Tag: State Politics

Closing Thought–21Jan22

Do you feel guilty about anything?

Well in Florida (why is it always Florida) never fear you can be forbidden from making someone feel guilty.

A Florida bill pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to prohibit public schools and private businesses from making white people feel “discomfort” when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past received its first approval Tuesday. The Senate Education Committee backed the bill that takes aim at critical race theory—though it’s not mentioned explicitly—on party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed, the AP reports. Democrats argued the bill isn’t needed, would lead to frivolous lawsuits, and would amount to censorship in schools. They asked, without success, for real-life examples of teachers or businesses telling students or employees that they are racist because of their race.

“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is Black. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?” DeSantis held a news conference last month in which he called critical race theory “crap” and said he would seek legislation that would allow parents to sue schools and employees to sue employers if they were subject to such teachings.

Critical race theory is a way of thinking about US history through the lens of racism. The bill reads in part: “An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, does not bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.” Republican Sen. Manny Diaz, the bill’s sponsor, said it is not about ignoring the “dark” parts of American history, but rather ensuring that people are not blamed for sins of the past. The bill now heads to Senate debate, per ABC News.

Just another waste of time by a damn Repub….this does nothing to improve the society and move the state forward…..just another wedge issue to keep the slobbering Right in tow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Mississippi Secedes–1861

This is for all my Civil War history buffs.

My state of Mississippi officially secedes from the Union on 09 January 1861…..I offer up this resolution for their actions on that day….this is the official statement…..

A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union.

In the momentous step which our State has taken of dissolving its connection with the government of which we so long formed a part, it is but just that we should declare the prominent reasons which have induced our course.

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery– the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin. That we do not overstate the dangers to our institution, a reference to a few facts will sufficiently prove.

The hostility to this institution commenced before the adoption of the Constitution, and was manifested in the well-known Ordinance of 1787, in regard to the Northwestern Territory.

The feeling increased, until, in 1819-20, it deprived the South of more than half the vast territory acquired from France.

The same hostility dismembered Texas and seized upon all the territory acquired from Mexico.

It has grown until it denies the right of property in slaves, and refuses protection to that right on the high seas, in the Territories, and wherever the government of the United States had jurisdiction.

It refuses the admission of new slave States into the Union, and seeks to extinguish it by confining it within its present limits, denying the power of expansion.

It tramples the original equality of the South under foot.

It has nullified the Fugitive Slave Law in almost every free State in the Union, and has utterly broken the compact which our fathers pledged their faith to maintain.

It advocates negro equality, socially and politically, and promotes insurrection and incendiarism in our midst.

It has enlisted its press, its pulpit and its schools against us, until the whole popular mind of the North is excited and inflamed with prejudice.

It has made combinations and formed associations to carry out its schemes of emancipation in the States and wherever else slavery exists.

It seeks not to elevate or to support the slave, but to destroy his present condition without providing a better.

It has invaded a State, and invested with the honors of martyrdom the wretch whose purpose was to apply flames to our dwellings, and the weapons of destruction to our lives.

It has broken every compact into which it has entered for our security.

It has given indubitable evidence of its design to ruin our agriculture, to prostrate our industrial pursuits and to destroy our social system.

It knows no relenting or hesitation in its purposes; it stops not in its march of aggression, and leaves us no room to hope for cessation or for pause.

It has recently obtained control of the Government, by the prosecution of its unhallowed schemes, and destroyed the last expectation of living together in friendship and brotherhood.

Utter subjugation awaits us in the Union, if we should consent longer to remain in it. It is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. We must either submit to degradation, and to the loss of property worth four billions of money, or we must secede from the Union framed by our fathers, to secure this as well as every other species of property. For far less cause than this, our fathers separated from the Crown of England.

Our decision is made. We follow their footsteps. We embrace the alternative of separation; and for the reasons here stated, we resolve to maintain our rights with the full consciousness of the justice of our course, and the undoubting belief of our ability to maintain it.

That is word for word the declaration for the cessation of the state of Mississippi from the United States……now you tell me what the reason for this was…..it is clear to me no matter what they narrative has become….there was NO ‘Lost Cause’ it was preserve the institution of slavery…..

I offer this up because the schools in the South are failing to teach what lead to the Civil War that killed so many Americans.

