On his first day in office, President Donald Trump made good onย his promise to pardon all of the roughly 1,500ย Jan. 6 insurrectionists. But while many MAGA supporters like Jacob Chansley, the self proclaimed โQAnon Shamanโ and the face of the deadly Capitol riot,ย celebrated their pardons, one MAGA celebrity is singing a different tune.
Pamela Hemphill is a 71-year-old Boise, Idaho resident. She was known as โthe MAGA grannyโ to Trumpโs supporters, but in May 2022, she was sentenced to two months in jail on a misdemeanor charge in the Capitol attack, according to theย Department of Justice.
Hemphill pled guilty to the charge after she was caught live streaming the insurrection and posting videos on YouTube from inside the Capitol during the attack. More than two years later, Hemphill said she got exactly what was coming to her. โWe were wrong that day, we broke the law,โย she told BBC.ย โThere should be no pardons.โ
Itโs been confirmed that five U.S. citizens were killed during the Jan. 6 riot. This includes Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died on Jan. 7 as a result of injuries sustained during the attack, according to U. S. Capitol Police.
Rachel Scott, a senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, said she spoke to Sicknickโs brother. โWe now have no rule of law,โย he reportedly told Scott.ย The brother even went as far as to call Trump โa poor excuse of a man.โ
Hemphill said accepting the presidentโs pardon โwould only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation.โ She continued to the Idaho Statesman saying, โThe J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasnโt an insurrection. I donโt want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.โ
So with that, sheโs turning down the pardon offer, going against the president and his MAGA movementโs wishes, and sheโs well within her rights to do so. The MAGA granny wouldnโt be the first person to reject a presidential pardon. In 1833, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a pardon recipient can indeed turn down the offer. The ruling was later upheld in 1915, according to the Library of Congress.
Hemphill says her attorney plans to file an official letter of rejection of the presidentโs pardon.
Activists with the Abolitionist Action Committee attend a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on July 2, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
ย (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
ย
‘Ghoulish’: Trump Expands Federal Death Penalty
The Republican president “articulated his plan to drastically increase executions, and we all know this is one promise he can’t wait to keep,” said one death penalty abolitionist.
Delivering on aย promiseย to “vigorously pursue the death penalty,” U.S. Presidentย Donald Trumpย on Monday night signed anย executive orderย that reverses his predecessor’s moratorium on federal capital punishment and calls for expanding it.
The widely expected orderโone of several issued on Inauguration Dayโwas swiftly criticized on factual and moral grounds.
Attorney and death penalty expert Robert Dunhamย pointed outย that the order “starts with a demonstrable falsehood (‘Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes’), signaling that the administration intends not to allow the facts to affect its policy decisions.”
“In fact, the death penalty does not contribute anything to public safety,”ย saidย Dunham, citing aย studyย by the Death Penalty Policy Project, which he directs. “As for ‘deterring the most heinous crimes,’ see myย analysisย of the worst of the worst mass shootings in the United States.”
“It is essential, with the importance and deadly consequences of this policy, that media coverage report the truth and not just the rhetoric,” he stressed. “The executive order is grounded in a false, dark fantasy about deterrence and has nothing to do with making the public safer.”
Declaring that “the death penalty is unjust and cruel,” the ACLUย warnedย that Trump’s order not only directs an expansion of its use at the federal level but also encourages states to do the same.
Specifically, the order says that “in addition to pursuing the death penalty where possible,” the attorney general shall seek it “regardless of other factors” for federal cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer or a capital crime committed by an undocumented immigrantโand shall “encourage state attorneys general and district attorneys to bring state capital charges for all capital crimes with special attention to” those circumstances, “regardless of whether the federal trial results in a capital sentence.”
The order further directs the head of the U.S. Department of Justice to “seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of state and federal governments to impose” the death penalty and “ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection.”
Last week, outgoing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland “withdrew the Justice Department’s protocol forย federal executionsย that allowed for single-drug lethal injections withย pentobarbital, after aย government reviewย raised concerns about the potential for ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,'”ย The Associated Pressreported. “The protocol could be imposed by Trump’s new acting Attorney General James McHenry III, or his pick to lead the Justice Department, Pam Bondi, once she’s confirmed by the Senate.”
Though Trump’s order doesn’t name Garland, it explicitly takes aim at former President Joe Biden for his moratorium as well as his attempt to prevent another GOP killing spree like the one thatย occurredย at the end of the Republican’s first term, accusing the Democrat of commuting the sentences of “37 of the 40 most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on federal death row: remorseless criminals who brutalized young children, strangled and drowned their victims, and hunted strangers for sport.”
