Authoritarianism Can Happen Here – Look At Florida And Texas For Proof

Two states are leading the way to authoritarianism and what that would mean for our country. Those states are Florida and Texas. In both states, heavily controlled by Republicans, liberties and freedoms are being stripped away in the name of “liberty” and white supremacy. That is a simple fact.

Florida has led the charge to authoritarianism since the Ayatollah DeSantis took power and the state was gerrymandered to ensure a Republican legislature. We have seen them pass the “don’t say gay” bill. We have watched them lead the fight to ban and burn books. We watched them attack a private company simply because that company spoke out against the “don’t say gay bill”.

We must also take into account the troubles for the current head of the GOP in Florida. We learned that he is being investigated for rape. But the story doesn’t end there. It has also been revealed that the woman he is accused of raping is a “friend” of the man and his wife. It was also revealed that this head of the GOP and his wife had a “three way sex session” with this woman a year before the rape allegation was made. Even his wife has said that was true.

Now, I don’t give a shit about their sex lives. Except there is a big “but” to that statement. The man’s wife is the founder of the group “Moms for Liberty” and they are supposedly solid “Christians”. They claim to be “protecting” children by banning books. I wonder if they want to ban books that include three way sex scenes as well since they seem to like that. Additionally, the leader of Moms for Liberty in Philadelphia is also a known and registered sex offender.

So much for “protecting children” from those nasty LGBTQ books they are so afraid children might be reading. And, the story gets better. The Attorney General of Florida said that the Sunshine State’s public schools, including its libraries, do not exist to promote the free exchange of ideas, but rather, to “convey the government’s message.”

Now we know exactly why the Ayatollah has declared that teaching “Black History” has no educational value. He doesn’t believe that teaching real history is in the “best interest of the state’s message”. That message is straight out of the authoritarian’s playbook. The only things children need to know is what the state wants them to know even if it is wrong. As long as it goes along with the state’s views, then that is what is taught.

Ken Paulson, the director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University told the Tallahassee Democrat: “There’s considerable irony in that those who seek to limit access to books in school libraries often say they’re fighting for parental rights. If government speech determines what books can be in the library, the government is essentially saying your children can only see the ideas that the government has approved. That’s not parental rights.”

Then we have the other authoritarian state of Texas. On Saturday, leaders of the Republican Party of Texas voted down a resolution barring members from associating with anyone “known to espouse or tolerate antisemitism, pro-Nazi sympathies or Holocaust denial.”  For most reasonable people with any morals that would not be so controversial. But, this is Texas and we know they have no morals in the Republican party there.

This entire situation started in October when it was revealed that Jonathan Stickland, a former state representative and current leader of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, held a 7-hour meeting with some of the most repugnant people in American society, including Nick Fuentes, a loudmouthed Hitler apologist who has called for “holy war” on Jews and declared, “all I want is revenge against my enemies and a total Aryan victory.” 

Surprisingly, Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan declared that this was no “casual misstep” but a sign “of the moral, political rot that has been festering in a certain segment of our party.”  That led to trouble for Phelan not the Nazi loving members of his party.

Dan Patrick, while claiming to oppose Fuentes, nonetheless saved his real anger for Phelan, calling on the speaker to resign after revealing this bold “no Nazis” stance. Other leaders, including Rinaldi head of the GOP in Texas, decided they would rather have a semantic debate of terms like “tolerate” and “antisemitism” than face the uncomfortable question of why one needs to take 7-hour meetings with a Holocaust denier. Besides that Republicans saw leftist plots in even being asked to ponder the question.

The Texas Tribune reported: “In at-times tense debate on Saturday, members argued that words like “tolerate” or “antisemitism” were too vague or subjective. The ban, some argued, was akin to “Marxist” and “leftist” tactics, and would create guilt by association that could be problematic for the party, its leaders and candidates”.

Why so much of an uproar for trying to distance themselves from Nazis? Well, many of the biggest financial supporters of Texas Republicans are also Nazis or authoritarians. These include figures like Faris Wilks and Harlan Crow who is proud of his Nazi collection.

If you are wondering, Farris Wilks has been recorded arguing for the destruction of “the secular religion of man” and instead calling for Americans to “submit to Elohim, who has the right to give us laws and commandments to follow since he is the one who created us.” He’s viciously homophobic, as well, claiming, “this lifestyle is a predatorial lifestyle in that they need your children and straight people having kids to fulfill their sexual habits.” He’s described modern society as “not a sexual revolution particular to our own enlightened age, but it’s a return to pre-Christian pagan sexual immorality or perversion,” and argued that “our country died that Tuesday night” that Barack Obama was elected president. 

We already know about Harlan Crow buying the loyalty of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It is people like these that give huge contributions to Texas Republicans including people like Sen. Ted Cruz. The reason the 32 Republican leaders voted against this measure is because a lot of the billionaires they look to for funding and support have some troubling views and intellectual fascinations of their own that might be challenging under the proposed bar on those who “espouse or tolerate antisemitism, pro-Nazi sympathies or Holocaust denial.”

We keep hearing Republicans nationwide complaining about how arguing for a ceasefire in the Israeli war against Hamas is somehow being antisemitic. Yet, the Texas Republican Party is clearly joined at the hip with antisemites and don’t want anyone to tell them that is a bad idea. Instead they take the money from these authoritarians and complain that words like “tolerate” and “antisemite” are “too vague” to be used in a measure like this one.

