Enough Rick Perry Lies About Gays, Children, And Marriage
GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry on Friday, just hours before the deadline, filed his paperwork to formally become a candidate in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Perry paid the $1000 fee and shortly thereafter went on stage and lied. Rick Perry lies a lot (“I don’t know” if Obama’s birth certificate is real, homosexuality is like alcoholism, Texas teaches evolution and creationism, the science on climate change isn’t settled,) but this particular lie against gays, children, and marriage was not only wrong, it was pure bigotry — and pure evil.
That Governor Perry waited until the very last minute to file for such an important event made me chuckle. For a moment I imagined perhaps Perry was busy taking his two children, Griffin and Sydney, to school, or to a baseball game, or even, perhaps, hunting, at the family hunting camp, Niggerhead. Of course, the two Perry offspring are now in their mid-twenties so that imaginary scenario wasn’t likely, and no doubt the Governor had plenty of help raising his children, and plenty of government benefits to help financially, too. Unlike all gay couples raising children.
“As conservatives we believe in the sanctity of life,” Perry said, in front of 450 voters and supporters in the state’s largest city, Manchester. “We believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage. And I applaud those legislators in New Hampshire who are working to defend marriage as an institution between one man and one woman, realizing that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father.â€
Children, Governor Perry, need to be raised in a loving home. Period. If that home is headed by a man and a woman, two women, or two men, I really don’t care, and neither do the children. And neither should you.
There is not one shred of evidence that shows children growing up in a household headed by heterosexual parents do any better than children growing up in a household headed by homosexual parents. In fact, the science says that in some cases, children actually do better in households headed by same-sex couples — probably, at least in part, because those gay or lesbian parents had to work really hard to actually be able to adopt children. And, like I said, we have the science that proves it.
The lie that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father is just that — a lie. Two long-​term studies published in the past two years found just the opposite. In fact, one of them, a twenty-​five year-​long and vigorously peer-​reviewed study published in the journal Pediatrics, found that adopted children raised by lesbian parents are better–adjusted and do better in school than their opposite-​parented peers. Add to this the fact that we now have, “a study of gay dads that finds they are more likely than straight ones to focus on parenting over career, at least when their children are young.â€
Additionally, we do know that states that offer same-sex marriage equality also have the lowest rates of child homelessness.
(And while same-sex parent-headed households aren’t perfect, we certainly don’t have any reports like this for children being raised by same-sex couples.)
Even if Governor Perry and his ilk — like the National Organization For Marriage — actually are successful in their march into the 18th century, same-sex couples will continue to raise families and grow. Which means that re-establishing a second-class citizenship structure will only serve the egos of the bigots, not the needs of the children, who have what they need in terms of parents, but not what they need in terms of equality.
Republicans these days talk a lot about the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans, talking about business and social issues, continue to claim that they believe in equality of opportunity, not the equality of outcome. I think that’s a fair principle. And I think they should apply it to those they claim to care about the most: families.
Why shouldn’t families headed by gay or lesbian parents have the same equality of opportunity as families headed by straight parents?
Twenty-two months ago, New Hampshire became the sixth state to allow same-sex couples marriage equality, after a challenging battle during which the Democratic Governor insisted on heightened religious protections before he would sign the bill into law in 2009.
But Texas Governor Rick Perry doesn’t know the first thing about New Hampshire, or gay marriage, or states’ rights, or what children really need. Because Governor Perry, up until a few months ago, thought that states should have the right to allow same-sex marriage because it was, in his words, a states’ rights issue. Until the Religious Right went crazy and Perry retreated into a Texas-sized corner.
Now, Perry thinks not only should same-sex marriage not be an option, but that New Hampshire should actually ram down the people’s throats a repeal of marriage equality, in a state that believes the law should stay — by a two-to-one margin.
“What we’ve found is those people who are in favor of gay marriage are much more intense in their positions and much more likely to take action politically then are opponents of gay marriage,” says University of New Hampshire pollster Andrew Smith, who finds that 62% of New Hampshire residents want the law to remain, and only 27% would support a repeal.
