And even more bigotry due to the republican right, old news before I clean the computer.

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.

You Again? Gregory In Seattle2 days ago

In the same vein…

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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.

S_E_P Chucktech2 days ago

Christianity is merely the religious arm of the white heterosexual male patriarchy. The current SCOTUS is its legal arm.

Chucktech S_E_P2 days ago edited

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.

DJ Joe in NM2 days ago

Yeah. just like this bigot did at Barneys Beanery in the heart of West Hollywood back in the day.

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paganheart Bungee2 days ago

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…..

Bungee2 days ago

Impeach him over allegations from an apparently non-existent “whistleblower”?

Do you have ANY idea how ridiculous you sound? WTF

DevilDog2 days ago edited

Nikki Haley says Congressional Republicans “absolutely should” impeach President Biden over whistleblower allegations.

No proof. No facts. Not even a congressional hearing. Mere allegations are enough for today’s GOP to demand impeachment.

So much for “both sides are the same.”

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago

Be outraged!!
OMG – “interference” that resulted in a guilty plea?
Impeach over claims from a ‘whistleblower’ who has never testified under oath?

Go to hell Nimrata – and no I won’t use the name you “prefer” to be called, since you and your part spit on all of us.

paganheart UpNorth2 days ago

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?

Todd200362 days ago

It was never about zygotes. It’s about oppressing women

And it’s succeeding

Gustav2 Todd200362 days ago

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.

You are destroying the man’s hard work.

Stultus Gustav22 days ago

Today, the Catholic Church bases their sexual ethics on Tommy. So 21st sexuality is based on 13th? century science.

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo Gustav22 days ago

That’s also why masturbation was deemed especially evil or even butt sex. Dropping all those human beings on the ground or in someone’s ass.

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another_steve Todd200362 days ago

Women who have autonomy over their bodies might not consent to 24/7 sex on demand. Theofascist men don’t like that idea.

Abortion bans are designed to eliminate female body autonomy for that reason.

Bungee2 days ago

#4). Keep’em Pregnant

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Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️2 days ago

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.

Sam_Handwich 5 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.

jefe5084 Sam_Handwich5 days ago

righties can’t comprehend that even some animals can be “gay.”

Wintercat jefe50845 days ago

The coverage of the two dads raising a penguin chick infuriated them.

Sam_Handwich Wintercat5 days ago

How will that poor baby penguin ever learn to do dishes or dress like a whore???

TnCTampa5 days ago

This is about the only paper in the state that will say anything bad about Desantis. Thanks Orlando Sentinel

Richard B5 days ago

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.

KarenAtFOH5 days ago

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..

Rambie Dennis5 days ago

They want them to worship a new golden calf that has less of an orange tint.

Todd20036 Dennis5 days ago edited

This is all because trump lost in 2020 and his picks (mostly) lost in 2022

That’s the only reason Koch is turning against trump

Nic Peterson Dennis5 days ago

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.

Elagabalus Bruno5 days ago

The only reason they want to stop Trump is because they can read the polls which say he will lose to Biden in 2024.

Yves R. Mektin 5 days ago
So they plan on doing absolute zilch nada zip for the American people or their constituents. Nothing but performative obstruction.

Darreth Nico El Azul Gato Proud & Blue5 days ago

The US House is dominated by Dominionists. So, it’s a church, too.

Jean-Marc Canada – ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ5 days ago

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

Jack Frost Jean-Marc Canada – ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ5 days ago

It’s the same thing with DeSantis in Florida. He’s used the word woke so many times. It has no meaning anymore.

GOP just keep attacking Biden cabinet officials who are technically Republicans. This is going to backfire amazingly for them.

Todd20036 6 days ago
Elections matter. Nearly all republicans want to keep this torture

Dark Qiviut6 days ago

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.

Houndentenor Dark Qiviut6 days ago

Exactly.

1) It doesn’t work.
2) It causes harm.

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.

Jurgen Dark Qiviut6 days ago

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.

ErnestMc6 days ago

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.

mythictom 6 days ago
Humiliate every single Republican that tries this crap!

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!! mythictom6 days ago

Especially Tommy Tuberville, who did the same thing!

Joe in NM6 days ago

They know their voters are too stupid to know.

crewman Joe in NM6 days ago

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.

thatotherjean  Richard Ryan6 days ago
As Mr. Rogers told his child audience, “Look for the helpers.”
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.

DmR 4 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.

leathersmith3 days ago

children did not design that

Professor Barnhardt leathersmitha day ago

It does look suspiciously too well done.

Statistics Palin3 days ago

Fuck that’s tacky. If the Baptists had built the Sistine Chapel, the ceiling would be covered with vinyl siding.

Mark3 days ago

“All people, of all faiths, are welcome in our state.”

That ain’t what your driveway says.

Anastasia Beaverhousen Mark3 days ago

“All people, Except those trans people, and those dirty gays, and the lesbians, oh, I forgot the MuseLambs, and the Jews. Everyone else, come on in.”

Ohbehr in Minnesota Anastasia Beaverhousen3 days ago

Don’t think the Catholics, Unitarians, United Church of Christ, Methodists, Lutherans would be welcome either. They are not southern KKK Baptists.

Elagabalus3 days ago

Arkansas has officially become a theo-fascist state. Full Stop.

MyCityisNotaSwamp3 days ago

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?

Darreth3 days ago

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.

Brian Green Serene Pumpkin3 days ago

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.

BartmanLA3 days ago

If they want to play hardball, then lets get businesses to do this!

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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. 🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈

GayOldLady GayOldLady3 days ago edited

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

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TexasBoy3 days ago

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.

GladysKravitz3 days ago

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

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️4 days ago edited

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.”

Ore Carmi Jonathan Smith4 days ago

I guess the conservatives on the Supreme Court don’t care about the legitimacy of a case, if they get the opportunity to gut rights they don’t like!

Houndentenor Ore Carmi4 days ago

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.

m.d.Blakely4 days ago
According to the WaPo article, MTG racked up $15,500 in fines. Remember when she complained about her measly congressional pay?

jharp4 days ago

What a terrific use of taxpayers money.

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.

Spending other people’s money. Grandstanding.

It’s all republicans have.

Houndentenor4 days ago

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!

Makoto4 days ago

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…

JoeMyGodMod JCF4 days ago

I think the fines were deducted from their salaries. MTG once boasted that she’d racked up so many fines that she was working for “free.”

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.

JackFknTwist4 days ago

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.

carswell JackFknTwist4 days ago

The majority judges are members of the elite working in the interest of the elite.
And for them, elite is rich, white, male, Christian and corporate.

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.

TrollopeReadera day ago

but of course!

“The outside firm never interviewed Paxton or key agency leaders….

does the report say “After thorough investigation, we determined that all is fine, move along, nothing to see here”?

Liberal Redneck – Boo, SCOTUS, Boo

Well the super-red and highly politicized Supreme Court is at it again, and, as is always the case, things are now worse for many average Americans than they were before.

Forget Hunter Biden, what about Jared and Ivanka’s grift?

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.