If you really want to know what America would look like under trump and his authoritarian ideas, just look at Florida and Texas. They are showing us what that would mean to the rest of us. It means no civil rights, no freedoms and no America as we know it. I believe it won’t be long before Florida school children are compelled to pledge allegiance to the Ayatollah DeSantis. If trump is elected, you can expect that pledge in every school across America to him.

This isn’t fantasy. This is open authoritarianism on full display for everyone to see. If you believe that “it can’t happen here” you are wrong. It is already happening in places like Florida and Texas. The American Authoritarians have taken complete control of the GOP. That is your choice next year. Democracy or Authoritarianism.

I will vote for democracy. I hope you will join me in this fight between right and wrong.

Proof Of How Dumb Republicans Want Our Children To Become

If you have ever wondered why Republicans have waged a war on education, you need look no further than Nancy Mace (R-SC). Mace tried to be cute and show her dissatisfaction over being criticized over her vote to oust the Speaker of the House. The problem is that she has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that she is as dumb as Republicans want your children to be.

Mace showed up to work on Tuesday wearing a white T shirt with a red letter A emblazoned on it. He reason was to fight back against the criticizism she received for her role in helping oust the Speaker of the House last week. She said: “I’m wearing the ‘scarlet letter’ after the week that I just had, last week, being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice.”

I guess she needed something to draw attention to her stupidity, so she chose this. The scarlet letter A stands for adultery not for being outspoken or having a voice. For others of her ilk, let me explain. The character in this 19th century novel was a single woman who got pregnant while having an affair. She was forced to wear the scarlet letter A to show she was an adulterous as punishment for her sins.

Now I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to make a statement about something, I just might want to read the book I am trying to use or at least read the Cliff Notes about it before making a complete asshole of myself. As one person commented, “this is why we don’t ban books”.

Author Kimberly Johnson had this to say on X formerly known as twitter: “Nancy Mace is a direct result of the Republican War on Education. Keep’em dumb and they’ll fall for our lies–even our own. The GOP way.”

THAT my friends is what Republican’s war on education is all about. The most dangerous thing for a fascist leaning political party is to have an educated electorate. If the voters are educated and capable of critical thinking, then the total lies and bullshit fascists shoot out at you are ignored and they lose elections.

But, if you can do whatever it takes to keep the public from being educated or “keeping them dumb” than the lies you tell have a chance to get through and you gain total control of the government and people’s lives.

If anyone was looking for a reason why Republicans have waged this war on education, all you need do is look at that picture above again, and read what she said and you have proof of the stupidity of the Republican Party and why they hate education so much.

As the saying goes, “stupid is what stupid does”. Mace proved that beyond a reasonable doubt. I wonder how many of her constituents are wondering if this was a mistake or is she trying to tell us something.

Dear Republicans – Diversity Is Not Harming Our Military, You Are

In the last few years, we have heard all about our military from Republicans and none of what we have heard is the truth. These soothsayers of falsehoods want you to believe that our military is going the “wrong way” and cannot stand up to those “toxic masculine” militaries from other countries.

We hear complaints about our military being “woke” and that is the reason that we are having trouble recruiting new members. We keep hearing from those who never served a single day in the military calling Gen Z “unpatriotic” for not “rushing to fill the ranks”. And, of course, they say it is all because of the military being “woke”.

Speaking as someone who gave 20 years to the U.S. Coast Guard, I can tell you all of that is just political bullshit intended to make you more afraid of everything instead of being proud of the men and women who serve to protect our nation.

From what I can tell, these right-wing crackpots keep talking about how the military is too involved in “diversity training”. Well, let me clear one thing up for you. Back in the 1980s, the military started this “diversity training”. When the military started to allow women to serve in all aspects of the jobs, things needed to be changed and the military was the first to recognize this.

The military, whether you are talking about the Coast Guard or any other branch, requires team work to get the job done. We need to rely on each other in times of crisis and not hesitate in our duties to complete the task. This is necessary because one weak link in the ranks can cause total failure.

I was in the service when women were allowed to expand their duties including going to war or serving onboard ships of the Navy and Coast Guard. I can tell you that there was a huge outcry about women onboard ships. The main argument was that these ships would become basically floating brothels. Guess what, it never happened.

Because of all of this, we needed to look at how we did our business and how we managed all the new problems that might occur. In the old days we were told that “leaders are born, not made”. We found out that was also total bullshit. All of the branches of the military started what they called “leadership and management” training. This training was not just for officers or non-commissioned officers. It was for everyone who was placed in position of authority.

In order to meld a diverse group of people into a working team, we needed to understand that everyone did not have the same motivation and we needed to make sure that no one felt left out or “picked on” because they were different. So, despite it not being called “diversity training” that was exactly what it was.

The military has been ahead of the civilian population on many subjects. They were the first to fully integrate with African Americans being made part of the military and not some subgroup attached to it. They were given full rights under the military system. That was years before the government passed the Civil Rights Act.

Our military is a unique institution. It encompasses every sector of our society. It is based on the idea that we can train anyone to do the job and do it extremely well. We know this belief is fact because we have the best trained and most powerful military on the planet.

The lame bullshit coming out of the mouths of Republicans across the nation is really getting old real quick. Assholes like Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz keep saying we need the military to be more “masculine” like Russia’s. Yet, Russia is actually losing a war against the smaller nation of Ukraine Russia invaded. I guess “masculinity” isn’t the answer to military force and might.

The Republican party always called itself the party in favor a a strong national defense and a strong military. Yet, they are the ones putting the military down and saying it is weaker than ever before. They are trying to use the military as political pawns to get power and rule over us, presumably using the same military they are now denigrating.