Sadly, for the theocratic Governor Perry, Smith also finds that “44 percent of those polled would oppose a candidate who favors a repeal,” according to a report by New Hampshire Public Radio earlier this month.
But the reality is that Perry isn’t running for Governor of the Granite State, and he’s not running for president (yet,) he’s running for the Republican nomination for president, and that means having lots of racism and bigotry on tap.
Rick Perry has spent a good part of his adult life at his family hunting camp named “Niggerhead,” so racism and bigotry are right up his alley. And that’s exactly where, as far as I’m concerned, Rick Perry can put his views on gays, families, children, and marriage.
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being criticized after declaring he ended execution of a federal law promoting women, peace, and security that he described as “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative” — which was promoted by current top members of the Trump administration and signed into law in 2017 by President Donald Trump.
“This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense,” Secretary Hegseth bragged on Tuesday. “WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.”
“WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it,” he claimed. “DoD will hereby executive [sic] the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!”
In 2019, the Trump White House lauded the WPS program:
“The Trump Administration is committed to advancing women’s equality, seeking to protect the rights of women and girls, and promoting women and youth empowerment programs. The United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy) responds to the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which President Donald J. Trump signed into law on October 6, 2017.”
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“This is the first legislation of its kind globally, which makes the United States the first country in the world with a comprehensive law on WPS, and de facto, the first with a whole-of-government strategy that responds to such a domestic law. The WPS Strategy recognizes the diverse roles women play as agents of change in preventing and resolving conflict, countering terrorism and violent extremism, and building post conflict peace and stability.”
Critics blasted Hegseth, while reporters were quick to correct the record with fact checks.
The Washington Post’s military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe noted that Marco Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State, and Mike Waltz, now Trump’s National Security Advisor, were supporters of the Women, Peace, and Security Act.
Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio added: “Marco Rubio was the lead Senate sponsor of WPS. Kristi Noem was the lead House sponsor. And Mike Waltz chaired the House’s WPS caucus.”
In addition to Secretary of State Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Noem, and National Security Advisor Waltz, Senior White House Advisor Ivanka Trump was also part of the U.S. strategy for implementing the Women, Peace, and Security Act.
Politico’s deputy managing editor of global security, Dave Brown, responded to Hegseth’s post, noting U.S, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just 28 days ago wrote: “President Trump also signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a bill that I was very proud to have been a co-sponsor of when I was in the Senate, and it was the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world – the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world – focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.”
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CNN’s Pentagon reporter Haley Britzky pointed to a West Point Modern War Institute article that states, “the United States’ WPS Strategy…acknowledges that this inclusion is not a political human rights or social justice agenda, but a framework that advances US competitive advantage, allowing it to achieve national security objectives through harnessing women’s distinctive aptitudes, diversity of thought, and unique access to areas where women have specific roles in certain societies.”
“You are lying again,” responded Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot and former Democratic candidate. “WPS was enacted by Trump during his first admin. It’s not divisive. It’s a small program for DOD but one based on real data, so it doesn’t fit your cave man style understanding of security. Troops don’t hate it. Most don’t even know it exists.”
The Economist’s defense editor Shashank Joshi called Hegseth’s remarks “rank ignorance.”
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Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump has reached the 100-day mark of his second term, and already administration officials are preparing for an impeachment defense—despite the fact that the House and the Senate are under Republican control, and the midterm elections are more than 18 months away.
Trump’s advisors “are seriously considering the likelihood that he would be impeached again if Democrats take the House next year,” Axios reports.
“I’m certain,” Trump’s longtime pollster, John McLaughlin, told Axios—an opinion reportedly shared by others in Trump’s “orbit.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), who filed seven articles of impeachment against President Trump on Monday.
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“Who the hell is this lunatic?” the Press Secretary asked, according to Axios.
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Friday signaled support for a Trump impeachment, becoming the first swing state Senator to do so.
