IOKIYAR

Daddy State Awareness, rule 7

The law is my sword, but not your shield

The law is my shield, but not your sword

(pay wall)

Opinion
To clarify, I meant ban abortion except for Republican politicians

Ah! I see the confusion! Did I say total abortion ban? I apologize. I did mean “total,” of course, for you. But I intended it to be implied that the law would not be binding to all. I thought that would be audible — as most of my remarks are these days — as a kind of dog whistle?

All the particularly deserving were to be exempt from the ban — no, not children, necessarily; I think forced birth might be a powerful growth experience for them. No, not those for whom it is medically necessary, although I certainly would like voters to feel that probably the law was not a death sentence, whether or not that’s true. Victims of rape, or incest? No, no, I meant: Republican politicians.

I understand your confusion. You think that because I am invoking a value, I believe in it for myself. Actually myself is the last person who should have to be bothered by it! And if you have any questions, please consult my T-shirt, which has a little arrow pointing at my chin and says “I’m With The In-Group The Law Protects But Does Not Bind.” No, I don’t have any more of those (they sold out almost immediately!), but I have lots of “I’m With The Out-Group The Law Binds But Does Not Protect.” What size do you wear?

Do not come to me with my own logic and reasoning and ask me to apply it to myself or my candidates of choice, as though I were of the sort who is bound by law! Law is for other people! You saw me complaining about state secrets being shared, or files being improperly stored, and thought you could repeat my own words back to me as a “gotcha,” when I seemed to fall short in the same way? No chance! I cannot be gotten!

Don’t you understand? To me, everything is permitted! Judging myself by my own standards sounds, frankly, exhausting and impossible.

Do not think for a fraction of a second, though, that I will offer you any of the same leniency. I’m sorry, but you simply don’t have the leeway, given that you have to uphold your values and mine — and some other ones you probably didn’t even know I have you upholding!

Hypocrisy? For this to be hypocrisy, I would have to profess one thing and do another. So let me take this opportunity to apologize: If I have appeared to profess anything other than the raw desire for power, that was not my intention. If I at any point seemed to espouse values, that was a huge misunderstanding. I am very, very sorry!

See? No hypocrisy here! What a relief! Now, back to this ban. And, next, if we’re lucky, my plan to seize control of elections so I can weed out the votes with which I disagree. Remember, if I do it, it’s solving voter fraud, not committing it! Then, will I show my intense concern for the deficit by making it bigger, with tax cuts? Who knows! I am hypocrisy-proof and free as the wind!

The Bidening

Biden points out what everybody should know by now.

And it's not like it's going to matter to a buncha dog-ass Republican politicians who wear hypocrisy like a fucking merit badge, but over time, even the most brain-bleached GOP voters will see how their family and their friends and their neighbors are looking at them with increased suspicion and more than a little disgust, and some of them will start to come around. 

At least, that's the hope I have to maintain for the sake of my own sanity - and I think we all know that I can get a little shorthanded in the mental wellness department.

As always: hopeful - not optimistic.

Today's Turnaround

There's hypocrisy, and there's Republican hypocrisy, and then there's DumFux News.

The Recount:

Today's Trae

Trae Crowder - Liberal Redneck

Hypocrisy reigns supreme

Flagrancy

AP News:

Election deniers quiet on fraud claims after primary wins

Nevada Republican Jim Marchant insisted there hadn’t been a legitimate election in his state in more than a decade. All of Nevada’s election winners since 2006, he said on a recent podcast, were “installed by the deep-state cabal.”

But when Marchant won the Republican nomination for Nevada secretary of state this week, he immediately celebrated the victory as legitimate.

“I am beyond humbled by the overwhelming support of our campaign. Nevadans made their voices heard,” Marchant declared on social media.

Such inconsistency has become a hallmark of election deniers in Republican primary contests across the U.S. in this year’s midterms. Dozens of GOP candidates who sought former President Donald Trump’s backing in Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere have spent months parroting his baseless claims of 2020 election fraud but then declared victory without raising such concerns in their own elections.

Amid such seeming hypocrisy, many Republican candidates are still vowing to pursue a series of election reforms that could make it more difficult to vote — particularly for those who traditionally support Democrats — in the name of election integrity.

- more -

"Inconsistency"

and

"seeming hypocrisy"!?!

