Friday Talking Points -- The Wait Better Be Worth It This Time

[ChrisWeigant]

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

It's been a rather bizarre week, which is even more odd since Congress is still off lollygagging, rather than doing the people's business as they are handsomely paid to do. Perhaps all these vacations have a cost? That's what we were thinking, at any rate, when we heard the news today that the House Select Committee on January 6th has punted the ball yet again, and will not even be scheduling public hearings until June, rather than next month. Seriously, guys? You're going to break the biggest political scandal story of the year right at the start of summer?!?

Sigh. It's like waiting for Mueller all over again. One only hopes that this time the wait doesn't lead to a massive disappointment in the end. The committee members keep promising blockbuster revelations, but they've been promising that since roughly January, so by now it's a little hard to share their excitement. And we do fervently hope that this scheduling promise actually comes to pass, and that one month from now we're not griping about the announcement that the hearings have slipped until July. And that the wait will ultimately prove to have been worth it, this time.

Perhaps we're being too pessimistic, for Earth Day. So we'll try something a little more upbeat -- a new way for us to review the week that was: bullet points! We're going to make an effort to rein in our persistent logorrhea in an effort to make these columns more readable. And to save you the trouble, the first dictionary definition that pops up for "logorrhea" is: "a tendency to extreme loquacity." Heh.

So, in no particular order, here's what happened in the week that was:

• Donald Trump Junior posted a photo of three heavily-armed Easter Bunnies brandishing guns, because of course he did. Nothing like that Republican respect for Christian religious holidays, eh?


• Rudy Giuliani briefly appeared (and was immediately voted off of) The Masked Singer, and delivered a truly horrible version of "Bad To The Bone." You just can't make this stuff up, folks.


• New Jersey started selling legal recreational marijuana to adults... on 4/21. Quoth Homer Simpson: "D'oh!"


• The Texas governor had to cave on his political stunt of grinding to a halt the passage of trucks across the Mexican border, because too many Texas businesses were saying it was doing nothing but harming them and the economy.


• Neck-and-neck in the race for "stupidest political stunts state of the week" was Florida, where they had to call a special session of the legislature just to fit in all the stupid. They passed an anti-Disney law, gerrymandered the heck out of their state's districts, and banned a whole bunch of math books for good measure.


• The U.S. Capitol was briefly evacuated due to a miscommunication ("missed communication," really) about an Army airplane circling near the Capitol to put on a parachute team display at a baseball game. Glad to know all those interdepartmental problems exposed by January 6th have been solved, guys!


• Tucker Carlson spent a whole show advocating "testicle tanning," and we're not even going to bother to make a joke about it (we'll leave that as an exercise for the reader, because it is so easy).


• Alex Jones's Infowars had to file for bankruptcy because he is on the hook for so many of his vile lies and is about to face enormous financial court decisions against him.


• Philadelphia quickly reversed course and ended its new mask mandate, saying the caseload and hospitalization numbers had gone back down already. Perhaps public reaction had something to do with this? Or perhaps the fact that no other major city followed suit (at least, not yet)....

In related news to that last item, because of one federal judge's ruling, Americans are now flying maskless once again. The Biden administration appealed the ruling, but will likely argue something along the lines of: "The need for a mandate is now moot, however we would like a clear decision in this case because we think it is important to have this power in place for future emergencies." Which most of the media hasn't really caught on to, at least for now.

The big news today, of course, is Marjorie Taylor Greene actually answering questions under oath about the January 6th insurrection, and her possible involvement. Greene said many unbelievable things during this hearing, but one stood out above the rest:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, testifying Friday about her alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as part of a case seeking to disqualify her from seeking reelection, said she could not remember whether she urged President Donald Trump to impose martial law as a way to remain in power.

"I don't recall," Greene (R-Ga.) said in response to questioning by an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case.

"So you're not denying you did it?" asked the attorney, Andrew G. Celli Jr. "You just don't remember."

