The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 2:

• On Tuesday, House majority whip Tom Emmer was selected as the next Republican nominee for speaker. However, a decade ago, Emmer was an advocate for implementing a national popular vote—ostensibly eliminating the electoral college. Does this past advocacy disqualify him from the speakership? According to reports, as many as twenty-four Republicans are unwilling to vote for Emmer on the House floor, making it unlikely he will be able to acquire the 217 votes necessary to become the next House Speaker. You can watch Emmer advocate for a national popular vote to determine the presidency in an August 2011 interview with Triad Strategies: https://vimeo.com/28012929
• In Federalist No.10, James Madison writes: “Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.” Madison argues against a direct democracy—concluding that a representative republic allows for factionalism without the dangerously reactive outcomes that result in governmental instability. Rich argues that Rep. Tom Emmer’s past advocacy for the abolition of the electoral college moves the United States closer to the problematic direct democracy that Madison warned about.
• BREAKING NEWS: Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN)—the latest Republican nominee to fill the vacant House speakership—has withdrawn from the process. Earlier in the day, Emmer had won the nomination 117 to 97 after five rounds of balloting. Members of the House Freedom Caucus are calling for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to, once again, become the Republican nominee for speaker.
• On Tuesday, Jenna Ellis—a former attorney for Donald Trump—pleaded guilty to one charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings regarding the 2020 presidential election. In a statement to the court, Ellis explained: “In the frenetic pace, attempting to raise challenges in several states including Georgia, I failed to do my due diligence. If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse."