I can't believe the Supreme Court decision. And we knew it, we knew the Court was corrupt. But who knew they were this corrupt?
I'm appalled. I wish I could say more, but I'm just appalled.
The decision to overturn affirmative action was less surprising because I've grown up with that argument and they're basically saying, "We're post racial! It's solved." They know they're lying but they've know for over four decades that they were lying.
But this? To say that some Americans are less than other Americans?
Friday, June 29, 2023. Marianne Williamson emerges with an
authentic voice and a purpose, BLACK POWER MEDIA sits down with Conel
West, DeSantis versus DISNEY continues to go DISNEY's way, and much
more.
We're starting again with Marianne Williamson who is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
From the discussion above, picking up from yesterday:
@Maebe_A_Girl: Also, when you were talking about this idea that gay people are trying to 'groom' children, that is very offensive.
Marianne Williamson: Yeah.
@Maebe_A_Girl: My
daughter was born -- She has three gay men who are her godfathers and
it never would have occurred to me in a million years that they would be
anything other than fantastic godfathers to her. And they absolutely
were. One has now passed and the other two are very close to her and
they couldn't have been better. And they couldn't be better now as
godfather figures in her life -- in her life and important. What you
said is so true and I've had a lot of involvement with the gay community
-- mainly because of the AIDS crisis -- I've never felt that there was a
'reaching out.' This is not a proselytizing group, it's kind of like,
you do you.
Marianne Williamson:
And so why don't we do something and blame somebody? Say, "Hey, let's
actually look over there and let's talk about how these people are
trying to infiltrate our way of life and try to attack our children."
It's such an easy, easy way to get people riled up -- is when you bring
children into the matter because, of course, everyone wants to protect
children. LGBTQIA people want to protect children. And that's why we
are so outspoken about these issues -- because we, LGBTQIA adults, were
once LGBTQIA children and we remember what it was like to be ostracized,
to be othered and to be made to feel that we are not worthy because our
of our internal identities. And so I think the whole thing is a huge
distraction and there are so many things that we could talk about. And
the fact of the matter is what the GOP is saying that queer people are
trying to do to kids is simply false. You know, there are studies.
There are no -- LGBTQIA people in general are no more likely than cis
gender -- heterosexual people -- to be pedophiles, to be sexual
assaulters. But because of the fact that LGBTQIA people, a lot of it
[what we are] revolves around our sexual identities and our gender
identities, the GOP just easily distorts that into this idea of: "Oh,
this is all about sex. Why are you teaching our kids about sex?" And
the thing is, I don't want to teach your kids about sex. I don't even
want to talk to your kids. I just want your kids to know that they are
safe and they are loved regardless of whether they are straight, gay,
cisgender or transgender, whatever. We want to create a society where
everybody is welcomed and there is not this hierarchy of "Well I'm
better than you because I'm straight, I'm better than you because I'm
cis-gender." And that has historically been the battle that queer
people have had to fight. And so it's remarkable in many ways and I
think that now is the time that we really have to be outspoken about
these things in order to create a better life for the kids that are
growing up right now. I -- Again, I can't imagine what it's like to be a
middle-schooler or a high-schooler right now, seeing that there are
over half-a-thousand anti-LGBTQIA bills moving across the United
States. I don't know what that would do to my self-esteem as a
teenager. And it makes me really worried about -- about these kids.
I've never particularly thought of myself as a young person going into
politics. I got into politics out of necessity. And I started to look
around and I started to realize things are changing and not necessarily
for the better for particular communities and, in particular, the
LGBTQIA community. And my sort of a-ha moment, if you will, was the
Trump election in late 2016. When the Trump administration started in
early 2017, I felt that I needed to -- I felt that I needed to use my
platform as a drag performer and as a community figure to promote
LGBTQIA rights and to promote our inclusion. And so I started doing a
lot of parodies of folks in the Trump administration. I did a number of
parodies -- you know, Betsy DeVos, Kellyanne Conway, Malania Trump.
And part of the reason that I continue to do this throughout the Trump
administration was because I would do these performances which -- in my
mind -- they were satirical performances but they were also educational
to let you know what was happening. You're being entertained but also
you're learning that the administration is not necessarily -- Actually
not even not necessarily but just flat out not on our side. And I felt
that it was really important to draw people in. I think a lot of people
are turned off by -- just by the idea of politics. It can seem really
intimidating -- especially if you don't feel like you know everything
about politics. But here's the thing, everybody knows what they feel
inside is right or wrong.
Marianne Williamson: Right.
@Maebe_A_Girl: And
this is absolutely in my mind what politics is all about. I'm here,
you know, standing before you having this conversation and I'm running
for Congress because I need to let everybody know that I feel this is
what I think is right or wrong and if you agree with me vote for me, if
you don't agree with me, vote for somebody else. But I want to live in a
world where folks accept and tolerate everybody. Tolerance? I'm
really starting to really dislike that word because I don't want to just
be tolerated, I want to be fully integrated and celebrated, you know?
Marianne Williamson: It still implies judgement.
@Maebe_A_Girl: Like
"Well, okay, alright, we'll let you in the room. We'll let you in the
room but we're not going to let you have the microphone for very long."
And, here's the thing, Marianne, I host drag shows every single week. I
am best on the microphone. Give me the microphone because I will tell
you what I have to say. And what I have to say is that we deserve -- we
deserve equity and inclusion. And unfortunately, most of the parents
that actually were in the room had kids in the Glendale school district
and are in support of LGBTQIA inclusion. The school board is in support
of LGBTQIA inclusion. And again, this is all age appropriate. You
know, the way that you talk to second graders.
Marianne
Williamson: In a democracy, these are considered moderate positions.
What you were saying, though, I agree so much. If people -- People are
living so much on the edge. People are living just to survive. 70% of
Americans now report living with economic stress. So I agree with
everything you just said.
And we're stopping there. Yesterday,
we noted the first half of the video and the plan was to note the
rest. I had some "[. . .]" in yesterday's and that wasn't me editing
anyone, it was skipping. I thought it might have been the connection
but I've streamed it again and it's edits. Which is fine, but it throws
off the last two minutes of the video because there are jump cuts and
it's harder to follow.
The full segment is now up at Marianne's YOUTUBE channel and we'll note that video.
So let's talk about what took place with that video: Marianne found her voice and found a reason to argue vote for her.
So
many claims that this person (man usually -- Marianne and Republican
Nikki Hayley are the only two women currently competing for a political
party's presidential nomination) or that is strong.
But
strength isn't being a bully which rules out all the GOP hopefuls
except for Chris Christie. Strength also isn't staying silent. Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. is not exhibiting strength when he refuses to stand up
for an attacked segment of our country.
It's a
segment, yes. And some can whine, "Such a small one!" It really
doesn't matter the size -- unless you're a size queen -- the issue is
are you going to defend those wrongly attacked?
If
you want our votes, we need to feel we can trust you, we need to feel
if we were wrongly attacked, you would stand up for us. That's how you
show true strength. You don't just chase a poll, you stand up and speak
out for freedoms and democracy.
If you can't do that, really what can you do?