In social studies standards for 45 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, discussion of Reconstruction is “partial” or “non-existent,” according to historians who reviewed how the period is discussed in K-12 social studies standards for public schools nationwide. In a report produced by the education nonprofit Zinn Education Project, the study’s authors say they are concerned that American children will grow up to be uninformed about a critical period of history that helps explain why full racial equality remains unfulfilled today.

https://time.com/6128421/teaching-reconstruction-study/

The history lesson is done….you may now return to your normal drudgery.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–02Nov21

Since 1980 there has been a rash of book banning by idiots in local government….and now Texas has pushed that lunacy to the limit……

On October 25, 2021, Texas State Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) sent a letter to school districts across the state, asking them to review a 16-page list of books that may contain some “objectionable content.” “Pursuant to Government Code Section 301.020(a)(4),” he wrote, “the Texas House Committee on General Investigating may initiate inquiries concerning any ‘matter the committee considers necessary for the information of the legislature or for the welfare and protection of state citizens.'”

In addition to his compiled list, Rep. Krause alsoasks the districts to identity any other books or content that may “address or contain” certain topics including:

human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

In other words, government authorities are coming after books with positive portrayals of racial, sexual, and gender diversity and/or disability. Same as it ever was. In this case, the attack is being framed with the vocabulary of the “anti-CRT” hysteria, feigning concern about students feeling “guilty” about the fact that other people throughout history may have unfairly suffered because of their race, gender, or ability.

here’s the full list.

Texas lawmakers considering a ban on 850 books. Here’s the full list.

This is a worthless endeavor.

Idiots on the Right just keeps finding ways to out stupid each other…..and Krause is doing his best to keep up.

My thought is…my mother never told me what I could read or not….som the government can kiss my ass….I will read what I damn well like.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–20Sep21

I live in Mississippi and the Covid thing is running rampant……and our governor, Tate Reeve, has done little to protect the people of the state he rules….

CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed the governor and handed the do-nothing politician his ass….

CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed the governor of Mississippi regarding the rate of Covid-19 infections and deaths in his state and what his administration was doing to address the most recent surge of the virus during an interview on State of the Union.

As the two talked on Sunday, Mr Tapper repeatedly questioned Mr Reeves about what specific measures beyond spreading messages of personal choice and responsibility the state of Mississippi was doing to protect its residents from the Delta variant of Covid-19, which is spreading rapidly in parts of the US, and in particular in communities where vaccination rates are low.

“If Mississippi were its own country, you would be second in the world only to Peru in terms of deaths per capita,” Mr Tapper told Mr Reeves, adding: “With all due respect, governor, your way is failing; are you going to try to change anything to change this horrible statistic from what you’re doing already?”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/cnn-s-jake-tapper-clashes-with-mississippi-governor-over-covid-rate-b1922996.html

I applaud Tapper for bring the governor to task.

Mississippi is still suffering and there is NO leadership from the governor or the legislature.

Mississippi will continue to suffer with such ineffectual leadership.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Needs Infrastructure?

There has been a wealth of back and forth debate on the amount of money needed for infrastructure……some even think it is not needed…..but maybe Mississippi could use a bit of that federal cash….

Two people were killed and 10 others hurt after heavy rain likely related to Hurricane Ida washed away part of a highway near the town of Lucedale, Miss., on Monday night. A hole about 50 feet long and 20 feet deep was created, and several vehicles went in, CNN reports. “I’ve never seen anything in my 23 years in law enforcement like this,” a trooper says. Three of those injured were in critical condition.

Ailing highways and bridges need repair or replacement….but it is more important to chase damn silly issues like abortion and prayer in school than to see to the safety of the residents as they go about their mundane lives.

To answer the original question….Mississippi that is who!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

F*ck Israel!

Closing thought–29Jul 21

AS the states try to protect Israel from any criticism…..New York as tried to ‘sanction’ Ben and Jerry’s because of their action to punish Israel for land theft, deaths and violence on the West Bank and Gaza…

US states continue to take action over Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territories. The New York Post reported Friday that the main pension fund for New York state’s government workers warned that it might divest funds from Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s UK-based parent company.

Over 30 US states have passed legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that advocates for global boycotts to pressure Israel for its occupation and war crimes against Palestinians. New York hasn’t passed BDS legislation, but in 2016 Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring state agencies to divest from organizations and companies that boycott Israel. At the time, Cuomo said passing legislation was a “tedious affair” and that he wanted to take “immediate action” against BDS.

