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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Under His Eye’: Outrage Swells Over Missouri Attorney General’s Transgender ‘Complaint or Concern’ Online Form

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The recently-appointed Attorney General of Missouri is under fire after a social media post revealed his targeting of the state’s transgender residents includes a form anyone across the country can fill out to report a “complaint or concern” about medical treatment given to transgender people in his state.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, who uses language like “woke, left-wing ideology,”  “clandestine, shadowy network,”  “pernicious threat,” and “gender mutilation” to describe gender-affirming care and the medical professionals who provide it, has already turned Missouri into the first state in the nation that effectively all but bans that medically-necessary and widely-approved care for both minors and adults.

“Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced plans to restrict health care for transgender people weeks ago,” the Associated Press reported last week, “when protesters rallied at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass a law banning puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for children. But the discussion was focused on minors, not adults.”

The Attorney General’s spokeswoman, Madeline Sieren, “clarified in a statement later in the day that adults also would be covered” by his order.

The New York Times this week cites Bailey’s “temporary order severely restricting gender-affirming care,” and observes: “this means gender-affirming medical care has been restricted by law or other means in 13 states, with another two under judicial review.”

Bailey has been very vocal – and very partisan – about his targeting of one of the smallest and most vulnerable populations in his state.

“There’s a woke left-wing ideology that’s masquerading as medicine,” Bailey told Fox News in March (video below), when he announced his emergency order putting in place heavy restrictions on gender-affirming care that all but ban treatment. “There’s a clandestine, shadowy network of these transgender clinics across the state of Missouri that we were unaware of until we launched our investigation into a particular clinic here in St. Louis that a whistleblower came forward and made some very credible allegations that amounts to child abuse.”

READ MORE: ‘License to Lie’: Watchdog Warns Fox News Will Now ‘Feed Viewers Rarest of Meat’ After Settling Dominion Lawsuit

“As our investigation’s gone on we’ve discovered what is a pernicious threat to children’s safety across the state of Missouri,” he claimed, falsely, while promising to use “the legal recourse we have available to us now to stand in the gap, to protect kids and give our general assembly time to enact a more thorough bill that will put an end to this kind of gender mutilation.”

“We’re not going to let left-wing ideologues experiment on children here in the state of Missouri.”

That last line was the quote he used to promote his interview with Fox News, an interview that was primarily about his efforts to remove St. Louis’ top prosecutor.

That whistleblower’s alleged “very credible allegations” were quickly “called into question,” New York magazine’s Intelligencer reports.

“At least 20 people, including parents of patients and patients themselves, have given accounts that directly challenge the key claims made by [Jamie] Reed in the Free Press.”

Two days before his Fox News interview, Bailey declared his intentions as he promoted an article from the far-right Breitbart website.

“Protecting kids is always worth the effort, and we need to get creative and use every legal recourse we have available to us to stand up and protect kids from this kind of predatory left-wing ideology masquerading as medicine,” he tweeted.

In his exclusive Breitbart interview, Bailey said: “We’re on offense on all fronts,” against gender-affirming treatment. “We marshaled state resources, we’re looking at licensure penalties, we’re looking at Medicaid fraud penalties. We’re looking at consumer protection issues.”

“We’re not finished yet … this is a multifaceted, multi-pronged approach. … It’s worth doing because kids are worth protecting,” Bailey added.

READ MORE: Kevin McCarthy Went to Wall St. To Sell His ‘Debt-Ceiling Hostage-Taking’ Scheme – It’s Not Going Well

Also in March, Missouri’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported: “World’s leading transgender health experts attack regulations planned by Missouri AG.”

“Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s proposed rules [on transgender medical care] are ‘based upon manipulated statistics, flawed reports, and incomplete data, and prevents the provision of medically-necessary care,’ read a statement from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “The association is made up of nearly 3,000 providers and researchers who care for and study transgender and gender-diverse people across the globe in order to provide the best care.”

AG Bailey has continued to promote his attacks on transgender Missourians – and promote himself – as recently as Wednesday morning, in an announced interview with far-right and publicly censured former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, on her American Family Radio show. AFR is the “broadcast ministry” of the American Family Association, which appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups.

