Nearly 17,000 people may have died after taking hydroxycholoroquine during the first wave of Covid-19, accordingย to a studyย by French researchers.
The anti-malaria drug was prescribed to some patients hospitalized with Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers point out in their paper, published in the February issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
Now, researchers have estimated that some 16,990 people in six countries โ France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the U.S. โ may have died as a result.
That figure stems from a study published in the Nature scientific journal in 2021ย which reportedย an 11 percent increase in the mortality rate, linked to its prescription against Covid-19, because of the potential adverse effects like heart rhythm disorders, and its use instead of other effective treatments.
Researchers from universities in Lyon, France, and Quรฉbec, Canada, used that figure to analyze hospitalization data for Covid in each of the six countries, exposure to hydroxychloroquine and the increase in the relative risk of death linked to the drug.
In fact, they say the figure may be far higher given the study only concerns six countries from March to July 2020, when the drug was prescribed much more widely.
Hydroxychloroquine gained prominence partly due to French virologist Didier Raoult who had headed the Mรฉditerranรฉe Infection Foundation hospital, but was laterย removedย amid growing controversy.
It was alsoย consideredย something of a โmiracle cureโ by the then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who said: โWhat do you have to lose? Take it.โ
And why? I still don’t fully understand what made Trump and the GOP decide to deny vaccines publicly (while often taking vaccines privately) and to turn every medical decision into a toxic political decision based on misinformation. Why was this in their interest? Once they started down this path, they just kept doubling down, leading to the ridiculously unqualified and dangerous Florida State Surgeon General currently in power.
Itโs exactly why Rand Paul invested in hydroxychloroquine early on in the early months of COVID, and then regularly attacked Dr Fauciโฆas the good doctor was bad for Brilloheadโs bottom line.
This ^^^^ And the gop has been actively engaged in training the cult to not trust the government โฆ.โ Only one โ known liar will tell magats the truth
I think it’s a combination of things. It brews mistrust of experts, education, science, and medicine, which keeps people afraid. It’s a cult in that way, you must trust the leader and exclude information that might potentially prove them wrong. By putting in a mistrust of one area of expert, it can be extended to others as well, cementing that only the in group can be trusted.
By denying that people are dying, they make people distrust reports of people dying. When people do get sick, they wait or take ineffective ‘treatments’, which then overtax the hospital facilities if/when the person actually goes in for real treatment – and then the cult leaders can say that the hospital system is failing and can’t save you, only dear leader can.
But ultimately, I think they simply don’t care. As you say, they privately take the vaccines and have top flight health care. Everyone else is less than a pawn on the board to them.
At this point on the right the tail wags the dog. These memes are coming from somewhere and being picked up by people looking around down the Q and other right wing rabbit holes. The Republican leadership has little in the way of actual leadership. First it was Limbaugh and company but now it’s faceless, nameless internet bot farms setting their agenda. They can’t hold on to power without pandering to this shit and they are more afraid of losing power than killing their own supporters.
There’s little leadership in our politics. Few Democrats supported gay marriage until public polling showed a majority in favor. If that had been the case earlier in our history how long would it have taken for civil rights laws to be enacted or interracial marriage to be legal. We didn’t get to 50% in favor of interracial marriage until the late 80s! I realize you can’t be too far off public opinion and get elected, but leaders should be leading public opinion, not following it. Consensus can be created if people with good writing and oratorical skills get out there and make the case. Of course that means risking your access to power if you don’t succeed and that right there is the big problem we face in our politics.
Remember, it’s all part of Putin’s plan to undermine democracy. Part of that is to undermine the trust in any institutional authority. As soon as Covid hit, they realized it was easy to spread lies and made up stories, and they did. Eventually, it pitted some people against other people, which is exactly the goal. And when a mass of people are distrustful of government all the grifters realize they can get viewers by fanning the flames. So it spreads around and feds on itself. And it worked! If some people die, who cares?
Echoingย Randy Ellicottย &ย Houndentenor. Republicans intentionally sow so much distrust against doctors and research that they can promote quacks into their ranks without consequence.
it was in their interest because these people gain power by making other people afraid of anything and everyone. It was in their interest because these people gain power by making other people not trust respectable and respected authorities. It was in their interest because fear, doubt, confusion, And the politics of resentment are always in the interests of authoritarians, conmen, and grifter.
