Just as everyone predicted, the religious haters and right wing thugs will now try to chip away at all the rights of the LGBTQ+ people including same-sex marriage just as they did with abortion rights until they managed to kill it.ย ย Damn these religious right fundamentalist fanatics who desperately want to return to the 1950s when white men were automatically in charge and women were subservient to them.ย ย They are desperate for the time when white men had all the rights.ย ย Hugs
โWhat should our strategy be now that weโre getting these precedents? I think we have to flood the zone. I think we have to find good complaints, and this is why First Liberty is so important, everybody.
โItโs FirstLiberty.org, I do a lot of different things with them, we do a lot of events together. They are on the cutting edge. They play to win. And not many groups can say, โOh yeah, we go to the Supreme Court, we win nine-nothing, and we went last year and they won the Coach Kennedy case.โ
โPretty amazing, guys. They are top-tier. FirstLiberty.org.โ โ Charlie Kirk, interviewing Kelly Shackelford of the anti-LGBTQ hate group, First Liberty Institute, which represents the anti-gay bakers in Oregon.
But she didn’t smile enough. And she was too shrill, and lecturing. And Benghazi. And her emails. And her pantsuits. And she just didn’t excite me. And she talked to Goldman-Sachs. And both sides are the same, anyway, so why bother?
I agree. The whole thing was made up. And I’m sure SCOTUS knew that. And the conservative majority made a horrible, completely wrong ruling. Proving the conservative majority doesn’t give a rats ass about equality, fairness or honesty. I think we need major changes to the supreme court system. Term limits for starters. No one should have that position for life or that much absolute power. And I hate the word “supreme”. It sounds too much like the “supreme being” (jeezus or gawd), the “supreme leader” like Iran’s horrible ruler. There should be no supreme anything. (Except maybe The Supremes) The mere term suggests they are above the rest of us. Not to be questioned or challenged.
By the time Hillary ran for office in 2016 the court was already on the road to being captured by the Republicans AND had been corrupt for decades already.
The Dems didn’t run on the Supreme Court for years like the Repubs did and in not doing so, allowed them to take the court.
I have long held that anti-gay discrimination on account of religion is in itself a form of religious discrimination. Not because being gay is a religion, but because we are discriminated against since we donโt follow the tenets of THEIR religion, which is none of their business. It is a privileging of THEIR religious beliefs over OUR civil rights (as well as our religious beliefs, or lack thereof) in the public accommodations sphere.
The discriminators have โblurry boundaries.โ Malignant narcissism is like that.
If youย claimย your refusal to serveย anyoneย is based on your sincerely held religious beliefs . . .
And you don’t have to justify those beliefs with any kind of logical argument. The rightists aren’t required to. All they–and therefore WE–have to do isย declareย that’s the reason. The Court doesn’t require you to belong to any church or cite any biblical texts.
Lance makes a great point.ย He is cis so doesn’t understand what it is like to be trans.ย But if he was forced against his will to be trans it would lead to the same issue in him that trans people feel now being forced to be cis.ย ย Wonderful point.ย ย Hugs
A public business that serves only some of the public, but refuses to serve all the public, sound familiar?ย ย Did we not have this same fight in the 1960s?ย Is gay the new black?ย Just who gets to sit at the lunch counter?ย ย Look, just replace the words same sex with Black or Jews and does it seem correct now.ย ย We don’t serve blacks, we don’t serve Jews, I won’t make a cake or a website for blacks or Jews.ย Imagine the outcry if a Christian was refused service due to someone not wanting to serve, make a cake, or build a website for Christians.ย I am so tired of being second class.ย Being gay and paying taxes without the rights that the upper class straight people have.ย ย Dogs that love gravy I am so tired.ย ย Hugs
Representing the plaintiffโ303 Creative, a small business run by a Colorado woman named Lorie Smithโis Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group whose founder dubbed it a โChristian legal army,โ with a long history of opposing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. But unlike theย Masterpiece Cakeshopย case, which at least involved real customers wanting a real cake, there is no wedding website. No person has hired Smith to create a wedding website. In fact, Smith has never designed a wedding website.
