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Supporters of Anti-Gay Marriage Bill Rally in Tennessee, Say ‘Cost of Tolerance is AIDS’

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Hate Group Rallies Outside Capitol Before Wednesday Hearing on ‘Natural Defense of Marriage Act’

Supporters of the anti-gay marriage bill set to be considered by a Tennessee House committee on Wednesday rallied outside the Capitol in Nashville this morning. They also reportedly circled the building in a pickup truck carrying a large sign reading, “The Cost of Tolerance: AIDS.” 

The extremist group behind Tuesday’s protest, DefyTyrants.com, hosted the event in December where GOP state Rep. Mark Pody stated that God told him to file House Bill 1412, known as the “Tennessee Defense of Natural Marriage Act,” because same-sex marriage is “wicked.” The bill would eliminate marriage equality in Tennessee by requiring officials to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, at a potential cost of $8.5 billion annually to the state.

Pody spoke with supporters Tuesday:

On the eve of Wednesday’s hearing on the bill before the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, Nashville Scene‘s Pith in the Wind, which first reported on the offensive sign, posted a photo of it to Twitter:

Nashville Scene adds that a handful of protesters from DefyTyrants.com held Bibles and anti-gay signs as they gathered on a sidewalk outside the Capitol. 

“I’m a United States veteran and a citizen of North Carolina, which is in the United States,” protester Alan Hoyle told Nashville Scene. “I swore an oath to defend the Constitution, and the Constitution says nothing about marriage, and a court can’t decide on marriage. No judge can make a law. A judge cannot rule against the people. We’re for natural marriage.”

DefyTyrants.com is the brainchild of Matt Trewhella, a radical Christian preacher from Wisconsin who once signed a statement in defense of the murder of abortion providers. 

Trewhella espouses a theory called “interposition of the lesser magistrate,” which is essentially the idea that elected officials have a Godly duty to “stand in the gap” by defying court rulings that go against so-called divine law. In fact, Trewhella has criticized the anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel for using “religious liberty” as the basis for its defense of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, calling it “nonsense.” 

“She shouldn’t be just trying to keep little Kim Davis from having to have her hand in the process of this abomination, two men or two women marrying,” Trewhella has said of Davis. “Her duty is far bigger than that. She actually has the duty to defy the higher authority completely and interpose on behalf of righteousness and therefore abate the just judgment of God upon our nation. That’s what true interposition of the lesser magistrate entails.”  

Trewhella was the keynote speaker at a rally supporting Pody’s bill in December, where the lawmaker told the crowd that God spoke to him personally during prayer and said his role was to fight marriage equality. Before Trewhella spoke, an unidentified man introduced him by saying: “Listen folks, we will not win without casualties. People get hurt in war. It’s a consequence of it. But if we don’t go to war, untold millions following us will be destroyed.”

Nashville Scene notes that Trewhella has also called for churches to form militias, and told his followers to buy their children assault rifles. 

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign released a statement Tuesday slamming Pody’s bill. 

“The Supreme Court of the United States has unequivocally settled the issue once and for all by making clear that loving and committed same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry,” HRC legal director Sarah Warbelow said. “This legislation is thoroughly unconstitutional, and it would no doubt cost taxpayers significantly in a vain, injudicious attempt to undermine marriage equality for LGBT Tennesseans.”

Also Tuesday, two more county commissions in Tennessee were set to vote on resolutions supporting the bill. Five county commissions in the state have already passed similar resolutions. 

The Tennessee Equality Project is encouraging LGBT advocates and allies to attend the county commission meetings, as well as the legislative hearing, wearing red. 

“Rep. Pody’s visions are dangerous because he claims a basis for making public policy available just for him and those like him —his belief that divine voices are calling him to thwart the rights of others,” TEN Executive Director Chris Sanders said recently. “Hearing divine voices as a basis for lawmaking may have worked for Moses, but Rep. Pody’s bill will not lead us to the Promised Land. It may actually lead to more violence against the LGBT community.” 

For people like Trewhella, that’s apparently the goal. Watch his speech at the rally in support of the bill below. 

 

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‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

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May 15, 2025

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Walmart has issued a stark warning about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, cautioning that their “magnitude” will directly lead to higher prices for consumers. The nation’s largest retailer made clear it will have no choice but to pass on the increased costs. President Trump, by contrast, recently claimed that Chinese manufacturers—key suppliers for Walmart and many other retailers—would probably “eat” the tariffs.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a press release, according to Yahoo Finance.

Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC, “we’re wired to keep prices low for customers, but the level of tariffs that have been proposed is pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are going to feel some of that.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

“We’ve not seen a period where you’ve had prices go up this high, this quickly,” he continued (video below). “We’re well equipped and experienced in dealing with elasticities or price increases that are going up 2 or 3 percent, but not 30 percent.”

