A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Getting Infected For The Cause
Conservative radio host and anti-vaxxer Dennis Prager was delighted to announce yesterday that he now has COVID-19, a thing he is extremely happy about and, in fact, worked extremely hard to achieve.
- I can’t do his true galaxy brain take justice by paraphrasing, you just have to read it for yourself:
It is infinitely preferable to have natural immunity than vaccine immunity and that is what I have hoped for the entire time. Hence, I have engaged with strangers, constantly hugging them, taking photos with them knowing that I was making myself very susceptible to getting COVID. Which is, indeed, as bizarre as it sounded, what I wanted, in the hope I would achieve natural immunity and be taken care of by therapeutics. That is exactly what has happened.
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Jan. 6 Panel Takes First Step Toward Holding Bannon In Contempt
The House Jan. 6 select committee published a report on Monday night laying out the case for holding former White House adviser Steve Bannon in contempt after he ditched his deposition last week, citing “executive privilege” (despite the fact that he was long gone from the White House by Jan. 6).
- “Mr. Bannon has relied on no legal authority to support his refusal to comply in any fashion with the subpoena,” the report argues.
- The report describes in detail how the committee subpoenaed Bannon for his deposition and certain documents relevant to their investigation into the Capitol attack.
- The committee will vote today on whether to send a criminal referral on Bannon to the Justice Department.
Manchin Meets With Progressive Leaders
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Budget Committee chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who’ve been clashing over the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill’s price tag for weeks now, had a meeting at the Capitol yesterday evening, after which they took a few photos together outside.
- Manchin also met with Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) for the first time on Monday.
Hey, What An Awful Take!
Asked by Spectrum News why he refuses to endorse Democratic Buffalo mayoral nominee India Walton, New York State Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs argued on Monday that endorsing a candidate was not a “requirement” – and used Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to make his point.
- “Let’s take a scenario, very different, where David Duke […] moves to New York, he becomes a Democrat, he runs for mayor in the city of Rochester, which is a low primary turnout, and he wins the Democratic line,” Jacobs said. “I have to endorse David Duke? I don’t think so.”
- The party chair made sure to note that Walton, a Black woman, is “not in the same category” as a literal white supremacist BUT “it just leads you to that question: Is it a must? It’s not a must.”
Full transcript above. And full video clip here: pic.twitter.com/TsMeGTQue9
— Morgan Mckay (@morganfmckay) October 18, 2021
- First Jacobs defended his comments in response to the inevitable backlash, then apologized and half-backtracked, saying that he “should have used a different example” and “for that, I apologize,” but that he also stood by his argument that “not every candidate who wins a primary is entitled” to an endorsement from party leaders.
- As Spectrum News notes, New York’s establishment Democrats have largely either declined to endorse Walton (a self-described Democratic Socialist) or even acknowledge her upset victory in the primary race against incumbent Byron Brown, who is running against her in the general election as a write-in candidate.
2 Longtime House Dems Announce Retirement
Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) both announced yesterday that they’re retiring at the end of their terms.
- Their announcements came after House Budget Committee chair John Yarmuth (D-KY), the only Democratic representative from his state, revealed last week that he wouldn’t seek reelection either.
- 22 House lawmakers so far have announced that they’re not running for reelection in the 2022 midterms: Nine Republicans and 13 Democrats.
Must Read
“The Only Man Who Could Have Stopped The Iraq War Is Dead” – Spencer Ackerman
New Developments In COVID-19 Booster Shots
The Federal Drug and Food Administration (FDA) this week is expected to greenlight “mix and match” booster shots, where Americans can get boosters for a different COVID-19 vaccine than the one they initially got the first time.
A Pox Upon You! Trump Tells Cassidy
Trump, a little ticked off about Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) comments about him probably not winning the GOP nomination in 2024, released a very normal statement saying this about the senator: “He could not even be elected dog catcher today, the great people curse him.”
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