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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Lindsey Graham Praised and Pummeled by the Left and the Right After His Nationwide Abortion Ban Bombs

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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is being praised and punished by Democrats – and mostly criticized if not just ignored by Republicans. Democrats are grateful for the massive “gift” he dropped in their laps, almost without warning Tuesday, by introducing a nationwide abortion ban that has no chance of passing the Senate, much less the House, or ever being signed into law by any Democratic president. In fact, it will never even be brought to the floor for a vote, at least not while Democrats hold the Senate.

Graham’s bill, which would ban abortion at 15 weeks (Graham got even that wrong at his press conference, saying “after” 15 weeks,) with few exceptions, is more extreme than even some states’ current bans.

It is a remarkable about face for a lawmaker who just 37 days ago on national television said abortion should be left up to the states, not the federal government. It’s also a snapshot of just how extreme Graham has allowed himself to become. Last year he introduced a 20-week abortion ban.

READ MORE: Watch: Lindsey Graham Introduces National Abortion Ban Weeks After Insisting ‘States Should Decide’

Many Democrats and voters on the left are thrilled Graham, they say, has exposed what the GOP’s real intentions have been all along: not “states’ rights,” but the control of women’s bodies and a nationwide ban on abortion.

Republicans and those on the right are furious he has not only exposed their goals but did so less than two months before the midterms, when early voting has already begun in some states.

Why?

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, overturning the nearly 50-year old Roe v. Wade decision that found women have a constitutional right to abortion, has been historically unpopular. It’s catapulted women to register to vote in numbers not seen in at least decades,

“No issue has upended the battle for Congress and state races as abruptly,” The Washington Post reported last week, adding that “female voters who drifted away from the Democratic Party after the 2020 election are shifting back. Democrats have overperformed in special elections, and voters showed up in droves to reject a ballot measure in ruby-red Kansas aimed at restricting abortion.”

READ MORE: ‘Many Crimes’: Hannity Mocked for Defending Trump by Scrolling Long List of Investigations

The right-wing Wall Street Journal earlier this month, reported, “60% of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from 55% in March.”

“More than half of voters said the issue made them more likely to cast ballots in the midterm elections; majorities oppose 6-week and 15-week abortion bans.”

U.S. Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-MD), one of the most-respected lawmakers on all of Capitol Hill, blasted the South Carolina Republican Senator and correctly framing the GOP as “theocrats.”

“Lindsey Graham’s nationwide 15-week abortion ban is a dangerous escalation of the GOP’s plan to destroy women’s health care. We won’t let it pass, but we see what’s coming if the theocrats take over Congress,” he warned, adding: “Pro-freedom Americans: stay vigilant.”

A popular Twitter account with nearly 300,000 followers that posts video clips on important news events, Acyn, who rarely makes political commentary without a video noted, “Lindsey Graham really seems to have made a massive miscalculation here.”

READ MORE: DOJ Has Issued 40 Subpoenas and Executed Search Warrants on Top Trump Advisors in the Past Week: NYT

Ryan Saavedra, a senior reporter for the far-right-wing website The Daily Wire lamented, “What a great way to energize the opposition against your own party just weeks before an election.

Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali, an attorney and author of “Go Back To Where You Came From: And, Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American,” says, “Republicans and Lindsey Graham have just handed Democrats a gift before the midterm with their national abortion ban. I hope Democrats recognize it and run ads and messaging on it nonstop.”

Activist and author Amy Siskind said, “Trust me: Lindsey Graham’s plan to remind us that Republicans took away women’s right to control our own bodies is not going to go the way he thinks it is.”

Attorney Ron Filipkowski, a former Republican and former federal prosecutor turned Democrat who works to expose right wing extremism observed that “Lindsey Graham just took a flamethrower to every carefully crafted Republican narrative designed to fool voters about their intentions on abortion. The American people can now see very clearly what they intend to do.”

