Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Cornel West Is Running For President... Let's Talk About It


That's all I'm doing tonight.  

Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Tuesday, June 13, 2023.  The reality of the hate merchants war on democracy and our rights in the US, a special look at hate merchants Glenneth Greenwald and John Stauber, Iraq cracks down on cults, and much more.



John Stauber can't stop attacking transgendered persons.  He's not alone.  As Diane Thomas, put it in the screenplay to ROMANCING THE STONE, "But if there was one law of the west, bastards have brothers."  Hence, The Great Glenneth Greenwald.


@ggreenwald
Yeah, I'm going to finish the article I'm working on for this, but it's 100% true that a large majority of Americans have a "live-and-let-live" ethos regarding adults. Activist groups need resistance, and they knew where to drive the debate to ensure it:
Quote Tweet
ObiterDictum
@ObiterDictum13
·
20h
Replying to @ggreenwald
Children, that is what is happening. The indoctrination of children, putting a hand on a neutral scale.






It's worth asking why, fake-ass says in another Tweet.

It is worth asking why.  And it's because of you Glenneth Greenwald.  You hate trans people  Don't play.  Chelsea Manning rightly nailed you.

What happened to acount for a change from 2016 to now?

You and your liars like Mother Tucker Carlson attacked trans people and did so with lies.  Over and over and over.  You are the people who sewed this hate.  And people like Anya Parampil try to pose as 'left' but they're too damn pathetic (and bigoted) to defend the ones being attacked.

Day after day, FOX "NEWS" -- that includes Tucker -- attacked the trans community with lies and hate.

Gender reassignment surgeries were not taking place in the US ** on young children**.

Excuse me, that's not true.  The ones that were taking place at the end of the 20th century (and a bit earlier) were still taking place.  But no one wants to talk about that and FOX "NEWS" certainly doesn't want to.

The gender surgery that was taking place -- at the same level -- was?  I am pregnant.  I give birth.  My partner and I see that our child is intersex -- has both sexes.  We make a decision on whether we will raise the child as a boy or a girl.  And the doctor does the needed surgery.

America has been dealing with that forever and a day.

That's not me saying that it should be happening.  But it is a parent's decision and we've always recognized it as such.

But for this wave of hate to work, what had to happen was parental rights had to be ignored. 

Supposedly, conservatives believe in parental rights.  But check out any of the hate from "Moms For Liberty" (and Hate) and you'll see that they clearly do not believe in that.

There was not a rash increase of young children (ten and younger) having gender operations.  The ones that were taking place were the ones that had been taking place for decades.

FOX "NEWS" and the other hate merchants then brought forward 'victims.'

Let's take a moment to note that Caitlyn Jenner has no self-respect because she's allowed this to go on while keeping her job at FOX "NEWS."  

The victims brought forward?

Olie what's his name.  You know that idiot from the UK.  He started out having surgery to look Asian because he was obsessed with some Korean pop group member.  That was your first clue that Olie was nuts.  One year ago, at the age of 32, Oli declared himself "trans." Five months later, he said, 'Woops."  He did not have surgery.

Again, he'd already had his own face turned to plastic in an idiotic and obsessive zeal to look like Park Jimin.  What he did was disgusting.  He is not a sane person.

But if FOX "NEWS" had to depend upon sanity, they'd never book any guests.


The other one that they like to bring on is at least American.  Transitioned to a female and was unhappy and now regrets it.

That story has nothing to do with children.  The man was over 40 when he went to the doctors.  But he came forward, he insisted, because he wanted to protect children.

Maybe protect yourself you insane idiot.

What happened with this fool was he found out he couldn't be a teenage girl.  That's what he really wanted, to be a young girl.  But he was a military veteran in his late forties so his chance of being a teenage girl was zero.

FOX "NEWS" loves to attack doctors -- there are all these doctors, they insist, just trying to flip someone's gender.

In this case, FOX "NEWS" was attacking the VA.  The man was an adult veteran.  He went through the VA.  Leave it to 'patriotic' FOX "NEWS" to attack VA doctors.


Do some people regret their decision to transition with surgery?  I'm sure they do.  Even sane people.  As I've noted before, life is about learning and we learn with regrets.  

In terms of children, I've stated here before, that it's up to the parents.  I can't parent your child for you nor do I wish to.  I've stated that if it were my child (mine are no longer children) and they came to me and said they were transgender and wanted to have surgery that what I would do is ask them to speak with a therapist first.  Not to change their mind.  But to discuss what this would entail and to be able to have any questions answered.  Our bodies can be embarrassing when speaking to our parents and we may not share all we need to or ask all we want to ask.  That's why I would want them to see a therapist first.  After that, if they wanted it, that's what we would do. That's how I would handle it and no outsider should be able to tell me otherwise.  I also noted that this belief means if you're transgender and your parent/s says/say "no," then that's what it is.  You have to wait until your 18.  I'm sorry for those in that situation but unless you are an emancipated minor, your parents are in charge.  

