Having gerrymandered their way into supermajorities in more than a few red states, Republicans are no longer accountable for anything they choose to do. Unless or until their old angry white voters die off and are replaced by more enlightened young people, they are safe and secure in their seats. But nothing lasts forever. And the backlash when it comes will be swift and severe.
I sincerely hope you're right Peter. The sooner the better! I'm an old angry white guy, myself and can't wait to get rid of all the old, middle aged, and even some young, men and women under the sway of the current GOP's witches brew of conspiracy theories and white supremacy. Their sanctimonious, self-proclaimed Christianity is an ill fitting garment on them, their real creed of money and power bleeds scarlet through every seam and pocket.
Parliamentary procedure and rules of decorum are intended to facilitate the transaction of the public's business. Parliamentary rules are procedural and not substantive, meaning they can be waived altogether by the body and are not typically subject to judicial review. Such rules are simply a way to maintain order, civility, and fairness at public meetings. Weaponizing such procedural rules to effectively disenfranchise voters is shocking and appalling. I am hoping legal challenges address whether procedural rules can, in fact, be used to wipe out substantive law? I am also concerned that duels such as the one in TN and now MT are being framed as between members of the legislative body. Certainly that is an important theme and the players embody the tension. But the larger story in my view is what happens to the public interest. For instance, in TN, six people were murdered, including three nine-year-old children. Upset members of the public marched to their legislative body--the body charged with protecting public health, safety, and welfare--to demand their elected officials do a better job. Instead of doing their job, the majority of that body stripped those very same people of representation, leaving them no First Amendment right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I find this frightening and I hope this question too is addressed in a legal challenge. I am grateful to the lawyers bringing these important challenges.
I remain baffled by the Republican war against the LGBTQ community. The hatred and discrimination are just unfathomable, and it's all so cruel and utterly pointless.
It’s politics 101: use fear of the “other” to distract and motivate your base. It takes skill to get people to vote against their own self interests, but the GQP has become masterful at leading their cult. This sickening period in American history will be studied for generations to come.
Excellent...what we need is many more lawsuits that not only address the crimes but also bring to light other background evidence as to illegal behavior such that a pattern develops that ripples through their ranks. Once that pattern is standardized...those in jeopardy will resign hoping to avoid the same fate. Leverage will win the day without lengthy court fights. Most all of these characters have one thing in common...their mindsets are of a similar dark kind and their secrets as too malicious behavior are many... of which can be a viable liability to their short and long term goals. They may not think so but their smarter advisors whom they listen to will reinforce the move to vacate their positions. Sunlight is the best...and can be the lever that pushes them out quickly. Latest example: the resignations of the latest Republican state legislators. The behavior of most all Republicans nowadays is mob like and abusive as that is the methodology that gets them to their positions and holds them there. Dig into the dirt and you will find a plethora of misdeeds and abuse to use as leverage to oust them without legal fees and wasted time.
Use their very nature against them...out of 500 or more illegal activities over their careers, 20% of those will provide the leverage for a quick solution.
I couldn’t agree more (which is why I’m so grateful for Judd’s gumshoe reporting on stories that scoop the legacy media). Investigative reporting, shining a light, bringing attention, will certainly raise the stakes for those trying to railroad policies and intimidate their opponents. Bullies can take your lunch money and push you out of the sandbox only so long. Once the kids on the playground see someone stand up to the bully, others will find their voice. Strength in numbers. The bully will turn and run being the coward he is. Zooey Zephyr may be an unlikely hero, but she certainly is standing up for more than just transgender rights. She is standing up for me. She is standing up for all of us.
Yes!!! They will sob and kick their heels at the "weaponization of the court system" no doubt but we need to have a proper witch-hunt, so we can burn the witches and warlocks that truly exist among us. They identify as "christian & conservative."
“We’ve seen the Republican Party move farther and farther not only into ideological extremism but also anti-democratic extremism,” Zephyr told The Nation, “and they are willing to forego the first principles of our country to achieve extreme ideological goals.”
To me, this one statement encapsulates all that went wrong with the now Constant Party of Criminals formerly known as republicans.
Germany 1938 again. This debacle shows how easy it is to do.
Republicans are casting any peaceful protests by Democrats and/or their constituents as insurrections. 1/6 was all about a peaceful protest you know. (sarcasm detector on full)
Since states are heavily gerrymandered, all the minority parties can do is protest, so expect more of this.