He added, “Can we get Lindsey on the road to campaign in PA, OH, WI, GA, AK, AZ, FL? Can we pay for his travel expenses? Never thought I’d say this, but more Lindsey Graham please!”

Journalist Brian J. Karem says Sen. Graham “seems determined to make sure the GOP loses and the Democrats retain control of the House and Senate in the midterms.”

Even Fox News seemed stunned.

Host Bret Baier said Graham’s abortion ban is “raising eyebrows” and asked, “Are Republicans going down the wrong road with a nationwide abortion ban after saying it’s up to the states in the wake of Dobbs?”

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News

Arizona State Senator Proposes Health Study Looking Into ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

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President Donald Trump and his allies have long accused critics of suffering from the imaginary ailment Trump Derangement Syndrome. Now, an Arizona state senator wants the local health department to conduct a study on the made-up disease.

State Sen. Janae Shamp introduced Senate Bill 1070 on Monday, asking Arizona’s Department of Health Services to “conduct or support research” on TDS, “including its origins, manifestations and long-term effects on individuals, communities and public discourse.” If the bill were passed into law, the department would have a year to submit a report on its findings.

READ MORE: ‘Monstrous’: Trump Blasted for Blaming Rob Reiner’s Death on ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

Shamp’s bill defines Trump Derangement Syndrome as “a behavioral or psychological phenomenon that is characterized by intense emotional or psychological reactions to Donald J. Trump, his actions or his public presence as observed in individuals or groups.” From there, the bill lays out its reasoning—mainly a laundry list of Trump’s accomplishments, including reducing the corporate tax rate by 14%, eliminating “22 regulations for every new one in 2017”, and “affirming biological truth in federal policy to protect family values.”

“Despite these contributions to America’s prosperity, security 26 and values, ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (TDS) has emerged since his 2016 campaign,” Shamp wrote.

“TDS has led to significant social harm, with Americans who 33 support President Trump or his policies reporting discrimination, 34 intimidation or ostracism in professional, academic and social settings, 35 further eroding community cohesion,” she added.

The bill borrows heavily from a House bill proposed by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), according to Tucson.com. It is unknown what chances Shamp’s bill has of passing the Arizona Senate; Davidson’s bill died in committee. But even should it pass, it is unlikely to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

When asked if Hobbs would sign the bill, her spokesperson laughed and told a KTVK-TV reporter “You can quote me on that.”

Image via Reuters

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CORRUPTION

Sotomayor Slams SCOTUS Over Ruling ‘Declaring All Latinos Fair Game to Be Seized’ by ICE

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor had harsh words for the Supreme Court in her dissent in a ruling allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue to arrest people based on profiling Latinos working low-wage jobs.

Monday morning, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an emergency decision in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo. The case concerns “Operation At Large,” which deployed ICE agents in the Los Angeles area to car washes, bus stops, farms and other locations believed to be frequented by Latino people who may or may not be undocumented immigrants. On July 11, the Central District Court of California ruled that ICE had to stop Operation At Large until appeals in the case could be heard.

The Court’s ruling contained no official explanation for the ruling, however Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurrence. In his concurrence, Kavanaugh said the law allowed ICE to “‘briefly detain’ an individual ‘for questioning’” if they have “a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that the person being questioned . . . is an alien illegally in the United States.”

READ MORE: Loyalty Litmus Test? Trump Allies Quietly Prep SCOTUS Short List

Operation At Large, he said, represented “reasonable suspicion” to detain someone on the following factors: “(i) presence at particular locations such as bus stops, car washes, day laborer pickup sites, agricultural sites, and the like; (ii) the type of work one does; (iii) speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; and (iv) apparent race or ethnicity.”

He added that “apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion” but could be a “‘relevant factor,” and that if someone detained by ICE turned out to be a citizen, they would be “free to go after the brief encounter.”

