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Breaking: Radical Conservatives Win — People With Disabilities Lose Senate Vote

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The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been defeated in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the work of Glenn Beck, Rick Santorum, and other ignorant conservatives like Michelle Malkin. The Senate just voted to defeat the U.S. signing of the treaty, 61 to 38. Just six more votes were needed to pass the bill that would have allowed the President to sign the treaty, which works to protect people around the world with disabilities, ensuring them the same civil rights Americans with disabilities currently are afforded.

READ: Glenn Beck And Rick Santorum: ‘Fascistic’ UN Disabilities Treaty Is From ‘Nazi Days’

Conservatives falsely claimed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would interfere with U.S. sovereignty and would “promote abortion,” a ludicrous claim on its face.

UPDATE from Maddow at bottom.

Some responses from Twitter tell the story:

[View the story “U.S. Senate Bows To Ideologues On Disabilities Treaty” on Storify]

U.S. Senate Bows To Ideologues On Disabilities Treaty

Senate fails to ratify UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Storified by David Badash · Tue, Dec 04 2012 09:48:27

Today #CRPD will come up for vote. There’s still time to stop it. Call senators at 202-224-3121 & sign petition http://ptrtvoic.es/S6fr7ERick Santorum
MT @ProLifeStuff: BREAKING: U.S Senate Defeats CRPD Treaty That Would Promote Abortion http://bit.ly/XmGgaeMichelle Malkin
Malkin of course is wrong — the UN treaty does not promote abortion.
Former Senate majority leader Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican, is now, at 89calling GOP senators to urge them to back ratification.of #CRPDLen Marciano
Seen on C-SPAN2: Former Senators Bob Dole & Elizabeth Dole on Senate floor for #CRPD vote (right side of screen). http://twitpic.com/bj2fiuCSPAN
Today is Int’l Day of People w/ Disabilities. Show your support, call on US Senators to vote YES to #CRPD http://bit.ly/SBs7mgHuman Rights Watch
National Sovereignty protected with a failed 61-38 vote on #CRPD treaty! Thank you @RickSantorum for all your hard work on this issue.CWA LAC
All 38 no votes on #CRPD were Republican Senators. 8 Rs voted in favor.Senate D Floor Watch
Senate Republicans not even shamed by Bob Dole on the floor. Sad day for #crpd and America.USICD
I just voted against the UN CRPD.Senator Pat Toomey
RT @StevenErtelt: BREAKING: U.S Senate Defeats CRPD Treaty That Would Promote Abortion http://bit.ly/XmGgae @tperkins @ricksantorum #tcotJohn Brock
Need anymore evidence that @Senate_GOPs are off the rails? They just killed a treaty to help people with disabilities #CRPDZack Simon
Sens. @FrankLautenberg and @AmyKlobuchar joined #ADL in support of the #CRPD and honoring Sen. Dole for his workADL
#CRPD did not pass! We don’t need the #UN to “supersede” the Constitutional protections for disabled in America; expand #abortion provision.Josh Craddock

Update Via Maddow Blog:

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, for those who’ve forgotten, is a human rights treaty negotiated by the George H.W. Bush administration, which has been ratified by 126 nations, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

But most Senate Republicans saw it as a threat to American “sovereignty,” even though the treaty wouldn’t have required the United States to change its laws. When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the treaty with bipartisan support in July, Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) explained the proposal simply “raises the [international] standard to our level without requiring us to go further.”

In other words, we wouldn’t actually have to do anything except say we like the treaty — and then wait for other signatories around the world to catch up to the United States’ Americans with Disabilities Act.

The treaty was endorsed by Dole, John McCain, and Dick Lugar, among other prominent Republican figures, but it didn’t matter. The GOP’s right-wing base, led in part by Rick Santorum, raised hysterical fears about the treaty, and most Senate Republicans took their cues from the party’s activists, not the party’s elder statesmen.

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Florida GOP Lawmaker Who Wrote ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Facing Up to 35 Years After Pleading Guilty in COVID Fraud Case

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Joe Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the extremist “Don’t Say Gay” bill could face up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.

Harding, 35, was a construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.

Harding was charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain $150,000 in COVID funds.He resigned from the legislature the following day. He originally pled not guilty.

READ MORE: ‘Chilling’: Law Enforcement ‘Seriously’ Investigating Threats Ahead of Possible Trump Indictment Says Top WaPo Reporter

After Harding was charged and resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, responded via social media, saying: “So much harm to students, parents and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a despicable one.”

Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.

“Harding’s indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law, Patrick Walsh,” Florida Politics reported in December. “As reported by Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in disaster relief loans.”

