Daily News Roundup

NOTABLE QUOTES

Shipwreckedcrew contributor to RedState calls out the media for lying about the POTUS/Raffensperger 1/2/2021 phone call: Saturday’s call??? Not only is it not in the same ballpark, it’s not even part of the same game. To me, it was a firing offense the way the media mischaracterized the call, the purposes for the call, the comments of Pres. Trump, the comments of the officials from Georgia, and the comments of the President’s attorneys.

Peggy Ryan contributor to American Thinker wrote: Can we now stop calling this an election? By pretending this insurrection is a legitimate democratic process, we’re playing into our enemy’s hands, giving credence to the lie that a decrepit, corrupt, sickly old man, Joe Biden, has been elected president of the United States. This is not an election; it’s a coup.

Arden Farhi CBS News WH producer tweeted on 2/2/20: NEWS: Roughly a dozen Republican senators are in talks to join Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in objecting to the electoral college results when congress meets Wednesday, according to multiple Republican sources familiar with the ongoing talks.

CNN’s Jake Tapper, on 12/31/20, tweeted: 2 House Republicans tell me they expect as of now that at least 140 Republican Members of the House will on Jan 6 object to and vote against the Electoral College results showing President-elect Biden won

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) in objecting to members of his party working to reject certain electors: Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6. I’m grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. But objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term — it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government.”

(R-UT) Senator Mitt Romney following a joint statement by Senator Cruz and ten other U.S Senators who will reject electors from disputed states if a certain threshold is not met, said: The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic. The congressional power to reject electors is reserved for the most extreme and unusual circumstances.

Roger Kimball contributor to American Greatness wrote: It is doubtful that Joe Biden will not be inaugurated on January 20, however illegitimate his victory was. Nevertheless, what is unlikely is not, for all that, impossible, an observation I make not to impart false hope but merely to register an admonitory caution.

Jovan Pulitzer giving testimony before Georgia’s Judiciary Committee made this statement regarding Fulton County: I’d like your permission of you and your fine audience that as I answer you that I have your permission to piss you off… The very minute that order went through and that order was followed, and all the legal notices were done, it didn’t even take four hours later where moving trucks with this stuff was backed up to those buildings trying to get rid of the evidence.

Daniel Payne journalist for Just the News reporting on (D-Calif.) Speaker of the House Nancy Speaker Pelosi’s proposed “rules package” writes: The rule package “expressly authorizes the issuance of subpoenas to any current or former President and Vice President, either in their personal or official capacity,” the summary states, arguing further that the rules also authorize subpoenas for “the White House, the Office of the President, the Executive Office of the President, and any individual currently or formerly employed by those entities.”

Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler after 8 months of Antifa instigated violence, destruction, and chaos, said in a press conference on January 1, 2021: My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical Antifa and anarchists. In response, it will be necessary to use additional tools and to push the limits of tools we already have to bring the criminal destruction and violence to an end. Lawlessness and anarchy come at great expense and with great risk to the future of our community It’s time to push back harder against those who are set on destroying our community and to take more risks in fighting lawlessness. In closing, once again, I condemn anyone who engages in violence and criminal destruction, no matter what their ideology.

LOOKING BACK AT 2020

VDH: Defenders of Civilization?The year 2020 witnessed a long series of writs lodged against an America beset with plague, quarantine, recessions, riot and arson, and the most contested election since 1876. What was strange was not so much the anarchist Left’s efforts in the present to wipe away the past to recalibrate our Animal Farm future. What was odder were both the absurdities of the complaints against American civilization, and the unwillingness or inability of Americans to rebut them and defend their own culture. Demonizing Our Past In just a year, thousands of memorials and icons have vanished. Names have changed, words are banned. Careers were ruined. As new totalitarian rules were enshrined, old freedoms became despised. Yet most of the country sat in lockdown quiet, as it was told that it, and its history, were toxic and culpable—and by whom exactly? Moralists like Labron James? Steve Kerr? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Were Americans in their 244th year suddenly to write checks, apologize, and pay penance to their angry self-described moral superiors? […] Who or what does the Left offer . . .
Read more at American Greatness

117TH CONGRESS

McCarthy: 117th Congress ‘Plans to Adopt New Rules That Would Silence Our Constituents’ Voices’
In his opening remarks to the 117th Congress on Sunday, January 3, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy took a swipe at the 116th Congress, then said he sees worrying signs for the new session: “I wish I could say that the (Democrat) majority in Congress is committed to changing for the common good and focusing on what really matters,” McCarthy, a California Republican, said. “But I’m concerned about the early actions are pointing in the wrong direction.” […] Tomorrow, this majority of the new 117th Congress plans to adopt new rules that would silence our constituents’ voices in Congress. Those rules throw away for more than 100 years of representation in our nation’s capital by effectively killing a key opportunity to amend legislation. Worse, they would penalize any members who shares news or views that maybe our allies in the media deem fake. They actually make it an ethics violation, which is usually reserved for such unbecoming conduct as bribery or corruption. Under these rules, all members are equal, but some are more equal than others. For our constituents, it means freedom of speech is silenced. Good ideas are stifled. And dissent is punished. Why would an American political party use this as your first action in Congress? […] The proposed rule changes to which McCarthy referred include the following, verbatim: . . .
Read more at CNS News

