February 25, 2021

The Decision’s Elizabethan

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

They wait alike, Democrat, Republican and Libertarian,
In an atmosphere of high drama — almost Shakespearean.
Will she allow hiked wages?
It’s a question for the ages,
As we all bide the call of the Senate Parliamentarian.

Biden’s Most Frequent Question — And His Answer

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

“The question I’m asked most often is, ‘When will things get back to normal?’ My answer is always honest and straightforward — I can’t give you a date. I can only promise that we’ll work as hard as we can to make that day come as soon as possible.”

— President Biden, quoted by CBS News.

Democracy’s Best Chance

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

“We save democracy for today, and for the next century, by making government work; by showing people in the most meaningful way that their votes matter, and that their votes count. … And right now, that means a wartime-level mobilization to get Americans vaccinated and get our country through this pandemic. The best chance for our democracy lies not with the vain hope that Republican leaders will grow spines, but with Democrats’ ability to show Americans that they do not have to settle for a government that’s set up to fail.”

— Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), writing for NBC News

Kennedy Apologizes (Kind of) for Calling Tanden a ‘Whack Job’

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

“I apologize. I was searching for a word for extremist, which I think is more neutral. And I should have said extremist. I never should have said whack job.”

— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) apologized for calling President Joe Biden’s embattled budget chief pick, Neera Tanden, a “whack job,” Politico reports.
Kennedy explained that he was searching for another word before calling her “a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.”

41 Capitol Police Under Investigation or Suspended

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

41

Acting Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman told a congressional hearing there are 35 officers under investigation for the January 6 insurrection “and we do have six police officers that have been suspended with their police powers being revoked, so those investigations are ongoing at this time.”

Dems Don’t Need an Autopsy, Republicans Do

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

“Democrats won the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, so if there’s one party that’s doing an autopsy, it should be the Republicans. I’m not working on an autopsy.”

— DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), in an interview with Politico, when asked if he should do an autopsy on the 2020 election since Democrats lost a dozen House seats.

‘The Big Lie’ in a Congressional Vignette

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

“I didn’t vote to overturn an election. And I will not be lectured by people who did about partisanship.”

— Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) in a confrontation with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) during today’s House Oversight Committee hearing.

Repairs to Capitol Top $30 Million

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

$30 million

NPR: “The cost of repairing damages from the attack on the U.S. Capitol and related security expenses have already topped $30 million and will keep rising, Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton told lawmakers on Wednesday.”

Percentage of LGBT Self-Identifiers Rising in U.S.

February 25, 2021 Buck Banks

5.6%

Gallup: “Gallup’s latest update on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identification finds 5.6% of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT. The current estimate is up from 4.5% in Gallup’s previous update based on 2017 data.”

“The question I’m asked most often is, ‘When will things get back to normal?’ My answer is always honest and straightforward — I can’t give you a date. I can only promise that we’ll work as hard as we can to make that day come as soon as possible.”

— President Biden, quoted by CBS News.

— Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), writing for NBC News

“I apologize. I was searching for a word for extremist, which I think is more neutral. And I should have said extremist. I never should have said whack job.”

— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) apologized for calling President Joe Biden’s embattled budget chief pick, Neera Tanden, a “whack job,” Politico reports. Kennedy explained that he was searching for another word before calling her “a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.”

41

“Democrats won the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, so if there’s one party that’s doing an autopsy, it should be the Republicans. I’m not working on an autopsy.”

— DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), in an interview with Politico, when asked if he should do an autopsy on the 2020 election since Democrats lost a dozen House seats.

“I didn’t vote to overturn an election. And I will not be lectured by people who did about partisanship.”

— Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) in a confrontation with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) during today’s House Oversight Committee hearing.

$30 million

NPR: “The cost of repairing damages from the attack on the U.S. Capitol and related security expenses have already topped $30 million and will keep rising, Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton told lawmakers on Wednesday.”

5.6%

Gallup: “Gallup’s latest update on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identification finds 5.6% of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT. The current estimate is up from 4.5% in Gallup’s previous update based on 2017 data.”

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“In America today‚ 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers or their grandmothers had, because of Donald Trump. I don’t think we’re going to let him get away with it, do you?”

— President Biden at a campaign stop in Tampa, reported by Tampa Bay Times.

“Mr. Blanche, you’re losing all credibility with this court.”

— Judge Juan Merchan, quoted by NBC News, to Donald Trump’s lawyer in the “hush money” criminal trial.

— Miami Herald

“We care more about the safety of our staff than a name attached to an article.”

— Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), on CNN.

Numerati

250,000

77%

A new Siena poll finds that by a 54% to 30% margin, New Yorkers say Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial is “legitimate” — the view of 77% of Democrats and 44% of independents — rather than a “witch hunt,” the view of 66% of Republicans.

51% to 48%

300 million

Spotify said Taylor Swift’s new album was the first to have over 300 million streams in a single day on Friday.

28%

— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) apologized for calling President Joe Biden’s embattled budget chief pick, Neera Tanden, a “whack job,” Politico reports.
Kennedy explained that he was searching for another word before calling her “a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.”