Marianne
also gets that this segment issue is nonsense. We're not in the atomic
age. We've moved on. But did we learn anything? The atomic age was
about discovering via splitting things and breaking them up and
destroying them.
I see a lot of those types speaking right now and trying to convince you to support them.
Marianne
is getting at the reality that it's not the end. That is not the end.
If that's the end, everything is a broken toy. The point of addressing
the issues in this country is not to divide but to synthesize. And we
need to be able to address issues such as transphobia, such as racism . .
. The Mrs. Max Blumenthals don't get that you have to put it together,
you have to pull it together to address any issue. The Mrs. Max
Blumenthals think addressing the war on LGBTQ+ Americans is pulling the
focus -- honestly, what focus is there in the United States? -- and
detracting from other issues. No, it's not. These are interrelated
issues. How we look at one another is directly related to how we look
at others. When we let hate merchants divides us as Americans through
othering, we set the trap for them doing the same with foreign
countries.
Marianne is turning her campaign around. She's showing that she understands how complex and interrelated this all is.
That's bravery and that's inspiring.
Applause for Marianne.
Normally that's where we stop in the discussion. Not this time.
Now
we're going to talk about the fake asses and how they try to deceive
and pretend and all their fakery. On Twitter, this is the most
streamed video that Marianne has posted to Twitter. It also has
reactions. A lot. Many are positive and that's great. But we're going
to focus on the negative reactions because I
don't like liars and liars have been using the internet for hate
campaigns and getting away with it. Let's review the 'people' leaving
negative feedback to Marianne's discussion.
Serious Joint Avatar is just a transphobe and that's all we need to know there.
@ladywhateve
will not support Marianne now because of this video, she insists.
Liar. You were never
supporting her. You support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and have done so for
weeks. It's not that hard to find out what you've been writing about
online. You're a liar who left a comment trying to make it appear that
you were with Marianne or on the fence but then this video! Liar, you
have Robert as your
background on Twitter. Lying trash. You're trying to Bud-Light
Marianne.
vic
proulx takes time out from his conspiracy theories to insist Marianne
is wasting time with this issue. Well don't waste your time, vic, I'm
sure there's some solar flare somewhere turning people into transmutants
with super powers and we all so need your expertise on that. P.S.
you're a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporter and never planned on voting for
Marianne -- go away, liar.
HLY
SPRT took time away from doing racist Tweets to lament that this isn't a
"kitchen table issue." Clearly, judging by other Tweets, you're
another
Robert supporter and I hope you are joking with your fears that the
government will chemically castrate White people, I hope you're not that
racist and that much of a KKK freak. It may be time for
the media to start reporting on the mindset of Robert's supporters.
zombywoof
is a Tim Pool freak (right-winger) who is bothered that only a small
percent of the population in the US is trans. And only a small portion
is on death row. The most recent estimate is 2750. So I guess that
means we stop working on that issue as well? Idiot.
Emma
M Tenorio tells Marianne that she just lost her vote -- she's got to
protect her children. Hope Emma plans to protect them from lies
because, turns out, Marianne didn't lose Emma's vote, she didn't have
it. Emma's another crazy for Robert and the crazies do him no good.
KanefireX,
community members may remember, was a racist in the '00s and has now
resurfaced on Twitter where he still is but is a racist but also now a Michael Tracey
fan. He wants Marianne to know that transgender is all a Marxist
ploy. Thanks for taking time away from bleaching your white sheets to
share that, Kanefire X.
PoppingWeasels
wants a refund on his 2020 donation. For what she did this week.
Doesn't work that way but good thing you got behind RFK Jr, right? Three weeks
ago, wassn't it? Not planning to vote for her but wants people to think
this interview sent him reeling. Liar.
Please
grasp, this is what these con artists do. They pretend they're
customers of Target, for example, and are never ever going to Target
again because of a Pride display. They're liars. By the way, Emma
above also wants everyone to go to Target and f**k things up because of the
Pride display. She loves Robert. Robert, I'm seriously worried about
the sick f**ks you are attracting.
DoNotDivideUs
is anti-trans as his account listed makes clear and so does the other account from which
he posted another outcry Tweet about Marianne interviewing a
transgender person.
Again,
we focused on the crazies. They've been around for sometime. Liars
online who are part of an organized attack machine. They didn't always
attack. The first time the media ever encountered them was in 2008 when
THE NEW YORK TIMES took forever to grasp that the "thousands" of Barack
Obama supporters were actually about 150. It took the paper that long
to notice it -- we noticed it right away. Several of the multiple
posters had trouble keeping their identities straight and would get
confused as to what they had posted under which name. (To their credit,
a TIMES political reporter did e-mail to say "you were right" when they
figured out what was going on.) It's astroturf and it pretends to be a
movement. They're doing it online right now with the attacks on THE
LITTLE MERMAID and DISNEY+ (on those attacks, please read Stan's "Erin Johnson is a racist who writes for SCREEN RANT" and "THE LITTLE MERMAID has brought in twice as much money as what?").
They're trying to create the impression of a wave that's really not
there for them. It's a result of saps like Dana Milbank who saw the
2004 election as his own world of popularity and didn't grasp that he
was on a mailing list that was being worked. How dumb do you have to
be?
In
Norristown, Kennedy condemned the “toxic polarization that is really
destroying our country.” Like his father in the 1960s, he lauds a
similar crusade, but is instead campaigning on his belief that leaders
in the Democratic Party today amplify division and push lies.
The junior Kennedy has his family's name but
lacks his ancestors' popularity and is perceived differently in the
public eye −in part for pushing anti-vaccine views that are at odds with
what government agencies and prominent public health experts say. More
diseases, like measles, can occur in communities with pockets of
unvaccinated people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I've
seen you buddy up to Tucker Carlson, Glenneth Greenwald and Matt Taibbi
-- transphobes one and all. Your niece telling me you're not a
transphobe and that you do not hate LGBTQ+ people isn't enough. You
need to find your voice. You've been more than willing to meet with any
crazy in the world. It's time for you to find the voice to defend the
most targeted in the community. You're the one invoking your father --
and you should -- but he wouldn't be silent when a minority population
was targeted.
Some
of that, I would say, involves some private conversations. I think if
you appear on some public platforms with them, you offer them critiques
-- and again I think you're capacity to do this is greater than folks
like ours because of who you are. But you can engage people in what you
were term "loving critiques" on public platforms so that folks can be
clear about what your position is as you try to show people and win
people over to new positions without necessarily having a huge fight
that's good for television but doesn't move people over to certain
political positions. [. . .] But if you go to an event that's an event
to boost them and you only praise them then of course they're your
friend but again I think it diminishes your stature and who you are
because it looks like to the rest of us who are seeing it that you're
not offering critical love as you stated earlier about some of the
organizations and people that you care for but instead it feels as if
you're endorsing their platforms and who they are and their ideals
That's
Kamau Franklin offering some wise words to Cornel West (we'll include
the video in a moment) that equally apply to Robert.
Marianne's
running a real campaign. At present, Robert's not. That is reality.
And. Robert, if your scared that all the crazies will fall away if you defend
those in need of defending? You really aren't your father's son.
