Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee is withholding $110,000 of funding from the Madison County Library System allegedly on the basis of his personal religious beliefs, with library officials stating that he has demanded that the system initiate a purge of LGBTQ+ books before his office releases the money.
Tonja Johnson, executive director for the Madison County Library System, told the Mississippi Free Press in an afternoon interview that she first reached out to Mayor McGee after failing to receive the City of Ridgeland’s first quarterly payment of 2022.
Johnson said the mayor informed her that no payment was forthcoming. “He explained his opposition to what he called ‘homosexual materials’ in the library, that it went against his Christian beliefs, and that he would not release the money as the long as the materials were there,” the library director said.
The director then explained to the mayor that the library system, as a public entity, was not a religious institution. “I explained that we are a public library and we serve the entire community. I told him our collection reflects the diversity of our community,” Johnson said.
Apparently, the mayor was unmoved. “He told me that the library can serve whoever we wanted, but that he only serves the great Lord above,” she finished.
McGee’s office did not respond to several requests for an interview from the Mississippi Free Press before press time, though he did speak with this reporter on Wednesday morning, acknowledging that he was withholding the funds from the library system. Nor did he attend a Tuesday board meeting at 5 p.m. at Ridgeland Library, which addressed the matter firmly in defense of the library system’s current collection. The board voted unanimously to bring the issue to the board of aldermen before seeking legal remedies.
At the meeting, attendees asked Bob Sanders, counsel for the library board, if the mayor had any legal authority to override the contract with the library system and the decision of the aldermen.
“Uh, no.” Sanders said flatly.
Ward 1 Alderman Ken Heard told the Mississippi Free Press in a brief evening interview that he had not been made aware of any plans to withhold money from the library system on the part of the mayor, and could not comment on the dispute until he learned more.
Tonja Johnson, second from left, executive director for the Madison County Library System, told the Mississippi Free Press that Mayor Gene McGee explicitly is holding public funds as an expression of his personal religious beliefs.
‘Adult Materials’
Based on the conversation she had with the mayor, Johnson explained that the targets of McGee’s demands are mostly books that touch on homosexual identities, themes and stories. The list includes books about incidentally queer family members such as children’s stories intended to provide representation to gay, lesbian and transgender individuals.
In the conversation, Johnson relayed that, among all other “homosexual materials,” McGee specifically demanded the removal of “The Queer Bible,” a series of essays by LGBTQ+ figures including Elton John, Munroe Bergdorf, and Tan France on other queer luminaries such as David Bowie, George Michael and Susan Sontag.
But the mayor’s order, the director believes, is the culmination of a spate of homophobic activism intended to censor other queer literature, especially children’s books.
One of the books that previous complaints have specifically targeted is “Grandad’s Camper,” a children’s book by author Harry Woodgate, who is nonbinary. Grandad’s Camper is the story of a young girl learning about her late grandfather by taking a road trip with her surviving grandparent.
Kirkus Review described the book as an effective learning tool for helping children discuss lost family members. “Caregivers, especially older ones, may see this book as an opportunity to talk about departed loved ones and introduce their happy memories to a younger generation,” a review of the book explains. “Many a family will find themselves pulling out photo albums to relate their own origin stories.”
Johnson explained that all library patrons have access to a form that allows them to challenge materials deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the library’s collection. The library previously received complaints about books including “Grandad’s Camper” demanding they be reclassified as “adult” materials and kept out of reach of children.
But these challenges, Johnson said, did not proceed through the formal system, and were instead verbal or written complaints without followup. “I think that’s probably where the mayor’s objections are coming from. Perhaps they reached out to him instead of back out to the library,” she guessed.
On Tuesday night, the Madison County Library Board voted unanimously to advance the question of the funding hold to the Ridgeland Board of Aldermen. Pictured from left: counsel Bob Sanders, board president Jerry Valdez, and Executive Director Tonja Johnson.
‘Sexual Whatever You Want To Call It’
On Wednesday morning, Mayor McGee returned the Mississippi Free Press’ request for an interview. McGee confirmed in a short phone conversation that he was holding the funds from the library, and asserted that he had done so because of citizen complaints.
“We’re holding (the money) right now because we found a large number of citizens who have complained about displays of sexual, whatever you want to call it, content. We’re just responding to those citizens’ complaints, and that’s the position we’re in.”