Moran: Nancy Pelosi Promises to Advance Racial Justice, Environmental Justice in New Congressional Term
Pelosi delivered her speech after the House of Representatives elected her to lead the House; however, Pelosi enters the 117th with a slimmer majority, giving her less leverage against House Republicans. Further, Pelosi reportedly failed to secure a majority of House representatives to vote for her for Speaker. […] Pelosi said: To build back better in a way that advances justices in America. Indeed the pandemic has pulled back the curtain on and showing and even worsened the disparities in our society. We must pursue justice, economic justice, justice in health, racial justice, environmental and climate justice; the list goes on. For instance, Pelosi has promised to hold a vote to repeal the Hyde Amendment during the new congressional term. She said it’s “long overdue” to eliminate the Hyde Amendment. [ NOTE: Every squad member voted for Pelosi.]
Read more at Breitbart

A STOLEN ELECTION

Mark Levin Commentary: On January 6, We Learn Whether Our Constitution Will Hold
January 6 is the day we learn whether our Constitution will hold and whether congressional Republicans care. The 2020 presidential election was, in several targeted battleground states, an unconstitutional electoral exercise. Even putting aside evidence of significant fraud, virtually none of which received a hearing by our courts, events leading up to and including the November national election constituted a radical and grave departure from the federal electoral system adopted by the framers of the Constitution and the state ratification conventions. Now, let’s be clear: None of this matters to the Democrat Party, since it and its surrogates perpetrated these unconstitutional acts, as I shall soon explain. Nor does it matter to the media, which is utterly illiterate on the subject and unequivocally supports the supposed outcome in any event. But it should be of great moment and concern to the people of this country and especially to congressional Republicans in both Houses, for if the latter do not at least confront and challenge this lawlessness on January 6, when Congress meets to count the electors, it will be the GOP’s undoing and, simultaneously, the undoing of our presidential electoral system. Ultimately, it will be the people of the United States who love our republic who will be the losers. Win, lose, or draw, on January 6, the Republicans must not act as if “the people have spoken” and be cowered into passivity or worse, such as joining the Democrat Party and media hecklers, by insisting that they are part of a lawless party seeking to “reverse the results of the election.” Too many Republicans have already buckled, including the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, Sen. John Thune, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger. No doubt others who are unreliable and cowardly when facing the organized mob will follow. But let us not be judged by those who have intentionally and strategically manipulated our politics and the law to undermine our constitutional order. It is they who must be condemned.
Read more at the Georgia Star News

Election Wiz: Maricopa County Treasurer Resigns, Says He Supports Recall Effort Against Board
Citing a “toxic” political environment and other issues, Maricopa County’s outgoing treasurer said that Thursday will be his last day in office even though his successor won’t be sworn in until the second week of January. Outgoing Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora announced his resignation on Wednesday. In his resignation, Flora also announced his intention to assist with the recall of Supervisors Clint Hickman, Bill Gates, Jack Sellers, and Steve Gallardo. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have fought charges of a “rigged election” this year by blocking access to election data. Those allegations have resulted in a demand for a full audit of the Maricopa County General Election results. Read Flora’s letter: . . .
Read more at Election Wiz

CHINA

Widburg: China is encircling Australia
America is not the only place in which China is meddling. Australia, which has its capital city about 1,400 miles closer to Beijing than D.C. is to China’s capital, is getting very worried about China’s impinging on its shores. The Courier Mail, an Australian paper, reported earlier this week that China is pushing further and further into the Pacific Ocean south of the equator, creating relationships with those countries closest to Australia. Its latest effort is to build a relationship with East Timor (article behind a paywall). The article is framed in a positive way, saying that Australia is fighting back against this latest billion-dollar investment in the Pacific region: . . . […] It’s quite a job, though, telling impoverished countries that the Chinese bailout offers are the equivalent of a loan shark helping a gambler stay in the game. For most Americans, it came as a surprise in early 2020 to learn that there was a vast Chinese presence in Italy. Not only did this presence explain why the Wuhan virus hit Italy early, but it was also the first they’d heard about the Belt and Road Initiative, which is how China is enmeshing poor countries in worldwide Chinese infrastructure. No totalitarian country should ever have such a vast financial and geographic reach.
Read more at American Thinker