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Values Voters Summit: My Yom Kippur War

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Yom Kippur is the most important holiday in the Jewish calendar. It is a day when you can find even the most secular of Jews in synagogues. But I stayed home this year. If Jews believed in doing penance, my self-inflicted torture would have counted; it was as excruciating as a hair-shirt; almost as painful as the guilt inflicted by a Jewish mother. But, alas, we Jews don’t believe in penance as a vehicle for repentance.

Yom Kippur is the holiest of holy days. One is supposed to spend the day at prayer and contemplation. It is a day devoted to atonement; no work is performed and we refrain from eating and drinking (even water.) The Talmud specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known – washing and bathing, anointing one’s body (with perfume, cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes and engaging in sexual relations are among the behaviors prohibited on Yom Kippur.

But we Jews are a practical people; there are exceptions to the rules even on this holiest of holy days. These restrictions can be lifted when a threat to life or health is involved. Even if they want to, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast. And of course there is an exception in wartime, for example the Yom Kippur War fought from October 6th to 25th, 1973 … which was the basis for the rationalization I used to get myself off my spiritual hook.

For make no mistake, America is at war. Oh, I don’t mean those engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan that have killed thousands of people, bankrupted our country and compromised the effectiveness of our military. The conflict that must also concern us is being fought right here at home. And Friday and Saturday I was directly in the line-of-fire.

Thanks to live streaming, I spent Yom Kippur with the folks at the Values Voter Summit, sponsored by the Family Research Council (FRC), an organization which because of the homophobia and lies it propagates is designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)  While many of my family and friends, supported by each other in community and prayer, contemplated their transgressions, I listened to speaker after speaker preach how my extended family and friends were much of what is wrong in America and how my life (which was consistently called a lifestyle) is itself a transgression. While my family’s and friends’ souls were stirred as they listened to the haunting melody of Kol Nidre, my stomach churned as I listened to Michele Bachmann and Star Parker.

It was a weekend filled with irony, much of which was apparently lost on its sponsors as well as the attendees; a weekend when vitriol was cheered and pleas for civility and respect were met with derision.

The presentation of the colors was accompanied by a stirring rendition of “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copeland.

Copeland was never troubled by his sexual orientation and although he never made the political statement of coming out publically, he was quite open about it – his being gay was not a secret. As part of a group of Manhattan-based gay composers, Copeland, along with Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Marc Blitzstein, Paul Bowles, David Diamond, Ned Rorem and Virgil Thomson, changed the complexion of American Music.

After a welcome speech in which Tony Perkins, the President of the FRC, declared war on marriage equality, family planning, health care and regulations governing the environment, banks and other financial institutions, House Speaker John Boehner reaffirmed his determination to repeal health care reforms and to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

But it was House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who got the first standing ovation when he said, “We have, and we always should, stand by Israel.” Observant Jews however were out of luck if they wanted to attend the whole conference. As the National Jewish Democratic Council pointed out, this is the third Values Voter Summit in a row to be scheduled during the Jewish High Holy Days. The workshop “Why Christians should support Israel” was held on Yom Kippur.

Cantor complained about the Occupy Wall Street movement, stating, “I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and other cities across our country,” claiming that Occupy Wall Street is “pitting of Americans against Americans.” Of course, when members of the Tea Party took to the streets, we were told that it was a sign of grassroots democracy in action.

Evolution was a central theme in the speech given by Bryan Fischer: “I submit to you that not a single one of our unalienable rights will be safe in the hands of a president who believes that we evolved from slime and that we are the descendants of apes and baboons.” He claimed the separation of church and state is “mythical.” Fischer’s convoluted logic posited that since the Founders believed that our unalienable rights came from the Creator, Creationism not Evolution is the correct explanation of the origin of our species and no person who does not believe in Creationism should be elected President.

The presidential candidates Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich, as well as past candidates Tim Pawlenty and Mike Huckabee, have all appeared on Fischer’s show. Fischer is the spokesperson for the organization, The American Family Association, another SPLC designated hate group, which co-hosted “The Response” prayer rally with Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Fischer’s call for the return of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and a declaration by the next president that gays are a threat to national security and public health were reported by The New Civil Rights Movement October 9.

