* It will be interesting to see if British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survives his alienation of the public and the political class after lying about violating his own government’s lockdown orders. “Partygate” is a big deal on the other side of the pond. This isn’t just prevarication, which BoJo has periodically engaged in. This time–specifically, his attendance at non-lockdown parties at his residence–it’s being treated more like moral hypocrisy, a de facto attack on the social contract itself. It’s what happens when the prime minister takes a public stand on behalf of shared sacrifice and lies about his own compliance–even as Queen Elizabeth masked up and socially separated for the funeral ceremony of her husband, Prince Philip.
It’s also a reminder that moral hypocrisy in a national leader can vary by nation. And if a leader has a cult following masquerading as a constituency, he can conceivably get away with practically anything. For the record, however, Boris Johnson never said: “I could stand in the middle of Trafalgar Square and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
* “The (Republican) Party is no longer a party, but a fascist, white-nationalist cult.”–LeonardPitts, Miami Herald.
* Some 20,000 (largely unmasked) people attended a Washington rally at the National Mall to protest vaccination mandates. Among the speakers: Robert Kennedy Jr. Among the signage: “Vaccines Are Mass Kill Bio Weapons” and “Trump won.” No, there’s no vaccine for this.
* Filibuster hypocrisy. Let’s not forget: Former Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell pushed against the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees during the Trump presidency.
* “The (2020) election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency.”–Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
* “Republicans are suddenly crying ‘socialism!’ But let’s be fair … former President Donald Trump was the most vociferous proponent of easy money we’ve ever seen.”–Mona Charen, The Bulwark.
* “You may think of Donald Trump as the most committed authoritarian in the Republican Party … but Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving him a run for his money.”–Paul Waldman, Washington Post.