At
least the crazies are in front of Robert -- not inside him. Cornel's
got crazies all around him as well as inside him. A number of people
have rightly called Cornel a womanizer and expressed serious concerns
regarding what he will and won't do with regards to women. Keesha and I
are tracking his statements as a result. For example, since 'brother'
Cornel got into the race? His Tweets have noted "brothers" 13 times and
sisters only 5. And none together. There's a reason women are wary of
Cornel. He chooses his own words and this is on him. He's a wordsmith so his words especially matter.
We'll
come back to Twitter in a second. BLACK POWER MEDIA interviewed Cornel
this week -- their second interview since he announced he was running
to win the Green Party's presidential nomination -- which the Green
Party will decided in the summer of next year. Kamou's quote earlier is
from the video below.
The interview is noted at the top of yesterday's morning's THE REMIX MORNING SHOW below.
No
problem streaming THE REMIX MORNING SHOW, but I've only gotten through
parts of the episode with the interview in it. I have the same aversion
that I had when Bully Boy Bush would be on TV.
And
for those convinced Cornel is running a great campaign -- what world
are you living in -- let's note the Tweet that Cornel has pinned to the
top of his Twitter feed.
He's
not even The People's Party nominee now. In yesterday's REMIX (above)
it's rightly noted by Renee Johnston that his campaign website is out of
date and needs to be updated. Yes, and so does his Twitter feed.
Transgender
people have always existed. Some Native American tribes saw them as
healers. In terms of non-native Americans, it shouldn't be that
difficult for people to grasp the term "intersex" -- when people are
born with both sets of sex organs. We've noted this before and that,
for decades, parents would then choose whether or not a child would be a
boy or a girl. Julie Cohen is the director of EVERY BODY -- a
documentary we've noted here and in the community newsletters which
deals with intersex persons. David Oliver (USA TODAY) reports on the documentary (opens this Friday) and notes:
This early surgical intervention is still happening to kids, hence the need for more education. While the documentary certainly covers this trauma, it offers hope through the eyes of activists.
Everyone's
story is different. Some people's parents discover they are intersex
when they're born but others do not know until puberty or beyond. Roth
Weigel, for example, had internal testes and a vagina at birth. The
protocol was to remove the testes – effectively castrating her.
Intersex people are often told to keep quiet about their identities which
can make living their lives tricky, especially when it comes to dating
and sex. It's ultimately up to individuals whether they want to come out
and feel safe to do so.
Even
among progressive circles the word "intersex" leave many scratching
their heads. Cohen says: "I was a little floored by how many people just
in the dinner party conversations that you have ... including people
that are in the therapy world are like, 'Oh, yeah, intersex? What's that
again? Is that like trans or kind of like trans?' Come on people. Get it together!" (Granted, LGBTQ+ terminology has only become very mainstream the last decade or so.)
"There's a huge lack of information," Wall adds, "and there is ignorance, and there's also willful ignorance."
While the community is fighting for legislative change to protect intersex kids, they're also figuring out what intersex culture really looks like.
"There's enough time where trans people have been in community where there's trans culture.
You can talk in a similar language. Intersex people haven't been
together and healed enough to be able to understand what it means to be
in joyful community with each other," Gallo says.
It is past time for people to grow up and grasp the world we live in.
And
for the American Taliban to grasp how crazy they are and how crazy
people around the world are just like them. ALJAZEERA notes that there
was a rage in Baghdad yesterday with crazies running around screaming
(over a holy book burned in Sweden) which resulted in Moqtada's cult
screaming and burning LGBTQ flags. Crazy, sick people. First, they
can't mind their own business. They don't live in Sweden, it's nothing
to rage over. But that's the Taliban, even if you live in another
country, you must do what they say. Second, blame the LGBTQ+ because
you have to have a scapegoat apparently.
Chanell
Perez Ortiz, a 29-year-old Afro-Latina trans woman, was shot and killed
in Carolina, Puerto Rico over the weekend. She is at least the 13th
trans or gender-nonconforming person to be reported killed in the U.S.
this year, according to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents.
Also
known as Uvita, Ortiz was a cosmetologist who loved fashion, makeup,
and hair, according to her social media and an interview with her
stepmother by WAPA TV.
According to Telemundo Puerto Rico,
Ortiz was shot to death early Sunday morning on the highway behind a
university in Carolina, just east of the capital city of San Juan, where
seven to eight bullet casings were identified at the scene. Although
media reports have misgendered and deadnamed her, Police Commissioner
Antonio López Figueroa said the murder was being investigated as a
transfemicide in a statement to Telemundo Puerto Rico.
“The
agents are working on the investigation process that will lead to
determining the true motive for death,” Figueroa told Telemundo. “As our
duty dictates in all cases of violent deaths, we will not stop working
until we clarify this death.”
This is
about people's lives. In ten years, when we're all the same page, I
don't want one of these jerks to be forgiven -- not on the right and
certainly not on the left. These jerks have mocked transgendered
people, they have fun of them. They have treated this as all a big
joke. And it's not a joke and it's not funny. I don't know which of
them is more worthy of our scorn -- the ones who are right wing hate
merchants and would have only found someone else to target if they
stepped back or the ones on the left who are mocking? And what do we
say about the 'great silent' on the left? YOUTUBERS and writers who
could be speaking out but stay silent -- because they're partners with a
YOUTUBER who makes fun of transgenders? Because they want to keep the
key to the clubhouse? The key to the clubhouse is especially motivating
the token women who got into the clubhouse and know that their
membership could be terminated at any point. So they stay silent and
support these toxic males and hope and pray that we don't catch to their
hypocrisy.
It’s
legislation that’s been closely watched by a self-described, life-long
conservative Republican and his transgender son, who said it’s not
external pressure, but an internal struggle.
“I
did it because I knew it was the right, next-best thing in my life and I
wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t fully something that my heart and my
mind and my spirit told me was the best thing for me,” said Ashton
Colby. “So absolutely no pressure. And I’m so happy I did transition.”
“Transgender
people, the folks that I’ve met, dear souls, young people trying to
figure it out, you know, deep crisis,” said Rick Colby, Ashton’s father.
“And a lot of times, it’s a spiritual crisis: ‘Who am I? Why am I
here?’ And they’re trying to figure it out, and to see this assault wave
of rhetoric against them…”
Rick
Colby has been a loyal Republican since Ronald Reagan was in the White
House, but he doesn’t recognize the party that’s expending so much time
and energy opposing trans rights.
Noted
transphobe and hate merchant Jonathan Turley, the bigot of GWU, has
lied repeatedly and has also commented on things he knows nothing
about. Why? He's a schill for Ron DeSantis and the right-wing,
American-Taliban section of the Republican Party. He really needs
DISNEY to fail due to his own personal obsessions. So he has lied and
lied again. He's ignored studios in real trouble -- PARAMOUNT+ -- in
his efforts to smear and attack DISNEY. How's that working out for him Shannon Power (NEWSWEEK) reports:
Despite DeSantis waging war on Disney however, the public appears to still have positive feelings toward the company.
