I have not been able to get to all the news tabs I had opened, so each night I pushed them into the next morning. I had several hundreds of open tabs, at least past the beginning of the month into last June. Maybe 300+ But Ron left Sunday morning to go to NC to pick up his family and take them to see their brother in a nursing home under hospice care. He does this at least once a year, often more. This year with everything going on, it is a huge hardship drain on our finances. But it is family, so …
So with Ron gone, no distractions over the simple needed chores (feeding cats, cleaning cat boxes, doing dishes, taking out trash) I have had all the free time to work on the computer. I am now with this post caught up to Friday night / Saturday morning. I hope to finish the next few days worth quickly, so I can tell everyone what my medical tests showed. Spoiler I have minor heart damage, but seem to have a bad lung problem. The first meme is my fav. More later. Best wishes and hugs
Ron DeSantis has quietly rejected hundreds of millions of dollars in federal energy funding https://t.co/Xlm7tHGFxr
According to a green energy group, the rebates would have meant people in Florida would get “lower utility bills and healthier and more comfortable homes as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions.” Meanwhile, DeSantis has proposed millions in tax credits for people who buy gas stoves.
The "missing" Hunter Biden witness the GOP was promising for a while there was just charged by the DOJ with being a Chinese spy. https://t.co/lLiVEmfrU1
— follow @bencollins on bluesky (@oneunderscore__) July 10, 2023
Timeline:
Gal Luft was arrested for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent in February.
Released on bail, he fled.
GOP Rep. Comer claimed "we can't track down the [Hunter Biden] informant" in May.
Luft put out a videos 5 days ago.
DOJ announced charges today.
— follow @bencollins on bluesky (@oneunderscore__) July 10, 2023
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer was on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show last night raising questions about whether the arrest of one of his supposed whistleblowers for serving as an unregistered agent of China may be political. pic.twitter.com/AoxnbQjYqv
Whoops. Gal Luft, the GOP's new fake Hunter Biden "whistleblower," was just indicted by the Justice Department for arms trafficking, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, making false statements to federal agents, and being an unregistered foreign agent for China.
Gal Luft knew he was being indicted for being a foreign agent for China & charged w/arms trafficking, violating sanctions against Iran & making false statements to the feds so he decided to team-up w/corrupt Republicans and become a fake whistleblower for Hunter Biden. #DOJhttps://t.co/kUDzoOfZXjpic.twitter.com/LnwYqFKUsE
This nonstop transanity doesn’t sell, and it’s damaging our state’s efforts to safeguard young Hoosiers. My office will continue working daily to protect our children and uphold parental rights. https://t.co/kzTNpgOdDv
Indiana's attorney general is leading seven states expressing legal concern that Target’s ‘LGBTQIA+ Pride’ campaign is damaging efforts to safeguard citizens. https://t.co/ED1UvcZTbo
A lawsuit seeking to invalidate a Wisconsin statute from 1849 outlawing abortion will proceed, after the presiding judge on Friday denied a motion to dismiss the closely watched legal action. @cnsjkellyhttps://t.co/LKqYBXBoJc
Patrick Henry: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity,…
You will be unsurprised to hear that Patrick Henry never said this. It comes from a 1956 article in a magazine called The Virginian. But what's a fake quote between friends? https://t.co/PZCEhfNlqW
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) July 5, 2023
15 hours and this fake quote is still up. Christian Nationalists' identity depends on deliberately spreading disinformation about American history, especially the founders and the founding. https://t.co/z6bRSUYnQW
Christian theocrat uses a fake quote to make his case. Many of the founding fathers were deists and the constitution establishes a secular government. Your version of christian Saudi Arabia is authoritarian and unpopular. Give it up https://t.co/SCu5MFAWjg
Next time, instead of arguing whether America was founded on ‘christianity”, ask them why it is so important for them to make their (incorrect) point. Okay, we were founded on Christian principles of slavery, and women as chattel with no vote, natives were stripped of their land and other rights, and only white male property owners could vote. Not to mention child labor was rampant, the majority of the country were small farmers, divorce was nearly impossible and so on. Hurray! What is you want NOW? You want to reinstitute all of that? No, they will likely say, they just want “Christian principles” reinstitute. Like what? Name them, specifically. They will be likely more in line with Christian nationalism — no LBGT rights, minorities voting is restricted, reduction in social safety net, more deregulation and so on. So now you can drill down — what does Christianity have to say about laws that control pollution, radioactive waste, plastics in our food, chemicals in the water you drink? They will give you mumbo jumbo about freedom, and all that. “”So why do we have to be a Christian nation” to achieve your goals of less regulation? What it will likely come down to is morals and values. Again, we can hit hard back — you mean no divorce? Because Jesus had a lot to say about it. Premarital sex? Birth control? IF you want to talk about morals, let’s talk about children going to bed or to school hungry, of which millions do. What about the homeless? Again, we don’t need Christian nationalism to tackle those issues. It wil come down to nothing at all — just a vague desire to make people go to church more, pray more, and be more aligned with god or something. “So you want to force people to pray?” I could go on, but you just have to nail them down on specifics. Hawley is just about control — they don’t want drag queens, people having wanton sex, abortion, and all that. Force them to admit that.