As for the recruiting problem right now, we have always had periods when recruitment went down. Maybe we are having trouble attracting people because of all the ads on TV showing war wounded and how they are struggling with their lives right now. And, how they must turn to private organizations for that help because our own government won’t lift a finger to help those of us who need that help. We gave it all for our country, and the Republicans keep cutting the budgets for the VA and basically throw us on the trash heap to forget about us.

The military has its problems with many issues. Rape still takes place way too often, be honest one rape is too often. But, the military does recognize problems. Yes, it is often slow to react and put in place real changes to overcome these problems, but they are often way ahead of the civilian world in making those changes.

The fact of the matter is when you go into war, or into a life threatening rescue operation, you need to rely on the person next to you. You don’t give a shit if that person is a man or a woman or gay or transgender. All you want is to know they will do their job. And, they do their job. That is why our military is so powerful and so good.

When conservatives start throwing around the word “woke” I am not totally sure what they really mean. From their reactions and following words, I have come to the conclusion that “woke” means everybody is equal and should be treated fairly and with respect. Well, if that is what “woke” is, then I am woke and very proud of it.

The military has led our nation in all sorts of equality issues. If our diverse military is “woke”, then you can bet the rest of the nation will follow suit. Sorry Republicans, but our “woke” military is made up of the best people our nation has to offer. They are willing to risk it all for the safety of our nation and our democracy.

They are the best military in the world, and show no signs of weakening but rather getting stronger. But, the military knows the real definition of teamwork and they will do what they need to ensure that teamwork among the ranks. Military leaders are not perfect and are often slow to react. But, they eventually come around.

Too bad Republicans won’t take a lesson on teamwork from our brave men and women. If they did, they might even be willing to govern our great nation not constantly bitch about their so-called “victimhood” or blindly follow a man who says military members are “suckers and losers”.

Did The State Of Florida Just Formally Endorse Slavery?

The State of Florida has become the state where civil rights go to die. This has been true for a number of years now. Florida has the biggest population of neo-Nazi and white supremacists in the nation. They have attacked public education and has tried to make the idea of slavery as something that was mostly good for the slaves.

Now, they have formally said so. The Florida Board of non-Education has approved a new set of academic standards for K-12 schools on African American studies. And, to say the least it is jaw dropping.

In their firm desire to whitewash American history, especially when it comes to slavery in our nation, they have gone way too far and in my opinion have openly endorsed the concept of slavery.

According to these new standards, the children of Florida are supposed to be taught that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Personal benefit?

So, according to these new studies, it was okay to kidnap people from their homelands, ship them thousands of miles across the sea, sell them into slavery to do the work for their masters, and it was all okay because it turned out to be good for them because they “learned skills for their personal benefit”.

The standards guide says instruction will also include mention of “violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” It adds that students will be taught to “identify” famous Black people, but it fails to make it necessary for students to learn about each of their contributions, challenges and stories overall.

In other words, students will be taught to identify people, but not what they encountered or did to gain the “famous” status. They just don’t matter in the big scheme of things, so why bother to teach anything about them.

Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association said: “How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don’t have a full, honest picture of where we’ve come from. Gov. DeSantis is pursuing a political agenda guaranteed to set good people against one another, and in the process he’s cheating our kids. They deserve the full truth of American history, the good and the bad.”

What is happening in Florida is a travesty and something I never thought I would see in our country. The Ayatollah and his politburo are actively trying to erase our history in favor of their white supremacy agenda. They are trying to make it sound as if “slavery wasn’t all that bad” so why teach about it?

You can believe what you want about all of this. But, no matter how you try to whitewash the language, these new standards, at least to me, is a full throated endorsement of slavery. It wasn’t all that bad according to these clowns. They learned something that benefited them. That is all bullshit. They only learned things to serve their masters better.

This situation proves that if you try to use the correct words, you can make everything look good and not evil. It isn’t just about slavery either. We have seen it in courtrooms around the country when a woman says she was raped and then is accused of “causing” her own rape because she was drinking alcohol or dressed “provocatively”.

We have seen it with those stupid “stand your ground” laws where someone can shoot an unarmed person and claim “I was standing my ground” and get away with murder.

It matters what people say. And, we must not look at the words but at the meaning of those words. In this case, the words obviously say that slavery was okay and “beneficial” to the slaves.

Is it any wonder that systemic racism has never died in our country? Just more reasons why these Republican clowns need to be voted out of office next year up and down the ballot.

We keep hearing about the fascist tendencies of trump and the Ayatollah. But, they are not the real danger. The real danger in becoming a fascist nation is if their politburos continue to hold power in Congress, State and local office. They are the ones who will allow a fascist to take power. That is why they all must go.

This new “standard” for African American studies in Florida proves just how far the Republicans will go to change our history and divide us even more in the cause of power for themselves.

The Toxic GPO – Part Three

The next part we are going to talk about the book banning taking place in Republican controlled states. Florida and Texas are the leaders in this action, but they are not alone. The problem is they want us to believe that this book banning is all about “parental rights”. Except if you really look at what is happening, it is anything except “parental rights”.

One of the complaints I have had over the years is that when it comes to teaching our children to read, we fail miserably. What often happens is that we teach children to read words not actually to read. Reading includes comprehending what you have read. In our early learning years, the focus is more on words than it is on meaning. As a result, the bad consequences is that too many people who can “read” don’t understand exactly what they are reading.