What the actual fuck, Press Poodles?

Daddy State Illustrated

First off, there's no greater example of an oxymoron than "conservative values".

Republicans waste an awful lot of time and effort trying to convince us that anyone not toeing the line on everything they put up as some kind of standard for behavior - there's another one: "Republican Standards" - anyway, if you don't follow along in perfect lockstep, then they're going to try to stick a label on you, and their go-to fave lately is any variation of pedophile - pedo-adjacent or enabler or groomer etc.

They spouted practically nothing but that usual shit at Ketanji Brown Jackson every time it was their turn to "question" her during the confirmation hearings.

And then - like right on cue - we get news (about a Republican, because of course it's a fucking Republican):

US Attorney's Office - Northern District of Florida:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 8, 2022

Former Florida Election Commission Attorney Sentenced to 72 Months in Federal Prison for Conspiracy and Distribution of Child Pornography

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Eric Matthew Lipman, 60, of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute, receive, and possess material constituting child pornography, and distributing material constituting child pornography after pleading guilty on December 13, 2021. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

“Those who seek to view and share child pornography facilitate the abuse of children by those who produce and profit from this illegal content,” stated U.S. Attorney Coody. “With the assistance of our law enforcement partners, we will ensure that those who engage in such heinous conduct will be held accountable for their actions.”

Between February 8, 2021, and February 11, 2021, Lipman, along with others, was a participant in Mega.NZ chat groups that distributed, received, possessed, and discussed child pornography images and videos. Mega.NZ was an Internet cloud storage and file hosting service based in New Zealand. Lipman conspired with the members of the chat groups to distribute, receive, and possess material constituting child pornography, and posted child pornography material within Mega.NZ chat groups for the benefit of other like-minded participants. The pornographic material that Lipman distributed, and that was found on Lipman’s electronic devices, involved prepubescent minors as well as minors under the age of 12.

Lipman’s prison sentence will be followed by 9 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and will be subject to sex offender conditions.

“This child predator was part of a conspiracy to sexually exploit young children,” said HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge John Condon. “Because of the investigative work of HSI and our law enforcement partners at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, he will no longer be able to harm our most vulnerable.”

“LCSO applauds the work of investigators and the collaborative efforts by all entities involved in seeing justice carried out in this case,” said Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. “We must continue to do our due diligence in protecting our most vulnerable and precious members of our community.”

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen prosecuted the case.

The Daddy State Rides

Daddy State Awareness - rule 1:

Every accusation is a confession

So when we hear Qult45's claims of "stolen election", we know that stealing elections is what they've done, or that's what they plan on doing as soon as they get a chance.

(there's some probability of election fuckery in the case of Mitch McConnell in 2020, seeing as how his approval rating was completely in the shitter, and he still skated thru by a big double-digit margin)

Anyway, by throwing that accusation at the Dems, they're trying to inoculate themselves.

Process -

GOP: (without evidence) Voter fraud!

Dems: Don't be daft - there's no voter fraud

Dems: (with evidence) Election fraud!

GOP: But you already said there's no fraud - hypocrisy!

Likewise, when we hear the GOP saying the John Lewis Voting Rights bill is the Dems' attempt at a federal takeover of elections (gotta look out for states' rights dontcha know), then we know there has to be some kind of Republican heist in the works.

Mehdi Hassan (subbing for Rachel):

BTW, let's address a Style Book issue that I think Press Poodles need to work on:

• Stop calling any of this crap a "conspiracy theory"
• It's not a theory - it doesn't even rise to the status of hypothesis
• Instead, call it a "conspiracy fantasy" or maybe a "conspiracy myth"
• Using the word "theory" gives it weight that it doesn't deserve, and lends credence to False Equivalence

Governor Trumpkin

"Conservatives" always walk in with a mouthful of "the supremacy of the individual", and "self-reliance" and "independent blah blah blah" - but when it's time to make real decisions on behalf of real people with real problems, they surely do love 'em some good ol' top-down authoritarian Daddy State bullshit.

Their specious nonsense about the absolute evils of collective action in the interest of doing what's best for the most has put them in a corner so tight, that when they find themselves in positions of power, they can't do anything that doesn't expose them as flagrant hypocrites.

exempli gratia:

Glenn Youngkin spent a lot of campaign time saying Ralph Northam had no right to mandate masks in schools (in the name of public safety), and then - on his first day in office - he issued an Executive Order mandating armed cops in schools (as a matter of public safety).

