🇺🇸 Rust Recklessness

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Good morning, and happy Thursday! “It’s the same thing every day. Clean up your room, stand up straight, pick up your feet, take it like a man, be nice to your sister, don’t mix beer and wine ever, Oh yeah, don’t drive on the railroad tracks.” Know what movie that’s from? Here’s a hint, or you can keep scrolling to our history section below.

Plus, this is the most grown crop in the US—and it's not one that anyone can eat. In fact, its primary purpose is to make us look and feel good about ourselves.

Also, you wouldn’t ask for an elephant to deliver your pizza. So why are we delivering 2-pound burritos in 2-ton cars? Today's partner, Serve, is solving this massive 2,000-pound problem.

FLAG POLLS

🐘 Tuesday, January 31: 78% of George Santos' voters want him to resign (Newsday/Siena College)

📉 Monday, January 30: President Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 48 (Marist)

📉 Monday, February 1: President Biden Job Approval: Approve 42, Disapprove 56 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Monday, January 30: Direction of Country: Right Direction 28, Wrong Track 66 (Rasmussen Reports)

TRENDING

Left: Republicans Trapped by Their Anti-Abortion Extremism Jeet Heer, The Nation

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Left: Police Were Black--They Might Still Have Been Driven by Racism Van Jones, CNN

Right: Democrats Can’t Stop Lying About Tax Cuts, Deficits and Debt Guy Benson, Townhall

Right: When Black Officers Kill a Black Man, That's White Supremacy Ben Shapiro, RealClearPolitics

Right: It’s the Land of the Freebies for NYC’s ‘Entitled’ Migrants Michael Goodwin, NY Post

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QUICK CLICKS

No More Docs in Delaware, Tom Brady Tributes, Migrants Move Against Media

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Sports: Tom Brady teammate on legendary QB's retirement: 'He truly is the greatest that’s ever played our game' (Fox News)

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US: House Republicans launch investigations of Biden and COVID relief (Axios)

World: Pope Francis in DR Congo: A million celebrate Kinshasa Mass (BBC)

US: Migrant standoff in NYC turns ugly as outside activists move against media (NY Post)

US: Newly released African American studies course side-steps DeSantis' criticism (Politico)

HOLLYWOOD

Rust Recklessness

In New Mexico, actor Alex Baldwin has been accused of involuntary manslaughter after a gun he allegedly fired struck and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. This happened in October 2021 on the set of the Western film Rust, and the gun was being used as a prop.

Reporting from the Right: Alec Baldwin formally charged with involuntary manslaughter, told cops he fired weapon (NY Post)

Reporting from the Left: Charges filed against Alec Baldwin for ‘extremely reckless acts’ on Rust set (The Guardian)

From The Flag: Baldwin was charged along with the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The actor has maintained he’s not responsible for the death. If convicted, both Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed could face a mandatory five years in prison. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Baldwin’s Guilt Is Questionable, but Film Production Needs To Change

• While guns are extremely dangerous and always require careful handling, the fact this happened on a movie set is significant.

• Until real guns are banned from film production, tragedies like this are at risk of happening.

• Because prosecutors have decided a gun requires a special “duty of care,” Baldwin’s alleged negligence could land him behind bars.

“Charging Alec Baldwin is a pretty surprising move” Jill Filipovic, CNN Opinion: “In a nation beset by gun violence and that levies too few consequences on irresponsible gun owners and users, it’s pretty surprising to see that actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico after a tragic accident… Yes, usually it is the responsibility of the person holding that gun to not point it at anyone unless they intend to shoot… But this was a movie set, where responsibilities are delegated and actors have every reason to believe that the guns they are being handed are props – or at least unloaded, or loaded with blanks. I would guess that a great many actors have never held, owned or fired a gun outside of a movie set. Just like many actors have never, outside of a movie set, scaled a building, performed surgery, won a sword fight, given birth or walked flawlessly in stilettos.”