McGee then declined to address the content of the books presented at last night’s board meeting, and whether or not sexual content was an appropriate term.
The mayor acknowledged that the board of aldermen had approved the library system’s budget for the year, but argued that any contractual obligations were dated, although he did not clarify if that gave him the ability to withhold the funds indefinitely. “The last contract that was signed with the Madison County Library System was signed in 2009. There’s never been a new contract going forward,” McGee said.
This reporter asked McGee if he actually possessed the authority to keep the money from the library system. The mayor responded that he didn’t know: “That’s a legal question. I don’t know that I do or do not. But right now we’re holding the money. I’ll ask my attorney to address that.”
But the mayor’s position that his move is an attempt to force the library board to respond to citizen complaints conflicts with the board’s description of the scattered pushback. This reporter asked McGee how the board could have responded to objections over content in the collection without any formal requests for reconsideration.
“I can’t speak to that,” McGee said. “That’d be hearsay on my part.” The mayor then added that he’d said his part, and left to attend a meeting.
What little the mayor and the board seem to agree on is that the issue will likely be adjudicated at the upcoming meeting of the board of aldermen.
Taxpayer Money Withheld
Whatever authority the mayor intends to serve, it’s unclear as of press time if his action is legally defensible.
“This is taxpayer money that was already approved by the board of aldermen,” Johnson explained. “It was included in the city budget for 2021-2022. It’s the general-fund appropriation that the City of Ridgeland sends every year for daily operation of the library. That money goes to everything from purchasing materials to supporting programs and staff salaries.”
While the city’s aldermen may have approved the funds, Johnson said it was the mayor alone who is withholding it. “I asked the mayor specifically on the phone call if this had been decided by the board of aldermen. And he told me no, but (that) he could have them make that decision,” she said.
That $110,000 represents roughly 5% of the annual budget of the entire Madison County Library System, the removal of which could have far-reaching consequences beyond the City of Ridgeland itself.
Cover courtesy Simon & Schuster
“It would definitely impact services,” Johnson said. “I can tell you that there’s a potential for staff members to lose their positions if the board is not able to move funding from something else to keep those positions open.”
Without the support of the board of aldermen, it is unclear if the mayor will be able to maintain the funding hold for long. Moreover, the mayor’s action may well violate basic constitutional rights, based on earlier court cases on the subject of LGBTQ book bans, including Sund v. City of Wichita Falls.
‘I Firmly Believe In The Power of Books’
Harry Woodgate, author of the children’s book Grandad’s Camper, one of the titles that sparked the complaints against Ridgeland Library’s collection, told the Mississippi Free Press in a statement that the story’s intent was to represent the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ individuals, especially queer elders, who are rarely depicted in fiction.
“From the beginning it was important to me that (Grandad’s Camper) featured truly meaningful LGBTQ+ representation whilst also speaking to broader universal themes such as the beauty of restorative intergenerational relationships, the joy of shared adventures and the experience of losing a loved one.”
“One of the key things I wanted to address was a lack of older LGBTQ+ characters in children’s literature, particularly picture books where they’ve been historically overlooked. I was also keen to include incidental representation, wherein a character’s sexual orientation or gender identity – or indeed any protected characteristic at all – isn’t a narrative obstacle but simply the way things are.”
Woodgate added that LGBTQ+ censorship was a familiar, persistent ignorance, and commended the activists and board members who resisted it. “It is saddening that we’re still seeing LGBTQ+ titles featured on banned book lists, and I think this not only represents the extent to which such prejudices remain underexamined and underchallenged by so many of our institutions and elected officials, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of children and children’s literature,” they wrote.
“To suggest that limiting access to diverse literature will somehow prevent or dissuade queer children from being queer is simply preposterous, let alone deeply, thoroughly cruel. I take great heart in everyone whose tireless dedication to challenging these bans and similar anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the globe is making such a positive difference to young people and their communities. I firmly believe in the power of books and libraries to change lives so am incredibly thankful for all that they do and anyone who champions and defends them.”
‘We Have To Understand Each Other’s Stories’
In a conversation with the Mississippi Free Press, Johnson seemed at a loss as to what actions might mollify the mayor. But participating in the LGBTQ+ purge was not something she was willing to consider. “Ultimately it is up to the (Madison County Library) Board, but I do not think they will make that decision,” Johnson said.