WaPo: (pay wall)

Opinion: Glenn Youngkin’s awful first moves are already sparking a rebellion

Glenn Youngkin pulled off a remarkably clever trick en route to becoming the first Republican governor of Virginia in almost a decade. He energized supporters of Donald Trump but kept those appeals under the radar, while running as a center-right businessman-turned-politician offered up in what has become his trademark “cheerful suburban dad” packaging.

But this balancing act is already facing its first big governing test. How Youngkin manages it will be highly illuminating with regard to how much space there is inside the GOP for a politics that isn’t relentlessly shaped around the preoccupations and pathologies of Trumpism.

In the coming days, one of Youngkin’s first big moves will likely face a sustained legal and political challenge. Youngkin just rolled out a new executive order that ends masking requirements in schools, instead stating that any parent can opt out without providing a reason.

But numerous Virginia school districts immediately announced that they will continue requiring masks in accordance with previous policy. Some said they will remain aligned with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opinion by James Downie: Youngkin cares more about sound bites than solutions

Youngkin talks Va. schools, critical race theory and vaccines in first state address

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) delivered his first address to the Joint General Assembly in Richmond at Virginia’s State Capitol on Jan. 17. (The Washington Post)

As of now, school districts in counties with a total of several million people in population have indicated they will likely continue the mask requirement in the face of Youngkin’s executive order. These include Fairfax, Henrico, Prince William, Arlington and Loudoun.

“We will fight it to the end,” Jason Kamras, the superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, told me.

What makes Youngkin’s move particularly ugly is that he’s hinting he’ll follow the path of fellow Republican governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. DeSantis threatened to withhold funding from school boards that kept mask requirements in defiance of his effort to bar them and sought to punish them in other ways.

Youngkin is making similarly menacing noises. He vows to “use every resource within the governor’s authority” to force school districts into compliance, while piously insisting it’s time to “listen to parents,” as if all parents monolithically want an end to mask requirements and only school boards want them.

But Youngkin’s effort to paint school districts as power-mad bureaucrats trampling on the rights of parents is running headlong into a counterargument: Though the legal issues here are complex, the school districts might have the law on their side, and Youngkin might be the one abusing his power.

Youngkin’s stance might be legally vulnerable

Here’s why: As some of the school districts continuing mask requirements argue, a state law passed by the General Assembly and signed by the former governor may well require them to implement mask requirements.

That law requires school boards to adhere “to the maximum extent practicable” to strategies protecting schoolkids from covid-19 that have been “provided” by the CDC. As it happens, the CDC does advise universal masking in schools and backs up this position by citing various studies showing that such policies are effective.

Overheard

Republicans who reverently quoted MLK yesterday will be right back to taking pictures with Confederate flags today.

Oh, GOP

Being two-faced and hypocritical - and then lying about it - comprise the main requirement for membership in the GOP.

Rand Paul vociferously opposed federal aid for New Jersey after Super Storm Sandy, and here he is in the Senate, standing up against being generous when Sen Kennedy (one of his own guys) proposes we help people who got pretty fucked over by a weather disaster:

Meanwhile, Kentucky gets slammed by a tornado that killed at least 70 people, and there's little old Senator Aqua Budha suckin' around for a handout.

Dear President Biden,

Last night and early this morning devastating storms swept across multiple states, including Kentucky. A single tornado from that system may have been on the ground for over 200 miles, and a large swath of the Commonwealth has been severely hit. As the sun comes up this morning we will begin to understand the true scope of the devastation, but we already know of loss of life and severe property damage.

The Governor of the Commonwealth has requested federal assistance this morning, and certainly further requests will be coming as the situation is assessed. I fully support those requests and ask that you move expeditiously to approve the appropriate resources for our state.

Sincerely,

Rand Paul, M.D.

United States Senator

Meanwhile:

 

On Employer Vax Mandates

The nexus between the Libertarian nutballs and the Anti-Vax nutballs may be bringing up some interesting twists - for me anyway.

My general philosophy is that most everything is a matter of where you draw the line.

eg:

• Where's the line between Murder and Homicide?
• Where's the line between Sexual Harassment and pleasant friendly - even playful - interaction among colleagues?
• Where's the line between campaign contributions and bribery?