Bidenย saidย last month that “in good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” He left Charleston church gunmanย Dylann Roof, Pittsburgh synagogue shooterย Robert Bowers, and Boston bomberย Dzhokhar Tsarnaevย on death row. The others now face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Trump cannot reverse Biden’s commutations, but he directed the attorney general to “evaluate the places of imprisonment and conditions of confinement for each” of those 37 men and “take all lawful and appropriate action to ensure that these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”
The president also said that the attorney general “shall further evaluate whether these offenders can be charged with state capital crimes and shall recommend appropriate action to state and local authorities.”
Death Penalty Action executive director Abraham Bonowitzย saidย in a Monday statement:
President Trump’s executive order demanding capital charges for the murder of law enforcement officers or capital crimes by illegal aliens is unnecessary bluster, because the death penalty already exists for such crimes. But Trump can’t help himself. Donald Trump’s Agenda2025 articulated his plan to drastically increase executions, and we all know this is one promise he can’t wait to keep.
We are also dismayed at President Biden’s cynical compromise that commuted 37 federal death sentences while leaving seven prisoners on federal and military death rows. While expressing both his personal opposition to the death penalty and his desire to maintain the moratorium on executions he imposed in 2021, Biden has nevertheless primed the pump for Donald Trump to resume his execution spree.
Social media users also slammed Trump’s order, with oneย sayingย that “this is extremely disturbing” and anotherย callingย it “one of the most ghoulish things I’ve ever fucking read.” Many criticsย highlightedย that the president issued the measure whileย pardoningย over 1,500 insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, which led to the deaths of multiple police officers.
James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform,ย notedย that it “is straight out of Project 2025,” the sweeping Heritage Foundation-led playbook from which Trump unsuccessfully tried to distance himself during the campaign.
Trump has a long history of supporting capital punishment. As journalist Prem Thakkerย put it, “Onย Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the man who bought [a] full-page [newspaper] ad calling for the execution of the Central Park Fiveโfive Black and Latino teens wrongfully convicted of rapeโmakes one of his first acts as president to restore and prioritize the death penalty.”
but the reason I’m posting it is so we can be aware, and be better able to help our own neighbors locally. It may not be ours to start writing letters and calling on ACLU or any of those things, but maybe simply keeping our eyes open for the regular people we know or interact with. So here is this, which came to me from Death Penalty Action. It’s the first 10 EO’s issued today, plus some policy info.
For updates, context and analysis of Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, check out NPR’s live blog throughout the day Monday.
President Trump is expected to sign a flurry of executive orders, memorandums and proclamations after his inauguration on Monday, reversing many of his predecessors’ policies and reinstating actions from his first term in office.
The actions are expected to address a range of issues, including campaign priorities like border security and culture war issues like DEI policies.
Here’s what we know so far:
Immigration
Trump is expected to declare a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, designate criminal cartels as terror groups and end birthright citizenship for children born to immigrant parents without legal status, according to incoming White House officials who spoke to reporters on a call on condition of background.
Trump will also reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which would require some asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court, the officials said.
The moves are some of 10 sweeping executive actions on border security that incoming officials say Trump plans to sign on Monday:
Declare a national emergency at the border:ย The officials on the call said this action will allow U.S. armed forces to finish the border wall and allow the secretary of defense to deploy members of the armed forces and National Guard to the border.
“Clarify” the military’s role in border security:ย This action “directs the military to prioritize our borders” and protect territorial integrity “by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking and other criminal activities,” the officials said.
End “catch and release,” continue building the wall, and end “Remain in Mexico”
Designate criminal cartels as terrorists:ย This will allow the U.S. to more easily remove members of groups like Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela, and MS-13.
Suspend refugee resettlement:ย The official said the U.S. would suspend refugee resettlement for at least four months.
End asylum and close the border to those without legal status via proclamation:ย Officials said they are planning to end asylum entirely and close the border to those without legal status via proclamation, “which creates an immediate removal process without possibility of asylum.”
End birthright citizenship:ย The officials said the White House plans toย end birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14thย Amendment. They argued the amendment does not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents without legal status. This action is likely to see immediate legal challenges.
Enhance vetting and screening:ย The officials said they are going to “enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens.”
“Protect American citizens against invasion”:ย Officials said this “equips agents and officers of ICE and CBP with the authorities” they need to deport people from the U.S.
Restore the death penalty:ย “This action in particular, directs the Attorney General to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal aliens. It encourages state agencies and district attorneys to bring capital state charges for these crimes,” the officials said.
Trump will sign an executive action on Monday that says it’s the policy of the United States to recognize two biologically distinct sexes โ male and female โ an incoming White House official speaking on background told reporters Monday.
“These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the official said.
The change will require government agencies to use the definitions on documents like passports, visas and employee records the official said. Taxpayer funds will not be allowed to be used for “transition services,” the official said.
A second action will end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, the official said, giving as examples environmental justice programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diversity training.