Evangelicals (the MAGAt base) quite literally worship a genocidal deity. Extend that fantasy into their nearly hermetically sealed reality and voila, we have a cult with a full on death wish.
Politics because the CDC and the “Democratic appointed” Fauci had to be opposed by GOP and for no other reason. Well, yes, because Trump had no idea how to act as President.
See, the problem was that they didn’t followย allย of TFG’s advice and drink bleach and stick UV light in their butts after taking the hydroxychloroquine. /s
Republicans’ successful sowing of distrust towards science and doctors during the pandemic is the biggest consequence. When President Obama successfully led the creation of the H1N1 vaccine, no one blinked. But Trump and his like-minded lackeys lied and lied and lied about the vaccine that many Republican voters trust a rando podcaster or anti-vax preacher on the street more than peer-reviewed research.
And while these anti-vaxxers scam their viewership and rake in the $$, they take the vax behind the scenes.
Touting quack remedies instead of effective treatment for a disease that can kill you, or leave you seriously disabled for long stretches, is not the finest re-election tactic–especially when your opponent is urging his voters to get highly effective vaccines.
Touting quack remedies instead of effective treatment for a disease that can kill you, or leave you seriously disabled for long stretches, is not the finest re-election tactic–especially when your opponent is urging his voters to get highly effective vaccines.
Yesterday Ladapo called for banning COVID vaccines due to โDNA integration,โ a claim that was immediately ridiculed by vaccine experts and Ladapoโs own DeSantis-appointed predecessor in Florida.
So this is the crazy nutcase that Tildeb used to justify anti-trans hate.ย He is the Florida Surgeon General, handpicked by DeathSantis because of his anti-covid vaccine stance.ย He was given the job even though not qualified, and DeathSantis tried to force the state university to hire him at a huge sum of money.ย He refused to answer questions asked him by the Florida legislature and lied to them when forced to answer.ย He was part of the demon seed doctor’s team that scammed maga people by charging them huge fees for an online consultation, then prescribed Ivermectin to cure or prevent covid.ย It has been well proven that Ivermectin doesn’t do anything to cure or prevent covid.ย He has been soundly mocked by the scientific and medical communities.ย ย Remember if DeathSantis is elected to the presidency this is the type of people he hires.ย ย Below I will post the first part of the Wikipedia entry on him.ย Hugs.ย Scottieย ย
Josephย Ladapoย Josephย Abiodunย Ladapoย (born December 16, 1978) [1] is the surgeon general of Florida. [2] He has attracted attention for spreading misinformation on COVID-19 and promoting vaccine hesitancy. [
ย
DeSantisโ Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo says covid mRNA vaccines โthe Anti-Christ of all productsโฆ Thatโs so wrong, you know, itโs just complete disrespect to the human genome and the importance of protecting it and preserving it, and that is our connection to God.โ pic.twitter.com/r1aGzHsBqz
mRNA, of course, is messenger molecules telling some of your immune cells to make specific antibodies. They don’t mess with DNA, they don’t get into your ova or sperm, they just wash out of your body within a few days. That’s what they were telling him when “They talked about a bunch of other things” that he didn’t understand.
The biggest thing about the new mRNA technology is getting the mRNA to survive long enough to make any proteins. The cells have a zillion RNAses waiting to chew up improper RNA not tagged with the exact signal for temporary protection. It has been nearly 20 years since I was a bench researcher handling RNA, and I still remember what a PITA it was to handle.