“The threat of impeachment has added urgency to the Trump administration’s push to get as much of his agenda through Congress as possible before the 2026 midterms — especially his plan to extend his 2017 tax cuts,” Axios noted.
“We need to pass the tax cuts and avoid a recession,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the high stakes here. We cannot lose the midterms.”
Some economic experts say a recession may now be the best possible outcome, not just in the U.S., but globally, driven by President Trump’s tariff and trade wars. Others are raising alarms about the risk of “stagflation.”
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Trump insiders reportedly also feel an impeachment threat could help solidify the MAGA base, and be a fundraising boon.
“Trump’s attacks on due process, birthright citizenship, humanitarian aid, and the courts are not ‘politics,'” Congressman Thanedar wrote on Monday. “They are a direct attack on our democracy. Enough is enough.”
Meanwhile, at The Bulwark, Jill Lawrence writes that she took a “look at all the impeachment articles against presidents and figure[d] out how many Trump has already matched or surpassed.”
“Spoiler: It has not been fun. And the answer is pretty much all of them—from Andrew Johnson in 1868 to the charges in Trump’s own pair of impeachments a few short years ago. How do we know? Because it’s all unfolding publicly and blatantly in real time.”
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Image via Reuters
Editor’s note: A typo in the headline has been corrected.
Just hours after President Donald Trump declared in a newly published interview that he believes Pete Hegseth is “gonna get it together” and described his embattled Defense Secretary’s job as “safe,” the U.S. Navy accidentally lost a $60 million fighter jet when it fell into the Red Sea.
“A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet has been ‘lost’ at sea after it fell overboard from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier while it was being towed on board, the Navy said in a statement on Monday,” according to CNN. Reports also indicate that “the Truman made a hard turn to evade Houthi fire, which contributed to the fighter jet falling overboard.”
The jet is said to have sunk.
In their interview, The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker told Trump, “You’re a big supporter of Pete Hegseth’s, but he’s fired three top advisers in recent weeks, he rotated out his chief of staff, he installed a makeup studio at the Pentagon, he put attack plans in two different Signal chats, including one with his wife and personal attorney. Have you had a talk with him about getting things together?”
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“Yeah, I have,” the Commander-in-Chief replied.
Asked, “What did you say?” Trump replied: “Pete’s gone through a hard time. I think he’s gonna get it together. I think he’s a smart guy. He is a talented guy. He’s got a lot of energy. He’s been beat up by this, very much so. But I had a talk with him, a positive talk, but I had a talk with him.”
And when asked if, “for now, you think Hegseth stays?” Trump replied: “Yeah, he’s safe.”
Critics were quick to weigh in.
“This is why I said @petehegseth’s rank incompetence needs closer scrutiny here,” wrote national security and civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler. “He keeps claiming his half-a—- campaign against the Houthis is having success. But s— like this keeps happening, planes dropping off aircraft carriers.”
“These are the sailors Whiskey Pete put at risk with his reckless treatment of classified information,” Wheeler added.
“Another win for this super competent national security team,” mocked U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “I thought our strikes in Yemen were ‘restoring deterrence’.”
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Democratic political strategist Chris D. Jackson adds, “This is what happens when Trump and Pete Hegseth treated military leadership like a frat house. Unqualified leadership has real-world consequences.”
Barbara Starr, the former CNN national security reporter for more than two decades, strongly suggested there is more here than may appear.
“IMPORTANT: IF [the] Truman had to make a sudden hard turn to avoid enemy fire this is extremely significant. The goal for US troops is to always bring down the enemy as far away as possible NOT close in. And this potentially suggests further improvements in Houthi guidance and targeting. Def more to learn here.”
“Moreover,” Starr continued, “and equally important why does the military press statement not disclose this possibility?”
HuffPost’s White House correspondent S.V. Dáte commented, “Back when the Navy was woke I don’t recall them dropping an F-18 overboard.”
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Image via Reuters
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