Month: May 2022
Let’s talk about more questions about the army’s new rifle….
Republican leader called Democrats “pedo grifters” for giving baby formula to immigrants
Republican leader called Democrats “pedo grifters” for giving baby formula to immigrants
Rep. Elise Stefanik with Donald TrumpPhoto: Office of Congresswoman Elise StefanikOne of the top Republicans in Congress is calling Democrats “pedo grifters” because immigrant detention centers have baby formula.
House Republican Conference chairperson Elise Stefanik – the third-highest member of House GOP leadership – said that “pedo grifters” are sending food to immigrant babies as the right continues to use baseless accusations of pedophilia as insults against pretty much anyone who disagrees with them.
Related: Gymnast abused by team doctor comes out swinging at rightwing claims of LGBTQ “grooming”
“The White House, House Dems, & usual pedo grifters are so out of touch with the American people that rather than present ANY PLAN or urgency to address the nationwide baby formula crisis, they double down on sending pallets of formula to the southern border,” she wrote. “Joe Biden has NO PLAN.”
Stefanik’s casual use of the word “pedo” shows just how mundane it has become for rightwingers to call anyone they disagree with a pedophile.
For years, the rightwing QAnon conspiracy theory has claimed that there is a secret cabal of pedophiles operating a Satanic international child sex ring led by Hollywood celebrities and Democratic elites. Effectively, the QAnon conspiracy theory allowed believers an intellectual shortcut: instead of trying to understand why people would disagree with their policy preferences – a process that requires listening to others and the ability to understand multiple ideas at once – they could just accuse anyone who disagreed with them of being a Satanic pedophile, and who really cares why Satanic pedophiles believe what they believe?
The casualization of accusing political opponents of pedophilia heightened over the last couple of months as conservatives started referring to LGBTQ people – especially teachers – as well as anyone who supports LGBTQ equality as pedophiles and groomers. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) accused Tyra Banks of grooming children because she produced a documentary about teen drag queens. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) press secretary accused anyone who opposes the Don’t Say Gay bill of being a groomer or supporting grooming.
Chaya Raichik of the anti-LGBTQ Twitter account “Libs of TikTok” regularly accuses LGBTQ teachers of “grooming” even though she has no evidence of sexual abuse occurring. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said it was grooming for a science camp to have non-binary counselors, and conservatives even called the anti-suicide organization The Trevor Project “a grooming organization.”
While Stefanik may have been saying that those who want babies in detention centers fed so that they can later be sexually abused, it’s more likely that she does not have any ability to engage her political opponents other than to accuse them of pedophilia. Actually presenting a plan for what to do about baby formula shortages in the U.S. – and then arguing why that plan is better than the Biden administration’s plan – is a lot harder than just calling people pedophiles.
And the baby formula shortage is real. Currently, 40% of formula is out of stock in the U.S., which has led parents to stockpile formula, exacerbating the shortage. The shortage follows the recall of a major formula producer’s products because deadly bacteria was found in a factory, the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on supply chains, and restrictive trade policies around formula.
Stefanik was echoing rightwing complaints that immigrants forced to live in processing centers near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“What is infuriating to me is that this is another example of the ‘America Last’ agenda the Biden administration continues to perpetuate,” Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) said last week, not presenting any alternative to immigrant access to formula other than letting babies in processing centers starve.
President Joe Biden announced a plan to address the crisis last week that included making it easier to use WIC benefits to buy formula of different sizes and types, increasing imports of formula, and cracking down on price gouging.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that the House will soon vote on a bill to grant emergency authority to WIC to address supply chain disruptions and relax certain regulations not related to the safety of baby formula.
In a later statement Stefanik’s office said that “pedo grifters” was referring to the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans and former Republicans who advocated against the reelection of Donald Trump. They are not involved in the baby formula shortage and they aren’t in charge of presenting a plan to end the baby formula shortage, so it’s unclear how that statement explains what she said.
The Loud Dog Whistle
Very well said TG. It is time for the Democrats and the non-right wing media to stop playing nice and acting like it would be the worst break in decorum to clearly say what is going on and who is doing it. While the Democrats are trying to pretend they are in a PG prime time sitcom with little kids watching, the Republicans are out for blood taking people’s rights away, rigging elections, stopping people from voting, and calling anyone that disagrees with them a pedophiles and child sexual groomers. It makes no sense and makes the Democrats look not only out of touch with reality, but that they don’t care if they win or not. Democrats like Pelosi saying on nation TV interviews that we need a strong Republican party, and she wants a strong republican party repeatedly while stumbling over her words due to the attempts to hide her true age, and Chuck Schumer who cannot seem to understand or use the power of Senate Majority Leader, is doubling as a sleeping aid or someone’s old grandfather forgotten at the family reunion talking to the air around him about the good old days. These way past the time they retire fossils are in danger of letting their egos and their desire for corporate campaign contributions of causing the country to fall to the rabid hateful authoritarian right that wants to regress the country back to either the 1850s or the 1600s depending on which SCOTUS judge they love the most. Hugs
“I heard you!”