If my child came to me after a surgery, five or ten years later, and they weren't happy, I'd state, "That's why I asked you if you were sure and that's why you were sent to speak with Dr. ____ before you had the surgery.  We all have to own our choices."  

The same if they wanted to join the military before they were 18 or anything else. 


I do believe in parental rights and I'm shocked to discover that many do not.  Chris Hayes, by the way, did a great job of making this point on MSNBC.

According to Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Glenneth isn't a father.  Remember when she attacked the woman who had adopted a child as not being a mother?  In a session of Congress, no less.


I think Glenneth is a father, a really bad father, I feel so sorry for those kids.  They have one dad in the hospital who's dying and there's the other dad, Glenneth, telling them he didn't want to be a father.  


That's not really something you share with a child.  Especially not when they're about to lose one parent -- aka the one that wanted them.  I don't care if you follow up with, "But now I'm just so glad we adopted you!"  All the kid registers in moments of stress is, "Dad said he didn't want kids."  It was a stupid thing to say to a child but Glenneth is a very stupid man.


Guess what?  I can comment on that all I want.  Glenneth still the father and he can raise his kids as he sees fit -- short of harming them.  I can't dictate to him how to raise his kids.  He can't dictate to me.  But he and the other transphobes want to destroy the lives of parents and children and the rights of parents. 

So John Stauber took time off over the weekend from attacking leftists (THE NATION, et al) and instead reposted a Tweet about America.

Can I be really clear?  I'm damn tired of outsiders wading into our issues in this country.  I'm not joking.  Wasn't thrilled when MSNBC and CNN both gave British men their own prime time shows to talk about our politics and our lives.  Really, police your own. 

But there was the RT freak (RT is RUSSIA TODAY) from Norway who loves Vladimir Putin (who is a raging homophobe -- a point we don't usually make because I don't honestly care and leave to Russia to police their own).  Norway idiot was appalled by a Pride Month parade . . . in the US.  A child, with a parent, was seeing the butt cheeks hanging out of a thong. 

First off, he's a correspondent for a non-American country and he's in Norway (where he's a citizen).  How is a Pride Parade in the US his business?  






As Joni long ago sang:


I picked the morning paper off the floor
It was full of other people's little wars
Wouldn't they like their peace
Don't we get bored 
And we call for the three great stimulants of the exhausted ones
Artifice, brutality and innocence.



A child has been scarred by seeing buttocks on either side of the back strip of a thong!  Oh my goodness!  However will the country cope!  Thank goodness for that brave but dangerously unbalanced man from Norway!



First off, is he not aware that there are nudists in the US?  Is he not aware that there are families who don't wear clothes in their homes?  And who take trips to nudist beaches?  They'd see a lot more than butts.  And, guess what, that's the parent/s decision.  That is how they raise their child.  And it is legal.  

Second, though the Christian illiterates seem opposed to all nudity, many of us would rather our children see a nude body in a film than a ghastly murder.  Or war.  

I never let my kids play with war toys.  I didn't go on TV declaring no children should play with war toys.  I left it up to other parents to make their own child raising decisions.

Imagine that, knowing what was and wasn't your say.  A strange concept today.

Third, the parent/s took the child to the Pride Month Parade.  I'm not sure I ever did.  I'd have to check with them.  But I wouldn't have been opposed to it.  I have been at Pride with them -- Just remembered.  They were both under 12 and our friend had just come out and we went and marched to show our support.  So, yes, I did take them to Pride when they were children.  And that was my choice.  And, Norway Busybody, that was San Francisco so whatever you saw somewhere in the US didn't compare to what we saw.


FOX "NEWS" has brought on what they always do -- liars and extremists -- because the only way that they get ratings is with hate.  They preach hate and they offer all these delusions.  They don't offer facts.  Again, FOX "NEWS" 'expert' (liar) Jonathan Turley does the same thing at his blog.  He tells half-truths and uses the half to alarm.  If it bleeds, it leads used to be the saying for network TV and for local 'news.'  FOX "NEWS" chases ratings by forever alarming people about some supposed threat that just does not exist.

FOX "NEWS" has been lying to people for three straight years about transgender people.  

That's not an accident.  

This was planned.  The Matt Walshes and Ben whatevers (Shapiro?  I always get him confused with the former-POLITICO reporter -- if I don't like you I tend to block out your name) schemed with others because they were opposed to the advances that gays and lesbians had made.  They knew that the tide had turned for them on this.  But they came up with attacking transgender people.  Attack them, try to repusle Middle America, and then that would harm LGBTQ+ rights.