No One Is Talking About What Ron DeSantis Has Actually Done to Florida

https://time.com/6266618/ron-desantis-florida-governance-essay/

https://time.com/6266618/ron-desantis-florida-governance-essay/

Media coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s all-but-announced candidacy for president is already in full frenzy, and so far the script is exactly as his handlers would like it to be. The governor regularly opens up new fronts in the culture wars, sowing alarm over critical race theory, transgender rights, or border policies. In response, liberal pundits fall into the trap of accentuating the very issues DeSantis has chosen to fire up his base.

Omitted from the public debate about DeSantis’s policies is almost any discussion of his actual record of governance—what exactly he has delivered to the citizens of his state, especially those without seven-figure incomes and lush investment portfolios.

 

Even a cursory dip into the statistics of social and economic well-being reveals that Florida falls short in almost any measure that matters to the lives of its citizens. More than four years into the DeSantis governorship, Florida continues to languish toward the bottom of state rankings assessing the quality of health careschool fundinglong-term elder care, and other areas key to a successful society.

Florida may be the place where “woke goes to die”—as DeSantis is fond of saying—but it is also where teachers’ salaries are among the lowest in the nation, unemployment benefits are stingier than in any other state, and wage theft flourishes with little interference from the DeSantis administration. In 2021, DeSantis campaigned against a successful ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage, which had been stuck at $8.65 an hour. Under DeSantis’s watch, the Sunshine State has not exactly been a workers’ paradise.

Read More: Why “Woke” Is A Convenient Republican Dog Whistle

DeSantis weaponizes the cultural wars to distract attention from the core missions of his governorship, which is to starve programs geared toward bettering the lives of ordinary citizens so he can maintain low taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Florida is the ideal haven for privileged Americans who don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes. It has no income tax for individuals, and its corporate tax rate of 5.5% is among the lowest in the nation. An investigation by the Orlando Sentinel in late 2019 revealed the startling fact that 99% of Florida’s companies paid no corporate income tax, abetted by tax-avoidance schemes and state officials who gave a low priority to enforcing tax laws.

This is a pattern that shows up in the statistics of many Republican-led states, which on average commit fewer dollars per-capita to health carepublic education, and other crucial services compared to their blue counterparts, while making sure corporations and wealthy individuals are prioritized for tax relief. Arizona cut taxes every year between 1990 and 2019, following up with a shift to a flat tax this year that will cost its budget $1.9 billion. Meanwhile, its public-school spending ranks 48 among the 50 states.

In Florida, the state’s tax revenues come largely through sales and excise taxes, which fall hardest on the poor and middle class. A 2018 study by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Florida had the third least-equitable tax system of the 50 states. In the state’s “upside-down” tax structure, the poorest 20% of Florida families paid 12.7% of their income in taxes, while the families whose income was in the top 4% paid 4.5%, and the top 1% paid 2.3%, according to the study.

Florida taxpayers get less for their money than residents of many other states. The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that studies health-care systems globally, found in its 2022 “scorecard” that Florida had the 16th worst health care among the 50 states. It’s no wonder that Florida ranks below the northern blue states in life expectancy and rates of cancer deathdiabetesfatal overdosesteen birth rates, and infant mortality.

Largely because of DeSantis’s obstinacy, Florida is one of 10 states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, an act of political spite that has cost those states billions in federal health care dollars and cost thousands of people their lives. More than 12% of Floridians are without medical insurance, a worse record than all but four other states. Despite having the country’s highest percentage of retirees, Florida has the worst long-term care among the 50 states, according to the American Association of Retired Persons.

Public schools fare no better than health care in DeSantis’s Florida. Not only did Florida rank 49th in the country for average teacher pay in 2020, but the Education Law Center, a non-profit advocacy group based in New Jersey, found in a 2021 report that the state had the seventh-lowest per-pupil funding in the country. Education Week, which ranks states public school annually, looking beyond mere test scores, placed Florida 23rd in its 2021 report, a lackluster showing for a large and wealthy state.

It says something about the state of our political discourse that Florida’s denuded public sector was not more of an issue in last year’s gubernatorial campaign. In endorsing DeSantis’s Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, the Tampa Bay Times spent so many column inches on the incumbent’s demagoguery, vindictiveness, and authoritarian tendencies that it never even got to the minutiae of his governance. “No matter what you think about the state of the Florida economy or its schools or its future…,” the paper wrote, “the choice really is this simple: Do you want the state governed by a decent man or a bully?”

To be fair to the media, DeSantis and his allies manned the trenches of the culture wars so ferociously that it was all reporters could do to keep up with all the bomb throwing. How do you delve into the state’s tax policy when your governor is flying planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard or declaring war on Disney for issuing a statement in opposition to the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay Law”?

But that is very much the point of wedge issues, as they have been wielded by scurrilous politicians for decades, to anger and distract voters so they won’t notice the actions of public officials that mainly benefit the wealthy and are against the public interest.

As the 2024 election draws closer, DeSantis must not be allowed to accomplish nationally what he did in his state—cloak his service to the wealthy by frightening working people with stories about transgender recruiting and “socialist” college professors. There are unmistakable signs that Americans are focused on what an activist government can do for the public good, as evidenced by Floridians’ vote to increase the minimum wage.

The failure of DeSantis to better serve the most vulnerable citizens of his state is his weak underbelly in a national campaign.

More crazy and bigoted news that drives my depression

From the linked article in the above Joe.My.God. post.   Remember, this is a Yale history grad, claiming that is OK to honor Confederate Generals that fought the US government to keep slavery because “But at the end of the day, you know, we had people that have done great things for this country,” DeSantis said.”

Ron DeSantis doubles down on restoration of ‘iconic’ Fort Bragg name

Despite the limited scope of the DoD’s renaming, the Governor likened taking Bragg’s name off the fort to moves to “take Abraham Lincoln off the statue down in Boston … take Teddy Roosevelt down in New York City” and “remove George Washington’s name from schools in San Francisco.”

“And that’s not, I think, what I want to see. I mean, I think you can look back at anybody and you could find flaws. But at the end of the day, you know, we had people that have done great things for this country,” DeSantis said.

“I’m not in a position to say that somehow I’m so much better than any of this. It’s a different time. People make mistakes. There’s different parts of our society, we look back and can say was a mistake. But this idea that we’re going to erase history, I just think, is fundamentally wrong, and we’re not going to do that.”

Brian Curtis 2 days ago
“We shouldn’t erase history,” say Republicans who support expunging all record of Trump’s impeachments.

You Again? Brian Curtis2 days ago

And no teaching the histories of minority groups unless they reflect positively on white, christian men.

That would be too traumatic for them to bear!

Rebecca Gardner2 days ago

While we’re at it, let’s also create Fort Hirohito. Why not, he was the leader of a foreign nation that attacked the United States. Let’s run with this theme Governor Fucknutz.

carswell Hayseed2 days ago edited

Fort Rosa Parks. Black, female, uppity, liberal. The GQP will have a collective aneurysm.

mkbear682 days ago

“And here’s the thing, you know, you learn from history, you don’t erase the history” and yet history that makes students uncomfortable can’t be taught in schools…right

band💋 DmR2 days ago

That’s what happens when you’re clearly running for president of the Confederate States of America.

tbj5 Yves R. Mektin2 days ago

Trump’s an elderly sociopathic narcissist, he’s spent decades refining his charisma and reflexes to lie instantly, without hesitation and with complete believability.