"I don't remember," Greene replied.

Got that, folks? She doesn't remember whether she personally told the president of the United States it would be a good idea to impose martial law on the country.

Is there anyone under the sun that believes that a person who either (1) did urge the president to impose martial law, or (2) did not urge the president to impose martial law wouldn't remember that they had done so, one way or the other? It seems like a fairly memorable moment, doesn't it? But not to her, apparently. Either that, or she's committing some pretty blatant perjury.

While it was interesting to see someone getting legally grilled over January 6th (since we have yet to see any of that sort of thing from the January 6th House committee itself, of course...), the outcome of this legal event seems pretty preordained. Greene is being challenged under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for her eligibility to run for re-election to her House seat. The people bringing this action claim Greene is ineligible to serve because the 14th Amendment bars anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against" the U.S. Constitution," or "given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," who has also "previously taken an oath" to "support the Constitution," from ever holding "any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state."

So today's hearing was to explore whether any of that was true or could be proven. However, the ultimate decision rests with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a man who is already on Donald Trump's bad side (because he refused to allow Trump to steal Georgia's election result), and who is up for re-election against a Trump-supported GOP challenger. So it's a stretch to think that Raffensperger would enrage the Trumpian base right before his primary election -- which is precisely what would happen if he decided Greene was ineligible to be on the ballot. So it looks like a foregone conclusion, no matter what the judge says after today's testimony.

OK, we're supposed to be trying to keep this short (which, we point out, is kind of an experiment today, so we'll be interested to hear whether readers like it or not...), so let's whip through the rest of the bizarre news from the week and then get right to the awards.

While Trump pardoned Steve Bannon during his last days in office, there were three other fellow grifters in on the scheme which necessitated Bannon's pardon -- and none of them got pardoned. So two of them (including a disabled vet) just pled guilty to the massive grift that was the private "We Build the Wall" campaign. This grift-apolooza took in millions in donations, which was supposedly earmarked to privately build Trump's dreamed-of border barrier. The people running this scam all promised not to take a salary or any profits, but then they all dipped into the pot of millions of dollars in donations anyway. There is a third grifter who still hasn't pleaded guilty yet, so this story's not over. Bannon, of course, got off scot-free.

Speaking of grifting, Rick Scott is supposed to be running the group raising money to get more Republicans elected to the Senate (the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or "N.R.S.C." ), but it seems he's a whole lot more interested in funneling as much of that money as he possibly can towards his own stash. This is reportedly upsetting some of his fellow Republicans (who joke that he's turned the N.R.S.C. into "the National Rick Scott Committee" ), so this will be interesting to watch play out.

But of course, you can't speak of Republican grifting without mentioning their grifter-in-chief, Donald Trump. It seems Mar-a-Lago (and his other properties) are still raking it in from all and sundry in the Republican Party and conservative political sphere as a way to sort of ante up to the game of begging for Trump's approval. Including Trump's own PAC -- a convenient way for him to launder donations straight into his own pockets. Trump will, however, soon be losing his D.C. hotel -- which will be removing his name from the property within days. And in the bombshell of the week, Trump was also ordered to pay Omarosa a cool $1.3 million for the legal fees she had to spend to sue him, so that's some poetic justice.

And finally, we have to at least mention the story causing feathers to fly within Republican leadership ranks this week, as a new book out revealed that both Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell initially wanted not only to either have Trump resign the presidency or for the impeachment to succeed, but also were caught wishing that Twitter would kick off all the nutjobs they've allowed to fester with the Republican ranks.

Of course, within weeks, both McCarthy and McConnell had drastically changed their tunes and were (to one degree or another) once again kissing Trump's... um, ring... (yeah... let's go with "ring," shall we?). Because apparently having a spine or any sort of moral compass is no longer required in the ranks of the GOP leaders in Congress. Really makes you look forward to what might happen if either one of these sycophants ever regains congressional power, doesn't it?