She explained her reasoning. “As a library, our mission is to serve our community and to provide everyone in the community with the information and resources that they need … Anyone can walk into a library and find something that they don’t agree with,” Johnson said. “But the book that’s not quite right for you is exactly what someone else needs. And my job is to make sure that (everybody) has access to that.
“And I think it’s important to understand that LGBTQ+ books and materials are not just for the LGBT community. Those books are for all of us: whether we can see ourselves reflected in those materials or so that we can develop understanding, empathy and respect for someone else.”
This advancement of human understanding, Johnson said, is the job of a librarian. “We all live in this world together,” she said. “We sit next to people in church, we work with people, we live next door to people, our children go to school with children who don’t look like us and don’t have the same experiences. If we’re going to be together, we have to at least understand each other’s stories.”
One last thought: if you are sharing this story to make a point about Mississippi, I encourage you to remember that Mississippi is not just Gene McGee. Mississippi is also Tonja Johnson and the library board who voted unanimously to ignore his demands.https://t.co/YfvjHwCy5I
A bill proposed to the Arizona State Legislature seeks to ban ‘sexually explicit materials’ from school classrooms, but LGBTQ advocates believe the bill is taking it a step further by targeting their community.
“There is nothing more sacred than the innocence of a child,” said Rep. Jake Hoffman, the bill’s sponsor. The bill would ban the depiction of some things that are taught in health classes. Meanwhile, the bill’s definition of ‘sexual conduct’ has drawn controversy, as it defines acts of homosexuality as sexual conduct.
Democratic State Rep. Daniel Hernandez said the bill would revert Arizona to a time period under a law known as ‘no promo homo,’ where schools were prohibited from promoting a ‘homosexual lifestyle.’
“No one advocates teaching pornography,” Hernandez said. “What this bill does is once again try and erase the LGBTQ community from Arizona public schools under the guise of protecting children,” he said. “Children keep getting used as footballs for politics.”
He said Hoffman could accomplish his goal by simply prohibiting depictions of sexual conduct without making a specific reference to homosexuality. Hoffman, however, refused to remove the reference to homosexuality.
“I’m here, once again, having to stand up and say, ‘This is something that is wrong.’ Homosexuality is not inherently wrong.” Hernandez said.
Hoffman has been in the national news this week as he is one of Arizona’s fake electors. In 2020 he was banned by Twitter for running a paid teenage pro-Trump troll farm with Charlie Kirk.
Proposed ban on 'sexually explicit materials' in Arizona schools criticized as return to 'no promo homo' era https://t.co/a22CsOqImv
I was told recently that no one cares about gays and lesbians, that we are now accepted by society. I have three more stories in my news feed about attempts to make the LGBTQ+ go away by banning books, ban teaching about gay people in history, or forbid mentioning gay role models. The fact is the Republicans / right wing loves culture wars as they enrage their base, upset people, and distracts from the real crimes being done by Republicans. Republicans have no polices to help people, so they need to distract people. The religious right is not going to stop trying to create a theocracy of their version of Christianity and they won’t stop trying to make everyone else live by their church doctrines. It is hard to accept that in 2022 I am still dealing with this bigotry and hate that I faced all my life.
Learning and exposure make you more Democratic. Conversely, no one who banned books was ever the good guy.
BREAKING: Over the last three weeks, 71 educational gag orders (aka "anti-CRT bills") have been introduced or prefiled. That's more than half of 122 proposed since January 2021. And they're getting worse.https://t.co/j9lYuvk69xpic.twitter.com/RRqKiyXA2F
Some parents don’t see the actual stress they allow/put on their kids.
They would rather try to score political points with book bans and vaccine disinformation.
A Tennessee school board voted to drop the Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel MAUS, which tells the story of the Holocaust with cartoon mice, because it contained inappropriate words and imagery. I wish them luck in their quest for wholesome, family-friendly Holocaust content. https://t.co/cNcz6ocmJB
I will match this. DMs are temporarily open, send me your McMinn County mailing address and I’ll have a copy of THE COMPLETE MAUS shipped to you. Trolls = block. Please RT. https://t.co/DexfURBVWU
re both sides and partisanship around the pandemic. yes, pandemic measures have become markers of partisan identity on both sides. but one side is saying the pandemic is killing thousands a week and that's bad, and the other is saying we shouldn't care. one side is right!