Unrepentant to the harm many feel he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday Harding said: “During the past legislative session I have felt the support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I received from every corner of this great country.”

READ MORE: 18 Attorneys General Blast Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law as Unconstitutional

Harding will be sentenced in July.

Florida’s Voice also reported Harding’s guilty plea Tuesday.

 

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Chilling’: Law Enforcement ‘Seriously’ Investigating Threats Ahead of Possible Trump Indictment Says Top WaPo Reporter

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Ahead of a possible indictment of Donald Trump, law enforcement agencies are investigating “chilling” threats, including against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to top Washington Post investigative reporter Carol Leonnig.

Leonnig was careful to say she is not aware of any of the threats being deemed credible, but also noted that “all sorts of law enforcement agencies” seem to be taking much more interest than some agencies did in the weeks before the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

“I have received copies and screenshots and internal documents and emails flagging concerns about specific protests, investigations into specific online threats that have been made that are not yet determined to be ‘credible and likely to occur’ but have been chilling nonetheless in terms of the threats that have been made about killing certain people,” Leonning, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author, said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” White House.”

“Claims of, you know, ‘Alvin Bragg needs to needs to die,’ and claims online that could just be, you know, bravado, but are being seriously investigated and checked into this time around, ones that were not checked into as clearly at all in the weeks before January 6, despite significant warnings to the FBI about what these threats meant.”

Mirroring Leonnig’s reporting, Rolling Stone, citing law enforcement reports, on Tuesday noted: “Violent extremists are advocating lethal attacks and proclaiming their willingness to die for the cause.”

READ MORE: ‘All-Out War’: Trump’s Attorney Tells Kimberly Guilfoyle Ex-President Will Be ‘Loud and Proud’ When Showing Up for Indictment

“U.S. Capitol Police, the D.C. Fusion Center, and the Federal Highway Administration have all circulated warnings about the uptick in online threats over the past 48 hours. The bulletins and threat assessments detail some of the online threats and discussions about the use of specific tactics and methods for carrying out attacks — including online discussions about lethal attacks if Trump is arrested.”

On Saturday in an explosive series of social media posts Donald Trump urged his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back.”

That “announcement was met with an immediate increase in violent online rhetoric and expressed threats toward government and law enforcement targets perceived as participating in a political persecution of the former president, as well as calls for ‘Civil War’ more generally.”

The DC Fusion Center, which analyzes threats, in a report stated it “assesses that potential criminal justice actions taken toward a former US president — or actions perceived to be taken toward the former president — remain a ‘line in the sand’ for [Domestic Violent Extremist] communities and thus have the potential to manifest in violence toward government targets or political officials,” Rolling Stone added.

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Missouri Supreme Court Refuses to Disbar Lawyer Who Sexually Assaulted Six Women: Report

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An 86-year old defense attorney will be allowed to keep his law license after the Missouri Supreme Court in a 4-3 ruling refused to disbar him despite having sexually assaulted six of his clients, all women.

Attorney Dan K. Purdy will be “indefinitely suspended from practicing law but allowed to apply for reinstatement after a year,” The Kansas City Star reports.

“In September 2020, Purdy made sexual advances toward four clients in a Vernon County jail interview room, including touching and kissing, that were confirmed by video provided by the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office,” The Star reports. “Each woman was later interviewed by officers and told them Purdy’s advances were unwanted.”

In addition to jail interview roos, Purdy’s sexual advances took place in court and in his car. All were locations where his clients might have felt uncomfortable to complain.

READ MORE: Trump Calls for Congress to Investigate NY AG After Judge Refuses to Delay $250 Million Fraud Trial Against Ex-President

“Purdy’s clients either did not know or did not realize they could repudiate his sexual advances,” Justice George W. Draper III wrote in the majority opinion.

There are seven justices on the Missouri Supreme Court, four appointed by Republican governors, three by Democratic governors. Four are men, three are women.

The ruling was not along party lines.

“In my view, neither the race, gender, ethnicity, nor age of an attorney should be taken into consideration to determine appropriate discipline,” wrote Justice Zel M. Fischer in his dissent. “In my view, Mr. Purdy’s conduct, which was clearly and explicitly depicted in the video evidence, warrants disbarment.”

“As recognized by the principal opinion, not only did Mr. Purdy sexually assault six female clients, he ‘exhibited a continued pattern or practice of improper and disturbing conduct, which continued, even after the present case was filed against him,'” Fischer noted. [Bolding in original text.]

 

Image of Missouri Supreme Court via Wikimedia

 

 

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