Lessons of History and Trying To Avoid the Same Mistakes

[Sixties Fan]

It’s hard to believe it’s come to this, but it has.

Premeditated murder based on racist political differences, defended, lauded, and excused by a Republican governor.

U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was convicted of first degree murder by a unanimous Texas jury for shooting and killing Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster. Perry drove his vehicle into a crowd of protestors during a rally in 2020 and then fired five shots through his driver side window when Foster approached the vehicle.

Perry considered himself an avowed racist, as court documents reveal he posted on social media: “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.” In another comment posted the same day, he compared BLM protesters to “a zoo full of monkeys...” -- he went on, but I’m not even going to reprint it here. You get the idea.

And this racist killing was premeditated. Perry tweeted a few weeks earlier he might have to “kill a few people on my way to work” because “they are rioting outside” and he “might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”

So did Texas Governor Greg Abbott speak up against racist partisan violence and call for the peaceful resolution of differences? Hardly.

Governor Abbott’s response: “I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” he tweeted. “I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.”



Robert Reich
Inequality Media

 

[Sixties Fan]

Montana just joined the list of states silencing democratically elected lawmakers – all for advocating for their constituents.

Amid nationwide legislative attacks on transgender people, far-right partisans controlling the Montana House are refusing to let Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the only transgender woman in the Montana House, speak for the rest of their legislative session. [1]

Just weeks ago, more than 50,000 Common Cause members came together to condemn a similar injustice in the Tennessee legislature – where two Black lawmakers were EXPELLED for their solidarity with gun safety protestors.

This trend of silencing elected officials to shut down dissent goes against everything we stand for



Common Cause

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

[. Banning books in the First Amendment Country known as the USA. ]

 

[Sixties Fan]

John Roberts’ Mockery of Stalking Victims Points to a Deeper Problem

The justices take their own safety very, very seriously. Everybody else’s? Not so much.

slate.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

The Republican operative leading the super PAC backing Florida Gov. and likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was closely involved with a record-breaking dark money donation to conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, the architect of the Supreme Court’s rightward swing, according to records obtained by The Lever.

Chris Jankowski, CEO of the pro-DeSantis group Never Back Down, is listed in the documents as the “settlor” — effectively, the creator — of the Marble Freedom Trust, a massive pool of cash Leo is using to finance conservative advocacy groups.

In 2021, the trust received $1.6 billion from the sale of Chicago businessman Barre Seid’s surge protector empire, constituting the largest known dark money donation in history and leaving Leo in control of an unprecedented political advocacy fund.

The role Jankowski played in developing the Marble Freedom Trust has not previously been reported, though he has for years served as a consultant for Leo’s dark money network, which played a central role in flipping control of the Supreme Court and building its 6-3 conservative supermajority.



(full article online)

The Leonard Leo Presidential Primary

A GOP operative involved with the conservative activist’s record-breaking $1.6 billion political advocacy fund is now leading Ron DeSantis’ super PAC.

www.levernews.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

MAGA Pastor Says Christians Must ‘Be the Ones Writing the Laws’

"We want God to be in control of everything!" Sean Feucht declared at the Pastors for Trump leader's church

news.yahoo.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

The Texas Senate approved a bill Thursday that would require public schools in the state to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, starting next school year, The Texas Tribune reports. The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Phil King (R), argued earlier this month that the Ten Commandments are part of American heritage, and his legislation "will remind students all across Texas of the importance of the fundamental foundation of America."

The state Senate also gave final passage to legislation that would allow public and charter schools to require that time be set aside for students and employees to pray and read the Bible or other religions texts. The bills are "the latest attempt from Texas Republicans to inject religion into public schools," the Tribune reports. In 2021, the state Legislature passed a law require schools to display "In God We Trust" signs donated by community members.


(full article online)

Texas Senate approves bills requiring 10 Commandments in K-12 classrooms, Bible time in school

The latest Speed Read,/speed-reads,,speed-reads, breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at The Week

theweek.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ Going backwards, and backwards, and backwards ]

Nine Michigan Republicans voted Wednesday to keep a nearly century-old state law that bars an unmarried woman and man from living with one another.

The bill to repeal the unenforced 1931 law ultimately passed 29-9 in the state’s Democrat-controlled Senate. But the fact that half of the state Senate’s GOP lawmakers voted to maintain the cohabitation ban made a number of Democrats scratch their heads.

“What year are they living in?” asked Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D), according to MLive.

Michigan is one of two states in the country with a law that bars unwed couples from living together, according to a 2016 analysis for the state Senate.

The state’s cohabitation ban could find an unmarried man or woman “who lewdly and lasciviously associates and cohabits together” guilty of a misdemeanor with a maximum one-year prison sentence and maximum fine of $1,000.