I remember in 2020 when they used the flag of the Russian Federation to decorate the Republican National Convention, which inspired me to make this meme.
GQP ads constantly have Russian troops, ships and MiGs because they use creative agencies in Russia, because few US agencies often full of GQP intended victims will do work for them.
Creative houses use the stock images they have on hand. That’s why so much Russian stuff shows up in their ads.
Early data shows globe just had its warmest June on record by far, and July 3 and 4 set a record for the hottest days yet recorded (since 1979). I suspect July 5 will be added to that list… https://t.co/EkJtXJhBO9
When children first are taught the letters of the alphabet, the letters are capitalized. Maybe the MAGAs never got farther than that.
Snow White is a 19th century German fairy tale. The name literally refers to the character’s skin color. This is what actual cultural appropriation looks like. Probably the most blatant case we’ve seen yet. https://t.co/erALE33kj0
Meet the cast of Disney’s new woke Snow White film. Snow White is Columbian now and the 7 dwarves look more like the 6 normal sized hipster pedos and 1 dwarf from Portland. Snow White no longer has "skin white as snow". Absolutely ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/DKZInYty89
So they have one little person playing a dwarf to be more “politically correct?” So 6 other little people didn’t get the job or the check and somehow this is more “sensitive?”
Elagabalus2 days ago Reminds me of the time Megyn Kelly got so flummoxed that Santa Claus was presented as black because in her worldview, Santa Claus was clearly white. What is it with conservatives and fictional characters?
If you read the articles on this it says that trump did not argue that the evidence was not there to show he committed a crime but that it was improperly gained. His lawyers are admitting to the crime basically. Hugs
Federal judge also orders far-right also-ran Mark Finchem and their famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz to split some costs — though Dersh has a lighter share.
A DeSantis staffer has reportedly been caught on camera saying he is telling voters “eat my balls” if they are upset by being asked to support DeSantis. “I’m a little stoned, so I don’t even care.”
ICYMI: "Broward County has lost more than a half-dozen conventions as their organizers cite the divisive political climate as their reason to stay out of Florida."https://t.co/V6sDOmAX6I.
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) July 8, 2023
According to @alltherooms, the Orlando DMA for Air BnB is down 35% from May 2022 to May 2023. Per @VisitOrlando: rentals in Orange County, occupancy year-to-date so far 60.9%, down 10% from 2022. The average daily rate through May 2023 is $175, a 7% increase from 2022. @MyNews13
— Spectrum News Asher Wildman (@AsherWildman13) June 29, 2023
— The Florida Phoenix (@FLPhoenixNews) July 5, 2023
"Black engineers and “Game of Thrones” fans are the latest groups canceling Orlando events and attributing their decisions to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s political climate."
Kirk Cameron demands investigation of American Library Association for religious discrimination https://t.co/ls3wyqeBP6
— The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) July 9, 2023
“Library staffers were deluged with harassment and a bomb threat.”