We have had the understanding that the “great equalizer” in our nation is education. However, education isn’t just teaching what certain politicians want taught. It is teaching everything about our history, science, geography and many other topics. We live in a global world with a global economy. In order for our children to be prepared to work and survive in this global world, they need to have the tools to understand what is going on.

However, that also means they need to see all sides of every topic. They need to be informed in order to make decisions that will make their lives better in such a global economy. Banning books based on one person’s demand is not helping prepare our children for their future.

The biggest problem with these book bannings is that it takes only one person to object to a book to have it removed. And, it isn’t just school libraries that are under attack. It is also public libraries under attack as well. There are locations like in parts of Missouri that have banned books from public libraries. If the library decides to fight those bans, the local government threatens to remove all financing to the library as punishment.

In most states that have this book banning policy, they say there is a “review board” that will make the final determination on banning certain books. But, as it turns out, these “review boards” are not the final word on whether or not a book is banned or not.

In Florida, Penguin Random House is suing one school district over the banning of books. At least 10 books were banned from school libraries. According to the suit, the removals stem from objections from one language arts teacher in the county, and in each case the school board voted to remove the books over recommendations from a district review committee that deemed them educationally suitable.

There is the evidence. The review committees are mere window dressing to claim that a proper process is in place. However, as you can see in this case, the review committee deemed the books educationally suitable. But, the school board decided they should be banned anyway.

There is actually a website that compiles information on books they deem to be inappropriate based on ideology not actual content of the book. They cherry pick parts they prove that make the book ideologically inappropriate. In this lawsuit, the teacher who objected to the books admitted she had never heard of the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky but filed an objection form to the novel that contained specific excerpts and phrasing from the book ban website.

Here is a clear admission that this teacher never read the book yet her “objection” to it was upheld by the school board. How can that possibly be possible in a country that includes “freedom of speech” as part of its constitution? How is it that only one person can complain about something and thereby deny others the right to read a certain book?

That is the problem with these book banning laws. They make it possible for one person to say something is inappropriate and have it banned. Then again, if we look around the nation, we will discover that this process is clearly one way. Under these laws, anything that deals with race, racism, gender, or sexuality can be banned. (Note: From this point on, I am refusing to use the term sexual orientation anymore. That indicates that people “choose” if they are homosexual or transgender. That is not the case. As a result, I will only use the term sexuality to refer to the LGBTQ people.)

That is because those wishing to control our children’s minds are against anything to do with any of those topics. They want to keep our children from learning about all of the topics because it goes against the banners personal views.

Under these so-called “parental rights” laws that allow one person to get books banned, the rights of every other parent is being violated. The idea of “parental rights” are under attack in every Republican controlled state today. We see that when they pass book banning policies like these or when they pass anti-trans medical treatment for minors even if that minor’s parents agree to the treatment.

These laws are not about “parental rights”. They are about control. We have seen book banns and book burnings in other countries. However, those are countries that have been ruled by dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, the Ayatollah and other dictators around the globe. We have not seen such massive book bans in democracies until the Republicans have declared war on education.

If you look at these book banning laws closely, that is really what is happening. This laws are intended to stop educating our children in what they need to know to be successful in their lives. They are intended to whitewash everything the Republican Party doesn’t want you to believe in. They are intended to “indoctrinate” our children into one way of thinking that is by no means inclusive of others.

The most dangerous thing to dictators and those who wish to become dictators is an educated and informed populace. If dictators cannot control what is taught in schools, then their reign of terror won’t last long. Even Hitler acknowledged that you must “control the minds of children” in order to stay in power.

All of these book banning laws and anti-trans laws and so-called “parental rights” laws are mere window dressing to create a more divided nation. They are passed to create a generation that is not taught our real history and the things that were evil in our past so we don’t repeat them. Instead, they are on the march to repeat all of the evils we suffered growing up as a nation.

This all stems from the toxicity of the Republican Party to end our democracy and our way of life so they can take control and run our lives. In every dictatorship in history, books and education were the top of the hit list control. Today we see the same thing happening in our country thanks to the toxic GOP.

Coming Soon To A GOP State Near You

Just how ridiculous has the GOP actually become? Well, they have hung their hats on laws banning just about everything they don’t like. They claim they are “fighting against woke culture”. Only don’t ask them to define “woke culture” unless you want to get that deer in the headlights look. They can’t define it because it is a fantasy made up in their shallow brains.

This “ban everything we don’t like” mentality is having a direct effect on the lives of average Americans. It is hurting health care, it is hurting businesses and it is hurting our education system. This has gotten totally out of control and it is getting worse.

In Indiana, they just passed a law that will make it easier to ban books from school libraries. The bill would require school libraries to publicly post a list of books they offer and provide a complaints process for community members. Schools and librarians could also no longer argue, as a legal defense, that the texts in their libraries have “educational” value. The law would still allow them to argue the text has literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

Let’s look at that for a second. According to this law, you can only argue as a defense the books, literary, artistic, political or scientific value. You can NOT as a defense argue its educational value. In other words, if a book contains content that is not acceptable to some because of its perceived political content, it can be banned.

Of course that is intended to make sure that things like race, slavery, or anything else that white supremacists don’t like can be challenged and banned from schools. Forget about the educational value of actually teaching our children the true history of our nation complete with the good and the bad.

This also comes from a political party that is totally against science. They argue that science is not valid and that even vaccinations intended to protect people for deadly disease cannot be trusted because they don’t believe the scientific proof.