The ban has implications for taxpayers. As Michigan state Sen. Stephanie Chang (D), who introduced the bill, noted, certain tax benefits are off-limits to people whose relationships violate local laws under the IRS tax code.

“This bill is not about a moral issue, it’s not about changing people’s behavior, it’s not about marriage rates ― it’s really just about bringing us into the 21st century,” Chang said, according to Bridge Michigan.

Under the new bill, there would be no penalties for an unwed couple over their cohabitation. It would not repeal the law’s penalties for “open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior,” which apply to both married and unmarried people.

Republican Michigan state Sen. Thomas Albert said that the “policy of prohibiting cohabitation by having a criminal penalty is not good policy,” according to MLive. But he argued that a family structure without marriage “is not the optimal environment for raising children.”

“The problem with this reform is that it fails to recognize the secondary effects. ... This is a policy I cannot get behind, because there is clear and overwhelming evidence to show that it is better for children to be in a household with married parents,” Albert said.


(full article online)

Michigan Republicans Vote To Keep Law Barring Unwed Couples From Living Together

“What year are they living in?” asked Michigan Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in response to Republicans voting against repeal, which passed 29-9.

news.yahoo.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

CLAIM: Bud Light created a billboard advertisement that reads, “lol CRYBABIES,” after the company was targeted by calls for a boycott over a partnership with a transgender influencer.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The Bud Light advertisement is not real, the owners of the billboard confirmed to The Associated Press. The actual billboard currently displays an advertisement for the streaming service Disney+.

THE FACTS: After a wave of transphobic commentary and threats of a boycott sparked this month by Bud Light’s partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, social media users are sharing altered images of the billboard — both in photos and video — claiming that the brand has responded to its critics.

The billboard shown in the images is located on top of a building on a city street. It features an alleged ad with the phrase, “lol CRYBABIES,” next to a can of Bud Light. Posts sharing the video had collectively received tens of thousands of likes and shares as of Friday.

“Bud Light doubles down and TAUNTS their customer base for BOYCOTTING them,” reads one tweet.

Other posts praised the bogus ad, including a tweet that stated: “I’ve never seen a better billboard sign in my life. This is how it’s done. Bravo, Bud Light & take that, Republicans.”


(full article online)

Bud Light did not call its critics ‘crybabies’ on a billboard

CLAIM: Bud Light created a billboard advertisement that reads, “lol CRYBABIES,” after the company was targeted by calls for a boycott over a partnership with a transgender influencer.

apnews.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ Republican brains on Trump's "Cocaine drug" against any Chinese looking people. When will he, and Fox and Tucker, etc, tell his followers to stop attacking Asian Pacific people? And in the meantime, his followers continue to commit crimes and end up in prison]

Billie R. Davis, 56, who is accused of stabbing a young passenger on a public bus in Bloomington, Ind., because she assumed the 18-year-old Indiana University student was "Chinese," has been charged with a federal hate crime.

According to the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana Davis, 56, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday. She also faces local charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon.

The indictment alleges that Davis "willfully caused bodily injury to the victim and attempted to do so through the use of a knife, because of the victim's race and national origin," the DOJ and U.S. attorney's office said.

On Jan. 11, the student was preparing to get off a public bus near the Bloomington campus when another passenger struck her repeatedly in the head with a folding knife. The attacker then walked away, leaving multiple stab wounds on the victim's head.

According to an affidavit shared with NPR, Davis told police that she not only stabbed the victim, but she targeted the student because she assumed the student was "Chinese" — adding that it "would be one less person to blow up our country."

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/22/1171459706/indiana-woman-hate-crime-anti-asian-attack-charged?link_id=14&can_id=6e84143cce349aec0c9a0b4e4a28c9c6&source=email-correction-new-leaked-audio-proves-ted-cruz-knew-he-was-lying-all-along&email_referrer=email_1891242&email_subject=gop-puts-10-million-americans-on-chopping-block

 

[Sixties Fan]

Juror: Texas governor's rush to pardon shooter a 'travesty'

Campaign Action An alternate juror in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder said Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott's rush for a pardon is an “egregious overreach” to wipe aside the jury's unanimous decision over a 2020 shooting during a...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Pop quiz: What do Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and Senator Joe Manchin have in common?

If you said, “All three received gifts from billionaire Republican benefactor Harlan Crow,” you are correct! I’d say, “you win,” but the truth is we're all actually losing.

The luxury cruises on a mega-yacht, private jet trips, and private resort vacations received -- and never reported -- by Justice Thomas are designed to influence the Supreme Court, but it isn’t the only institution this billionaire is trying to buy with his money. He also has his eyes on the U.S. Senate.

FEC filings show that both Sinema and Manchin benefited from Crow’s billions, too. Sinema even had to return a portion of his donations because he exceeded the legal limits.


Robert Reich

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]