Fighting back for the kids

Posts on this blog do not usually start with a video, but this particular clip is so powerful that it does a better job of serving as a lead for a news story than any written words. 

The newest thing the extreme Republican right in this country has taken to doing in its bigoted culture wars is identifying anyone who does not agree with its fascist rhetoric against gays, trans individuals or anyone who is different, for that matter, as pro-pedophile. 

Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow is the latest victim of this as she was accused of grooming and "sexualizing Kindergarteners" by Republican Lana Theis in a campaign email. Of course, like any Republican claim, Theis had nothing to support this claim other than her own misguided and sinister imagination. 

Why would Theis make such an insane and unsubstantiated claim? The answer is that she wants to raise money by scaring parents into believing that public education teachers are grooming children and sexualizing them. That's right, public education teachers who went into teaching because they love children. God knows it was not for the money. And that if the GOP (American Fascist Party) does nothing about this, they will certainly indoctrinate kids into being gay or trans. FRAUDULENT on all accounts. 

I have a news update from the 1970s and 1980s, kids are not TURNED gay!!!!!!

The right has been passing laws in state after state that prevent teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues in class. And many parents around the country are falling for it hook, line and sinker. 

Example, the "don't say gay bill" in Florida recently passed by Governor Ron Desantis and his Brownshirts in the Florida State House in Tallahassee. Republicans claim that this is a parent's rights bill, but that's bull. They also claim that is just prevents teachers from discussing sex in grades K thru third. Another lie. 

What the bill does is actually ban teachers from discussing "issues that are age 'inappropriate' in the classroom" in all public schools, meaning through senior year in high school. Who decides what is age inappropriate in Florida? Is it Governor DeSantis? His book-burning thugs in the Florida state house? They left the law vague, so the extremists on the right, who also happen to be parents, and who still believe you can turn a child gay, could sue teachers at the drop of a hat.

What happens when you are learning about the Supreme Court and it's Gay Marriage decision in U.S. History class or the Pulse night club shooting. Is the teacher not allowed to discuss same-sex marriage in relation to that case? What if the kids ask about it? The bill is not limited to grades K-3, it is not allowed in public schools, meaning thru grade 12, if it is considered age inappropriate.  

If this was not enough, other states have been passing laws preventing trans kids from competing in sports in the gender that they identify. That's right, the people on the right who constantly cry about a society in which everyone receives a trophy and where the Washington Redskins are being forced to change the team name, are now whimpering about kids getting to play sports in the gender in which they identify. 

NEWS FLASH #2: That's been happening for decades!!!!! 

Boys having been playing girls sports on organized teams and girls on boy's teams for years, but the problem here is that they do not want trans kids doing it. You know, because! 

Examples: In my high school we had a girl's gymnastics team but no boy's team. If a boy, straight or otherwise, wanted to compete in gymnastics, he could. We only had a girl's field hockey team, but if boys, straight or otherwise, wanted to compete, they could because there was no equivalent team in the other gender. 

This applies to girls as well. I've known girls who wrestled on a boy's wrestling team and who played ice hockey on a boy's ice hockey team because there was no equivalent girl's team. Where is the outrage and vitriol? That's right, it's not about kids playing sports with the opposite gender, it's about kids that are "different" playing sports with "normal" kids.

One can't help but wonder if these bigots ever get tired of being disingenuous.

These are the lies being sold to parents as if they are facts, and it is incumbent on people like Senator McMorrow to stand up and call their lies bulls***. 

It is imperative, if you do not want to live in a world like the 1950s where gays and kids of other races were targeted for just being who they are, that you get out and vote in this next midterm election. And then after you have voted, drive 10 or 20 of your like-minded friends out to the polls so they can vote.

Just because the orange monster is not on the ballot in 2022, does not mean the threat is gone. The right is loaded with orange monsters, some (and I do only mean some) are just better at hiding it.

A bad week for Cawthorne

Getting detained is usually enough to ruin anyone's week, but for North Carolina representative Madison Cawthorne, that was not enough. The so-called law-abiding Cawthorne from the so-called law-and-order party was charged for the second time with driving with a revoked license, but that was probably the highlight of his week.

The 12-year-old looking anti-American and anti-democracy representative, also called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug" and the Ukraine government "incredibly corrupt and incredibly evil and pushing woke ideologies" at a townhall meeting in his district.