Ronnie isn’t, even if he’s a sociopath himself, he’s just hungry for power and clout and tries constantly to copy Trump to try and steal his thunder and his followers. But he can never be as good a liar.

🔄arithrianos🔄2 days ago edited

Wow, he first says the name of the military base did not cause him to learn any history at all, then claims keeping the name is vital to learning the history he was totally ignorant about until they removed the name of the incompetent traitorous slaver, demonstrating he is lying through his teeth. He must have experts help him prove himself a liar like that, I don’t think he’s clever enough to figure it out himself.

TK2 days ago edited

I guess he means we learn only from white history, not the black history he is censoring in the schools. That’s erasing history, asshole!! This guy is such a lying fucking hypocrite.

Watters wanted and got the Tucker spot at fox. To get it he has to appeal to the most right wing demographics sought after by media, and to win them he has to be full open racist and the most ardent supporter of the right wing conspiracies along with pushing the idea of Christian nationalism. Hugs

Sarah2 days ago edited

So, if we make DC and Puerto Rico states, will Hawaii become “real America,” since it won’t be the most recent anymore?

Anyway, well, we know why he doesn’t think Obama is a “real American.”

vap Sarah2 days ago

No. Because in MAGA land only White, Christians are “real Americans”

John L vap2 days ago

Even then you have to be the Reich kind of “Christian”

Houndentenor Sarah2 days ago

No, he means that Obama is black and therefore not a real American because real Americans are white.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago

Now that he’s been given Tuckum’s time slot, he needs to up his hate-the-black-guy game to earn his bona fides.

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo Doug10518 hours ago

I’ll check Texas for the proper roasting temperature setting

clay 2 days ago
Between her sarcasm, mental health problems, and internalized anti-Semitism, how can I take her seriously enough to even criticize her?

Hayseed2 days ago

Who cares about the tapes or even the documents case? We need to focus on what is really important…

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Chris Baker Reality.Bitesa day ago edited

If man sees a kid playing in the street, then notice a car driving down the street, and he shrugs and says ‘free will’ and the car hits the kid, is that man a good person or a bad person?

Yet somehow Christians want to tell you that God is good, even though he allows bad things to happen. (And he could have just stopped it all by making Adam and Eve barren, or ending the world 4000 years ago.)

NotJoea day ago

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Gigia day ago

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RR Unbordered Americana day ago

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TWO MEN leaving a public restroom .
Man#1 approaches Man#2 and says:
“Excuse me sir but I noticed you didn’t wash your hands after using the urinal. I’m from Texas and in Texas we’re taught you should always wash your hands after using the restroom.”
Man#2 replies: “Well I’m from California and in California we’re taught you should’nt pee all over yourself.”

bambinoitalianoa day ago

This is Biden trying to take away our electricity! I’m going full blast until it brownout! Freedum!

Sarah bambinoitalianoa day ago

I’m going full blast until it brownout!

Happens to me after I eat bean soup.

Skeptical_Inquirer bambinoitalianoa day ago

I wish non-Dem Texans would learn to blame the GQP they vote in for the shitty state of their infrastructure but if the Ted Cruz fleeing for Cancun didn’t teach them shit . . .

Serene Pumpkin Skeptical_Inquirera day ago

The GQP has had 100% control of the state for what, 20 years? And still the fascists find ways to blame powerless Democrats

IamSmartypantsa day ago

This is really a non-issue because if the power goes out and people die, nobody can sue the power company because the Republican Texas Supreme Court just held that Republican-controlled ERCOT is immune from lawsuits. No liability = No Problem.

Secure 💪🏻 IamSmartypantsa day ago

This is nothing like the giant frozen front of 2021. We did all of this last summer. If anything, it would be rolling blackouts. We will be fine.

What, me worry?a day ago

Did they ever get around to upgrading their grid? I’m guessing it will go down and stay down for days before the 4th.

bambinoitaliano What, me worry?a day ago

No, they told everyone to kiss their grid when they rejected Beto.

Strang previously appeared here when he declared that people who oppose Trump are possessed by demons and that voting against Trump is a vote for the “apocalypse.” Also, holograms and Trump’s impeachments? Both the work of Satan. We last heard from him when he appeared in a “documentary” with Dr. Demon Semen.

Ščŏŧŧ Ċ – 🇺🇦 🕊3 days ago

What’s happening lines up with God’s Word regarding what would happen in the end times before Jesus returns.

But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be happy? I mean, your imaginary friend is going to show everyone he’s not imaginary after all. That’s a good thing, right?

Chris Baker mythictom3 days ago

There was a book, “The Late Great Planet Earth” that was popular among the end times folks. “The last days are nigh!” Published in 1970. 53 years ago. And even in the late 1800s, preachers were saying the end times were near.

They literally pray “Lord come quickly!” But then complain about all the “signs of the end times” as if that’s a bad thing. They should be working -toward- the ‘one world government” and a global currency and world peace and “the mark of the beast” because that’s what will bring the rapture. (Your eschatology may vary).

Harveyrabbit 🐱3 days ago

Expelled from caucus. AKA thrown back in the pen.

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This is basically the attempt by white supremacists to prevent the natural decline of white majority / supremacy in the US. They are terrified over the demographics that shows the steady decline of the white majority and the increase in non-white people. It terrifies them because they fear being treated as they have treated POC all during the history of the US. They want to remain the unchallenged authority they have always been. This denies everything we understand about culture and human development, not to mention what the US has always stood for. We are better / stronger / improved the more we blend and add to our prior society. Hey if you treat others that are different from you decently, they will do the same to you. If you act like an asshole toward them, they might do the same back. The thing to understand is be a decent nice person to others. Remember race is a social construct. We are all humans. We may look different but we really are the same species. Do dogs or cats of different colors be racist against each other, and should they, as they are all dogs or cats. Hugs

Todd20036 Rex3 days ago

DeSantis is worse than trump. He’s smarter, more ambitious, and actually wants to rule the country

Trump just wants the pomp and circumstances

Darreth TexasBoy3 days ago

Yes… and look which demographic he’s coddling. They’ll fall totally in line with him. Evangelicals always find the worst in humanity to align themselves with

NorthBayFella Dave B3 days ago

I don’t do 1930s/40s comparisons lightly or often, but DeSantis could certainly be someone to take us down a
similar road, just a 2020s version of it. He’s already taking actions in that vein — shipping human beings like cargo, book bannings, etc. I’m not suggesting it could be a literal Holocaust, but he will seriously and intentionally harm a lot of Americans (and more so, people wanting to become Americans) before he would be done. A lot of people would die.

Also, I’m not not saying he wouldn’t cause a literal Holocaust, either.

JackFknTwist a day ago edited
O/T : –
At the risk of having only one tune, I don’t think it can be said often enough that in their doctrinaire zealotry the conservative Justices of the Supreme Court have betrayed their underlying hypocrisy.
In their preening self-importance all they have exposed is their lack on any integrity, their enthusiasm to lie at any opportunity and their shallow semblance of probity.
What we have on the US Supreme Court is a few liars, charlatans and those willing to prostitute themselves at the alter of the Federalist Society on the one hand and to rich ‘grooming’ billionaires on the other.
Was there ever a Supreme Court so compromised?