We have a clear winner for this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week, but before we get to her we've got one more impressive Democrat to mention first.

Senator Elizabeth Warren this week published an opinion piece in the New York Times that is a true call to action for Democrats in Congress. She essentially says: "We've got to get more done now, or we don't stand a chance in the midterms," and it should come as a wakeup call for any who are arguing differently (we wrote about this earlier in the week, if anyone's interested in a deeper dive). Senator Warren deserves at least an Honorable Mention for her clarion call.

But this week a state senator in Michigan gave a speech which went viral -- for good reason. After being maliciously and falsely attacked by a fellow state senator, who used the increasingly-common vile accusations of "grooming" children and supporting pedophilia, Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow had had enough.

She stood up and shamed the Republican, her attacks, and the evil and hateful place from whence they sprang. McMorrow was incensed and deeply offended, which she made perfectly obvious while still remaining (mostly) civil. The speech is less than five minutes long, and it is well worth watching if you haven't seen it (we devoted yesterday's column to transcribing the entire thing, if you'd prefer to read it -- but we strongly encourage watching the whole thing, since the delivery is so powerful).

Here's just one part of it, where McMorrow hits back hard at the hypocrisy of those attacking her:

My mom taught me at a very young age that Christianity and faith was about being part of a community. About recognizing our privilege and blessings and doing what we can to be of service to others -- especially people who are marginalized, targeted, and who had less, often unfairly.

I learned this service was far more important than performative nonsense like being seen in the same pew every Sunday, or writing "Christian" in your Twitter bio and using that as a shield to target and marginalize already-marginalized people.

Obviously, she was not in the mood to mince words. Personally, we haven't seen such a display of righteousness from any Democrat in quite a while. This is how vile smears should be addressed -- quickly and forcefully. Shame those who would make such scurrilous and unfounded attacks. Call them out, for the whole world to hear. Treat them with the scathing contempt which they are due.

Above all, express your righteous indignation that American politics has sunk this low. The voters will agree with this sentiment, or at least the vast majority of them will. Democrats need to start pointing out that if Republicans win control, the next two years are going to consist of nothing but such hate-filled rants, since the Republican Party has absolutely no answers for any of the real problems facing everyday Americans. Perhaps what the Democrats are doing isn't fixing the problems fast enough, but at least they are trying, while the Republicans are content to offer absolutely nothing in the way of answers to any of it.

This is a powerful political argument to make, and we sincerely wish more Democrats were out there making it on a regular basis. We wish that this week's speech from a Michigan senator was unremarkable and not even worth mentioning -- because so many Democrats were out there saying the same things.

But until that happens, we are happy to award Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week. McMorrow made a whole lot of "straight, White, Christian, married suburban moms" (as she herself put it) proud of her this week -- and also a whole lot of people who don't fit that pigeonhole, too. Well done, Senator McMorrow, well done!

[Congratulate Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow on her official contact page, to let her know you appreciate her efforts.]





One senses there is more to this story that hasn't been told yet, but from what Politico and others are reporting, this smacks of the national party butting in where it isn't all that welcome.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a super PAC devoted to getting more Democrats elected to the House. This seems a laudable goal, but what is inexplicable is that they just plonked a cool million dollars down to favor one Democratic candidate in a primary race for a safe Oregon House seat that has multiple viable candidates. And this is seriously annoying some Oregon Democrats. Here is the whole story (as it is has been reported, so far):

Andrea Salinas has endorsements from top Latino groups and from half of the Latina Democratic lawmakers in the House. She also has backing from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' campaign arm in her bid to become Oregon's first elected Latina in Congress.

Yet House Majority PAC -- which is closely aligned with Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- delivered an unexpected blow last week to Salinas' campaign. In a newly drawn district that's more than 20 percent Latino, the House Democrats' flagship super PAC chose to intervene in the primary and plow $1 million into television ads on behalf of a white, first-time candidate.