This law makes it easy to get books banned simply because someone doesn’t like the topic. It allows a very small minority to dictate just what your children are allowed to view and/or read. As one opponent of the bill said: “Do we really want some parents choosing books for what other kids are reading or not reading? I still think it’s a slippery slope.”

Indiana is not alone in this banning books craze. Just about every GOP controlled state has either passed or is considering laws to ban books based on nothing except they don’t like the topics. Florida and Texas are leading this charge to ban books and prohibit our children from learning real topics to help them prepare for the real world.

These states have implemented a fantasy world where only their views are allowed to be taught in our schools or read in books. They have come up with the fantasy world where their dictates are all that matter. That is a very dangerous way to educate our children, or should I say not educate our children.

One GOP lawmaker said this bill “protects schools”. Okay, but just what is it protecting schools from? Just what protection do schools need other than being able to do their jobs and educate our children without political interference based on political agendas?

Let’s be clear. There is no pornography in our school libraries. That simply doesn’t happen. The only “pornography” in school libraries is the “pornography” in the closed minds of ignorant people who refuse to acknowledge that the world has vast diversity. That diversity should be honored not placed in the closet.

The only “pornography” in our school libraries is the “pornography” in the closed minds of white supremacists who hate the idea that the issue of slavery is evil and should be taught as being just that. Or the “pornography” in the closed minds of those who don’t want their children to know they are decedents of immigrants. Or that those immigrants waged a genocidal war against native people living here before they immigrated.

The craze to ban books is exactly the same as the Nazi book banning and book burning in the 1930s. They decided what was “acceptable” for children to read and learn. Look at the two cases together, and you will find that this new book banning craze is so Nazi-like that it is frightening.

Sorry folks. But if you think that at some point in the near future you won’t see crazed radical right wingers burning books in a huge ceremony, you are crazy. It will happen if these laws are allowed to stand and our public schools remain under attack by the extreme right wing abetted by politicians in the GOP.

I predict that “book burning parties” will be coming to a GOP controlled state near you very soon. You cannot “rule” over an educated population. That is what this is really all about.

Republicans Just Can’t Seem To Keep From Lying To Us

As time goes by, we keep hearing Republicans making all kinds of accusations. They love talking about “religious freedom” when they think that their views are “censored” by states. On the other hand, they believe that “religious freedom” does not include anything they don’t agree with as an ideology.

There are lost of different types of actions they are pulling and ignoring when it comes to what is right and what is wrong. They use one argument to enforce their views, then turn around and try to use it to argue against what they don’t want to happen.

We are seeing several examples of this all around the country. In Tennessee, the GOP is trying to expel three Democrat members of the House because they “broke decorum”. The House was in session talking about guns. Several students from the state went to the chambers and protested wanting stricter gun control laws.

According to the report, three Democrats went into the well of the Chamber between speakers and joined in the students protesting in favor of gun restrictions. After a few seconds, the speaker put the House into recess. But, that isn’t good enough. Since the three broke “decorum” rules by speaking without “permission” the GOP has decided to expel them from office.

Now, in recent cases in the past few years, Tennessee Republican lawmakers were accused of sexual assault by staff members. None of them were expelled from office. None of them even faced any punitive action by the House. But, according to the GOP, speaking on the House floor without permission is reason to be expelled from office. According to the GOP, it is not a punishable offense to sexually assault staffers, but it is if you speak without permission. WOW!

In Florida, several people were arrested the other day, some Democrat members of the Legislature, while they were peacefully protesting a six week abortion ban working its way through the legislature. The arrest took place while they were sitting in a circle outside the state capitol singing “Lean on Me”.

About 18 police officers descended from the Capitol and announced they were trespassing and arrested about 11 people. This trespassing charge comes because apparently in Florida, you are not allowed to be on the Capitol property after sunset. It was after sunset, so they were arrested. Just how trivial can you get?

In Arkansas, they are trying to recover from the tornado outbreak over the weekend. Now remember, the new Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaigned on the promise to keep “government overreach and socialist funding” from entering the state.

Typical garbage from a conservative. But, now, she has changed her tune. She not only wants FEMA to come the aid of her state, she expects them to pay 100 percent of the cleanup bill. Under normal circumstances, FEMA does help pay for cleanup up to about 75 percent in the first 30 days. That isn’t good enough for the hypocrite. She expects the “socialist government” to pay for all of it.

I fully expect that FEMA and the Federal Government will help Arkansans and other victims of this tornado outbreak. But, I do have a problem when someone claims that helping people is “socialist” but then not only wants but expects that “socialist” activity to bail out their own government from paying for things like tornado cleanup. Besides, her state already gets more taxpayer money back than they pay in taxes.

Then we have Montana. They are in the midst of a legal challenge brought on by Native Americans. The problem is that the state has a clause in their Constitution that public schools in the state are required to teach Native American history. Schools are given state money to teach and develop these courses and they are supposed to cooperate and work with Native Americans on creating the curriculum.

Except, not everyone is doing what the Constitution says. A Judge recently refused to throw out the case as requested by the State. Deputy Attorney General Thane Johnson, representing the defendants, which includes the Montana Office of Public Instruction and the Montana Board of Public Education, argued that not only is the constitutional clause — aside from funding — “aspirational,” but it’s not up to the state to enforce these content standards.

Hmmmm. The state thinks it can “enforce” anti-trans medical treatment. The state thinks it can “enforce” abortion bans. The state thinks is can “enforce” book banning. But, here they claim that they cannot “enforce” standards that are actually in their Constitution. In other words, they can pick and choose what they want to “enforce” and what they don’t have to “enforce”.