The_Wretched JackFknTwista day ago

Yes, 1937 or so. Towards the end of the “gilded age”, the SCOTUS was as virulently anti-decency as Alito and Thomas are now. FDR, then president, make a threat to “pack” (unfvck) the court and the court suddenly changed its tune on what the law was. Then the plan to fix the court fell apart.

There’s some suggestion that a similar thing may have happened between last term and this one with regard to KNAW, Roberts and Raspberry Baret. They have not gone along with the same degree of YOLO-ALITO that marked last year / the Dobbs Term.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dada day ago

“I’m in capable of crafting legislation that respects the constitution. Vote for me for president” – Ron DeSantis

[Please clap]

NotMiguela day ago

They can’t win on real issues that matter to people so we’ll have lots of noise on wedge issues over the next year. Brown people invading, drag queen groomers and Susie has to call her teacher they/them at school.

rednekokiea day ago

DeSantis keeps trying to resurrect the infamous Jones commission – which attemped to erase homosexuality from all colleges and other schools throughout the state some 50 years ago, along with the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried it nationally. The only result was the ruining of the reputations and hopes of over 200 students and faculty in Florida.
This is evil in its strongest form.

Nic Peterson Ed B21 hours ago

Most of this is Florida law, so US SCOTUS is largely irrelevant unless there is a conflict with Federal Law. The Florida SCOTUS is packed with bigots, in a large sense the fate of Florida rests in the hands of the appellate courts.

Nic Peterson Sam_Handwich21 hours ago

That’s gonna be the kicker. We already know the FLSC is packed with bigots. The appellate courts are either going to side with a dictator or with the republic that placed them in their robes.

Ninja0980 Sam_Handwicha day ago

The 11th Circuit (thanks to Patrick Leahy’s stupidity) and SCOTUS are controlled by bigots who will uphold this shit.

Ouch It Bit Mea day ago

I feel like this is part of the whole make shit up and get it to the current Supreme Court so they can declare god and church and money or whatever. Like the website bitch in Colorado and the made up gay client.

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homoa day ago

Win or lose, Tater will screech about how he’s “fighting for families* and against woke culture & a woke & woke judges.” Others will be smart enough to point out his losses or how vaguely worded his laws are, but at the end of the day, DePudding will declare himself “the great fighter for American values*”

* values & families don’t include individuals, friends or family of the LGBTQ, nonChristians, nor nonWhite racial groups. Additional exclusions not listed or implied are applicable by the tiny dictator

GladysKravitza day ago

DeFascist can indeed get the country on a different path –
Here’s what Ron DeFascist has accomplished –
– LGBT students cannot discuss their personal lives with teachers or counselors, making them feel marginalized, alone, and possibly increasing their risks of suicide. Some parents with LGBT family members are moving out of the state. State ACLU currently suing to end this.
– Universities are unsure what they can or cannot teach based on the whims of literally one man. GOP prefer students to be inculcated with cheap cheerleading America First nationalism (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– History teachers can’t teach about the truth of American racism and black history because it might upset white people
– Some teachers are seeking employment in another state.
– A school principal had to resign because one of her teachers showed students a picture of Michelangelo’s David.
– A teacher is under investigation because she showed 13 year olds a Disney movie with a gay character.
– Women who discover they’re pregnant after 6 weeks, and are unable to have a child, can’t get an abortion in Florida, even though there should be retroactive abortion, Don Jr. lives there
– Property taxes and insurance costs are becoming unaffdable
– Million dollar contracts are given to DeFascist’s donors
– 87,141 people died of Covid in Florida. Less would have died had there been the slightest of protective measures taken, but DeFascist didn’t allow that.
– Hispanic farm and construction workers are not going to work out of fear of DeFascist’s draconian rules to punish undocumented workers and their bosses. Hispanic truckers are refusing to deliver to the state. Farm products are rotting while remaining unpicked.
– Students and companies who support diversity and inclusion are no longer allowed to do so.
– Trans children can no longer get medical care, use bathroom of pronouns of their choice (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– a court could temporarily remove children from their homes if they receive gender-affirming care
– LGBT people who seek medical care can be denied it if they’re unlucky enough to have a religious fanatic doctor.
– Drag queens can be arrested for appearing in drag in public where children can see them. (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– Any idiot can buy a gun without a permit, training, or with or without a criminal record.
– Disney, the state’s largest employer, is suing DeFascist because of politically motivated harassment after he started a fight with them because they don’t approve of his anti-LGBT laws. Disney cancelled a $1 billion construction project that would have brought the state over 2,000 jobs.
– More to come. White retirees probably love him because he’s getting rid of the blacks, gays, immigrants and other assorted annoyances. DeSantis calls Florida “the freest state in America.” Actually you’re free to move here, retire and die.

BartmanLA2 days ago

Fantastic news! The world is evolving, but sadly the GQP and TFG will do everything in their power to stop equality in this country from becoming pernanent and legal. I’m sure TFG is probalby labelling Nepal as one of those shit hole countries he doesn’t like.

Gianni2 days ago

Apparently, our evangelical and assorted radical Christian groups, who hate us with the love of God, didn’t know where Nepal is or didn’t know such a country existed. I’ll bet they’re boning up on their geography now.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:
Two protesters offended by a Pride exhibit at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library have checked out nearly all the books in the display and vowed to keep them until the library eliminates what they call “inappropriate content” for children. The anti-gay protest is the latest example of a growing national backlash against Pride exhibits, which experts say has been fueled by debates over how schools should handle transgender minors.
The Rancho Peñasquitos protest ratchets up the usual backlash San Diego library branches experience when they create Pride exhibits or host events like drag queen story times, said head librarian Misty Jones. The protesters, Peñasquitos residents Amy Vance and Martha Martin, said libraries are open, public spaces for children that should be free of references to gender identity and how adults experience sexual attraction.
Read the full article. A local city council member is raising money to buy additional copies of the books.

Phil in Colorado2 days ago

I’m starting to think this is a matter for the police. They checked them out and stated that they have no intention of returning them unless the library does exactly what they want. Last I checked, that’s called theft.

MrRobotoLA Phil in Colorado2 days ago

They get 5 renewals, unless the items have holds on them. So I urge anyone and everyone in San Diego who is disgusted by their motives to place holds. MANY HOLDS. That way they will be required to return the items or be turned in to a collections agency. That will also likely block their library privileges to borrow any other materials. If it goes beyond that, it is indeed theft.

nocadrummer2 days ago

I had a home in a small town for nearly 30 years. It had a small library, maybe twice the size of the one in my high school. The “Christians” would come in and check out ALL the non-Christian religious books and never return them. It was their way of making sure people couldn’t learn about other religions. And this was before Trump and the MAGA folks.
If your religion of “Christianity” is SO GREAT, it should be able to prove itself against the others by its merits and ideals, not by making the beliefs of others unobtainable.

astroworf2 days ago

Damn these people. A book offered me permission not to hate myself for being who I am.

*** Editor note ***  It was books that gave me my escape from my life.  It was books that let me leave the life of abuse, hurt, and fear I was living constantly at home, in my home.  It was books that let me understand I was not a horrible abomination in life that was going to do horrible things and die in a gutter as my adoptive parents (the ones beating and sexually abusing me and letting their kids do so) claimed long before they even knew I was gay, that I did not need to suffer in silence, (Which I did for most of my life).   These books that these people are trying to ban and deny to the very kids that need them meant so much to me and other kids.  Please do not let them.  Look in the 1950s these people want to revert the social and country to there were no of these kinds of books, no positive representatives in media, but gay, lesbian, and trans kids still existed.  I am going to post a video about a old long time soap opera about gay people and the damage hate can do.   Hugs.


