Tag: Rightwing

Republican Party, America’s rightwing mouthpiece, restarts their campaign to Whitewash history

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Stephen Maturen/Getty

25 May 2020, a man died after a “medical incident during police interaction” in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The man was suspected of forgery and “believed to be in his 40s”. He “physically resisted officers” and, after being handcuffed, “appeared to be suffering medical distress”. He was taken to the hospital “where he died a short time later”.

It is not difficult to imagine a version of reality where this, the first police account of George Floyd’s brutal death beneath the knee of an implacable police officer, remained the official narrative of what took place in Minneapolis one year ago. That version of reality unfolds every day. Police lies are accepted and endorsed by the press; press accounts are accepted and believed by the public.

That something else happened – that it is now possible for a news organization to say without caveat or qualification that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd – required herculean effort and extraordinary bravery on the part of millions of people.

The laborious project of establishing truth in the face of official lies is one that Americans embraced during the racial reckoning of the summer of 2020, whether it was individuals speaking out about their experiences of racism at work, or institutions acknowledging their own complicity in racial injustice. For a time, it seemed that America was finally ready to tell a more honest, nuanced story of itself, one that acknowledged the blood at the root.

But alongside this reassessment, another American tradition re-emerged: a reactionary movement bent on reasserting a whitewashed American myth. These reactionary forces have taken aim at efforts to tell an honest version of American history and speak openly about racism by proposing laws in statehouses across the country that would ban the teaching of “critical race theory”, the New York Times’s 1619 Project, and, euphemistically, “divisive concepts”…

Legislation seeking to limit how teachers talk about race has been considered by at least 15 states…

Hoping to return America to our racist roots, the fascist clown show that owns the Republican Party marches off again on their favorite highway paved with bigotry, lies and deceit.

A Record worthy only of contempt!

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The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate the nationwide right to abortion dominated one of the court’s most consequential terms. The emboldened 6-3 conservative majority, with three nominees of President Donald Trump, wasted little time expanding the rights of gun owners to carry firearms in public, strengthening the role of religion in public life and sharply curtailing the Biden administration’s power to combat climate change.

This followed by a dozen categories of shame, political self-interest, decisions focused again and again on reversing the hard-fought gains of decades. Even worse than the scumbag Trump they mostly kneel before as their demigod…the results of almost every decision they made was to glorify a distinct and historically backwards minority of Americans, overruling the sentiments, needs and heart of the majority of this American nation.

Religious nutballs own our Supreme Court

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From the National Women’s Law Center

Tonight, a draft Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked. The language in that opinion is outrageous, irresponsible, and shocking—and the unsurprising culmination of a decades-long plan to end our right to abortion. It also confirms what we’ve already known: the Supreme Court has been politicized and weaponized by extremist politicians who want to take away our rights.

If the opinion that was leaked tonight is finalized, our fundamental right to reproductive autonomy, agency, and freedom will be eroded beyond recognition, and 50 years of settled law will be obliterated.

Any Justice who signs onto this opinion is fueling the harm and violence that will happen to people who become pregnant in this country.

If you only do one thing tonight, support abortion funds who are fighting to ensure people have access to care no matter what the Supreme Court says. Follow this link for a list of abortion funds to support.

I’ll be honest: the road ahead is scary. But we will never stop fighting for a world where our bodies, lives, and futures aren’t controlled by the court, anti-abortion extremists, or politicians who try to shame us. Until then, we will need all of you, and all of us, today, tomorrow, and beyond.

In solidarity…

By the age of 22, I had twice broken a religion-based, crap law, in my birth state, Connecticut. A state that bragged on itself as the Constitution State, BTW. I’d paid for one illegal abortion. I had a vasectomy. Oh yes, in particular, representatives of the Holy Roman Catholic Church in my state, doing their G_d’s Will, didn’t want any opportunity available for individuals to thwart what they considered heaven-sent law.

And, now, the highest court in this land is preparing to overturn settled law on the basis of their religious and political beliefs. Screw science, screw virtually unanimous studies about women’s rights or a legal system that supports choice over an ideology leftover from the Dark Ages.

A Supreme Court that picks a political side in this manner is no longer free and progressive. They should be judged with the contempt they deserve. They don’t deserve the respect one might show to an ignorant animal.

Edward A. Campbell [eideard]

Christian nationalist assault on democracy still trying to be unnoticed

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In April 2018, researcher Frederick Clarkson exposed the existence of Project Blitz, a secretive Christian nationalist “bill mill” operating below the radar to shape and enact legislation in dozens of states, using a network of state “prayer caucuses,” many of which had unsuspecting Democratic members. Its plan was to start with innocent-seeming bills, such as requiring public schools to display the national motto, “In God We Trust,” and to culminate with laying the foundations for a “Handmaid’s Tale”-style theocracy, enshrining bigotry in law under the guise of “religious freedom.”

Salon was the first to report and build on Clarkson’s findings, as well as subsequent progressive organizing efforts which eventually drove Project Blitz back underground, following a high-profile USA Today exposé (Salon follow-up here.) Now, three years later, Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, has unearthed the playbooks Project Blitz has used since going dark, and discussed their implications with Salon in an exclusive interview.

Clarkson told Salon, “While most people to the left of the Christian right view the Project Blitz playbook with revulsion, I see it as a gift to democracy. The playbook and their accompanying briefings and events laid bare their intentions and their game plan.” Because of that, he continued, “We were handed a vital tool for the defense of democratic values and, arguably, the wider defense of democracy itself. The things that happened in response, I think, are underappreciated, even by some of those who should be taking great pride in their victories.”