Lastly, we have a woman who is suing the state of Oregon over adoption. In Oregon anyone wishing to adopt a child must go through training including inclusive training. In that training, it is stated that the adopting parent must agree to support the child even in cases of gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.

This woman claims to be a “good Christian” and sent an email that she could not agree with that due to her religion. So, conservatives are all screaming “discrimination” because this woman was refused adoption based on her not following the rules because she is “Christian”. They claim that this restriction is “hurting children who need a permanent home”.

Okay. But, there are still states and organizations that refuse to allow same-sex couples from adopting children. The only reason is because these couples are homosexuals. Instead of allowing these adoptions, we hear that cannot happen because the people wanting to adopt the children are “different” and not heterosexual. The idea that refusing same-sex couples from adopting children is “hurting the children and denying them a permanent home” never seems to come up.

Everywhere Republicans hold control of state legislatures we are seeing more draconian laws being passed taking away rights from citizens based on really nothing but personal views. But, when the other side uses that same “logic” against them, then all of a sudden it is wrong and discriminatory.

It is very apparent that Republicans are not interested in “equal rights for all”. They are only interested in “equal rights as we dictate them to be”. They are very quick to “punish” Democrats for violating something as mundane as “decorum” but won’t punish Republicans for things like “sexual assault”.

They can hold numerous “congressional investigations” against a candidate for president, like they did against Hillary Clinton, but cry that criminal charges against one of theirs is “political” and “an attempt to interfere with an election” by investigating their candidate.

It has become clear that we can no longer trust Republicans. We can no longer believe that any of them are really interested in helping make our country even better than it is. They are only interested in power and are very quick to “punish” those who oppose them.

Openly lying to the American people has become part of their mantra. The Republican Party is bereft of integrity, honesty and morality. No wonder their “lust for power” is considered by them as the only path forward. Tell them NO. Vote their sorry asses out of office in 2024. Then we can save our freedoms and our democracy.

Culture War Is Just A Religious War Being Waged By Today’s Puritans

Across the nation, the right-wing is trying to whitewash history. They are banning books about anything that does not portray white people as the “greatest” race on earth. They are attacking LGBTQ community. They are trying to rewrite history and ban everything about slavery or the history of African Americans in our nation.

Many people think this is a new phenomenon. Unfortunately it is not. This has been going on for as long as people began immigrating here from Europe in the 17th century. The history we have been taught growing up is not necessarily the truth.

Rather than teaching the real history, we have mythologized our beginnings to a point where the first people coming here and our founding fathers are presented as saints. However, we also know that is not the truth. What we are seeing is another attempt to make our history flawless. That in itself is wrong and should never happen.

Let us begin with not the first immigrants, but the Puritans coming here. We were taught, and are still being taught that the Puritans came to America in order to avoid “religious persecution”. That is a blatant lie. The Puritans were not subject to religious persecution in England. Instead, they were the driving force behind religious persecution in England for anyone not part of their religion.

The real truth is that the Puritans came to America in order to establish a society where they could persecute anyone not part of their religion. The Puritans hated anyone who was not a Puritan. They wanted to “eradicate” all Catholics and all Jews. But, it didn’t end there.

One thing you were probably never taught in school is the religious persecution that the Puritans actually did. In 1660 there was a woman in Boston who was a Puritan. But, somewhere along the line, she became a Quaker. According to the law the Puritan’s enacted, it was illegal for her to live in the Massachusetts Bay colony.

She was tried and convicted of being a Quaker and therefore had no right to live in the colony. On June 1, 1660, she was hanged for her terrible crime of being a Quaker. She was not alone. At least four Quakers were hanged in Boston for violating the restrictive law that encouraged religious persecution for anyone not Puritan.

You may think that this Puritan action does not exist today. But, you would be wrong. We have had the misfortune of living under such Puritan concepts for all of our lives. We have had people, today calling themselves Evangelicals, who try to rule our lives based on their religious beliefs. If we dare to go against those beliefs, then we are punished by laws they manage to pass in state legislatures.

In a word, this is nothing less than religious persecution. According to the Evangelicals, who follow a strict Puritan ideology, only they have religious freedoms and only they have civil rights. They base this belief on the principle that they are the only true “god fearing” Christians and therefore everyone must follow their dictates.

It was this belief that allowed slavery to thrive in our nation. Slavery was based on the “superiority” of the white people over black people. Since Africans who were brought here as slaves were considered as “heathens”, it was perfectly okay for them to be owned and treated badly. This is the same principle that led to the Jim Crow laws that followed the Civil War and continued until the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

We were taught in school that the American Indian Wars was about stopping the slaughter of white people at the hands of the Native Americans whose lands whites were stealing. We were told about how “savage” these Native Americans treated white people crossing their lands. We were told how they refused to “accept Jesus as their savior” and therefore had to be dealt with.

What we were not told was that we were stealing their land and the American Indian War was actually a genocidal war intended to “eradicate” all Native People in order to “open up the west” for white settlers. According to the history we were taught, the white people were heroes and the Native Americans were the evil people dealing with the devil.

There are many, many other instances of this Puritan legacy polluting our history. And, as with everything else, the evil of this behavior has no bounds. Today, we are facing another attack on our true history by those who wish to attack different groups. In order to indoctrinate children to their way of thinking, they need to attack real history and continue with the whitewashing of history to fit their narrative.

