Tag: Republican Party

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Ca) Releases Review of Posts By Republicans Who Voted to Overturn 2020 Election

Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-Ca) office released a comprehensive look at the social media posts made by Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the attempted insurrection encouraged by then-President Donald Trump.

This review includes public social media posts relevant to assessing the potential of Congress’ constitutional prerogatives and responsibilities, including actions pursuant to the 14th Amendment and/or House rules. This includes posts directly related to the violence on January 6, 2021 and claims regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, as well as posts indirectly related to the lead-up to the insurrection or post-mortem thereof, including the second impeachment of former President Trump and efforts or proposals to invoke the 25th Amendment. Some indirect posts are listed because of how they fit in to a larger related narrative. Additionally, posts about censorship, 2020 riots, Russian collusion, and other topics are listed if they are used as false equivalencies or attempted misinformation.

This review is representative, but not exhaustive. There may be some posts included or omitted that are similar in nature and tenor despite efforts to use identical parameters when listing content. The severity and tone of the posts listed vary, and not all posts included implicate questions under the 14th Amendment and/or House rules. Active public accounts were searched if they contained posts related to the set of facts described above. If identical or near-identical content was posted on multiple mediums and/or accounts, it was only included in the review once.

Rep. Tim Murphy and Right Wing Virtue Signalling

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania) reminds us that Republicans and right wingers can virtue signal with the best of them. Murphy is a solidly pro-life Republican who urged a woman with whom he was having an affair to get an abortion (emphasis added),

A text message sent in January to U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy by a woman with whom he had an extra-marital relationship took him to task for an anti-abortion statement posted on Facebook from his office’s public account.

“And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.

A text from Mr. Murphy’s cell phone number that same day in response says, “I get what you say about my March for life messages. I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more. I will.”

. . .

It was early this year that the text exchange over abortion was prompted by a Jan. 24 Facebook post by Mr. Murphy: “The United States is one of just seven countries worldwide that permits elective abortion more than halfway through pregnancy (beyond 20 weeks). It is a tragic shame that America is leading the world in discarding and disregarding the most vulnerable,” he wrote.

It’s interesting that one of the criticism’s of the term “virtue signaling” as commonly used is that it is uncharitable, citing Sam Bowman as writing,

The other problem with the term is that it assumes your opponents are disingenuous. This is of course very common but it is probably the single worst thing about political debate. It comes from an underlying assumption that the world is straightforward and your views are obviously correct.

An alternative analysis would be that much political debate in the United States is disingenous and the arguments therein too often are mere window dressings and facades.

Just ask Tim Murphy.

Republican Party In Full Suicide Mode

The Republican Party may want to ditch its plank on assisted suicide given how quickly it seems to be destroying itself. For example, I would think that at this point given he has zero chance of ever seriously contending for president again, that John McCain might want to give the nation some straight talk and admit he made a serious error picking Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate last year. Instead, he’s trumpeting her as playing some post-resignation leadership role in the GOP,

“I have the greatest respect and affection for Sarah, Todd, and their family. I was deeply honored to have her as my running mate and believe she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party and our nation,” McCain said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.

Palin’s continued popularity with a segment of Republican voters is obvious, but if she gains traction it is also a clear path to permanent minority status for the Republican Party. It is going to have a hard enough time overcoming its past reliance on the increasingly irrelevant Religious Right. Throw in a glorification of Bush-league stupidity and mismanagement, and its all over.