Quotes of the Week

Plus links to some of the best articles and essays.

The House’s DOGE committee held a hearing on Wednesday, during which Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia unveiled a poster of Elon Musk and referred to it as a “dick pic.” | Al Drago/Getty Images

Note for new subscribers: On Fridays I send out a post with a list of 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.”

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• “Donald Trump’s history is being litigious, slowing things down. We’ve seen that throughout his career in real estate and in business and of course as he made his way back to the presidency. Elon Musk has that same M.O. Just, the rules are there to be broken, effectively. And that’s how he became the richest man in the world.” — CNN’s Dana Bash

• “So it turns out when you DON’T go woke, you go broke. Trump’s New DEI? Dying Economy and Inflation. It’s only two weeks in and Trump is Making America Broke Again!” — Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in reference to Job Growth data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor that was released three weeks before Trump took office

• “I do believe that fear is truly warranted in the sense that people of color are just going to be rounded up. I mean, this is — I mean, we’ve lived it, especially as black folk in this country, right, it’s the racial profiling. And so, whether you’re a U.S. citizen, whether you are here as a DACA recipient, whether you are undocumented, whether you are naturalized, whatever your situation is, I think that if you can be mistaken for being a brown person, that you should be concerned.” — Also Jasmine Crockett

• “Plenty of public-health experts have come to look back at the coronavirus pandemic and regret certain actions. Should bird flu worsen, however, many of the same tools could become the best available options to limit its toll.” — The Atlantic’s Nicholas Florko

• “White supremacy is rampant in this country, just look at the current administration and our own legislative body. They have contributed to the social and economic harms, to racial terror, black folks have experienced in this country.” — Democratic Rep. Summer Lee

• “Look, let me tell you something, I’ll take a bit of umbrage here, I’ll speak on behalf of my colleagues. We are all willing to work with anyone who’s serious about doing the work of censoring the American people and advancing progress.” — Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley

• “Progressivism: Rich people accusing middle-class people of not caring enough about poor people.” — Walter Kirn

• “Kids over 13 have the right to make their own decisions about their mental health care. Parents don’t have the right to have notice, they don’t have the right to have consent about that.” — Washington State Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D)

• “Independent media in Russia, Ukraine lose their funding with USAID freeze” — Washington Post headline

• “What I think is really important, and what the American public wants, is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for Democracy, for the future of this country.” — Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia, when asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar if he thinks calling Elon Musk a “dick” is effective messaging

• “Tons of smart people were screened out of the universities over the last 15 yrs as the Obama Coalition turned academia into a new type of partisan NGO with ideologically narrow staffing needs, and now those screened out have combined their anger into a political battering ram.” — Temple University professor Jacob Shell

• “I’ve been told I have 30 seconds, so I am going to tell you that we have to — I don’t swear in public very well — but we have to fuck Trump!” — Democratic Rep. Maxine Dexter, speaking at Monday’s American Federation of Government Employees rally “to save the civil service”

• “Political leaders in red and blue America made different decisions during the pandemic. Many public schools in heavily Democratic areas stayed closed for almost a year — from the spring of 2020 until the spring of 2021. In some Republican areas, by contrast, schools remained closed for only the spring of 2020. This pattern helps explain a partisan gap in learning loss: Students in blue states have lost more ground since 2019. The differences are especially large in math. Eight of the 10 states that have lost the most ground since 2019 voted Democratic in recent presidential elections. And eight of the 10 states with the smallest math shortfalls voted Republican.” — NYT’s David Leonhardt

• “When they scream ‘DEI’ let’s stop pretending they are anywhere close to on the level. What they are selling is white male supremacy. Plain and simple.” — Democratic Senator Chris Murphy

• “I’ll say to you, beloved, no one likes violence, but sometimes violence is necessary. When Elon Musk forces his way into the United States Treasury and threatens to steal your personal information and your social security check, there is the possibility of violence.” — Chattanooga pastor Steve Caudle

• “I think today, Donald Trump is going to sign an executive order banning black people from halftime.” — The View’s Ana Navarro, the day after the Super Bowl

• “I think what was really interesting is a lot of these guys — can I use this in The New York Times? — have tiny-dick energy.” — Kara Swisher, talking about “Silicon Valley people” on Ezra Klein’s podcast

• “Some people have actually been talking about impeaching President Elon Musk, right now, you know, on the theory that he’s usurped the powers of the presidency.” — Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, during an appearance on MSNBC

• “Voters Were Right About the Economy. The Data Was Wrong.” — Politico headline

• “This country that we’re in was settled by indigenous people, right? And yet they name the country after an Italian white man, Amerigo Vespucci. That’s that America was named after. Amerigo Vespucci, a white European. Why is it named after a white man?” — The View’s Joy Behar

• “You had mentioned trying to engage more women in manufacturing. I’m just wondering if just the name ‘manufacturing’ sounds like a guy.” — Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, speaking during a Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee hearing on Wednesday (the root of “manufacturing” is manus, which means “hand” in Latin)

• “In ‘The Art of the Deal’ (which many covering Trump weirdly haven’t read) it’s clear a lot of what people think are literal statements are opening bids. Even his rhetoric starts higher than where it ends. You can think that’s good or bad, but it’s how to understand him.” — Matt Taibbi

• “Blacks will be impacted most by Trump’s gutting of the bureaucracy.” — MSNBC’s Ali Velshi

If you need to get past a paywall, try Archive Today or 12ft.io.

• Outside: “My Quest to Find the Owner of a Mysterious WWII Japanese Sword”

• Wired: “The Pro Dumpster Diver Who’s Making Thousands Off America’s Biggest Retailers”

• N.S. Lyons: “American Strong Gods”

• Time: “The Man Who Took On Big Tobacco Has a New Target: Sports Betting”

• The New Yorker: “The Long Quest for Artificial Blood”

• Vanity Fair: “The 10-Minute Mecca Stampede That Made History”

• Rolling Stone: “The Fort Bragg Murders”

• The New York Times: “She Is in Love With ChatGPT”

• GQ: “The Troubling Business of Bounty Hunting”