Let's break down these statements:

First Cawthorne calls Zelenskyy a "thug" when the real murderous thug, Vladimir Putin, is sitting in the Kremlin. UKRAINE did not invade Russia, but it is the other way around wonder boy. It is Putin who is indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and trying to destroy nuclear reactors and is currently targeting women, children and the elderly in hospitals.

I'm not sure when the American Fascist Party, formerly the GOP, decided that supporting a dictatorial regime was the way to go, but that is the new Republican/Fascist Party stance. Zelenskyy has been praised worldwide, and by this blogger as well, for standing up to a disgusting murderous former KGB agent and the so-called superior Russian military and not running away like many leaders would have done in a similar situation. However, Cawthorne appears to be rooting for Putin like his propaganda minister Tucker Carlson told him too.   

Second, Cawthorne calls Ukraine "corrupt" and "evil". Really? Why is it that you consider Ukraine evil? Is it because they did not support the dictator you tried to force on the United States? Is it because Zelenskyy did not go along with supporting the "big lie" or make up fake dirt of Joe Biden that Cawthorne considers Ukraine corrupt and evil? 

Another so-called God-fearing Christain supporting a murderer (Putin) who is killing women and children for no reason at all. That must be part of the pro-life hypocrisy. Just like his pro-gun stance in all situations, is opposed to his so-called pro-life agenda. 

And finally, when you say something incredibly stupid and disgusting the way Cawthorne did here, you just throw in the words "woke ideologies" to get the dumbest among us all in a lather about how much they hate the other half of the country. 

Cawthorne only won his district by 8 points. He is not in a ruby red, gerrymandered district, so he better watch out. There are several Republicans challenging this head of the young Fascist movement in North Carolina, and if North Carolinians are paying attention, they would remove this dingbat, whose wife could only last a whopping eight months around this hypocrite.

Of course, when the American free press came to his meet and greet event, this inept young fascist, who thinks he is above the law, exited the event through the back without explaining his comments, or how he could call Zelensky a thug, but support an authoritarian and wannabe dictator like Trump here at home. 

It is a must that in this most critical of off-year elections for American democracy, that outright criminals like Mr. Cawthorne, Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and brain-dead dummies like Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are removed from government. Do your part by voting out these feckless anti-American cowards who would rather support a murderous dictator in Russia than an American President from another party. 

VOTE BLUE!!!!! Our democratic way of life and the future of the U.S. Constitution depends on it!

Just as grimy as we thought

Within days of Rep. Lauren Boebert (Fascist from Colorado) taking office, this blogger posted a detailed write up of what we would have to contend with for the next two years. Her behavior over the last week, has confirmed that Mrs. Boebert is just as slimy and disgusting as we thought. 

Boebert started the week by claiming that the clearing of truckers in Canada from Ottawa was comparable to the tyranny that Ukrainians are suffering at the hands of Vladmir Putin. There is no other word for this other than DISGUSTING!

First those truckers in Canada were only hurting themselves and their economy by shutting down the streets. Imagine I was mad at something someone did, and to make my point I chop off my own hand and show it to that person and tell them "look what you made me do." Who really is being hurt by this act of stupidity? It is not surprising that Boebert supports an act of stupidity, but to compare that to an unprovoked attack by a murderous Vladmir Putin to the removal of truckers, who are illegally block the streets, is even too stupid for Boebert.

Boebert compares Canadian Truckers to Ukraine

However, Boebert was not done. During President Joe Biden's State of the Union address last night, Boebert joined her idiotic compatriot Margerie Taylor Greene in heckling the President of the United States, like maybe 10-year-olds might.

When he was speaking of the sacrifice of U.S. service members, including his late son, Boebert yelled out how he put 13 soldiers in flag-draped coffins. She was met with boos from the other members of Congress before mouthing the words, "piece of shit" in reference to the President. Maybe she was thinking of the last guy who held the office.  

How is the view from the cheap seats Mrs. Boebert? Is it easy to talk shit when you have never had to vote to send troops into action in a foreign theater, or had to meet those flag-draped coffins yourself?

This women has literally done nothing but claim she is prolife, but wants everyone in the country to be armed to the teeth so they can kill their husbands, wives, neighbors, Democrats, etc.