National energy emergency and “electric vehicle mandate”
Trump intends to declare a national energy emergency on Monday, aiming to cut red tape and regulations for the energy industry, and a second one specific to Alaskan resources, an incoming White House official told reporters on a background conference call.
“That national energy emergency will unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce coal and natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation’s national security,” the official said. The official said energy prices are too high, but declined on the call to name a lower target price.
The action will end what incoming Trump officials call the “electric vehicle mandate” and will end “efforts to curtail consumer choice on the things that consumers use every single day, whether it be showerheads, whether it be gas stoves, whether it be dishwashers and the like,” the official said.
Trump has long railed against energy efficiency standards on the campaign trail, and specifically taken aim at “electric vehicle mandates,” a term he uses to encompass all policies designed to encourage a transition to battery-powered cars. Rules actually requiring 100% of vehicles to be electric do not exist on the federal level.
Inflation
Trump will sign a presidential memorandum on inflation Monday, an official from the incoming administration said. The official did not provide additional details.
NPR correspondents Tamara Keith, Ximena Bustillo and Camila Domonoske contributed to this report.
Heh. An adult acting like a child (child-ish, not child-like) is a narcissistic tell. I have commented from time to time about how my SIL (hubbyโs sister) acts like a 7-year old running around in a 74-year old womanโs body. She gets insulted when called out as being narcissistic, to which I can only reply, โthen stop acting like one. If you are not, you deserve an Academy Award for best portrayal of one.โ
and maybe you’ll get a good laugh out of this news I read on Showercap’s blog. Apparently Musk cheats and isn’t really a very good player. Earlier Sat. evening, I saw Musk on an old Big Bang Theory, acting at working in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. This was fun news to read after seeing that!
Now I’m not at all a gamer, though once upon a time I did all right at PacMan & Asteroids. I couldn’t care less about this sort of thing, but I find it funny to learn it about Musk. Two story snippets below:
Elon Musk is currently in the midst of a feud with Twitch streamer Asmongold, after he was accused of boosting his โPath of Exile 2โ account, leading to Musk leaking Asmonโs private DMs.
Elon Musk, theย worldโs richest man, is in the midst of a heated feud with gaming streamerย Zack Hoyt, better known asย โAsmongold,โ who is accusing Musk of cheating atย Path of Exile 2.
Asmongold is not the only gamer accusing Musk of cheating, as the larger gaming community, particularly Path of Exile players, believe that Musk is paying people to play games for him, leveling up his characters and arming them with powerful equipmentโa practice known as โboosting.โ
After Musk played Path of Exile 2 on a livestream, gamers quickly noticed that his actions did not match that of a proficient player, and compiled a list of evidence on Reddit that strongly implies that Musk is boosting his characters.
Commentators responded in bemused disbeliefโone wrote that Musk โdoesnโt seem to understand why he canโt pick up items when his inventory is full.โ
It should be noted that Path of Exile 2 is a very difficult game that requires a serious time commitment to reach the level that Muskโs character achieved (level 97 on hardcore mode).
The prevailing sentiment is that a man who is running multiple businesses simply does not have time to do this.
What Happened With Elon Musk And Asmongold?
Like many gaming streamers, Asmongold watched Muskโs livestream of Path of Exile 2 and came to the conclusion that Musk did not know how to play the game properly.
Asmon took it a step further, and challenged Musk to prove that he had reached level 97 by himself.
If Musk could prove this, Asmon promised that he would stream on X (Twitter) for a full year. Once the news of Asmonโs challenge made its way to X, Musk didnโt take the criticism very well. (snip-More)
Musk’s livestreams in which he plays a popular role-playing game have sparked some in the gaming community to speculate that he’s not the gamer he claims to be.
Elon Musk is battling critics on the internet, again. This time, itโs the video game community.
The tech titan has in recent days taken time away from his roles as SpaceX CEO and adviser to President-elect Donald Trump to call out some of the gaming worldโs niche content creators, firing back at accusations that he is not quite the gamer he purports to be.
The allegations amount to a sort of stolen valor for video games and center on some recent livestreams in which Musk played Path of Exile 2, a popular online role-playing game in which players select from a number of characters to end corruption spreading through the fictional world of Wraeclast. When playing on hardcore mode, as Musk does, when a character dies, its death is permanent. As gamers play, their characters level up, increasing in power and capability.
But many gamers have pointed out what they say is a crucial discrepancy. Two of Muskโs characters were particularly powerful โ among the top 100 most powerful in the world โ when they were โaliveโ (two characters tied to Musk have since โdiedโ and are now ranked in the 30s and 200s, respectively). The levels of Muskโs now-deceased characters would require dozens if not hundreds of hours of gameplay, depending on the gamer, to achieve. His skills, however, appear to be lacking, according to some gamers.