Sotomayor disagreed that this is what was happening, citing what had happened to other citizens. Jason Gavidia worked at a Los Angeles tow yard that ICE stopped at. Agents repeatedly asked if he was a citizen. They then took his phone, pushed him against a metal fence, twisted his arm, and took away his identification, according to Sotomayor’s dissent.

“Other Operation At Large encounters have included even more force and even fewer questions. For example, agents pulled up in four unmarked cars to a bus stop in Pasadena; ‘the doors opened and men in masks with guns started running at’ three Latino men who were having their morning coffee, waiting to be picked up for work,” she wrote.

“In Glendale, nearly a dozen masked agents with guns ‘jumped out of . . . cars’ at a Home Depot, and began ‘chasing’ and ‘tackl[ing]’ Latino day laborers without ‘identify[ing] themselves as ICE or police, ask[ing] questions, or say[ing] anything else.’ In downtown Los Angeles, agents ‘jumped out of a van, rushed up to [a tamale vendor], surrounded him, and handled him violently,’ all ‘[w]ithout asking . . . any questions.'”

Sotomayor concluded that Operation At Large and the Court’s decision “all but declared that all Latinos, U. S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work, and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction.”

She also condemned the court for not issuing an explanation beyond the concurrence. She alleged that the Court had been eager to “circumvent the ordinary appellate process” when it comes to President Donald Trump and his administration.

“Some situations simply cry out for an explanation, such as when the Government’s conduct flagrantly violates the law,” Sotomayor wrote, adding that Operation At Large and the Court’s ruling clearly violates the Bill of Rights.

“The Fourth Amendment protects every individual’s constitutional right to be ‘free from arbitrary interference by law officers.’ After today, that may no longer be true for those who happen to look a certain way, speak a certain way, and appear to work a certain type of legitimate job that pays very little. Because this is unconscionably irreconcilable with our Nation’s constitutional guarantees, I dissent,” she wrote.

Image via Shutterstock

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law

Arkansas Senator Files Bill to Abolish State Library, Give Education Department Control

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The right-wing war on knowledge continues as an Arkansas state senator filed a bill Thursday to abolish the State Library as well as the library board.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro), along with State Rep. Wayne Long (R-Bradford), filed Senate Bill 536 on Thursday. The bill would not just remove all references to the State Library from existing laws, but also put the state’s other libraries under the control of the Arkansas Department of Education.

A previous version of the bill, SB184, would have also shuttered the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees the state’s PBS stations, according to the Arkansas Advocate.

READ MORE: Clean Up Alabama Wants State to Dump ‘Marxist’ American Library Association

The Arkansas State Library is not just a regular library. In addition to providing information to state agencies and lawmakers, it also distributes funding to the other libraries around the state. Under SB536, the Department of Education would take on all its responsibilities. The State Library is officially a part of the Department of Education already, but it operates as an independent organization.

While the proposal may sound like a shuffling-around of duties, the main thrust of the bill is to allow more direct control over the Arkansas library system by controlling the purse strings. The bill would keep libraries from distributing “age-inappropriate materials” to those under 17 years old and sex education materials from those under 12. Libraries would also have to set up a system where those in the community could request that certain items be banned for minors, according to KARK-TV. Those that don’t meet these restrictions will have state funding pulled.

Earlier legislation filed by Sullivan and passed into law includes Act 242, which ended the requirement for library directors to have a master’s degree in library science, the Advocate reported.  Sullivan, however, was unsuccessful with a proposed amendment to another bill that would strip funding from libraries affiliated with the American Library Association—meaning most, if not all of them. That amendment was rejected this week over concerns the language in it was too broad, according to the Advocate.

The ALA has been a target of right-wing politicians and activists upset with its free speech stance and fights against censorship. Sullivan in particular has objected to a provision in the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights protecting library access for all ages, the Advocate reported. He also called for the state’s chapter of the ALA to be defunded—despite the fact that it receives no state funding.

Image via Shutterstock

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