Equating masks with the holocaust shows you how white people [who have never suffered] have no similar experience. They steal and try to pass themselves off as victims. It’s disgusting.
Hey, look: there it is, reverse racism. The worst take of the day.
Not today, satan. We’re too busy celebrating the fact that SCOTUS is going to look a little bit more like America soon. https://t.co/QXalTSid0w
Imagine telling your grandfather that the communists we fought in the Cold War for fifty years are now your best friends because they are equally corrupt and equally hateful of non-white citizens.
It amazes me how left Twitter gets more exercised by rightist intellectuals voicing support for Orbán than it is by the American government's routine transfer of arms to repressive regimes across the world. One more example of the left's indifference to the materiality of power. https://t.co/1LGbgPvPBp
South Africa’s Caster Semenya can run 800 meters faster than any woman on the planet. But the two-time Olympic gold medalist won’t defend her title in Tokyo because her testosterone levels exceed a 2018 limit imposed by track’s governing body on female athletes competing in distances between 400 meters and 1500 meters.
It is an article of faith among the radical right that young men are lining up to get their testicles removed and taking hormone shots for the sole reason of competing with women athletes.
Of all the insane things I’ve ever heard, that’s pretty much a topper.
I was just reading the right wing media about the swimmer Thomas who competed as a male and then transitioned and after waiting for her testosterone to be at the accepted levels again joined the university team. The right likes to mention how she is beating the times of other women. Oh the horror. Except they fail to mention she has been beaten by women also.
Three things: There isn’t a sport I am aware of that utilizes the Penis.Using Kelly’s transphobic logic, if strength and endurance is a determining factor, athletes like the Williams sisters would have been required to play as men.If people (like Kelly) who attempt to argue against Transgender accept that man came from a handful of dust and woman from a rib, they have no valid opinion on Transgender.
I find it very disturbing that for decades conservatives have ignored and underfunded women’s sports…even mocked them openly. And now all of the sudden they claim the role of protector from a threat that they made up solely for the purpose of uniting hateful ignorant people under their banner and get their votes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes
This cartoonist is not normally in the misleading right wing group. How ever in this case he is. Biden has stated that there will be no active fighting troops from the US in the Ukraine. I think that is because the Ukrainian military will do the Afghanistan model of warfare. Hit and run, hard to spot enemy that wears the attacking army out trying to conquer the territory. It wouldn’t make sense for the US to add unformed troops to that situation. There will more likely be special forces trainers and CIA agents. Along with mercenaries of course. The US will need to use a lot of non-traditional methods to fight the Russians if they invade Ukraine. In this case we are not forcing our will on the Ukrainians, we are standing beside them as best we can to protect their democracy.
Same as above except this cartoonist is a proud member of the misleading right wing media.
And again same as above notes.
Bull. Breyer is retiring on his own recognizance, though he has already said that one of the considerations was to give Biden time to replace him before midterm elections. Breyer has been talking about retirement for a while. He merely chose the best time so that Moscow-Mitch would have a hard time tanking the nomination of his replacement like he did with Obama’s nomination of Garland. here was no problem when Kennedy resigned to give McConnell the same opportunity. I know Trump claimed he was the one to appoint the new one, but all he did was sign where McConnell told him to.
The CDC has the expertise to evaluate the medical data and make the needed public health guidance. Something their critics lack with abundance.
There is a huge difference between muttering something under your breath that is picked up by a hot mic and have staff members shout insults at those they did not think properly honor their cult leader like the staff of the former guy. One is excusable and understandable, the other should be grounds for HR involvement and evaluating if the person should have that job. You do not hear the regular staff harassment and mistreatment in Biden’s administration that we did in tRump’s.
Doocy tries to frame questions that can be used on Fox news as a sound bite, normally with out the answer given to the question because that shows how stupid the question was. So Doocy asked a really dumb question and the president noted that out loud. He did not go on a personal attack to Doocy like the former guy did, Biden did not call Doocy the enemy of the people like the former guy kept calling the press. Seems to me a lot of hype over nothing. But then again the right has very little to attack Biden over so they cling to anything they can.
