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.”
“Getting fit is great – but it could turn you into a rightwing jerk” — Guardian headline
“That is a slave state, as far as being a woman is concerned.” — MSNBC’s Joy Reid, regarding Missouri.
“One of the things that Red state governors, like the governors of Texas and Florida have done, is they’ve sent the problem, if you want to call it a problem, of undocumented people and shipped them all over the country, like the old segregationists used to put black people on buses and say, ‘Let’s send them to your city.’” — Also Joy Reid
“Eighty years ago today, thousands of brave Americans fought to protect democracy on the shores of Normandy. This November, all we have to do is vote.” — Hillary Clinton, comparing the D-Day landings, in which 2,501 American soldiers were killed in arguably the most heroic combat operation in world history, to voting against Donald Trump.
“Antifa Member Lectures D-Day Veteran On How To Fight Fascism” — Babylon Bee headline
“I know we have to listen to these people, but how much of their feelings about the economy is due to them being deceived by misinformation?” — NPR’s Steve Inskeep, regarding focus groups in which swing state voters say the economy is terrible, they can’t afford food or medicine, and that Trump will be better on the economy.
“Democrats have to get Alvin Bragg’s back. We need to speak out, surround our brother. Since the beginning they were being racist as hell. If you stay home and you do not exercise the power of your vote, you are giving your power to white supremacist MAGA individuals who are turning this democracy into a fascist state.” — Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
“The people who read newspapers, who watch tv news, broadcast news, who consume digital news online from a website, they like Biden more than they like Donald Trump. Those information voters like President Biden. They’re not convinced by Donald Trump. It’s the social media people who get their news from alternative venues.” — MSNBC’s Katy Tur
“JAMES COMEY: FBI HAS SEEN THE DAMAGE LIES CAN DO” — CNN chyron
“God I hate the fact that when we had the biggest pandemic crisis in 100 years the reaction was to riot in favor of chaos against order, and the NYT and Ivies cheered this along and handed each other prizes for cheering, until it wasn’t their side doing the rioting anymore.” — Temple university professor Jacob Shell
“I’ve come here today to do what Republicans in Congress refused to do — take the necessary steps to secure our border.” — Joe Biden, announcing his new executive order “tightening asylum limits.”
“I can do it better than anybody you know. You’re looking at me, I can take you too.” — Also Joe Biden, when asked by Time’s Massimo Calabresi and Sam Jacobs if he really thinks he’d be able to “do the job” as president at the age of 85.
“I have spent a good bit of time talking to Kevin McCarthy through the years and hours with Biden in 2024. There is no comparison. Biden is far sharper, more intellectually curious, and far more insightful on global affairs than any House GOP speaker I have met over 30 years.” — MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough
“Should Democrats win the White House and majorities in the House and Senate, no matter how narrow, the entire panoply of reforms and responses should be on the table. Those could include Alito’s impeachment (especially if he snubs a subpoena), a mandatory ethics code, Supreme Court term limits and court expansion.” — The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin
“I am going to spend some time with the criminal justice system, asking them ‘Tell us what’s going on with the domestic terrorists, are they preparing a civil war against us? Should we be concerned about our safety? What is [Trump] doing with this divisive language?’” — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), during an interview on MSNBC.
“Democrats should refer to Trump as a convicted felon at every opportunity. Repetition is the key to a successful message and we want people to wrestle with the notion of hiring a convicted felon for the most important job in the country!“ — Alex Soros (son of George Soros), who literally runs a foundation that calls for more hiring of convicted felons.
“If you want an example of someone being prosecuted to the fullest possible extent of the law for charges that would normally be excused or settled on extremely lenient terms, just look at Hunter Biden.” — Matthew Yglesias
“Nobody prosecuted [Hillary] Clinton because they had no case!” — Also Matthew Yglesias
“Pro-Palestinian protesters enter Brooklyn Museum, unfurl banner as police make arrests” — Washington Post headline; what actually happened is a mob of thousands of Hamas supporters stormed a museum, broke through the front doors, and assaulted staff.
“If lab leak hypothesis continues to bear out, it has the potential to be a Chernobyl-tier event in terms of long-term, potentially irreversible, loss of public trust in the institutions that contributed to the catastrophe or were complicit in muddying the waters on its origins.” — Politico’s Ben Schreckinger
“American democracy is at risk because of the Democratic Party’s risk aversion: not wanting to get messy, to do things that alienate a third of people. But if you’re running against fascism in 2024, maybe a little less caution, a little more boldness, try stuff.” — MSNBC’s Anand Giridharadas
“Anatomy of a Murder,” from Atavist magazine.
The New York Times: “Why the Pandemic Probably Started in a Lab, in 5 Key Points”
“The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Going to College,” also from The New York Times.
And a third NYT piece on “The Internet’s Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes.”
A.J. Liebling’s classic account of the Normandy landings in The New Yorker, “Cross-Channel Trip.”
“In Portland, the Intifada Begins in Kindergarten,” from City Journal.
RealClear Investigations: “Stanford, Silicon Valley, and the Rise of the Censorship Industrial Complex”
“‘I Can’t Sugarcoat It Anymore’: Will Lewis Bluntly Defends Washington Post Shake-Up,” from Vanity Fair.
Re: Washington Post Shake-up Link: Thanks for an always interesting Friday Quotes and Links! I followed a link to the Washington Post story and was so nonplussed by what I read, I actually wrote a letter to the woman who wrote the article in hopes she might pass my thoughts along to some of her Post sources.
Dear Ms. Klein,
I was struck by how staffers, your sources, at the Post refer to people by their skin color or gender, probably their gender identity too although that wasn’t reported. It was bizzare to read. The grand finale of their racism was their being upset about the paper being run by white men. Is that how people talk and think in DC? Those staffers should be sent on assignment throughout the country so they can remember how wonderful it is to refer to people by their accomplishments and abilities or great personalities. IMHO this Diversity, Equity and Inclusion grift has permeated deep at the Post, maybe the first change they make should be hiring people on merit instead of race, gender or gender identity. The paper might be greatly improved.
Please forward this to anyone you choose at the Post. They need a wake-up if they want to increase readership.
Sincerely,
One wonders if Joy Reid has ever been to Missouri, or even find it on a map.