So I have to ask - if my employer can mandate shirts and pants, why not a mask?

If I can require my employees to observe safety regulations in the workplace, why would I not be allowed to mandate vaccinations?

You show up at work with measles because you refuse to get yourself or your kids vaccinated. You infect the young woman in the next cubicle and her pregnancy ends in miscarriage causing hemorrhage and complications that aren't fatal, but debilitating...etc etc.

Where does my liability as an employer end, and yours as an infection vector begin?

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Can employers make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory?

Yes, with some exceptions.

Experts say U.S. employers can require employees to take safety measures, including vaccination. That doesn't necessarily mean you would get fired if you refuse, but you might need to sign a waiver or agree to work under specific conditions to limit any risk you might pose to yourself or others.

"Employers generally have wide scope" to make rules for the workplace, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine policies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. "It's their business."

Rules will vary by country. But the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has allowed companies to mandate the flu and other vaccines, and has indicated they can require COVID-19 vaccines.

There are exceptions. For example, people can request exemptions for medical or religious reasons. Some states have proposed laws that restrict mandating the vaccines because of their "emergency use" status, but that may become less of an issue since Pfizer has applied for full approval and others are likely to follow.

How employers approach the issue will vary. Many might not want to require vaccination because of the administrative burden of tracking compliance and managing exemption requests, noted Michelle S. Strowhiro, an employment adviser and lawyer at McDermott Will & Emery. Legal claims could also arise.

As a result, many employers will likely strongly encourage vaccination without making it mandatory, Strowhiro said.

Walmart, for example, is offering a $75 bonus for employees who provide proof they were vaccinated.

So, it seems like we're charging headlong into a new round of labor vs management scrapes, and suddenly we're seeing something of a break in the stone wall contention that has always maintained that the noble entrepreneur has - and deserves to exercise - all but absolute power when it comes to deciding what does and what doesn't happen in and around his little patch of empire.

But as the Anti-Vax bullshit gets more astroturf boosts from fat cat culture war hobbyists, are the clear-eyed pragmatic authoritarians now saying the workers deserve to have more of a say in company policy?

Or maybe it's more like - "We'll throw them this populist bone and that'll help them get their minds right"

I doubt anyone notices for very long that we've got another hypocrisy problem here. Some clever schmuck will come up with a cool-sounding slogan to smooth it all over. But hey - for a brief and glorious moment, y'know?

It's Not The Irony, Stupid

It's something we don't get to know about - or maybe it really is just as plain as the warts on Joe Manchin's dick.

WaPo:

Opinion: What terrible things did Neera Tanden tweet? The truth.

Can you believe that Neera Tanden called Hillary Clinton the “anti-Christ” and the “real enemy”?

Oh, wait. It was Ryan Zinke who said those things. Fifty-one Republican senators (and several Democrats, including Joe Manchin III of West Virginia) confirmed him as secretary of the interior in 2017.

And how about the times Tanden allegedly called the NAACP a “pinko organization” that “hates white people” and used racial epithets?

My bad. That was Jeff Sessions. Again, 51 Republican senators (and one Democrat, Manchin) voted to confirm him as attorney general in 2017.

Surely Tanden went beyond the pale when she “liked” a tweet calling then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry a “traitor” and “Vietnam’s worst export,” and when she suggested Clinton supporters leave the country.

Except Mike Pompeo was the one who did those things. He won confirmation as secretary of state in 2018 with the votes of 50 Republicans and six Democrats, including Manchin.

But, really, the most appalling thing Tanden said was that Muslims have a “deficient theology” and they “stand condemned.”

Whoops. That wasn’t Tanden but Russell Vought. Just last year, 51 Republicans voted to confirm him as director of the Office of Management and Budget — the same position Tanden is up for now.

Now, all 50 Senate Republicans, assisted by Manchin, are on the cusp of sinking Tanden’s nomination because they object to her harsh tweets. Many have noted the hypocrisy, particularly when compared with the treatment of Richard Grenell, an online troll who won confirmation as ambassador to Germany with 50 Republican votes — and Manchin, natch — despite routinely disparaging women’s appearances.

But this isn’t just about double standards. What really must sting about Tanden’s tweets is not that they were mean, but that, for the most part, they were true.

