“I think — you know, a lot of my friends are registered Republicans living out there. They think that too. I mean, it’s just so outrageous. That $2 trillion tax cut, the last guy — what was his name? Anyway, the last guy…I forgot it. He never showed up for the inauguration, but anyway.”
President Joe Biden, at North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference
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“Division superintendents disagree with your assumption that discriminatory and divisive concepts have become widespread in Virginia school divisions.”
Howard Kiser, executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, in a letter to Jillian Balow, the state superintendent of schools, regarding Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s “tip line” set up to let parents complain about teachers and principals
All 133 Virginia public school division superintendents have urged Youngkin to scrap the “tip line” and have asked him to stop his campaign against the teaching of “divisive” content in schools.
The superintendents were reacting to a report Balow issued last month aimed at fulfilling promises Youngkin made during his campaign last year to end the teaching of critical race theory (CRT), an academic framework for studying systemic racism. The concept had never been on the Virginia’s curriculum, but the first executive order Youngkin issued within hours of being inaugurated January 15 was aimed at banning CRT. He later announced the establishment of the tip line for parents to tell the state about teachers or principals exposing students to materials deemed objectionable.
“Republicans are anxious — very anxious indeed — to tell us that Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn doesn’t speak for his fellow Republicans. Sen. Lindsey Graham rushed to the microphone to assure us that Cawthorn is an outlier ‘in the largest sense possible on our side.’”
Charlie Sykes, regarding Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s denouncement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a column for The Bulwark
Sykes added, “This is also important to remember: Until about five minutes ago, Cawthorn’s remarks were more or less basic talking points among the MAGA right — and not just talking points, but holy script. His attitude is deeply embedded in the right’s DNA. So, it’s easy to imagine Cawthorn today, looking around at his GOP critics and asking: Dude, what do you mean ‘outlier?’ I’m just saying what we’ve all been saying for years now! He’d have a point.”
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“There’s no Team America for Trump. Not once did I see him do anything to put America first. Not once. Not for a single second.”
Fiona Hill, former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the United States National Security Council, about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis and her belief that former President Donald Trump exacerbated the tension
“All this did was say to Russia that Ukraine was a playground,” Hill added, noting Trump’s admiration for Putin and his disapproval of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). She also highlighted Trump’s longstanding pushback against Ukraine as he relentlessly tried to obtain incriminating information on President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The controversy surrounding Ukraine was a major component of Trump’s first impeachment trial.
“[O]nly Donald Trump could stand in that way. Only Donald Trump and what he says and how he says it could prevent Republicans from winning the majority. If he makes this about November of 2020 or January of 2021, that could cost the Republicans the Senate.”
Frank Luntz, Republican pollster, stating the Republican Party could regain control of both houses of congress during this year’s midterm elections, if Donald Trump doesn’t interfere
Luntz also said, “If you look at the polling data, and you do the focus groups, you talk to independents as I have done. I find it difficult to see any other conclusion than Republicans winning control of the House and winning control of the Senate in November. Now a lot of stuff can change. And I know that we don’t know what’s going to happen in Ukraine. But Republicans should win both of those based on what’s happening right now and what we know is going to happen in the coming months.”
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“It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, commenting on a resolution by the Republican National Party about the January 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill
McConnell added, “the issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views than the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC.”
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“There were tens of thousands of people engaged in peaceful free speech that the press and Democrats try to demonize falsely. Violence is wrong, and those who engage in violence should be prosecuted. But peaceful free speech is protected by the First Amendment.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, about the January 6, 2021 riot
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“The extremists have gone off the rails and chosen to endorse violence as ‘legitimate political discourse.’”
U.S. Rep Colin Allred, on a Republican Party resolution that downplays the January 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill as “legitimate political discourse”
“Throwing plastic into the sea is criminal. It kills biodiversity; it kills the Earth; it kills everything.”
Pope Francis, during an interview on Italy’s RAI
He added: “Looking after creation is an education (process) in which we must engage.” He also cited a song by Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos in which a boy asks his father why “the river no longer sings” and the father responds that “we finished it off”.
Francis also reiterated some key themes of his papacy, condemning excessive spending on armaments, defending the rights of migrants, and condemning ideological rigidity by conservatives in the Church.
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On Friday, February 4, the Republican National Committee voted overwhelmingly to censure two of its own: Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for their participation in a Democrat-led panel investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill insurrection. The RNC declared – as it has always maintained – that the individuals participating in the riot were “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Immediately after various news outfits began reporting news of the resolution, the RNC tried to clarify itself by stating they weren’t referring to the deadly attack on the Capitol.
Gosh, what else is there to talk about with that day’s events?
It’s become obvious the 21st century Republican Party won’t tolerate any kind of conscientious objectors – even if they are 100% right in their actions. The RNC has continually repeated the fake narrative that the January 6 insurrectionists were merely Capitol Hill “tourists” – who just happened to arrive bearing various assault weapons and stormed into the building like zombies invading a meat-packing plant.
I still believe a large percentage of Americans just don’t realize that the events of that day meet the true definition of a terrorist attack. If the mob had contained anyone other than a bunch of angry, self-righteous White people, right-wing extremists would be quick to denounce it as a true domestic terrorist attack and begin demanding criminal prosecution of everyone involved. But since that gang was supporting their man, Donald Trump – the biggest dumbass ever to occupy the White House – they’re getting their priorities confused…again.
I also wonder if most Americans truly recognize the January 6, 2021 insurrection as the clear threat to democracy it really was. Watching that day’s events unfold, I kept thinking, ‘Is this the United States? Is this really happening here?’
We’re accustomed to witnessing that kind of brutality and violence in foreign countries. That shit happens in Pakistan or Peru – not in the U.S.! But it did happen in the U.S. It happened here – in a nation that has claimed for some 200 years it is the beacon of democracy on planet Earth. In a country that has the oldest national constitution of any developed sovereign state.
I find it equally appalling – but not surprising – that the RNC has censured Cheney and Kinzinger for their efforts to learn the truth about the January 6 riot and prosecute those who participated in it. Cheney, daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, and Kinzinger, a military veteran, each represent the truest of public servants – individuals committed to the values of integrity and moral decency. They understand the actual severity of the January 6 mutiny; that the participants weren’t “tourists” trying to comprehend the machinations of the American political system. They were rioters – terrorists. And for their probity, they are being reprimanded by their leaders and constituents.
That says quite a bit about a political party. It says a lot about that particular squadron of stewardship. But it would say even more about a society that seems to ignore the calamity of January 6, 2021 and treat ensuing investigations as mundane political business.
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Chief Writing Wolf 