The US southern border is secure despite the misleading right wing media trying to hype that the border is wide open and there are hoard of marauding brown people storming over it. There is no storming force coming over the southern border but there is an armed military threatening to cross the border between Ukraine and Russia. The Russian army is poised to invade and wipe out the new democracy in that country. The US was once known for defending democracy, are we still? I do not understand why so many on the right want to defend Putin and Russia when the St. Ronnie the Reagan called evil and Republicans had the slogan “Better dead than red”. Besides the cartoon is misleading because Biden has ruled out combat troops fighting in Ukraine.
This is cute, but sanctions beat tanks over the medium and long term. IF they can be deployed in sufficient number and on time. Keep in mind New York City has a larger economy than all of Russia.
The diplomats have warned Putin that the added pending sanctions will be heavier and the oligarchs including Putin will feel it. Putin either believes it’s a U.S./NATO bluff or he wants an escalation so the tail can wag the dog and distract the common Russian.
Some believe that P’s strategy will backfire if the Ukrainian resistance can send enough body bags back. The Ukrainians have already lost territory and thousands of lives so they may decide to go “all medieval (Afghanistan) on their ass”.
We will not send in troops but surreptitiously probably “advisors”. The profiting war machine will love the commitment to increased armaments.
The propaganda Putin / Russia is pushing. That they have overwhelming force and the will to use it. Truth is their economy is not able to handle a war over 6 weeks. They need to roll in and have it over quickly so they can take money out of Ukraine. It will be much worse if Biden is able to force really tough sanctions on the Russian oligarchs themselves.
None of these abortion laws are written by people who become pregnant. They have no medical background. They have no family planning background.
They have have one goal: force women into submission.
Employers prefer to have everyone on a gig economy. They want workers to work any hours they provide gratefully so the workers have to have multiple jobs and no social lives. Scottie
Geee I don’t know, have we..?
“They [the press] are truly THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” -Donald J. Trump https://t.co/F612DfZOp3
At a time where even Trump is trying to get people vaccinated, they keep letting these idiots on television to cast doubt on the vaccines.
There’s literally no question about vaccine efficacy anymore. They do exactly what they’re supposed to do: keep you alive and out of the ER. https://t.co/0mUzLQeZir
How interesting that this comes to light after I receive a survey concerning workplace gender relations. As someone who has short hair and never wears makeup, I thankfully have never had this issue, but I hope she's able to sue the pants off them https://t.co/iLNMqiKF6L
Regarding that Florida teen who petitioned for an abortion:
The legal question is if the girl has sufficient maturity to make this decision. If anything, she seems significantly *more* mature and responsible than many her age. https://t.co/gYUeBJiLUQpic.twitter.com/TBy2RGonGy
It's also obvious that the no doubt pro-life judges who turned her down (and were later overturned) were reaching desperately, and dishonestly, for excuses to turn down her petition. pic.twitter.com/urDPPQb35Q
I love the reasoning that a teenager "lacks the maturity to have an abortion" but is apparently mature enough to raise a human child. https://t.co/SNV3v1fsbS
So far Biden is doing as well as possible on Ukraine. The problem is right wing media hosts like Tucker Carlson are openly pushing for the US to let Putin do what ever he wants. Just let Russia take Ukraine, who cares, why should we, just let it be they say. Really it stuns me the better dead than red party is now openly Russian supporters. I guess tRump was a great asset for Putin. Well here is why we need to defend Ukraine, it is a democracy, a real one, trying to hold off an authoritarian strongman near dictatorship government run by Putin for his own enrichment. Maybe that is why the Republicans love him. Scottie
Afghanistan was not Biden’s fault, the military did the best they could with what tRump negotiated. Inflation is world wide from a pandemic and the world being shut down. Immigration is fine, we need more not less so no problem. Covid is not Biden’s fault, tRump was president when it hit, Biden got vaccines out to the people, he got the economy going in record time. The US is the only nation to have bounced back so far with a positive growth GDP. The only ones you can lay at Biden’s feet is Voting rights and Build Back Better. Scottie
Are there actually any cities doing this, or is it just another Republican terror meme because there is space that needs to be filled?
What white right wingers miss, and I think it might be so ingrained that they simply CANNOT see it, is that in some places the cops are more dangerous to regular (black) people than any other gang, Thus making “defund the police” a perfectly apt catch-phrase… IN THOSE PLACES.
The other thing they miss, and I’m a little less sure it’s not on purpose, is that we are asking cops, who are trained at confrontation, to do all kinds of things that they’re not trained for, and in fact may be trained against. In cities where there are social/medical teams who are available to the community WHO ARE NOT COPS, the outcomes are BOTH less expensive AND better than they are in “copy primary” locations.