โIโm a huge fan of Elon Musk โ but this is embarrassing and very silly,โ Zack Hoyt, who is known as Asmongold to his 3.29 million subscribers on YouTube, said in a video posted Sunday. โIt makes him look bad and itโs for absolutely no reason. Itโs of no consequence and it achieves no goal.โ
Criticism toward the X CEO โ who has for years described himself as an avid gamer โ began gaining traction online after he livestreamed himself playing Path of Exile 2 on Jan. 7. Days later, inย the Reddit communityย for the game, some accused Musk of having someone โboostโ his account, or play for him. Others suggested heโs playing using a more skilled playerโs account.ย (snip-More)
I keep saying these people won’t stop ever until they get their way.ย They believe they are on a mission from their god to turn the entire country Christian.ย But not just Christian, the kind of Christian they themselves are.ย They want to force everyone to live according to their church doctrines.ย Why?ย I don’t understand it, but they think taking away the public’s freewill will make their god so happy he will return to give them their reward of a paradise on earth.ย But I thought god’s kingdom was in heaven, not on earth?ย But this idea that they and they alone know what god wants, that they and they alone have the right to tell others how to live, how to think, how to have sex, who to have sex with, what they can watch or listen to, even what god they can believe in, and how they are to pray to that god.ย As they demand.ย I do not get or understand what makes these people think they can rule other people, rule others lives, do all to others I have written above.ย Why can they not give others the same rights they demand for themselves, the right to live their lives and worship as they please?ย But please notice the wealthy person bankrolling so much of the effort to turn Texas in to a theocracy.ย Think about his actions when others try to stop him to protect democracy?ย ย He smears them to try to destroy them.ย This is the type of Christian warrior he is and they are.ย Do as I say not as I do, or the big one, it is OK to do bad things in the name of Jesus.ย ย Hugs.
AFPI has provided money, an institutional home, and political platforms to many of the people Trump has nominated to run the country;ย quite a fewย high-level Trump nominees have AFPI connections, including:
Pam Bondi, Attorney General (Chair, AFPI Center for Litigation; co-chair Center for Law and Justice)ย
Kash Patel, FBI (Senior Fellow, AFPI Center for American Security)
Linda McMahon, Education (Board chair; chair, Center for the American Worker)
Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency (Chair, China Policy Initiative & Pathway to 2025)
John Ratcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency (C-chair Center for National Security)
Doug Collins, Veterans Affairs (head of Georgia AFPI Chapter)
Brooke Rollins, Agriculture (Co-founder, President and CEO)
Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council (Chair, Board of Academic Advisors)
Matthew Whitaker, NATO (Co-chair, Center for Law & Justice)
Casey Mulligan, Small Business Administration, chief counsel (Board of Academic Advisors)
Trumpโsย first public speechย after winning the 2024 election was atย an AFPI galaย at Mar-a-Lago, where he was joined by other MAGA luminaries, including HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and โDepartment of Government Efficiencyโ leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
AFPI founder Rollins hasย braggedย about the groupโs โrevolutionaryโ plans to seize control of the โadministrative state.โ The groupโs agenda for the incoming administrationโits โtransition projectโโis in some ways even more radical than the Heritage Foundationโs Project 2025. AFPI believes Trump should be allowed to fire and replace any federal employee at will โ potentially converting the entire federal workforce into a massive and corrupt political patronage system. AFPI has reportedly prepared 300 executive orders for Trump.
As an officer at the America First Policy Institute, Bondi tried to undermine special counsel Jack Smithโs investigation of Trump byย arguingย that his appointment was unconstitutional. She oversaw what the Brennan Center has called โa number of troubling voting rights and election lawsuits,โ leading the pro-democracy organization toย conclude, โHer record on voting and elections raises questions about her ability to be the attorney general the American public deserves.โ
In a case in which AFPI sought to empower local election officials to delay or block certification of elections, AFPIโs arguments were โmeritless and radical,โ according to the Brennan Center. In another case filed shortly before, even notorious pro-Trump Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rejected AFPIโs โemergencyโ request to block a Biden executive order on voter registration that had been in place for several years. Kacsmaryk wrote that AFPIโs request provided โno direct evidenceโ to support its claims. The Brennan Center noted that the lawsuit โserved to amplify baseless conspiracy theories about noncitizen voting.โ
AFPI is funded in part byย Tim Dunn, whoย the Texas Monthly has calledย โthe billionaire bully who wants to turn Texas into a Christian theocracy.โ Dunn isย notoriousย for funding smear campaigns against Texas Republicans who donโt fall in line with his demands. Dunnย poured millions of dollarsย into the effort to elect Trump to a second term, and supports other right-wing causes, like the Convention of Statesโ efforts toย rewrite the U.S. Constitution.ย In a 2019ย speechย to Convention of States, Dunn argued that the Bible is โmainly about politicsโ and said that COS is triggering a Great Awakening.