Oregon Public Broadcasting's @_jlevinson revealed that the mayor of Newport, Ore., had for years been posting hateful memes on a private FB group for law enforcement officers.
“But when you’re asked to take the word of a fugitive making videos for the New York Post over career prosecutors making sworn statements with their entire careers & livelihoods on the line…I gotta be honest. I’m leaning toward trusting the government.” https://t.co/Axhv3CyOnO
In May, one of the informants in the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family went missing. That informant was later revealed to be Gal Luft, who is now charged with acting as a foreign agent for China. https://t.co/ErabfF07tq
Another Hunter Biden whistleblower bites the dust. James Comer's whistleblower, Gal Luft, has just been indicted by the DOJ for arms trafficking, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, making false statements to federal agents, and being a Chinese spy.pic.twitter.com/yQK2pNkNCs
“Several lawyers who have had business before the supreme court…paid money to a top aide to Justice Clarence Thomas, according to the aide’s Venmo transactions. The payments appear to have been made in connection to Thomas’s 2019 Christmas party.” https://t.co/NIpf6mHBgN
Abortion should be freely available at any stage of pregnancy, on demand, without apology.
Reposting:
“The very concept of sin comes from the Bible. Christianity offers to solve a problem of its own making! Would you be thankful to a person who cut you with a knife in order to sell you a bandage?”
― Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist
Farmers Insurance announced today they're pulling out of Florida, the 4th major insurance co to leave Florida since @rondesantis took over
THAT's the economy of DeSantis, too busy screaming hysterically about some made up "woke" boogeyman to give a shit about actual people
While Florida’s property insurance market was BURNING 🔥, Ron DeSantis used GOP supermajorities to obsess over wokeness, drag queens, and pronouns.
Now 100,000 Floridians will lose coverage, but at least no one is talking about gay in school. pic.twitter.com/8kgBrSIdYJ
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 11, 2023
Gov. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature chose to focus on culture wars, instead of addressing the issues facing everyday Floridians, during the 2023 session.
How many of our congress is on the payroll of Russia. Hugs
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) on Tuesday introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require transgender men to register for the draft:
Indeed trans men should sign up for selective service when they turn 18, just like all cis men. But then trans men should be able to use the men’s room, just like all cis men do.
The current law states that all persons either born in the US or (with few exceptions) legally resident when they turn 18, and identified as male at birth are required to register for the Selective Service when they turn 18, no exceptions. If you are an American citizen living abroad, you must still register. If you are a legal resident alien, you must still register. If you are in a prison or mental asylum, you must still register. If you are here under a diplomatic passport (say, a parent works at an embassy or consulate) or have a tourist or student visa, you do not need to register. People who were identified as female at birth are NOT required to register for the Selective Service, and in fact trying to register can get you in legal trouble for filing a “frivolous” legal document (not sure if it has ever been prosecuted, but it is in the regulations.)
If they are going to make transmen register, then they must also make transwomen exempt. They will also need to clarify at what point relative to the age of 18 this will kick in: is it enough to identify as trans, or will they need to have passed some benchmark in transitioning? What if a person comes out as trans after they are 18, but before they turn 25 (the age that your registration remains in effect)? And if transwomen are not exempt, they they should make registration mandatory for ALL 18 year olds regardless of gender identity: there is no longer any restriction from women serving in combat, after all. Maybe if their precious daughters are required to register, and fact the very serious penalties for not registering, we can finally get rid of this whole Selective Service idiocy once and for all.
BREAKING: ARIZONA AG Kris Mayes has APPOINTED a team of PROSECUTORS to investigate republican attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. MI and NM referred their findings to the DoJ, and GA will make charging decisions in August. https://t.co/lEijrZczDF
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) July 13, 2023
I guess it was done the same way the former idiot allowed a bunch of Russian spies into the building.
#Hungarian authorities issued a 12 million (EUR 32 000) fine on a book publisher, based on the homophobic „child protection" law.
Reason: stores displayed Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper in the youth section, and the books – that "depict homosexuality+ were not in closed packaging. pic.twitter.com/S0N6Q8JV8r
This is the country and leader the republicans love almost as much as Putin.
