Insight

“Tyranny seldom announces itself. … In fact, a tyranny may exist without an individual tyrant. A whole government, even a democratically elected one, may be tyrannical.” —Joseph Sobran (1946-2010)

Re: Ukraine

“The Biden threat that there would be ‘severe sanctions’ if Russia invaded Ukraine probably has no effect on Putin. First, when he seized all of Crimea, the Obama-Biden administration threatened severe sanctions and nothing seemed to hurt Russia much. Second, at a time when Biden’s war on American energy has raised the price of oil and forced him to beg Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase production to lower the price, Putin must be reveling in the absurdity of Biden’s words versus Biden’s actions.” —former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

“Oil is the largest source of foreign income for Russia. Every dollar per barrel increase is a windfall Putin can spend on the Russian military and foreign adventures. In October 2020, with President Donald Trump’s energy independence policy, the price of crude was $39.90 a barrel. Today, with Biden’s anti-American energy policy, the price of crude has jumped to $85.43 a barrel. So, despite Biden’s strong words about sanctions, the effect of his policies has been a $45.53 a barrel increase in profit (or 114.11%) for Putin to pay off his oligarchs, buy better military equipment, and engage in foreign adventures. Any supposed sanctions Biden imposed would have to overcome this windfall — and then go much deeper — for Putin to even feel it.” —Newt Gingrich

Non Sequitur Award

“BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY. BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY. BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY. BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY. BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY. BANNING ABORTION IS FORCING PREGNANCY.” —ACLU of Virginia

“For those of us willing to acknowledge where babies come from, this argument falls flat. Laws against abortion don’t force women to be pregnant; they require parents who conceived a child after engaging in the act by which children are conceived not to enact lethal violence as a means of ending pregnancy or avoiding parenthood. Forbidding parents to kill their children is not the same thing as forcing them to be parents; they already are parents, in nearly every case because of an act they freely chose. It isn’t an act of ‘force’ to require them to act like parents rather than kill their child because they’d prefer to pretend it never existed.” —Alexandra DeSanctis

Children in the Womb Unavailable for Comment…

“We are focused on the most vulnerable. And based on my experience, the most vulnerable are women and girls, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ people, indigenous people, people with disabilities, migrants, and children in the foster care system.” —Kamala Harris

The Man Doth Protest Too Much

“My kids should be ‘done’ with Covid, but they haven’t whined or complained at all, unlike these grown-ass men and women who lament about wearing masks in public, showing vaccination cards, or forfeiting indoor brunches with their friends. In fact, it’s offensive when people say these obnoxious human trolls are acting ‘childish’ with their refusal to the bare minimum to flatten the pandemic. My actual children don’t act ‘childish’ — they wear their masks, sanitize their hands, social distance, and understand we make these sacrifices during the pandemic to ensure private and public safety.” —The Daily Beast’s Wajahat Ali

“It reflects America’s cruelty, right? We’re a generous country. But, at the same time, we have also had cruelty, white supremacy, misogyny. America says go ahead and die, but just don’t die on my lawn.” —Wajahat Ali

Read the Room, Nancy

“There comes a time, whether or not you’re Nancy Pelosi, or whether or not you’re, you know, Tom Brady, that sometimes you have to hang up the cleats when it comes to being leader of your particular party or leader of your organization.” —CNN’s Bakari Sellers

And Last…

“I hope Manchin & Sinema don’t forget that Biden called them white supremacists when they refused to abolish the filibuster. Think HARD about that during hearings to replace Supreme Court Justice Breyer.” —Liz Wheeler

“It is the year 2022 and there has never been a polyamorous genderqueer indigenous furry on the Supreme Court. I hope President Biden does the right thing.” —Matt Walsh