Which is why it's so disgusting that Glenneth joins in these attacks -- but he's always been a self-loathing gay man (and we'll be talking with his first sexual partner in the roundtable for the krista & gina round-robin -- expect a lot of funny stories -- Ava and I have already spoken to him).  


So the point is to tear apart anything LGBTQ+ related.  That's why they went after BROS.  It was the same pattern (and many of the same people).  Attack with lies.  Pretend to be doing it for the kids.  Attack over and over and lie and smear.  

They did that with Dylan Mulvaney as well.

It's the same pattern.

I noted last Friday that we weren't noting a show anymore.  The host isn't aware that two of her panelists are part of this movement.  I am aware (and spent a lot of money buying up information on this faux movement).  

They are attacking the very foundation of democracy and should be called out for doing so.  

Instead, they're being presented as 'cuddly' conservatives.  And I'm not here to promote hate merchants.  (For those late to the party, I do not call conservatives "hate merchants."  Some conservatives -- most -- are not hate merchants.  And "Christian illisterates" is not a comment on all Christians -- it's a steal from 30 ROCK where the idiot wanted Liz to write a 'reality' TV speech for her and couldn't write it herself because she was, her terms, "a Christian illiterate.")


Instead, you get pasty faced Uncle Fester  thinking he looks like a cool kid (not with that skin) by cozying up to Matt Walsh and pretending that Walsh made a 'mockumentary.'  Excuse me, Christopher Guest defined that genre and you can be damn sure that he doesn't see Walsh having done a mockumentary.  Christopher is married to Jamie Lee Curtis and their daughter Ruby is trans.  So  watch your filthy mouth.  Walsh didn't make a mockumentary.  He made a hate film. That's all it was. 

These people are repulsive. 


This is well-funded movement to destroy the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.  And get real because if they're successful, they're next going to focus solely on people of color.  

You either stand up to these people or you are working with them -- as John Stauber, Jonathan Turley, Glenneth and so many others are.  They could be brave and speak out.  But they're whack jobs who got frightened when rain hit their window panes and they've been cowering in the bathroom -- is it a tornado!!! -- ever since.

Now in the above, we're talking about surgery.

There are some children who go on blockers and other things.  These are drugs that have been used on children for some time.  They are drugs approved by the AMA.  Not only did FOX "NEWS" promote hate and medical doubt, so did THE NEW YORK TIMES, among others.  And not just in 'opinion columns' by uninformed idiots.  They also did it in reporting which was why so many employees spoke out.  

Instead of supporting them, Glenneth attacked them and mocked them.

But they knew better than Glenneth.  Homophobia has long been ingrained into NYT -- ANGELS OF AMERICA wasn't the first body of work to call NYT out.  

And as "If you're not sitting at the table, you're being served on the table."


There is no issue at all with blockers, etc.  They have been medically tested.

Now they worry Tulsi Gabbard -- the same way her rough complexion (are those pock marks) worry the rest of us.  Tulsi is afraid to let her children take them.

Wait.

Tulsi doesn't have children.  So why the hell is that _____ even in this conversation?  Is she on marriage two or marriage three?  I know she's close to being out of child bearing years so, if she wants children, maybe focus on that and not how other parents choose to raise their own children.

Again, Tulsi Gabbard does not have children.  Maybe that's why she's so bitter and feels the need to butt into parents' business?  





Just days before communities across the country prepared to celebrate Pride, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a sweeping slate of hate into law, capping off the most anti-LGBTQ session in state history with new laws restricting health care for transgender young people and adults, students' rights to use the bathroom at school, drag shows and more. After months of vitriol and callous attacks on transgender young people, many parents fear raising their children in a state governed by extremists. With hate and misinformation rising across the country, it is time we recognize that Florida is simply the frontline in a national battle.

Far too many parents are now being forced to choose between remaining in the place they have long called home or packing up, selling their homes, and relocating to another state to keep their families safe. The extremism that defined our legislative session is not limited to Florida. It is a national tragedy. Politicians pushing attacks on transgender people have now spread their approach to other states, and to the nation's capital.

Politicians like DeSantis are joining forces with special interest groups to exploit transgender children—and increasingly, adults—as a scapegoat to serve their cynical ambitions. Officials in Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Montana, among other states, have spread the dangerous lie that the biggest threat to the safety of American families is LGBTQ people. As next year's presidential elections get closer, these purveyors of hate­­ seem to hope that this lie will be powerful enough to win the White House.

As a parent and an advocate for LGBTQ people in Florida for years, I know that targeting kids and marginalized groups to score points with far-right voters isn't a new strategy. For many families, however, this year feels different.