One of the hallmarks of our era is the way that being polite is more important than being accurate, and so is of interest to us that suddenly public figures are choosing accuracy. Gone are the days of My Friend From XYZ and now it’s Elise Stefanik The Fascist From NY. (And make no mistake, she really is espousing fascism.)
Following the horrifying mass shooting in Buffalo, the WaPo thought it was important to note that Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, had echoed the “great replacement” rhetoric:
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the No. 3 House Republican, and other GOP lawmakers came under scrutiny Sunday for previously echoing the racist “great replacement” theory that apparently inspired an 18-year-old who allegedly killed 10 people while targeting Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo.
Darth Cheney’s evil spawn was more polite than the WaPo, but still plenty…
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Abort The Court | Christopher Titus | Armageddon Update
White Supremacy (A Rebuttal) | Christopher Titus | Zero Side Effects
Federal judge stops Alabama from throwing trans-supportive doctors in jail
Photo: ShutterstockA Trump-appointed federal judge has blocked portions of Alabama’s so-called “Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” a law that punishes adults who help transgender children access gender-affirming healthcare.
The law, which went into effect on May 8, was immediately challenged by families with trans kids, gender-affirming medical professionals, and the U.S. Justice Department. The law threatened prosecution against trans-supportive adults and 10 years in prison for trans-affirming medical professionals.
Related: Gay Alabama lawmaker’s righteous rant goes viral as Republicans criminalize trans-friendly doctors
Last Friday, Judge Liles C. Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama temporarily blocked parts of the law that made it a felony to prescribe hormones and puberty blockers to trans youth, saying that the law is likely to cause irreparable harm if it goes into effect while the lawsuits works their way through the court system.
Burke’s decision said parents have a fundamental right to provide their children with medically-accepted treatments. Hormones and puberty blockers are used to treat various medical conditions in non-trans youth. But since Alabama’s law only sought to punish the drugs’ use by transgender youth, the lawsuit alleged that this part of the law was driven by unconstitutional sex-based discrimination.
Burke allowed other parts of the law to stand, including one requiring school teachers and nurses to out trans students to their parents and another forbidding doctors from performing gender-affirming surgical procedures on trans youth.
“Doctors had testified that such operations were not being performed on children in Alabama before the law had been enacted,” The New York Times noted.
Alabama lawmakers said that the transphobic law is meant to protect kids from “irreversible” and “experimental” medical treatments “aggressively push[ed]” by doctors and “ideological interest groups,” state lawyers said in court documents. But Burke said Alabama failed to provide “credible evidence to show that transitioning medications are ‘experimental,’” adding that hormones and puberty blockers are “well-established, evidence-based treatments for gender dysphoria in minors.”
“Parents, pediatricians and psychologists — not the state or this court — are best qualified to determine whether transitioning medications are in a child’s best interest on a case-by-case basis,” Burke wrote in his decision.
When signing the bill into law, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said, “I believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl. We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life.”
However, her religion-based opinion goes against the best practices of trans-related pediatrics outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association. The organizations find that gender-affirming medical care is medically necessary and reduces suicide and depression among trans youth.
Comedian John Oliver mentioned the state’s law on the Sunday night installment of his cable news program Last Week Tonight.
In the program, Oliver interviewed 15-year-old transgender girl Harleigh Walker, who said, “If I did stop my gender-affirming care, my physical outside wouldn’t reflect who I was inside, and that would, like, completely destroy me mentally and physically.”
Oliver said, “If you can look at Harleigh, or any child, and comfortably say, ‘Take away their care that gives them peace and a sense of self,’ you are a bad person.”
During a hearing in front of the Alabama legislature last year, Dr. Morissa Ladinsky explained that surgery and hormonal therapy for trans youth both involve “lengthy informed consent [and] lengthy mental health oversight.”
Oliver quipped, “Of course, doctors are going to be thoughtful and rigorous when caring for their patients because, unlike the Alabama Legislature, they actually care about kids’ well-being,”
“To trans children in Alabama right now… you are important,” Oliver added. “Your lives are important. I cannot imagine trying to build self-esteem in childhood as your own government attempts to undermine your very existence, but you should know: You are profoundly valuable and you are irreplaceable.”
As of May, 15 Republican-led states have either passed bans on medical care for trans youth or are considering similar laws. Some of the bans have equated gender-affirming care with child abuse and threatened to arrest parents of trans youth, de-transitioning their kids and placing them in state care. Others attack doctors and threaten them with jail time for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth.
These laws are part of a larger nationwide push by Republicans to pass laws targeting LGBTQ youth. Other such laws have attempted to ban trans youth from playing sports or to ban any LGBTQ content from classrooms. These bills’ supporters have said that anyone who opposes the laws are pedophilic “groomers”, language which encourages violence against LGBTQ people and allies.
Recently, LGBTQ lawmakers in 19 states announced their efforts to establish their states as safe harbors for trans kids and families persecuted by laws criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare. These lawmakers will introduce legislation that explicitly protects trans youth’s access to gender-affirming medical care.
