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15 Years After 9/11, We’re in Danger of Losing Fundamental Rights

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Freedom to Dissent, Especially By Calling Out Bigotry, Among Civil Liberties That’s Gradually Being Stripped Away

It’s been 15 years since the Towers came down; 15 years since the very core of who we are as a nation was viciously attacked.

Our country has changed drastically since then — I don’t need to list the myriad of ways we’re not who we once were.

For many of us, the years immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, were filled with a sadness-tinged optimism. Perhaps, many of us hoped, this was going to the catalyst that truly transformed America into who we were meant to be. Perhaps we would heed the call of pluralism and acceptance and elevated debate and passionate discourse-as-patriotism.

Instead, we followed the path toward a nationalism that prides itself on exclusion. We told those who refused to follow every single one of our nation’s policies that they were no longer worthy of citizenship. We told anyone with darker skin or an accent that they weren’t welcome here and we used them as an antagonistic stand-in because we weren’t quite sure who our enemies were. We stopped pursuing meaningful engagement. 

We’ve willfully given up one of our most basic and foundational American rights — the right to dissent. Too many have forgotten how dissent was the foundation of our Republic and that civil disobedience — like refusing to stand for the National Anthem — is rooted in patriotism.

The White Nationalist Movement has become mainstream, and when we try to caution against it people become more upset about how we deliver the message instead of the message itself. We are afraid to be confronted with the reality of our actions.

If there is a lesson to learn from 9/11 — at least, for me — it’s that our right to dissent is so powerful and so important we have to fight for it every day. There are so few places in the world where a citizen can speak out against their own government without fear. If we keep following in this path — the path that continues to embrace white supremacy and racism and bigotry and fear — that right will be stripped away within the blink of an eye. 

There’s a famous quote most people think is by Voltaire that folks like to fall back on: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  However, most people completely misunderstand its intention. 

Defending someone else’s right to free speech does not mean shielding them from critique or even ridicule. Absolutely, yes, the White Nationalists deserve to use their constitutional right to say whatever disgusting things they want, and if a police officer tried to shut them down, I would unflinchingly step between them. But at the same time? I would be shouting down their statements even louder. Guarding someone’s right to free speech doesn’t mean guarding them from societal consequences and it certainly doesn’t mean staying silent in the face of bigotry. 

As Americans, we should be encouraging dissent and discussion. We should be praising those who are working to make our Union more perfect. And we should be calling out those who seek to do us harm, even from within. 

There are very few imperatives we’re tasked with as Americans. Speaking out against racism, xenophobia, Islamaphobia, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, anti-Semitism and all other forms of bigotry is a requirement in my book. It’s a responsibility that every single one of us is called to. We can’t let that slip away. If we’re going to claim any kind of moral superiority over those who want us dead — and I think that we can — it’s this. It’s our legal right to disagree without impunity — whether it be with one other or with our government or with those who would lead it. 

Today, and every day, I hope we carry with us the power that each and every one of us has to change the world for the better and to refuse to accept the status quo because it makes some people comfortable. I hope we remember our responsibility to speak out against those who seek to do us harm, and I hope we never, ever stay quiet.

Robbie Medwed is an Atlanta-based LGBT activist and educator.His column appears here weekly. Email him or follow him on Twitter @rjmedwed.

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Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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April 19, 2024

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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April 19, 2024

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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