Race Bait

“In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.” —Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson

“Listen, Tim Scott, bless his heart, is trying to make a name for himself now, taking advantage of the fact that Republicans every election cycle need a racial pacifier. He’s their racial security blanket in the race.” —Lincoln Project senior advisor Tara Setmayer

“We’ve got a crisis when it comes to roadway fatalities in America. We lose about 40,000 people every year. It’s a level that’s comparable to gun violence. And we see a lot of racial disparities. … There are a lot of reasons related to discrimination and related to even the ways that roads are designed and built — who has access to a safe street design that’s got crosswalks and good lighting, who doesn’t have that access — that can drive disparities, and we have a responsibility to act on that.” —Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

For the Record

“Black History Month is an insult. You’re going to relegate my history to a month? Also ‘African-American’ is an insult. I don’t subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the N-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses ‘African-American.’ What does it really mean? Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if it’s a country when it’s a continent, like Europe.” —actor Morgan Freeman

“The nuclear family is the best form of governance known to mankind, not the state. 25% of kids in America & over 70% of black kids don’t have a dad in the house. One of BLM’s self-stated goals was to tear down the nuclear family structure. Tells you how much they care about ‘black lives.’” —Vivek Ramaswamy

Political Futures

“We live in an increasingly hedonistic, licentious culture where, for several generations, Americans have been raised to believe they can have sex without consequence. The pro-life movement cannot legislate that away. They will still have to change hearts and minds. Being unwilling to meet Americans where they are and where they want to be will see Americans gravitate toward pro-abortion candidates and undermine all the gains made in the Dobbs decision.” —Erick Erickson

“Republicans at the national level, right now, are scared. You can hear it in their silence on the issue of abortion after a district judge in Texas struck down the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. … Much of what has happened since Dobbs is what you’d expect after a longstanding national legal regime on abortion is lifted and the states are given the freedom to decide their own policies. … Republicans should be pushing for restrictions that go as far as a state’s voters are willing to accept, and no further. This will require keen political judgment and shrewd tactics, both of which are hard to muster in the midst of a panic. The other obvious imperative for the GOP is to try to focus attention on the extremism of the Democratic maximalist position on abortion, which is out of step with public opinion.” —Rich Lowry

Re: The Left

“There are many alternate religions created by secular leftism. For example, you have the gender ideology cult, the critical race theorists, and the pro-abortion group. But perhaps the most pagan of secular leftism’s alternate religions are the climate activists, specifically the climate doom-and-gloomers who have resigned themselves to the end of humanity’s existence.” —Emmy Griffin

“We’re being incessantly told that EVs are the future, but if that’s the case, why do Big Government progressives think they need to ram them down our throats? Because, you see, that’s simply what they do.” —Douglas Andrews

“In fascist economies, a powerful centralized state — often led by a demagogue who plays on the nationalistic impulses of people — controls both manufacturing and commerce and dictates prices and wages for the ‘common good.’ Any unpatriotic excessive profits are captured by the state. All economic activity must meet state approval. And crony, rent-seeking companies are willing participants. Now, I’m not saying we already live in a fascist economic state. I’m just saying the Democratic Party economic platform sounds like it wishes we were.” —David Harsanyi