Former President Trump is urging his followers to boycott DirecTV over the company’s plans to drop One American News Network, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “It is a very popular channel, far more popular than most would understand, and they are being treated horribly by the Radical Left lunatics running the networks.”
New York Times: “Mr. Prince’s role in the effort, which has not been previously disclosed, sheds further light on how a group of ultraconservative Republicans employed spycraft to try to manipulate the American political landscape. Mr. Prince — a former C.I.A. contractor who is best known as the founder of the private military firm Blackwater and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was Mr. Trump’s education secretary — has drawn scrutiny over the years for Blackwater’s record of violence around the world and his subsequent ventures training and arming foreign forces.”
“His willingness to support Mr. Seddon’s operation is fresh evidence of his engagement in political espionage projects at home during a period when he was an informal adviser to Trump administration officials.”
Mark Carney: “On the first weekend, many Canadians who joined the demonstrations undoubtedly had peaceful objectives. Tired as we all are with unprecedented disruptions that we’ve all endured over the past two years, it’s understandable that many would want to come to Ottawa to protest. It’s a free country, and everyone should be able to express their opinions free of interference from the state, just as the press should be able to report without fear of harassment or intimidation.”
“But now in its second week, no one should have any doubt. This is sedition. That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means ‘incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.’”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “threw cold water on efforts by congressional staff to form unions, arguing public officials and staff are ultimately accountable to their constituents,” Politico reports.
Said Manchin: “When you’re working for tax dollars and you’re at will and pleasure, I’m here at the will and pleasure of the people. They have a chance to change and things of that sort so we’ve got to make sure we’re doing it and doing it right.”
Tim Miller: “Over the past two weeks, several Democratic politicians have found themselves in the Twitter barrel as a result of photographs featuring their maskless (gasp!) faces in situations where either a) officials from their party had instituted a mandate on masks or b) the plebeians who surrounded them were unable to show their pearly whites due to the stringent social covenant in their environs.”
“This is horrible optics—and thus bad politics! Because whether we like it or not optics is politics. Since some of you don’t seem to understand why these pictures in particular are so bad, let me lay it out for you.”
“Canada’s public safety minister said Monday that U.S. officials should stay out of his country’s domestic affairs, joining other Canadian leaders in pushing back against prominent Republicans who offered support for the protests of Covid-19 restrictions that have besieged downtown Ottawa for more than a week,” Time reports.
“We’re addicted to telling other people what to think. You can’t really win many elections if you’re that self-righteous.”
— Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), in an interview with Nashville Scene, on what Democrats need to do to win.
Texas released updated statistics showing the number of abortions reported in the state decreased almost 60% in the first month after new restrictions went into effect, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) wants lawmakers to approve $1.3 billion in incentives to lure a $4 billion secret factory to the state in what would be the largest economic incentive package in state history, the Kansas City Star reports.
“But as the cost of landing the project comes into focus, other basic questions are still unanswered. The location of the plant and the company involved remain closely held as lawmakers and state officials adhere to confidentiality agreements. Details on how and when Kansas could gain financially are unknown.”
“The Biden administration announced an agreement Monday with Japan to temper a Trump administration steel tariff that tested U.S. relationships with allies and close trading partners,” Roll Call reports.
Jonathan Bernstein: “All that said, Romney does have one weapon he could play or threaten to play: a third-party run for the presidency in 2024 if Trump is the Republican nominee. If Romney threatened not just to run, but to do his best to defeat the Republican candidate? I don’t know that he could guarantee a Democratic win, but he could certainly make one far more likely. (Just by, for example, staying off the ballot in Democratic-leaning states while qualifying and campaigning in Republican-leaning ones.) That may not do much to ultimately reform the Republican Party, but it would certainly decrease the chances of Trump’s winning a second term.”
“All this is fanciful, which is sort of the point; there are no obvious options for Romney and the small handful of openly anti-Trump Republicans in Congress. Realistically, they can continue working on an update of the Electoral Count Act. Perhaps there are other similar measures that might help. They can support anti-Trump Republicans in upcoming primary elections. And just plain speaking out isn’t nothing. But the truth is, the current dysfunctional Republican Party is a long way down the path they’ve chosen, and there’s no obvious way back.”
The Guardian: Romney won’t criticize niece for calling Trump lies and Capitol riot “legitimate political discourse.”
“Vermont legislators will vote Tuesday on a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion and contraception, the first amendment of its kind anywhere in the United States,” the Washington Post reports.
Politico: “He’s expected to address it (or get asked about it) at his weekly press conference. McConnell has said in the past — conspicuously — that he’ll be interested in the findings of the panel. And he’s defended Cheney from unyielding intra-GOP criticism.”
“McConnell picks his words carefully. He’s also had some time to figure out this particular answer. If we had to guess, we’d wager he says something seemingly mild but subtly pointed about how Republicans should be focused on the midterms — and this move has them looking backwards, not toward the future.”
Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked for forgiveness for any “grievous faults” he committed in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, the AP reports.
“Prosecutors late Monday began laying out their trial strategy for Jan. 6 cases in the clearest detail yet, indicating they intend to call multiple Capitol Police officers, a former Senate aide, a member of the Three Percenters militia who was granted immunity and the Secret Service agent who helped supervise then-Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the Capitol that day,” Politico reports.
“Prosecutors revealed their proposed witness list in the case of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who was charged with storming onto Capitol grounds, attacking multiple Capitol Police officers and carrying a firearm. Reffitt is charged with civil disorder, obstructing Congress’ proceedings, carrying a semiautomatic handgun to the Capitol and later, after returning home, attempting to obstruct justice.”
Brian Kilmeade of Fox News blasted Donald Trump over his 2020 election claims, The Wrap reports.
Said Kilmeade, speaking on his talk-radio show: “Right now, nobody cares about 2020. Nobody. And everything that he said and the challenges that he made should’ve been done before the election. And they did a recount in Arizona, and the recount showed no difference almost, and he came out and said it showed that they won Arizona. That’s an outright lie, and please stop wasting our time with that, because he’s capable of doing so much more.”
“Senior White House and State Department officials failed to grasp the Taliban’s steady advance on Afghanistan’s capital and resisted efforts by U.S. military leaders to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan allies weeks before Kabul’s fall, placing American troops ordered to carry out the withdrawal in greater danger,” the Washington Post reports.
Former President Donald Trump told Joe Rogan to “stop apologizing” to the “radical left maniacs.”
Said Trump: “Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics.”
He added: “How many ways can you say you’re sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and don’t let them make you look weak and frightened.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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