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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

US Senator Blames CRT, ‘Liberal Indoctrination’ and Lack of Religion for Mass Shooting in Small Texas Town

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Uvalde, Texas is a small town of just over 15,000 people. Almost all its elected officials, from the governor on down, are Republicans. That includes its Republican mayor who used a slew of curse words this week to attack Beto O’Rourke, the former U.S. Congressman who is now the Democratic gubernatorial candidate challenging incumbent GOP Governor Greg Abbott.

There are still many facts to be uncovered about the 18-year-old who legally bought two AR-15 style assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the three days after his 18th birthday, then went on to commit the third-worst school shooting in the United States this week.

While one lawmaker claims Salvador Ramos was born in North Dakota, various reports make it seem clear he grew up in Uvalde, where he has a mother and father, the grandmother he lived with for the past few months who he shot in the face before slaughtering 21 people at Robb Elementary School, and at least one cousin, an uncle, and a sister in the Navy.

The Texas Tribune describes Uvalde as a “tight-knit community” that “prays.”

Reports say he was a loner, bullied for a stutter and lisp, and had a difficult relationship with family members.

Although he was 18 he had not graduated high school, apparently ineligible after missing too many days of class.

But according to U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), the real problem, why 21 people including 19 elementary school children, are dead, is critical race theory, “wokeness,” “liberal indoctrination,” and a lack of religion.

Rejecting Fox Business host Neil Cavuto’s suggestion that “maybe stiffer background checks” would help reduce gun violence Senator Johnson, who is running for a third term in office this year despite pledging to serve only two, rejected any legislative solution to the explosion of mass shootings in America.

“No matter what you do, people fall through the cracks,” Johnson, appearing exasperated and shaking his head, told Fox Business. “You can’t identify all these problems. You can’t arrest somebody for a crime they haven’t committed yet,” he argued, something no one has suggested.

“These are difficult issues, but again, the solution lies in stronger families, more supportive communities. I would argue renewed faith. We’ve lost that. We’ve stopped teaching values in so many of our schools,” he added, despite most conservatives demanding schools stick to the basics.

“Now we’re now teaching ‘wokeness,’ we’re indoctrinating our children in things like CRT, telling, you know, some children they’re not equal to others and they’re the cause of other people’s problems,” he continued, falsely explaining what critical race theory is.

“There’s a sickness,” Johnson tried to get in as Cavuto jumped in to correct his CRT claim. Republicans have been once again pushing mental health as a cause for gun violence to distract from the fact that there are now more guns than human beings in America.

“These shootings were going on long before CRT,” Cavuto said.

“Well, I think I think CRT’s been going on under the radar for quite some time as well,” he claimed, which is false. Johnson has been one of the greatest spreaders of falsehoods and conspiracy theories in the U.S. Senate. CNN labeled him the “Senate’s leading conspiracy theorist.”

“Wokeness has been” going on, Johnson claimed. “Liberal indoctrination has been,” he added, baselssly opining that liberalism leads to more gun violence when liberals are more likely to oppose guns.

“This is a much larger issue than what a simple new gun law’s gonna – it’s not going to solve it. It’s not gonna solve it,” Johnson insisted.

No one has ever suggested a single gun control law would solve all gun violence, but the facts are clear. After Republicans allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004 a 2019 study found: “Mass-shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur during the federal ban period.”

 

 

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Pits Parents Against Parents’: House Republicans Pass Anti-LGBTQ Florida-Style K-12 ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’

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2 days ago

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March 24, 2023

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The Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives Friday morning passed HR 5, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” legislation similar to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ laws that have led to book bans and targeting of LGBTQ children.

The bill passed 213-208, with 14 Members not voting. All yes votes were from Republicans only. Five Republicans joined Democrats to vote no.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California warned the legislation “pits parents against parents.”

“The extreme MAGA H.R. 5 bill will let other parents dictate what books your child gets to read. It’ll make it easier for other parents to know if your child has an eating disorder, or is experiencing a mental health crisis,” Lieu warned.

READ MORE: Watch: GOP Lawmaker Orders Grieving Parkland Parents Removed From ‘ATF Overreach’ Hearing

U.S> Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) warned, “H.R. 5 would codify Republican book bans all over the country. Stories of Holocaust survivors, enslaved Americans, and over 1,600 other stories have already been pulled from shelves.”

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) said HR5 is “a vehicle for hate and political nonsense.”

Congressman Greg Murphy, Republican of North Carolina, in a recorded statement falsely claimed the bill was needed because “Children are being taught to hate our country,” and “parents are labeled as domestic terrorists.”

In his speech before the bill passed, Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared, “We believe parents should know what your children is [sic] learning.”

CNN reports the bill would also “require elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to obtain parental consent before ‘changing a minor child’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or allowing a child to change the child’s sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.'”