Remember this is for emergencies when the pregnant patient is dying!ย The keywords are emergencies and dying!ย Yet the republicans in Texas and in the Texas courts are so “pro-life” they are demanding a woman die rather than abort a non-viable fetus which can not survive outside the womb because it is not a baby yet.ย The keywords there are non-viable, can not survive, and not a baby yet.ย So we need to stop calling these people pro-life, and admit they are forced birth.ย Their ruling if you read the article says that the doctor has to balance the needs of the woman AND the needs of the fetus, but the court ruling calls it an unborn baby and give it priority over a living woman.ย The fetus is not a baby yet if it is non-viable, and if it is certain to die before being born, cause the death of the person carrying it, or will not survive long after being born then you can disregard anything it might need even if viable right then at exam time.ย ย But the court claims that the policy rule is silent on what to do if the state bans abortion.ย But that is not true.ย The policy rule says doctors must give an abortion to save the life of the woman!ย But Texas simply doesn’t want to do that!ย This is 100% about controlling women, making women livestock for men, simply breeding mares for men’s issue.ย A woman by herself has no rights, her duty is to the man who owns her at the time, it starts out as her father and then becomes her husband.ย That is why they call it giving away the bride!ย A female from birth is property and good only to serve and breed.ย ย In the minds of republicans.ย
I think the ruling is also over broad.ย It bans the Biden administration from enforcing the policy against the two religious doctors groups anywhere in the country not just in Texas.ย How can that be legal?ย The constitution specifically calls on the government to protect the welfare of the people.ย Apparently the Texas courts don’t that applies to pregnant people.ย ย ย Hugs.ย Scottie
An operating room sits empty at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services, an abortion clinic that closed its doors following the overturn of Roe v. Wade and plans to reopen in New Mexico and Illinois, in San Antonio, Texas, August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Callaghan O’Hare/File Photo
The U.S. government cannot enforce federal guidance in Texas requiring emergency room doctors to perform abortions if necessary to stabilize emergency room patients, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, siding with the state in a lawsuit accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of overstepping its authority.
The ruling by a unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes amid aย wave of lawsuitsย focusing on when abortions can be provided in states whose abortion bans have exceptions for medical emergencies.
ย
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment. The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and two anti-abortion medical associations that challenged the guidance – the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations– did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Biden administration in July 2022 issued guidance stating that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), a federal law governing emergency rooms, can require abortion when necessary to stabilize a patient with a medical emergency, even in states where it is banned. The guidance came soon after the U.S. Supreme Courtย overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which since 1973 had guaranteed a right to abortion nationwide.
ย
Texas and the associations immediately sued the administration, saying the guidance interfered with the state’s right to restrict abortion. A lower court judge in August 2022ย agreed, finding that EMTALA was silent as to what a doctor should do when there is a conflict between the health of the mother and the unborn child and that the Texas abortion ban “fills that void” by including narrow exceptions to save the mother’s life or prevent serious bodily injury in some cases.
ย
Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, writing for the 5th Circuit panel, agreed, writing that EMTALA also includes a requirement to deliver an unborn child and it was up to doctors to balance the medical needs of the mother and fetus, while complying with any state abortion laws.
The law “does not provide an unqualified right for the pregnant mother to abort her child,” he wrote.
The ruling upheld a lower court order that blocked enforcement of the guidance in Texas and also blocked the administration from enforcing it against members of two anti-abortion medical associations anywhere in the country.
ย
The federal court’s decision comes a month after Texas’s highest state courtย ruled againstย a woman seeking an emergency abortion of her non-viable pregnancy. That courtย is currently consideringย a separate lawsuit by 22 women about the scope of the emergency medical exception to Texas’s abortion ban.
A federal judge last year reached the opposite conclusion in a similar lawsuit in Idaho, blocking that state’s abortion ban after finding it conflicted with EMTALA. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to hear the state’s appeal of that ruling later this month.
Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio
The Republican Party has already been using “1984” as an instruction manual for at least two decades if not longer. Why would they stop there? Why wouldn’t they also choose to throw “The Handmaid’s Tale” in there for good measure?
Once again: states that banned abortions with exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother WILL NOT honor those exceptions. It’s all a charade.
Remember the logic for testing witches? Weigh her down, toss her in the pond, and if she dies, she was innocent. If she survives, she’s a witch, so execute her.
Obviously, you don’t know whether emergency action is required to save a woman’s life until you don’t do it and she’s dead. Until she’s dead, then you can’t know if an abortion was actually needed to save her life.
Besides, these people have made it abundantly clear since, well, forever, that their concern for life ONLY extends to the unborn. Once you’re alive – whether you’re the mother or the child – the only interest they have in you is fucking you over.
Since ecclesiastical SCOTUS brought us this nightmare we can’t look to them to save us. We gotta rip out all Christian Nazis from state houses. Gonna be a very tough thing with gerrymandered districts.
