Teachers who break the law could face a $10,000 fine and lose their jobs
Anewlyproposed bill in Oklahoma from State Senator Rob Standridge would punish any public school teacher who promotes any position “in opposition to closely held religious beliefs of students.” Which — let’s face it — means the bill would punish any public school teacher.
Senate Bill 1470 was prefiled this week by Standridge, a MAGA cultist who made news last month when he filed a different bill to ban all books with sexual content (especially ones that affirm trans identities) from public school libraries. On Monday, he posted on Facebook about his desire to ban Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye from schools because it contains a rape scene.
But it’s the more recent bill that’s gotten plenty of attention online because it allows students and parents with irrational religious views to override the curriculum decisions of trained professionals.
A biology teacher who explains evolution could be ratted out by a Creationist who’s failing science class. A health teacher who educates students about different forms of birth control won’t be in that classroom for very long if an abstinence-promoting teenager is on the roster. A history teacher who correctly describes the Founding Fathers as a mix of religious and non-religious individuals could be a target of conservative evangelicals who believe Christian pseudo-historian David Barton’s lies. An English teacher who wants to challenge kids with controversial thought-provoking literature would be forced to stick to only the blandest books.
Give it time and the students would find reason to oppose math, too. The bill is vague enough to give them that leeway.
The bill would punish teachers by fining them $10,000 “per incident, per individual.” Want to raise the money via GoFundMe? Not an option. The bill says the fines must be paid “from personal resources” and offenders can’t get assistance from individuals or groups. If they catch you fundraising, the bill says you’ll be fired with no ability to go back into a public school classroom for five years.
All of this comes from Standridge, a member of Crosspointe Church in Norman, who has ironically railed against “cancel culture” and “censorship.” Like so many white evangelical Christians, he’s an expert in hypocrisy and an advocate for ignorance. He wants to make students in Oklahoma as dumb as the people he routinely surrounds himself with, while creating an obstacle for them to get accepted into better universities after they graduate. Why would any school want to admit a student who failed to get a proper high school education?
I have no clue if this bill will pass, but the story is that a legislator decided to file this bill at all. It seems safe to assume the overarching goal here is to simply scare good teachers out of the profession. Why subject yourself to the anti-educational whims of white evangelicals when you can find a better paying job outside the schools?
This is what conservatives want, though. They’ll do everything in their power to hurt public schools, make teachers’ lives miserable, and prevent kids from getting a comprehensive education. It’s not enough that private Christian schools exist; lawmakers like Standridge want to make public schools all but useless. Why educate students if that education makes them aware of how incompetent their elected officials are? Better to keep them in the dark by allowing the worst kinds of religious fundamentalists to control the classroom.
While it’s theoretically possible for Muslims, Satanists, and atheists to use this bill to challenge right-wing agendas in the classroom, there’s no secret about who this bill is written for: It’s a gift to conservative Christians who can’t accept that their faith doesn’t mesh with reality. They’d rather be blissfully ignorant than grapple with any kind of nuance.
My first brand new home cost less than my 2018 car. Then I could afford a new home, two vehicles, two motorcycles, and other luxuries on one working persons wages. Not now.
A living wage. Housing as a human right. Medicare for All. Building union power. Legalizing marijuana & expunging records. Tackling the climate crisis.
Republican fascism is here. FOX broadcasts the propaganda. Both thought they would restore past glory by scapegoating and violence.
Half the GOP in Congress will be in prison and they will still chant ‘lock her up’ because the brainless have no objective intelligence, just slogans and grievances.
We had all of our major cities BURNED TO THE GROUND!!!
We need to look at this for what it is — they’re trying to keep us from voting with the threat of violence, because they know they can’t win on the issues.
Because of the red states forcing in person schooling with no attempt at all to use precautions or mitigate the spread of Covid, so many teachers are out sick with the virus that there is no one left to watch the kids as the parents work. Think about the sign, it is not about educating the kids, it is about having a place to park them so the parents can make profit for their employers. If it was about teaching kids than the money would have been put into making the kids and adults safe.
Just what we need, a country that can not afford to take care of nuclear weapons and did not have the expertise needed to control them having them. But they are right they should have gotten much better security promises and treaties for giving them up.
Not quite that bad. There has been some hesitation as to how far to go with sanctions on the part of Germany because they get a large part of their natural gas for heating their homes from Russia. In the middle of winter I can see their issue, but I also want to note they have agreed to go along with the sanctions.
Yes they do hate to be called out for what they are. Most racist say they are not racists. The fringe people want or need to think they are the majority and the ones with the truth.
Notice the cartoonist name. This same deep right wing person who fawns over tRump and rants against anything the Democrats want to do while promoting Covid misinformation is supporting the Canadian anti-maskers / anti-vaccine truckers. Do you wonder if there is dark money fueling all these people ranting against governments attempt to slow down and eradicate the virus?
This normally far right cartoonist is sort of correct above. But what it points out is not that Biden has fallen but that there is not one Republican willing to do the right thing for their country. It shows that the right is party first rather than the good of the country. They would see the country destroyed to make Biden fail, regardless of the cost to the nation.
How immature. The US government requires money to operate and provide services. The IRS exists to ensure that those who owe taxes pay the correct amount owed. The problem is that the Republicans have managed to shift the tax burden on to the lower incomes and poor and away from the wealthy. The Republicans have starved the agency so they can no longer go after wealthy people actively avoiding paying the taxes they owe. The wealthy want as much bad press and to demonize the IRS as much as possible so the people will try to do away with the agency in charge of making the wealthy pay their taxes. This is the right wing media doing the bidding of the wealthy to sway public opinion. Don’t fall for it. Don’t give the wealthy a pass from paying their taxes.