Police budgets have actually been going up nationwide, even as crime rates have also been going up, and there are numerous bi-partisan bills further increasing police budgets and tactics. So WTF is Lisa doing? Oh yeah. Injecting partisan politics into it, and blaming “progressives”, as usual.
Ukraine is a democracy and there was a time when the US proudly stood up to help and protect democracies. That was back when Republicans also felt it was better to be dead than Russian red. I do not want US military to die uselessly in battle that is not for the safety of the US, but also I do not want the US to ignore a Russian take over of other sovereign countries. If the US wants to be a world leader we need to act like we are one and do the hard work. However for those demanding that the US make the first moves that would be the US attacking a country that has not done an illegal action yet. Can not punish a country that has not done the action they need to be punished for. If Putin orders military action on Ukraine then it will be time for the US to respond.
This is what passes for an editorial cartoon from right wing media cartoonist Mike Shelton. Need I even comment?
A misleading right wing attempt to convince people that the Democrats want to let votes be counted long after the election if it would help them. Not true at all. Several states say if the ballot is marked posted by the Postal Service on or before the election day then that ballot will count if received at the elections office after election day. That is common practice, especially with military ballots from over seas. Scottie
Republicans don’t fear injections; they fear the loss of power to ANY majority, as they will never have more than minorities ever again. For the last few decades Republican Party has been basing its appeal and power on The Four Horsemen: Ignorance, Fear, Anger, and Hatred. Just look. The one thing you won’t find is a positive vision for America.
Lots of jobs, lots of growth, companies making record profits. All the stuff Qubs brag about when they’re in office.
GOP congressmen standing in front of their voters and taking credit for the infrastructure plan that’s now starting even if they voted against it. So typical. Let the Dems do the work and wait and see how the public reacts. If the reaction is positive then stand up and take credit. Suddenly it’s we instead of them.
For the lower incomes and those on a fixed income the inflation problem has gotten quite severe. The wealthy members of congress decline to pass bills that Biden proposed that would have helped lower the effects of inflation and helped out the lower incomes. But some people, those well off see poor people as useless and not deserving of anything. They really hate poor people because they are poor. Found out one state was jailing poor people just for being poor until recently. I will post that later.
Yeah, what looks DOWN RIGHT stUPid to me is the unending spew of complaints from right wing cartoonists that this is all somehow Biden’s fault. Hello? Pandemic here… We also need to remember that all the ranting about inflation has more to do with Republigoons attacking ANYTHING the Biden Administration does (or can’t do) in furtherance of the Republican project to regain power and stay there permanently. They have no plans to govern, just take power and fleece the country until it collapses. Inflation in short, is too much money chasing too few goods (and that doesn’t mean YOU have too much money, but that in aggregate there are still plenty of people who want and are able to buy things vs. the supply of things). Note that I’m not saying that inflation is not real or is good — only that it is worldwide and will take some time to slow its rate. Those who vote for Republicans thinking they’ll manage inflation are in for some bad, and probably permanent surprises. Scottie
Here’s a harrowing fact for you: If the world’s ten richest men lost 99.999% of their wealth, they would still be richer than 99% of the global population.
Why should Biden apologize? First it was his opinion, second he was not being profane, and Doocy is always trying to trip Biden up while making him look bad. This question was designed to be a sound bite on Fox, and very one knows that Fox is the media arm of the Republicans. Scottie
With what is happening world wide I think we are all doing what this cartoon shows Biden doing. How ever I think it is super talented of Biden to do the above and create away forward making the path for the rest to follow. Scottie
Btw, the filibuster is not going to save us from a fascist takeover of democracy. Abolishing it will.
A former Speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol and our Constitution.
You know that era in the first two decades of the 20th century when all those confederate statues went up? We are in an analogous era… https://t.co/h7J9YU0RVV
A school board in North Carolina was threatened with $8 million withheld from schools unless they agreed to an anti-"CRT" policy which orders teachers to treat the founding fathers as flawless saints – or be fired.
This is also the same logic the Supreme Court used to overturn the Voting Rights Act. Black progress is often used as an excuse by those with power to ensure no more progress occurs.