“Only banning guns from movie sets will prevent the 'Rust' tragedy from ever happening again” Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times: “Whatever the legal outcome of events on that afternoon in 2021 during a rehearsal in which Baldwin pointed a gun in the direction of Hutchins, this was a tragedy that should never happen again. … The low-budget, 21-day film shoot was beset by problems… and at least two accidental prop gun discharges earlier in the filming… Gutierrez Reed, who was juggling responsibilities as armorer and a props assistant, has said she checked the gun that day but not right before the rehearsal. … The gun contained at least one live round — forbidden on sets — mixed in with dummy rounds… The point is that no one has to use any kind of gun on a movie or TV set. Even though accidental shootings like this are thankfully rare, too many things have to go right so that nothing goes horribly wrong.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Why Alec Baldwin Could Be Found Guilty Joel Zivot, Slate

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Baldwin Deserves a Fair Trial, but Definitely Deserves Blame Either Way

• Baldwin maintains he never pulled the trigger and shouldn’t be responsible for Hutchins’ death, but he still put her in harm’s way.

• Conservatives hate Baldwin, but he’s still entitled to fairness, and it doesn’t appear as though his negligence rose to a criminal level.

• Not only did Baldwin allegedly pull the trigger, but as one of the producers he was also responsible for the film’s dangerous working conditions.

“Alec Baldwin Lost Any Credible Defense When He Violated The First Rule Of Gun Safety” John R. Lott, Jr., The Federalist: “It is hard to see how Baldwin couldn’t have been charged with at least involuntary manslaughter. The first rule of gun safety is you don’t point a gun a something unless you intend to shoot it. Even if you believe the gun is unloaded, you don’t point it directly at others. … And Baldwin, an actor for 40 years, who has been in many movies using guns, must surely have had this explained to him many times. … Baldwin’s repeated claim that he never pulled the gun trigger is not credible, as an FBI forensic report released in August concluded the firearm couldn’t have gone off unless someone pulled the trigger. But even if it were credible, it would be irrelevant… If he hadn’t pointed his gun at her, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

“Alec Baldwin Shouldn't Spend 5 Years in Prison for an Accident” Billy Binion, Reason: “Whether or not you agree with the two counts of involuntary manslaughter recently levied against actor Alec Baldwin may depend on your personal feelings toward him—and by extension your feelings toward the Hollywood elite. Baldwin has made no secret of his left-leaning views… Baldwin is also guilty of some pretty unsavory things. … which include using slurs against gay people and assaulting a man over a parking spot. But having a loathsome past doesn't render someone guilty of manslaughter. Even the most distasteful defendants deserve the same level of fairness… The case comes down to what the word negligence means under the law. It doesn't refer to a careless, airheaded moment with deadly consequences. That negligence has to be criminal… Does that mean that Baldwin is blameless? No. Does that mean that the prosecution will have an easy time convincing a jury that he is criminally culpable? Also no.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Alec Baldwin Refuses To Accept Blame for Shooting Libby Emmons, NY Post Opinion

FLAG THIS

Accidental Shootings Sadly Not New in Film Production

Tragic deaths have occurred on Hollywood sets in the past, including freak accidents like the helicopter crash that killed Vic Morrow in 1982 on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.

These include a number of shooting deaths, perhaps most famously when the son of film legend Bruce Lee was accidentally killed. While filming The Crow, a broken metal fragment struck and killed Brandon Lee after cardboard wadding had been loaded.

About a decade before that, Jon-Erik Hexum shot himself in the head while playing around with a prop gun on the set of NBC’s TV series Voyagers.

FLAG FINDS

Solving a Massive 2,000-Pound Problem, Map Your Journey, Clean Your Cup

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WATERCOOLER

First Groundhog Day, Smiling Depression, Camping With the Victorians

On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.

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Collectors Weekly: Before Camping Got Wimpy: Roughing It With the Victorians

Today I Learned that there was a gang of teenage girls that seduced and killed Nazis in World War II.