Welcome back, folks. We hope you had a great President’s Day. Over the long weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) officially announced he was running for president. This was expected. He had a video package primed. He had a better-than-expected 2016 run. He garnered the adoration of the young voter bloc, a key constituency in the Obama coalition, so this was going to happen. As the Democrats lurch to the Left with a socialist platform, a solid majority of Americans are rejecting the odious philosophy, along with feelings that the government should leave people alone.

Yet, the main course of the day, and possible over the next week or so, is the alleged stunt that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pulled in Chicago on January 29. It was initially reported as a possible hate crime. Two white men assaulted him, poured bleach on him, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him, and then put a rope around his neck.

Smollett is a Trump critic. He’s gay. He’s black. People connected the dots, as instructed by actress Ellen Page, and everyone, once again, was flat-out wrong; Page actually blamed Vice President Mike Pence for the assault that is looking more like a total hoax. It's another classic example of Trump-era hysteria from the Left. First, the assailants were not white, but two Nigerian brothers. One of them was an extra on “Empire,” while the other was the actor’s former personal trainer. They were allegedly paid to ‘attack’ Smollett, they bought the rope used in the so-called attack, and they allege that there were rehearsals prior to the January 29 incident.

What's more, is that there are reports that the so-called assault mirrored that of a plot for a play Smollett had auditioned for (via PageSix):

Jussie Smollett auditioned for a role in a play that shares eerie similarities to his alleged attack — and he may have used Instagram to tip off the brothers to his whereabouts the night of the beat-down, according to a report on Monday. In the hours before the violent Jan. 29 assault in Chicago, the “Empire” star was in New York City for a day of readings for a possible revival of “Take Me Out,” sources told the Daily Mail. The Tony-winning production follows a biracial baseball player who is attacked by a pitcher — and called a “n—-r” and “f—-t” — after coming out. The characters compete on a team called the New York Empires. Smollett was among actors, including Zachary Quinto, to perform two readings that day, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Afterward, he popped to La Guardia Airport to fly back to Chicago to film the final episodes of the fourth season of “Empire.” But when the flight got delayed, Smollett began posting Instagram stories — which cops now believe were meant for brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo to see ahead of the attack, a source told the Mail.

The case is now going to a grand jury, where Smollett could be charged with filing a false police report. The entire investigation has changed, and the liberal media is eating another healthy helping of crow. The liberal media tried to absolve themselves by saying that celebrity-based news media peddled the story. Not the case; reporters and writers for Newsweek, Reuters, Slate, Huffington Post, and the LA Times all pushed this story that set off another firestorm that could very well be fake news. Also, this wouldn’t be the first time we had to deal with a fake hate crime hoax.

.@KamalaHarris's face and pause when asked about her previous tweet that the attack on Jussie Smollett was a "modern-day lynching" is something to behold

h/t @ThePowersThatBe pic.twitter.com/o9m7S0FTJ9 — David Rutz (@DavidRutz) February 18, 2019

On the Hill, Democrats running for president, like Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), were asked about the Smollett affair. Harris looked like a deer in the headlights, while Booker said he’s waiting for all the facts. Funny since both thought the attack was a modern day lynching just days before. On top of this, Booker said that the Green New Deal’s price tag of $7 trillion, which I say is a low-ball figure, isn’t right. An end of all fossil fuels within a decade, the upgrading of all U.S. buildings to energy standards, and the end of farting cows. And this is on top of Democrats' universal job guarantee, free college, and Medicare for All ventures. The latter is projected to cost over $30 trillion in the first ten years. It’s a mighty left-wing mess.

On a lighter note, we have deer with a zombie-like virus that turns you into a drooling vegetable, prompting the CDC to issue warnings. There is no cure if you contract this virus. Micah ate some venison, so we could have a producer position opening up soon. The sailor featured in the iconic photo, where he’s kissing a nurse upon the end of the Second World War, has passed away at the age of 95.

Other than that, Trump is facing another legal challenge to his emergency declaration, as expected. We’ll have more on that Thursday.