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GOP Intellectual Malpractice: Syrian Refugees And Paris Attacks Edition

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Opinion: 25 GOP governors now illegally refusing refugees, and all based on a fake Syrian passport. 

The level of Republican inhumanity and stupidity, and refusal to look for facts has reached new heights.

Remember George W. Bush and the lies he and his administration told in the run up to the Iraq War? 

Bush didn’t look for facts, and when confronted with them, he dismissed them. You’re seeing today by Republicans that same level of intellectual malpractice, a lack of curiosity about facts, a pandering to the base and an almost viral race to the bottom of the barrel of stupidity.

At least 25 of America’s 31 Republican governors today (and sadly, Democratic governor Maggie Hassan) have issued press releases, tweets, and executive orders mandating – and boasting – their state will not accept any Syrian refugees. Unfortunately, it appears none of them bothered to actually check if they have the authority to refuse refugees here legally, though an extremely rigorous federal process.

And, of course, these “pro-life” “conservative Christian” governors, it turns out, do not have the authority to refuse refugees.

But what they do have is the ability to grandstand and to turn the tide of public opinion against the very people running from terrorists, and have Americans see them as terrorists, so when they do get to America (insert obligatory “land of the free, home of the brave” quote here) many will likely become victimized by a pathetically ignorant, Fox News watching populace that equates “Muslim” with “terrorist.”

To be clear, even France has called the murder of 129 people in the Paris attacks, not to mention the hundreds who have suffered injuries, “an issue of internal domestic security.”

Or, to be even more clear, as ThinkProgress reports, “All of the attackers from Friday’s massacre in Paris so far have been identified as European Union nationals, according to a top EU official.”

That story about one of the terrorists having a Syrian passport is either fake, or his passport was.

Here’s the list of Republicans who have stated America should refuse Syrian refugees, or have stated they will not allow them in their state, all based on a false story about a Paris attacks terrorist with a fake Syrian passport.

Republican Governors:

Robert Bentley of Alabama
Doug Ducey of Arizona
Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas
Rick Scott of Florida
Nathan Deal of Georgia
Butch Otter of Idaho
Mike Pence of Indiana
Terry Branstad of Iowa
Bruce Rauner of Illinois
Sam Brownback of Kansas
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Paul LePage of Maine
Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Rick Snyder of Michigan
Phil Bryant of Mississippi
Pete Ricketts of Nebraska
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Pat McCrory of North Carolina
John Kasich of Ohio
Mary Fallin of Oklahoma
Nikki Haley of South Carolina
Bill Haslam of Tennessee
Greg Abbott of Texas
Scott Walker of Wisconsin
Matt Bevin, governor-elect of Kentucky

GOP Presidential Candidates:

Donald Trump
Ben Carson – no religious test, but an “ideological” one
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz
John Kasich
Rand Paul 
Jeb Bush – only Christian refugees
Carly Fiorina
Chris Christie – no Syrian refugees, “not even 5-year-old orphans
Lindsey Graham
Mike Huckabee
George Pataki
Rick Santorum

Image by Mike Licht via Flickr and a CC license

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Mother Starts $5000 GoFundMe for 1st Grader She Says Has OCD Because of ‘Critical Race Theory’

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Robin Steenman, the chapter head of “Moms for Liberty” in Tennessee, is raising money for a family she says has been so traumatized by “critical race theory” that a first grader requires psychological help.

The GoFundMe is asking for $5,000 because the family’s 7-year-old daughter is in treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder because she was taught “critical race theory” in her first-grade class.

Steenman recently appeared on Glenn Beck’s radio show to talk about her work in her community to create hysteria around the teaching of CRT. She boasted that she’s recruited 1,100 angry parents in her community to organize for “Moms for Liberty,” a right-wing group run by conservative women who masquerade as a community mom’s organization.

According to Steenman’s GoFundMe page, the mother sent a letter saying that both of her children are suffering from serious issues and her youngest child is a special needs kid about to enter Kindergarten.

“Most notably, my 7 year old (first grader) (sic) has shown the most tragic changes. We went from a normal functioning, sweet child to one who will literally crumble at the slightest challenge and word,” the story explains.

“My daughter started coming home asking very pointed questions about who she is and if she is a bad person. She came home extremely upset. She told me ‘Mom, I’m white. My friend is brown. I need to apologize to him for being white because white people have done bad things to people with brown skin,'” the mother said.

She cited the “Wit & Wisdom” program used by the school that they are now working to ban at the school board level.

The family hasn’t said whether or not they plan to launch a lawsuit against the school or the curriculum company for psychological damages, and so far are just asking for donations online.