Because if you don’t acknowledge LBGTs exist, kids will stop being gay
Clay’s policy is to place a temporary ban on all challenged books until they complete the challenge process (which can include an appeal to remove to the Board).
With 350+ challenges and growing, this temporary ban could last years. https://t.co/Sjcbx5Si8f
— Florida Freedom to Read Project (@FLFreedomRead) March 29, 2023
This year in the U.S. the majority of books most often banned are by LGBT writers and writers of color.
Here’s a good report from the writers’ organization PEN on the state of censorship in the U.S. https://pen.org/report/bann…
New: The Texas Department of Agriculture renounced a mandatory workplace training on Wednesday that mentioned gender identity definitions.
The same state agency in April ordered employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” https://t.co/6sUlMTHF0n
Oh my God, I'm so sick of this christian bigotry. This is the exact reason the EEOC laws exist. And it's training.. good grief. For a bunch of tough men you'd think they could handle some words about gender.
How did people get it in their heads that they have a “right” to never be offended? That is not a right and never has been. Freedom of speech, remember?Astonishing how the “fuck your feelings” crowd so quickly turn around to demand safe spaces where their precious feelings are prioritized so much.
Didn’t a black woman in Texas get five years for voting just once? I think they claimed she was ineligible for some reason.And it was a provisional ballot and was not counted. Further it was a poll worker that told her to fill out a provisional ballot.
Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina argues against humanitarian aid for women and children in Afghanistan because it is not mentioned in the Constitution.
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 14, 2023
Jesus isn’t in the Constitution either. Let’s start there.
Gov. Newsom slams "cancel culture" and "radicalized zealots" at Temecula school board, vows state action over Harvey Milk issue https://t.co/3y6aekUGDY
They’ve already grabbed lots of the courts, then they want to control education (‘member how so many righties loves to quote hitler on this…) & inject religion into the schools – while wiping out all dissenting ideas & critical thinking – fast forward 10 years and VOILA – you have a whole generation of little christo-fascists that taxpayers are footing the bill to educate with xtian nationalist dogma. These wack job conservatives (an extreme minority) are proving too damn good at a multi-decade slow play here. People have to wake up.
GOP attorneys general tee off on large corporations over diversity policies https://t.co/A3QkBLHhWD
🚨BREAKING: After Randy Fine didn’t make the cut, the state has stepped in and halted the hiring process for the next FAU President https://t.co/HvOW1pdQor
— The Space Coast Rocket (@CoastRocket) July 8, 2023
The DeSantis state regime is launching a full-scale investigation into why their bigoted GOP ally Randy Fine wasn’t selected as a finalist to be FAU’s president…and why an applicant may have been asked their preferred pronouns.
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 14, 2023
Philanthropist Dick Schmidt, whose family has donated more than $47 million to FAU, served on the search committee. “I feel personally outraged and slandered by the implications of the chancellor’s letter on me and my colleagues…”https://t.co/xkJXqXgu0f
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 14, 2023
Rep. Jill Tokuda, Democrat of Hawaii, “admonished her Republican colleagues for the tenor of the debate. ‘From the backwards, racially insensitive comments spoken on this floor, it seems D.E.I. training would be good right here in the halls of Congress’” https://t.co/0kTcKpUNsh
219-210: The House passes the National Defense Authorization Act.
The House GOP added a raft of conservative policy to the traditionally bipartisan legislation, including limiting abortion access and transgender health care for service members and banning Pentagon DEI trainings. pic.twitter.com/Tdge06jwyB
“We’re seeing ramifications in multiple industries, from agriculture to tourism to construction,” says Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani. “This policy is pushing out so many hard-working Floridians.”
These are old now but remember I have not been feeling well and just now getting on my feet. Oh, it seems that the state of Florida has now required a new expense for people on pain medications. I will explain later. As if us poor people needed more medication costs. Yet the wealthy and well-connected get to lie as much as they want to get everything they need. Hugs
President Biden went off script in a speech in Ireland, Fox News is rumored to be seeking a settlement to avoid more embarrassment in the Dominion lawsuit, and details continue to surface about the suspicious relationship between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire Harlan Crow.
