Donald Trump discussed his plans to combat critical race theory and “…transgender insanity” at his speech in Greensboro, North Carolina and received a standing ovation. Trump took note of the reaction: “It’s amazing how strongly people feel about that. I talk about cutting taxes, people go like that, i talk about transgender everybody goes crazy. five years ago you didn’t know what the hell it was.”
Sam hosts independent journalist Erin Reed to discuss the recent spate of anti-trans bills working their way through state legislatures across the country. Then they’re joined by Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, to discuss Syria’s recent re-introduction into the Arab League. First, Sam runs through updates on the Florida grand jury Trump case, Mark Meadows’ testimony against Trump, the continuing environmental emergency in the American northeast, right-wingers leaving behind their gas stove schtick, Tucker’s Twitter show, and US-Ukraine intelligence on the Nord Stream fiasco, also diving into the absurdity of economists sticking with their decades-old unemployment lies. Erin Reed then dives right into assessing the state of the right-wing’s attack on trans people nationwide, exploring how they got the entire GOP on board despite the topic’s electoral failures, and why Florida is a good case study for the fundamentalist dystopia they want to create. Wrapping up, Erin tackles the similarities we see between transphobic healthcare legislation and abortion TRAP laws, discusses the fight between progressive and fundamentalist states over border rights and trans care, and why parental rights might wind up saving trans lives in court.
Read the full article. Josh McKoon [photo above] first appeared on JMG in 2015 when he introduced an ultimately failed bill to legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination by businesses and employers. In 2016, he appeared here for his pointless bill to “protect” preachers who refuse to officiate same-sex marriages. According to McKoon, the veto of his 2016 bill by GOP then-Gov. Nathan Deal was “slap in the face to conservatives, to evangelicals and to the broader faith community.”
The Confederate monuments (and the flag) are kept around to keep the flame alive that the South is gonna rise up again, and next time they’re gonna win. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “The South shall rise again!” growing up. Far too many Southern whites are still bitter about losing the war and having slavery taken away from them. And the end of segregation just made them even angrier. The Union may have won the war, but far too many Southern whites remain unreconstructed in their heart and mind. They revere the monuments for what they stand for. So, I’m not one bit surprised that the Georgia GOP wants to keep those monuments in place.
O/T: Ms Lindsey’s staunch defense and filthy boudoir mouth at yesterday’s interview explained:
The program enables schools that predominantly serve children from low-income backgrounds to offer all students free breakfast and lunch, instead of means-testing them and having to manage collecting applications on an individual basis. As with many universal-oriented programs, it is more practically efficient and, as a bonus, lifts all boats. This is what Republicans are looking to eliminate.
NEW: The New Republic is reporting that Republicans are focused on banning free lunch for America’s school children. Despite ample need, Republicans believe exacerbating child hunger is a winning message for them in 2024. @newrepublichttps://t.co/P7FcHycoGl
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) June 15, 2023
mkbear68a day ago Because those poor kids cold get a job and pay for their own damn lunch!
and pull them out of school so they are both poor and dumb …equals perfect Fox New viewers.
… well because we all know that nothing says “Loving Christian” better than “Hungry Poor Children”.
now they can live in fear of being human trafficked. By their own parents because they cannot afford to feed them.
GOP: “Why should I pay for free lunches for those rugrats? Let their whore mothers who should have kept their knees together pay for their lunches.”
Also GOP: “Anybody who even gives a pregnant 14-year-old a ride to a state that offers abortions gets the death sentence.”
It is not about abortion… or anything except policing women’s sexuality, keeping the poor poor, and maintaining the rich white cishet “Christian” men from feeling threatened in anyway.
I used to work for my State’s Free Lunch program. You wouldn’t believe the number of kids who told me that the School Lunch was the only real meal they got all day. And they feared the coming of summer because it meant the wouldn’t be getting a real meal until school started again.
You have to be really malignant to pull a meal out of a hungry kid’s mouth.
Gregory In Seattle2 days ago This is what Republicans want for us all. While they might mouth platitudes against violence, this is EXACTLY what they and right wing propaganda outlets stir up with their incessant, vitriolically hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ communities.