Robert Jeffress, a Texas Southern Baptist megachurch senior pastor introduced Rick Perry to the appreciative audience. People for The American Way’s Right Wing Watch points out, “Jeffress’ anti-Mormon views should have been no surprise to the Perry camp, and in this interview last year with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Jeffress argued that the Mormon religion, along with Islam, is ‘from the pit of Hell.’ He went on to say that along with Mormons and Muslims, Jews and gays are also destined for Hell.”

All of the Republican hopefuls — except Jon Huntsman, Fred Karger, Thad McCotter, and  Buddy Roemer — spoke at the conference. Among the promises they gave if elected President was repeal of or a moratorium on all pending federal government regulations for six months, repeal of the recently passed healthcare plan, cutting taxes, defunding Planned Parenthood, appointing Supreme Court Justices who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, sponsoring a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and eliminating the Department of Education. Family was always defined as a man, a woman and their children.

The most moderate of them, Mitt Romney, called for civility and respect, saying, “Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate.” Romney added, “The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us – let no agenda narrow our vision or drive us apart.” Although these remarks were not well received in the hall, as David Badash reported on October 8th they were acknowledged positively outside the conference.

Almost every speaker assured the audience that God was on their side and that they would win this war they were waging, because God wanted them to put Him back where He belonged, in the home, in the schools, in public places, in the courts in the House of Representatives and the Senate and in the White House.

If I had any doubts that this is a genuine war, they were erased when they brought in the Marine and rolled out the General. Tony Perkins, a former Marine whose rank was never revealed, assured us, “I never back down from a campaign!” and Lt. General Benjamin Mixon (Ret.), Former Commander, Multi-National Division, Iraq, agreed that the Military is its own “kind of subculture” and “open homosexuality’ would be detrimental to the troops and their families.

I confess I skipped some of Michele Bachmann’s 46 minute speech; I’d heard it all before. The evening finally closed with this admonishment by Star Parker:

“And now we’re yearning, waiting, to protect the interest of marriage, such a most humble position God would put us in, the marital sacrament, to recognize how personal and private that is. It’s absolutely under attack to the degree that in California they now have to stop a law, they have to form an initiative to stop a law, from teaching their children gay history. We are sick as a country, and we are going to have to recognize how deep this sickness is. So that when we get to November 3rd, regardless of the outcome, the same way big moral questions were on the table before, God would answer what we are praying for.”

War had been declared: And according to them, it’s God vs. us!

The next day Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (retired) Former Commander; Delta Force, marched onto the stage and laid out the rules of engagement:

“You don’t go into battle afraid of your enemy, you just simply don’t, you have to go in knowing that you will be victorious. You know it is important that we develop the attitude that we’re going to win because we have the ultimate force-multiplier with us, and that is God Himself, the Holy Spirit. You know, nobody in this country fought a greater fight to stop the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell than Tony Perkins; he used every resource he had to try and stop the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And you know who led the charge in our government to try and stop this repeal? That was John McCain. John McCain led the charge and John McCain kept turning to Tony Perkins, saying, ‘Where’s the church? Where are the spiritual leaders that are going to come along beside me, that are going to stand up with me?’ The answer was they were silent, the church was silent, and it is time for the Church to rise up like a mighty army.”

But it wasn’t all speeches and workshops. Those who were actually at the conference had an opportunity to visit the booths in the exhibition hall. There were books and badges for sale and buttons and brochures for the asking. In an article titled, “Antigay Message Is Everywhere at GOP Candidates Event,”  The Advocate wrote they had found disturbing imagery everywhere, with one table giving away buttons that proclaim, “Ex-Gay Is OK!” The list of more than 50 exhibitors includes the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX).