Instead of proposing legislation, she spends her time making bigoted remarks about her colleagues in the House of Representatives. She loves finding Fox News, OANN, or Newsmax cameras so she can spew her hate and conspiracy theories, and I implore the good people of Colorado's 3rd district to vote her useless, hypocritical ass out of office. 

If Colorado-3 is your district, you can put someone in office who might actually getting something done for your district by electing Alex Walker. The 31-year-old Walker was brought up in a Republican household, but later became a moderate Democrat when the Republicans migrated more towards fascism and authoritarianism - my words, not his.

"The quote-unquote role models that we have in Congress are despicable, and I think we need to look no further than last night's state of the Union," Walker said in reference to Boebert's heckling when speaking to the Pueblo Chieftain.

Walker's ad, while a little difficult to watch, certainly makes its point. He is just one of nine people currently running to unseat Boebert.   

If you would like a little more background on Walker and his true conservative economic policies and more liberal ideas on human rights and voting rights, read the Pueblo Chieftain profile below. 

Walker for Colorado-3 

One thing is for sure, if you love our country and truly love democracy here in the United States and around the world, Boebert - the head of the Young Q Society in Congress, must go!

A unifying moment?

It appears all but certain now. Russia, led by former Soviet KGB agent and murderous thug Vladimir Putin, is determined to invade the Ukraine. 

Putin will give you a laundry list of reasons why Russia needs to launch this invasion, but this imminent attack appears to be an attempt by Putin to re-establish the Soviet Union's former glory in his eyes. 

In 2008, Putin used a false-flag operation to justify sending Russian troops into the former Soviet Republic of Georgia to reclaim "disputed" lands, which in the process gave way to some ethnic cleansing of Georgian citizens. 

In 2014, Putin used unsubstantiated claims of genocide as a pretext to annex the Crimea and invade eastern Ukraine. 

And now in 2022, Putin is desperately trying to stage another false flag event to justify to himself and the rest of the world that he is correct in invading a democratically-elected government in Ukraine. Maybe he has something against people who win actual elections.

Make no mistake, Putin is a murderer who has jailed opposition leaders and even poisoned and executed dissidents who have the audacity to speak the truth about the murderous, re-emerging Soviet regime. This is our Munich 1938 moment. 

We can either continue to appease this modern-day Hitler, or more aptly Stalin, or cut him off at the knees. Bury this Soviet resurgence in its infancy. The other option is to appease this thug, like those at Munich did when they shined Hitler's shoes and declared "Peace in our time." 

In the above video, you see how appeasing Hitler's demand for more living space for ethnic Germans, only encouraged the madmen to take more and more land until he eventually held the entirety of the European continent with the exception of the British Isles. If this situation sounds familiar it should because it is a similar argument to the one Putin is making for taking back land for traditional Russian-speaking people. 

If we appease Putin now, we are repeating one of the biggest mistakes in human history. We must not sell out Ukraine like the western powers sold out Czechoslovakia in 1938 to quiet baby Hitler with some more land. And economic sanctions are not enough. If they were, Putin and his regime would have already crumbled, and they have not. Economic sanctions only hurt the Russian people, not the oligarchs running the country, who steal their wealth from the Russian people. While the people will starve as a result of economic sanctions, Putin and his thugs will live high on the hog. 

No. The answer here is for the world, and more specifically NATO to deliver a John F. Kennedy like speech during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and hand Russia a military ultimatum or red line, and tell Putin what the consequences will be for crossing that line and when he does, or if he does, follow through on those consequences. 

Kennedy made it clear that an attack on any nation in the western hemisphere by Cuba would be considered an attack on United States by the Soviet Union and would be met with a military response. That is how this current crisis needs to be addressed, and if you appease Putin, he will only get more aggressive. "The greatest danger of all would be to do nothing," Kennedy said.

In this moment of national peril, one would hope that Republicans and Democrats would put down the arrows they have used against each other, and instead use the arsenal to attack the common foe, a former KGB agent determined to re-establish the Soviet empire. But even now, the Republican Party, the faction of Ronald Reagan, who helped bring down the evil empire in early 1990s, is now defending Putin and his murdering goons. 

This is a line in the sand not only for Putin, but for the Republican Party, which use to claim to be all about national defense and democracy. If you love peace in this country and support democracy here and around the world, hold your treasonous Republican leaders accountable at the ballot box.