As such, there is no client Smith has told she is rejecting due to her stated religious beliefs that marriage is only allowed between one man and one woman. In the absence of all that, ADF has, instead, fashioned Smith as the victim of an injury that has never occurred. The group has a $76 million annual budget and thousands of attorneys in its network. The goal withย 303 Creative, as it was withย Masterpiece, is to redefine civil rights protections for LGBTQ people as a form of religious discrimination against Christians.
Yesterday it was reported that an ADF claim that Smith [photo above] wasย contacted by gay manย seeking a same-sex wedding website is false and that the man in question is straight, was married to a woman at the time, and says that he made no such request.
Later yesterday, however, it wasย reportedย that the claim does not appear in the filings before the Supreme Court.
As Iโve said here many times, the ADFย inventsย these businesses with the specific intention of challenging local pro-LGBT ordinances. My first 2016 report on theย 303 Creativeย case isย here. And below is todayโs ruling.
The Supreme Court decides in favor of Alliance Defending Freedom and guts civil rights laws in the 303 Creative LLC case.
The 6-3 opinion, with the typical breakdown of Republican appointed ultra-conservatives in the majority, is here:https://t.co/QPB7jmydVF
Let's be clear: nothing happened to the plaintiff in 303 Creative, the whole "case" was a hypothetical exercise, and the GOP Justices used it as a vehicle to undermine every single federal, state, county, and city anti-discrimination law in the country. https://t.co/LTgg9LRBwY
The thing that sucks most about the 303 Creative decision is that Smith's case is entirely a fiction. The entire question is based on a business she doesn't have being asked to do something they weren't.
It never should have seen a state court, much less SCOTUS
— Chris supports workers over management (@cokes311) June 30, 2023
Facts and beliefs/opinions sadly carry the same weight in this country. Their religion says sexuality can change. You just have to pray the gay away hard enough.
Legal eagles, I have a question: Would a decision necessarily have to be vacated if the facts of the case are found to be a fabrication? Can there be a ruling in favor of an injured party if there is no injury? Can a decision be made in favor of a party that has based their claim of injury upon that falsehood? Can a party that claims an injury based on a falsehood be guilty of perjury? Can the party that was claimed to have created the injury in the first place have standing to sue?
I would never call myself a “legal eagle” but no, that the court recited made up facts and circumstances makes zero difference. The literal only thing that matters is the holding and the vote. The last religion case Gorsuch wrote, Bremerton, was on completely fictitious facts and the dissent even posted a picture showing that.
Sotomayor did point out the standing issue here – to wit, the plaintiff alleged a facial challenge on a potential future harm. That’s a bit speculative for these things and against the trend of requiring ‘as applied’ challenges to laws – i.e harm in fact.
No theofascist business will be blocked, now, from discriminating against our community. If and when the theofascists are challenged in court, the lower courts will be bound by today’s Supreme Court ruling.
At what point? When the Court upholds religious laws that punish infidelity – at that point the Senators who are cheating on their wives will rise up to counteract the Court’s rulings.
Only some religions, of course. Not pro-Buddhist, or Jewish, or Sikh, or Islam, or anything Native America, or Wiccan, or Taoist, or Hindu, or…well, long list.
To expose the christofascism of this Supreme Court, we need, for example, a case involving a non-Christian baker who won’t do a wedding cake for a Christian couple because Christianity offends the baker’s religious beliefs.
“Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.” – Sotomayor
I feel sorry for Sotomayor. She knows on the deepest of levels how legally and morally wrong all these decisions are, yet she is powerless to stop them.
Perry is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of four books, includingย Taking America Back for Godย (with Andrew Whitehead) and most recentlyย The Flag and the Crossย (with Philip Gorski). McDaniel is an Associate Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author ofย Politics in the Pewsย andย The Everyday Crusadeย (with Irfan Nooruddin and Allyson Shortle)
On Jan. 12, 2023, Florida Gov. and possible GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis extended his โwar on woke,โ when his administration rejected a proposed Advanced Placement African American Studies class from Florida high schools. The move was consistent with DeSantisโs proposed โStop W.O.K.E Actโ in 2022, which aims to eliminate certain content from educational curriculum and has been under partial injunction since November. And on Jan. 20, 2023, a U.S. District Court judge upheld DeSantisโs suspension of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren whom DeSantis claimed had prosecuted cases under โwoke ideology.โ
DeSantis is only the most prominent example of Republican lawmakers claiming to fight โwoke ideology,โ โwokeness,โ or the โwoke left,โ and though occasionally pressed toย provide definitions, politicians are strategically vague. Even with the โStop W.O.K.E. Act,โ that clearly targets content about Americaโs racist history and systems, the acronym simply stands for โWrong to our Kids and Employees.โ Nothing racial. Just as with all effective dog whistles, the racial implications must be subtle, or better yet, implied. The label should evoke demonized Black populations, but their literal sense broad enough and ambiguous enough to provide plausible deniability.
