Category: Verbatim

A GOP Lunatic Calls the GOP Lunatics Lunatics

Buck Banks

“This is not conservative Republicanism. This is stupidity. The idea that we’re going to shut the government down when we don’t control the Senate, we don’t control the White House. These people can’t define a win. They don’t know how to take yes for an answer. It’s a clown show. You keep running lunatics. You’re going to be in this position.”

— Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), on CNN.

DeSantis’ Disastrous Campaign Eroding His Standing in Free State of Florida

Buck Banks

“Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed that DeSantis’ struggles as a presidential candidate have already eroded his influence in Florida. There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out.”

— Politico

Garland Pushes Back

Buck Banks

“Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate. I am not the president’s lawyer. I will add I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.We will not be intimidated. We will do our jobs free from outside influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”

— Attorney General Merrick Garland, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee/Inquisition.

The Republican Party Is Now Full-Blown Authoritarian and Racist

Buck Banks

It is quite a thing to see leading Republicans—including a former president—in mugshots for their assault on our democracy and to know that party leadership supports their actions. Indeed, it is unprecedented, and for those who remember what a grand party the Republicans have been at times in their history—Lincoln, after all, was a Republican, and so were Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower—it is a sad end. But an end it is. The authoritarians who have taken over the party have abandoned their history and are now building something altogether different.

— Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American.

Everyone Hates Vivek

Buck Banks

“Everyone hates Vivek. That was the biggest takeaway from the Fox News debate on Wednesday night. And who can blame them?” … “Out of the gate, he looked pompous and oleaginous, with what can only be described as a smarmy, shit-eating grin that belied his sharp elbows. Regarding the slickness, Christie observed that he sounded ‘like ChatGPT.’ And regarding the elbows, at one point, even Sen. Tim Scott—you know, the optimistic guy who has a reputation for being too nice—even accused him of ‘being childish.’”

— Matt Lewis