So, sadly, these slings and arrows of outrageous fortune will be allowed to stand unchallenged.
I just don’t know how the heck we fight these things, rather than to allow them to be assumed true.
Did anyone else see an article (in Huffpost) about books about unicorns and skunks possibly being removed from a school. Apparently, the author was to read a book titled “It’s Okay to be a Unicorn” to a class but a single parent objected and the author was told he couldnt read it to a class. Because a book containing rainbows and unicorns and the idea that a person should be able to have a bit of self esteem and like themselves and not objectify themselves is absolutely “gay”. I get the idiot parent complaining. There are a lot of those folks out there. What I don’t “get” is anyone falling for that crap. The teachers complained but were overruled by the authority. This, along with the fi’s who claim to be “pro-life” and the SC who says racism isn’t a problem anymore and the power mad gop , etc, etc. is giving me a headache. Stop, breathe, smell the spring flowers. then get busy with some on-line activism because we have to do all we can to stop this shit.
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Calling out their cynical motivations is a start
This is quite right:
The idea that Democrats and liberals are being a conspiracy of pedophilia and child sex trafficking has become entirely mainstream.
From:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-gops-new-moral-panic-and-incitement
For multiple reasons, everyone should read this:
English translation here:
It is pure evil.
Russians call Ukrainians Nazis.
Republicans call Democrats pedophiles.
With a bit of mutatis mutandis, they’re the same thing executed by the same type of person. Make no mistake: Republicans are in training to become more fully like Putin’s regime.
ETA
Hugely relevant:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-genocide-friendly-gop
As I noted yesterday, mainstream political media is particularly ill-equipped to grapple with the ways in which the GOP pushes what is in essence eliminationist rhetoric and incitement. Many of us know about the QAnon conspiracy theory world which posits a vast liberal/Democrat conspiracy of sex trafficking and pedophilia which will finally be undone by a violent cleansing of America by Donald Trump. Conventional media seems entirely incapable of grappling with, explaining or describing the way that the “mainstream” GOP has increasingly promoted and mainstreamed these beliefs with a spectrum of indirect to increasingly explicit messaging. We see it in the otherwise quite difficult to explain focus on the sentencing specifics of a few cases overseen by future Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. We see it in what I discussed yesterday as the right-wing appropriation of the pedophile/sexual predation language of “grooming” to indict and discredit any and all support of transgender minors. Conventional journalism simply has a willed incapability to make the connections.
Republicans, helped by their media playthings, are ensuring the USA stays on the road to becoming Putin’s Russia, the road to unfreedom.
This is why anyone supporting any Republican candidate is doing their bit to undermine democracy in America. It is not an innocent position.
ETA2
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/christian-right-wing-politics.html
And these people – Christian authoritarians – can and will be fully exploited, so that we can all enjoy the glory of Christian totalitarianism.
Madness in America, just as with its sister in Russia, runs deep. It is the bedrock upon which evil stalks. This is clear in the case of Russia. And Republicans are making sure we stay on the road to unfreedom.
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Luckily, there are probably no more than a handful of people who haven’t concluded that Chanel Rion is a clueless asshold.
I think Josh is right that it’s becoming mainstream among the Boebert/MTG/Gaetz wing of the party, but I don’t at all believe it’s become mainstream to the rest of the party. I think if you gave McConnell a list of 100 different attack lines the GOP is floating and told him to list them in order of effectiveness, “Dems are pedophiles” would be at the very bottom along with talk of overturning the 2020 election. I’m sure he still remembers how the crazy kept him from becoming Majority Leader in 2010 and 2012 and made him Minority Leader again in 2020. The people who think this is a winning message are the ones from ruby red districts who would still get reelected even if they died. This cycle we’re not gonna be fighting Gohmert for his seat, we’re gonna be fighting to keep the ones we have and pickup seats in districts like that of Mace, Meijer, Upton, and Gonzalez as well as statewide races where “My opponents are all pedophiles” doesn’t play well.
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Wanna bet for real? Serious question. You sound very confident.
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All I can say is stay tuned.
Case in point:
Unemployment numbers
Look where we are and look how many people believe jobs should still be a priority when jobless numbers are at 40 year lows.
Look at all the things he’s done and explain to me how is approval ratings are in the sewer. Why are we even talking about the GOP re-taking the Senate and the House with all that he has accomplished in spite of strong headwinds.
I will tell you how. Because all we hear about is the GQP and how the Dems are evil and Biden is now the Groomer in Chief, which anyone who has had a child molested by a known adult, as my daughter has been, should make us all sick to our stomachs.
What makes you think for even a moment that J6 is going to turn this around?
Good lord, they even made Jackson’s historic confirmation to SCOTUS a travesty.
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That’s not what I said. You said “I bet we see very little in the way of headlines.” Well, I bet we do. For real. Put up or—well—let’s just say this is an opportunity to have some skin in the game.
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They will be drowned out, just as historic low unemployment numbers and Jackson’s qualifications were. I promise you.
Even here on TPM. All TFG and Hunter Biden, all the time.
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This Tweet would work in all of todays articles.
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I’m taking this as a “no.” And the second move of the goal posts. Thanks, it’s been fun.
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Your goats cannot spell? They are russkie agents?They have great taste, butt are less filling?
Well, the DNC messaging is that bottom turd in the shitter, just before people flush. The whole leadership of the DNC needs to be retired and replaced.
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I usually trust TPM’s story selection, but I don’t think this item should have made the cut. It is the equivalent of someone farting in the woods
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Well, but if someone farts in the woods and a substantial segment of society says it smells good, that rises to the level of newsy or newsish. We really do have a problem with the normalization and growing acceptance of insane conspiracy theories and it’s worthwhile keeping an eye on it.
Remember the good old days when politicians and actors were accused of being fellow travelers for having attended a Communist front picnic or softball game when they were 14 or 15? The lies change: the liars never do. They only get uglier.
I am not sure if I should agree with you, but we seem to have a similar situation with the NEA. As a 30-year retired member, I have always been amazed at how much time, effort, and general fussin’ NEA devotes to internal governance, often (IMO) at the expense of the members in various parts of the country, especially the non-union parts. Am I way off base, or does this ring a bell with you? (Could be the water.)
Dems have to respond by listing all of the Republican elected officials convicted of sex crimes, from Denny Hastert on down. With mug shots.
My guess is the Dems will politely ignore all the wild accusations, and hope voters will get excited about Biden administration micro-initiatives like “ghost guns.”
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