Quotes and Links
A week in review
Note for new subscribers: On Fridays I send out a post with a list of various notable quotes from the past week, along with links to some of the best reading material I’ve come across. You can opt out of these posts by simply clicking on the top right and going to “manage subscription.”
“They’re the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay geo-demographic group in the country.” — University of Maryland Baltimore County professor Thomas Schaller, regarding white rural Americans, who he says are a threat to democracy. He made this comment during an interview on MSNBC to promote his new book, White Rural Rage.
“The right to a speedy trial belongs to the public as well as the defendant. Efforts to bring a case to trial promptly is not ‘election interference.’” — University of Michigan Law professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barb McQuade. As the Sixth Amendment stipulates, the right to a speedy trial belongs only to the defendant, not the public.
“Going on MSNBC in a few to talk about how Amy Coney Barrett gets to decide whether civilians can legally transform AR-15s into machine guns that fire 800 rounds a minute.” — Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern; needless to say, an AR-15 cannot fire 800 rounds a minute, even with a bump stock.
“If you voted ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan instead of voting for Biden, you’re a Trump supporting terrorist.” — Democratic activist and actor Dash Dobrofsky
“Transgendered women do not have male anatomy.” — Sheila Copps, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
“I am no fan of Hitler but he perpetrated the Holocaust for obvious reasons.” — Senior Palestinian official Yasser Abu Sido, during an interview on Sada Al-Balad TV (Egypt).
“Basically the Republicans have become synonymous for Russians at this point.” — Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett
“I’ll bet you anything that Joe Biden could beat the daylights out of Trump in a push-up contest, for example. And Trump knows it too.” — Former DNC chairman Howard Dean, during an interview on MSNBC
“The Gemini controversy has provided fodder for critics on the right, who often accuse tech companies of liberal bias. But it isn’t really about bias. It shows that Google made technical errors in the fine-tuning of its AI models.” — Semafor’s Reed Albergotti
“If you commit a felony, a violent act, we should be able to turn you over to ICE and have you deported.” — New York City mayor Eric Adams, who is now asking NYC to walk back its “sanctuary city status.”
“You know what Joe Biden could do since he is presently President?! He could throw every Republican in jail!” — The View’s Whoopi Goldberg
“Republicans would cripple the IRS by forcing its workers back into the office.” — The Hill’s Glen Tsipursky
“Trump is Putin. Putin is Trump. Beating Trump this fall means beating Putin.” — Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell
“Why do I feel like it’s slightly racist to be a Taylor Swift fan?” — Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University Los Angeles.
“When you spend your days reading infographics reminding you that being silent means being on the side of the oppressor, having a flesh-and-blood oppressor-in-training eating your spaghetti and meatballs can feel like a waking nightmare.” — The Cut’s Kathryn Jezer-Morton, in an article entitled “Can Parents Prevent Their Sons From Sliding to the Right?”
“It’s hard to believe I live in a white supremacist country when being white is something you get ‘outed’ for!” — Blogger Noah Smith, on the Berkeley professor who claimed to be Native American but was then outed as white by one of her closest friends.
“While I was working on my syllabus for this course, I literally burst into tears. I couldn’t figure out how any of this makes sense. Why do we respect it? Why do we do any of it? I’m feeling very depleted by having to teach it.” — Rebecca Brown, who teaches Constitutional Law at the University of Southern California
“What’s the difference between Feb 24, 2022, and Feb 24, 2024? Answer: 400,000 fewer Russians.” — Adam Kinzinger
“To me, a death threat is different from a violent bomb threat.” — Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz, during an interview with Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik
“Based upon Gemini, it appears that one way to stop students from using AI on Law school exams may simply be to require they write essays defending conservative positions.” — Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler
“N95 Masks vs. KN95 Masks: Which Face Coverings Should We Be Wearing Right Now?” — Actual headline from Rolling Stone
An Esquire story about the Barkley Marathons, a little known and incredibly gnarly 100-mile race through the Appalachian mountains.
The Wall Street Journal: “Can Warner Bros. Uncancel J.K. Rowling?”
An IM1776 piece on what PizzaGate reveals about the Jeffrey Epstein saga.
“A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men,” from The New York Times.
A story from The Atlantic on grief, conspiracy theories, and one family’s search for meaning in the more than two decades since 9/11.
“The Pipe Bombs Before Jan. 6: Capital Mystery That Doesn’t Add Up,” from RealClearInvestigations.
A City Journal piece about how The New York Times attacked Nicole Gelinas’s reporting on New York City’s open-ended debit-card program for illegals.
Honestly, I can’t imagine either Biden or Trump doing a push-up.
"Transgendered women do not have male anatomy"
I need some help sorting this one out. Is a "transgendered woman" an actual woman (and therefore does not have male anatomy) who is role-playing as a man? Or is a "transgendered woman" an actual man (and therefore does have male anatomy, unless he has had said anatomy surgically removed) who is role-playing as a woman? Or does she mean that male anatomy is female anatomy and vice versa, just depending on how a person labels their anatomy?