Democrats need to open up their anti-cult books and see if it is possible to do some deprogramming in rural areas as one way to end this. Democrats need to convince good people to rise up and end the hate even when those good people disagree with the Democratic platform. There can be no bystanders to hate.
The Republicans can act like bullies during Biden’s address but Zooey gets censured because of decorum. Omg! Greene calling Biden a liar during his address and this is acceptable. Sick!
Angela, MTG should not have been seated in the first place and her psycho comments make her an incompetent & danger to society. But there is a refusal to use the laws we have on these lunatics! She should gave been censured for that continued psycho babble.
They call us snowflakes, yet they are the ones. A trans representative speaks an inconvenient truth? SILENCE!!! The RW floozy drools her drivel? Let her SPEAK!!!
It's a topsey-turvy world that we need to put right before it all goes "south" if you will.
To the women who sat on the bench in Montana in order to make a statement with regard to Ms Zephyr: These women are all old enough to realize that what is natural can’t be controlled. And if they try to do so it will lead only to bitterness and frustration. Come on ladies, let people be themselves, even if you don’t understand it. Who does Ms Zephyr harm by being herself?
Exactly! She harms no one and it won't kill anyone to use a person's preferred pronouns. I mean, Mr Carlson or Mr Grassley or Mr Trump wouldn't appreciate being referred to as Mrs or Miss whomever would they? They would see that as someone being disrespectful to them and they would be correct in their assertion, just as Ms. Zephyr is correct in her's.
My cousin’s queer child is happy that I try and use the right pronouns, even if I mess up more often than not. Most non-binary folks can tell the difference between old guys like me, who try and fail, and people who misgender on purpose.
Exactly. I've had a few family members come out and I let them know I won't be rejecting them. If they say they wanna be called thus or so, that's what I call em. It's not that hard to remember when they ask you or tell you firmly but respectfully that they wish to be respected in the manner that they understand to be respectful.
That means I don't decide for them what they are to be called. They decide for me just as I have for others.
As a child I went by my middle name, but as man I go by my first.
And I'm assuming we all saw the pictures of the women who came to sit on the benches Rep. Zephyr had been using to CONDUCT STATE BUSINESS, forcing her to stand all day to work? People on Twitter compared them to the mobs of white women screaming at the Black students who dared to integrate college campuses. I hope they will b e named, but I doubt they will. be shamed.
I have seen them named and we will find today if they've been shamed. I love MT Twitter. At least some, if not all, are related to current legislators. I believe one of them is one of their moms. Talk about apples not falling far from the tree. I can't imagine my mom ever coming to my job to be a mean girl.
Came back to report that the BlueBenchBrigade (as they named themselves) parked their behinds on the public bench so Zooey is surrounded by kind and supportive people while in exile.
Thanks this P.I. article I now know that the Montana GOP representatives want to repeal Article II. Sections 2, 4, and 7 from their state constitution. Autocrats only want to hear themselves speak and vote.
May I add another thought for the women who sat on the bench in the Montana legislature? Here is an example of what I mean: You women are old enough to understand that as your bodies age you continue to feel no different inside, right? We’re still the same person we were when we were young, at least inwardly. So which is more the real me. My body or my mind, heart, soul? --the invisible part of who all of us really are. No matter who a transgender person seems to be on the outside, as a body, inside they know and experience who they authentically are, just as you or I do. They should be able to express that knowledge without being shamed, hated, ridiculed or murdered.
Sounds like logic that could be used to outlaw elective plastic surgery. Not comfortable in your own skin? The inside doesn't match the outside? Huh, imagine.
Why do people get elective plastic surgery? If I get a facelift, it's because the face I see in the mirror doesn't match the face I feel like, or want to feel like. If I get liposuction, it's because I don't feel comfortable in my own skin. There are a lot of ways we change ourselves to match what we feel like, and marketing companies and the beauty industry are happy to feed that need to change.
Some people have taken it upon themselves to want to outlaw specific people who don't feel comfortable in their own skin from making changes of their choice.
True. However society has, since the advent of language, and therefore thought, stressed that the body is an individual who is the foremost reality of their identity.
I believe a trans-person would be more adept at describing their inner landscape than some ignorant neanderthal such as our RW reps appear to be. The RW'z have a passing relationship with the truth every day, whereas a trans-person truly has to live their truth all day, everyday.