This is the person I want in the Senate!!! Plus I want more like her in all of our federal and state congresses! She is a working person, she knows how hard life can be, she understands so much that those multimillionaires like Manchin have forgotten and done care about. Think how great the lives of the average person in the US, the public, could be if we had more like her. Please if you can vote for her, donate to her campaign, and do what we can so she wins. Hugs
Rep. Katie Porter tells Stephen that she doesn’t take money from lobbyists, she thinks Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is guilty of hypocrisy, and she finds it hard to go to work every day with Marjorie Taylor Greene as a colleague. Rep. Porter’s new memoir, “I Swear: Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan,” is out now.
Twin brothers Blake Krenzer, 19, and Brandon Krenzer, 19, of Gambrills have been charged for alleged involvement in the vandalism of the Black Lives Matter and Pride signs at the Ark & Dove Presbyterian Church. Officers responded to the Odenton church on the morning of June 14, where they found the vandalized signs. An investigation revealed the vandalism had happened around 10 p.m. the previous evening. Police said the Krenzers were identified with the help of the public.
While the Court’s decision only addresses expressive original designs, I’m deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans. More broadly, today’s decision weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations – including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women.
American Christianity isn’t “merely” anything. It’s a foul pestilence that should be righteously and vociferously mocked and shunned as the anti science, anti logic and reasoning millstone dragging society down to stupidity that it is.
If you want context that this is a made up political issue watch this
If Republicans are truly worried about members of the first family improperly benefitting from their name, Mehdi says there are two people besides Hunter Biden that they should be looking at: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Because that was the price for the top-secret intelligence documents Kushy obtained from his FIL’s top-secret stash at Mar-A-Shitto and passed on to Saudi intelligence….
At least that’s what I believe. I fear that someday, we will discover that Kushy did more damage to the US than every other convicted spy combined. No wonder Skanky is trying to distance herself from Daddy…..
I wonder if any of her GOP opponents in the upcoming debates are going to have the guts to call her “Nimrata” and ask her why she insists on trying to pass as White…and oh by the way, why hasn’t she released her “long form birth certificate” to prove that she was really born in the USA and not India?
It goes back to Aristotle and Aquinas plus back to Old Testament where a man “plants his seed.” The DNA for the complete human being is in the man’s seed, just like a plant. The woman is just the furrow where the seed is planted.
I’m reminded of the Comstock Act, especially as it pertained to mailing birth control or abortifacients in the 1870s. It was expressed that one of the underlying reasons for this was In reaction to the influx of the Irish Catholics (especially in NYC), and the need to insure that English Protestants didn’t become a minority.
if students wanted their loans forgiven, why the fuck didn't they just take Sam Alito on a luxury fishing vacation and tell him how to vote? I mean, show some initiative, people
Sam_Handwich5 days ago edited In my very blue neck of the woods a “controversy” has arisen after the local zoo posted pictures on FB of Pride decorations in some of the animal enclosures. Not sure this would even be an issue were it not for the right’s renewed tantrum that gay people exist. I have mixed feelings about zoos as a thing, haven’t been there in years, but might visit today or tomorrow.
DeSanctimonious is a dangerous religious maniac, craven for power, and there is nothing he won’t say or do to achieve his goals. It is a relief to see the Orlando Sentinel has stood up to this fascist bigoted governor. More leaders need to stand up and do the same thing.
Floridians are not ready for a new fight to begin. They overwhelmingly reelected a fascist governor who hates us. Down here in SWFL, there is a practical news blackout on the the horrible new laws taking effect in a couple of days. Nobody seems to care. It feels like what 1930’s Germany must have felt like to live there.
Dennis5 days ago They spent billions to indoctrinate Republican voters to become far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists and now they are trying to stop someone who is representing such views..
They never liked trump, they thought they could control him. That went badly. Now they see a nazi that they don’t need to babysit and they are rightly afraid the orange shit stain is gonna rain on their parade.
The only reason they want to stop Trump is because they can read the polls which say he will lose to Biden in 2024.