That decision has sparked an outpouring of criticism and left Democratic strategists and Latino leaders fuming over what they say is an unnecessary mess. It's evidence, they say, of the party's failure to invest the resources necessary to excite and court Latinos -- or to take seriously the recent erosion of support among those voters.

"There's all this talk [from Democrats] about Latino voters, but where are we talking about Latino candidates and Latino representation and the party prioritizing that?" said Yvonne Gutierrez, managing director for Latino Victory Fund. "This is where we need to see leadership. We need to put our money where our mouth is. And if [Democrats] care about Latino voters and Latino representation, this was an opportunity."

The fallout over HMP's endorsement of Carrick Flynn comes at an inopportune time for Democrats. At a time when Republicans are making gains with Latino voters, the blowup serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges and internal Democratic party debate over the efficacy of its outreach to Latino voters.

The article goes on to point out that Flynn is a political newcomer, and that "the district hasn't even been targeted by the GOP," since Biden carried it by 14 points. So whichever candidate won the Democratic primary would likely have cruised to victory in November. And you'd think the Democrats would be bending over backward trying to get more Hispanics into Congress, considering the slide among the demographic which showed up in the 2020 election. Which is precisely why they are so angry about this heavy-handed move:

Latino leaders and progressive strategists complain that they were completely blindsided by HMP's investment in Flynn, which came a little over a month before the May 17 primary -- HMP typically weighs in once a Democratic nominee has been chosen, not before.

"HMP is tasked with defending the House Majority by boosting Democrats and holding Republicans accountable, not with spending critical resources against a woman who has spent decades fighting for progressive causes and who will excite Democratic voters in November," Rep. Ruben Gallego, chair of BOLD PAC, said in a lengthy statement.

BOLD PAC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' campaign arm, was impressed enough by Salinas to include her in its first slate of endorsements this year. They and other Democrats point to her as an example of a viable Latina candidate with all the right credentials to win in the new Democratic-leaning district.

Part of their argument was that a Salinas victory would send the right signal to Oregon's growing Latino, predominantly Mexican American, population. And it would underscore the party's commitment to Latinos in the wake of recent GOP inroads with Latino voters.

If elected, Salinas would be one of only a few Latinas in Congress. Currently, only 13 out of the 435 House members are Latina -- less than 3 percent.

They weren't the only ones upset. Salinas is not some longshot candidate far out of the mainstream Democratic ideology or something -- a condition which might have made the PAC's move more understandable. She's already proven herself to many within the party, in fact:

Salinas, the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, has garnered the backing of top progressive groups, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Service Employees International Union. Oregon's current Democratic Gov. Kate Brown recently endorsed her, calling her the "progressive champion we need fighting for Oregon families in Congress."

Six of the Democratic candidates in the primary, including Salinas, responded to HMP's spending by issuing a scathing joint statement, calling the move "a slap in the face to every Democratic voter and volunteer in Oregon." A day later, five of them -- including Salinas -- kept up the united front at a press conference condemning HMP's decision.

They weren't alone in expressing their frustration. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who has not endorsed in the race, called it "flat-out wrong." One long-time national Democratic strategist called the decision to back Flynn "fucking crazy."

"This is a highly competitive primary and we have four women in the race, three of whom are women of color," Salinas said. "I was really surprised that HMP would even think of weighing in this race."

When asked about it, the House Majority PAC had the most anodyne of answers (which didn't address the controversy in any way, shape, or form):

"House Majority PAC is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to secure a Democratic House Majority in 2022, and we believe supporting Carrick Flynn is a step towards accomplishing that goal," said CJ Warnke, HMP's communications director.

This is putting a very heavy thumb on the scale of a primary election -- a task outside the stated goals of the PAC itself. There is no fear that this seat will go Republican, after all. The PAC could have spent that million bucks elsewhere, where it would have gone towards defeating Republican challengers or incumbents. Instead, they chose to intervene in a Democratic primary for no apparent reason, to tip the scales away from a prominent Latina candidate. That's a bad look all around.