As social scientists with expertise in the area of race and politics, we collected data on who actually identifies with the term โwokeโ? The patterns make it clear why the label has become the latest in a long line of Republican dog whistles.
In a nationally-representative survey of over 1,700 Americans fielded by YouGov in Oct. 2022, one of us (Samuel Perry) and a collaborator Joshua Grubbs asked Americans how well the term โwokeโ described them. Overall, 22% of Americans said โwokeโ described them either โvery wellโ or โsomewhat well.โ If that sounds like a high percentage, itโs actually somewhat lower than the percentage found in a 2021 Harris poll (32%), suggesting Americans may be backing away from the label as itโs become a slur. Though itโs also slightly less than the percentage of our survey respondents who identified with the term โChristian nationalistโ (25%).
When we break down who actually identifies with the term โwokeโ in the YouGov survey, it becomes clearer why the racial implications are unmistakable. Nearly 40% of Black Americans identify somewhat with the label, more than double the percentage of white Americans (19%). Itโs also considerably more than the percentage of Hispanics (24%) or Asian Americans (19%). In fact, only 28% of Black Americans completely distanced themselves from the term, saying โwokeโ described them โnot at all,โ compared to clear majorities of white Americans (57%) and Asian Americans (54%).
But โwokeโ is also a term for Black Americans that transcends ideology and partisanship in a way it doesnโt for any other group. Over 40% of Black Americans in the YouGov survey identify with the term whether they are liberals or moderates. In fact, roughly 40% of Black Republicans and Independents identify somewhat with โwoke.โ This means the percentage of โwokeโ Black Republicans and Independents is higher than the percentage of white โStrong Democratsโ (39%).
Statistically speaking, the broad demographic for whom the term โwokeโ most consistently applies is Black Americans. This should be unsurprising considering the termย originates among the Black communityย to denote someone who has been awakened to the reality of systemic injustice. It also demonstrates that being โwokeโ is a fact of life for Black Americans as they process what W. E. B. Du Bois refers to as a โdouble consciousnessโโthe struggle to be Black and viewed as a full American. This is further supported byย numerous pollsย andย studiesย showing Black Americans are far more likely to be aware of the past and current injustices they face in housing, employment, policing, and health.
The disproportionate number of Black Americans who identify somewhat with the term โwokeโ would ostensibly make Republican โanti-wokeโ efforts transparently racist. But there is one group who is even more likely to identify with the term โwokeโ than the average Black Americanโwhites who identify as โvery liberal.โ In the same YouGov survey, just over 50% of white โvery liberalโ Americans (representing 6% of the total population of white Americans) say โwokeโ describes them โvery wellโ or โsomewhat well.โ
Though this group of whites is small, the relatively high percentage of โvery liberalโ whites who identify with โwokeโ provides the deniability that all effective dog whistles need: Policies that clearly target efforts to convey the history of racial injustice in schools under the guise of fighting โwokeโ education need not be anti-Black when the โwokeโ are perhaps even more the white far-left.
This is a common challenge when anti-racist language becomes mainstream. Criticsย point outย that white liberals often lay claim to anti-racist concepts and identities without effectively working for anti-racist goals. As a result, the language becomes absorbed into white partisan conflicts, accomplishing little while also setting the stage for counter attacks with dog whistles. Aย recent study, for example, found the term โanti-racistโ itself was more often embraced by white progressives than Blacks or Hispanics, and thus, right-wing mobilization against โanti-racistโ concepts, books, or policies could just as easily be framed in mundane partisan, culture war terms in which Republicans oppose movements led by white liberals. This in turn makes the conflict intra-racial, instead of interracial.