I noticed Goodwin never pointed out the injustice of appointing white people over qualified black women. Remember that Reagan promised to put a woman on the Supreme Court if he were elected—and he did. Was that pandering? Trump promised to put anti-abortionists on the Court, and he did. Was that pandering? Conserves are scared of a more balanced court. That’s why they stacked the Supreme Court with single minded simpletons who pander to the ultra right wing evangelicals.
You can no longer be neutral on this issue. You are either against white supremacy and the negation of black history, or, you identify with white supremacy and you require an anti-black agenda to exist.
Your exposure to humanity should make you curious. Tell your parents to open a book.
It is exhausting to see people decrying Biden picking “a less qualified” or “unqualified” Black woman for SCOTUS, without even seeing who the nominee is. You are essentially saying that you think there is literally no Black woman in this country qualified to sit on the Court.
Just a reminder that the Heritage Foundation, a pillar of conservative policy, is actively engaging in spreading anti-vax misinformation.
It boggles my mind that in 2022, with thousands still dying daily, a major think tank is still agreeing "shots don't prevent spread." 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/0fsGi6Lzge
Being a police officer isn’t even in the top 10 most dangerous jobs and it’s far behind such risky ( but genuinely useful ) endeavours as working on a farm and collecting garbage.
Not only that but COVID became the number one killer of cops « in the line of duty » last year.
— Scott #FuckElonMusk AbolishThePolice #ACAB Menor (@smenor) January 30, 2022
Also he’s a fantastic idiot if he thinks that violence against women isn’t a norm in society or that the threat of being punched (or whatever else) by men isn’t an actual risk that women constantly navigate
— E. McCumber @independentpen@mas.to (@independentpen) January 30, 2022
People can still travel by air, they just have to follow the rules as they always have had to follow the rules. The rules now include wearing masks and having the Covid vaccines.
My comment on the above cartoon was deleted as spam. I suspect that the cult followers of the right simply flag any comment that contradicts what they spew. The person writing the comment that was removed doesn’t get notified and has no way to know why it was flagged or who flagged it. There is a request for review and I hit them, but I have never seen the review have any effect. I have had comments on review for over two months with no resolution. So it scam to block non-right wing misleading comments. Below is the comment that was marked spam.
The southern border is secure, one of the most secure of borders. The norther border is not only not secure in many places it is not even marked or patrolled. In fact the northern border often runs through towns, down the center of roads, or is just sections of beach. Why do some people focus on the well patrolled and watched southern border and not the wide open northern one confuses me. There has to be something different about the people crossing them … Oh I got it skin color maybe?
The wall is not practical, it is not effective, and it is easily defeated. We all seen the videos of people scaling the new walls, cutting them with battery operated saws, or using makeshift ladders to go over them. The idea of a wall is only a media gimmick, a political tool, a pretend solution to please the anti-immigration crowd. There are long sections where the wall cannot be built due to terrain, where people don’t want to give up their land, where it is an environmental disaster. It simply is a not needed boondoggle.
Ah healthcare. Republicans have blocked every attempt to lower drug costs and to improve healthcare for the public. Look it up.
Why do we need to rebuild the military? Didn’t tRump brag he did that? Almost over night even. They were out of bullets until him he said. Thing was the military budget increased under Obama, under tRump, and under Biden. Those are facts, look it up.
Infrastructure for political cronies like the one support by Republicans that just passed and was signed into law. Know why that is so popular with corporations and the wealthy? It gives large amounts of public assets to businesses so they can charge the public to use them. That is real crony problem, Republicans giving the country to the wealthy instead of having government working for the public.
Oh I agree that we shouldn’t have bribes to China for Ivanka’s trademarks. That was horrible. She got 18 in two months during first two years when China was on good terms with the former president. Russia got many good deals in the hope of approving serval ventures tRump wanted to in Moscow. He even offered Putin the top penthouse for free. it is a fact look it up.
OK so your opinion host talking points are bull. Go back to what I said, why are the GOP not talking about them? They are not pushing any policies. They argue culture wars, they talk about a kids potato toy not being called Mr. or Misses anymore as it is a national crisis. They screamed for weeks that Dr. Seuss was being canceled because the owners did not want to keep publishing books that were not selling out of the collect of his works. Look at what the Republicans are talking about and see it is fear and outrage they are trying to create. Move past that and they offer nothing to improve your daily life.
We have received your request for review
This was the comment I was replying to.
These are polices the GOP are behind and all make American Lives better: Securing the border. Finish the Wall – the materials are there, awaiting construction, Ensuring we don’t have another chaotic exit, leave folks behind strategy, anywhere else. Improving Heath Care and reestablish Private Insurance with less government. Having Infrastructure that is really Infrastructure and not a money to political cronies bill. Stopping all of the concessions to our enemies in return for a bribe of a relative. Continuing what the new VA gov an other GOP govs are doing by ensuring the lies of CRT are not in school curriculum. Stopping using govt bureaucracies as political tools. Rebuilding the military. Withdrawing from Iran and Paris deals.
None of these divide the people like Dems policies do nor are they designed to keep Dems in power.
