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Evangelicals Melt Down Over GOP’s Support of Same-Sex Marriage

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The Republican Party’s decision to wave the “white flag” on same-sex marriage has left evangelicals fuming, according to a new report from Politico.

After Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel posted a tweet in support of LGBTQ rights this year, social conservatives “furiously dialed up McDaniel with complaints.”

“Tony Perkins, leader of the Family Research Council, lambasted her in a scathing blog post and even encouraged people not to donate to the RNC. But the attacks, particularly from the evangelical right, were met with a shrug by the party,” Politico reports.

GOP leaders’ willingness to brush off criticism from Perkins and other social conservatives — a key part of the their base — reflects the party’s “evolution” on the issue of same-sex marriage, according to Politico.

“Party leaders still exhibit strong opposition to transgender rights and the top legislative priorities of the LGBTQ community. But on the most prominent battlefield of the past few decades, same-sex marriage, they’ve all but conceded defeat,” the story notes.

Gay Republicans cite former president Donald Trump’s nomination in 2016 as a “breakthrough” moment for their movement — even though his record on LGBTQ rights was “mixed at best.”

Members of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP group, point to the fact that Trump was a “cosmopolitan business person,” didn’t prioritize anti-LGBTQ wedge issues during his campaign and made appeals to gay voters — even mentioning them during his 2016 convention speech.

Charles Moran, a spokesperson for Log Cabin, told Politico: “For the first time we got to walk into the race with a candidate we didn’t have to apologize for or explain away his reluctance to embrace the gay community. Probably Reagan was the last candidate where we were like ‘this candidate has gay friends.”

This year, the Log Cabin Republicans plan to hold their annual event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and the former president or a member of his family likely to be the headliner.

“But Trump also opposed the Equality Act — which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit anti-LGBTQ and sex discrimination in public accommodations and federal programs — appointed judges deemed hostile to LGBTQ issues, rolled back protections in the workplace for non-binary workers, and pushed for the removal of protections for LGBTQ people in healthcare programs,” Politico notes. “The Trump-era Education Department eliminated guidance that sought to extend protections around the treatment of transgender students,’ the story notes. “And Trump himself issued an executive order, via tweet, prohibiting transgender individuals from serving in the military — a move later overturned by President Joe Biden.”

Read the full story here.

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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Trump Plans Visit to Ground Zero After Attacking Biden on 9/11 Anniversary: Report

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4 hours ago

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September 11, 2021

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According to a report from the New York Post, former president Donald Trump is planning to visit Ground Zero in Manhattan on Saturday as part of the 20th-anniversary remembrance of the 9/11 attack.

Trump’s visit will come hours after he released a video using the somber day to attack current President Joe Biden over his Afghanistan withdrawal by claiming “The leader of our country was made to look like a fool, and that can never be allowed to happen.”

With Biden expected to visit Ground Zero early Saturday morning before appearing at the other two sites of 9/11 plane crashes, Trump told Fox News Friday night about his Saturday plans, scheduled for the afternoon, before taking an additional shot at Biden over Afghanistan, saying, “It is very depressing. his was supposed to be a day of victory. Now it is a day of embarrassment. How do you have this happen? I think Biden rushed it [the Afghan pullout] to try to claim victory and now, he looks like a fool.”

You can read more here.

 

Image: DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro via Flickr

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Internet Mocks ‘Laughably Fake’ Viral Video Claiming Military Pilots ‘Walked Off the Job’ Refusing to Get Vaccinated

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20 hours ago

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September 10, 2021

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The internet is mocking a viral video that been viewed over one million times in which a man claiming the U.S. is “in distress” says “my father told me” that the U.S. Secretary of Defense sent every member of the military a text ordering them to get vaccinated by 10 AM the next day.

12 U.S. Military fighter jet pilots “walked off the job,” the man in the video claims, instead of getting vaccinated.

CNN’s top fact-checker, Daniel Dale, calls the video “nonsense,” and he is being far more kind than many others.

Aside from maybe the man’s father telling him a false story, not a word in the video is true.

The website that ran the story is fake:

This is just one of several Twitter accounts sharing the same video. Apparently its author doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “apartheid.” If it were an actual “vaccine apartheid,” only a very few powerful people would have access to the vaccine.

Here’s how some are responding to the fake story:

 

 

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Capitol Cops Want to Know Whether They Can Meet Right-Wing Rallygoers With Lethal Force: Report

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1 day ago

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September 10, 2021

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According to a report from TMZ, right-wing rallygoers who are expected to descend on Washington D.C. on Sept. 16th in support of the insurrectionists who are currently being investigated and prosecuted for their part in the Jan 6th riot, can expect to be confronted by every member of the Capitol police force.

In a meeting this week, officers are expected to ask if they can use lethal force if necessary.

The latest rally, which has some extremist lawmakers such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) keeping their distance, will be met a greater show of force with officials telling TMZ it will be a day when “all hands will be on deck.”

Earlier this week officials announced new fencing will be reinstalled, with the Associated Press reporting, “A security plan that is being finalized calls for a fenced perimeter on the streets immediately surrounding the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, though not around the congressional office buildings nearby,” and strategy sessions have been ongoing.

According to TMZ, “field officers expected to show up for the protest so they won’t be outmanned and underprepared like they were back on that fateful day in January,” adding, “We’re told officers will get an official briefing Friday on strategy for the September 18 rally … and Capitol Police brass are expected to field questions from the rank and file.”

The report also notes that questions about the possible use of “lethal force” will also be discussed should the fence and Capitol be breached again.

The TMZ report also states, “D.C. Metro Police are also getting prepared for the Sept. 18 rally, activating the entire department of 3,300 officers … something that did not happen on Jan. 6,” before adding, “We’re told officers who did work during the insurrection are expected to work this upcoming rally too — despite the trauma they endured — but higher-ups are encouraging therapy sessions leading up to the rally.”

You can read more here.

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