Not so surprisingly, AFPI promotes Christian nationalist rhetoric; AFPI leaders have described their efforts as part of a โspiritual war.โ AFPIโs political arm, which isย chairedย by Dunn,ย partneredย with dominionist Lance Wallnauโwho believes right-wing Christians are meant to control the government and every other sphere of influence in society–to help Trump return to power. Dunn himself reportedly told former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who is Jewish, thatย only Christiansย should be in leadership positions in the legislature.
Also in leadership at AFPI is Trumpย spiritual and political adviser Paula White, who has repeatedly called Trumpโs opponentsย demonicย andย kicked offย his pre-insurrection rally with a prayer for โholy boldness.โ White chairs AFPIโs Center for American Values.
AFPIโs faith director Richardย Rogers, who took part in Wallnauโs โCourage Tour,โ appeared on The Jim Bakker show this week, where he said there will be a โfaith directorโ in every government agency in the new administration.ย Heย predictedย that the โprayer warriorsโ who โrose upโ on Trumpโs behalf in 2024 will โhave more power than Elon Musk.โ He described AFPI as a โdata-driven machineโ that worked โhand-in-handโ with the RNC to boost turnout among low-propensity voters.
AFPI claims โbiblical foundationsโ for each of the ten โpillarsโ of its right-wing policy agenda, which it callsย โ10 Pillars for Restoring a Nation Under God.โย It asserts, โThe Ten Commandments and Christian teachings have been the foundation that created the American legal system.โ AFPIโs websiteย declares, โThis fight is not just about the culture of America; itโs about the kingdom of God and the Churchโs divine mission to be the salt and light of our day in an era of increasing darkness.โ
Richard Rogers of the AFPI says that under Trump, there will be a "faith director in every single agency" tasked with ensuring that anti-Christian policies are not enacted. https://t.co/RPLmEAlAJEpic.twitter.com/GaZv2yE9iP
Probably the taxes, too. There is a sense that they’re about to decide to try yet another Brownback ‘grand experiment’ while not addressing their work on funding the state. It’s a thing everyone with a state legislature has to do, though; monitor and lobby.
Big fights on issues like transgender health care access will be repeated again this session as Republicans lead with a stronger majority.
Property tax cuts and access to care for young, transgender people are likely to be top issues in the Kansas Statehouse this year.
Top Kansas Republicans said theyโll look at amending the state constitution to put a cap on appraised values used to determine property taxes.
โPeople see these rapid appraisal increases, which turn into rapid tax increases,โ Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson said. โOur hand in that is really giving the people the choice (as) to whether or not they want to have a cap.โ
Masterson and Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins spoke to KCURโs Up to Date about their priorities heading into the 2025 legislative session. They said they want to eliminate the small chunk of property taxes that go towards the stateโs construction and maintenance fund.
There are 21.5 mills levied for statewide property taxes. One-and-a-half mills go to the state; the rest goes to local governments.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is advising caution as the Legislature considers more tax cuts. The state has a budget surplus, but Kelly argues too many cuts at once could negatively impact state infrastructure like schools and roads.
Kelly vetoed several attempts at tax cuts last year that she said would be too costly for the state in the future. She wants to wait a year before pursuing further property tax cuts.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, however, said they would be open to some cuts this session, as long as theyโre sustainable and benefit low-income Kansans.
โIf weโre just talking about homeowners, and not helping our renters, thatโs not going to be fair,โ Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes said.
To help renters, they want the state to consider limiting rent increases and reinstating a tax credit for renters that was eliminated under then-Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican.
Republicans also said they plan to pursue a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Advocates for gender-affirming care say an early transition can reduce the risk of suicide in transgender teens. But critics say it amounts to mutilation.
Kelly successfully vetoed similar bans in years past. But with Republicans gaining seats in the November election, they have better odds of overriding a potential veto.
โI will tell you with 100% certainty that that will be back,โ Hawkins told the Kansas News Service. โAnd we will have votes on it, and (Kelly will) veto it again, and weโll override that veto.โ
House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard said Democratic leaders are willing to negotiate with Republicans on the topic this session.
โThis is a much more complex issue than many of the legislators really understand,โ he said.
โI think there is a way to hear the concerns without invading parental rights, without inserting ourselves into physician offices, and I know that we are open to having those discussions with leadership,โ Woodard added.