And will be until the anti-mask / anti-vaxxers start practicing medical sound precautions. Until the hospitals are not flooded with seriously sick Covid virus patients and the death toll comes down we are stuck trying to mitigate the problem, not solving it. Scottie
The true number of deaths from the Covid pandemic in the US are likely being undercounted, due to the long-lasting and little-understood effects of Covid infection and other deadly complications that surged during the past two years.
“We are seeing right now the highest death rates we have ever seen in the history of this business,” J Scott Davison, CEO of insurance company OneAmerica, told journalists on 30 December.
“Death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said, among working-age people between 18 and 64. Deaths among older Americans have also increased, with one in 100 Americans over the age of 65 dying.
Republicans try to hide the facts. Covid, climate, criticisms of racism.
Policies that kill kids are the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
Policies that adversely target teachers and K-12 education are the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
‘How can we make people’s lives worse?’ is the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
Right as hospitalizations are peaking too
And yet you’re still here…
Of course…Republicans work and are owned by Putin. It’s no surprise they want to support the expansion of the Russia into NATO Ukrainian Sovereignty
The right wing loves to portray the vaccine mandates as some sort of blocking the economy or stopping people from working. It is not. It is the people refusing to get the vaccine due to their political leanings and deliberate misinformation denying science that are blocking the advancement of the economy and getting back to some kind of normal. Get the damn shots, and act like grownups. Scottie
I recently had to send some documents less than 20 miles away. I was advised and did sent it registered so it was required to be signed for and traceable. A week went by and the tracking said it was in transit. Then another week, and the same thing. So on the start of the third week as Ron was going to deal with the postal office on this we received the documents back that we had sent. Plus the signed for slip. But the tracking system on USPS web site still said it was in transit. What has Dejoy done to our constitutionally mandated service for the people? Scottie
I have explained before how austerity is the wrong approach to solving inflation. The solution is target payments to the lower incomes, something the wealthy detests with a passion. But it works, we seen that with the child tax credit that lifted 50 % of US children out of poverty until the Republicans with Manchin / Sinema killed it. As Joe Manchin said he thinks poor people are just lazy bums. So does Jeff Bezos who told his top people to use and abuse workers until they were too broken to work and then replace them with what he thought was an inexhaustible supply of new workers. He would be correct about the supply if the wealthy had their way of keeping people poor, desperate, hungry, and with out any government assistance or help. Scottie
Rivers is a shill for the far right and his stuff is posted in that media. However this is asinine even as it is well believed on the right. The right really thinks Fox, OAN, Newsmax are all telling the honest truth and all other news media is lying and in the take of the Democrats. That is complete reversal of course, but you can not shake them of that. Show then studies or even videos of the lies and they simply deny it as fake and made up. Their belief is worth more to them than reality. It really is just like a religion in that respects. Because the main stream media debunks the lies and misinformation of the right wing media arm of the Republicans they have to demonize them by projecting what they are doing themselves on to the left. As they always do. Scottie
How do you figure this is all on Biden. How is Biden responsible for Putin’s moves on Ukraine? Short of threatening war with Russia, What are Biden’s options? What is he supposed to do about Manchin and Sinema? Or the Supreme court, for that matter? Covid was here before Biden. He is following the best medical advice he can get, but the right wing is rooting for the virus to win.
The entire world is struggling with inflation. It’s an international problem with no easy solutions but to wait it out. Lester, like the rest of the rest of the conservative projectionists who continue feeding their non-critical thinking followers trite sound bites that their brains can latch on to, is ignoring what Biden has been able to accomplish in his first year in office—passing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package; passing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill; getting Americans from less than 1% vaccinated to more than 63% vaccinated; getting the unemployment rate down to under 3.9% with jobless claims at their lowest levels since the 1960s (it was at 4.7% when his predecessor started his term and saw it go high as 14.8%); getting a record setting and diverse group of 40 federal judges confirmed (a number that even McConnell can be proud of); seeing the S&P 500 (the metric the last guy used to measure success) hit new record highs 70 times and finishing up 29%; and finally committing to ending the pointless war in Afghanistan that took the lives of many servicemen. Scottie
What is being removed from schools is not CRT but the real history of the US and any mention of how the US continues to be a very racist country. To deny the deeply racist history of the US and how that racism not only continues in many forms but also affects the situation of the descendants of slaves is racist. Because it denies reality to white wash history erasing the harsh reality with misinformation designed to ease the guilt of those that benefited from the past. No one is teaching that white kids are evil because they are white or that they are born oppressors due to skin tone. What is being taught is that these things happened and it is a truth we must face if we wish to keep such inequalities from continuing to happen today. Changing the word slaves in text books to immigrants as was done in Texas shows more current guilt and a wish for the present system of oppression to continue. CRT is a dog whistle that some white people are using to try to keep history from being taught to children so the current system can be allowed to continue. That is a disservice to the country, to our children, and to the future. Scottie
Even as COVID-19 cases drop and hospitalizations show signs of plateauing in hard-hit pockets of the United States, the still-rising death toll from the Omicron variant highlights the trail of loss that follows every virus surge.
