This Day in History | 1942

After a suggestion by President Roosevelt, Congress advances “war time” – pushing the standard time ahead by one hour in each time zone, the move creates daylight saving time.

Good morning Middle Americans, 

President Trump started to clean up the mess around his Ukrainian phone call and impeachment trial that followed – on Friday. He removed United Nations Ambassador Gordon Sondland and National Security Staffers Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman as well as his brother Yevgeny, from their posts with the Trump administration. The moves come despite protests from GOP senators.  

Also “orange face” was a trending topic all over social media yesterday, thanks to a picture that seems to show president Trump’s make up line around his face. The President says the picture was photoshopped. You should take a closer look.

Finally, there are more US military bases prepping for a larger coronavirus quarantine. The disease continues to spread. The info coming out of China continues to be unreliable, and health experts are still trying to find out how to stop the spread of the virus. 

Read all about it!

– Fraser Dixon 

GOP Senators Warn Trump Not to Fire Impeachment Witnesses

(New York Times) – A handful of Republican senators tried to stop President Trump from firing Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union who testified in the House impeachment hearings, but the president relieved the diplomat of his post anyway, according to people briefed on the discussions.

The senators were concerned that it would look bad for Mr. Trump to dismiss Mr. Sondland and argued that it was unnecessary, since the ambassador was already talking with senior officials about leaving after the Senate trial, the people said. The senators told White House officials that Mr. Sondland should be allowed to depart on his own terms, which would have reduced any political backlash.

But Mr. Trump evidently was not interested in a quiet departure, choosing instead to make a point by forcing Mr. Sondland out before the ambassador was ready to go. When State Department officials called Mr. Sondland on Friday to tell him that he had to resign that day, he resisted, saying that he did not want to be included in what seemed like a larger purge of impeachment witnesses, according to the people informed about the matter.

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Pres. Trump Claims Viral Photo of His Tan Lines Was ‘Photoshopped’

(The Daily Beast) – President Trump claimed on Saturday that a viral photo of his tan lines, which prompted #OrangeFace to trend on Twitter, was photoshopped. Trump retweeted a photo of himself that was posted on Friday by an unverified White House photography account, saying, “More Fake News. This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!” The photo of Trump on the South Lawn on Friday appeared to be slightly darker than other versions, including one taken by Reuters. The unverified account tweeted Saturday afternoon that the picture “was never photoshopped, but used the Apple smartphone’s photo app to adjust the color of the picture.” Twitter users turned the photo into countless memes, many likening the president’s tan lines to the orange-faced Oompa Loompa characters from the children’s book and movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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US Military Base Prep for Coronavirus Quarantine 

(Miami Herald) – Eleven military bases near major airports in the United States are setting up quarantine centers for possible coronavirus patients, the Department of Defense said.

The Department of Health and Human Services asked the Pentagon for quarantine space in case beds fill up at other coronavirus centers around the country, according to a DOD statement.

The Pentagon already agreed to house up to 1,000 people for quarantine after they returned to the United States from areas with the virus, the Associated Press reports.

Read more here