Ivey also recently signed a transphobic “bathroom bill” requiring students to use changing and restroom facilities matching the gender listed on their original birth certificates, as well as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill limiting discussion of LGBTQ topics in state classrooms.
Barnette Marched Alongside Proud Boys On January 6
What confuses me is changelings, people who work with oppressors against their own kind / people. Another word is collaborators. The LGBTQ+ has the Log Cabin Republicans and Peter Thiel, the blacks have people like Candis Owens, Tim Scott, Burgess Owens to name a few. Some claim they like the tax cuts, some are as racist against immigrants as the white Republicans, and some are grifters. I never understood why poor people vote for the party that works against them to help the wealthy. Hugs
Yahoo News reports:
Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette marched with members of a right-wing extremist group prior to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to footage recently unearthed on social media.
The photos and video showing Barnette marching alongside the Proud Boys originally surfaced on Sunday via writer Chad Loder’s Twitter account. On Monday, the photos were verified by NBC News.
Barnette has been a prominent promoter of election conspiracy theories, including organizing buses to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the violence at the Capitol.
Last night Barnette said this to Fox News:
Well, first of all, allow me to correct you. I was not with the Proud Boys. I was out there because I wanted to hear what the president had to say.
I was also out there because, I’m sure your listeners will understand, the first five rights in the First Amendment—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to petition your government with grievances and freedom to assemble, as well as freedom of the press.
And so, as a law-abiding American citizen, I had every right to go to a rally in support of my president.
unsavedheathen • 15 minutes ago
Just read an interview with 10 Republicans from Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio in the NYT. Unbelievably divorced from historical reality. Disheartening that these, our fellow citizens, most of whom were able to form complete sentences, want to give the “businessman” another shot.
We must show up in November. These people are nuts. And they’ll put Trump back in office if they have their way.
Card #ProChoice Boreal • 8 minutes ago
The bad part here is we can’t even get non-Republicans on the local ticket. I get to choose from politically-entrenched MAGA or new-to-politics MAGA.
Boreal Card #ProChoice • 6 minutes ago
For most offices here, the same, but the school board has sane people on it now but some running that want to ban books.
I don’t know why she’s trying to distance herself from the Proud Boys. She agrees with them on most things, right? Apart from that tiny little detail about skin color, but that part is so small she¨s fine with ignoring it. So why the distancing?
Probably the ‘optics’ of the court cases – especially the ones where PBs have been pleading guilty. She’s happy saying the quiet part out loud much of the time, but not being dragged into potential judicial proceedings.
Bob’s Your Uncle – BYU • 27 minutes ago
She looks so fucking nice and normal. If I was a low information voter who didn’t follow politics closely, as a Dem, I might vote for her just based on her appearance, but hopefully they are watching her TV ads with the sound on because she’s as crazy as a bedbug and as evil as Cruella deVille..
Hopefully folks are paying attention in PA. Hard to imagine they wouldn’t be..
Host of Twinkies Bob’s Your Uncle – BYU • 26 minutes ago
Perfect token for helping to sell the White Supremecist narrative.
TnCTampa Bob’s Your Uncle – BYU • 26 minutes ago
Have you met the American electorate. never has there been a more uniformed, stupid, low rent people electing themselves into oblivion
Three TYT videos on the Buffalo shooting, white extremeism, racism, and how Carlson promotes replacement theory.
“A teenage gunman entranced by a white supremacist ideology known as replacement theory opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday, methodically shooting and killing 10 people and injuring three more, almost all of them Black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history.”
“Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the No. 3 House Republican, and other GOP lawmakers came under scrutiny Sunday for previously echoing the racist “great replacement” theory that apparently inspired an 18-year-old who allegedly killed 10 people while targeting Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo. The baseless conspiracy theory claims that politicians are attempting to wipe out White Americans and their influence by replacing them with non-White immigrants. The theory was cited repeatedly by 18-year-old shooting suspect Payton Gendron in an online document that appeared to have outlined his intention to carry out his planned attack in Buffalo because of its significant population of Black people. Eleven of the 13 people shot at a Tops Friendly Markets store on Saturday were Black, according to police.”
Numbers don’t lie …
Thank you Ten Bears. This is important information in a time when the right is trying to rewrite history and change reality to claim that Jan 6 was a peaceful protest while antifa and BLM are terrorist groups. May the truth win over the falsehoods. Hugs
From the New York Times morning mail
| Over the past decade, the Anti-Defamation Leaguehas countedabout 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists. |
| Of these 450 killings, right-wing extremists committed about 75 percent. Islamic extremists were responsible for about 20 percent, and left-wing extremists were responsible for 4 percent. |
| Nearly half of the murders were specifically tied to white supremacists: |
 Source: Anti-Defamation League |
| As this data shows, the American political right has a violence problem that has no equivalent on the left. Andthe 10 victims in Buffalo this past weekendare now part of this toll. “Right-wing extremist violence is our biggest threat,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, has written. “The numbers don’t lie.” |
Gotta’ get down to it, their soldiers are cutting us down
Scottie's Playtime 