2 days ago

When you say “wife,” “husband,” “fiancé,” “girlfriend,” etc.–all commonly heard from heterosexuals–you are inserting sexuality in public spaces where children are or may be.

Darreth weshlovrcm2 days ago

Mere gender identification on a bathroom door is the actual issue here. These delusional evangelicals are literally incapable of connecting the dots on gender/sexual expression issues.

Houndentenor Flatlander – TXPoast3 days ago

I’m currently reading a book about the John Birch Society and everything they are doing now is the same shit the Birchers were doing in the 50s and 60s. Only back then MSM and even the GOP leadership weren’t on their side.

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!! 3 days ago
Once again, the GQP TAKES AWAY RIGHTS & POWER FROM THE CITIZENS!!!!

ChipSF weshlovrcm3 days ago

They don’t care about corporations either. They only want Republicans to hold the power over everything – people, corporations, city councils, school boards, etc.

Kyle Childress3 days ago

Republicans sure don’t like people voting, do they? They’ll overturn elections, make it harder for statewide resolutions to pass, throw out elected officials they don’t like, and now this. Democrats might wish to mention this on the campaign trail.

Melissia3 days ago

Kinda like how Texas has created special rules that only apply to specific counties that vote mostly Democratic that take away aspects of self-governance from them.

Fascists love centralizing power.

And yes I am almost caught up on the crazy news, just another 36 open tabs to go. All on one window for once. Well that was days ago

A federal court blocked Florida’s new drag show law, ruling the state’s effort to bar children from attending “adult live performances,” is overly vague and likely unconstitutional. The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell comes only a day after another federal court overturned another Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed law prohibiting gender-affirming care treatment in Florida from being covered by Medicaid. “This concern rings hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law presently and independently… permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian,” Presnell ruled.  “This statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” Presnell wrote in his 24-page decision. “In the words of the bill’s sponsor in the House, State Representative Randy Fine: (the legislation) will protect our children by ending the gateway propaganda to this evil – ‘Drag Queen Story Time.’” 
Paddycakes2001  Melissiaan hour ago
From the transcript of the court hearing:
THE COURT: The plaintiffs accuse you of invidious discrimination in violation of the 14th Amendment. How do you answer?
STATE’S LAWYER: That’s the point, Your Honor.

mkbear68 4 hours ago
Well, this was expected and they knew it, but it plays to the base and gets donations, but it puts real people at risk.

Gustav220 hours ago

GladysKravitz20 hours ago

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TheDonkeyHotay20 hours ago

The female version of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers

Moms for Liberty is an American conservative organization that advocates against school curriculums that mention LGBT rights, race, critical race theory, and discrimination, while multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban from school libraries books that address gender and sexuality issues. The group began by protesting COVID-19 protections in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates.

Moms for Liberty has been criticized for harassment, for deepening divisions among parents, for making students’ education more difficult, and for having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort.

The group was labeled an “anti-government extremist” organization in 2023 by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Formation January 1, 2021
Founders Tina Descovich, Tiffany Justice, Bridget Ziegler
Headquarters Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Area served United States
Membership 70,000

Melissia8 hours ago

It was very obviously discrimination, and it’s obvious from the arguments they put before the court that this has nothing to do with any form of concern for anything other than brazen politics and just flat out hatred of a minority group.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad Melissia8 hours ago

So he earned his hate bona fides AND now that the law is struck down, he gets bonus victim points.

Darreth Melissia7 hours ago

Bingo. This is performative art for their target voting bloc (evangelicals) who vote solid Red in every election like clockwork. Dems don’t have the equivalent. There’s literally nothing on the Left that’s anything like the consistency of the Right when it comes to voter outreach.

What, me worry?8 hours ago

Good. I hope that all these hateful and cruel laws are struck down. The slave states want to make laws that health care workers don’t have to give LGBT people medical assistance at ALL if they have “deeply held” religious beliefs against us. It’s time we are considered to be human beings, not just another theocratic political football. If you prick us, do we not bleed?

The_Wretched6 hours ago

Historically, (like 2 years ago, not 20), law in the US doesn’t let you single out a group, especially a disfavored group, and pass laws against them. Nice to see some vestiges of that core idea are still here.

And note that THOMAS is the #1 cheerleader for getting rid of ‘equal protection’.

And yet republicans never debate about the cost, while claiming $300 for the poorest people with children a month is obscene and we can not afford it. The Pentagon fails every audit, and I just watched where they are overcharging thousands of dollars a piece for a trash can that they use to charge $300 for. Yet Manchin says we need to cut social security. Hugs
Brooklyn Albert18 hours ago
I see the handiwork of the likes of Scott Lively and his ilk, spreading the gospel of hate and their twisted comprehension of history to African, Caribbean, and Latin American countries.

Chucktech Brooklyn Albert18 hours ago

It’s all part of the relentless march of Christian hegemony. Brought to you by the filthy pestilence that is American Christianity

BeccaM kaydenpat18 hours ago

Authoritarian advocates, whatever their form, need some “other” to be dehumanized and oppressed. When everybody more or less has the same race and culture in a country, they then cast about for some other way of differentiating for the purposes of fomenting hate. Sometimes it’s by religion, sometimes by ethnicity, but if those are relatively homogeneous, they’ll go for LGBTQ status or political identity.

For example, in America in the 1950s, they did both of those latter, along with racist bigotry: People perceived to be not-straight and those who were accused of being socialist or communist. All three were targeted for systematic oppression.

Gianni17 hours ago

It stuns me that these leaders are so focused on sexuality and making gay people pay for their sexuality with severe punishments and even death. Why is this even on their minds? Is being gay causing some sort of great turmoil in their countries? Are they trying to undermine their governments? Are they just living their lives like everyone else? So much angst over gay people. He contradicts his own statements in just one paragraph. “Gay Africans don’t exist.” – “kick LGBT people out of Kenya completely,” Well, which is it? Who gets kicked out if they don’t exist in the first place? Screwy like the radical Christians that foment this hatred.

Serene Pumpkin Gianni17 hours ago

Some of them genuinely seem to think that the existence of LGBTQ people threatens the continued existence of the human race, because not enough people are breeding.

Kenya has 53 million people in an area the size of Texas. Underpopulation is not a serious issue there.

You may recall that DeSantis previously cosplayed as Tom Cruise in a gubernatorial campaign ad titled “Top Gov.”

Snownova2 hours ago

He does know Vader eventually kills Obi-wan right?

clay Snownova2 hours ago

Are you implying that DeSantis is directly coordinating with a campaign PAC? Why would a Republican do something so illegal?

carrot festival2 hours ago

Wow, did he pick the wrong character.

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Sarah carrot festival2 hours ago

He’s as evil as Grand Moff Tarkin, but without the charisma.

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Mike in Houston 21 hours ago
This will certainly help Florida schools in recruiting top intellect — both in students and teachers. /s

Dwight Williamson DaddyRay21 hours ago

Why does everyone always assume his hare brained schemes for publicity are gonna work . He lost a lawsuit yesterday .