RTFA. Explains more than a few weird happenstances in our own state of New Mexico. Already had one recent effort to have “in god we trust” emblazoned on every public building in the state. Except this ain’t the bible belt. Yet.

Fox News is turning the Republican Party into a suicide cult — A reasonable goal for Trump voters

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Tucker Carlson really wants his audience to die. The notorious Fox News host and primary mainstreamer of white nationalist views was at it again on Monday night, presenting the coronavirus vaccine as some kind of evil conspiracy and discouraging his audience from getting it…

“How effective is this coronavirus vaccine?” How necessary is it to take the vaccine?” Carlson asked, with his usual feigned expression of skepticism.

He went on to defend the honor of “anti-vaxxers” and lambast social media sites for kicking off people who spread misinformation, claiming, falsely, “there are things we don’t know about the effects of this vaccine and all vaccines by the way.” This is typical Carlson rhetoric. He doesn’t exactly come right out and tell people that vaccines are a nefarious plot. He simply claims he’s “asking questions,” allowing the audience to believe they are practicing critical thinking when what they’re doing is the opposite: rejecting evidence in favor of outrageous conspiracy theories…

What’s weird about this situation, as many people have pointed out, is that Carlson, Ingraham, etc. are actively trying to get their own audiences killed. Nearly 2% of people who test positive for COVID-19 die of it. For Fox News viewers, who tend to lean older, the risk of death is much higher. Nearly half of male GOP voters say they won’t get the vaccine, and it’s a certainty that many of them will die because of it. It’s usually not considered particularly smart business practice to get your own customers killed, but that’s exactly what Carlson and his fellow travelers are doing.

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes
Well, you might find
You get what you need…

(Apologies to The Rolling Stones)

Extremists in Blue spark “concern” in folks politically deaf-and-blind

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The John Birch Society was founded in 1958. Committed to racism, reactionary politics, bigotry and inequality…their organizers went forth as this fascist club grew into thousands. And a critical part of the American body politic they targeted was police departments.

The third, most recent generation of the KKK was founded in the 1950’s not only as a terrorist organization opposing the struggle for civil rights in the GOUSA…their terror was as likely to focus on white supporters of civil rights and equal opportunity for all non-white Americans…as Black and Brown activists leading those struggles. A critical part of their organizing tactics was inside police departments, North and South.

Reporters, editors, liberal politicians, conservative politicians…who say they had no idea this was going on…either had their heads up their butts or they are lying to you.

You didn’t have to play a leadership role in civil rights activism to know who was working to recruit cops. And soldiers, too, BTW. But, American cops are always the first rank of suppression to be brought into action against any kind of insurgency in this land. What would have been surprising would be fascist-minded gangs of racist thugs skipping over fertile soil to grow their poison.

This ain’t sanitized high school civics. This ain’t Officer Jimmy guiding schoolkids across a busy intersection on the way home from grammar school. And I’m not saying they’ve succeeded in reworking local PD’s into a Gestapo. But, they’d love to try…and succeed. Stepping back and gasping in shock and amazement is absurd.

Now, here’s a link to the article. Read what made it into the pantywaist press!

FACEBOOK ain’t cracking down on their favorite rightwing bigots

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Several data scientists have quit their jobs at Facebook following the presidential election over frustration at the company’s unwillingness to crack down on hate speech and misinformation coming from right-leaning pages. In a goodbye note they wrote and shared companywide, as seen by BuzzFeed News, the departing employees specifically said their extensive efforts to put out flames have been meaningless because of Facebook’s, “very apparent interest in propping up actors who are fanning the flames of the very fire we are trying to put out.”

They concluded that, while Facebook has continued developing its automated tools and been successful at reducing violence reports through targeted interventions, it’s never going to be enough so long as the company continues turning a blind eye to hateful content shared by the likes of Trump and right-leaning pages…

Surprise, surprise. Smoke and mirrors are generally sufficient to ease consciences for advertisers…and Zuckerberg. Time will tell if the unruly horde of users will act up and reduce FB profits.

Texas’ official says grandparents are ready to die for US economy — and they must!

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The lieutenant governor of Texas argued in an interview on Fox News Monday night that the United States should go back to work, saying grandparents like him don’t want to sacrifice the country’s economy during the coronavirus crisis.

Patrick claimed after speaking to over a hundred people over the phone that there’s a consensus that they don’t want to “lose our whole country” over the current public health crisis and face an economic collapse…

Health experts have made clear the coronavirus poses a particular danger for older patients – 60 years old and older – who face the highest risk of serious illness or death from the rapid spread of COVID-19.

This rightwing asshat calls 100 “experts” who agree that sending folks back to work rather than sheltering in place – halting quarantine from a highly-infectious disease – makes economic sense in his distorted understanding of what the result could be.

Aside from his obvious failing at essential humanity, Patrick’s ignorance of cause-and-effect in the firestorm of a plague is downright criminal. First, he thinks the death of thousands [or millions] is OK if it returns our economy to profitability. Second, the man is a fool if he thinks this coronavirus plague will not infect a critical mass of people of all ages if turning your back on public health standards of conduct and sanity is allowed to prevail. Crushing the US economy.

No doubt his “experts” qualify as such because they donate to political campaigns for cretins – candidate and voters alike.