And it is beyond disappointing. Which is why this week's Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week is none other than Nancy Pelosi and the House Majority PAC. Get your priorities straight, folks -- that money is supposed to be used to fight Republicans, not Democratic candidates in a very safe district.

[Contact Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on her official contact page, to let her know what you think of her (and her PAC's) actions.]




Volume 659 (4/22/22)

We start off this week with three quotes from our awards section. The first is from Elizabeth Warren and the other two are from that extraordinary speech in Michigan. The rest of the mix is more of a grab-bag this week.



A clear warning

Senator Elizabeth Warren, as previously mentioned, issued a clarion call this week. Democrats should take it to heart, and act accordingly. She ends her message with the following warning:

Like many Americans, I'm frustrated by our failure to get big things done -- things that are both badly needed and very popular with all Americans. While Republican politicians obstruct many efforts to improve people's lives and many swear loyalty to the Big Lie, the urgency of the next election bears down on us.

Democrats cannot bow to the wisdom of out-of-touch consultants who recommend we simply tout our accomplishments. Instead, Democrats need to deliver more of the president's agenda -- or else we will not be in the majority much longer.

Who she is

We saved the best parts of Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow's speech for the following two talking points. In the first, McMorrow strongly defines herself, and what she stands for. Other Democrats, please take note -- this is the way to fight vile Republican smears:

So who am I? I am a straight, White, Christian, married suburban mom. Who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are White is absolute nonsense.

No child alive today is responsible for slavery. No one in this room is responsible for slavery. But each and every single one of us bears responsibility for writing the next chapter of history. Each and every single one of us decides what happens next and how we respond to history and the world around us.

We are not responsible for the past. We also cannot change the past. We can't pretend that it didn't happen, or deny people their very right to exist.

I am a straight, White, Christian, married suburban mom. I want my daughter to know that she is loved, supported, and seen for whoever she becomes. I want her to be curious, empathetic, and kind.

We will not let hate win

Take the culture war fight directly to the Republicans, and point out that this is all they've got. They have no answers to today's problems, they just have fear and hatred. And fear and hatred is no reason to vote for someone.

People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape after decades of disinvestment, or that healthcare costs are too high, or that teachers are leaving the profession. I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported -- not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, White, and Christian.

We can not let hateful people tell you otherwise to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people's lives. And I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen.

So I want to be very clear right now -- call me whatever you want. I hope you brought in a few dollars. I hope it made you sleep good last night. I know who I am. I know what faith and service means and what it calls for in this moment.

We will not late hate win.

Maybe look in the mirror?

If they're going to sling baseless mud, then how about reminding Republicans of what they are now comfortable with in their own party?

"Republicans are now yelling 'pedophile!' at the drop of a hat, it seems, which is just laughable since they have absolutely no moral leg left to stand on anymore. Donald Trump has endorsed a candidate for governor in Nebraska who has been accused by multiple prominent Republican women of sexual assault. Trump's going to appear at a rally for the guy. In South Carolina, Trump endorsed -- and the Republicans are falling in line behind -- a Senate candidate who pointed a gun at his ex-wife's head and threatened to kill her. A frontrunner in the Senate GOP contest in Missouri has been accused of physical abuse by both his ex-wife and his ex-mistress. And that's just scratching the surface, folks. Remember Trump trying to get Roy Moore elected -- a guy who hung out at shopping malls trolling for underage girls? That is a pedophile. Or take Matt Gaetz, who reportedly paid underage women for sex and called it 'tuition.' Have any Republicans said a word about Representative Lauren Boebert's husband, who did time in jail for exposing his penis to two young women, in a bowling alley, while she was also there? Funny, I haven't heard one of them denounce him. The Republican Party simply has no claim to any moral high road, folks. People like this used to be unceremoniously chucked out of the party for such abhorrent behavior, but now that Trump has normalized it, they are fine with all of this stuff... when Republicans do it. I mean, I hate to say it, but where is the Moral Majority when you really need them?"