In fact, nearly 50 percent of people surveyed in research for a Newsweek poll viewed Disney in a "favorable" or "very favorable" light.
In research conducted by Redfield and Wilton, 1,500 eligible U.S. voters were asked: "To what extent, if at all, do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of Disney?"
A
total of 46 percent of those polled said they had positive feelings
about the company, with 20 percent saying they had a "very favorable"
view and 26 percent saying their view of Disney was "favorable."
That is in comparison to 13 percent who had an "unfavorable" view of the company.
The
poll which was carried out on June 25, found 11 percent of people had a
"very unfavorable" view of Disney while 24 percent were on the fence
with neither a "favorable nor unfavorable" opinion.
A further six percent of the respondents said they did not know what view they held of Disney.
The poll of popular opinion is not the only battle Disney is winning against DeSantis, its social media has also had a boost over the past month.
Disney gained 44,742 new Twitter followers
in the 30 days up to June 21, bringing its total to almost 10.3
million, according to the social media statistics website Social Blade.
It witnessed a further boost on Instagram,
where Disney gained 278,550 followers in the same amount of time.
Disney's official Instagram account now has 37,975,982 followers, making
it the 199th most followed account on the social media platform.
But
Disney claimed the second spot for the second year in a row — which
could be seen as somewhat surprising in light of the public clashes it
has had with Florida Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Ron
DeSantis over its political views. Disney has opposed the state’s “Don’t
Say Gay” legislation, and DeSantis has responded with a number of oversight and other measures affecting Disney’s operations in Florida. This led Disney to sue DeSantis,
claiming the prospective Republican presidential candidate waged a
“relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against the company.
And Disney has also scrapped plans on a roughly $1 billion investment in a new corporate campus in Florida that would have relocated more than 2,000 employees.
We're going to wind down with a video.
Several
e-mails complaining about the above -- public e-mail, not the one for
community members. Are these drive-by e-mails or are people being
sincere?
I have no idea. But if you're expecting me to tsk-tsk Olayemi Olurin over the video, let me disappoint you.
First off, if I'd weighed in yesterday, my commentary might upset you more than her's did.
Secondly,
even if you don't agree with her, I hope you understand that she was
speaking honestly. We need to all listen to one another better.
Third, "It is not effective!" one person snaps in an e-mail. What is it supposed to be effecting?
It may just be an attempt to share and be received by others who feel the same.
This
is a serious topic and it has upset a lot of us. The Supreme Court is
out of control, precedents no longer matter, everything is on a whim and
the cabal works overtime to shred the rights of American people.
I'd say that's pretty good reason to be outraged.
If
you'll go back and listen and if you were sincerely someone who
supported Olayemi in the past, as eight of you insist, I hope you'll
understand what she's sharing and why.
And before we can ever move forward -- 'effective'ly -- we need to understand each other.
Again, I have no problem with what she said, sorry.
We
can all learn from it. Because no one owes you their vote. No one. A
vote belongs to an individual. The individual can use it however they
want. So it's wrong to assume that the Democratic Party is owed your
vote or any political party is owed your vote. It's also wrong to
assume that because, as women, some of us get this or that, that all
women -- or all White women -- get the same thing or feel the same way.
White women do not owe anyone their vote. Asian women do not owe
anyone their vote, etc, etc.
If you want to appeal to people you feel are missing the point, you need to make the case to them.
This was not the time for that. That's what we work on after we get off our chests what's bothering us.
You
can't get to that step without being honest about your reaction. Olay
was honest and I thank her for that and I celebrate her for that. The
anger she feels is echoed by so many of us, the Court becomes more
illegitimate with each passing day. The frustration is understandable.
I have no problem with what she said or with what she shared.
That's my latest comic, "Cornel's Crackpot Cracker Parade," and it just went up minutes ago. I'm noting it here right now to be clear, I don't support Cornel. I'm supposed to, I'm an African-American after all. But I don't support clowns or con artists and that's what Cornel is.
And he can't answer a single question. He speechifies and tries to exhaust people with his wordplay.
He's not my "brother." He's not a friend of mine. He's someone sitting on the sidewalk that you drop some coins for as you pass by him.
Not ready to be president of a home owners association let alone of the United States.
He's always been a shuck and jive artist. Now White people on the 'left' want him to shuck and jive and he's happy to play that part.
He's disgraced himself by being a puppet for that lunatic Chris Hedges. Chris has been pushing for some time for the US left to get together with racists on the right. And he's hidden behind religion to get away with that crap.
Chris is garbage. He falsely linked 9/11 to Iraq on the front page of THE NEW YORK TIMES and got a pass. FAIR, MOTHER JONES and THE COMMON ILLS called him out. That's it. Everyone else acts like it didn't happen.
That includes Katie Halper. Now when Katie felt the need to bring on two African-American men this month to attack . . . Black people, I looked the other way. But as she continues to whore for Chris Hedges and for Cornel, I'm tired of looking the other way. I don't think she's a friend to the left, to African-Americans or to truth. Prove me wrong, Katie, if you can.
If Cornel had anything to offer, Chris Hedges would not need to be making back door deals to get Cornel a presidential nomination (as he did with The People's Party).
Friday, June 23, 2023. The Senate Judiciary Committee is informed:
"Our nation is greater than hate --and we must act now to end this
emergency and secure equality for every American, without exception,"
Riley Gaines repeats a creative lie and Glenneth Greenwald and the rest
of the transphobes repeat it as fact, Briahna Joy Gray flirts online
during an interview with no one's idea of a stud Chris Hedges, and much
more.
Harleigh Walker: Thank you for the opportunity to tell you more about myself and what it is like to be a
transgender person. My name is Harleigh; my pronouns are she/her; I’m 16 years old, and I am
from Alabama. I’m hoping to be able to share with you what my journey has been like and to
clear up some of the false information that I’ve heard come out of Congress and state
legislatures, including the Alabama legislature. There has been so much misinformation shared
around what it means to be a transgender person, and what healthcare looks like for
transgender youth like me. Most of what I’ve been hearing is inaccurate at best, or just outright
falsehoods and misrepresentations about the healthcare given to transgender youth by qualified
medical professionals. The laws preventing people like me from having access to the health
care that our doctors and parents agree is necessary to keep us healthy don’t keep us safe;
they do the opposite. The horrible things we hear from legislators at the state and federal levels
put us at greater risk because of bullying and dangerous harassment. Transgender people
deserve to be able to pursue happiness - and I am happy.
Growing up, I had a really great childhood, loving parents, a wonderful big brother, loving
grandparents, and friends. As I grew, I just felt like something was different for me, and when I
was between ten and eleven years old, I told my parents that I was transgender. No one pushed
me to become transgender. No one suggested, forced, or influenced me to “choose” to be
transgender. It is not a choice. I just knew that this is who I am.