There are limits and rules to every right in the US. How is it freedom to push misinformation that is responsible for killing many people and holding back the recovery from a pandemic? It is not anti-freedom to make sure that the public has the correct true information and that misinformation distribution is curbed or labeled as such. Spotify has begun labeling all misleading misinformation about Covid and says they will include links to the correct information. It also is a free market decision for those who disagree with the company to remove their music. Again no violation of freedom.
The University of North Carolina, the flagship university of a state that is about is about ~25% black, is 7% black. And they are being sued by conservatives that think that number is too high.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but trickle down economics is nothing more than a cruel hoax designed to enrich the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the American people.
The way corporations and the wealthy work it so the lower incomes must always pay.
They really are a lure for black market profiteers. According to my (possibly out of date) information, the active ingredient of catalytic converters is platinum. Carbon based gasses ‘break’ against tough large molecule metal alloys which include platinum. It accounts for the high price of catalytic converters and why they are so much more expensive if their is no return of the used converter. I have no idea how difficult it is to render catalytic converters down to pure platinum and separate it from the other materials in the alloy.
oh no, you say your child read a book with the word “damn” in it during the break between active shooter drills? is he ok
The death cult announces new sacrificial policies.
Thank goodness I'm at a school with a robust testing/vaccination requirement regime. I rather like my colleagues and students and greatly prefer that they don't die. https://t.co/Rh3xlW4swr
Palestinians live as an occupied people under military rule. They are not covered by civil laws that Israeli population enjoys. Palestinians are dealt with in military courts by military judges following military rules.
Tough little one, was willing to let it go but they pushed the situation.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes
Right but no mention of the millions tRump cost the taxpayer playing gulf at his properties. Need I say more? But I am running into complete amnesia over the things tRump did and said. His cult followers and the bots online seem unable to remember any of tRump missteps and false statements.
Remind us again why we should fund law enforcement that targets the poor and the minorities routinely to enrich themselves while enjoying immunity from any prosecution?
Fact: the United States of America has a greater percentage of it’s population in jail than any other country in the world. We need reform, all right, but not the reform conservatives favor.
• We put twice as many citizens per capita in prison than Russia, which is the only other big country that routinely imprisons a large fraction of their people
• 6 x more per capita than Canada
• 9 x more than Germany
• 12 x more than Ireland
• 14 x more than France
• 5 x more than China [not including their concentration camps]
• 5 x more than England
Americans are either :
❒ – the most criminal people in the world
or
❒ – we are doing something terribly wrong
The above cartoon was on comics kingdom. I have a bunch of those sites in my roundup check bookmarks. However often times the rabid insulting cult members get to post the most stupid disinformation, but my comments get removed or banned. Below is the one I wrote about this cartoon which has been removed. I have no idea why and there is no way to appeal.
The drums of war are always being beaten by those who find profit in wars. The defense contractors building everything the military needs to the contractors that supply the services that come with moving and caring for troops over seas. There is the money the media gets to both promote what side pays the most to filling peoples needs for the most sensational news to feed clicks. There are people like Lindsey Graham that have never seen a military intervention and police action he was against to people who really don’t want our troops injured like the families of those troops. Notice it is not the children of the high ranking politicians on the front line even if they join the National Guard during a war sucking up able bodied men to kill and main, like W Bush did. However we do have a duty to democracy and human rights. Some times the US has to stand up to the bullies and try to defend the ideals we claim to have. Even if we are violating those ideals at home and abroad ourselves.
Vaccinated people are LESS LIKELY to be hospitalized and may even be completely symptom-free. Vaccinated people are therefore LESS LIKELY to transmit the disease to others. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is ANYTHING perfect? Of course not.
I wonder if it was made in China like the trump maga hats.
Oh yes that is what we should strive for in the US is vigilant justice and gang enforcement instead of a government rule of laws. Heck why have courts, save the money and let police met out what ever punishment they want. Let every private citizen met out justice according to their mood and recently watched movies. that would be fair right? Because that will make everything so much better for everyone.
No I am not in favor of crimes nor criminals. But we need a uniform system of justice and reasonable responsive punishments for breaking the laws to have a civilized country. We really need to address the reasons for crime, what makes the criminal and why they do what they do. Ask why the US has so much more crime than other developed countries and such a higher prison population than any other country in the world. Is it just the US is more criminal? Are we just worse people? It is not a bumper sticker response that fits on a cartoon but it works far better than just locking everyone up and having for profit prisons charge the taxpayer for profit. Crime and how it effects people is a serious issue, and just wanting a feel good retribution fantasy is not a viable solution.
Yup just want it was designed for right? Talk about shifting the conversation. The vaccine also wont lift a rocket to the moon. But inflation and crime it might help reduce as people go back to work feeling safe both crime and inflation will drop.
PSA: The Trump coup never ended. In 2021, more than 440 voter suppression bills were introduced in 29 states. The attempt to upend our democracy is very much ongoing.
“States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever” Mitch McConnell claimed last year
Here are facts: "During municipal elections in Nov, Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and not vote as a result—than in 2020" pic.twitter.com/3f0B73ICLj
Less than two weeks ago, Joe Manchin remarked, “We act like we’re going to obstruct people from voting. That’s not going to happen.”
Hello? Black voters accounted for half of all ballot application rejections in Georgia. People of color are being disenfranchised as we speak. https://t.co/WtH1z5ZFCR
Parents who want submission from their kids, who fear their curiosity, and want to negate their exposure/inclusivity, are vile.
Attn: fragile white people
I guess those decades of homeschooling hiding from reality/diversity/science was not good.
Respect labor. Respect women. Invest in education. Increase school resources.