In other news, the New Hampshire House passes legislation to ban gay and trans panic defenses 271-98 with the Senate concurring. I am so pleased to see this LGBTQ civil rights measure head to Gov. Sununu's desk and am happy to have played a part in drafting the bill's language. pic.twitter.com/lzGDB7HX5x
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) June 29, 2023
Yves R. Mektin5 days ago So they plan on doing absolute zilch nada zip for the American people or their constituents. Nothing but performative obstruction.
I’d ask on what grounds, but it’s just petty political vindictiveness that will only serve to waste time and taxpayer money; in other words, business as usual for the GQP
Conversion therapy is complete and utter quackery, and it’s a crime that it’s not outlawed federally. This practice should be outlawed regardless of age, not just for minors.
At least a large chunk of states are picking up the slack.
We’ve been far too tolerant for all manner of quackery (Dr Oz for example) for far too long. Frauds and scammers should be put out of business. This isn’t a first amendment issue. This is an issue of lying to people (or their parents) and inflicting harm on them.
It is psychological terrorism. The pray away “movement” coincided with APA’s declassification of same sex orientation as illness. Evangelicals were pissed not to have a “sick” scapegoat.
Great news. Once again, if it weren’t already obvious, LGBT rights expand under Democrats and contract under Republicans. The folks who are always saying the Dem’s do nothing aren’t paying attention.
They know their voters are captured assets. They only listen to propaganda and have inoculations in place to keep any outside information of getting in.
Message of the year: How do you spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel. The kindest person in the room is often the smartest. 🏆 @GovPritzkerpic.twitter.com/X8BvFq5215
Read the full article. There’s much more. Gift link here. This same developer has given DeSantis and wife rides on his private jet and was in the news just last week for an unreported $27,000 golf simulator he had installed at Florida’s governor’s mansion.
Read the full article. Hunt last appeared on JMG in February 2023 when she responded to an anti-drag bill with a troll amendment that would bar parents from enrolling their children in “religious indoctrination camps.” The final April 1st tweet below is pinned to the top of the hate group’s feed.
A Nebraska lawmaker filed a defamation lawsuit against a local far-right political action committee after members claimed she was grooming her transgender son.
DmR4 days ago I live near her district, which is in a blue pocket in an otherwise bright crimson state. She is making quite the name for herself and the Wingers do not like the attention and support she is getting.
I’m not as disturbed by the picture at the Governor’s mansion as I am concerned for her children. The height of their creativity is a brainwashed image of a picture of torture? Where are the flowers, magic fairies, animals?
This deliberate violation of church/state can’t be prosecuted either.
Evangelicals now have their required threshold majority in key places. Once they are the solid majority wherever they are they are the de facto standard and NOTHING can remove them. That’s why we’re becoming a failed nation. Once a nation is ruled by Bronze Age religious mythology it collapses.
Something tells me in coming years the entire LGBTQ community will be required to march and fight for our rights all across this country…. Even us quiet, middle aged suburban gays are needed to get more involved.
The DeSantis message is kind of amazing: "You might have thought Trump is a bigot, but occasionally he seems to say non-bigoted things. I'll be all bigotry all the time!" https://t.co/CYZblJAwgY
Team DeSantis boasting, like all normal socially adjusted people would, that his laws "literally threaten trans existence" https://t.co/8GbdWauFgg
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) July 1, 2023
GayOldLady3 days ago Peanuts 🥜 DeSantis trying to prove his manhood by leaning into the Pulse massacre! This bastard is a danger to our community and we ignore him at our own peril. We must proactively stand against him. 🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🌈
We will fight him in the orchards, we will fight him in the mangroves, we will fight him on the beaches, we wll fight him in the cornfields, we will fight him any fuckin place he challenges our Civil and Human rights
Well, at least DeSantis has finally shown his true colors. His ridiculaous campaign has NOTHING to do with “Protect the Children” and everything to do with “Hate the Gays.” Which we knew all along.