Liz Gordon, executive director of corporate governance of the $254.8 billion New York pension fund, sent a letter to Unilever CEO Alan Jope. According to the Post, the pension fund has $73 million invested in Unilever. Gordon said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli “is troubled and concerned” by Ben & Jerry’s decision.

…

Ben & Jerry’s said they would stop selling ice cream in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” after a contract with a distribution expires at the end of next year. The company said they would still sell products in Israel, so the ban only applies to illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

After the announcement, Israel urged the governors of the US states with anti-BDS laws on the books to enforce them against Ben & Jerry’s, and some seem happy to comply. So far, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois are considering action against the ice cream company.

(antiwar.com)

Let me get this right…states are telling companies what they can do with their business….that pretty much craps on the lie of free markets…..

When will the US stop protecting Israel from their crimes?

See what cash in the pockets of slugs in politics gets you.

It is their, Ban and Jerry, money and their business…..what they do is of no business to the corrupt official in politics.

I refer to the title.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Mississippi Sets The Stage

My state of Mississippi has the distinction of many things…..we lead the nation on child poverty, one of the most unhealthy of states, most littered state,….on and on…..

Now Mississippi trying to be known as the state that brought down Roe v Wade…..

The Mississippi attorney general on Thursday asked the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, a challenge to the 1973 law that’s been expected since May, when the high court agreed to hear a case involving a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks. Lower courts blocked the law, known as the Gestational Age Act, and the state is appealing, NBC News reports. Attorney General Lynn Fitch said the Roe v. Wade ruling, as well as the other major ruling legalizing abortion in the US, 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey, were “egregiously wrong.” She said there is an “overwhelming” case to be made for overruling them, CNN reports.

“The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition,” Fitch said in a new brief to the justices. The request is notable, because when Mississippi asked SCOTUS to hear the case, it said doing so did not “require the court to overturn either Roe or Casey.” Politico says this brief “raises the stakes,” but notes that court watchers tend to think the justices are more likely to stop short of overruling Roe, while continuing to allow states to place an increasing number of restrictions on abortions. Axios points out the possibility that President Biden will protect abortion rights via an executive action if Roe is overturned. Oral arguments are expected in late fall or early winter, with a decision possible by June.

With a conservative ideologues on the Court this could well be the death throes of Roe v Wade….

And Mississippi will be the final nail in the coffin of reproductive rights.

I am so proud….(that is sarcasm in case you missed it)

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–09Jul21

As an old protester from the 60s and 70s I am always interested in the attempts by government to try and silence the people’s right to protest….and 2021 has been an active year to try and silence people from taking the politicians and attempts to task…..

This June, a dangerously low-flying helicopter operated by the Department of Homeland Security descended on the largest civil disobedience action yet against the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota. In an attempt to disperse the crowd, hundreds of demonstrators were pummeled with debris — and misdemeanor trespassing charges. If Minnesota Republican House Members Shane Mekeland and Eric Lucero had their way, demonstrators and anyone involved in the organizing process would have been hit with serious felony charges, a $5,000 fine, and liability for any damages incurred by the multibillion-dollar company Enbridge.

Mekeland and Lucero, who introduced these measures in a bill in late February, aren’t alone in their repressive ambitions. Rather than address the onslaught of police violence against Black people or catastrophic environmental degradation, Republican state politicians continue to attack the people rising up against those systemic injustices. As many as 225 anti-protest bills have been introduced in 45 states since 2016 according to the International Center for Non-Profit Law U.S. Protest Law Tracker. More than 100 have been introduced since Black liberation demonstrators took to the streets in June 2020. Thirty-four such bills have been enacted since 2016.

Lawmakers in Tennessee, Montana and Oklahoma passed the latest anti-protest laws. Bills in Iowa, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio progressed within the last two months.

Over 100 Anti-Protest Bills Have Been Introduced Since George Floyd Rebellion

Looks like Repubs are running scared (as typical for cowards) for the protests are doing their job and making people open up their thinking about the injustices and inequalities in the US…after packing state legislatures with like minded cowards they can now set about making protest illegal…..