This covert form of race-baiting has become a central plank in shaping American partisan politics. Moving away from the language of Strom Thurmand and George Wallace, who overtly rallied their supporters against threats to the racial hierarchy, Republican candidates in the post-Civil Rights era stoke fear and anger over this threat via coded language.
Whether itโs a term like โwoke,โ or moreย traditional labelsย like โwelfare queen,โ โbuck,โ โthug,โ โterror,โ โillegals,โ โsocialists,โ or โunAmerican,โ the efficacy of a racial dog whistle is not in the fact that nobody knows whom youโre clearly talking about, itโs the plausible deniability that allows you to respond: โWhoโs talking about Black people? Iโm just talking about leftists. Youโre the one making it about race.โ
Republicans have mastered the tactic. And if history is any indication, front-runners like DeSantis will continue their public crusade against the bogeyman of โwoke,โ the current code word for left-wing radicals who provide the convenient distraction from those whom anti-woke legislation really targetsโBlack Americans who demand justice.
Media coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisโs 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 DeSantisโs policies is almost any discussion of his actual record of governanceโwhat exactly he has delivered to the citizens of his state, especially those without seven-figure incomes and lush investment portfolios.
ย
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 ofย health care,ย school funding,ย long-term elder care, and other areas key to a successful society.
Florida may be the place where โwoke goes to dieโโas DeSantis is fond of sayingโbut it is also where teachersโ salaries areย among the lowestย in the nation, unemployment benefits areย stingierย than in any other state, andย wage theft flourishesย with little interference from the DeSantis administration. In 2021, DeSantis campaigned against aย successful ballot initiativeย to raise the stateโs minimum wage, which had been stuck at $8.65 an hour. Under DeSantisโs watch, the Sunshine State has not exactly been a workersโ paradise.
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 donโt want to pay their fair share of taxes. It has no income tax for individuals, and its corporate tax rate of 5.5% isย among the lowestย in the nation. An investigation by theย Orlando Sentinelย in late 2019 revealed the startling fact that 99% of Floridaโs companiesย 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 toย health care,ย public education, and other crucial services compared to their blue counterparts, while making sure corporations and wealthy individuals are prioritized for tax relief. Arizona cut taxesย every yearย between 1990 and 2019, following up with a shift to a flat tax this year that will cost its budgetย $1.9 billion. Meanwhile, its public-school spendingย ranks 48 among the 50 states.
In Florida, the stateโs 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 theย third least-equitable tax systemย of the 50 states. In the stateโs โupside-downโ 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 โscorecardโ that Florida had theย 16th worst health careย among the 50 states. Itโs no wonder that Florida ranks below the northern blue states inย life expectancyย and rates ofย cancer death,ย diabetes,ย fatal overdoses,ย teen birth rates, andย infant mortality.
Largely because of DeSantisโs 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 andย cost thousands of peopleย their lives. More than 12% of Floridians are without medical insurance, a worse record thanย all but four other states. Despite having the countryโs highest percentage of retirees, Florida has theย worst long-term careย among the 50 states, according to the American Association of Retired Persons.
Public schools fare no better than health care in DeSantisโs Florida. Not only did Florida rank 49th in the country forย average teacher payย in 2020, but the Education Law Center, a non-profit advocacy group based in New Jersey, found in aย 2021 reportย 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,ย placed Florida 23rdย in its 2021 report, a lackluster showing for a large and wealthy state.
It says something about the state of our political discourse that Floridaโs denuded public sector was not more of an issue in last yearโs gubernatorial campaign. In endorsing DeSantisโs Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, theย Tampa Bay Timesย spent soย many column inchesย on the incumbentโs demagoguery, vindictiveness, and authoritarian tendencies that it never even got to the minutiae of his governance. โNo matter what you think about the state of the Florida economy or its schools or its futureโฆ,โ the paper wrote, โthe choice really is this simple: Do you want the state governed by a decent man or a bully?โ
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 stateโs tax policy when your governor isย flying planeloadsย of migrants to Marthaโs Vineyard orย declaring warย on Disney for issuing a statement in opposition to the stateโs so-called โDonโt Say Gay Lawโ?