This is not only deranged and idiotic, it’s a not so subtle call for violence against LGBT people. The subtext is that DeFascist will get rid of these people once and for all. And of course the Log Cabin quislings are surprised the leopards are eating their faces.
Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️4 days ago With Supreme Court LGBTQ decision, marriage equality is at risk The court’s decision demeans our nation’s aspirations to equality and inclusion and thereby diminishes us all. By Laurence H. Tribe and Jeffrey B. Abramson Until this week, under long-standing state public accommodations laws, if a business wanted all the benefits that came from being generally open to the public, then it had to serve all customers equally. Since 1964, this principle has applied to a motel in the heart of Atlanta, Ollie’s barbeque joint in Birmingham, Ala., and social clubs and private schools that advertised to the general public. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted about the historic case involving Ollie’s, it would not do for the owner to have said, “I’ll serve Blacks but only on a takeout window, not inside my restaurant because that sends a message that I endorse integration.”
By twisting free speech into a license to discriminate, the court has now carved out an exception from public accommodations law for businesses that recast their services in ways that highlight their expressive features. But the court offers no workable principle to cabin that exception in any meaningful way.
Todd20036 Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️4 days ago Sodomy laws are next Hiv meds could be no longer covered by insurance We could be arrested for holding hands in public or kissing in public Don’t think that’s impossible
One would think that the court would find for the nation’s best interests to encourage a fair, equitable, and cohesive society, not to promote the very toxicity that tears society apart, no matter whether it’s disguised in “free speech” or “religion.”
I knew the night RBG died that we were fucked and would be fucked for longer than I’ll likely be alive. Right wingers have made no secret that they hated anything that gave rights to minorities. They like to frame it in a libertarian argument so it sounds like freedom, but the freedom they want is the freedom to be bigots. Everything is going to be ruled unconstitutional and that’s going to affect the blue states, not just the red. And especially the blue islands in red states! So very fucked and not in the good way.
Tie up the courts, the judges, and waste lawyers time along with the time of Congress…. …for not wanting to put on a CDC recommended mask when in the company of others.
It’s all very interesting that after years of these fascists whining that they couldn’t breathe when wearing a mask, so many of them now show up at protests…WEARING MASKS!
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.)
The other names weren’t a surprise, but I have to admit, Ralphie didn’t ring a bell for me. Had to look him up, and wow, shocker, real estate mogul old white guy. Jokes about sexual assault. Negligent with firearms. Used the supposedly MAGA hated remote voting to skip town to get to CPAC. Hates student loan forgiveness, but got some $300k+ of PPP loans forgiven. Wanted Steve King back after his boot for white nationalist comments. Wants to impeach Biden.
Weird, he hits all the same marks as the MTGs and Boeberts and such, but I had absolutely no recollection of him. Wonder if he’ll join the GOP presidential clown car next…
northalabama Gene Perry4 days ago standing, schmanding! it’s 2023, you just have to invent a plaintiff out of thin air, then have enough billionaires lined up to pay your expenses for years until you win, easy peasy.
It amazes me that these decisions so blatantly favour the rich and privileged. Striking down Affirmative Action can only harm the less privileged. Student loans are used by those who need them and don’t have their own resources. and the LGBT community can now be refused services by public commercial operations. Nothing here for the poor or the minorities can take any comfort in. It looks like the Supreme Court has found their own ‘protected class’ of wealthy privileged bourgeoisie.
What Paxton and his office did not say: The law firm that produced the report, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, has been paid more than $500,000 in public money to defend him against whistleblowers who sued the agency for wrongful termination because they went to the FBI with allegations of corruption.
With Supreme Court LGBTQ decision, marriage equality is at risk
The court’s decision demeans our nation’s aspirations to equality and inclusion and thereby diminishes us all.
By Laurence H. Tribe and Jeffrey B. AbramsonUpdated June 30, 2023, 3:43 p.m.
The same-sex marriage equality decision stands for now, but it should be added to the list of endangered precedents.GLOBE STAFF/ADOBE
This week, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that businesses generally open to the public can nonetheless discriminate against LGBTQ customers.