In June 2019, she lashed out at then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for blocking bipartisan attempts to protect U.S. elections from foreign attack. “Can people on here please focus their ire on McConnell and the GOP senators who are Up This Cycle who enable him?” she asked in one deleted tweet.

Such pressure eventually forced McConnell to allow for more funds for election security.

Another deleted tweet charged: “Apparently a lot of people think #MoscowMitch is a threat.”

A lot of people did. I wrote that his determination to thwart bipartisan election protections made him a “Russian asset.”

After then-President Donald Trump called former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman a “crazed, lying lowlife” and a “dog,” Tanden’s now-deleted tweet said: “Trump just called a black woman a dog and about 80% of the GOP don’t think he’s racist. The whole party needs to be defeated in November.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

After Trump endorsed Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama and the Republican National Committee poured money into supporting Moore, accused by several women of sexually assaulting them as teenagers, Tanden’s now-deleted tweet responded: “The Republican party is gleefully supporting an alleged child molester. And everyone who gives money to the RNC is doing the same.”

Tough but fair.

She made a tactical mistake calling Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) “the worst” for taking Brett M. Kavanaugh’s word over his sexual-assault accuser’s, calling the theatrically dour Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) a “fraud” and saying Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancún) is as heartless as a “vampire.” (But if the shoe fits . . .)

Tanden, unlike most of the Trump nominees, apologized for her tone and promised that her words as a public official would be different. She explained that “the last several years have been very polarizing.”

I feel the same way. I wince at some of the caustic and ad hominem things I wrote during the Trump era. Trump made almost all of us angrier.

Trump abandoned norms of democracy and decency and stoked racial hatred and violence. But equally infuriating was that elected Republican officials did almost nothing to stop him. In the end, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the election results, even after the bloody insurrection in the Capitol, and 43 Senate Republicans just voted to acquit Trump.

We all want healing. We all want unity. But it won’t happen as long as the Party of Trump assigns Democrats sole responsibility for civility, while using President Biden’s admirable talk of unity as a cudgel. Collins moralized about Tanden representing “the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.” In other words, apology not accepted.

And it’s not just Tanden. Senate Republicans this week teed off on Biden’s interior secretary nominee, Deb Haaland, another woman of color, over her 2020 tweet saying that “Republicans don’t believe in science.” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who has cast doubt on the human role in climate change, called the tweet “concerning.”

No, senator. What’s “concerning” is that, after four years of excusing lies, racism, vulgarity, lawbreaking and self-dealing by the Trump administration, your idea of healing is to defeat Biden nominees for speaking the truth.

Breakin' It Down

Bryan Tyler Cohen

(Cult45 says) "...it's rigged because Trump couldn't participate, but when they offered him a chance to participate, he said no because it was rigged because he hadn't had a chance to participate."

It's The Hypocrisy, Stupid

Remembering

I can recall a time when Republicans kinda lost their shit over

• Federal Debt & Deficit
• Executive Orders
• POTUS playing golf
• Russian fuckery

That was way back in 2015. 

Seems like they're in love with all that shit now.

Take Me Back

...to the good ol' days when we had to think a little in order to make shit up - the good shit anyway. I would trade it all for the chance to send Cult45 back to the comic books.

Cuz speaking of shit we can just make up -

When Lex Luthor became president, he announced a policy of moving the government away from the use of fossil fuels, and then severed all ties between the government and his own companies.

Donald Trump lacks the foresight and the integrity of a fucking comic book villain.

'Bout That Time

Have a happy, with GOP Jesus:

Today's Editorial

The proper ladies of the Mormon Church wish to point out that their church-anointed senator done shit the bed.

From The Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday:

By Mormon Women for Ethical Government

Dear Senator Hatch,

As an organization of over 6,000 women, many of whom are your constituents, share your faith, and have worked closely with you and your staff, we are dismayed at your continued defense of things that are fundamentally indefensible. Knowing that you aspire to be a man of honor, we are puzzled by your frequent wresting of truth and logic as you excuse our current administration.

You defended President Trump when he retweeted anti-Muslim videos. You minimized evidence that Donald Trump Jr. had met with a representative of the Russian government about information that could influence the election, saying it wasn’t “relevant.” You defended the president’s endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate, Roy Moore. You defended President Trump again, even after initially denouncing his remarks that “both sides” were to blame in the deadly alt-right rally in Charlottesville last August, when in a later interview with KUTV you called the president a “good man” and placed the blame on his detractors and the media who “distort” what he says.