The driving force behind this new attack on our history and people are the Evangelicals and the white supremacists. And, as we have seen in our real history, the two groups go hand–in-hand. The whole segregation movement in the South was based on “religious beliefs” that the two races should not “mingle”. If they did, it was called a “Mongol” race. According to the Evangelical leaders at the time, that was a bad thing.

This segregation principle is still championed by many Evangelicals today. Plus, since there are federal laws to protect African American rights, they have moved to different targets. They have declared open war against the LGBTQ community and everyone who supports their rights. They have passed laws to stop this community to receive proper medical treatment.

We have seen a huge uptick in anti-Semitism in our country. We have seen a huge uptick in anti-immigrant sentiment. We have seen a huge anti-Muslim sentiment. We have seen a huge anti-woman sentiment as well.

And, not surprisingly, we are hearing the same sick twisted ideology that the Puritans used. We are hearing people actually calling for the “eradication” of the LGBTQ community. And yet, the so-called Evangelical Christians remain mum and refuse to condemn these comments and sentiments.

You may ask why? Well the answer is very simple. Evangelicalism is Puritanism in our time. The name has changed, but the ideology has not. Puritans wanted to “purify” their religion from everything that did not comply with their twisted viewpoints. Today, Evangelicals are doing the same thing.

According to Evangelicals, we all must live under their dictates and believe what they believe. If we don’t, we are attacked mercilessly. That in reality is what all the fuss about “wokeness” is. The Republicans have signed a deal with the devil and teamed up with the Evangelicals to win elections. Now, we are seeing just how evil that contract has become.

Civil rights are being rolled back at a terrifying rate in many states controlled by this evil contract. Those who are considered as those “others” have faced real violence from this evil. These politicians need to make sure that they control things, so they have attacked our education system in order to set up one that indoctrinates our children to their autocratic tendencies and their white supremacy views.

The real reason we teach history is to educate our children about our past, good and bad. The reason that is necessary is so the next generation does not make the same mistakes as our fathers and we have made. We teach history in order to learn from the mistakes of the past and move forward to a “more perfect union”. However, according to the principles of the evil marriage between Republicans and Evangelicals or Puritans, the purpose of history is to eradicate everything they don’t like from the lesson plans.

I have written several times that I believe that religion is the number one cause of bigotry and hate. Every religion has contingents that believe only they are right and everyone else is wrong. In the time of the first immigrants to our shores, the Puritans were the perfect example of that principle. They did NOT come here to avoid religious persecution. They came here to set up a society that encourage and practiced religious persecution against everyone not them.

The fact is, the current so-called “culture wars” is simply a rebirth of this form of bigotry and hatred. And, just like the Puritans of old, the purveyors of this hate have wrapped themselves in religion in order to justify their hate.

We really don’t have a “culture war” going on in our country. We have a religious war going on and it is the today’s Puritans, the Evangelicals and their Republican partners that are waging it. If they win, all civil rights will be stripped away and those not in their camp will suffer the consequences.

When someone complains about “wokeness” they are really telling you they want to follow the Puritan example and “eradicate” everyone and everything not part of their belief system.

This is how autocracy can take hold in any country.

Florida – Where Stalinism Goes To Thrive

Well, the Florida Politburo is at it again. They have passed laws that restrict abortion rights, voting rights, education rights, censorship in libraries and public schools, diversity education at state universities, the LGBTQ community and attacked Disney. Now they have decided to go after bloggers who say anything bad about their beloved leader the Ayatollah DeSantis.

Back in 2014, in the authoritarian state of Russia, Vladimir Putin signed a law that required all bloggers to “register with the state”. This was an intimidation move in order to stop anyone from freely writing anything against their dear leader.

Today, a Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that, if passed, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state. Sen. Jason Brodeur’s bill, titled “Information Dissemination,” would also require bloggers to disclose who’s paying them for their posts about certain elected officials and how much.

According to the law, news agencies and papers would be exempted. This law is targeting independent journalists and simple people who run a blog to register with the state if they write about anyone in the government. The law defines “elected state officer” as “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature.”

If a blogger fails to comply with this law, if it passes, they could face thousands of dollars in fines. And, what is to say that if someone who writes an article about one of these elected officials isn’t “paid” by anyone, they still won’t face intimidation and fines because as the law states “could be paid”. That opens the door for anyone to declare that someone “might get paid in the future” so they must register now.

Also, by forcing bloggers to “register” with a state agency, they are opening the door to track what everyone is saying about their dear Ayatollah or other Republican elected official. And, if they are allowed to track who is saying what, they can and probably will use state power to shut them down or force other penalties on the writer. Just ask Disney about punishment for voicing opposition to the Ayotallah.

Due to radical gerrymandering in Florida, it has mostly become a one party rule state government. That means whatever insane idea, like this registering of blogger law, has a great chance of passing and becoming law. And, with this overwhelming majority due to the radical gerrymandering, Republicans in the state have enjoyed their one party rule for quite a while now.

You may be sitting right now looking at your screen and saying to yourself “this can never pass and become law because it is simply too insane and unconstitutional.” And, in most cases you might be correct. However, looking across the nation and watching what Republicans are actually introducing and passing as laws of the state, that assumption of it being too crazy isn’t really accurate. Especially in a one party ruled state like Florida.

The reality of what is happening in Florida has more to do with Stalinism than it does with freedom. The easiest way to maintain power is to stifle opposition. The best way to stifle opposition is to “track” who is saying what about the leaders. In my opinion, that is what this law is all about. It is an attempt to track anyone who dares to disagree with the Ayatollah and his politburo.

