager in Mississippi when she received word in the middle of the night that her cousin Darrius had been killed by a white Memphis police officer during a traffic stop while he was running away, according to witnesses at the time.

They had grown up like siblings. Stewart, now 24, heard the chants calling for justice for Tyre Nichols, the latest Black man killed by police in America, and felt the anger and anguish for his family. Unlike the five Black Memphis officers charged with Nichols’s killing, the cop who shot and killed Darrius, who retired from Memphis police, was never indicted.

“This should not have happened,” Stewart says. “This family should not have to bury him. My family should not have had to bury my cousin.”

Months after Stewart’s killing, amid the national outcry over police violence, Memphis police received body cameras. And now, as the city reels yet again from the beating death of a 29-year-old FedEx worker and skater, Tyre Nichols, at the hands of police, calls for further police reform have erupted again.

On Friday night, hours after city officials released video footage described by the police chief, Cerelyn “CJ” Davis, as “heinous, reckless and inhumane”, Memphis residents descended on the highway bridge that divided West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, cutting off traffic for hours. In this historically Black city, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated at a motel when he was in town supporting the strike of sanitation workers.

gaslighting isn't simply lying. it's behavior employed by an abuser to make their victim question their reality and sanity. and grooming is behavior that aims to warp a victim's perception of reality in favor of the predator - ultimately to normalize abuse.

flashbacks and repressed memories aren't simply remembering. flashbacks involve re-experiencing trauma through memories, thoughts, and emotions. repressed memories involve trauma so severe, the only way their brain could cope was to block it out.

being triggered isn't just being angry or uncomfortable. it's an exhausting and near uncontrollable nervous system response - it can be about trauma, but it can also be about symptoms of other things too. it can involve an array of distressing actions, thoughts, and emotions.

An event billed as a “private reception” that was to be held at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with Kyle Rittenhouse has been cancelled, FOX5 reports.

The event was set to be held held Wednesday night at The Oak Room inside the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. In a post, Rittenhouse told followers, “You guys are not going to wanna miss out on this one!”