The Republican Party may soon live up to its moniker, "The Party of Lincoln," though not in a way that bodes well for the GOP. Abraham Lincoln, of course, was the first Republican president. While he is heralded today as one of our greatest chief executives, he was never very popular in his own day. Nor was his party.

It is worth remembering that the Republican Party was not a "national" party from its inception; it drew its support exclusively from the North. Born in 1854 in Jackson, Michigan, the party in its earliest days was organized around opposition to the extension of slavery into the western territories. Concern over slavery in the West erupted in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1853, which opened up those two territories to slavery after over thirty years of prohibition there. Energized over containing slavery, the party attracted anti-slavery activists, Northern Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers, who similarly wanted the West kept as "free soil for free men."

According to The Denver Post, Arapahoe County District Court Natalie Chase is stepping down from her position following censure by the Colorado Supreme Court for repeated use of a racial slur.

"The Colorado Supreme Court on Friday censured 18th Judicial District Court Judge Natalie Chase and said in an order she failed 'to maintain the high standards of judicial conduct required of a judge.' Chase agreed to resign next month and did not dispute the facts of the six incidents outlined in the court's order," reported Elise Schmelzer. "Public censure of a Colorado judge is extremely rare and most disciplinary proceedings are hidden from the taxpayers who pay judges' salaries. Although more than 400 judges are working in the state at any given time, only four judges were publicly censured between 2010 and 2020."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) did not mince words when he shared his opinion of the right-wing America First Caucus. The Republican lawmaker also criticized his colleagues interested in joining the caucus as he stressed that there should be consequences for such actions.

On Friday, April 16, Kinzinger took to Twitter with a series of tweets about the formation of the new caucus. According to Mediaite, the caucus was founded by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), both of whom recently attended a white nationalist conference and served as keynote speakers. The publication reports that the two lawmakers have been working to recruit a number of other Republican lawmakers including Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).