JackFknTwist3 days ago Aged 21 and 23. They must know fucking everything at that age. They must be so bright, politically astute and have vast knowledge of international history. Or else they are another pair of ‘fucking morons’ (thanks Rex) or Evangelicals or pro-life , again fucking morons. Or all of the above
Doug1054 days ago A common statement from the religious side of this issue goes something like this “stop shoving your gay agenda down our throats”. In the same breath, they go on to say, “You don’t see us shoving our religion down your throat”. Well then… Have you ever had a homosexual knock on your door (usually around dinner time) asking if you have found Elton John? Have homosexuals ever passed laws that make the government print “In Homosexuality We Trust” on your money? When was the last time homosexuals passed laws that rewrote the Pledge of Allegiance to say, “One Homosexual Nation”? Have homosexuals erected a monument with Marc Jacobs’ top 10 fashion rules at your local courthouse? Have any homosexual groups spent millions trying to pass laws to outlaw marriage between a woman and a man? Have homosexual activists worked to pass laws limiting birth control, abortion, etc? Did a homosexual ever prevent you from buying liquor or a car on Sunday? Is there a book promoting homosexuality in almost every hotel room in the country? Have homosexuals pushed for laws to make the missionary position illegal? Have homosexuals tried to pass a law allowing them to legally refuse service to Christians? Right, they have never shoved their religious agenda down our collective throats.
As a liberal, I am constantly accused of being intolerant for not accepting someone’s hateful or repressive convictions. It’s as if “tolerance” has come to mean accepting and respecting someone else’s views, regardless of what they are or who they affect. And that’s wrong.
Tolerance: a fair, objective and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc.,. Differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry
Being open-minded does not mean arbitrarily respecting everyone and accepting everything. There are things that no one should tolerate, such as bigotry, suppression of liberty, denial of equal rights, and abusive restrictions.
I try to preach and practice tolerance, but I do not have to tolerate anyone’s intolerance. There is never an excuse or justification for hatred or abuse.
Read the full article. Kristina Karamo, you will recall, says Democrats drink the blood of children and that demonic possession is sexually transmitted. She last appeared here when she compared a gun control bill to the Holocaust.
This may be the start of getting our democracy back. How far will the hard right Justices be willing to go to ignore racial injustice to remain white republican power? Hugs
This is what qualifies as the Republican congressperson these days. Someone who proudly uses slurs against minorities for laughs and preens over it. She is like a kid who was unliked until she attacked a kid who also was unliked a bit more than her. She is smug and happy, not realizing her new friends will abandon her as soon as she is not useful for hitting down at others. These people on the right today don’t even pretend to like civility, decency, being nice or kind to others. Everything they demand for themselves, they delight in denying for everyone else. Thugs and childish bullies are now members of congress. Plus she is always pushing her Christian religious views along with her ignorance of biology and hate for sex education in schools. She had to leave school because she was pregnant as a young teen and her teen son also impregnated a young teen, now we find out she is getting a divorce along with all the members of her family being heavy drinkers. Very good Christians? No she is entitled white trash that got a golden ticket by using her body and hateful attacks on minorities. Hugs
She paused and smiled, appearing proud of herself for using a slur in front of such a large group of people.
Lauren Boebert says LGBTQ+ people are “degenerates” in calling for North Face boycott
She is upset about a drag queen’s wholesome Instagram video announcing a Pride event for The North Face.
“Bud Light – or tr***y fluid…” The crowd laughed as she paused, smiling and appearing proud of herself for using a slur in front of a large group of people. “They have lost $27 billion in revenue because you took a stand.”
Her claim that Bud Light lost $27 billion in revenue due to their sponsorship of a 50-second Instagram video by trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney is wrong in multiple ways. First, she is referring to Anheuser-Bucsh’s market value, not revenue earned specifically by Bud Light. Bud Light is owned by Anheuser-Busch, which owns many popular beer brands in the U.S.