Rambie Dwight Williamson21 hours ago

Right, this is more about keeping his name in the news cycle and pandering to the MAGA’t base.

JoeMyGod Mod3 days ago
You may recall Eric Metaxas for the time he sucker-punched a passing kid on a bicycle on his way into the White House for a Trump event and then lied about it even after video surfaced. It’s what Jesus would want.

Elagabalus JoeMyGod3 days ago

Punching a kid – It’s what Jesus would want

Read the full article. Andersen, who lost a lawsuit to get on the ballot, has not so far been accused of wrongdoing. As you can see in his campaign clip below, he ran on a promise to end pandemic mandates.
Earlier this week Kennedy claimed that chemicals in drinking water are turning children transgender and that WiFi radiation causes brain cancer.

JoeMyGodMod4 days ago

Really amazing how millions of African kids got hold of poppers.

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!! 4 days ago
“The magnitude of the value of the Bible as a literary work outweighs any violence or profanity which may be contained in the book,”
So, will they do the same for ALL books??? or just the ones, they deem fit???

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/the-show-must-go-on-judge-sides-with-organizers-in-lawsuit-orders-city-to-allow-drag-show-in-st-george

“Public spaces are public spaces,” U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer wrote. “Public spaces are not private spaces. Public spaces are not majority spaces. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures that all citizens, popular or not, majority or minority, conventional or unconventional, have access to public spaces for public expression.”

In his 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. of Federal District Court in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated constitutional rights for doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers.
The law is extremely broad, which actually creates a host of other complications. A group of lawyers previously told The Dallas Morning News that the measure could restrict performances by artists such as Madonna and Miley Cyrus, which often feature sexual dancing.
The text could even affect bachelorette parties, if they involved sex toys or other paraphernalia. The new changes could even impact cheerleading and criminalize sexual conduct between consenting 17-year-olds (17 is the age of consent in Texas).
Movie screenings and art history classes could similarly come under fire. And of course, the law will affect its original target: drag performers, Pride parades, and transgender people just trying to live their lives.
Lawsuits against similar bans are planned or already underway in other states. In Florida, the Orlando outpost of Hamburger Mary’s sued the DeSantis administration last month.

Guy Johnson4 days ago

No more Saturday cartoons…

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Dwight Williamson4 days ago

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Doug1054 days ago

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https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court

Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court

Big win today as for the first time in 24 years, a House Republican majority voted to begin impeachment proceedings against a current president.

https://www.wbtv.com/2023/06/23/concord-man-arrested-charged-with-hate-crimes-years-harassing-neighbors/

“Kentucky law prohibits the Attorney General from using or attempting to use ‘his official position to secure or create privileges, exemptions, advantages, or treatment for himself or others in derogation of the public interest at large,’” the letter, which was sent out Friday afternoon and obtained by The Daily Beast, said.
Walters, who was appointed state secretary of education by Christianist Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2020, faced calls to resign in 2022 after it was revealed that a Koch-funded group that advocates for privatizing public schools was paying him $120,000/year.
Stitt rejected calls for Walters’ resignation and attempted to reappoint him again earlier this year, but the state Senate refused to allow him to hold the elected superintendent and appointed secretary of education posts at the same time.
Yves R. Mektin 3 days ago edited
Well, Oklahoma does have the second lowest high school SAT scores in the whole country*, so maybe tots and pears will help.
* West Virginia is the only state that did worse

ConnieHinesDorothyProvine Joe in NM3 days ago

All those states compete to see who can lead the fastest race to the bottom. Apparently, Louisiana has the lowest life expectancy in the country (Hawaii has the highest).

Joe in NM3 days ago

So he doesn’t like the 1961 decision…toots, the SC ruled on this a bunch of times. And don’t throw that ‘found fathers’ shit around, they did NOT. Under gawd my ass. ;(

Thomas Jefferson penned the wall metaphor in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. He celebrated the First Amendment for “building a wall of separation between Church & State.” The Supreme Court has endorsed this view many times. First in 1878. And then again “in 1947, 1948, 1961 (three times), 1962, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1977, 1982, and again and again in countless concurrences, dissents, and lower court opinions,” according to a recent law review article. The wall metaphor nicely sums up the relationship.

Wintercat Joe in NM3 days ago

“For it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Buford Joe in NM2 days ago edited

I thought Article 11 of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli did a handy job of summarizing what The Founding Fathers™ thought of Christianity in America, since it passed in the US Senate unanimously while being signed by many of the actual founders –

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

rednekokie Joe in NM3 days ago

Not to forget the Treaty of Tripoli – the first treaty entered into by the United States – and having constitutional power — which states that the United States has no national religion.

Per Florida Politics, the “groomers” slur was first popularized by viciously anti-LGBTQ former DeSantis administration spox Christina Pushaw, a registered foreign agent for the nation of Georgia and his current “rapid response” campaign director. Pushaw began pushing the term early last year during the start of the “Don’t Say Gay” campaign.
sfbob  Jack3 days ago
“Groomer.” Noun. Definition (per DeSantis):
1. A person who does something you disapprove of or who says something you disagree with.
2. A person who believes in providing factual, age-appropriate information to children on topics pertaining to sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity.

danolgb3 days ago

Remember the meme, “Everything I don’t like are Nazis.” Now it’s “Everything I don’t like are groomers.”

What an insult to victims of real sexual abuse.

weshlovrcm3 days ago edited

There’s something wrong with people who are consumed with “grooming” and “groomers.” Normal people don’t obsess over this vile subject.

dagobarbz, fine Italian shoes weshlovrcm2 days ago

What amazes me is, while they’re howling about grooming, they manage to completely ignore the ones actively doing it and getting busted for it weekly, the churches.

https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/06-23-2023/house-gop-confederate-name-fight/

The GOP friction stems from a push by Rep Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) who publicly revived the discussion by trying to prevent funding in an energy and water development bill from being used to rename Army Corps civil works projects that are named after the Confederacy or an individual who served in the Confederate military.

“One of the things that is irritating a few of us: a certain member from Georgia is wanting to re-bring up the Confederate base names,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told POLITICO.

Bacon said he told the Georgia Republican that he would “would fight him” on trying to prevent funding from going toward renaming. (Clyde’s amendment doesn’t mention military bases.)

Bacon led that effort in the House to create the process for renaming the military assets.

He noted on Friday that he recounted to Clyde about how African-Americans have thanked him for his work on renaming the Confederate assets. In a separate statement, Bacon added that the issue was settled in 2020 and that he didn’t think it was “wise to re-litigate” it.

“Confederate generals fought for a cause that we know was wrong and violated their oaths to Constitution. Most of the 10 that bases were named for were also terrible generals. … Finally, some were affiliated with racist actions after the war. Most of these bases were named around WW1 and done to placate the Jim Crow elected leaders at the time,” he added in the statement.

Pollos Hermanos ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈa day ago
GOP: “Democrats were the party of The Confederacy.”
Also GOP: “Don’t you dare take away honors to The Confederacy!”