Republicans have controlled the PA Senate every year for the past 28 years and the PA House every year for the past 11 years. Billions of dollars in road and bridge funding went to the state police instead because that's how Republicans wanted it. https://t.co/exSwXgkM7A
After the bridge collapse today, I don’t know why Democrats aren’t all over the media pointing out that the entire Republican Party votes against improving America’s infrastructure, at every turn.
All the gun control legislation up north does no good whatsoever when a quick trip down south can re-stock your arsenal! For 110 years there has been a flow of illegal guns into NYC and other cities like Boston or DC from States with lax or no gun laws. Prior to 1968 there were almost zero federal laws regarding handguns allowing bulk smuggling of cheap throw down “Saturday Night Special” pistols. Today the story is things like $500 Glock in a Free State goes for $3,000 on the street in NYC. Guns be cheap and available down south, then can be sold up north. Profitable!
“One of the more strange, uniquely American phenomena over the past two years is when media personalities and politicians talk about Covid like it’s a sentient, rational enemy that must be defied, stood up to, and spited.” https://t.co/RjCe1m91gP
Refusing to wear a mask does not make you "free," in the same way that refusing to wear a seat belt does not make you free. Why has something this simple become this controversial?
Hey, hey, my, my, hope other artists leave Spotify.
One person can start the conversation that brings change
Just goes to show cops don’t follow rules. They think they are beyond reproach. They never atone.
These idiots, full of bad judgment and racist confirmation bias, eschew all training, and act out white supremacist ‘judge and jury’ violence and ‘I was so scared’ cowardice script.
Yes there are some really whacked out ideas like the flat earth movement or the anti-vaxx people. But the thing to understand is most ideas that become mainstream started as fringe ideas.
Benson is very annoyed that Breyer chose to give Biden the opportunity to replace him before the midterms. Be sure that McConnell, Manchin, et al will do everything they can to delay it until after the newly elected Senators are seated.
Lisa and the other Trump Disciples were deliriously happy when Ruth Bader Ginsberg died. They had her replacement nominated before she was even buried. They celebrated the opportunity to put a perjurer who was also credibly accused of sexual assault, on the court.
Fear, be very afraid. That is the message the misleading right wing wants to sent to their followers. Keeping them fearful and outraged so they wont notice that the Republicans have no polices to make the public lives better. The only polices the Republicans have is to empower themselves and to divide the country while denying rights to diverse segments of the population.
As stated often enough despite the right wing talking points wanting to make it so the withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a disaster. Biden’s actions on the Ukraine issue seems to be working well, Putin has hesitated and not invaded as of this time. I have not figured out the right on this. Do they want Biden to insert troops into Ukraine to start a war even the Ukrainians don’t intend to fight in an army to army way? That wouldn’t be smart at all. Does the right want the US to step aside and let Putin have the entire country of Ukraine like Tucker Carlson is pushing for? What is it the right wants here?
He also said he was picking the most qualified person he could find. Is it really a big surprise that judge that is also a black woman would fit that bill. No it would not. The Supreme Court needs more diversity, not less. It certainly needs fewer religious nuts and sexual predators to be sure. All things being equal, is there any reason not to have a black woman’s viewpoint on the high court? If Mitch had wanted a moderate, he should have confirmed Merrick Garland. That ship has sailed, especially with all the right wing hacks that are currently sitting on a bench that they aren’t even qualified to clean.
A court that represents the entire nation should be as diverse as the nation it represents.
If the USA hadn’t been so thoroughly racist for so long, there wouldn’t be a need to try and ensure that the diversity of the court reflects that of the nation.
It would be great if we didn’t have to manufacture this kind of diversity, but in reality, we’re still not there yet.
A Florida judge said the teen’s B average means she lacks the maturity to have an abortion.
When a 17-year-old girl in Florida, called “Jane Doe,” sought judicial bypass to have an abortion without the involvement of her parents, as state law requires, the judge presiding over her case deemed her GPA too low. The judge denied Doe the legal permission to have an abortion without her parents’ knowledge, presumably because having poor grades means a teenager should definitely be required to become a parent.
Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge Jared E. Smith took particular issue with Doe testifying that she had a “B” average, despite records showing a lower GPA, and wrote in his decision that her “testimony evinces either a lack of intelligence or credibility, either of which weigh against a finding of maturity pursuant to the statute.” A district court later overruled that decision by a 2-1 margin, noting that Doe’s GPA “demonstrate[d] average intelligence for a high school student”—as if grades, academic achievement, or really any factor, let alone one so arbitrary, should dictate a minor’s human rights.
In the 38 states that require some form of parental involvement for minors seeking abortion care, reasoning like Smith’s could and often does deny teens judicial bypass. In 2014, Mother Jones analyzed 40 cases of teens seeking judicial bypass, and in three cases, their reporting found judges denied petitions because they deemed a teen who got pregnant by accident too immature to have an abortion. Paradoxically, this thinking implies someone who supposedly isn’t mature enough to have an abortion should be forced to give birth and possibly become a parent. In a similar vein, if Judge Smith was so concerned with Doe’s grades, I somehow doubt the physical and mental duress of forced pregnancy and birth would improve her GPA.
Last year, a 21-year-old woman named Anna told me about her experience seeking judicial bypass to get an abortion in Texas when she was 17, shortly after she was denied emergency contraception at her local pharmacy. In the process, she said she had to “memorize [her] whole abortion procedure, describe to them how it works, describe the actual medical insurance that you use, and what parts of the body and what kind of drugs” are involved in an abortion. Anna called it a “dehumanizing process” that subjected her to “judgment and shaming for being sexually active and female.” She recalled her judge, who ultimately granted her judicial bypass, telling her “girls don’t even feel good when they have sex.”