That’s partly because the RW’z reality lives within their thoughts and judgements. They notice how the ‘others’ are different. Black and white thinking.
The left, generally speaking, lives more in the experience of being, and being alive. They notice how we’re all the same. They’re nuanced.
I am encouraged when people use our legal rights to fight back. We all have agency and we all have our rights at stake. Thank you, Judd for following this story. Courage and success to Zooey Zephyr.
Make NO mistake. WE ARE ALL UNDER ATTACK. And it won't stop until we rise up against them. Lawyers, moms, 5th Graders, Blacks, Asians, Transgender, Women, Gays, Readers, Writers, Thinkers, Farmers, Makers, Artists, and the list goes on.... THEY MUST BE STOPPED!
--------------
"What is even happening here? Well, this is just how fascism begins. Nazism, the kind that spread across the Islamic world, the kind rising in India, and on and on. People who aren’t part of the mission to spread the bloodline of the genetically pure and true of faith? They become enemies of the people. Their existence quickly becomes illegal, erased, cracked down on. Attacks on women? Kids? The LGBTQ? Don’t kid yourself. It’s one of the loudest warning signs there is that you’re dealing with genuine fascism, because, honestly, who else even cares? That some kid wants to be called a certain name, or wear a dress, or read a book? That a gay couple’s walking down the street hand-in-hand, perfectly peacefully, but hey, that’s somehow an existential threat to the purity of the rest of us?"
I’m hoping there are some top notch law firms that are willing to roll up their sleeves on these critical touch points for democracy.
Having gerrymandered their way into supermajorities in more than a few red states, Republicans are no longer accountable for anything they choose to do. Unless or until their old angry white voters die off and are replaced by more enlightened young people, they are safe and secure in their seats. But nothing lasts forever. And the backlash when it comes will be swift and severe.
I sincerely hope you're right Peter. The sooner the better! I'm an old angry white guy, myself and can't wait to get rid of all the old, middle aged, and even some young, men and women under the sway of the current GOP's witches brew of conspiracy theories and white supremacy. Their sanctimonious, self-proclaimed Christianity is an ill fitting garment on them, their real creed of money and power bleeds scarlet through every seam and pocket.
Parliamentary procedure and rules of decorum are intended to facilitate the transaction of the public's business. Parliamentary rules are procedural and not substantive, meaning they can be waived altogether by the body and are not typically subject to judicial review. Such rules are simply a way to maintain order, civility, and fairness at public meetings. Weaponizing such procedural rules to effectively disenfranchise voters is shocking and appalling. I am hoping legal challenges address whether procedural rules can, in fact, be used to wipe out substantive law? I am also concerned that duels such as the one in TN and now MT are being framed as between members of the legislative body. Certainly that is an important theme and the players embody the tension. But the larger story in my view is what happens to the public interest. For instance, in TN, six people were murdered, including three nine-year-old children. Upset members of the public marched to their legislative body--the body charged with protecting public health, safety, and welfare--to demand their elected officials do a better job. Instead of doing their job, the majority of that body stripped those very same people of representation, leaving them no First Amendment right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I find this frightening and I hope this question too is addressed in a legal challenge. I am grateful to the lawyers bringing these important challenges.
Thank GOD you are on this and thank you all for shining light on yet another woman silenced
Agreed, Sarah…but as for the God part, let’s leave her out of this, shall we?
When I say God, I just mean powers unexplained. Hoping she doesn't mind but ok no problem! 😊
I remain baffled by the Republican war against the LGBTQ community. The hatred and discrimination are just unfathomable, and it's all so cruel and utterly pointless.
It’s politics 101: use fear of the “other” to distract and motivate your base. It takes skill to get people to vote against their own self interests, but the GQP has become masterful at leading their cult. This sickening period in American history will be studied for generations to come.
It’s not masterful to throw red meat to animals…
Point taken.
It has a point. The cruelty. Their base loves it when they bully the weak and apparently helpless. Makes em feel powerful, strong and virile.
I can't disagree. It is vile, despicable and just plain evil.
It's the fascist playbook; start with the smallest and most vulnerable and work your way up until a significant amount fear for their lives.
The scary thing is that none of these Repug leaders can probably even spell “fascist.”
That's how Adolph H started.
It plays well to the rubes. And the rubes have been told to fear and hate anything or anyone that isn’t just like them.