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the legislation “Orwellian to the core,” and promised it “will not see the light of day.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Far Right Christian Nationalist Brags His ‘Biblical Worldview’ Group Is Behind Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Anti-Trans Law

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2 days ago

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March 24, 2023

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation Tuesday prohibiting transgender people from using public school facilities that match their gender identity. Later that same day, Jason Rapert, a former Arkansas state senator and founder of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, posted a video crediting his organization for the legislation.

Rapert, a longtime religious-right activist and ardent Christian nationalist, bragged that this piece of legislation was first proposed by Arkansas school board member David Naylor during an annual NACL meeting, endorsed by the organization, and finally brought to the Arkansas state legislature by state Rep. Mary Bentley, who serves on the board of the NACL.

“The NACL has seven working committees,” Rapert said. “Those committees actually debate and discuss every major policy issue in this country, all from a biblical worldview.”

“We make model laws,” he continued. “Do you know that just recently Rep. Mary Bentley of Arkansas passed a model law that the NACL adopted at their last meeting in the state of Texas?”

“Rep. Mary Bentley, [who] is our chair of the National Legislative Council, she went to the Arkansas legislature, took that concept that came from Dr. David Naylor that was then adopted by the full body of the NACL, and guess what? It’s already been placed into law in the state of Arkansas,” Rapert crowed. “That’s the difference the NACL can make in your community.”

“This is what the NACL does every day all across this country,” Rapert bellowed later in the video. “We are fighting for the lives of little babies. We are fighting against the people that are putting the queer books into your school libraries and trying to groom these children into homosexuality. We’re standing up. We’re pursuing school board policies to save the nation. We are standing up and have our members running bills in the halls of the state legislatures to stand up against this woke ideology, to push back against the things of the devil in our country.”

In December, Rapert declared that right-wing Christians must rise up and “take authority” over everything from their local school boards to the federal government. The National Association for Christian Lawmakers seeks do just that, advancing legislation that fits their narrow conservative biblical worldview in statehouses throughout the country. The group’s advisory board includes politicians like Mike Huckabee and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as well as influential religious-right activists like Tony Perkins of Family Research Council and Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel.

This article was originally published by Right Wing Watch and is republished here by permission.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Watch: GOP Lawmaker Orders Grieving Parkland Parents Removed From ‘ATF Overreach’ Hearing

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3 days ago

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March 23, 2023

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U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) is being criticized for having the parents of a victim of the Parkland school massacre removed from a GOP-led House committee hearing on “ATF Overreach” after he deemed them “out of order” for remarks they made while a Member was speaking. Minutes later, Capital Police pinned the father to the ground in the hallway and arrested him.

“See this is, exactly what we have to avoid!” Rep. Fallon, chairing the joint hearing, angrily declared as he pointed his finger after the father, Manuel Oliver, made a remark that was inaudible. “Which is some minority of folks trying to silence dissent. Dissent shouldn’t be kryptonite.”

“There’s a decorum that should be adhered to,” Fallon, who recently refused to sign a statement denouncing white supremacy, said as he chastising Oliver.

After another, louder outburst, Fallon mockingly asked, “Is this an insurrection? So will they be held to the same — I don’t want another January 6.”

READ MORE: ‘Unlawful Incursion’: Manhattan DA Schools Jim Jordan for Demanding He Testify in Ongoing Trump Investigation

Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) responded, “If they’re trying to overthrow the government, they oughta be held to the same standard, but I think they’re trying to express their frustrations.”

Angrily again, Rep. Fallon interjected.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa,” he shouted as he banged the gavel.

“Member’s out of line,” Fallon said (incorrectly. The term is “out of order.”)

Shortly thereafter, Rep. Fallon had both Manuel and Patricia Oliver removed.

ABC News reporter Will Steakin, who was in the hearing, tweeted video and said bot Manuel and Patricia Oliver “appear to leave without resistance… moments later there was a loud thud outside the hearing room and I found Manuel being pinned to the ground by multiple officers.”

“Manuel Oliver, the father of a 17-year-old Parkland shooting victim, was arrested Thursday on Capitol Hill after he appeared to shout at a Republican lawmaker who was speaking during a hearing on gun regulations,” NBC News reports. Patricia Oliver, his wife and the mother of their 17-year old son, Joaquin Oliver, who was one of 17 people who died in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, was not arrested.

READ MORE: ‘National Security Implications’: Former DOJ Official Speculates on Ruling Ordering Trump Attorney to Hand Over Docs

On social media critics expressed anger at Fallon.

“Rep. Pat Fallon (R) thinks parents of slaughtered children should just sit down & shut up as Republicans maintain outrageously dangerous gun laws. He had this parent expelled rather than just giving a warning, which is the usual,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Texas Rep. Pat Fallon: You are the EXACT problem with the gun violence and why it keeps being the leading cause of death in children today,” wrote another.

According to the NIH, gun violence is the leading cause of childhood death.

Still another Twitter user blasted Fallon: “What disgraceful & despicable behavior by Representative Pat Fallon. Exercising your right to free speech is being an insurrectionist? The man lost his son. Have you no compassion? I think he has more than earned the right to be heard by Congress. Such an abuse of power.”

And one called Fallon “feckless.”

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