The experiences of Jane Doe in Florida and Anna in Texas reflect that even when teens are ultimately granted judicial bypass, it’s not without an exhausting, dehumanizing process that requires them to know more about abortion and the medical system than most adults do.
Still, Judge John Stargel, the dissenting judge in the Florida district court ruling that offered Doe judicial bypass last week, wrote that “the majority discounts most of the trial court’s concerns regarding Doe’s overall intelligence, emotional development and stability, and ability to accept responsibility.” Stargel’s concerns about her “ability to accept responsibility” equate pregnancy and parenthood with punishment, and it’s this line of thinking that stigmatizes and denies teen parents basic resources and supports to care for themselves and their children.
All parental involvement laws for abortion are ultimately about punishing supposedly careless teens, and exemplify how precarious the human rights and bodily autonomy of young people, especially those of color and those with disabilities, are in the US. These laws often ignore how many minors have abusive parents who would physically harm them if they knew of their pregnancies, or how many may even be estranged from their parents. Young people—and especially young people of color—also face concerning rates of sexual abuse from parents or caretakers, and research has shown they face greater risk of reproductive coercion or birth control tampering from partners.
In a 2021 report, Human Rights Watch notes that the majority of people who seek judicial bypass are Black, Indigenous and other young people of color who routinely face discrimination and mistreatment in the legal system. Advocates have also pointed out that youth of color are more likely than to be raised by or have closer relationships with members of their extended family, and parental involvement requirements center the experiences of minors from white, traditional, nuclear families. Parental involvement laws are just part of a rapidly growing web of abortion restrictions that systematically targets and strips low-income people and people of color of basic reproductive freedoms.
Both the district judge that denied Jane Doe the 17 year old the right of an abortion and the dissenting appellant judge sited her lack of income despite a job and paid up credit cards, and that they felt she was too immature to make the decision to get an abortion due to she did not have the grades she once did. They discounted her well thought out plans for a future education and career. So here is the question I want to ask. If she is immature, unstable, has no financial security and insufficient income how is that going to improve by forcing her to have a baby and what the hell kind of mother do you think an immature unstable poor person with no income is going to be? I don’t get that reasoning, let’s force a child on a child we don’t think is doing well and make her a mother. That should work out great. The fact is this is simply the judges wanting to punish her for having sex. She had sex lowering her value to her future hubby, the male who is in charge of her body / sexual / reproductive organs. I hate that thinking these people have but they have the authority and position of power. For now.
GDP growth dramatically outpaced forecasts made a year ago. Most forecasters expected the economy to grow 3 to 4 percent this year. Instead it has grown 5.5 percent. That is more than a percentage point faster than even the most optimistic forecast was expecting. pic.twitter.com/ocZ3S41sWW
5.7 according to the WH chart. I should post that here. And I did
We've always been told that corporations keep prices as low as they reasonably can to stay competitive. But what happens when corporations don't HAVE competition, or when their competition agrees to jack up prices too? New from @RBReich 👇 https://t.co/XG0UovMPsKpic.twitter.com/ghNeqyJflG
If you think a Democrat is wrong for something but the same something done by a Republican is okay to you it is not the policy that bothers you. You are just tribal and hate the others not in your group simply because they are not in your group. That doesn’t work for running a country and shows how immature the person is.
There is far too much tribalism and emotionalism when having a discussion about many subjects these days. The idea that adults can not have civil discussions even when they are passionate and disagree with each other is a sad testament on the people in this country. People have forgotten that the goal is sharing information and hoping that information brings others to your view. A discussion is not to force the other person to agree with you against their will. Insulting or threats don’t add anything valuable to a conversation. Trolling shows how childish you are, not how informed or correct about a subject.
Are these two Gorsuch and Barrett? Or is the guy the I love beer Kavanaugh? Mitch McConnell is warning … warning Biden to to not but a lefty on the court, not to listen to the progressive wing, even though he pushed three every extreme right members on the court. The misleading right wing is pushing the narrative that if Biden appoints someone who cares about how the law effect people vs how it is now favoring business interest that the court will be destroyed. More fear tactics on the right.
Justice Breyer has an extraordinary record of public service. I’m very happy that President Biden will fill this seat by naming the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. And we ought to #ExpandTheCourt to give her at least four more new colleagues & rebalance this institution.
Leadership, by definition, does not cater to the center. If it did, there would be no need to lead.
America's visionary leaders have always understood that the “center” is a fictitious place lying somewhere south of thoughtless adherence to the status quo.https://t.co/dvGGfcmrkG
Granted the person is retiring, but even Republicans admit they are cheating.
The forces undermining our democracy are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Do not, under any circumstances, give up on voting rights. Here are 8 ways we can still protect them. pic.twitter.com/SrQW7ZSlJl
Let’s be clear: educating our children about the full terror of the Holocaust is not “promoting” it.
If we don’t accurately teach this history to future generations, we're doomed to repeat it. Remember: the Holocaust started with Nazis banning books and cracking down on speech. https://t.co/CDkh2PFWz0
Today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must fight back against the GOP’s authoritarian agenda by committing to educating ourselves, and our children, about the full horrors of the Holocaust.
Curriculum is about preparing minds to think and reason, it’s not about parental control and subordination. Banning books is small-minded.