AG Bailey, in fact, is very comfortable promoting his attacks on transgender Missourians, and himself. After being appointed as Attorney General in January, Bailey must run for and win election next year to keep his job.

On Monday, Bailey posted a well-produced video highlighting tweets praising his actions, some including against transgender people.

“I’m passionate about defending the Constitution, upholding the rule of law, and protecting the liberties of the people of the state of Missouri.I’m proud of the successes we’ve had in my first one hundred days, and I’m excited to see all this office will achieve moving forward,” he wrote.

Among those tweets he chose to include are messages from the Family Research Council, which also appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups, and FRC’s president, Tony Perkins. Also, the far-right extremist group Moms for Liberty.

On Tuesday, a social media post by an author and theology and culture scholar drew a great deal of attention.

READ MORE: Smartmatic Vows to ‘Expose the Rest’ of Fox News’ Alleged ‘Misconduct’ After Dominion Settles Massive Lawsuit: Report

“Missouri now has a page where people can report trans individuals and the people who help them to the state,” David W. Congdon wrote, adding, “I hate this place.”

He included a screenshot from AG Bailey’s “Transgender Center Concerns Form.”

“Complete this form to submit a complaint or concern about gender transition intervention you have experienced or observed in Missouri,” Bailey’s form reads. “Please complete this form in as much detail as possible.”

There has been great outrage over the form, which requires no proof, no identity check, not even a “Captcha,” as some on social media noted.

“This is sick…wtf” noted journalist Yashar Ali.

“Across the U.S., states increasingly are acting like fascist theocracies. If you think they’ll stop at trans people, you think wrong,” tweeted Ashton Pittman, news editor for the Mississippi Free Press.

“I’m not sure how many steps into the ‘first they came for…’ poem we’re into, but fuck this absolute nonsense,” wrote journalist Matt Novak.

Jeff Sharlet, author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power,” and “C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy,” which led to his Netflix series, “The Family,” simply tweeted, “Under his eye,” a reference to “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“If Republicans want to dodge the ‘Nazi’ allegations, maybe they shouldn’t have a form urging people to report queers to the state,” wrote actor Abe Goldfarb.

“This is awful,” wrote journalist Richelle Carey.

Author and researcher Jason Colavito: “As godawful as this is, it’s pretty much exactly what Republicans did in the 1950s when they established homosexual snitch lines for spying neighbors to call in tips about suspected gay people so they could be prosecuted.”

Here are a few more responses via Twitter:

“The Nazis also created methods to monitor and control social behavior…”

“This is Nazi shit. If you think they’ll just stop there, you’re insane. It’s time to flee.”

“everyone go spam the shit out of this form…”

“the supreme court making it legal to offer bounties for snitching leads to this, where everyone is a potential informant and nobody trusts anyone near them, only the state. it’s fascism incarnate, and it’s why the “culture war” is an essential part of the conservative project.”

Watch the video and read the tweet above or at this link.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Why So Much Hate From You?’: Mark Cuban Smacks Down Stephen Miller, Twice

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3 weeks ago

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September 5, 2023

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A far-right wing pundit’s decision to go after a 29-year old woman’s TikTok video about her plans for a relaxing Saturday during a holiday weekend sparked a firestorm between billionaire businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and former Trump White House aide Stephen Miller, with the woman revealing later some of the hate she received after being made a target.

It all started when “Theocratic fascist” Matt Walsh, as he calls himself, reposted a TikTok video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter,  from a woman who says she’s “29 and single, and I don’t have kids yet.” The woman, identified by Mediaite as Julia Mazur, told her followers she slept in Saturday morning, woke up with a hangover and didn’t get up until 10:15 AM, after going to a Beyoncé concert the night before.

Mazur described her upcoming day, saying she enjoys not having plans, kids, a husband, or errands, and loves going wherever the day takes her. She was looking forward to watching some streaming shows on Netflix and Hulu, and possibly learning how to make shakshuka.

“I wouldn’t want to do anything else this Saturday,” she said happily.

