RNC Chair on Epstein

Hope you had a great Fourth.

So far, Andrew Yang has the most votes, followed by Abe Lincoln, Heather Cox Richardson and Harry Truman (““When even one American – who has done nothing wrong — is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth — then all Americans are in peril.”).

Jimmy Carter comes next (“The only title higher and more powerful than president is the title of citizen.”)

Then former lifelong Republican FBI Director James Comey (“A president who sees the rule of law as an obstacle to be circumvented—rather than a principle to be upheld—is a threat to the very democracy he was elected to lead.”)

I love all those, but there are so many more. John McCain! Elizabteth Warren! AOC! Ronald Reagan!

George H.W. Bush: “America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.”

Gerald Ford: “Our constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.”

Dan Rather: “I have covered wars, assassinations, and political upheavals. But I have never seen a threat to democracy as clear and present as the one we face today. History will judge how we respond.”

Jake Sullivan! James Talarico!

Jeb Bush: “We need to be vigilant against the forces of authoritarianism. America’s democracy is worth defending—and that means standing up even against members of your own party when they go wrong.”

And preposterously, as it comes from the current chair of the Republican National Committee, who might take a cue from Jeb Bush (above): “The moment we treat the rule of law as optional, we’ve already lost what makes America great.”

Lots more. Enjoy.

SUMMER READING

Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin’s Russia — the amazing autobiography of Jamison Firestone, read (if you choose the Audible version) by the author.

A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance — so beautifully written, by a Brit named Mohsin Zaidi.

SUING HEGSETH

Last month my friend James Dale sued the Department of Defense. As reported by the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and The New York Times:

. . . Mr. Hegseth, who has made a campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies the hallmark of his tenure as defense secretary, said that Scouting America was banning transgender people from openly participating in the group. But Scouting America said it had not changed its policies on transgender members.

“Both accounts cannot be true, and the stakes are of profound public importance,” the complaint, filed by activist James Dale, said. Mr. Dale said in an interview that he had tried for months to get the Pentagon to show him the agreement, and that the department had not done so.

Mr. Dale was the plaintiff in a 2000 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled, 5 to 4, that the Boy Scouts of America was exempt from a state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The organization changed its name to Scouting America in 2024. . . .

EPSTEIN!

MAGA Republicans are okay with pedophilia when their leader — who has enriched himself by billions in the past year — tells them it’s all a witch hunt.

Trump continues to flout the law Congress passed one vote shy of unanimously — and RNC chair Joe Gruter, quoted in bold face above, says . . . nothing.