Night is a 1960 memoir by Elie Wiesel based on his Holocaust experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, toward the end of the Second World War in Europe.
White people think they are the victims of racism. Then ban people from talking about how racism works in America.
House Dems are fast-tracking a massive defense spending bill for Ukraine as tensions with Russia escalate, leaving no opportunity for debate.
Where is the CBO score? The cries about inflation? Concerns about the deficit?
Hello? Why does none of that matter when it comes to war?
Will escalating tensions w/ Russia put the final nail in the coffin on Build Back Better? History says yes, but it’s not too late. It’s up to all of us to fight against the military-industrial complex & hold this administration accountable for its promises to the American people.
Biden is held to a totally different set of standards than Trump/traitors.
Lock them up.
Modern day trolls
Tucker Carlson is yet another conservative pawn for Putin.
We are dealing with emotional and intellectual three year-olds. #WearAMask
“Just do what they say” and “follow the rules” are bad faith suggestions from conservatives.
I… don't really care?
She's a semi-famous actress, not a policy analysis. There are hundreds (thousands) of B-level celebrities; it would be weird if there weren't some who had opinions I disagree with or even find stupid. https://t.co/GVBYS9DJ0V
What I think is much more disturbing, and important, is when public officials are anti-vax, or think it's wrong for health care workers to have to be vaccinated to work, or are climate change denialists, etc etc..
Yes smart people understand the professionals have evaluated the data that shows the vaccines effective and safe which makes it good public policy to get vaccinated. People who have no higher education claiming they did their own research really are not smart enough to know how silly that is, so are not ready for higher education.
The Senate advises and consents. It did neither. Obama should have put him on and dared it turn him down. It’s been done before; in fact, Washington put a nominated chief justice on the Court, and then the Senate turned him down. Eisenhower didn’t wait to put Earl Warren on the Court. The Senate later approved him. If the Senate won’t have a hearing, then it consented.
tRump was an asset for Putin either willingly or just easily manipulated because he wanted to do big money business in Moscow. tRump openly took Putin’s word over the evidence of Russia’s interference in 2016 election and continuing attempts to destabilize the US in social media. These are facts and are demonstrable. At every turn tRump tried to ingratiate himself with Putin. For example when both California and Siberia were having wild fires tRump denied federal assistance to California and offered the US help to Putin fighting the fires in Siberia. Again a fact. Also at the start of the pandemic tRump authorized a shipment of PPE to Russia when supplies were short in the US. So he either was an asset willingly or just easy for Putin to control, but none of that can be said of Biden. Biden has not take Putin’s side over US intelligence or other cabinet level departments. Biden has not granted Putin favors to gain a favor back. Even while Tucker Carlson advocates abandoning Ukraine to please Putin Biden has stood defending the fledgling democracy. So the cartoon is correct about the old puppet, but wrong that there is a new one in Biden.
Republicans in Congress and their enablers at Fox News actually want to see Putin invade Ukraine for a myriad of reasons. Tucker Carlson has openly stated that he favors Putin over Biden. The invasion will put Biden in a tough spot, which Republicans hope will make Biden look weak. This is all part of their scheme to retake the majority in Congress and bring trump back to power.
Republicans are all giddy about the conflict. The stock market has taken huge hits because of these tensions and likely invasion. Again, Republicans hope that a sinking stock market will make Biden look weak. It is driving them nuts that in just the first year of Biden as President, we now have the lowest employment rate in decades, the fastest growing GDP in decades, and all-time highs in the stock market. But oh no, Republicans will not stand for this. They will not stand for America to succeed, and certainly not with Joe Biden as President.
And I want to know if the Republican members of Congress who serve on the Intelligence Committee have made stock trades after they received their briefings. Maybe that’s why they all opposed Elizabeth Warren’s proposed bill to prevent insider traitors in Congress from engaging in insider trading.
It is a fact different presidents have promised to name the first … what ever to the SCOTUS. They do the same with cabinet nominations. In fact candidate Ronald Reagan promised to appoint a woman to the SCOTUS if he won, and he did so. Nothing new and nothing shocking. It is just the right wants to make it an issue. The demographic make up of the courts do not match the demographics of the country.
As of August 2019, 80% of federal judges were white, while just 10% were Black and 6.6% Hispanic. Moreover, as of 2015, nearly 83% of all federal law clerks were white — an extension of the fact that most law schools are also severely lacking in racial diversity. And despite efforts at many of those top universities to admit more law students of color, in 2019, only 12.7% of law students were Hispanic and just 7.8% were Black. Trying to fix that equality by appointing a black women is not racist it is a good start to making the court look like the people of the country they serve.
A photo id to prick up a child? Well yes, and be on the approved list for safety sake. The number of child abductions in the US is higher by far than the number of proven cases of voter fraud. And nobody ever died because a vote was fraudulently cast in their name. If the person registered to vote, THEY ALREADY SHOWED THEIR ID, and they will need to sign the ballot, which will be matched to the signature on file.
Votes are NOT CONTAGEOUS! Right wing idiocy, on the other hand, is more contagious than pink eye, as demonstrated by Al.
You already registered to vote, and provided credentials to do so, and voter fraud is so minuscule to be almost nonexistent. Passing around diseases in school happens to a much greater degree.