Second, the reason for the drop in market value can’t be pinned on the video with Dylan Mulvaney; there are many forces affecting the company’s market value and no reason to ignore all of them except for the Instagram video. Even the timing is off; the market value of Anheuser-Busch started dropping in mid-May, a month and a half after rightwingers started boycotting Bud Light because of the April 1 video.
screenshot/ycharts
People on Twitter mocked her.
Sad that someone who votes on legislation affecting corporations doesn't know the difference between revenue and market capitalization.
Yes @laurenboebert be proud of being a part of ruining a corporation. What could go wrong? Less taxes for the States. Possibly a rise in unemployment. Less revenue for the government which causes our debt to rise. Increase the division in our country. So keep on laughing.
I find unbelievable that in 2023 there are people who still use derogatory terms like that. They aren't making fun of opponent politicians or supporters, they are laughing to an entire community of US citizen fellows who is fighting for equal rights.
Here is a guy pushing hate but too cowardly to be upfront about it. He prefers to be sneaky and do the right wing gaslighting. He calls the pride flags divisive, but who are the ones making them that way? Not the LGBTQ+, the fundamentalist religious right wing conservatives are the ones drumming up the hate and anger. He is doing what the right always does, blame the victim of their hate and abuse. Just like a domestic abuser often blames the victim by saying “look at what you made me do”, he blames the flags that I just posted a group made little boys stomp on! Hugs
“We’ve flown the pride flag for two years, and the world didn’t end,” one local official said.
Orange County, California has banned the Pride flag from being flown outside of any county offices or on county government properties. The banning follows a recent increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in the county.
In a meeting last Tuesday, the county’s Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to ban the flag. Republican supervisor Andrew Do requested the ban, Q Voice News reported, citing his desire to stop any “divisive” flags from potentially creating community disruptions at future board meetings.
Florida town defiantly flies Pride Flag after mayor warns against it
The town gave in to the mayor’s request last year, but this year they chose a new path.
Democrat Doug Chaffee voted in support of the ban along with Republican Donald Wagner. The board’s two other Democratic members, Vicente Sarmiento and Katrina Foley, voted against the ban.
Do’s resolution only allows the flying of the Orange County, state, and federal flags, as well as a flag for U.S. military soldiers who are prisoners of war and missing in action (POW-MIA). He said he supports the LGBTQ+ community, pointing to his efforts to help transgender people get vaccinated against COVID-19 and his hiring of a gay man to the county’s top public health leadership role, Voice of OC reported.
Do said his proposal wasn’t motivated by opposition to any specific social issue. However, Wagner disagreed, noting that Do issued his proposal at the beginning of Pride Month.
“It is not a coincidence that this policy is in front of us right now,” Wagner said. “It is not a coincidence that we’re considering it today for the first time in the more than 100 years of this County’s existence. We’re considering it today, in response to the divisive effort to fly one particular flag. So yes, there absolutely is a connection.”
Foley asked Do if his proposal would ban a recent sheriff’s flying of a police appreciation flag, one that doesn’t fall under Do’s list of pre-approved flags. Do responded, “You’re free to ask, and I’m free to ignore you.”
Foley said, “By taking the stance today of banning the Pride flag, which is what this is tantamount to, at all of our county buildings, our county board offices, other than in our internal offices, our parks, our airport, our harbors, our beaches, it sends the wrong message to America and to the world.”
In February, the conservative-led city council of Huntington Beach (13 miles southwest of Orange County) voted 4-3 to ban Pride flags from flying outside of its City Hall. Supporters of the policy said it was necessary to stop future battles over which group’s flags are allowed and which ones aren’t.
Councilmember Dan Kalmick denounced the vote, saying, “It’s of course a ban on the city flying the Pride flag. Call it what it is… We’ve flown the pride flag for two years, and the world didn’t end.” The city previously flew the flag for six weeks during Pride Month.
Huntington Beach resident Gretchen Dawson told the council that the ban “sends a signal that we’re not safe here,” adding, “Safety is the biggest reason why we fly the Pride flag … by taking it away – not flying it – you are communicating to me that we don’t deserve safety.”