Ladies (and gentlemen) we need to remember $#!+ like this next November and get out there and VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE! Pass it on! (with 4-part harmony and feeling
Back in the 80s, when I would attend pro-choice marches, we used to chant Right to Life You’re name’s a lie You don’t care If women die That was 40 years ago, and nothing has changed.
Years ago, there was a pregnant woman who was found to be nonresponsive but the state forced the hospital to keep her “alive” until the fetus, which itself had a low or no probability of live birth, could be delivered.
Also, “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said former President Donald Trump would have lost in Texas in the 2020 election if his office had not successfully blocked counties from mailing out applications for mail-in ballots to all registered voters.”
Itโs against the law to save a woman by aborting her pregnancy thatโs going to kill her. Iโm at a loss for words at the momentโฆโฆ The right are taking away womenโs rights and lgbtq rights at deadly consequence. Take note of you live with HIV because the meds that are keeping you alive will not be available if we continue to give these monsters power. I hope Biden stacks the court and we return to safe sanity again.
This video was recorded weeks ago.ย ย Yet at this point Israel had destroyed 98,000 buildings, and most if not all would have had people in them or near them.ย At this time the Palestinian death toll is over 20,000 and 1/3 of them are children.ย ย Hugs.ย Scottie
Ari Tolany, research consultant for Women for Weapons Trade Transparency, to discuss her recent piece that she co-authored in In These Times entitled โHow Israel Got an Endless Supply of U.S.-Made Smart Bombs.โ
Tolany walks Sam through the particular proliferation of Precision Guided Missiles in these overseas stockpiles, and the contradictory nature of why these missiles are manufactured (reducing collateral damage) and how they have been used by US allies โ namely Saudi Arabia and Israel โ before wrapping up with a brief conversation on the importance of international investigation in actually holding the US accountable for their bombs.
Same sex relationships and male gay brothels were normal until Christianity took hold.ย Then the bigotry started.ย ย Sexual activity was an accepted part of everyday life, until regressive repressive Christians ruined it for everyone.ย ย And they are still at it today.ย Hugs
Welcome back to ๐คชCrazy Histories๐คช As long as humanity has existed, there have been physical and romantic relationships between people of the same gender. And like straight people, those of varying sexualities have also looked for release in more promiscuous places. They say the oldest job in the world is prostitution, and these gay brothels that date from antiquity to modern day certainly prove thatโฆ #ancienthistory#historydocumentary#homosexual
Please notice the date of the article.ย I am desperately trying to clear older tabs, so I can clean this computer up.ย Thanks again to Ten Bears for the link, how he finds time to read all this stuff and make lists of the links is beyond my understanding.ย ย But while the data on the number of people including kids killed is out of date, massively wrong now, the feeling of the post is important.ย I hope you will read it.ย The US must stop supporting Israel in its genocide of the Palestinian people.ย Hugs.ย Scottie
*** Edited to add the link to Ten Bears’ website. I would hope by now that people would already be following his blog but if not here is the link.ย https://homelessonthehighdesert.com/ย ***
Here are quotes from the article which are clearly true.
The goal of the Netanyahu government and his right-wing extremists is not just the destruction of Hamas (which is unlikely to occur as the pulverizing of Gaza leads to new recruits for the terrorist organization and Hamasโs 30,000 man fighting force remains resilient, its leaders alive and negotiating with Israel through Qatar), it is the removal of all presence of the Palestinian people to allow for an expanded โEretz Yisrael,โ including the children.
The Holocaust does not bestow impunity for reckless, brutal and merciless acts by the State of Israel (the massive killing of children and their civilian families), even if these acts are conducted in response to execrable and monstrous acts against its citizens. ย
Can one excuse the relentless murder of children within Gaza as justified retaliation for the horrifying massacre of the Israelis near the Gazan border on October 7, or are they both equally heinous acts?
The children of Gaza do bleed, die of disease or are crushed to death, their body parts scattered amidst the debris of 2000 pound bombs?
(Special to Informed Comment; Feature) โ Is there a scale that can measure the value ofย 7,000 dead Palestinian childrenย vs. 1200 dead Israelis?
What is to be measured, the weight of their souls? Can such a scale ascribe the worth of one group of the dead as being of greater value than the other group, one soul to a person or child?