“At the federal level, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires a voter ID for all new voters in federal elections who registered by mail and who did not provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number that was matched against government records.1 Though state laws requiring some sort of identification at voting polls go back to 1950, no state required a voter to produce a government-issued photo ID as a condition for voting before the 2006 elections.” – Wikipedia (Coincidentally 2006 election Democrats won both houses)
Polk County Public Schools Regional Assistant Superintendent John Hill and several of his colleagues spent Tuesday morning going to area middle and high schools to gather 16 books out of media centers after County Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative political group, complained to Superintendent Frederick Heid that the novels, graphic novels, autobiographies, and sex education books contain pornographic material harmful to children.
Heid sent an email Monday evening to middle and high school principals and media center librarians, stating that a “stakeholder group” is alleging that the books may be in violation of Florida Statute 847.012, which deals with distributing obscene or harmful materials to children.
“While it is not the role of my office to approve/evaluate instructional or resource materials at that level, I do have an obligation to review any allegation that a crime is being or has been committed,” Heid wrote in the email. “It is also my obligation to provide safeguards to protect our employees. The district will be taking the following steps to ensure that we address this issue honestly, fairly, and transparently.”
PCPS spokesman Jason Geary said in an email that the books have been placed “in quarantine” and will not be available for checkout at this time.
“It is important to note that these 16 books have NOT been censored or banned at this time,” Geary said. “They have been removed so a thorough, thoughtful review of their content can take place.”
Geary said the district is following a longstanding protocol when a book is challenged by a parent or community member.
“The process requires the establishment of a review committee consisting of district curriculum staff, literacy/ELA staff, media specialists, parents, and community members,” Geary said. “This process is traditionally done at the individual school level. However, copies of some of the named titles are currently housed in multiple secondary school media centers, so this review will be conducted at the district level. It is important to note that these books will not be available during this period of review.”
Geary said that committee members must read each book in its entirety, and he did not have a timeline of when a final decision would be made.
Among the books in question:
• “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley is a sex education book that uses cartoons to portray people having sex, including straight, gay and lesbian men and women.
• “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan depicts the ghosts of gay men, some of whom died of AIDS, watching relationships develop between current-day gay teens and the reactions of their parents.
• “I am Jazz” by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings is an illustrated book about a transgender girl.
Books under fire
Books County Citizens Defending Freedom want banned from Polk County Public Schools:
CCDF Executive Director Hannah Petersen sent an email to Heid on Nov. 1 to say CCDF had gotten calls and messages pertaining to 30 books in Polk County Public Schools’ libraries.
“I decided to obtain a list of these books from the PCSB and what schools they’re currently in,” Petersen said. “I also did a lot of research to make sure the complaints were valid. I was physical (sic) nauseous after my research and knew you would want to be made aware. I only got through about 27 or so.”
Jimmy Nelson, a leader of the local chapter of CCDF, said members of the group had read all 16 books listed in their complaint. He declined to say whether he personally has.
Nelson said their group held a meeting with Heid in the last two or three weeks to discuss the content of the books, but had not suggested to the superintendent that they would file a lawsuit if the books were not removed. There is no lawsuit on file with the Polk County Clerk of Courts.
When asked how these 16 books were chosen, Nelson declined to comment. When asked to detail what in each book they objected to, he again declined, saying he didn’t trust the reporter.
“It’s pretty evident. The books speak for themselves,” Nelson said. “Anybody who’s aware and takes the time to see what’s available to our kids can see what’s in there.”
When discussing the fact that Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner” depicts the brutal rape of a boy by a teenaged boy, Nelson was asked if all books containing rape should be banned.
“I’m not going to go into that with you,” Nelson said. He became irritated when it was pointed out that the Bible and William Shakespeare plays contain rape, incest and adultery, and asked if he wanted the Bible or Shakespeare removed, too.
“It makes no difference to the story,” Nelson said. “You want to paint it in that light. You want to twist things.”
When asked where the line was between what was acceptable and what was not, Nelson said, “I don’t know where I can necessarily define that for you. When you know something’s wrong, you know it’s wrong. … No one has suggested banning Shakespeare. Our issues with these books are clear — Shakespeare’s not on the list.”
CCDF recently complained to the Polk County School Board about its reproductive health curriculum, including that the anus is listed in a diagram and a vocabulary sheet describing the reproductive system. In addition, they complained that parents were not listed as the first people students should contact to talk to about sex, pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease issues. The district has now listed parents as a first point of contact for children.
The group also held a large demonstration prior to a School Board meeting in 2021 to protest the district’s mask mandate for students during the pandemic. The School Board eventually removed the mandate from its student dress code, although they have the ability to reinstate a mandate as an emergency measure.
The County Citizens Defending Freedom website states that it is an organization that empowers and equips American citizens to defend their freedoms and liberties at the local level.
“By streamlining and simplifying activism, we support and champion American citizens who want to stand up for their independence,” the website states. A map of local chapters shows there are active organizations in Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Orange and Polk counties, along with Nueces County, Texas. Half a dozen other “future” chapters are shown in Florida and another dozen in Texas.
Book complaints nationwide
While complaints about and bans on books are nothing new, multiple school districts have dealt with attempts to ban books recently.
According to Newsweek magazine, the Granbury, Texas, Independent School District passed a “book review” order that would allow board members to ban books from district schools without public comment. Granbury, Texas, is a town of roughly 11,000 people southwest of Fort Worth.
The article states that the Texas House General Investigating Committee and the Texas Education Agency have been directed by Gov. Greg Abbott to review all books in the district’s schools to prevent children from viewing “pornography or other inappropriate content.”
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Tuesday that the Wentzville, Missouri, School Board voted 4-3 to remove Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from the district’s high school libraries. At least one board member said she was protecting children against obscenity.