These people are driven and a serious threat to democracy.ย They demand a theocracy of their god and a government enforcing their church doctrines.ย No non-Christians may be tolerated.ย Look at what they say, we don’t want government in our churches but we should be in government, and there is no separation of church and state.ย Plus how would these people react if a Muslim group did this, a Hindu church, or even a Jewish temple?ย ย They would lose their minds.ย ย Somewhere in the past the atheist stopped fighting these people and let them use their endless supply of church members contributions to push their goals ever closer to taking over.ย We must again fight back, get the people to understand the risk and what is true in history.ย ย These people will rewrite every thing to prove their lies.ย Hugs.
โThere isย no separationย between church and state,โ Republican Party of Texas Chair Abraham George said at a small rally with clergy and GOP lawmakers. โWe donโt want the government in our churches, but we should be in the government.โ
Polling from the Public Religion Research Institute found thatย more than halfย of Republicans adhere to or sympathize with pillars of Christian nationalism, including that the U.S. should be a strictly Christian nation. Of those respondents, roughly half supported having an authoritarian leader who maintains Christian dominance in society. Experts have also found strong correlations between Christian nationalist beliefs andย opposition to immigration, racial justice and religious diversity.
One of his movementโs ultimate goals, he said Tuesday, is to draw a lawsuit that they can eventually take to the U.S. Supreme Court, which they believe will ultimately overturn the prohibition and unleash a new wave of conservative, Christian activism.
One Christian nationalism expert said Tuesday’s events showed how normalized the ideology has become among broad swaths of the Republican Party. “I’ve argued for years that, in the Trump era, charismatic evangelicals have displaced the old guard of the (Religious Right) and brought in a new, more aggressive evangelical politics,” Matthew Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, & Jewish Studies, wrote onย social media. “That was on vivid display in (Texas) today.”
Taylor has spent much of his career focused on the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement of “charismatic” Christians who often weave prophecy, “spiritual warfare” and demonology into their calls for Christians to take control over all spheres of society.
Abraham Georgeโs comments are the latest sign of the state GOPโs embrace of fundamentalist ideologies that seek to center public life around their faith.
Landon Schott, pastor of Mercy Culture, leads a worship service in the state Capitol extension auditorium on the first day of the 2025 state legislative session in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.ย Credit:ย Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
ย
Two hours after Rep.ย Dustin Burrowsย of Lubbock was elected Texas House speaker on Tuesday, Christian worshippers gathered in a Capitol meeting room to prepare for โspiritual warโ and protect lawmakers from demonic forces.
โPray for the fear of the Lord to come into this place,โ Landon Schott intoned from the stage as a small band played acoustic hymns and 100 or so faithfulย laid their handsย on walls, hoping to bless the room and ward off evil spirits. โLet the fear of the Lord return to Austin. In Jesusโ name.โ
Schott is the pastor of Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth, and was among the Christian leaders who spent Tuesday rallying fellow believers ahead of a legislative session that they hope will further codify theirย conservative religious viewsย into law. He was joined in those efforts by a throng of pastors and Republican leaders, who throughout the day claimed that church-state separationย isnโt real, called progressive Christians heretics, or vowed to weed out โcowardlyโ clergy who refuse to politick from the pulpit.
โThere isย no separationย between church and state,โ Republican Party of Texas Chair Abraham George said at a small rally with clergy and GOP lawmakers. โWe donโt want the government in our churches, but we should be in the government.โ
ย
Georgeโs comments โ delivered some-50 yards from another rally that focused on interfaith unity โ are the latest sign of the Texas GOPโs embrace ofย fundamentalist ideologiesย that seek to center public life around their faith by claiming church-state separationย is a mythย or that Americaโs founding wasย God-ordained, and its laws should thusย favor conservative Christianity.
Polling from the Public Religion Research Institute found thatย more than halfย of Republicans adhere to or sympathize with pillars of Christian nationalism, including that the U.S. should be a strictly Christian nation. Of those respondents, roughly half supported having an authoritarian leader who maintains Christian dominance in society. Experts have also found strong correlations between Christian nationalist beliefs andย opposition to immigration, racial justice and religious diversity.
Worshippers link hands in prayer while attending a worship service led by a variety of religious groups from across Texas, including My God Votes, in the Capitol extension auditorium.ย Credit:ย Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
The partyโs embrace of those separate-but-overlapping ideologies has come as it hasย increasingly alignedย with far-right megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, two West Texas oil billionaires who have sought to cleanse the Texas GOP of moderate voices andย push their hardlineย religious views. At the same time, some Republican lawmakers have adopted an increasinglyย existential viewย of politics that paints opponents โ unwitting or not โ as part of a concerted effort to destroy Christianity, including by normalizing LGBTQ+ acceptance or undermining โtraditionalโ family structures.
Such claims have been used as the pretext for a litany of bills and reforms that wouldย further infuseย Christianity into public life. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed a law allowingย unlicensed chaplainsย to supplant counselors in public schools; sought to weakenย Texasโ constitutional banย on providing taxpayer money to religious institutions, a core plank of the school voucher movement; and almostย passed a billย that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms.