At issue in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case was an evangelical Christian website designer from Colorado who did not wish to offer the same services to a same-sex wedding couple that she would offer to a heterosexual couple. The court ruled that, as an artist, the designer would be engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment by selling her customized services and thus could not be compelled to serve those whose wedding plans contradict her beliefs about marriage. Indeed, she could not be required to take down a message saying that she won’t serve gay couples.
Until this week, under long-standing state public accommodations laws, if a business wanted all the benefits that came from being generally open to the public, then it had to serve all customers equally. Since 1964, this principle has applied to a motel in the heart of Atlanta, Ollie’s barbecue joint in Birmingham, Ala., and social clubs and private schools that advertised to the general public. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted about the historic case involving Ollie’s, it would not do for the owner to have said, “I’ll serve Blacks but only on a takeout window, not inside my restaurant because that sends a message that I endorse integration.”
By twisting free speech into a license to discriminate, the court has now carved out an exception from public accommodations law for businesses that recast their services in ways that highlight their expressive features. But the court offers no workable principle to cabin that exception in any meaningful way.
One major problem with the court’s premise is that no reasonable observer would attribute to the website designer the message that she endorses gay marriage merely because, as required by a state antidiscrimination law, she designs a website for a couple regardless of their sexual orientation. The designer isn’t speaking for the couple — she just creates a medium for their message. And Colorado’s law doesn’t prevent her from making that clear to everyone.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch relied on a prior case in which the court ruled that the organizers of the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade could not be compelled to include a float bearing a banner for the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston. But the unanimous opinion in that case stressed that while parade organizers could exclude the banner, they could not exclude marchers simply because they were gay or lesbian. So that case does not remotely support this decision’s radical misuse of free speech doctrine.
The court left conspicuously unanswered the sensible questions justices asked at oral argument last December: What if a website designer refused wedding business from an interracial couple because of moral objections to such marriages? Or interfaith marriages? Only Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion even mentioned the 1967 Supreme Court decision striking down bans on interracial marriage, adding: “How quickly we forget that opposition to interracial marriage” often reflected religious beliefs akin to those of the web designer in this case. What if a photographer doesn’t want business from a person with disabilities? What if a photo store doesn’t want its “Scenes with Santa” to include photos of a white Santa holding a Black child?
These questions show that there is no way to cabin the decision and limit it to LGBTQ customers or to limit the demeaning message the court’s decision itself sends to any particular category of individuals. As the dissent powerfully shows, the court’s decision demeans our nation’s aspirations to equality and inclusion and thereby diminishes us all.
During oral argument, Justice Samuel Alito tried to distinguish between “honorable” religious objection to same-sex marriage, worthy of respect in his view, from opposition to interracial marriage, which he rejected as indecent even if religiously motivated. His voice was absent from this ruling, and the majority opinion by Gorsuch avoided basing the decision on judgments about which religious messages are honorable and which are prejudiced. Every law student learns that government has no authority to decide whose religious beliefs depart indecently from the norm.
Of course, discrimination against interracial and interfaith marriage is indecent. But who is any justice to tell us that discrimination against same-sex couples is different, not really a matter of prejudice but honorable when religiously inspired?
Recently, the Boston Red Sox released a pitcher who had posted homophobic tweets about gay people being bound for hell unless they repented. The fact that the player was sincere in his religious beliefs did not keep the Red Sox from seeing the harm that his speech caused. But the Supreme Court does not see, or care about, the harm its decision portends.
For many years, the court stopped short of overruling Roe v. Wade, until it did in 2022. For many years, the court stopped short of declaring affirmative action unconstitutional, until it did this week. The same-sex marriage equality decision stands for now, but it should be added to the list of endangered precedents.
As Sotomayor rightly concludes, “It is a sad day in American Constitutional law” when the highest court in the land closes its term with a decision that affronts the basic dignity of us all, for “the promise of freedom is empty” if government “is powerless to assure that a dollar in the hands of [one person] will purchase the same thing as a dollar in the hands of a[nother].”
Laurence H. Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. Jeffrey B. Abramson is professor of government and law emeritus at University of Texas at Austin and a former Middlesex County assistant district attorney.
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