Michael Gerson: “Under the intellectual and moral leadership of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Republicans in the House have done their best to set a standard of deadly misinformation, poisonous bigotry and mental vacuity. But Republicans in the Senate — possessing greater intellectual kilowattage and fewer excuses for cowardice — have recently taken center stage in the GOP festival of small-mindedness.”

“During last week’s budget negotiations, and as America prepared for the full-scale arrival of the omicron coronavirus variant, every present Senate Republican voted to ‘defund’ the federal vaccine mandate on businesses, the military and the federal workforce…”

“This is the strangest political cause of my lifetime. In the midst of a public health emergency that has taken more than 1 of every 500 American lives and which has reduced average life expectancy by 1.67 years (reversing about 14 years of life expectancy gains), Republican officials are actively discouraging citizens from taking routine medical precautions for their own welfare. This is not just a disagreement about policy. It is a political movement organized around increasing the risk of death to your neighbors, particularly your ill and elderly ones. And while it is certainly selfish, is not ultimately self-interested. Fatalities have increased especially in Republican-leaning portions of the country. A death cult has adopted a death wish.”

“If there’s anyone who has mistakenly attached themselves to our party in the belief that we are not open to citizens of every race and religion… the exits which are clearly marked are for you to walk out of as I stand this ground without compromise.”

— Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), accepting the Republican presidential nomination in 1996.