Excellent...what we need is many more lawsuits that not only address the crimes but also bring to light other background evidence as to illegal behavior such that a pattern develops that ripples through their ranks. Once that pattern is standardized...those in jeopardy will resign hoping to avoid the same fate. Leverage will win the day without lengthy court fights. Most all of these characters have one thing in common...their mindsets are of a similar dark kind and their secrets as too malicious behavior are many... of which can be a viable liability to their short and long term goals. They may not think so but their smarter advisors whom they listen to will reinforce the move to vacate their positions. Sunlight is the best...and can be the lever that pushes them out quickly. Latest example: the resignations of the latest Republican state legislators. The behavior of most all Republicans nowadays is mob like and abusive as that is the methodology that gets them to their positions and holds them there. Dig into the dirt and you will find a plethora of misdeeds and abuse to use as leverage to oust them without legal fees and wasted time.
Use their very nature against them...out of 500 or more illegal activities over their careers, 20% of those will provide the leverage for a quick solution.
I couldn’t agree more (which is why I’m so grateful for Judd’s gumshoe reporting on stories that scoop the legacy media). Investigative reporting, shining a light, bringing attention, will certainly raise the stakes for those trying to railroad policies and intimidate their opponents. Bullies can take your lunch money and push you out of the sandbox only so long. Once the kids on the playground see someone stand up to the bully, others will find their voice. Strength in numbers. The bully will turn and run being the coward he is. Zooey Zephyr may be an unlikely hero, but she certainly is standing up for more than just transgender rights. She is standing up for me. She is standing up for all of us.
Yes!!! They will sob and kick their heels at the "weaponization of the court system" no doubt but we need to have a proper witch-hunt, so we can burn the witches and warlocks that truly exist among us. They identify as "christian & conservative."
I say this in jest, sort of.
“We’ve seen the Republican Party move farther and farther not only into ideological extremism but also anti-democratic extremism,” Zephyr told The Nation, “and they are willing to forego the first principles of our country to achieve extreme ideological goals.”
To me, this one statement encapsulates all that went wrong with the now Constant Party of Criminals formerly known as republicans.
Germany 1938 again. This debacle shows how easy it is to do.
Republicans are casting any peaceful protests by Democrats and/or their constituents as insurrections. 1/6 was all about a peaceful protest you know. (sarcasm detector on full)
Since states are heavily gerrymandered, all the minority parties can do is protest, so expect more of this.
Democrats need to open up their anti-cult books and see if it is possible to do some deprogramming in rural areas as one way to end this. Democrats need to convince good people to rise up and end the hate even when those good people disagree with the Democratic platform. There can be no bystanders to hate.
The Republicans can act like bullies during Biden’s address but Zooey gets censured because of decorum. Omg! Greene calling Biden a liar during his address and this is acceptable. Sick!
Angela, MTG should not have been seated in the first place and her psycho comments make her an incompetent & danger to society. But there is a refusal to use the laws we have on these lunatics! She should gave been censured for that continued psycho babble.
They call us snowflakes, yet they are the ones. A trans representative speaks an inconvenient truth? SILENCE!!! The RW floozy drools her drivel? Let her SPEAK!!!
It's a topsey-turvy world that we need to put right before it all goes "south" if you will.
Agree
Or saying that Biden is a pedophile on 60 minutes !! Disgusting woman !
To the women who sat on the bench in Montana in order to make a statement with regard to Ms Zephyr: These women are all old enough to realize that what is natural can’t be controlled. And if they try to do so it will lead only to bitterness and frustration. Come on ladies, let people be themselves, even if you don’t understand it. Who does Ms Zephyr harm by being herself?
Exactly! She harms no one and it won't kill anyone to use a person's preferred pronouns. I mean, Mr Carlson or Mr Grassley or Mr Trump wouldn't appreciate being referred to as Mrs or Miss whomever would they? They would see that as someone being disrespectful to them and they would be correct in their assertion, just as Ms. Zephyr is correct in her's.
Please be easy on us. The use of Correct pronouns is going to take awhile unless they tattoo their pronouns to their foreheads I’m afraid.
My cousin’s queer child is happy that I try and use the right pronouns, even if I mess up more often than not. Most non-binary folks can tell the difference between old guys like me, who try and fail, and people who misgender on purpose.
Exactly. I've had a few family members come out and I let them know I won't be rejecting them. If they say they wanna be called thus or so, that's what I call em. It's not that hard to remember when they ask you or tell you firmly but respectfully that they wish to be respected in the manner that they understand to be respectful.
