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As the Thanksgiving week approaches, we hope everyone gets quality time with their loved ones. Here’s the Principles First news you need for those late-in-the-day dinner table discussions.
Republicans turn over a new leaf…sort of. The Virginia Governor’s race captivated the audience of several national narrative threads. The Democrats, and their candidate Terry McAuliffe, sought to paint the Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin as “Trump in Kahki’s.” The Youngkin Campaign sought the fine line of distance from Trump while accepting his endorsement, but condemning January 6 and Trump’s actions. Normal mid-term political winds would suggest a Republican win in Virginia especially as Democrats in Washington were looking to shoot the moon on spending through the infrastructure bill, but McAuliffe still blew a hefty lead by lazily holding the Party line while Youngkin charted a new course. The majority of Americans, as we know, are moderate or lean conservative and this race proves Virginians, at least, care about issues and that candidates still matter.
The soul of the GOP still up for grabs. Democrats’ drew Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) out of congress with new congressional district lines and the Trumpian wing of our politics celebrated, proving taking a principled stand will draw ire from those who’s power comes from the angry January 6th mob and its sympathizers. Former President Trump continues to seek challengers for Republican candidates who cross him while the principled incumbents maintain an edge in their home districts. Our very own Principles First Summit will feature some of these principled leaders as we continue to fight for the soul of American conservatism, however far lost it may seem at times. We hope to see you there.
The Rittenhouse Rorschach test: promoting vigilantism and anarchy or gun rights? The trial of the boy who travelled with his mother to Wisconsin from Illinois with a rifle and ended up killing two people in the summer of 2020 is now in the jury’s hands. In the court of public opinion, Rittenhouse either is a young boy warped by alt-right notions of heroism turned murderer or was inspired to protect businesses from rioters and justly gunned down two of the perpetrators who were threatening him. The truth, as is usually the case, is somewhere in the middle. The Rittenhouse case will provide politicians ample ammo to promote gun restrictions or gun rights depending on their political flavor, but our society should be asking ourselves why he was there in the first place.
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This month’s Principles First Rollup editor is Justin Louis Pitcock (twitter @jlouispitcock)
"boy who travelled with his mother to Wisconsin from Illinois with a rifle"
Rittenhouse and his mother live less than 20 miles away from Kenosha. His father and father's side of the family live in Kenosha. Rittenhouse works in Kenosha. His friends live there.
His mother didn't take him 'with a rifle' she dropped him off to clean graffiti from the rioting and looting the night before. His friend asked him to help guard a car lot that had been burned the night before and provided him with a rifle for protection although Rittenhouse planned to be a medic. That's what he was doing when the Ziminskys, Huber and Rosenbaum targeted him as an easy mark.