FIGHTING BACK

 Pride as resistance: LGBTQ+ people struggle against right-wing war on their legal rights.

Across the country, LGBTQ+ people are struggling against a wave of legislation aimed at restricting their rights. They are also fighting back. (LA Times)

 

June has been designated as PRIDE Month. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June, to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was considered to be a turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. (The Advocate)

 

It took me a whole hell of a long time to recognize, that I could be proud, along with the many other attributes in my life, that I had been proud of. And was having been born Gay. It also took courage from within to actually shout out loud that I am a Gay man and to share that part of my life with the world.

 

I was raised as a Jewish individual and learned early on in my life, that being a Jewish Individual, oftentimes, I would have to shout out loudly and rail against the misconceptions, lies, disinformation, Antisemitism, and hate from insecure people always in need of a scapegoat or a villain to help make themselves feel BIG and BETTER. It was easier for me to fight the Antisemitism battles back then because I had been a part of a community visible and viable.  My entire professional career had me working in a variety of Jewish Communities as an advocate, a spokesperson, and a Communal Leader. I was Jewish and luckily had visible role models as my mentors.

 

Coming out Gay was not as easy for me, because too many of the heroes back in the day, had been silenced, shunned, and had to hide in shadows. But just as luckily I discovered the many LGBT individuals who denied the attempt of persecution and became LOUD, Fought Back, and Acted UP. So as I read the headlines from the LA TIMES, I herald the guts, the grit, and the empowerment of fighting back by the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, because we sadly have all learned that SILENCE DOES EQUAL DEATH!

Far from free

 Calling Florida a "refuge of sanity," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday people can't stop moving to the state because of its track record as a "citadel of freedom." (Business Insider) 

“Refuge of sanity.” As in permitting one parent to decide which books should be banned, even as they had never EVER read those books. As in using Private Jets, at the expense of the Tax Payer, to kidnap Immigrants from Florida, lying to them, and shuffling them off to a northern state or city. As in fighting with the states, the largest private employer, because they decided that saying Gay was okay. And along the way, hurting the potential for expansion as in spending cash in the state, and of course MORE employment.

 

"Citadel of freedom." As in making it illegal for parents to decide the best medical and psychological treatments for their kids who are Trans. As in playing Obstetrician with women’s reproductive body parts, demanding that as non-medical laymen, somehow THEY are the final word, on a woman’s choice. As in eliminating as many ways as possible for all Floridians to cast their votes. As in limiting Drag Shows, Drag Performances, and Drag Show Audiences.

 

NOPE, RONNIE DESATIN you are nothing but a Carnival Barker, selling tickets to the FASCIST STATE OF FLORIDA, which becomes less, and less free, with each and every passing day, you claim the authority as a DICTATOR!

 

 

 

JUST copy cats

 Be it DeSantis/Haley/Scott/Pence/Christie/Hutchinson or any other Republican politician running for the office of President from within the Republican Party until any one of them says that Black Lives Matter/Trans Kids are human beings/the GLBQ community are equal, Women own their reproductive female parts/Immigrants are people/this Nation was not founded as a Christian nation/Voting is a Right for EVERY AMERICAN/banning books is bull shit…all of them might as be identified as DONALD TRUMP! 

Bull Shit remains Bull Shit while being tossed around by any and all GOP potential presidential GOP candidates until ANY or ALL of them disavow HATE/BIGORTY/MISOGYNY/ANTI-SEMISTISM/XENOPHOBIA/HOMOPHOBIA/ISLAMAPHOBIA and decry the rise of CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM and WHITE NATIONALISM. Just saying some of those HATEFUL phobias are WRONG, and not DECLARING that all of them are ANTI-AMERICAN, just makes you like DONALD TRUMP!

 

And all of them must INSIST that the whole REPUBLICAN, PR crusade called ANTI-WOKE is nothing more than an excuse to ignore the real issues of America, which deal with the matters of HEALTH/NUTRITION/EDUCATION/POVERTY/ECONOMICS/EDUCATION/HOMELESSNESS/QUALITY OF EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN’S LIVES/FAIRNESS/EQUALITY and the great divide between rich and poor.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      

As I see it, you either make a statement that we all matter, or you are actually a copycat version of DONALD TRUMP.

THUS

 Since most states (48 plus Washington, D.C.) award all of their electoral votes to the person who wins the statewide popular vote, it’s mathematically possible to win more electoral votes while still losing the popular vote. For example, if one candidate wins by large percentages in a handful of very populous states, for example, they’ll probably win the popular vote. But if their opponent wins a bunch of smaller states by tight margins, he or she could still win the Electoral College. That’s basically what happened in 2016. (History.com) 

THUS we were stuck with, George W. Bush (2000) and Donald Trump (2016). Both men did not receive the majority of the popular vote, so, in reality, as I view it, both men represented a minority opinion of Americans. YET, because of the Electoral College. (The system calls for the creation, every four years, of a temporary group of electors, equal to the total number of representatives in Congress. Technically, it is these electors, and not the American people, who vote for the president. In modern elections, the first candidate to get 270 of the 538 total electoral votes wins the White House. (History.com)