We do acknowledge and appreciate the few times that you have called the president out. We applaud your courage when, for example, you disagreed with his criticism of Germany earlier this summer and when he recently called former White House Staffer, Omarosa Manigault Newman a “dog.” But again on Wednesday, in an interview with The New York Times, you minimized the testimony by Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, given under oath, that he had been directed by President Trump to break the law. And then, using what can only be characterized as fuzzy and twisted logic, you attempted to justify Mr. Trump’s alleged deplorable and criminal behavior by saying: “I think most people in this country realize that Donald Trump comes from a different world. He comes from New York City, he comes from a slam-bang, difficult world. It is amazing he is as good as he is.”

What?

So we are to excuse Donald Trump — the president of the United States, the holder of the highest office in the land — from possible High Crimes and Misdemeanors because ... he is from New York City? And, therefore, presumably, just can’t help himself? That is an insult to all New Yorkers. (And we won’t even get into the fact that Trump hardly grew up in the slums and had one of the most privileged of all upbringings.)

The truth is, some of our finest are from New York City — including Lady Liberty herself (an immigrant, actually — from France — but a New Yorker now for 132 years) whose uplifted torch still stands as a beacon of hope and freedom and as a call to the world to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It’s a wholly preposterous argument that we should cut our president some slack because he’s from NYC, or anywhere else for that matter.

Would you have excused Bill Clinton’s misconduct in the White House because he was from Arkansas? (And we won’t take this occasion to explore the hypocrisy of excusing the behavior of an individual based on where he is from when that same individual is bent on incarcerating or banning from entry into our country people who come from far more treacherous and deadly places.)

Sen. Hatch, our common faith teaches us that truth matters, that decency, honor, integrity and virtue matter. One of the basic tenets of our religion states that “we believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.” As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we try in all we do to emulate our Savior. We all fall short, of course, but our heart’s purest desire is to follow Him, to act as He acted, to live by His teachings.

Christ, our gentle master, taught us to love one another, to care for the poor and despised among us, to tell the truth, to be meek, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be pure in heart, to be peacemakers, to reach out beyond socio-political divisions to embrace all our sisters and brothers, and to come unto Him. These are our most deeply-held beliefs and aspirations, and we know that they are yours, too. Please do not defend behavior that flouts these values. You can finish your long career as a servant of the people by standing strong for truth, honor, and decency. We ask you to do so.

Sincerely,

Mormon Women for Ethical Government

Sharlee Mullins Glenn, Diana Bate Hardy, Melissa Dalton-Bradford, Megan Seawright and Lisa Rampton Halverson are part of the leadership team of the nonpartisan, grassroots organization, Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Mormon Women for Ethical Government is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We do, however, honor and sustain the Church’s leaders and doctrines.

Some Dots For Connecting

Golf pro Lee Trevino said:

"If you're caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron."

Even when he says shit like that, Franklin Graham is never seen holding a 1-iron.

In light of that simple truth, there can be no god.

Decorum My Ass

John Pavlovitz - Stuff That Needs To Be Said

When they start bitching about your tone, you know your arguments are getting pretty close to top dead center.

This is the very height of irony: people who’ve spent eighteen months repeatedly glossing over or excusing or rationalizing away the most toxic, offensive, vulgar behavior and language—now greatly disturbed by a perceived lack of decorum.

It should be obvious, but to make sure we're good and clear on this: "Conservatives" have gotten all pissy because "Libruls" are being so Politically Incorrect.

This is how sideways it’s all gone here: that there are people apparently more concerned about the feelings of the bullies than about the very lives of those being bullied. I refuse to be one of those people.

If you’re waiting for me to apologize for emotionally wounding someone with the suggestion that they may not be all that keen on people of color, or that they’re likely afraid of gay people, or that their nationalism is showing because they defend what’s happening here—it’ll be a long wait.

I think the futures of dreamers and the welfare of sick people and the safety of LGBTQ teenagers and the stability of families of immigrants are worth the raising of my voice, and the forcefulness of my delivery, and the discomfort it causes anyone.

BTW: We all get to be mad all we want, but you're not justified in being mad at me just because I'm mad at you for something you've done; or for something you've failed to do.