My parents did the absolute best they could to love and support me, and they took me to our
pediatrician. He sat down with my parents and me and referred us to medical professionals in
our state that could best treat me. He never once “pushed an agenda” onto me. Instead, he
listened to me, his patient, and advised all of us on how I could get the best healthcare for my
situation. I remember going on the first trip to the specialists - we were all so incredibly nervous
- and the team of doctors we saw were incredible. It wasn’t a single doctor but a group of
doctors who were there to help me in whatever way they could. One of the falsehoods I hear all
the time out of those who would keep me from getting my healthcare is that these doctors
pressure or rush you, and they pull you in and start filling you full of hormones, puberty blockers
or wanting to surgeries - and I want to tell you that none of that happened. As a matter of fact,
these doctors advised us that at no point would they talk about any surgeries on a minor; it
wasn’t even something they would discuss. Instead they spent time getting to know me,
understanding my specific case, getting to know my parents, and figuring out how to best care
for me, personally, as a patient. Not only did they never push me, but instead, one of the things
that stuck out as they talked to my parents and me was that if I ever decided to stop, or if this
care wasn’t right for me, it was ok, and they would support me on that, too. This is the opposite
of what I hear in the news or in the legislatures. It makes me wonder why legislatures think they
should get to tell my parents and my doctors that I can’t get the care I need to be healthy and
happy.
I want you to understand something really important. I want all of you to look at me, here and
now, and hear my words. I am a VERY happy 16-year-old. I have wonderful friends who accept
me fully for who I am. I’m active in my school’s debate team and other extracurricular activities. I
love to travel. I enjoy concerts and music like Taylor Swift, and listening to my record collection
way too loud in my room. I get As in school and I'm looking forward to college. I am not
miserable in my life, I’m not depressed. I’m just trying to be a teenager in America. Same as any
other teen, but I keep having to jump through hoops that other people my age don’t have to. I
have had to spend spring break lobbying for my right to exist while my friends are on
vacation. I’m here in front of this Committee instead of enjoying summer vacation, just to try
and ensure that my right to exist isn’t taken away.
I also hear so many lawmakers saying they are writing and passing these laws to protect kids,
yet, in my home state, when these laws were being proposed, not one lawmaker was willing to
sit down with my dad or me to talk through it, so that we could better explain what this looked
like, what it meant to us. From our State Senate, House of Representatives and even our
Governor, we begged and pleaded for an audience - but those writing these laws absolutely
refused to meet with us. Instead, these lawmakers pushed rhetoric and laws that weren’t true
and were unfounded, including that transgender people are being “groomed” by our parents,
which is nonsense!. In support of these laws my Governor has decided to say horrible things
about me and those like me in my state. I would love for you to imagine for a moment if these
statements were made about you or your kids, how would this make you feel? What would you
do to protect your kids from these harmful laws and statements? If you were me, would you
want to stay in a state where the people who are supposed to make sure you have a safe place
to live instead talk about you and your family this way? I live only a few miles from the best
college in my state, but I can’t really even consider going there in this climate, because of the
continued attacks against me.
As I’m looking forward to college though, I have had to rethink where I might go. Alabama was
one of the first states to ban my healthcare, but because of the new laws that have been passed
in states across the nation blocking my ability to just be who I am, and because we don’t have
the Equality Act to help protect me from discrimination,I’ve had to start looking at colleges very
far away from where I was born and raised, away from family and friends. My parents say this
breaks their heart; they can’t stand the thought of their kid being so far away from them where it
would be tough for them to help me If I needed them.
This type of discrimination, which will make me have to move where I live or work or go to
school, is not designed to protect or help me. It is really designed to do two things: one, keep
me from being who I am and being successful; and two, to use transgender people as
scapegoats for increased political capital. I’m here today to tell anyone who would support that
to look out; you will not stop me from being who I am or obtaining my goals, and I will not be
used as a political pawn.
I also want you to understand that discrimination makes me unsafe. This journey isn’t easy; as I
first began my transition, there was an incredible amount of bullying in my middle school. So
much so, that at one point my parents decided I needed to go to online school, not because I
wanted to but because the bullying got so bad that it was getting close to physical violence, and
the school refused to help. I hated online school - I love being around people, and I learn best
in a school environment. The next year, I went back into my old school, and, though there was
still bullying, we worked with the school to make sure they knew they couldn’t shrug their
shoulders anymore. For me, it never escalated to physical violence but that was just lucky. Kids
shouldn’t feel helpless at school against being bullied or discriminated against just because they
are different - this is another way that The Equality Act could really help. Leaders in our state
and country have the ability to help, but instead so many legislators have decided to promote
bullying and discrimination.
Despite all this, despite being called a demon, a monster, or other despicable things, I love my
life, I love my family, I love my friends and I’m happy. I am asking for you to help us stop certain
people from using the transgender community as a political pawn. Please stop attacking our
lives for votes or money. These are our human rights hanging in the balance. Help us
communicate that they are impacting people’s lives and our “pursuit of happiness.” We’re not
people to be feared or villains. We are just like your kid, your neighbor, and you. We also
deserve the ability to be happy.
Harleigh Walker
appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for a
hearing entitled "Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+
Americans."
That's what a 16-year-old girl had to say. This week.
Transphobe
Glenneth Greenwald avoided an actual trans voice. But he did want you
to know what Renee Richards now thinks. I'm sorry, who gives a damn?
It's not 1976. It's 2023. Renee had the microphone for years and spoke
to her day. Her day is done. You'd think Glenneth of all people would
grasp how you age out. He's also wanting you to know that long-retired
Martina Navratilova doesn't approve of trans women playing tennis with
non-trans women. I care even less what Chris Everet says. That would
be Chris who didn't realize Dusty Springfield was a lesbian and made a
point of telling Dusty that they really needed to get lesbians out of
tennis. Oh, Chrissie, between your ex Jimmy Connors outing you on the
abortion and now we're addressing the issue of your homophobia, you
really are destroying you own image.
For those who
don't know, singer Dusty Springfield was a huge tennis fan. She was
also a lesbian. She never respected Chrissie after that and would share
that story with anyone who would listen. She also went all in on
cheering on Billie Jean King. Chrissie's homophobia was well known and
it's part of the reason that players like Billie Jean felt they had to
stay in the closet.
Sensing the possibility of media
attention, Glenneth sets aside his widow weeds, pushes his two children
out of the way and goes running for his close up. To show the world
that he's covered in s**t like any lying sack of s**t he reTweets:
Dem
witness: "There's been this news article about men that think they can
beat Serena Williams in tennis. And it's just not the case. She is
stronger than them."
@Riley_Gaines_: "Both Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player."
That's
the first 'coverage' that I've read on the hearing. When Riley lied at
the hearing, I just shook my head. I thought we all had brains and
that the problem with that lie would be obvious.
I
don't claim to know sports. I've got 101 real things to focus on. But
the Williams sisters? I thought we all knew their story. They aren't
'sports stars,' they're so huge they're just stars. Their legend has
gone far beyond sports fans.
Again, I caught Riley's lie
immediately in the hearing and thought -- since I'm not a sports fan --
that everyone else would as well.
But, no, idiots are spreading her lie. 'It's proof!' It's proof that you're stupid and that Riley outsmarted you with a lie.
What's wrong with that 'fact'?
Like
most right-wing garbage, it takes a factual event and leaves out all
the facts that would undermine the case hate merchants are trying to
make if the actual story were told.