Saturday night, while some of the conference-goers attended The Faith, Family, And Freedom Gala Dinner in the Regency Ballroom (a black-tie optional, ticketed event,) which featured Phyllis Schlafly, whom Michele Bachmann has called the “most important woman in the United States in the last 100 years,” because of her fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, my partner and I celebrated the end of Yom Kippur with friends and family at a traditional Break-Fast at my nephew’s home. There we were greeted with hugs. He and members of his family call both of us Uncle and my cousins and their families and friends honor our relationship of almost 34 years. Here our life together is not called a “lifestyle” nor is our love considered an abomination. Over bagels and lox and kugel and herring we discussed my Yom Kippur War.

Make no mistake, America is at war. Our New Civil Rights Movement is under attack. Our families are under attack. This was the year of my Yom Kippur War; this is the year of your Yom Kippur War.

Stuart Wilber lives in Seattle with his partner and cat. Equality continues to elude them. (Image: Mathew Ryan Williams.)

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Trump Team Pushing ‘Utter Propaganda’ on Deportations to Create ‘Climate of Fear’: Experts

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January 24, 2025

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The Trump administration’s long-promised “largest mass deportation operation” in U.S. history, which was announced to begin “on day one,” has so far resulted in what some experts and immigration advocates suggest are an average number to mild increase in arrests and deportations. Activists, experts, and journalists are working to provide context to the White House’s claims of its own effectiveness.

“The White House said immigration agents have arrested 538 undocumented immigrants with criminal records and deported ‘hundreds’ more,” The Washington Post reported Friday. “Those numbers, if accurate, would be relatively modest for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge operations — a possible indication that the Trump administration’s show of force has so far outpaced the government’s capacity to deliver on the president’s lofty goals.”

Ahead of his inauguration on Monday, the media was awash with reports that President Trump’s mass deportation of undocumented immigrants would start Tuesday, the day after he was sworn into office, and one day after it was originally supposed to. Chicago was identified in reports as the first city to be targeted by Trump’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.

“ICE will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one,” Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan said, according to the BBC. “We’ll be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines.”

RELATED: ‘Hunting Grounds’: Trump Cancels Biden Ban on ICE Arrests at Schools, Churches, Hospitals

But Homan, who served as acting director of ICE during Trump’s first administration, then served up a curious claim: “Why Chicago was mentioned specifically, I don’t know.” He went on to suggest that the “leaked” Chicago details could be putting the safety of federal agents at risk.

“What was leaked in Chicago was more specific, what was happening, and that raises officer safety concern,” Homan said, according to The Hill.

Homan on Fox News had promised a “big raid” across the country, BBC had reported, and “has previously said Chicago will be ‘ground zero’ for the mass deportations.”

The mass arrests and deportations, despite appearing to be average, were heralded by the media.

Wednesday night, Fox News host Jesse Watters posted video to his Facebook page, declaring, “FOX NEWS ALERT: The largest mass deportation operation in American history is underway, and Primetime has exclusive photos of ICE’s first arrests.”

READ MORE: ‘Not Good’: Trump Proposes ‘Getting Rid of’ FEMA, Conditioning California Aid on Voter ID

Numerous media outlets blared that the Trump administration on Thursday arrested 538 undocumented immigrants.

And yet, according to a former Capitol Hill staffer, President Joe Biden’s average was often higher.

The White House on Friday posted an image to social media, declaring, “Deportation Flights Have Begun.”

Immigration experts, activists, and journalists pushed back hard.

“Deportation flights were taking place under Biden too. What’s new is the military aircraft,” noted The Bulwark’s Sam Stein. CNN’s Brian Stelter added, “Also new: The PR strategy.”

PR appears to be a major focus.

The Washington Examiner’s DHS reporter, Anna Giaritelli, quickly corrected the record on the White House’s above social media post: “DHS official authorized to speak with media said this is not a deportation flight — these are roughly 80 Guatemalans who were arrested AT the southern border recently and are being REPATRIATED. That is legally not a deportation.”

Immigration activist Thomas Cartwright, who, according to The Washington Post “tracks ICE deportations for the immigrant advocacy group Witness at the Border,” pointed to this data, and also challenged the White House’s narrative.