Frank Rodriguez, who called himself an executive member of the anti-LGBTQ+ group Gays Against Groomers, said the Pride flag doesn’t represent him. He destroyed one while making his public comment to the council.
The hate is rising. There was a series of kids books I read as a child called The Dark is Rising, with each book having an individual title. The story is basically a good vs bad story built loosely around the King Arthur Merlin myths. I see that same evil hate that the book showed rising doing so today. But the evil devil that the good beings are fighting is the rising hate and threats of violence by the religious conservative right against the LGBTQ+ in the hope of bring back a dictatorship of a strict society based on their church doctrines.
One note on the story. He says he got punched in the back and the face. The story says that the video shows he got hit by his bullhorn where the cut is. But it is possible someone hit or pushed the bullhorn hard enough to cut the skin and feel like being punched. Hugs
Joel Harden said, “I’ll take a punch for queer and trans youth any day.”
On Friday, a protest and counter-demonstration on a leafy street in Ottawa — normally home to students making their way to and from three schools in the area — was instead the site of hateful rhetoric and violence in the Canadian capital.
A local MP became the face of the melee, when he was “rabbit-punched” at the protest — he said he’d do it all over again to keep trans and queer kids safe.
“I’ll take a punch for queer and trans youth any day,” said Joel Harden, a member of Ontario’s provincial Parliament with the New Democratic Party (NDP).
The demonstration was organized by far-right Canadian provocateur Billboard Chris to protest a local school board advising staff to use they/them pronouns for students who had yet to share their personal pronouns.
Muslim parents joined a mostly White crowd denouncing the advisory notice. Some were seen encouraging their kids to violently stomp on progress Pride flags littering the street.
Harden, elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario five years ago, has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ issues, and attended the counter-protest in solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth and their parents.
The MPP recounted that during the protest, he noticed a woman berating another individual, with her hands in the person’s hair. He says he rushed over to break up the altercation.
“I felt a punch in the back and then a rabbit-punch to the face,” Harden recalled for Yahoo Canada. “It happened in a split-second.”
Photos of Harden reveal a cut below his right eye.
Video on social media shows the megaphone Harden was holding striking his face (where the cut now appears).
The day before the protest, the legislator warned in a speech to members of Parliament of the threat to queer and trans youth as the country celebrates Pride Month.
“As incidents of hate against the 2SLGBTQIA are rising, we have a message for queer and trans youth in #OttawaCentre and everywhere in this province,” Harden posted to Twitter afterward. “We see you, love you, value you, and we will not continue to let you be threatened by hate or bigotry.”
As incidents of hate against the 2SLGBTQIA are rising, we have a message for queer and trans youth in #OttawaCentre and everywhere in this province:
Harden says the far-right is weaponizing social media, calling it a “vitriolic cesspool,” and manipulating parents’ instincts to protect their kids in order to further conservatives’ own anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.
“I am a father. What measures I wouldn’t go to in an effort to protect my own children? But what this movement is doing is convincing individuals that to protect your children, you have to hate trans and queer people,” he says.
Those supporting the rights of LGBTQ+ youth “are not your enemy,” he adds.
“History and present day has taught me that there are some of us who are willing to put the work in to de-program hatred, and I’m down for that,” said Harden. “If people want to come to my office and throw rotten tomatoes at me, come over.”
Fellow lawmakers and constituents alike expressed solidarity with Harden.
“My local MPP @JoelHardenONDP just got punched in the face at a counter rally, during an anti-trans protest,” posted Kathryn LeBlanc. “Queer and trans people are sounding the alarm on rising hate. It’s time to come together, mobilize, and build solidarity on this issue.”
While conservative Muslims joined far-right Canadians in protest, Sikh pol and federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had Harden’s back.
“I’m proud of you @JoelHardenONDP,” posted Singh. “Queer and Trans people — and kids — are being targeted by angry and hateful extremists. Governments must step up to protect the queer and trans community.”
Rep. Lauren BoebertPhoto: Screenshot
Photo: Shutterstock
Ontario MP Joel HardenPhoto: Screenshot Twitter
Scottie's Playtime 