13 months late

On the same day that the Republican National Committee (RNC) censured GOP representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinsinger for honoring their oath to the U.S. Constitution, former Republican Vice President Mike Pence said that the former President of the United States "was wrong" about Pence's power on January 6, 2021 to overturn the election.

Pence said a number of important things in his speech before the Federalist Society, a conservative organization, including comments like "the truth is there is more at stake than our party or political fortunes ... if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won't just lose elections, we will lose our country."

I couldn't agree more with Pence's sentiments now, but the question begs, what took him so long to come to this realization? I guess a mob of Republican terrorists storming the U.S. Capitol looking to hang him for treason was not enough. I guess that same mob maiming and beating police officers with flag poles, bats, and fire extinguishers was not enough. I guess the months of watching Donald Trump lie about the election and put our democracy in the greatest peril it has seen since the 1860's was not enough. So again, I ask, why the come to Jesus now?  

Pence is not alone in his failure or cowardice. Most Republicans walk around with a pocket constitution not because they believe in what is delineated in the document, but because they can use it as a political prop. Despite always having it on them, they seem to have forgotten what's written in it for the last five years. In truth, what Pence said today is what every single Republican should have said on November 8, the day after the election was officially declared for current President Joe Biden.

If Republicans had all spoken up for democracy on November 8, 2020, they could have moved beyond the despicable human being who has tried to, and is still trying to this day, to rip the country apart along racial, cultural and party lines. The GOP did NOT do that. Instead, they placated the former Wanna-Be dictator in the White House and let the lie about the election being stolen simmer and eventually boil over on January 6 with violence.

Now these same elected goons that make up the current Republican/American Fascist Party, are trying to pretend that Jan. 6 didn't happen, or that it was not that bad, or it was antifa dressed as Trump supporters. THESE are all lies. And even today, when Pence said some of the right things, he couldn't help himself, and said he was concerned with "some of the irregularities during the election. LIAR. That is Pence still trying to play both sides of the political fence. 

One can't help but struggle to understand these sycophants. If Donald Trump had done nothing while a mob that he revved up and inspired to come after me and threatened to kill me, I would have called him out for what he is, a despicable man, and I would have shouted it from every roof top and even Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax, so even the most uninformed of the uninformed voters heard the truth. BUT NO. Instead, they carry the water and lie for this lifelong loser. 

The reality is that Trumpism is a sickness. It is the kind of sickness associated only with people who have been brainwashed in cults. You will never get some people to return to reality. That is just a fact of the people we lose to cults. But the Republican politicians, for the most part, don't like, or believe in, Trump. Believe it or not, they want to get away from this loser as much as the rest of us. But for some reason, they can't find the inner strength to quit this cult. Maybe it is the naked, craven desire for absolute power.

This means that the responsibility is ours. These Republican cowards, that make up the bulk of Congress, follow Trump because they are afraid of losing their seats in Congress to someone on the far right. The only way to break the Trump fever is to defeat the Republican/ American Fascist Party over and over at the ballot box.

In what is likely to be the most significant midterm election in history, you need to understand that a vote for a Republican is not a vote for lower taxes and conservative values, but instead a vote for authoritarianism, dictatorship and the end of free elections. THAT'S CORRECT! If you vote Republicans into the majority in 2022, the 220-year experiment into American democracy is over. 

MARK MY WORDS. Get informed and get out and vote. There is no more consequential vote you will ever take than this one in 2022.

Gosar should be removed

Arizona GOP representative Paul Gosar, one of the founding members of the new American Fascist Party, posted an anime video to his Twitter account in which he is depicted killing his colleague in the House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and then turning his sword on President Joe Biden. 

Gosar should immediately be removed from Congress because, let's face it, if you or I or anyone posted a tweet like this today, the U.S. Secret Service would be knocking on our door tomorrow. Make no mistake, what Gosar did is a crime. He encouraged violence against a sitting Congresswomen and the United States President. 

Gosar, whose five siblings spoke out - and continue to speak out - against him being elected to Congress, has ties to white nationalists and has praised the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. However, if you are waiting for the American Fascist Party leadership, formerly the GOP leadership, to do anything about this, don't hold your breath. 

Let's be clear. This is the same authoritarian organization that kicked Liz Cheney out of her leadership role in the party for not going along with former President Donald Trump's big lie, and telling the truth about the election, but refuse to do anything about Gosar or Marjorie Taylor Greene.   