Lawmakers are expected to continue that trend during this yearโs legislative session (the Ten Commandments bill already has been refiled). And pastors, emboldened by President Donald Trumpโs reelection and the ultraconservative U.S. Supreme Court, said Tuesday that they believe they have their best shot yet to topple theย church-state wallย and the Johnson Amendment, a federal rule thatย prohibits churchesย from engaging in overt political activity.
Rick Scarborough hasย spent decadesย working to do exactly that. A former Southern Baptist pastor in Pearland, he has become a leader in a movement that seeks toย mobilize pastorsย and undermine the Johnson Amendment, which heย says is toothlessย but has been used by โcowardlyโ pastors who donโt want to engage in politics. The result, he said, has been an ineffectual Texas Legislature that has often cowered to the LGBTQ+ community and their heretical, progressive Christian allies. (Texas lawmakers have passed dozens ofย anti-LGBTQ+ billsย in recent years, overriding opposition from a large majority of Democrats).
One of his movementโs ultimate goals, he said Tuesday, is to draw a lawsuit that they can eventually take to the U.S. Supreme Court, which they believe will ultimately overturn the prohibition and unleash a new wave of conservative, Christian activism.
โThe Johnson Amendment isย nothing but a fig leafย to cover the fear that pastors already have,โ he said in an interview after praying over GOP lawmakers on the Capitol lawn. โMost pastors are so fearful of their reputation that they won’t stand, and they don’t know how much God will defend them if they get out there and stand up and speak fearlessly.โ
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Few congregations have taken upย Scarboroughโsย mantleย like Mercy Culture Church, the Fort Worth congregation that Schott pastors. In recent years, Mercy Culture has become an epicenter of Texasโ fundamentalist Christian movement, helping push the state and local GOP further right, demonizing their detractors โ Schott has called critics of the church โwarlocksโ and โwitches,โ and claimed Christians can’t vote for Democrats โ and rallying voters behind church leaders as they campaign for public office. Among the churchโs pastors is Rep.ย Nate Schatzline, who was elected to the Texas House in 2022 and has since continued to frame his political life as part of broader, spiritual struggle.
โThis isn’t a physical battle,โ Schatzline said in a Tuesday interview. โIt’s not a political battle we’re in. We really believe this is a spiritual battle.โ
Hours later, Schatzline kicked off the worship session at the Capitol with a bold promise.
โWeโre going to give this space back to the Holy Spirit,โย he said. โWe give You this room. โฆ The 89th Legislative session is Yours, Lord. The members of this body are Yours, Lord. This building belongs to You, Jesus.”
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One Christian nationalism expert said Tuesday’s events showed how normalized the ideology has become among broad swaths of the Republican Party. “I’ve argued for years that, in the Trump era, charismatic evangelicals have displaced the old guard of the (Religious Right) and brought in a new, more aggressive evangelical politics,” Matthew Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, & Jewish Studies, wrote onย social media. “That was on vivid display in (Texas) today.”
Taylor has spent much of his career focused on the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement of “charismatic” Christians who often weave prophecy, “spiritual warfare” and demonology into their calls for Christians to take control over all spheres of society.
Members of that movement played central roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, and were well-represented at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday: Schatzline and Mercy Culture have deep ties to theย New Apostolic Reformation, as does Brandon Burden, a Frisco pastor who led a caravan of buses and activists to pressure lawmakers ahead of the House speaker vote. In January 2021, he told his congregants to keep weapons loaded for what he prophesied would be a national blackout orchestrated to keep Trump out of office.
Burden repeatedly appeared alongside Republican officials on Tuesday. Minutes after George, the Texas GOP chair, claimed that church-state separation doesn’t exist, Burden led a group of pastors and activists as they prayed over a small group of GOP lawmakers. “We take charge and authority of the 89th legislative session,”ย he prayed. “We, the people of God, called by the name of Jesus and covered in the blood of the lamb, have been given spiritual jurisdiction over the affairs of men.โ
At the Texas Capitol, Christian worshippers are blessing the walls of a hearing room to protect lawmakers from spiritual forces and the โJezebelโ spirit.
โPray for the fear of the Lord to come into this place,โ says MercyCulture pastor Landon Schott. pic.twitter.com/1NAIOYkRtC
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be HegsethRead on Substack
When asked about sexual assault, sexual harassment, alcohol abuse, financial mismanagement, and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), Trumpโs nominee for the Secretary of Defense and former Fox News fixture Pete Hegseth said, โOur left-wing media in America today, sadly, doesnโt care about the truth, All they were out to do was to destroy me because Iโm a change agent and a threat to them. Despite the attacks, I stand committed to the truth and our warfighters.โ
If Hegseth is so committed to the truth, then why did he refuse to answer so many questions during his confirmation hearing yesterday? Oh, yeahโฆbecause heโs a racist rapey liar. Also, if Hegeseth is so โcommittedโ to the truth, then why is he working for the worldโs biggest liar, Donald Trump?