Doug105 Pollos Hermanos ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈa day ago

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Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!a day ago

Being a Fan of the Confederacy means……. (Take your pick)

#1

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#3

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another_steve Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!a day ago

I don’t know the “official thinking” of American historians on point, but I believe much of what we’re seeing today with respect to the Republican Party is 160 years of simmering resentment by the South regarding its loss in the 1860s Civil War now coming to the surface.

Trump “tapped” into it. “Build the wall” was metaphor for “keep the coloreds out.” His embrace of rabid racists, including neo-Nazis, is a “message received” by the Republican base.

They miss the old plantation days, the good old days. When the coloreds and the women knew their place and there was no “deviance” like drag queens and trans people.

JimmyCinChitown Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!a day ago edited

In Germany, Nazi paraphernalia like swastika flags, et all, as well as neo-Nazi political parties are officially banned by law. (Germany doesn’t have a First Amendment).This is the reason that German Nazis fly Confederate flags. You are known by the company you keep.

RealityBass 2 days ago
Remember when we were expected to believe that Trump was so rich that he would use his own funds to campaign, didn’t need to raise money, therefore he was incorruptible? Good times.

JackFknTwist RealityBass2 days ago edited

What a liar.
He said he would use his own money. Just like everything else about him, – a lie, a scam, a con, a fraud …..from getting someone to sit his exams to his 2016 campaign to his subversion of a democratic election.

His whole life has been devoted to scamming. He has never earned an honest buck. It’s all been about the underhand deal, the stiffing people and companies what they are owed.
Now there is no way around not paying his lawyers.
they won’t act for him without being paid up-front. But Giuliani can fuck off, he’s gonna be hung out to flap in the wind.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Prison Reform and Ending Mass Incarceration | The Problem with Jon Stewart

Fear not, America! We’re still #1…with incarceration rates among industrialized countries. In our newest episode, “America’s Incarceration Epidemic,” we sat down with California Governor Gavin Newson at San Quentin State Prison to discuss our criminal justice system.

U.S. court strikes down Florida transgender health rule

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-strikes-down-florida-transgender-health-rule-2023-06-22/

 
A person holds up a flag during rally to protest the Trump administration's reported transgender proposal to narrow the definition of gender to male or female at birth in New York
A person holds up a flag during rally to protest the Trump administration’s reported transgender proposal to narrow the definition of gender to male or female at birth, at City Hall in New York City, U.S., October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File photo

June 21 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday struck down a Florida rule and a statute that banned state Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare, marking the second defeat in two weeks for anti-transgender legislation in the state.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declared the state’s practices invalid, saying they violated the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment in addition to violating the federal Medicaid statue and the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition of sex discrimination.

The injunction was expected after Hinkle on June 6 partially blocked Florida from enforcing its recent ban on people under 18 receiving gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

U.S. district court judges elsewhere have blocked state laws banning gender-affirming care in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana and Oklahoma.

Republican lawmakers introduced more than 500 bills restricting LGBTQ rights this past legislative year, passing more than 70, according to Human Rights Campaign. Twenty states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors.

Sponsors of the laws say they want to protect children who are being misled by parents and doctors and might regret their gender transition.

Hinkle in his 54-page ruling said “many people with this view tend to disapprove all things transgender and so oppose medical care that supports a person’s transgender existence.”

“The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear,” the judge wrote after a two-week trial.

The plaintiffs were two transgender adults, August Dekker and Brit Rothstein, and two transgender minors who filed under pseudonyms.

The defendants were the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and its secretary, Jason Weida, who did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.

The AHCA had approved Medicaid payments for the plaintiffs, but in 2022 the executive office of Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the AHCA to conduct a new analysis and reversed course. The AHCA “retained only consultants known in advance for their staunch opposition to gender-affirming care,” the judge found.

“The new … process was, from the outset, a biased effort to justify a predetermined outcome, not a fair analysis of the evidence,” the judge said.

DeSantis is running for the Republican nomination for president and has promoted his record of aggressively fighting progressive policies, including LGBTQ rights.

More of the craziness.

“There are tens of thousands of studies that show the horrendous danger of WiFi radiation.” – Robert Kennedy Jr., speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Yesterday Kennedy claimed that chemicals in drinking water are turning children transgender.
This is what the right wing media does now, enrage their thuggish followers to find and attack anyone they disagree with. Brownshirt gang enforcers. We have seen this before in history. Hugs

heleninedinburgh34 minutes ago

I’d just like to point out that kids being trans is not, in fact, bad.

Colonel Fred Puntridge  kuiaratamenai a minute ago

“I never drink water. Fish fuck in it!” –attributed to WC Fields

band💋 boatboy_srq9 minutes ago

“First they came for the frogs, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a frog.”

TomKitten196036 minutes ago edited

Many trans people have brothers and sisters who are cis-gendered and remain so. They grow up in the same environment, drinking the same “toxic” water. It ain’t the water, honey. And it ain’t a “problem” that you can (or need to) solve by throwing your stupidity at it.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/misguided-republican-hearing-jan-6-rioters-matters-rcna90010

What’s weird is when members of the majority feel the need to hold their own fake hearing. Politico reported:

…Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), joined by a handful of others from the conference’s right flank, hosted an event last week with former Trump acting assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark, people charged in relation to Jan. 6, defendants’ family members and allies. The event featured a veritable kitchen sink of conspiracy theories as well as rehashed false claims, including that the 2020 election was “stolen” and that the Jan. 6 committee “doctored” video.

Just so we’re clear, this was not an actual congressional hearing. The far-right Floridian, however, wanted it to be perceived as one. Gaetz pretended to be a chairman, recognizing members and witnesses, alerting participants to when their time had expired, and explaining that the “testimony” could be used in official proceedings. (That last part was true but irrelevant: Anything can be used in official proceedings, including the blog post you’re reading now.)

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Hunter M14 hours ago

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The employee told the court the priest urged workers to “get the sins out,” and asked employees if they had stolen from the employer, been late for work, had done anything to harm their employer, or if they had bad intentions toward their employer.
“Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday is a nationalized race hustle. Why do Blacks need their own national independence day? We used to have a red, white, and blue independence day on July 4th. Now, we have one based on the melanin content of your skin.
“These people will not be stopped unless you say no more. Appeasement does not work. It’s a middle finger to the promise of 1776, You are going to have to choose.” – Charlie Kirk, who days ago called Juneteenth “pagan garbage.”

Randy503 StarGmoma day ago

He’s getting more and more extreme. I predict within a year he will be calling for the outright enslavement of black people, and the extermination of all LBGTs and anyone living in poverty.

Octoberfurst Randy50321 hours ago

I totally agree! He is becoming more and more extreme by the day. I’ll bet he is just dying to say “the N word” out loud. Next thing you know he’ll be having a swastika flag in the background and explaining why the Nazis were “misunderstood” and were actually brave Christian patriots. Kirk truly is a miserable POS!

beb Octoberfurst11 hours ago

He’s in a rat race to be the most extreme commenter on the Internet. That’s why he has to become ever extreme. Of course win or lose, in a rat race you’re still a rat.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dada day ago

I certainly want a white man to tell me how racist Juneteenth is. /s

Harveyrabbit 🐱a day ago

“Now, we have one based on the melanin content of your skin.”

Riiiight.