Is that what America has become….more a political abortion from the original thinking of the Founders?

Watch This blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Assault!

In this case I am not posting about the danger of the 06 January…..I am not saying that the insurrection was not a danger to our republic just that another assault could be much ore dangerous and hazardous to our beloved nation.

The assault that I am talking about is that assault on the voting rights of our citizenry…..

Attorney Marc Elias explains the dangers…..

Democratic attorney Marc Elias has been quite aggressive when it comes to filing lawsuits against Republican voter suppression efforts. But when Elias, the founder of Democracy Docket, appeared on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Thursday night, June 3, he warned that lawsuits alone are not going to be enough to defend voting rights in the United States.

Elias’ appearance on Maddow’s show came at a time when Republicans in state legislatures all over the U.S. are pushing voter suppression bills and many Trump supporters in the GOP are continuing to promote the Big Lie and the false, debunked conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, now-President Joe Biden won the election decisively, picking up 306 electoral votes and defeating Trump by more than 7 million in the popular vote.

Elias told Maddow, “It’s not realistic to assume that every provision of every bad law is going to get struck down by court. We won more than we lost in 2019 and 2020 — we did better than in the post-election. But you can’t assume that when state after state after state throws the kitchen sink at voters and makes restricting voting rights their top priority, that the courts are going to be there to bat them all back.”

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/voting-rights/

The Dems need to stop trying a failed policy of bi-partisanship….they need to stop pussy footing around and step up and fight harder for the people’s right to vote without obstruction.

Instead they cling to the dinosaur of all policies in the Congress….that of bi-partisanship….that compromise on major issues is as dead as the do-do.

“It is worth remembering that it is illegal under state and federal law to change vote outcomes,” Rubin writes. “This is the basis for the ongoing investigation of the former president’s phone call with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in which the election’s loser pleaded with the Republican official to ‘find’ sufficient votes to change the state’s outcome…. In addition, federal law says that any person who ‘knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process’ has committed a felony.”

Rubin continues, “It also makes it a crime for a ‘person acting under color of law’ to ‘willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report’ legal votes. In other words, simply putting control of elections in the hands of partisan Republicans does not mean they can flip election results at will. However, the potential to disrupt and discredit elections is great. And in the case of federal elections, some state legislatures might seek to certify their own slate of electors claiming the voters’ choice was invalidated by fraud.”

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/voting-rights-2653239925/

Voters need to arm themselves with factual information not the manure spread by morons on social media about election fraud….then get involved with the changing of the crap you must endure to vote.

You have the power…..but you must use it or lose it!

And lose it you will and if you look around you will see your right being subdued and eventually removed.

Is that what you want?

If so then sit on your ass watching crap on reality TV….but do not bitch if you are not involved.

(sound of crickets)

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Screw Civics!

I have personally thought that all this division in our government comes from the lack of civics education….our students have no idea how the government works and why.

I begin this post with a quote from Fran Herbert, author of the Dune series…….“Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.”

So far Red States have proven that their leaders are there solely to press onward some out dated ideology…..they no longer work for the entire country just a small portion that they embrace.

I have made my thoughts on numerous occasions about our failure to educate our children on Civics……

https://lobotero.com/2020/07/14/american-mind-civics-class-part-one/
 
 
 
I rehash all this civics stuff because the governor of Florida has just vetoed a bill that would require students to have civics literacy…..
Would have required the state to develop a civics literacy course study that includes participation in outside activities and a research paper describing the experience. The Citizen Scholar Program would have been headquartered at the University of South Florida. DeSantis said the measure would have promoted the “preferred orthodoxy” of USF. Democratic state Rep. Ben Diamond, the bill’s sponsor, said DeSantis was “demonizing” universities. “There is no reasonable explanation for vetoing legislation that had unanimous, bipartisan support and is aimed at improving students’ understanding of government and the importance of civic engagement,’’ Diamond said in a news release.
Here is the letter that DeSantis issued on the veto…..
 
What are these tools afraid will happen when the children learn civics?
 
Apparently these slugs want to keep the indoctrination in place for our children for if they learn more about how this country works then the archaic ideology they embrace will disappear and a more inclusive society will prevail….they cannot have that.
 
DeSantis is embracing the Orwellian concept….”Ignorance is strength”
 
Let ignorance prevail!
 
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I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”