Parents and their children have endured months of sleepless nights and traumatic political hearings. In the face of these unprecedented attacks, families in Florida have risen to the challenge with remarkable resilience. They've shown up with hope and conviction every time they're called upon to drive long hours or walk through hostile protests to share heartbreaking testimony at the statehouse. The tearful father who "didn't plan to speak" at a legislative hearing, only to deliver a powerful rebuke of the transphobia being spewed from GOP lawmakers. The mother who courageously shared what the state forcibly outing her young child would do to their family.

Throughout the session, the advocates I work with have poured themselves into organizing to ensure as many families as possible can feel seen, supported, and safe. We've even taken the extraordinary step of issuing a travel advisory helping families nationwide weigh risks for their families if they travel or relocate to Florida.

Despite this outcry, politicians continued to drive legislation blocking parents and health care providers from connecting young people with gender-affirming care approved by every major medical association. And make no mistake, the denial of care is not limited to young people: adults are effectively being forcibly detransitioned by our state government. The GOP majority has rubber-stamped every bill DeSantis prioritized. They passed bills barring children from using bathrooms at school, turning every school day into a source of anxiety, discomfort, and shame. They censored teachers and forced them to mislead their students about what has happened in this country. They even threatened to break up families and shatter custody agreements.

Florida advocates and families are still reeling from these attacks. We'll catch our breath, and we'll keep fighting, but we need more allies to step up and join us if we're going to turn the tide nationwide. As DeSantis takes his platform on a cross country tour, we should be aware of the very real threat his tactics pose to everyone in this country.


It is a real threat, a very real threat. 


Crazy people are all over the world.  Tulsi might, for example, feel at home in Iraq right now as two cults are getting attention.  RUDAW notes:

Iraq’s judiciary announced on Sunday that members of a group of Sadrist followers were sentenced to prison for spreading rumors claiming the Shiite cleric is a long-foretold messianic figure. 

In April, a group called “People of the Cause” started spreading rumors that the long-awaited Imam al-Mahdi will appear at the Kufa mosque, at a time which coincided with the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s religious retreat at that mosque. The claims by the group that Sadr was the promised one enraged him, prompting him to announce the freezing of his Sadrist Movement for a year. 

On Sunday, Iraq’s judiciary announced in a statement that Baghdad’s al-Karkh court sentenced 51 of the members of the group to one year in prison, and the leader of the group to two years.

According to the statement from the judicial council, the leader of the group recruited a large number of youth and released many statements as well as speeches to convince his followers that he was the Angel Jibrail (Gabriel) who came down from the heavens, and that he had been tasked with announcing the appearance of the long-awaited Mahdi.



According to the judge who issued the ruling, the man had attracted young people to join his group by issuing statements, making speeches, and publishing books including one called "Lights on the Mahdi's Way."

The man created social media accounts to convince people of his beliefs, and reportedly attracted many followers by claiming he was the Angel Gabriel, tasked by God with announcing the coming of the Mahdi.

In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Gabriel is believed to be an archangel with the power to announce God’s will to men, and the Mahdi is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology, especially revered by Shia Muslims.


Oops.  Maybe Tulsi wouldn't want to go back to Iraq.  A cult member like herself could be forced to appear before the judge.  In the US, FOX "NEWS" will just put her on TV instead.  As Trina asked last night: Why does FOX "NEWS" hate America and hate Christianity?  Why?



Let's not the sad Glenneth again:

One of the first national political figures to advocate marriage equality was Dick Cheney in the 2000 VP debate. Biden was one of the next (in 2009). But even on trans issues, majorities supported legal equality for trans people. So what happened?



Oh, Glenneth, no wonder your college work was so shoddy.  You thought you could bluff and that facts don't matter.

Dick Cheney didn't support marriage equality in the 2000 VP debate.  In 2000, he debated Joe Lieberman.  And you know that.  You also get that people have been pointing out that you've lied about your support for the Iraq War and that you've tried to do a revisionary history on your support for Bully Boy Bush and the Iraq War.

So you lie in your Tweet as part of that.  'See, I supported someone because of marriage equality.'  No, you didn't.  That was the 2004 debate -- after the start of the Iraq War.  And in August of that year, prior to the debate with John Edwards, Dick made his position clear.  Or as clear as Cheney could -- read the report or read the transcript from the debate that happened later.

It was a 'state's right' issue.  No, it wasn't.  Cheney's an idiot just like Glenneth.  LOVING V VIRGINIA was a landmark court decision.  And it's why Clarence Thomas can be married to his White wife -- and the marriage recognized in every US state.  It's also the only right to privacy case that Clarence didn't attack in his DOBBS opinion.

I'm tired of the stupid and I'm tired of the liars.

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