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 wonโt 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 stateโcloak his service to the wealthy by frightening working people with stories about transgender recruiting and โsocialistโ college professors. There are unmistakable signs that Americans are focused on what an activist government can do for the public good, as evidenced by Floridiansโ 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.
Celebrate Pride Month with us! Discover why we come together every June to honor and support the LGBTQ+ community. Explore the importance of Pride as we spread love, acceptance, and equality while standing up against discrimination and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
From the linked article in the above Joe.My.God. post.ย ย 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,โ DeSantis said.”
Despite the limited scope of the DoDโs renaming, the Governor likened taking Braggโs name off the fort to moves to โtakeย Abraham Lincolnย off the statue down in Boston โฆ takeย Teddy Rooseveltย down in New York Cityโ and โremoveย George Washingtonโsย name from schools in San Francisco.โ
โAnd thatโs 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,โ DeSantis said.
โIโm not in a position to say that somehow Iโm so much better than any of this. Itโs a different time. People make mistakes. Thereโs different parts of our society, we look back and can say was a mistake. But this idea that weโre going to erase history, I just think, is fundamentally wrong, and weโre not going to do that.โ
'I think you can look back at anybody and you could find flaws.'@RonDeSantis doubles down on restoration of 'iconic' Fort Bragg name
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.
“And hereโs the thing, you know, you learn from history, you donโt erase the history” and yet history that makes students uncomfortable can’t be taught in schools…right
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.
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.
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
Jesse Watters on Monday went after Barack Obama for criticizing the disparity in media attention on the submersible that imploded during its venture to the Titanic wreck when compared to the sinking of a fishing boat that was carrying up to 750 refugees. https://t.co/kAYwlmOh0L
Watters, new host of Tuckerโs 8pm slot, says of Obama: โThis is a guy whose father has roots in AfricaโฆSpent a lot of time in Hawaii. Was that the last state to get a star on the flag? He's never really looking at things from an American perspective.โ pic.twitter.com/cXZ6xKD1JE
If man sees a kid playing in the street, then notice a car driving down the street, and he shrugs and says โfree willโ 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.)
Ending one segment that knocks Pete Buttigieg for "prioritizing a far-left green agenda" only to tee up another segment about the "brutal temperatures" and "dangerous heat" in Texas. pic.twitter.com/ZRFYPKBbcP
Two workers died amid extremely high temperatures in Texas, a tragedy that's likely to exacerbate criticism of Gov. Abbott's water break ban. https://t.co/11ZeBlijYd
โWe are flying electric helicopters on Mars, but we canโt use the dryer in Texas. This is because scientists are in charge of Mars and Republicans are in charge of Texasโ ~Amy Martin #ERCOT#Texasgrid#VoteThemAllOut2022pic.twitter.com/uIW3c3cyHr
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.”
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 . . .
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.
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 โapocalypse.โ Also, holograms and Trumpโs impeachments? Both the work of Satan. We last heard from him when he appeared in a โdocumentaryโ with Dr. Demon Semen.
Whatโs happening lines up with Godโs 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?
There was a book, โThe Late Great Planet Earthโ that was popular among the end times folks. โThe last days are nigh!โ Published in 1970. 53 years ago. And even in the late 1800s, preachers were saying the end times were near.
They literally pray โLord come quickly!โ But then complain about all the โsigns of the end timesโ as if thatโs a bad thing. They should be working -toward- the โone world governmentโ and a global currency and world peace and โthe mark of the beastโ because thatโs what will bring the rapture. (Your eschatology may vary).
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
LMAO this clown went to Harvard Law school and should know the Constitution a little better, particularly the 14th Amendment. But you needn't take my word for it. Birthright citizenship was defined and affirmed by the SCOTUS in 1898, in US v. Wong Kim Ark:https://t.co/OAYLAAteLy
— Deborah, who loves fashion & loathes fascists (@litbrit) June 26, 2023
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
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.
We will never stop fighting bigots like Ron DeSantis – they must be told repeatedly that LGBTQ Americans deserve ALL the rights due to them under our Constitution.#Pride2023https://t.co/oT6gpM9nPQ
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) June 30, 2023
JackFknTwista 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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Win or lose, Tater will screech about how heโs โfighting for families* and against woke culture & a woke & woke judges.โ 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 โthe great fighter for American values*โ
* values & families donโt 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
Ron DeSantis is the worst candidate Iโve ever seen. Itโs like heโs been assembled from the discarded spare parts of Bobby Jindal, Bill deBlasio, Rick Perry, and Scott Walker. https://t.co/5f6UILNVPI
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 โthe freest state in America.โ Actually you’re free to move here, retire and die.