That means I don't decide for them what they are to be called. They decide for me just as I have for others.
As a child I went by my middle name, but as man I go by my first.
Clearly, mean girls never grow out of it. It is a disgusting display. I am waiting to see if they return today.
And I'm assuming we all saw the pictures of the women who came to sit on the benches Rep. Zephyr had been using to CONDUCT STATE BUSINESS, forcing her to stand all day to work? People on Twitter compared them to the mobs of white women screaming at the Black students who dared to integrate college campuses. I hope they will b e named, but I doubt they will. be shamed.
I have seen them named and we will find today if they've been shamed. I love MT Twitter. At least some, if not all, are related to current legislators. I believe one of them is one of their moms. Talk about apples not falling far from the tree. I can't imagine my mom ever coming to my job to be a mean girl.
Came back to report that the BlueBenchBrigade (as they named themselves) parked their behinds on the public bench so Zooey is surrounded by kind and supportive people while in exile.
Thanks this P.I. article I now know that the Montana GOP representatives want to repeal Article II. Sections 2, 4, and 7 from their state constitution. Autocrats only want to hear themselves speak and vote.
May I add another thought for the women who sat on the bench in the Montana legislature? Here is an example of what I mean: You women are old enough to understand that as your bodies age you continue to feel no different inside, right? We’re still the same person we were when we were young, at least inwardly. So which is more the real me. My body or my mind, heart, soul? --the invisible part of who all of us really are. No matter who a transgender person seems to be on the outside, as a body, inside they know and experience who they authentically are, just as you or I do. They should be able to express that knowledge without being shamed, hated, ridiculed or murdered.
Sounds like logic that could be used to outlaw elective plastic surgery. Not comfortable in your own skin? The inside doesn't match the outside? Huh, imagine.
I don’t get what you mean.
Why do people get elective plastic surgery? If I get a facelift, it's because the face I see in the mirror doesn't match the face I feel like, or want to feel like. If I get liposuction, it's because I don't feel comfortable in my own skin. There are a lot of ways we change ourselves to match what we feel like, and marketing companies and the beauty industry are happy to feed that need to change.
Some people have taken it upon themselves to want to outlaw specific people who don't feel comfortable in their own skin from making changes of their choice.
Yes.
An individual's perceptions constitute 100% of their reality.
True. However society has, since the advent of language, and therefore thought, stressed that the body is an individual who is the foremost reality of their identity.
But that doesn’t make it true.
I believe a trans-person would be more adept at describing their inner landscape than some ignorant neanderthal such as our RW reps appear to be. The RW'z have a passing relationship with the truth every day, whereas a trans-person truly has to live their truth all day, everyday.
At least in my opinion.
That’s partly because the RW’z reality lives within their thoughts and judgements. They notice how the ‘others’ are different. Black and white thinking.
The left, generally speaking, lives more in the experience of being, and being alive. They notice how we’re all the same. They’re nuanced.
I am encouraged when people use our legal rights to fight back. We all have agency and we all have our rights at stake. Thank you, Judd for following this story. Courage and success to Zooey Zephyr.
And here I thought the Republican cult was against Cancel Culture?
Remember the cardinal republican rule. Constraints for thee, not for me!
Make NO mistake. WE ARE ALL UNDER ATTACK. And it won't stop until we rise up against them. Lawyers, moms, 5th Graders, Blacks, Asians, Transgender, Women, Gays, Readers, Writers, Thinkers, Farmers, Makers, Artists, and the list goes on.... THEY MUST BE STOPPED!
--------------
"What is even happening here? Well, this is just how fascism begins. Nazism, the kind that spread across the Islamic world, the kind rising in India, and on and on. People who aren’t part of the mission to spread the bloodline of the genetically pure and true of faith? They become enemies of the people. Their existence quickly becomes illegal, erased, cracked down on. Attacks on women? Kids? The LGBTQ? Don’t kid yourself. It’s one of the loudest warning signs there is that you’re dealing with genuine fascism, because, honestly, who else even cares? That some kid wants to be called a certain name, or wear a dress, or read a book? That a gay couple’s walking down the street hand-in-hand, perfectly peacefully, but hey, that’s somehow an existential threat to the purity of the rest of us?"
https://eand.co/meet-americas-newest-red-state-britain-1a5e39852b1d