This is just another attempt to show the Republican disdain for freedom of the press and free speech. Remember, in Florida, there is an attempt to weaken the protections of the press against law suits by public figures. They are also attempting to weaken those standards in order to sue any newspaper or other media in the state if they say anything bad about them.

Besides, do not just brush aside the fact that if this bill becomes law, blogs in Florida will face more state regulations than assault rifles. There is a very old saying that “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Apparently, Republicans in Florida are terrifyingly worried about the written word and the truth than they worry about their citizens being slaughtered by assault rifles.

We can only hope that if this bill does become law, the many law suits against it will win. However, I won’t even go that far as many have because of the makeup of our current Supreme Court. The radical right-wing justices on the bench are most likely looking forward to this kind of bill so they can restrict free speech and define it as only “conservative” speech.

There is no doubt that the Ayatollah DeSantis who is most likely to run to become the Republican nominee for president is using Florida as a “test run” to establish an authoritarian government and to remove the rights granted under the Constitution to everyone.

The fact is that Florida has become the state “where Stalinism goes to thrive”. That is probably why he couldn’t answer a simple question of what he would do differently than Biden over Ukraine if he were president. After not answering the question and then pushed for an answer, all he said was “we need to move on, so ask another question”. That question even came from a Murdoch reporter from London. Still, he wouldn’t answer it.

Florida – America’s Autocratic Test Case

In the 1960’s China’s leader Mao began what he called his “cultural revolution”. Under this plan, he wanted to “purify” communism in his country. He decided that anyone who may have any capitalist tendencies must be destroyed.

His first target was education in his country. He encouraged students to “attack” teachers who he believed was not pure communist. He went after heads of Chinese companies who showed capitalist tendencies and many, many more citizens and politicians. The result of this “cultural revolution” was the imprisonment and/or death of millions of Chinese who were not “pure” enough for the dictator.

Today, we are seeing a similar attack on citizens and corporations in another country because they do not agree with the “dear leader’s” interpretation of just how to live and what can be taught. Only, this new “cultural revolution” isn’t happening in a foreign country. It is being held in the State of Florida.

We have known for years that the so-called MAGA Republicans are leaning more and more towards autocracy, and in Florida, the Ayatollah DeSantis is using his state as a trial balloon for that purpose.

In Florida, and many other Republican controlled states, we are seeing “cultural” attacks on all sorts of civil rights. These attacks are not intended to improve the lives of citizens, they are intended to see if Americans are willing to live in an autocracy where one person decides what is “best” for us.

DeSantis has led the charge in the autocratic tendency. He has passed things like the “don’t say gay” bill. He has stopped the AP African American studies course in his state. He has used his politburo to pass laws to punish any corporation in the state that does not follow blindly his agenda. He has decided that the legislature should pass a new law allowing politicians, namely Republican, to sue opponents if they don’t fall in line or say anything against them. He has even said that events held at the capital in Florida can only be held if they align with his agenda.

He has made autocracy the primary form of government in his state with him as the Ayatollah of the state with total power over every part of everyone’s lives. Only he can determine what can be taught in schools. Only he can determine which civil rights people have in his state. Only he can determine just how private corporations must behave “culturally”.

Other Republican controlled states have been watching what is going on in Florida and they are trying to mirror this dictatorship. Several have passed laws preventing medical treatment for transgender children regardless of what the parent’s believe. They have banned books that talk about slavery in our country as it really happened. They have banned books that talk about LGBTQ issues.

In Alaska, a Republican showed just how low Republicans can be. In a State Judicial hearing about child abuse, he said “it could be argued that cases of fatal child abuse could be a cost savings since the child won’t need related government services”. I will say, for once, Republicans decided that was going too far and censured him.

What is going on in Republican controlled states shows us exactly what Republicans think about our country and our constitution. They don’t believe in it at all and only want total control over our lives. According to them, as being shown in Florida, we must do as we are told by their leaders and have no rights if we differ.

Marjorie Traitor Greene even said that if you are a Democrat and move to a “red” state, you should not be allowed to vote for several years. She also said that we need a “national divorce” which can only be interpreted as another secession problem that leads to civil war.

We also see several MAGA Republicans in Congress who are actually rooting for Putin to win his war against Ukraine. They want Putin to win because they believe it would be a “blow to democratic forces”. They don’t want us to be a democracy and a Putin victory, they believe, would hurt “democratic forces” around the world, including right here at home.

We just found out that the former Attorney General for Arizona, a Republican, sat on a report that proved the “big lie” of the election being stolen in 2020 was just that, as lie. But, since it went against Republicans lying about the election, he hid the report so it wouldn’t hurt Republican chances in the midterms.

The Ayatollah Ron DeSantis has taken the lead in moving our nation towards autocracy. His state has fewer civil rights today than ever before. He has decided that he is the “almighty prophet” of autocracy and he is going to force his will on the people of Florida no matter what it costs.

The one single indication of a dictator is when that person does whatever they can to “punish” everyone who is “against” their policies. We are seeing that indication in Florida every day. I am afraid we are going to see more Republican Governors try to use his formula to set up their own little dictatorships.

If the people of Florida continue to roll over and allow their Ayatollah to force his dictatorship on them, then we may see a larger movement across the nation. We will see more and more Republicans try the same tactic. That would be extremely harmful to our states and our nation and especially our citizens.

As you can see, the so-called “culture wars” being waged by Republicans is a mirror image of Mao’s “cultural revolution”. As a result, just who are the “real communists” in our country today? Certainly not Democrats.