Coronavirus deaths hit an 11-month high on Sunday, climbing 11% in the past week when compared to the prior week,according to a Reuters analysis.
COVID-19 fatalities are a lagging indicator, meaning their numbers usually rise a few weeks after new cases and hospitalizations.
The Omicron death toll has now surpassed the height of deaths caused by the more severe Delta variant when the seven-day average peaked at 2,078 on Sept. 23 last year. An average of 2,200 people a day, mostly unvaccinated, are now dying due to Omicron.
That is still below the peak of 3,300 lives lost a day during the surge in January 2021 as vaccines were just being rolled out.
“It will be a while until we see (a) decrease in death as very sick people with COVID remain hospitalized for a long time,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University in New York City.
As Omicron surged in December and earlier this month, hospital systems from New Jersey to New Mexico buckled under the sheer number of patients brought in by the apparently less severe but highly infectious variant, prompting the federal government to send military medical aid to six states.
“More infectious variants tend to run through a population very rapidly,” said El-Sadr in an email. “Even if such new variants cause less severe disease (particularly among those vaccinated and boosted), we will likely still see increase in hospitalizations and deaths due to vulnerability of unvaccinated and unboosted.”
COVID-19 hospitalizations are still setting records in some states including Arkansas and North Carolina. Nationally they are now under 147,000, compared with a peak of 152,746 on Jan. 20, the Reuters tally shows.
Cases nationally are down by 12% in the last seven days compared with the prior seven, the analysis found, prompting some health officials to strike a cautiously optimist tone on the trajectory of the pandemic.
“It’s certainly reached its peak in certain regions of the country,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, said in an interview with MSNBC on Monday. “I believe that in the next few weeks we will see – as a country – that it is all turning around.”
U.S. COVID-19 data often lag a few days behind the actual state of affairs and paints an imperfect picture.
Positive findings from the now ubiquitous at-home tests are not included in the official case count, while hospitalization counts often do not differentiate between patients who are receiving treatment for COVID-19 and others who test positive while in the hospital with other issues.
On Monday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it was dangerous to assume Omicron would herald the end of COVID-19’s most acute phase, and exhorted nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic.
The Omicron wave scrambled the hopes of Americans for a gradual transition into a post-pandemic reality and re-ignited tensions around masking and vaccines in schools and workplaces, exposing once again the deep political fault lines cracked open by the health crisis.
On Sunday, large crowds rallied in Washington, D.C., in opposition of COVID-19 mandates, some holding signs that read “people call the shot, not the government.”
Virginia’s new Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is facing a lawsuit from seven school boards seeking to stop his order that would make masks optional in school as of Monday.
A spokesperson for Youngkin, vowing to fight the lawsuit, said on Monday, “We are disappointed that these school boards are ignoring parent’s rights.”
What white right wingers miss, and I think it might be so ingrained that they simply CANNOT see it, is that in some places the cops are more dangerous to regular (black) people than any other gang, Thus making “defund the police” a perfectly apt catch-phrase… IN THOSE PLACES.
The other thing they miss, and I’m a little less sure it’s not on purpose, is that we are asking cops, who are trained at confrontation, to do all kinds of things that they’re not trained for, and in fact may be trained against. In cities where there are social/medical teams who are available to the community WHO ARE NOT COPS, the outcomes are BOTH less expensive AND better than they are in “copy primary” locations.
Police budgets have actually been going up nationwide, even as crime rates have also been going up, and there are numerous bi-partisan bills further increasing police budgets and tactics. So WTF is Lisa doing? Oh yeah. Injecting partisan politics into it, and blaming “progressives”, as usual.