When the House passed President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill on Nov. 5, Democrats got a new group of Republicans to lionize. The 13 GOP members of the House who bucked their party to vote in favor of the bill and enable it to pass by a 228-206 margin were elevated that day from the status of anti-democratic “insurrectionists” — as Democrats term virtually all Republicans these days — to that of heroes and martyrs.

In addition to the 18 Senate Republicans who voted likewise, the 13 in the House who voted for the $1 trillion bill, which Biden signed this week, gave the Democrats their first victory after a string of policy failures and the red wave in the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

Most of those who crossed the aisle on the bill did so not out of some high-minded belief in bipartisanship and civic duty, but because they think their districts will benefit from some of the expensive projects being funded and that this will feather their own political nests. In that sense, the 13 were acting like throwbacks to a bygone era of congressional deal-making. They traded favors regardless of how it affected the country in order to profit politically by playing the heroes bringing home the bacon to their districts. Read Full Story

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The historic election wins by Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares in Virginia showcased the increasing diversity among Republicans and the party’s success in recruiting women and minority candidates to deliver a conservative message of freedom and opportunity.

Sears, the first Black woman elected statewide in Virginia, and ˚ Miyares, the first Hispanic to win statewide in the commonwealth, swept into office with Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin in a state that has been trending blue for more than a decade.

The result has been difficult for Democrats to digest. They have heralded themselves as warriors for minority communities and cherished opportunities to boast about breaking through glass ceilings. Read Full Story

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Power is addictive, an aphrodisiac to those charged with representing their people. Now it’s vaccines, but what next? Once a population is compliant, beaten down by fear and shame, they are less likely to resist present and future controls, regardless of founding documents or natural law. Law enforcement and the military can squash any pockets of rebellion, as we know from history, whether Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s USSR, or Mao’s China.

The courts may temporarily halt the mandates, but there will be appeals, likely all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and there is no way of predicting how that will end. Do mandates even matter if companies are taking it upon themselves to enforce vaccinations with the non-compliant being fired? Read Full Story

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