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'We're screwed': Conservative accuses Mitch McConnell of going into 'hiding' as Kevin McCarthy destroys the GOP
July 26, 2021
A furious Amanda Carpenter ripped into the senior leadership of the Republican Party for tearing the GOP apart over fears of former president Donald Trump.
The conservative CNN commentator who once served as speechwriter to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was responding to a report from CNN's Melanie Zanona that states that rank and file Republicans want Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) punished for taking part in the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6th Capitol riot.
According to the conservative commentator, Republicans are "screwed" unless someone in leadership stands up to Trump.
"You know, this whole idea that Donald Trump is going to magically go away and we can wring our hands that it shouldn't be this way, but if anybody stands up to it, they're somehow the problem, right?" she began as her raised her voice. "Unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump is absolutely becoming the litmus test for membership in the Republican Party and it's because of people like [House Minority Leader] Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who run around and say, 'Well, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, you accept this assignment from [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), I don't know if I can call you Republican anymore.'"
"Where is [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell?" she demanded. "He's hiding out. So unless you have people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger making the case for how this transcends politics and why this is a much bigger issue than Donald Trump and the Republican Party, we're screwed."
"Keep crying about the future of the Republican Party because the road where we're going down is where you only have candidates like [Reps.] Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Herschel Walker," she warned. "That's what you're going to get if you don't stand up and speak out against this and support people like Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney."
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CNN 07 26 2021 07 21 15 youtu.be
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Britain's Tom Daley paid tribute to his late father after he and Matty Lee narrowly edged out hot favourites China to win gold in the synchronised 10m platform diving at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.
Daley, 27, who revealed that he might have missed the Games after knee surgery, wiped away tears on the podium as he finally added gold to the bronzes he won at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
China's Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan, both already twice Olympic gold medallists, were in pole position for another title until they made a mess of their fourth dive of six.
Daley, one of Britain's most recognisable athletes and a prominent voice on gay rights, and Lee took full advantage to deny the all-powerful Chinese their hopes of a golden sweep in diving in the Japanese capital.
The Britons held their nerve on the last dive to win the final with 471.81 points, with the Chinese a narrow second on 470.58 and the Russians Aleksandr Bondar and Viktor Minibaev a distant third.
Lee, 23, who said that Daley had been his idol growing up, was left praying pool-side as the scores for China's last dive confirmed that the British pair had won.
The thoughts of Daley, who is now at his fourth Olympics, quickly turned to his father, Rob. He died of cancer in 2011, aged 40.
"He never saw me win an Olympic medal, get married, have a child, teach me to drive, have a pint down the pub," Daley said.
"My journey started in Plymouth (in Britain), back in 2001, when I went to a local diving pool and thought it was cool to see divers doing somersaults on the board.
"I decided that I wanted to try it and I pestered my dad to take me to the diving pool."
Daley, who admitted that he feared he had missed his best chance of gold at Rio five years ago, added that "I know he would have been extremely proud how I have become Olympic champion. It was always our dream growing up.
"He took me to every training session, every competition, he was always there."
There were suggestions in the build-up to Tokyo that Daley might retire after these Games, but he played down that prospect.
He still has the individual 10m platform to compete in at the Japanese capital.
- 'I did it' -
Daley, who has grown up in the public eye after emerging as a prodigious talent as a teenager, said that his Games had been in jeopardy after having surgery in early June on his knee.
"There was a chance I wasn't actually going to be here in the first place," said Daley.
Daley, who is married to Oscar-winning filmmaker Dustin Lance Black, hopes he and other victorious Olympians can help the younger generation who may be struggling with their sexual identity.
Their young son, Robbie, was watching his dad grab gold on television, said Daley.
"I hope that it can give young kids hope and not feel so frightened and scared and alone," he added of his feat.
"And to be able to see that whoever you are, no matter where you come from, you can become an Olympic champion -- because I did it."
Lee, who is at his first Olympics, called Daley an inspiration since childhood and now his best friend.
"I remember running up to him and asking him for photos and signatures," said Lee.
© 2021 AFP
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'A bridge too far': Enraged House Republicans demand Kevin McCarthy punish Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger
July 26, 2021
House Republicans are pushing Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to punish Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney — by revoking their other committee assignments or reprimanding them — as punishment for serving on a select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
CNN reports that the push to punish Cheney and Kinzinger gained steam Sunday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Kinzinger to serve on the select committee — and he accepted.
"Initially, most rank-and-file Republicans were content to let Cheney serve without much of a fight, but Kinzinger's addition has changed the conversation and has put a new level of pressure on McCarthy," the network reports. "While the loudest cries have come from members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, sources say that the sentiment has started to spread beyond the hard-line crew."
One GOP member said "there's a lot" of Republicans behind the push, adding that "supporting Pelosi's unprecedented move to reject McCarthy's picks was a bridge too far."
Another added: "Plenty of people wondering the same things. If they are accepting appointments from Nancy Pelosi rather than the GOP, haven't they already effectively left? Perhaps they should ask Speaker Pelosi for committee assignments?"
Pelosi appointed Kinzinger to the select committee, which is scheduled to meet for the first time this week, after rejecting two of McCarthy's picks, Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. McCarthy responded by pulling his other selections.
CNN notes that while McCarthy could theoretically remove Cheney and Kinzinger from their other committees, Pelosi could then simply reappoint them since, as speaker, she controls committee membership.
"It would speak volumes if he took away their committee assignments for upholding their oath to protecting our democracy," Kinzinger spokeswoman Maura Gillespie said.
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