Serena and Venus were adults? No, they were children when this happened.
Reality: An adult male beat two teenage girls -- not women, girls.
I
saw it, why didn't Glenneth? So let's go to WIKIPEDIA because, as I
remember the story, Serena as a teenager was not yet the great Serena
that she became. Oh, look, even sports idiot me got that correct:
In 1995, just after turning 14, Williams planned to make her professional debut as a wild-card entry in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California, but was denied by the WTA owing to their age-eligibility restrictions.[45] She subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at her parents' request.[45] Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec,[44][46] where she used a wild-card entry to circumvent age-eligibility rules.[44] She lost in the first qualifying round to then 18-year-old American Annie Miller, winning just two games.[47]
Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The next year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments,[48] before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago.[49] Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7 Mary Pierce, and No. 4 Monica Seles,[50][51] recording her first career wins over top10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top-10 opponents in one tournament.[1] She ultimately lost in the semifinals to No. 5 Lindsay Davenport.[52] She finished 1997 ranked No. 99.[53]
Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney.[54] As a qualifier ranked No. 96,[55] she defeated No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals,[55] before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals.[56] Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open,[57] where she defeated sixth-seeded Irina Spîrlea in the first round,[58] before losing to her sister, Venus, in the second round in the sisters' first professional match.[58][54] She reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them,[59] including her first match against No. 1-ranked Martina Hingis at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne,[60] and her second match against Venus at the Italian Open in Rome.[59] She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year,[citation needed] losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario,[61] and the third round of the US Open to Spîrlea.[62] She withdrew from Wimbledon two games into a match with Virginia Ruano Pascual, after straining a calf muscle during the first set.[63] She did win the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi,
completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand
Slam tournaments. She won her first professional title in doubles at
the U.S. National Indoor Championships in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title.[1] They won two more doubles titles that year. Williams finished the year ranked No. 20 in singles.
The
year that Serena and Venus were both beaten in tennis by the same man?
1998. They were not the champions they would become. They were two
16-year-old girls just starting their tennis careers. She began that
year ranked number 96.
Not quite the way Riley and Glenneth try to spin it.
Repeating, a 16-year-old girl went before Congress this week and told her story.
Glenneth
wasn't interested in that. No. He was interested in three elderly
women (Chris, Martina and Renee) who really have no skin in the game,
they're more likely to be found looking for plots at Forest Lawn
Memorial Parks than setting foot on a court at Forest Hills.
A
16-year-old had the guts to appear before the Senate Judiciary
Committee at a time when a war on transpeople is taking place and
Glenneth ignores her to reTweet lies and offering the thoughts of, for
example, an 88-year-old woman who really has no skin in the game and
probably, let's be honest, very shaky cognitive knowledge of the world
today.
Yesterday,
we covered the liars who appeared before the committee --Riley Gaines
and Matt Sharp. Today, we're covering the other three witnesses -- you
know, people actually qualified to speak to what's going on today:
Harleigh, the Human Rights Campaign's Kelley Robinson and pediatric
endocrinologist Dr Ximena Lopez.
Senator Dick Durbin is the Chair of the Committee.
We've
noted here repeatedly that FOX "NEWS" traffics in hate and that they
run with freak show people to scare Americans. That's especially true
of their war on trans people. As we've noted, they repeatedly bring on
the White British man -- who lives in London -- to try to prove points
regarding trans people. The freak show is a White man who spent a
fortune to look like an Asian man, he had his face redone to look like
the K-Pop singer he was obsessed with. That was long before he briefly
decided he was trans. The last time we mentioned that, FOX "NEWS"
trotted him back out yet again. They love to do that. It's got nothing
to do with the US or what we're experiencing.
Durbin
made a point to note that when a Supreme Court nominee appears before
the Judiciary Committee, they will always be asked about what laws would
influence them the most ("whether or not they're going to be influenced
by foreign laws") and that the answer the Committee always wants,
expects and receives is "US law."
Chair
Dick Durbin: The answer they're waiting for is, "I stick with
America." And now we have references to Europe as the standard-bearer
in terms of where America should go for it's future. Secondly, if we're
called an outlier in that headline [that a Republican wanted noted],
guilty as charged. America's always been an outlier. A written
Constitution for over two hundred years. A Bill of Rights that people
can depend upon. We are outliers. No one in Europe can make the same
claim. So I would just start with the premise, I love Europe, I love
Europeans, but we're Americans. And when it comes to the decisions as
basic as the rights of our individual citizens and freedoms, I think
we've got a pretty good starting point with the Constitution and Bill of
Rights. I want to ask you, Dr Lopez, there have been references made
here to whether or not your profession and what you've done with your
life for the last ten years is an outlier itself. That in fact you're
not doing what is mainstream medicine in America. How do you respond to
that?
Dr Ximena Lopez: That is not
true. The type of care that I provide, gender affirming care, is the
mainstream standard of care, best practice recommended by all the
legitimate medical societies in the United States and across the world.
And, as I said in my opening statement, we have a clinical experience
of more than twenty years and a robust body of evidence that supports
this treatment as life saving, decreasing depression and anxiety. There
are no other studies that support any other treatment. So this --
Chair Dick Durbin: And --
Dr Ximena Lopez (Con't): -- is the mainstream treatment.
Chair Dick Durbin: And accepted by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics as well?
Dr Ximena Lopez: Correct.
Chair
Dick Durbin: Is there any major medical profession organization in the
United States of America that opposes this medical form of care?
Dr Ximena Lopez: No.
Chair
Dick Durbin: That speaks for itself. We're talking about science and
medicine versus a political spin on the issue. I want to say that I am
old enough to remember the debate on The Equal Rights Amendment fifty
years ago -- the fears [that] 'If we pass the Equal Rights Amendment,
women will be serving in combat.' You know what? Women are serving in
combat because they want to serve in combat and we need them. 'If we
pass The Equal Rights Amendment, we're going to have men and women
sharing the same bathrooms.' Have you been to restaurants with all
gender bathrooms? I've seen them quite frequently in Chicago and I'm
sure you've seen them too. When I listen to Ms. Gaines, I think,
"There's a fundamental call for justice in your statement,'' I
understand it. We've got to be able to work that out as a nation. And
not at the expense of Harleigh Walker and her future. There has to be a
middle ground here that is fair to both. As far as I am concerned,
that's our job on this side of the table to deal with that moving
forward. Dr Lopez, you said, and I want to make sure it's on the record
clearly, that accepted medical practices in the field does not provide
for surgery for youth. Is that correct?
Dr Ximena Lopez: There-there. Genital surgery is not recommended for minors. That is the standard of care.
Chair Dick Durbin: And, in terms of hormone therapy, it's not administered until after puberty?
Dr Ximena Lopez: That is -- that is recommended in adolescence.
Chair
Dick Durbin: And if you went forward with any surgery at any point, or
even medications that we're talking about, has it been your practice to
involve the parents of the young person involved?
Dr
Ximena Lopez: That is the standard of care. Parents, all legal
guardians, parents have to consent to the treatment. That's part of the
medical decision making to involve the parents and discuss the risks
and benefits like with any type of medical treatment. And, at the end
of the day, it is the parents that consent to the treatment.