This is part of an even more worrying trend in this country. Since November 3, 2020, members of the Trump cult, citizens who I presume at one point use to believe in democracy, have been calling elections officials, school board officials, elected officials, public health officials and threatening their lives and the lives of their wives and children for not going along with the big lie. 

As disgusting as this is, the even more worrying trend is that law enforcement seems inclined not to do anything about it. It was this failure to act, or failure to see these terrorists as a real threat, that allowed the cult to penetrate the U.S. Capitol building itself.

Now they seem to refusing, in general, to go after these people who continue to this day to commit these crimes. Threating to kill someone is a crime whether it is done over the phone or through a tweet like Gosar. 

If you believe for a second that the threat posed by Trump and his brownshirts in Congress is over, you are sorely mistaken. In Virginia enough people who voted to oust Trump in 2020, voted in a Trumpist Cult member in Glen Younkin last week. THE THREAT IS NOT OVER. 

If you love democracy and you want to continue to have a say in who your elected leaders are going forward, the only sane vote is for a Democrat or an Independent, until some semblance of the old GOP reemerges. As currently constituted, the conservative movement is nothing more than an authoritarian, anti-democracy movement who believes in minority rule.

A lengthy wait for infrastructure week!

The Democratic Party, after months of wrangling and "negotiating", finally pulled the trigger on passing the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure bill that was first passed in the United States Senate many months ago. 

This bi-partisan bill, which passed the Senate 69-30, laid needlessly in wait so that the progressive wing of the Democrats could try to force a vote on the huge "human" infrastructure bill at the same time. These progressive members felt the need to hold the bi-partisan bill as leverage to assure they got a vote on human infrastructure, commonly known as President Joe Biden's build back better agenda.

Here is the problem with all this. The progressives wasted time holding up the $1.2 trillion bi-partisan bill, and still did not force a vote on the bigger bill. They are still counting on their colleagues in the Democratic Party to honor their word. If this was going to be the end result anyway, why didn't they just pass the first bill months ago, and move on to negotiation the reconciliation bill? 

All that time that was wasted is time that could have been used to get these infrastructure projects off the ground, and would have allowed the economy to recover even faster from the Covid-related recession. Plus, the decaying infrastructure in the U.S. was only getting older while this bill was being held hostage.

Just as important, is that this delay in passing meaningful bi-partisan legislation, actually cost those of us who are fighting to preserve democracy, a huge blow. The failure of Congressional Democrats to take a victory when it was readily available to them in the form of the bi-partisan infrastructure bill, led to the fall of Virginia to the Trump-wing of the American Fascist Party.

It is imperative, if we plan on keeping our democracy, that the American Fascist Party (formerly the GOP), is defeated in the coming midterms, or our ability to vote freely will forever be lost at the hands of these authoritarians. If given back the House of Representatives or the Senate, America might be unrecognizable to the us in five-to-six years time.

HOW DOES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FIX THIS? 

FORGET THE MEANING OF THE WORD COMPREHENSIVE! 

The Democratic Party, who I believe is the only political party working on behalf of the American people and the only party who still has some semblance of sanity within it, MUST learn to accept and take the small victories. These small victories will keep voters moving in their direction, and finally maybe give the Democrats the filibuster-proof majorities they are looking for in the Senate. 

1. People would love comprehensive immigration reform, but putting DACA to a vote in Congress would force the moderates in the former GOP to take a hard vote. When you pack a ton of stuff into a comprehensive immigration package, it becomes an easy NO vote for the right.

2. People would love comprehensive gun reform, but putting universal background checks to a stand-alone vote would force the moderates in the former GOP to take a hard vote. When you pack a ton of stuff into one comprehensive gun package, it becomes an easy NO vote for the right.

3. People would love a comprehensive voting rights bill, but declaring election day every year as a national holiday might force a tough vote for the former GOP moderates, but when you pack it with 800 pages of do's and do nots, it becomes an easy NO vote for those on the right.

Until the Democrats can learn to accept small, incremental victories, they will never get any of the big change they truly want. 

When the Democrats won an improbable majority in the Senate in January, I messaged Chuck Schumer, my state Senators, and the DNC chairman about this strategy, but alas, they ignored it, and continue to use the same old tired mistakes despite being on the side of right in this country for the last three decades. For people who claim to do this for a living, they suck at it.