Critics took the opportunity to blast President Trump’s tariffs.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Walmart’s warning a “canary in the coal mine for the devastation Trump’s tariffs will have on Main Street,” according to The Washington Post.

“If a retailer as big as Walmart can’t escape the pain of tariffs, what chance [do] small businesses have?” he asked.

Leader Schumer called on retailers to post how much tariffs increase the cost of each product.

READ MORE: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“Walmart’s announcement is a glaring reminder that even after supposedly backtracking on some of his tariffs, significant damage will not go away,” he added in a floor speech. “The chaos unleashed is eating away at retail, restaurants, small businesses, and middle class families wallets. It is still estimated these tariffs will cost thousands of dollars for each family each year.”

Cato Institute Vice President of General Economics Scott Lincicome served up this warning: “Buckle up.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

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May 15, 2025

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A massive banner of President Donald Trump is now hanging from the outside of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s building in Washington, D.C., opposite a banner of President Abraham Lincoln. Several critics are suggesting the hanging is fascist or authoritarian, with some saying it is giving off North Korea vibes.

“Looming down from the pillared front of the neo-classical facade is an enormous, brooding picture of President Donald Trump, adapted from his official presidential portrait,” The Independent reported. “The picture of Trump is reminiscent of portraits of leaders hanging from public buildings, often seen in dictatorships, monarchies, and in descriptions in George Orwell’s 1984 of ‘Big Brother.'”

Progressive nonprofit People For the American Way posted a photo of the USDA building with the Trump banner, also saying it is “echoing authoritarian dictatorships.”

“This is deeply fascist,” observed Democracy advocate, Army combat vet, and podcaster Fred Wellman.

READ MORE: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea,” podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen noted.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted photos of the banners being installed, while suggesting that President Trump’s policies have been good for farmers — a controversial opinion given his tariff and trade wars, and program cuts.

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote: “Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed.”

Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is “going to go full Putin.”

“Welcome to North America’s North Korea!” exclaimed Russell Drew, a self-described amateur historian and political junkie.

See the social media posts above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image: Public Domain photo via Wikimedia

 

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‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

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May 14, 2025

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Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lashed out as he was repeatedly corrected by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who accused him of breaking his confirmation hearing promises to the committee, during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Secretary Kennedy repeatedly interrupted Senator Murphy, forcing the Connecticut Democrat to declare that “none” of what RFK Jr. had said was true.

“You … promised Chairman Cassidy that the FDA would not change vaccine standards from ‘historical norms,’ but what happened as soon as you were sworn in?” Senator Murphy declared. “You announced new standards for vaccine approvals that you proudly referred to in your own press release as a radical departure from current practice, and experts say that that departure will delay approvals. You also said specific to the measles vaccine that you support the measles vaccine, but you have consistently been undermining the measles vaccine. You told the public that the vaccine wanes very quickly, you went on the Dr. Phil’s show, and said that the measles vaccine was never fully tested for safety. You said there’s fetal debris in the measles vaccine.”

Kennedy interjected: “All true. All true,” he insisted. “You want me to lie to the public?”

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

“None of that is true,” Murphy replied.

“Of course it’s true,” Kennedy said.

After more back and forth and an interjection from the Republican Chair, Murphy continued:

“Just this morning in front of the House of Representatives, you also said that you, in fact, would not recommend that kids get vaccinated for measles, you said you would just lay out the pros and cons. So this is the summation of everything that you have said to compromise people’s faith in the measles vaccine, in particular, is contrary to what you said before this committee.”

“You said you support the measles vaccine,” Murphy added, “but then you have laid out a set of facts that are contested, and I will submit information for the record from experts who contest what you have said about the vaccine, and the result is to undermine faith in the vaccine. It’s kind of like saying, ‘Listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but, you know, the lake is probably toxic, and there’s probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake, but I think you should swim in it.'”

Senator Murphy went on to challenge Secretary Kennedy, asking him point-blank, “Are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?”

Kennedy replied that during his confirmation he would “tell the truth,” and have “radical transparency.”

“Are you recommending the measles vaccine?” Murphy again asked.

“I am not going to just tell people that everything is safe and effective. If I know that there’s issues, I need to respect people’s intelligence,” Kennedy replied.

READ MORE: Trump to Middle East: ‘You’re the Envy of the World’

“You’re answering the question. I think you’re answering the question,” Murphy concluded, calling Kennedy’s remarks “really dangerous for the American public and for families in this country.”

Professor of Medicine and Surgery Dr. Jonathan Reiner, weighed in, saying: “The measles vaccine has 60 years of safety and efficacy data and was tested in a placebo controlled trial. There are no fetal parts in the vaccine. It doesn’t wane quickly. Sec Kennedy consistently misstates the facts about this vaccine. No amount of scientific data will convince him otherwise. It’s an obsession.”

Watch the video below or at this link:

READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples

 

 

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