Or maybe look in the mirror for all that voting fraud, perhaps?

A continuing story...

"So it now appears that Mark Meadows, who used to run Trump's White House for him, wasn't just voting illegally in North Carolina, but has actually been simultaneously registered to vote in three separate states. This is the same guy who has constantly fanned the flames of the idea that there is massive voter fraud happening out there... somewhere.... Maybe the fact that he couldn't actually find any spurred him to create some voter fraud of his own? Could be, could be...."



Maybe do another cost/benefit analysis?

This should put some fear into the hearts of Republican politicians, so don't be afraid to taunt them with it as much as possible.

"Boy, Republicans have certainly changed their tune on the whole idea of free speech and corporate speech. They used to be the biggest champions for corporate America to be as involved in American politics as possible, but now that giant corporations like Disney are beginning to realize that supporting antediluvian social policies is actually very unpopular with its customer base, they're starting to say things Republicans don't like. So Republicans are going to use the power of government to punish those corporations for their political free speech from now on, it appears. If I was a board member or C.E.O. of some giant corporate enterprise, I would be rethinking where to situate my business or support with my political donations. Why give a red state that demands ideological purity on unpopular issues any jobs by locating there? Why not open a headquarters in a blue state that will leave you alone and won't pass embarrassing laws that your employees and customers object to? The cost to the brand, at some point, would seem to outweigh any tax breaks red states offer -- especially now, that such tax breaks will be used as goads to force your corporation to agree with the most extreme conservative viewpoints. And why should corporations donate to politicians who would punish them in such fashion? Maybe we'll see a trend of big corporations refusing to blindly shovel dollars at Republican politicians from now on, who knows?"



Couldn't agree more, Mike

And finally, a funny slip of the tongue to end on.

"Recently in a Fox News interview, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo kind of let the cat out of the bag. When asked, 'Why does the left act as if conservatives are a bigger threat to America than the Chinese Communist Party?' Pompeo accidentally told the truth: 'Because, in fact, we are.' For the first time ever, I have to say I fully agree with Mike Pompeo. Conservatives are a bigger threat to America than China! After all, it wasn't China that tried to overthrow the Constitution by violently attacking the U.S. Capitol."




Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com
Follow Chris on Twitter: ChrisWeigant
Full archives of FTP columns: FridayTalkingPoints.com

[Timewas]

1. Slow walk

Hoping something will happen to get us looking at something else and maybe statute of limitations will run out.. I am pretty sure some of tfg's shit is getting there.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Superb post, as yours always are, dear ChrisWeigant!

You skewer with the best.

I think a lot of people don't comment because your posts are long, detailed and take a bit of effort to read. And that is a shame, because you write really well.

Thank you for your efforts on our behalf!

[ChrisWeigant]

5. thanks!

Thank you for the kind words!



-CW

[kacekwl]

3. Fantastic, I hope every member of the Democratic party

in Congress and those who advise them reads this. You can tell me about patience and how we have plenty of time to get things done but you are wrong, dead wrong. The Democratic party seems to love to shoot themselves in the foot if not by design or just by bad advice.

[Colgate 64]

4. I've long since learned not to get my hopes

up regarding government doing "the right thing" when it comes to exposing Rethuglican chicanery and wrongdoing. First it was "Fitzmas". Then came the famous Mueller sell-out. Now we're pinning our hopes on a judge who Obama wrongly nominated for the Supreme Court because 1) he was proposed by a Republican and 2) I believe Obama believed that this fact would make him a palatable candidate to Repub Senators. He got the Consolation Prize by being made A.G. by Biden, another mistake. He's not a Prosecutor, doesn't have the Prosecutor mentality and obviously don't want to shake the power structure up. Getting our hopes up for anything beyond nickel and dime prosecutions of a bunch of mouth-breathers who pissed in the Capitol is just going to lead to another severe disappointment for those of us who firmly believe tfg should be held to account.