One can, ironically, turn back to the plaintive speech of a benighted Shylock, a Jew trapped in an anti-Semitic stereotype, in Shakespeareโsย The Merchant of Veniceย for some guidance to answer this question, replacing the names of religions to reflect the current catastrophe in Gaza:
I am a Palestinian. Hath not a Palestinian eyes? Hath not a Palestinian hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Jew is?ย If you prickย us, do we notย bleed?
In the original version of Shakespeareโsย timeless monologueย for Shylock, the word replaced by โPalestinianโ above was originally โJew,โ and the word โJewโ was originally โChristian.โ
The goal of the Netanyahu government and his right-wing extremists is not just the destruction of Hamas (which is unlikely to occur as the pulverizing of Gaza leads to new recruits for the terrorist organization and Hamasโs 30,000 man fighting force remains resilient, its leaders alive and negotiating with Israel through Qatar), it is the removal of all presence of the Palestinian people to allow for an expanded โEretz Yisrael,โ including the children.
The Holocaust does not bestow impunity for reckless, brutal and merciless acts by the State of Israel (the massive killing of children and their civilian families), even if these acts are conducted in response to execrable and monstrous acts against its citizens. ย
Can one excuse the relentless murder of children within Gaza as justified retaliation for the horrifying massacre of the Israelis near the Gazan border on October 7, or are they both equally heinous acts?
โIf you prick us, do we not bleed?โ
The children of Gaza do bleed, die of disease or are crushed to death, their body parts scattered amidst the debris of 2000 pound bombs?
Recently, an Informed Comment article by Charles Hirschkind, was entitled โThe Invisible Slaughter of Gazan Children.โย Hirschkind wrote:
ย of Gaza are being slaughtered at a horrific rate. No, you will not find the terms โslaughterโ or โhorrificโ in Western media accounts of Israelโs current assault on the Palestinians residents of Gaza (these terms are reserved for Israeli deaths), but nonetheless, there is little disagreement among media professionals that nearly half of the deaths resulting from Israelโs current assault on Gaza are children.
According to the charityย Save the Children, โMore children have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the last three weeks than in every other armed conflict annually since 2019.โ
Yes, we know that the current figure of the dead children in Gaza is probablyย far more thanย 7,000 (adding the innumerable more buried in the rubble.) We know that the death toll of these innocents is growing by the day as the Israeli war machine of vengeance continues to pulverize Gaza.
There are no posters with photos plastered on lampposts of the children killed in Gaza. No marches bearing the likenesses of the mangled children. ย They remain largely invisible and faceless, denied the basic recognition of their individual humanity. This is intentional.
โThere was no such thing as Palestinians,โ former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once falsely proclaimed.
Itโs no surprise then that a December 18thย Washington Post articleย indicated that a clearly identified journalist in Gaza was shot in the leg, likely by an Israeli sniper, after reporting the discovery of decomposing bodies of Palestinian babies, victims of the Israeli pummeling:
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Theย Israel-Gaza warย has been devastating for journalists, with at leastย 64 killed and 13 wounded, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The risks are gravest for Palestinian reporters based in Gaza, who must keep themselves safe while also dealing with the loss of their homes, families and colleagues.
The Israeli government and IDF โpress liaisonsโ donโt want journalists to disseminate photographs that would turn Palestinians into sympathetic people, or to allow the West to develop empathy for the dying children.
Horrifyingly, parents of Palestinian children in Gaza, and the children themselves, are writing their names on their arms and legs, so that when a limb is found the child can be identified.
As American poet devorah major (initial lower caps, her preference) haunted by this macabre imageย was inspired to write,
โremember?
not wanting to be one of the missing or one of the unable to be identified killed the little girl wrote on the inside of her heart shaped palm between heart and lifelines in neat Arabic script โif my hand survived this is my nameโ before she was slain.
these children do not have numbers burned into their arms but many have written their own names statements and identification numbersโ
Many of these children were too young to formulate their aspirations. Who knows what wonders they could have experienced? They are snuffed out without the chance for their futures to blossom like ripe olive trees, olive trees that are now violently being cut down and destroyed by Israeli West Bank zealots and thugs who want, like most of Netanyahuโs cabinet, a Greater Israel from โthe river to the sea.โ
Yes, who can weigh the value of a soul? The children in Gaza and the Israeli dead are equalized in their irreversible deaths. Their futures have been cut short by the madness of a vile and intractable hatred from Hamas and Netanyahuโs Israel.