Hegseth claimed he didnโt know if he had nondisclosure agreements with his two ex-wives. How do you not know that? He also dodged questions from my senator, Tim Kaine, about cheating on his wives, even shortly after one of them gave birth. Damn, he is like Donald Trump.
Hegseth refused to answer Senator Tammy Duckworthโs question about whether he had ever conducted a financial audit of the veterans organizations he once ran (that forced him out for being constantly drunk, sexually harassing female employees, and shouting, โDeath to all Muslimsโ), given his insistence that the Pentagon undergo a deep-dive audit.
Pete is also a big fan of war criminals as he advocated on Fox News for Trump to pardon several in 2019 without disclosing he had private conversations with Trump on the matter. That was a violation of journalism ethics, even when working for Fox News.
Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin attempted to flip the script on Democrats, asking, โHow many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night?โ
Mullin also asked, โHave any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And then how many senators do you know who have gotten a divorce for cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No.โ Iโm pretty sure Mullin never asked Donald Trump to step down.
Mullin and the other Republicans on the committee are perfectly fine with an unqualified racist rapey lying drunk leading the defense department, just as they are for president, but Democrats are not. That wasnโt entirely fair of me. Donald Trump isnโt a drunk.
Hegseth refused to answer if heโd take an illegal order from Trump to shoot protesters in their legs, as he wanted his previous Defense Secretary to do to anti-racism protesters in Lafayette Square who scared Trump to retreat and hide in the White House bunker. But he seems in favor of it as he seemed to justify shooting protesters while criticizing them instead of answering the question.
Question: Will you follow Trumpโs orders to shoot protesters? Pete: Well a lot of them arenโt nice and they say things we donโt like, โTrump sucksโ and โTrump wears diapers.โ Question: But will you order them to be shot? Pete: They attacked a church. Question: Again, will you order them to be shot? Pete: They scared Trump and made him wet himself in the basement, and we had to sing lullabies to get him to sleep. Question: But would you have the protester shot? Pete: They looked like a bunch of dirty hippies. Question: But will you have them shot? Pete: The sex was consensualโฆwaitโฆWhat was the question?
He also refused to say if heโd direct the military to invade Panama and Greenland.
Pete previously claimed heโd quit drinking if heโs confirmed. When asked if he would resign as Defense Secretary if he started drinking again, he refused to answer and said, โIโm too drunk to taste this chicken.โ I may have made up that answer.
Pete claimed he was a โchanged manโ and unlike the deviant he used to be, thanks to Jesus. He said, โI have failed at things in my life, and I am redeemed by my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.โ Somehow, this redemption doesnโt affect his lying.
Pete claimed he was for women serving in combat despite only a few months ago saying he didnโt.
Pete said, โWriting a book is different than being Secretary of Defense,โ which should be noted because writing a book doesnโt make you qualified to be Secretary of Defense anymore than being a racist barking yam qualifies you to be president.
At one point, Senator Mullin tried to say, โGive me a break,โ but flubbed it and said, โGive me a joke.โ During his monologue last night, Stephen Colbert delivered a joke for Senator Mullin, saying, โA drunk, a cheating husband, and an accused sexual predator walk into a bar, and the bartender says, โTable for one, Mr. Hegseth?โโ
Thatโs funny, but the real joke is to believe that philandering seed spreading women-beating drunken lying rancid rotten no-good piece of shit Pete Hegseth is qualified to be Secretary of Defense. Colleagues, donโt steal that from me for a cartoon.
Creative notes: I think this is my fourth cartoon on Hegseth. I wrote this cartoon during my trip through the UK and Ireland, but Iโm not sure which country or city it was written in. This was drawn in London, this was drawn in Dublin, and this was drawn in Reykjavik. I saved the idea for todayโs cartoon for the confirmation hearingโฆand then I forgot about it. I remembered it just this morning.
On another note: I want to thank all my subscribers again, especially the paid subscribers for helping me continue to draw cartoons, write blogs, make videos, and continue my reign of sarcastic terror on MAGAts without the distractions of a real job and being required to show up at places I donโt want to be at specific times and attend boring meetings and stuff. I love you free subscribers too but honestly, the paid subscribers smell better. If you want to smell better too, like youโre wearing Irish Spring after an early morning rain while standing next to a bagel shop, then you should become a paid subscriber too.
I donโt know where I come up with this shitโฆbut thank you again. Now I want a bagel.
Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go watch. Now I want a bagel, too!)
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Scottie's Playtime 