Weekend Quotables

Unsolicited Confessions

U.S. carrier fleet heads towards Iran.

Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters — Dylan

Federal prosecutors sought and failed to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who posted a video in the fall that enraged President Trump by reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders, four people familiar with the matter said.

A D.C. grand jury rejected Pirro’s case outright, refusing to indict any of the six lawmakers. Grand juries almost never reject prosecutors’ requests, which made the 0–6 outcome unusually stark.

In a related civil matter, a federal judge ruled that the Defense Department had violated Kelly’s First Amendment rights, further undermining the administration’s legal posture.

“This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackeys,” Kelly said in a statement. “Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.” — New York Times

While legal charges against the DOJ are unrealistic, I’m imagining prosecutor Jeanine Pirro explaining the loss and possible indictment for false prosecution by pleading, “I was only following orders.”

* * *

George Will

I didn’t like the old (pre-Trump) George Will. I like this version.

“Fascism needs people to forget history.” — YouTube

In this brilliant monologue, Will offered that stark warning as he tied the danger not only to Trump’s impulse to build monuments to himself but also to the ongoing efforts to erase or sanitize Black history. Will argued that democratic decay begins not with violence but with amnesia.

More Quotables

Junot Diaz

Every day I watch the terror grow and every day I have to work, run errands, do chores — how to describe that contradiction, and how to survive it.

Germany has declared war on Russia. Swimming in the afternoon.

—Franz Kafka’s diary entry, August 2, 1914 — Substack

AOC

We’ve seen such a fraying of these alleged Western values that people wonder whether they ever existed in the first place. — Hearings

George Galloway, quoting Gandhi.

What do I think of Western Civilization? Yes, I think it would be a good idea! — X

Unsolicited Confessions

Donald Trump

There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not! — Trump wrote on Truth Social

Kristi Noem

“When it gets to Election Day, we’ve been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country.” — CSPAN2

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel is a ‘model ally’ for the United States. — Youtube