“This curriculum has destroyed my daughter’s self-esteem and created a world in which she is fraught with anxiety and is now in treatment for OCD caused by the constant thoughts being represented by this material,” the letter continued. The mother also said that the child came home able to describe specifics about the Civil War “as if they had been there.” The Civil War isn’t generally taught in first grade.

“Lessons on the war and its causes usually begin in the fifth through eighth grades,” says a 2017 Associated Press story on the teaching of the Civil War.

The mother went on to claim that her 7-year-old now has “feelings of self hate (sic) that border on suicidal.”

She also threatened to take her children out of the school if CRT continues to be taught.

The story, according to the GoFundMe page, was first found on an Instagram page that posts stories of “children traumatized by curriculum & activist teachers in Williamson County Schools.”

You can read the full GoFundMe page here.

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BREAKING NEWS

Tucker Carlson Was Trying to Get a Putin Interview – And May Have Been Talking to a Russian ‘Foreign Agent’: Report

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Fox News personality Tucker Carlson’s bombshell accusations from last week – that the National Security Agency was spying on him, reading his emails and intended to leak them to get him kicked off the air – remains in dispute, but an Axios report Wednesday evening reveals what he may have actually been concerned about.

Carlson, according to Axios’ Jonathan Swan, was attempting to get an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he may have been communicating with a Russian spy in that effort.

Citing experts, Swan reports one scenario, and the least likely, “is that the U.S. government submitted a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Carlson to protect national security.”

“A more plausible scenario is that one of the people Carlson was talking to as an intermediary to help him get the Putin interview was under surveillance as a foreign agent,” in other words, a Russian spy. “In that scenario, Carlson’s emails or text messages could have been incidentally collected as part of monitoring this person, but Carlson’s identity would have been masked in any intelligence reports.”

Swan goes on to say that two sources “familiar with Carlson’s communications said his two Kremlin intermediaries live in the United States, but the sources could not confirm whether both are American citizens or whether both were on U.S. soil at the time they communicated with Carlson.”

“This is relevant because if one of them was a foreign national and on foreign soil during the communications, the U.S. government wouldn’t necessarily have had to seek approval to monitor their communications.”

But CNN’s Oliver Darcy urges caution, reminding that Carlson claimed the NSA was trying to get his show canceled.

As Axios notes, plenty of American journalists have interviewed Putin, so that’s not a problem.

What Swan and Darcy don’t discuss is the most obvious question: what was in those emails (or other communications) to a Russian foreign agent that would make Carlson, a conspiracy theorist, white supremacist, and white nationalist, think would be so damaging that they could get his show canceled?

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SUPERSPREADER AND SEDITION CAUCUS

Gaetz, Greene and Boebert Lead GOP Fear-Mongering Over Biden Door-to-Door Vaccine Info Plan: ‘Confiscate Guns Next?’

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) are leading the GOP’s fear-mongering disinformation campaign to shut down any chance of success President Biden has for his latest plan – still in draft stage – to help get more Americans vaccinated.

The Biden administration plan to send local representatives door-to-door to pockets where large percentages of Americans remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus, to answer questions and offer information, including on where they can get vaccinated.

“Those knocking on the doors will offer information about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine,” The New York Post adds.

But according to the most extreme Republicans, the federal government will be knocking on doors, compiling lists of who is not vaccinated, and even forcing needles into their arms on the spot – all of which are false.

Rep. Boebert promoted a tweet that falsely suggested personal health records would be used to “force” Americans to decide to get vaccinated. Then she turned it into an issue on her favorite topic: guns, falsely suggesting the Biden administration will “confiscate” guns next year.

She also said she opposes mandatory vaccines of any type for U.S. service members, which would lead to a national security crisis.

Not requiring vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, HPV, meningococcal, polio, pneumococcal meningitis, pneumococcal pneumonia, rotavirus, tetanus, whooping cough, and COVID-19 could turn the U.S. Military into a stew of disease and would lead foreign nations to ban our troops.

Meanwhile, Congressman Gaetz suggested President Biden would use the door-to-door information outreach to “make lists of people who didn’t want vaccines” and use them “to impact jobs, travel, or schooling,” which has no basis in fact, and would be illegal.

After using Holocaust, Hitler, and Nazi rhetoric to attack President Biden’s plan on Tuesday, Greene provided and vaccine disinformation on Wednesday.

Other Republican members of Congress also expressed opposition:

Ohio Congressman:

Texas Congressman:

North Carolina Congressman:

Florida state lawmaker running for Congress:

Sabatini opposes a woman’s right to choose:

 

 

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