It is glossed over in the report but Russia has been targeting Ukrainian civilians for over a year.ย Russia fights dirty, they don’t try for military targets, they go after civilians, women and children.ย ย In the recent might time missile / drone attack they did not target a single Ukrainian military instillation, but they did go after power plants electric grids, shopping centers, and apartment buildings.ย Ukraine has been told by the west don’t use the weapons we give you to target in Russia, so all the pain of Russia’s invasion has been felt by Ukraine.ย Now let Russia feel pain also, and maybe they will stop their bullshit.ย ย Hugs.ย ย Scottie
I read on a different post that Christian nationalist feel entitled to force everyone to view their religious material.ย ย And only their religious matter.ย See they know that this country is a Christian nation and atheist have stolen it from them.ย Just like the 2020 election was stolen, and just like they know it is their country which to them means the maga right wing conservative minority.ย ย You just can not argue with these people, they are so convinced of their belief in a formerly religious country just as they are sure their god exists, and only their god.ย ย But it is not good enough to force their church doctrines on the public in our country.ย They need to force their god all over the world.ย Hugs.ย Scottie
Rep. Tim Walberg, a former Bible salesman, encouraged Ugandan leaders to resist U.S. efforts to roll back the vicious law.
Every once in a while, the right in the U.S. canโt help but look longingly at countries where repression of LGBTQ is a matter of law. But Rep. Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican, went one step further. He actually took a trip to Uganda to meet with leaders there andย urge them to โstand firmโย in support of their draconian anti-LGBTQ law,ย which includes the death penalty for gay people.
Walberg took the trip last October, but it escaped notice until Salon revealed it this week. Walberg was the keynote speaker at the Ugandaโs National Prayer Breakfast. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, who signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law in May, was among those present for Walbergโs speech. Museveni said that Walbergโs presence proved that there were Museveni later said that Walbergโs speech showed that some Americans โthink like us.โ
In the speech, Walberg called upon Ugandan leaders to defy efforts to force the African nation to roll back the vicious law, which makes โaggravated homosexualityโ punishable by the death penalty.โ The U.S.ย has dropped Uganda from a trade pactย and issued visa sanctions against some Ugandan officials. The World Bankย has halted all loans to Uganda in response to the measure.
โThough the rest of the world is pushing back on you, though there are other major countries that are trying to get into you and ultimately change you, stand firm. Stand firm,โ Walberg counseled the attendees.
Walberg cited the Bible as justification for a law to kill people. ย โWorthless is the thought of the world,โ Walberg said. โ[W]orthless, for instance, is the thought of the World Bank, or the World Health Organization, or the United Nations, or, sadly, some in our administration in America who say, โYou are wrong for standing for values that God created,โ for saying there are male and female and God created them.โโ
โWhose side do we want to be on?โ Walberg continued. โGodโs side. Not the World Bank, not the United States of America, necessarily, not the U.N. Godโs side.โ
Walberg explicitly aligned himself with Museveni and the Ugandan legislators who overwhelmingly passed the โKill the Gaysโ bill. Referring to the Ugandan president, Walberg said, โHe knows that he has a Parliament, and โฆ even congressmen like me who will say, โWe stand with you.โโ
A former Bible salesman, Walberg has always been a standard issue religious conservative in Congress.ย HRC designated him a member of its Hall of Shame in 2014.ย This year he was the author of a provision he called the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their (PROTECT) Kids Act,ย part of a larger GOP bill that went nowhere.ย Under Walbergโs provision, schools would be required to get parental consent before changing a studentโsย pronounsย or preferred names.
His trip to Uganda was sponsored by the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast, a formerly bipartisan group that has recently taken a hard-right turn. The new head of the groupย is Caroline Aderholt,ย a former leader Concerned Women of America, a long-time anti-LGBTQ group. Aderholtโs husband is Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican from Alabama whoย once tried to stop adoption agencies from allowing gay people to adopt.
While Walberg has gotten blowback for his comments, donโt expect his fellow Republicans to condemn him. If anything, Walberg is saying what at least a few other Christian nationalist types in the ranks are thinking as well. Heโs just another reminder that when it comes to todayโs Republican party, nothing is considered entirely beyond the pale, even killing LGBTQ people.