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Jonathan  Joe in NMa day ago
Thom Hartmann wrote the other day that after Trump requested the lists of the employees (spies) and had repeated unrecorded conversations with Russian diplomats, Kisylak, and others, the CIA had to pull agents and there was a silence in our intelligence operations, it’s suspected Trump turned them all over to the Russians.
Many were killed, or disappeared.

Niblet58 Joe in NMa day ago

That and a whole lot of other info. He asked for a list of the US spies and I bet you he turned it right over to our enemies in Russia, North Korea, China, etc.

A Washington Post investigation found that more than a year would pass before prosecutors and FBI agents jointly embarked on a formal probe of actions directed from the White House to try to steal the election. Even then, the FBI stopped short of identifying the former president as a focus of that investigation. A wariness about appearing partisan, institutional caution, and clashes over how much evidence was sufficient to investigate the actions of Trump and those around him all contributed to the slow pace.
CaliJABa day ago
Republicans are attempting to do the same thing to our justice system that they did with the media. They cried media bias again and again until it got to the point they started received special treatment. It became unbalanced in favor of them. Now, if Republicans commit crimes the FBI won’t investigate them. That whole fake elector scheme … the FBI won’t do shit about it. If it was Democrats, they would have been charged on day one.

robirob CaliJABa day ago edited

But they received special treatment from the start! All the right wing does is claim victimhood and blame socialist liberal bullies for having to take drastic action based on made up lies like the election was stolen, Hunter Biden’s laptop, Critical Race Theory or Drag Queens, Gays, and Trans grooming children. And when they go against media outlets like Fox News or the FBI they just let the right wing mob call them names without repercussion. Now there’s right wing talk about defunding the FBI and Pentagon departments, and I assume they will just roll over and keep asking for a belly rub from the right wing and afterwards start an investigation into Hillary’s emails or Hunter Biden’s laptop.

crewman CaliJABa day ago

It’s why Comey tripped over himself in a Rush to “go public” with a nothingburger investigation into Hillary right before her election, an act which is widely viewed as costing her the election. And it’s probably why Mueller lacked umph to boldly go where he needed to go

The law is extremely broad, which actually creates a host of other complications. A group of lawyers previously told The Dallas Morning News that the measure could restrict performances by artists such as Madonna and Miley Cyrus, which often feature sexual dancing.
The text could even affect bachelorette parties, if they involved sex toys or other paraphernalia. The new changes could even impact cheerleading and criminalize sexual conduct between consenting 17-year-olds (17 is the age of consent in Texas).
Movie screenings and art history classes could similarly come under fire. And of course, the law will affect its original target: drag performers, Pride parades, and transgender people just trying to live their lives.
San Francisco is definitely facing problems, but you could surely find a similar scene in Miami.
Boreal2 hours ago
Clearly he’s never walked around in Florida.

unsavedheathen2 hours ago

I have lived in Dallas for 25 years(OMG, I’ve lived in Dallas for 25 years) and in that time, Texas has existed under complete Republican domination.

Also in that time, I have seen men defecate on the streets of Dallas and drugs being bought, sold and used on the streets of Dallas. I have seen tent encampments of hundreds of homeless. I have seen those encampments bulldozed. There are beggars on every median at every major intersection citywide.

I don’t know how they keep a straight face when they point at SF and sneer. At least there’s a beach.

TnCTampa2 hours ago

This bullshit about crime etc appeals to the voters, The people that actually go and vote in every election. It also appeals to the independents. The GOP is going to have them so afraid of out of control crime by “those people” that come the election they will run to vote for desantis. Democrats going to have to turn out in even greater numbers than the last election to defeat these people… thats what worries me the most

SKan hour ago

The price of living is out of whack. Rents are way too high. The people the GQP pander to are the same ones who cause the problem. A perfect example of why it’s like this; developers who are based in one city (or country) own blocks of land in other cities and countries. One block = one apt complex, which is of course “luxurious” and overpriced. This means people who actually live in the city don’t have the money or leverage to make their home town better. It’s very complicated. This is a broken down version of of a broken system.

Those amendments, along with a third to evaluate staffing levels within the Defense Department’s so-called diversity, equity and inclusion office, offer an early sign of some of the pending disputes as conservatives target what they call “woke” Pentagon policies.
Specifically, Rep. Mark Alford’s amendments, shared with CQ Roll Call ahead of their formal introduction, would bar DOD from using any fiscal 2024 dollars for its working group aiming to counter extremism or for the deputy inspector general post lawmakers previously created seeking to root out extremism in the military.
Thurgood Stubbs 3 days ago
You have to be a real dipshit to be in a union and vote Republican.

stretchdad Thurgood Stubbs3 days ago

I know of three highly-unionized professions that tilt heavily conservative: firefighters, police, and airline pilots. And I’ve heard them talk shit about unions in other industries even though they share the very same concerns: wages, staffing levels, working conditions, etc.

Perfect exemplars of the “I’ve got mine, fuck you” mentality.

“All we were doing was promoting literacy and providing kids with cute, good stories,” drag queen Juicy Garland said. In the videos, people are yelling, banging on the windows and doing Nazi salutes while holding a sign that says, “defend white communities,” all while a drag performer was inside reading books to families.
The group “seeks to form an underground network of white men who are willing to fight against their perceived enemies through localized direct actions,” according to the Anti-Defamation League’s website. “Off our streets!” NSC-131 members shouted repeatedly. Police at the scene said it was unclear whether or not they were armed. No arrests were made.
The men wearing hats with the number 131, said story hour was intended to “groom” young children, and continually shouted slurs at people walking in and out of the cafe. Teatotaller doesn’t get this reaction every time they host a Sunday story hour, but in November it was swarmed by the Proud Boys while the same guest, Juicy Garland, read stories.

‘Til Tuesday 🎧 Blue Bear DJ 🎸a day ago

The story says police were at the scene but I’m guessing they were reluctant to do anything against their fellow officers.

amandagirl15701 ‘Til Tuesday 🎧 Blue Bear DJ 🎸a day ago

Yep

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Nebraska forbade cops from stealing cash from motorists, but a loophole let them carry on doing it

Seward County has become Nebraska’s capital of “civil forteiture,” in which Sheriffs deputies pull over out-of-state motorists, confiscate any cash they find, and send them on their way without charging them with crimes. Though the state banned the practice years ago, a loophole in the law’s wording effectively nullifies it and there’s little point fighting to get the money back because local courts won’t give it to you.

In the past decade, Seward has seized money in at least 90 state civil forfeiture cases, nearly double any other Nebraska county. In those cases, they initially seized a total of $2.2 million from motorists. Drivers rarely fight to get their money back. Those who do rarely win, according to court records. The $2 million kept by the county was split. Half went to a state fund for schools. Half went to a county fund overseen by a board of police chiefs, the Nebraska State Patrol, the county attorney and the sheriff. Records from meetings of that board, held at a Pizza Kitchen in Milford, detail how they decided to spend the seized dollars.They bought stun guns and bulletproof vests for the Seward and Milford Police Departments. They bought a sheriff’s cruiser with the words “Paid for by drug proceeds” emblazoned on the back. They bought an $18,000 drone for the Nebraska State Patrol. And they recently spent $15,000 on two ballistic shields, bought after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Thieves, plain and simple. The deputies doing it, the Sheriffs running it, and the judges rubber-stamping it all know what they are up to.