Morrison won the Nobel Prize for literature and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, two of the top literary prizes in the world.
Terry Coney, president of the Lakeland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he has a meeting with Heid scheduled for next week to discuss the issue. He called Morrison’s books classics.
“I believe students should have the opportunity to experience classic literature,” Coney said. “That’s why they’re called classics. They have passed the test of time.”
“The Bluest Eye” is about a black girl who thinks she is ugly because she is not white and wants blue eyes. It includes passages about incest and child rape and is on the American Library Association’s annual list of most commonly banned books.
It is one of the two Morrison novels the CCDF is trying to ban, along with “Beloved.”
In November, the American Library Association said there has been “a dramatic uptick in book challenges and outright removal” from libraries of books that focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and agender issues, along with books by Black authors or that document the Black experience or the experiences of other persons of color.
“Falsely claiming that these works are subversive, immoral, or worse, these groups induce elected and non-elected officials to abandon constitutional principles, ignore the rule of law, and disregard individual rights to promote government censorship of library collections,”ALA officials stated in a release. “Some of these groups even resort to intimidation and threats to achieve their ends, targeting the safety and livelihoods of library workers, educators, and board members who have dedicated themselves to public service, to informing our communities, and educating our youth. ALA strongly condemns these acts of censorship and intimidation. We are committed to defending the constitutional rights of all individuals, of all ages, to use the resources and services of libraries. We champion and defend the freedom to speak, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read, as promised by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”
Polk County Public Schools Regional Assistant Superintendent John Hill and several of his colleagues spent Tuesday morning going to area middle and high schools to gather 16 books out of media centers after County Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative political group, complained to Superintendent Frederick Heid that the novels, graphic novels, autobiographies, and sex education books contain pornographic material harmful to children.
CCDF Executive Director Hannah Petersen sent an email to Heid on Nov. 1 to say CCDF had gotten calls and messages pertaining to 30 books in Polk County Public Schools’ libraries. “I decided to obtain a list of these books from the PCSB and what schools they’re currently in,” Petersen said. “I also did a lot of research to make sure the complaints were valid. I was physical (sic) nauseous after my research and knew you would want to be made aware. I only got through about 27 or so.”
One of the removed books, The Kite Runner, depicts the rape of a boy by another teenaged boy. When asks if all books depicting rape should be removed, such as the bible and works by Shakespeare, a spokesperson for the group (Jimmy Nelson, seen in the video below) accused the reporter of wanting to “twist things.” Watch the clip.
A school district in Florida abruptly placed 16 library books “in quarantine” after a group of conservative parents claimed they contain pornography and are harmful to children. The list, below, includes picture books about trans kids. The Kite Runner. Toni Morrison. pic.twitter.com/GoQn9yWByc
“I do have an obligation to review any allegation that a crime is being or has been committed,” the school district superintendent said. Since when did books become crimes? https://t.co/EX7mGxysGr
It’s always good to know who in your neighborhood is supporting QAnon cult figures advocating military dictatorship.
We have Miami CCDF executive committee members Frank De Varona (also leads John Birch Society) & Julio Martinez, staffer/ED Alex Serrano and Alan Choval. pic.twitter.com/kwbVZwlmV6
![trumpgret:
“Tribe always hits the nail on the head with the first swing. Merrick Garland, are you listening? - [ https://i.redd.it/69mpempp22f81.png]
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The southern border is secure, one of the most secure of borders. The norther border is not only not secure in many places it is not even marked or patrolled. In fact the northern border often runs through towns, down the center of roads, or is just sections of beach. Why do some people focus on the well patrolled and watched southern border and not the wide open northern one confuses me. There has to be something different about the people crossing them … Oh I got it skin color maybe?
The wall is not practical, it is not effective, and it is easily defeated. We all seen the videos of people scaling the new walls, cutting them with battery operated saws, or using makeshift ladders to go over them. The idea of a wall is only a media gimmick, a political tool, a pretend solution to please the anti-immigration crowd. There are long sections where the wall cannot be built due to terrain, where people don’t want to give up their land, where it is an environmental disaster. It simply is a not needed boondoggle.
Ah healthcare. Republicans have blocked every attempt to lower drug costs and to improve healthcare for the public. Look it up.
Why do we need to rebuild the military? Didn’t tRump brag he did that? Almost over night even. They were out of bullets until him he said. Thing was the military budget increased under Obama, under tRump, and under Biden. Those are facts, look it up.
Infrastructure for political cronies like the one support by Republicans that just passed and was signed into law. Know why that is so popular with corporations and the wealthy? It gives large amounts of public assets to businesses so they can charge the public to use them. That is real crony problem, Republicans giving the country to the wealthy instead of having government working for the public.
Oh I agree that we shouldn’t have bribes to China for Ivanka’s trademarks. That was horrible. She got 18 in two months during first two years when China was on good terms with the former president. Russia got many good deals in the hope of approving serval ventures tRump wanted to in Moscow. He even offered Putin the top penthouse for free. it is a fact look it up.
OK so your opinion host talking points are bull. Go back to what I said, why are the GOP not talking about them? They are not pushing any policies. They argue culture wars, they talk about a kids potato toy not being called Mr. or Misses anymore as it is a national crisis. They screamed for weeks that Dr. Seuss was being canceled because the owners did not want to keep publishing books that were not selling out of the collect of his works. Look at what the Republicans are talking about and see it is fear and outrage they are trying to create. Move past that and they offer nothing to improve your daily life.
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This was the comment I was replying to.