 

SWING STATE: a state of the U.S. in which the Democratic and Republican candidates both have a good chance of winning and that is considered key to the outcome of a presidential election. (Dictionary.com)

 

THUS one more example of how yours or my vote, living anywhere but within the boundaries of a Swing State, matter less, and becomes a bit more meaningless. The Electoral College became part of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, when delegates assembled to devise something to replace the Articles of Confederation. (History.com)

 

As I view it, a law from 1787, the Electoral College, has outlived it relevancy, just has the 2^nd Amendment. Muskets are not the same as Assault Weapons. Popular votes actually account for everyone who has voted, versus, how people voted in their states. Looming large on the 2024 horizon is, once more a chance for a loser, Trump, to become the winner!  

 

a dangerous game

 ‘A dangerous game of chicken’. The law largely leaves Biden’s economic agenda untouched, with the exception of a limited rollback of some IRS funds and the end of a payment pause on federal student loans that was expected to expire anyway. It imposes new work requirements for the beneficiaries of some federal aid, including childless adults who receive food stamps. Yet it actually increases spending in the program — and is expected to cover more people — while sparing Medicaid, in contrast with the original GOP bill. (Washington Post)

The edge of our American seats, ALL of us, Rich/Poor, GOP/Dem/ Young/Old, etc., etc., etc.!

 

The Congress did play the game of chicken, those who supposedly are sent to Washington to represent the average American, huffed and puffed and way too many wanted to actually blow the house down. Every fucking year, it is the same game of bull shit, pretending that a debt limit is nothing to worry about, but not worrying about it can actually cause MUCH MORE WORRY AND CONSEQUENCE. Tag you are it, no, tag you are it, NO, actually all of us become IT.

 

One more question, asking, “How is this nonsense even a thing?” We spend to buy things, and then we do not want to pay for them. We act as if the future will never arrive, and when it is looming on the horizon, we act surprised that it has arrived so soon.

 

Uh-huh, a compromise had been reached, avoiding more damage, but the damage done before the compromise had been worrisome, and could have, NO, SHOULD HAVE been avoided! And now we are told to BE HAPPY!

YES,

 US Congress averts historic default, approves debt-limit suspension. Biden praised Congress' timely action. "This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people," Biden was directly involved in negotiations on the bill with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. (Reuters)

 

Yes, a compromise had to be made. Yes, once again the DC Politicians waited last minute, placing fear in the hearts of the citizens of the United States. And yes, cuts were made. BUT President Biden was able to preserve a whole hell of a lot of necessary items for, yes anyone not a billionaire or in the 2% of the population!

 

The U.S. added 339,000 jobs in May. It's a stunningly strong number. The job growth for March and April were also stronger than previously reported. The April jobs data was revised up by 41,000 to 294,000 jobs, while the March numbers were revised up by 52,000.

The strong jobs numbers indicate the U.S. jobs engine continues to chug along, with substantial growth in business services, health care and hospitality. (npr)

 

Yes, way too many are unemployed or underemployed. Yes, all wages have not met fair equity for way too many people. Yes, there is more to be done. BUT Joe Biden has managed to assist in job growth with his policies and perseverance.

 

Migrant border crossings hits lowest point since Biden took office despite surge fears (NBC News)

 

Yes, Immigration is an issue that remains a priority. Yes, immigration must be addressed with a short-term and long-term policies and practice. Yes, Immigration is a matter of human rights. BUT at least President Biden is attempting to keep the human factor a real factor in how this nation treats Immigrants.

 

Add all of this plus Joie Biden’s empathy, concern, civility and interest into preserving Women’s Reproductive Rights/Trans People’s Right’s/LGBQ Rights/The Rights of People of Color…and please explain to me, why anyone with any intelligence, a heart, a mind, and respect for life, would vote for anyone of the Republicans already to run for President, or thinking about doing so!

 

 

Not Emails, Nor Age

 The GOP Propaganda machine is always working in overdrive and working to fill the American citizens with flawed information, incorrect information, and a whole bunch of Right-Wing lies. 

The GOP used this DISINFORMATION tactic during the 2016 Presidential Campaign when all we heard was the phrase, “BUT HER EMAILS!” Not only did the Republicans convince the Right-Wing Media that somehow Hillary had committed some kind of crime, but this infection of pure FICTION made it into the so-called Main Stream Media also, and they gladly participated in this folly.

 

Now the new version of “BUT HER EMAILS!” sounds like “BUT HIS AGE!” Somehow Joe Biden’s age has become a talking point, a talking point repeated and repeated by way too many so-called Main Stream Media News Outlets. Has the Media not learned any lessons?

 

By insisting that Joe Biden is too old to be President, every other Progressive/Democracy Oriented/Human Rights/Civil Rights/ Constitutional Rights/Women’s Rights/Voting Rights/Medicare/Medicaid/ACA/Trans Rights has been easily ignored. 

 

President Biden has pursued a doctrine of and by the average citizen. Stop assisting the GOP in their continuous slander and lies!