Chair
Dick Durbin: Ms. Robinson, you've noted the resurgence, if you will, of
anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country. A lot of it is focused on
the transgender issue but not exclusively when we look at the body of
legislation. What else is coming up in the state legislature that
concerns you?
Kelley Robinson: I mean,
we're concerned about bathroom bills re-emerging. Not moving forward
explicit non-discrimination protections for communities and so much
more. And for me, what's even more concerning is the violent rhetoric
that surrounds every introduction of a bill, I mean, it's contribution
to the fact that one-in-five of every hate crime is now motivated by
anti-LGBTQ+ bias. This is an urgent problem facing our community and
creating fear and isolation even when the bills aren't passed into law.
Chair Dick Durbin: Thank you.
Let's note this exchange.
Senator
Chris Coons: Let me talk initially to Ms. Walker, if I could, thank
you. As a parent of three children myself, I can only imagine how proud
your parents must be of your poise and your advocacy. And thank you
for sharing with us that you're a straight-A student and participating
in school and happy. It is a very difficult thing to insert yourself
into these very heated debates in your home state of Alabama and
nationally. And I could feel your frustration, explaining that as you
search for college, you feel you can no longer safely do so in your home
state. I just don't think that's right and I think someday soon we may
be in a place where young people can search out their college dreams
without having to worry about whether they're in a state that affirms
them or not. You mention something about this is not an ideology that's
been pushed on you. Could you just help us for a moment understand?
You describe consulting closely with your parents, then with your
physician to make a decision about your future that reflects who you are
and how you were created. Can you just help us understand that a
little bit further, Ms. Walker?
Harleigh
Walker: Yeah. So, like I said, whenever I was about 11-years-old, I was
doing research on LGBTQ community and I came across the term
"transgender." And, growing up as a kid, I always knew that I was
different. And so I came to my parents with -- saying that I think I am
transgender. And, at first, we didn't really know what that meant. We
weren't super educated on the issue because, you know, at that time it
wasn't a big public issue. And so whenever we went to our doctors, they
were all incredibly supportive and they never were telling me what I
should do. The entire first couple of visits were just listening to me,
listening to my story, who I was and what I thought was best for me and
what they could do to help me. It wasn't, "You need to stop these
puberty blockers immediately." It wasn't, "You have to do all of this
to identify as transgender." Because everybody's journey is different.
And they just wanted to do what was best for me. And they listened to
me to make sure that is what I wanted to do.
Senator Chris
Coons: Thank you. Dr Lopez, one of the things you mentioned was the
importance of close consultations with parents in making a decision
about gender affirming care. Could you just briefly speak to the role
that parents play in your practice making any decision about gender
affirming care for their children?
Dr
Ximena Lopez: The decision to start gender affirming care is a highly
complex decision. It's not easy for any parent from any background.
Most parents are not well informed when this happens to them. And it
takes a lot of time and effort to meet with different types of
professionals and the health providers and physicians to discuss risks
and benefits and potential alternatives which is what should be done for
any type of medical treatment.
Senator
Chris Coons: And what sort of impact do you see on the mental and
physical health on your patients in a state where there is a ban imposed
on that sort of care? Or on books or on discussions in school? Does
that have any impact whatsoever?
Dr
Ximena Lopez: I am very, very worried. That is the reason that I am
here. I am here because I am very worried for the mental health of my
patients.
Senator Chris Coons: Mmm-hmm.
Dr
Ximena Lopez: The ones that I see in my clinic who are supported by
their parents and are receiveding gender affirming care are thriving
and, if that is taken away from them, I am sure their mental health will
worsen -- not only because the treatment that helps them is taken away
but also because there's a -- there's a feeling of stigma and
discrimination that has been created around them and, as I say,
they're-they're debating whether to leave [the state] or hide. And it's
really -- it's really devastating.
Senator
Chris Coons: Mr. Sharp, if I might, in your written testimony, you
criticize schools for trying to replace parents as the ultimate
determents of what's best for their children when it comes to things
like teaching about LGBTQ rights and issues but, if I understand you
correctly from your spoken testimony, you also think parents should be
barred from making medical care decisions about their own children in
the case of gender affirming care as described by Dr Lopez. Which one
is it? Are parents in charge of what's in the best interests of their
children or not?
Matt Sharp: Thank you,
Senator. We do support the right of parents. But our laws have long
recognized that there are limits to those and parents can't consent to
things that can be damaging and harmful --
Stop.
We're done with him. I don't have time for liars. He's a hack when it
comes to the law. We have better things to do. You, as a parent, can
ask for any legal medical care for your child or refuse it on behalf of
your child. The only legal exception thus far has been is if you refuse
care that is considered life sustaining -- meaning, if you refuse
medical care that could save your child's life, you can be held liable
for the child's death in a court of law.
I don't know how these
people think they can get away with lying in an open hearing. But Riley
thought she could get away with lying regarding Venus and Serena and
clearly she did because the lie was posted as truth by Glenneth
Greenwald.
And for the record, he said "right" not "rights." That's not a typo. He said, "We do support the right of parents." Right.
Senator
Chris Coons: Dr Lopez, if I might, just in conclusion, your testimony
was that the American Medical Association and the American Association
of Pediatrics both support gender affirming care as an option for
children and their parents to choose in consultation with physicians.
Is that correct?
Dr Ximena Lopez: That is correct.
Senator
Chris Coons: And how do you reconcile with what Mr Sharp just said
about the EU with our national, medical associations that are relevant
to this care?
Dr Ximena Lopez: First of
all, no country in Europe has banned gender affirming care. They have
taken steps to make sure that there is a cautious approach when deciding
eligibility for gender affirming care and, actually, the steps they
have taken are very similar to what is the standard of care practices
that is recommended by the Endocrine Society and The WPATH [The World
Professional Association for Transgender Health] which does recommend
very careful, comprehensive, lengthy assessment before deciding that
this is the best care for the patients and there is no single research
study that shows that psychological therapy as mentioned by
[spokesperson] Sharp is enough to resolve gender dysphoria and mental
health issues that transgender people can have.
These
are serious issues. These issues were ignored by our so-called left
yet again. Now the hate merchants were not silent. They took Riley
Gaines' nonsense story that has you picturing strong, seasoned,
champion-women Serena and Venus taking on a man and losing due to their
gender when in fact, they were still developing 16-year-old girls with
Serena having been the 99th ranked female competitor the year
immediately prior. Serious issues.
Kelley Robinson: Recently, and for the first time in our nearly half-century history, HRC has declared a national
state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States. Our emergency declaration is
neither exaggeration nor dramatization, but a sober reflection of the dire circumstances faced by
the LGBTQ+ community. It follows an unprecedented spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults
and political extremism across our nation, which is resulting in a health and safety crisis for
LGBTQ+ Americans and causing countless families to reconsider whether they want to live and
work in the states they call home.
In Missouri, where legislators filed more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, Governor
Mike Parson signed one bill that bans lifesaving, gender-affirming health care for transgender
children and another that keeps those same children from playing sports with their friends.
