“But Trump’s more recent obsession with the idea of prosecuting Schiff — and the idea that it would be better if we had a “tougher” system like Guatemala — shows that the president’s desire to weaponize law enforcement extends beyond interfering in elections and retribution for people who challenge him at the ballot box. He’s fixated on the idea that he should be able to use his power as president to go after anyone who challenges him politically. It’s an unambiguously authoritarian impulse and more proof that he urgently needs to be removed from office.”
— Cody Fenwick, Trump’s disturbing obsession with Adam Schiff is flashing red warning sign
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“I’m not surprised at Ted Cruz being sycophantic to Trump. Trump broke Ted Cruz a long time ago. The Republicans have the worst political Stockholm syndrome we’ve ever seen. These guys are all in an abusive relationship with Trump. I don’t mean that in a flippant way. They behave the way you see victims of domestic violence behave. But they’ve got culpability in this thing: they’re not just victims, they’re enablers.”
— Rick Wilson, former Republican campaign strategist, The lies have it: Republicans abandon truth in Trump impeachment defence
*****
“The attorney general of the United States is a Fox News bot. And it’s an outrage. [Barr] keeps demanding investigation after investigation until he gets the results that he wants? That’s something that happens in the Soviet Union, not in the United States.”
— Jeffrey Toobin, The lies have it: Republicans abandon truth in Trump impeachment defence
*****
“The loss of credibility of the reigning ideology has led the ruling elites to forge an alliance with right-wing, neofascist demagogues such as Trump and Johnson who employ the tropes of racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, bigotry and misogyny to channel the public’s growing rage and frustration away from the corporate elites and toward the vulnerable. These demagogues accelerate the pillage. They accelerate the hatred, racism and violence that act as a diversion. And they accelerate the social unrest that becomes the excuse for the imposition of tyranny. Hope lies in the streets. Millions of people in Hong Kong, India, Chile, France, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon understand. It is time to join them.”
— Chris Hedges, Hope Lies in the Streets
*****
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims but accomplices.”
— George Orwell