“Theater of the absurd,” he charged. “The only thing new about this is subjecting people to transport on a cargo plane rather than charter and the LOWER number of people on the plane – 75-80 compared to the average for ICE deportation flights to Guatemala of 125. In 2024 there were 508 deportation flights to Guatemala and in 2020 – 2023: 247, 184, 369, and 470, respectively. The 508 in 2024 represents just under an average of 10 deportation flights per week to Guatemala. Counting this flight there have been only 5 this week through Thursday.”

Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, also responded to the White House’s post: “This is utter propaganda and you have to make sure not to fall for it. There were dozens of deportation flights every single week over the last year and before that. Deportation flights never stopped. If they try to claim otherwise, they are lying to the American people.”

Reichlin-Melnick also blasted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in response to another of her posts on immigration. “Are these people seriously trying to suggest the deportation flights have not already been going on? They’re lying to you. The Biden administration had already ramped up deportations from the border to a higher level than it was under the Trump admin.”

And pointing to Cartwright’s data, he noted, “In 2024, ICE carried out an average of 4.27 deportation flights per day (which includes weekends and holidays) The normal weekday total was above 6 deportation flights a day, per @thcartwright. Deportation flights never stopped. This is propaganda.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times’ Hamed Aleaziz on Friday afternoon told MSNBC that the Trump administration is really going “on the offensive when it comes to putting out pictures of ICE deportations from the White House Twitter account, from Tom Holman being on several new spots, talking about deportations, it is front and center. And I think it’s an effort to show that President Trump is fulfilling this promise of mass deportations.”

He says their goal is they “want people to be uncomfortable. They want there to be a climate of fear. And ultimately, maybe people will decide that they want to leave this country voluntarily?”

See the social media posts above or at this link.

READ MORE: Danish MP Follows Profane Message to Trump With Warning to Greenlanders on US Civil Rights

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Not Good’: Trump Proposes ‘Getting Rid of’ FEMA, Conditioning California Aid on Voter ID

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January 24, 2025

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President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a visit to Hurricane Helene-damaged parts of North Carolina on Friday, announcing he is planning on reforming or “getting rid of FEMA,” and proposed an unprecedented move to condition disaster relief on the passage of a voter ID law by California’s lawmakers, “as a start.” Trump’s trip, which will include travel to California later Friday, appears designed to target the emergency management agency, which he has been criticizing for months.

In what appeared to be scripted remarks, Trump later elaborated that he would “sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think frankly, FEMA’s not good. I think when you have a problem like this, I think you want to go and, uh, whether it’s a Democrat or Republican governor, you want to use your state to fix it and not waste time.”

“Calling FEMA and then FEMA gets here and they don’t know the area,” Trump claimed. “They’ve never been to the area and they want to give you rules that you’ve never heard about, they wanna bring people that aren’t as good as the people you already have,” he alleged.

“FEMA turned out to be a a disaster. And you could go back a long way, you could go back to Louisiana, you could go back to some of the things that took place in Texas. And it turns out to be the state that ends up doing the work. It just complicates it. I think we’re gonna recommend that FEMA go away. And we pay directly and we pay a percentage to the state, but the state should fix it.”

RELATED: Is Trump Using Project 2025 to Eliminate FEMA?

In his wide-ranging remarks, President Trump also claimed that “rather than going through FEMA,” disaster relief aid to California and North Carolina “will go through us,” meaning, through his administration. FEMA is a federal government agency under the wide umbrella of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The president nominates the HHS Secretary, a cabinet level official, and the FEMA administrator.

And Trump appeared to say that he will assign Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley to manage financial aid to North Carolina, removing FEMA from the state.

“Trump also said FEMA would not be involved in further relief efforts and instead suggested that Whatley, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein (D), and a trio of Republican House members would be working with the White House directly because the agency ‘hasn’t done the job,'” The Independent reported.

“I wanna see two things in Los Angeles,” Trump also told reporters late Friday morning, “voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California ever has ever seen.”

