The Latest On Putin’s War. More like Putin’s obsession. Looks like the only way it ends is if someone in Russia takes out Putin. If you want your propaganda with a positive spin, Kos is here to help. Based on his praising the inevitability of Hillary Clinton, I’d take his words with more than a grain of salt.
Florida And Texas Are Now Clearly Anti-Democratic. Not (just) the Party, the notion of democracy. Florida Creates Its Own Election ‘Police Force. Texas‘s New Voting Laws Result In Scores Of Uncounted Ballots. If you’re looking for help from the Supreme Court…
Florida (And Its Ilk) Explained. Sorta.
The red-state drive to roll back civil rights is entering a new phase, perhaps best symbolized by Florida’s passage this week of the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill censoring how schools discuss sexual orientation. President Joe Biden’s administration is leaning more heavily into the fight, even as business leaders are retreating from the battlefield…
In multiple states, prominent companies that regularly tout their commitment to diversity and inclusion have largely stood aside as GOP-controlled legislatures and governors have approved laws that restrict voting access, curtail abortion rights and LGBTQ freedoms, and limit how teachers can discuss race, gender, and sexual orientation in public schools. The refusal of the Walt Disney Company, one of Florida’s most powerful employers, to publicly criticize Florida’s “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill as it moved through the legislature has quickly come to symbolize a retreat from the loud public opposition that many companies expressed to earlier state initiatives restricting civil liberties, such as the “bathroom bill” North Carolina Republicans approved in 2016.
Since 2021, Republican-controlled states such as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana have advanced a torrent of socially conservative legislation. This includes laws limiting access to abortion, restricting voting rights, banning transgender girls from participating in high-school or college sports, barring transition medical treatment for transgender minors, censoring how teachers can talk about current or historical racial and gender inequities, removing licensing requirements to publicly carry firearms, increasing penalties for public protesters, and immunizing drivers who hit and injure protesters.
(T)he red states are enshrining the social priorities of a GOP coalition centered mostly on the experiences and preferences of older white Christian and nonurban voters over those of more demographically and culturally diverse younger generations.
IMO, you really should subscribe to The Atlantic. You’ll learn stuff, stuff you can use.
Yep. Census Undercounted Minorities, Overcounted White Guys. Yep. Democracy’s on the rocks.
Rep. Michael Smith Is A Lying Sack O’ Excrement. Only the Delaware State News provides the full story:
HB 305 needed 25 votes to meet the three-fifths majority required to pass. But with the loss of Rep. Michael Smith, R-Pike Creek, who claimed he was going to vote in favor, and three Democratic caucus members, the bill fell short.
Rep. Smith introduced three amendments Tuesday, which were all defeated.
“I came here today to vote for the legalization of marijuana,” Rep. Smith said.
“I told (Rep. Osienski) that … I told my own caucus that. And I went to roll call on those amendments just to prove that you guys do not care about bipartisanship and this state needs to change. And I hope people will remember this moment because you killed the legalization of marijuana.”
Rep. Osienski said he was blindsided by the amendments introduced by Rep. Smith, who allegedly promised a “yes” vote on the bill, but abstained from voting after three of the four amendments he introduced were defeated.
“I think his comments were disingenuous,” Rep. Osienski said. “I’ve been working with the Republicans on all versions of this bill. I have always kept them involved in a conversation and I knew which ones we’re considering and who were my best possibilities to get. So I focused on that and I thought I was doing very well with Rep. Smith. But I was not expecting him to come down here today and hand me four amendments. This was the first time I saw his amendments and that upset some of my caucus members.”
Smith rats himself out here. Claims he was gonna vote yes. Then says he introduced the amendments ‘just to prove that you guys do not care about bipartisanship’, then withheld his vote. He deserves to be defeated. Speaking of rats who deserve to be defeated, the absolutely horrible Stephanie Bolden was the only member of the House Black Caucus to not support the bill. Gee, I wonder which one of her peeps told her to do that. She voted against regulating usurious payday lenders b/c ‘one of my peeps said it was bad’, she opposed releasing the renters’ protection bill out of committee b/c ‘one of my peeps said it was bad’, what’s her fucking excuse this time? With Bolden and Smith, the bill passes. Primary her, challenge him.
What do you want to talk about?