With summer entering its final stages and school about to begin, we hope this finds everyone in good health, good spirits, or both. As is goes, the dog days of summer tend to produce fewer headlines but fear not, Principled Leadership does not take summer vacation. Here’s the latest:
Principles First Summit Gaining Steam. The Principles First Summit planning team announced the first wave of speakers, which includes Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger, who held principled ground against the assault on the 2020 election, and Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). Additional speakers will be rolled out on a weekly basis leading up to the Summit on October 2nd and 3rd.
Insurrection Commission Dereliction. After Republican leadership rejected an independent Jan. 6 commission and elected to keep a review of the nations most recent dark day in the polarized political arena, Speaker Pelosi then rejected two of Leader McCarthy’s picks for the House Committee. Fortunately for principled conservatives, two of our greatest champions, Representatives Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), will help write the official account of the only invasion of our National Capitol since the British in 1812.
Vaccination Vacillation. After spending much time downplaying the effectiveness and giving mixed signals about vaccines, many Republican officials, including Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) are changing their tune and encouraging folks to get vaccinated. The rise in cases due to the delta variant and our country’s underperformance in vaccinating against the disease is spurring the formerly hesitant to action.
Arizona Investigation Follies. The Arizona Senate, invigorated by unsubstantiated “stolen election” claims, subpoenaed Maricopa county election materials (ballots, machines, etc.) and turned them over to a third-party for a “forensic” audit in January. Charged with chasing a white whale to overturn the election, the third-party Cyber Ninjas duly reported their forthcoming vote count will not match the county’s official results. A separate Senate ordered high-speed count and an independent experienced ad-hoc watchdog team recently exposed the Ninja’s efforts as a hoax (exhaustive detailed report). The independent watchdogs issued specific “challenges” to the Ninjas using publicly available data to dispel the false “stolen election” narratives. Most notably, we can say exactly why Arizona went for Biden in November - 74,822 Republican supportive voters in Maricopa County did not vote for Donald Trump (page 5 of linked report). Principled conservatives are what cost him Arizona.
Culture wars continue…To serve the political power of culture warrior pols, we are asked to pick a side between mental health or Olympic glory, public health or freedom, and acknowledging oppression or being proud of our country. The torrent of carefully crafted divisive messages continues, but we stand ready with clear eyes and full hearts to push back and expose these false narratives for what they are.
This is why @tedcruz just can’t seem to be the star he thinks he should be. It’s awkwardly clear he’s acting. It’s always clear. The rehearsed lines. The pauses. It flops. Nobody thinks Ted Cruz naturally utters the phrase: “No damn more.” Ted doesn’t even think so & it shows.Sen. Ted Cruz: "Giving up our freedom to overcontrolling government bureaucrats who want to shut down our schools, shut down our businesses, shut down our churches, and shut down our lives, the Democrats have done enough of that this year. No damn more." https://t.co/5ZK4y7caafThe Hill @thehill
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This month’s Principles First Rollup editor is Justin Louis Pitcock (twitter @jlouispitcock)