“I want the water to come down and come down to Los Angeles and also go out to all the farm land that’s barren and dry,” Trump claimed. This week the President appeared to suggest that water runs only north to south.

READ MORE: Danish MP Follows Profane Message to Trump With Warning to Greenlanders on US Civil Rights

“So, I want two things,” Trump repeated, “I want voter ID for the people of California. They all want it. Right now you have no, you don’t have voter ID. People want to have to voter identification. You wanna have proof of citizenship. Ideally, you have one-day voting, but I just want voter ID to start, and I want the water to be released, and they’re gonna get a lot of help from the U.S.”

Trump later responded to a reporter’s question about his remarks on ending FEMA, calling the agency “a very big disappointment” that costs “a tremendous amount of money.” He alleged, “they end up in arguments if they’re fighting, all the time over who does what, it’s just it’s just not a good system.”

“I think it’s, I think when there’s a, uh, when there’s a problem with the state, I think that that problem should be taken care of by the state. That’s what we have states for. They take care of problems, and a government can handle something very quickly,” Trump said, appearing to not mention the scope of FEMA’s actions, responsibilities, and resources.

Jordan Weissmann, reporter for Yahoo Finance covering federal agencies, offers this explanation on California water: “The water issue Trump is fixated on doesn’t really have anything to do with the wildfires. It’s a fight between Central Valley farmers and Northern California farmers and environmentalists about who gets more fresh water.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump’s J6 Pardons Are ‘High Crime’ and ‘Abuse of Power’ Legal Expert Says

 

Image: Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and Franklin Graham in North Carolina Friday, via Reuters

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Danish MP Follows Profane Message to Trump With Warning to Greenlanders on US Civil Rights

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January 24, 2025

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President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark isn’t going over well with some Danes, including one of Denmark’s politicians who used vulgarity to express his opposition earlier this week, and is now citing a century-long historical record to issue a warning to Greenlanders on America’s refusal to grant full voting rights to its citizens in U.S. territories.

Anders Vistisen, a Danish Member of the European Parliament, reminded Trump earlier this week that “Greenland has been part of the Danish Kingdom for 800 years,” and “is not for sale.”

“Let me put it in words you might understand: Mr. Trump. f*** off,” Vistisen said.

Thursday night on CNN, Vistisen, a member of a right wing populist party, expanded his battle against Trump’s aspiration to annex Greenland.

READ MORE: Trump’s J6 Pardons Are ‘High Crime’ and ‘Abuse of Power’ Legal Expert Says

Addressing what he called the “argument that America can make a great deal,” an apparent reference to Donald Trump, Vistisen said, “we actually have some historical precedence for this. A hundred years ago we sold you what you call the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today, that territory still doesn’t have voting rights for your presidential elections.”

“That place doesn’t have a voting member of your parliament, the Congress — or the House of Representatives, and the Senate, and when I visited, when we had the hundred years commemoration, there was not a great lot of enthusiasm about the way the U.S. is handling that.”

“So I think if the Greenlandic people are looking carefully at this and they are looking on the U.S. overseas territories,” Vistisen continued, “looking at how Indigenous people are treated in the U.S., it’s very hard to make a compelling argument that they will have a better deal from the United States than what they have within the Danish realm, the kingdom of Denmark, where they have full voting rights in the Danish parliament are actually are overrepresented, and as you clearly stated, they have a very beneficial agreement, economically with Denmark.”

The Atlantic’s David Frum, a former Bush 43 White House speechwriter, responded to Vistisen’s remarks.

“In 1917, Denmark (legally neutral but sympathetic to the Allies) sold the [Virgin] islands to the USA to prevent Germany from seizing them for a submarine base. Also, the islands were economically desperate, and war-isolated Denmark could not aid them. As part of the deal, the US guaranteed Danish sovereignty over Greenland. Another reason that seizing Greenland would be an act of US bad faith,” Frum wrote.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Is Trump Using Project 2025 to Eliminate FEMA?

 

Image by Elekes Andor via Wikimedia Commons and a CC license

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