Dispatches from an alternate universe …
1) “Any fair examination of President Joe Biden’s policies would conclude that his first 100 days in office have been a complete failure. His presidency has largely consisted of taking credit for Republican achievements and undoing common-sense Republican policies — with disastrous results.”
That was the opening paragraph of an op-ed by Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, which ran in the local print daily last week. McDaniel’s birth name, you may recall, was Ronna Romney, and she is the niece of Senator Mitt Romney. Ronna is not a fan of her uncle, having become a full-on Trumper a couple years back.
2) “Aren’t you embarrassed?”
That was from Mitt, who had a rough weekend at the Utah Republican Convention, where he was booed mercilessly as he tried to begin a speech. The Utah Republicans weren’t at all embarrassed. They saw Mitt as a traitor because he voted for impeachment and dared to say he doesn’t think Donald Trump won the election.
3) “I think if you’ve got your weight right, and your lifestyle right, and your diet right … I don’t think this virus will bother you.”
This touching paean to the benefits of clean living came from Republican state Senator Frank Niceley, who was discussing a bill he co-sponsored that would give Tennesseans the freedom not to get a COVID vaccine — a freedom they already have. But you can’t be too careful with Biden in the White House.
4) “I want you to hear every single word of the Pledge of Allegiance. That is our pledge to each other. That is our pledge to this country. … I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America … individual … ”
That’s former national security advisor, convicted felon, and QAnon true believer Mike Flynn, who was leading the Pledge of Allegiance, then forgot the words. The rally where he was speaking was being held in support of Lin Wood, who’s running to oust the GOP chairman of South Carolina for not being QAnon-ish enough.
5) “No Joey in the Oval Office. But I did run into our President of the United States. President Trump is hanging out and working in the office in which we re-elected him to serve in a historic landslide victory on November 3, 2020.”
That’s a post on Telegram (accompanied by a picture of Trump at his White House Desk) from the aforementioned Lin Wood, who claimed to be touring the White House last week, where he found Donald Trump still in the Oval Office. Wood also called for former Vice President Mike Pence to face the firing squad for allowing Congress to certify the presidential election results.
6) “How are we doing with Iran? They would have done anything … China, the same thing, they never treated us that way, and the border … massive amounts of people in our hospitals and schools … Do you miss me? They said, ‘Sir, get 66 million votes and the election’s yours.’ Well I got 76 million and they say I lost. Who are they kidding? It was stolen big-time and everybody knows it.”
That was the former president himself, who dropped in on a wedding reception at Mar-a-Lago last week while the band was on break to offer some words of wisdom. Good to know he’s still got the gift of gab and has moved on gracefully.
7) “While Newsmax initially covered claims by President Trump’s lawyers, supporters, and others that Dr. Coomer played a role in manipulating Dominion voting machines, Dominion voting software, and the final vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, Newsmax subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true. Many of the states whose results were contested by the Trump campaign after the November 2020 election have conducted extensive recounts and audits, and each of these states certified the results as legal and final.”
That’s a statement from right-wing news outlet Newsmax, which joined Fox News and OANN in aggressively back-pedaling from the lies they spread on election fraud and Dominion voting machines. Nothing like a multi-million dollar lawsuit to bring out truth and destroy propaganda, I suppose. After reading the quotes above, it’s pretty obvious nothing else will.
C’mon, Republicans, aren’t you embarrassed yet?