A โstanding orderโ that Trump has claimed authorized him to declassify documents removed from the Oval Office could not be found by either the Justice Department or Office of Director of National Intelligence https://t.co/wPbnrUTi8s
The Supreme Court has issued an interim order recognizing marriage rights for same-sex and non-traditional heterosexual couples! This landmark decision calls for amendments to the Civil Code — [1/2] pic.twitter.com/hlW7MRvqHB
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.
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-Tribunereports: Two protesters offended by a Pride exhibit at the Rancho Peรฑasquitos Library have checked out nearly all the books in the display and vowed to keep them until the library eliminates what they call โinappropriate contentโ 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 Peรฑasquitos 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, Peรฑasquitos 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.
Protestors ruin Rancho Penasquitos library's Pride exhibit by checking out nearly all the books https://t.co/q5erkSeWAZ
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.
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.
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.
Damn these people. A book offered me permission not to hate myself for being who I am.
*** Editor note ***ย ย It was books that gave me my escape from my life.ย It was books that let me leave the life of abuse, hurt, and fear I was living constantly at home, in my home.ย 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).ย ย 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.ย Please do not let them.ย Look in the 1950s these people want to revert the social and country to there were no of these kinds of books, no positiverepresentatives in media, but gay, lesbian, and trans kids still existed.ย I am going to post a video about a old long time soap opera about gay people and the damage hate can do.ย ย Hugs.
When you say “wife,” “husband,” “fiancรฉ,” “girlfriend,” etc.–all commonly heard from heterosexuals–you are inserting sexuality in public spaces where children are or may be.
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.
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.
They don’t care about corporations either. They only want Republicans to hold the power over everything – people, corporations, city councils, school boards, etc.
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.
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.
In public facilities, including prisons and schools, a new requirement will go into place requiring designated bathrooms for men and women, and individuals will be required to utilize facilities based on their gender as assigned at birth. It has no exceptions even for those who have fully transitioned through gender-reassignment surgery.
The Board of Education has already effectively expanded through high school a prohibition of instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity. A new law (SB 1069) codifies that at least through 8th grade. The legislation also prohibits any requirement that school officials use preferred pronouns that donโt match gender assigned at birth.
Health care providers can now turn patients away and refuse treatment based on โconscience-based objections.โ DeSantis signed the new law (SB 1580) in front of a โPrescribe Freedomโ sign and said it empowers physicians to act within their own morals. LGBTQ advocates label it a right to discriminate bill against gay and transgender Floridians, and the latter group has already seen restrictions on health care put into place this year by statute and the Board of Medicine.
Also going into effect today is the right to carry a concealed weapon without any permit or training, the right of hospitals to refuse care to undocumented patients, and a law allowing the state to use radioactive fertilizer byproducts in the creation of roads. That last one came about due to lobbying by the phosphate industry, which in 2021 saw a leakage of their toxic byproducts into Tampa Bay.
Georgia teacher Katie Rinderle read the childrenโs book “My Shadow is Purple” to her fifth grade students. But after one parentโs complaint, Rinderle was placed on leave and now faces termination under Georgia’s new censorship laws.
Oh how I wish I could have watched something like this as a kid.ย But no I would have been beaten near to death if I had tried.ย I did not need another reason to be beaten or raped.ย My dogs that love gravy I am still suffering anxiety over talking on the phone from the beatings I took just touching the wall hanging phone as a kid.ย This a wonderful video that shows the bigotry that the right wing fundamentalist republicans want to return the US back to.ย Do we really want to return to this?ย ย Please everyone watch it.ย After the video I will post what I wrote on the longer this is what I am reading post, but to tell the truth I can not face writing it all again.ย ย Hugs
The VERY 1st Gay TEEN was the famous MOVIE STAR Ryan Phillippe! Check out the whole story here!
*** 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 positiverepresentatives 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.
Scottie's Playtime 