Danielle and her husband, who are the parents of a transgender child, have a thriving agriculture
business in the state and aging parents who live nearby. Still, they have been weighing whether
Missouri is a safe place for their son to grow up. Danielle told us, “It’s unfair that Missouri is
making us choose between doing what two different generations of my family need to survive.”
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis doubled down on his “Don’t Say Gay” law when signing a
slate of extreme anti-LGBTQ+ bills in May. Julia and Theresa, a married couple living in central
Florida who just welcomed their first child, are now leaving the state. Julie, an elementary school
teacher, worries about losing her job as an out lesbian educator. Theresa, a nurse, said, “There
aren’t laws saying I can’t take care of my trans patients anymore, but this is Florida, so it’s
probably just a matter of time.” The couple is actively applying for jobs in other states.
In Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation banning transgender young people
from receiving the health care they need, some families have made the decision to flee the
state—including a family whose son relied on the services he was provided at Texas Children’s
Hospital, a single mother who is moving her child overseas, and another mother who told me,
“We have accepted that this state is not safe. It is a warlike zone.”
In every corner of our country, there are parents and children, teachers and nurses, community
leaders and small business owners who are afraid that the rise in legislative assaults and political
extremism has put a target on their backs. LGBTQ+ people are living in fear, and such fear has
no place in the United States of America.
Thus, we have declared this state of emergency. In addition, we have issued a guidebook to help
LGBTQ+ Americans stay safe as they navigate these new anti-LGBTQ+ laws—whether they are
deciding to move, planning a vacation, or searching for a new job. We have also compiled a
report that details the impact of these laws for advocates, policymakers, and the media. I have
submitted both into the record for your reference.
Although this is a state of emergency, I believe that we still live in a land of possibility and a
nation that prides itself on progress. For every Missouri, there is a Minnesota, which recently
passed a statewide ban on so-called “conversion therapy.” For every Florida, there is a Michigan,
which recently became the 22nd state to make LGBTQ+ non-discrimination protections law. For
every Texas, there is a Pennsylvania, which is on the cusp of becoming the 23rd. For every
Defense of Marriage Act, there is a Respect for Marriage Act. And for every extremist, there are
many more Americans who support LGBTQ+ rights.
Our nation is greater than hate -- and we must act now to end this emergency and secure equality
for every American, without exception.
For every American, without exception.
I guess that's
just too much for the faux left on YOUTUBE. Where should we start
because we're going to make a point and I'm winding down. Let's do
Bri-Bri.
Briahana Joy Gray. You know her. She's a
co-host of RISING. Remember them? Remember when two of the hosts went
to town on transgender people and it was left to Olayemi Olurin to call
them out? Now when Katie Halper got dropped (for calling out the
inhumane treatment of Palestinians), Bri-Bri wondered if she should
leave-leave. But, hey, she's happy to sit right next to Robbie and
giggle each day never being bothered by his (continued) transphobic
remarks. So that tells you about Bri-Bri. She was the press secretary
on Bernie Sanders' last campaign. Some might think she'd have a career
but no Democratic Party candidate will touch her. Has to do with the
end of Sanders campaign.
So yesterday, she's giggling
with Chris Hedges. She's lying with him too -- and maybe we'll cover at
THIRD -- because that's what they do, they stroke each other and lie
for each other and pretend for each other and in their tiny bubble they
appear to have influence as a result.
Tired of
Cornel West's clowning yet? Greens are already grumbling about him
being in the race. And that was before Chris started his latest
nonsense:
Now the Green -- I've had a long
relationship with the Greens. It can be pretty dysfunctional as well.
It's got to really open its doors to a whole new generation of activists
-- whether they do that or not, I don't know because it's -- some of
these Green Parties are just a collection of like old cranks --
Bri
interrupts to giggle and play with hair, smooth it out on both sides --
it should remind you of the following scene in ABOUT LAST NIGHT.
While she flirts, he finishes with "who want to put their name on the ballot to be governor or something."
So
this is Chris Hedges. An old crank himself. Unless you just want to
call him a prig. And the fact that he lied on the front page of THE NEW
YORK TIMES in an article 'reporting' Iraq was linked to 9/11 -- it was
not linked, the story was garbage fed to Chrissy. It was the first one
to start that lie. But that doesn't deter Chrissy or Bri-Bri.
So
what he's doing is making fun of the Green Party. He's mocking them.
And that should be enough. He's the one who got Conrel the People's
Party nomination and he and Cornel were supposed to run as a ticket but
Chris' wife said no. Chris then spent his time trying to strong arm the
Green Party into gifting Cornel the nomination. That did not happen
and he's been a pissy little priss ever since.
But when he's knocking the Green Party, you may not be getting the back story.
"Rage
Against The War Machine." Remember that pathetic nonsense. Small turn
out. That surprised them. Because who wouldn't want to be onstage
with a convicted pedophile like Scott Ritter and who wouldn't want to be
among the many racists invited to the event and the homophobes?
Turns
out most people didn't want to be. And, in fact, the Green Party had
to release a statement about that nonsense because lies were being
spread that they were a part of the group. They were not.
Chrissy Hedges was. He spoke there. He'll do anything for attention. With that in mind, again, this is what he said to Bri:
Now
the Green -- I've had a long relationship with the Greens. It can be
pretty dysfunctional as well. It's got to really open its doors to a
whole new generation of activists -- whether they do that or not, I
don't know because it's -- some of these Green Parties are just a
collection of like old cranks --
Yep, he's trashing
the party -- as Cornel's spokesperson -- and he's also complaining
about the fact that the Green Party actually has ethics and doesn't get
on stage with registered sex offenders and Nazis and other hate
merchants. Chrissy thinks they need to get with the program.
Outside
her tiny bubble, people are looking at Bri-Bri with a side eye. Can
she get more embarrassing? That's the YOUTUBE world for you. They'll
bring on an exposed serial plagiarist and treat him as a genius. In "Media: How can you trust a journalist today?," Ava and I asked that basic question and kicked off with the issue of Chrissy Hedges:
This month, we saw a journalist
'report' on Cornel West's run for president on The People's Party's
ticket. Yes, that story did implode in a matter of days. That's not
what bothered us. What bothered us was when Cornel switched over to the
Green Party and decided to share (see this Iraq snapshot)
that he was encouraged to take the nomination. It wasn't his fault,
you see. He explained on camera that Chris Hedges talked him into it,
Chris Hedges promoted the party to him, Chris Hedges was going to be his
People's Party running mate but then Chris Hedges' wife put her foot
down that he wasn't running.
Remember
that journalist who reported on Cornel being the candidate for The
People's Party? It was Chris Hedges. And in his 'zany' column for
SCHEER POST, the serial plagiarist left out all of those details. Chris
portrayed himself as a friend of Cornel's interviewing him during a car
ride. He left out the fact that he was the one who pushed the
nomination -- both on Cornel and on The People's Party -- and that he
was supposed to have announced he was Cornel's running mate.
How do you trust a liar like that? You really can't.
And the media is full of Chris Hedges-like 'journalists' who just lie over and over.
We really don't want to dive back in to Chris' sewer.