READ MORE: ‘Putting National Security at Risk’: Pressure on Tuberville Ramps Up as Army, Navy, Air Force Chiefs Go Public

Walsh responded to Mazur’s casual celebration of a joyous weekend by saying, “Her life doesn’t revolve around her family and kids so instead it revolves around TV shows and pop stars. Worst of all she’s too stupid to realize how depressing this is.”

“If you don’t have a family at least do something interesting with your time,” Walsh continued. “These people have absurd amounts of free time and they do absolutely nothing with it. Wasting their lives staring at little glowing boxes. Absolutely soul crushing.”

Cuban stepped in, snarking on Walsh: “Says the guy who’s life revolves around Twitter/X.”

“How do you know she isnt trying to make it her job ? She has really good engagement and increasing numbers,” Cuban added.

That’s when Miller jumped in.

“You have a large following,” Miller, the architect of the Trump administration’s family separation policy, began. “People listen to your advice. What would you say is a more fulfilling path for adults: starting a family, or sleeping late and watching TV? What advice would you give to someone who suggests they wish to be childless so they can stream more shows?”

“Thanks for asking Stephen,” Cuban said in his lengthy response, which included him saying Mazur having a family or not is “none of my fucking business.”

READ MORE: Federal Court Issues Scathing Unanimous Ruling Against Alabama After ‘Unlawfully’ Reducing Power of Black Voters

He also asked Miller, “what happened that causes you to hate so much. Seriously Stephen. Why so much hate from you?”:

“1. I wouldn’t give her advice unless she asked. 2. After looking at the comments to her posts, I would thank her for offering a place for people who can relate to her, to engage and have a conversation. She replies to the comments and based on that, people seem to appreciate it 3. From a business perspective, I would tell her that the Wellness Space is crowded but if she does this in addition to her job, she might be able to build a nice business. 4. As far as a family. I would tell her to do whatever she thinks is best for her. It’s none of my fucking business 5. If I had you both in a room , I would point at her and thank her for trying to bring joy to others and I would point at you and ask what happened that causes you to hate so much. Seriously Stephen. Why so much hate from you?”

The exchange didn’t end there.

“In the interests of time I will respond with two points,” Miller replied. “1. No society can succeed where the constant message from our elites leaders is do whatever the hell you want and don’t worry about children. Children are simply the most important thing in the whole world and the foundation of civilization and all human flourishing. 2. Could you be more specific with your crass (and, I think you would acknowledge, unprovoked) smear on point 5? The issue/work with which I’m arguably most associated, stopping human smuggling and trafficking, is quite literally about saving human lives.”

Cuban replied, in an even lengthier response that included saying, “What any individual does in terms of having children or not is their choice. Full Stop.”

“Maybe I’m wrong , but if one of those children is born to an illegal immigrant, my understanding is that you do not want to help them and you want to deport them ?” he added, calling that “hateful.”

READ MORE: ‘You Will Be Removed in Jesus’s Name’: Christian Nationalist Megachurch Behind Takeover of California School Board

Ultimately, Mazur posted another video, detailing some of the hate messages she’s received since Walsh’s initial post.

Walsh’s platform often revolves around attacking the LGBTQ community, including especially transgender girls and women, He has been included in reporting on white Christian nationalism, and “far-right media instigators.” He also recently warned, “whites are trending towards extinction in the United States.”

Mazur said Walsh’s followers told her, “I should actually die and never leave my house. I should be sexually assaulted,” she said, adding she was told, “I’m a whore.”

“These people were really really really riled up about my choices,” she said.

But Mazur concluded, “life’s too short figuring out what Matt Walsh wants us to do.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Image of Mark Cuban via Shutterstock

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Liberal Fox News Co-Host Destroys Conservatives’ Claims the Right Holds the Majority Opinion on Culture War Issues

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1 month ago

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August 17, 2023

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Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov, the lone liberal on the the right-wing cable channel’s very popular afternoon show “The Five,” destroyed her conservative co-hosts’ talking points on a wide variety of culture war issues.

Behind a chyron of “Tyranny of the Minority” – related to remark made by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – Tarlov on Wednesday fed facts to the conservatives who tried to claim the majority of Americans oppose the right to choose an abortion, and the majority of Americans do not support transgender people.

“On the trans issue, for instance,” Tarlov offered, “our own Fox polling shows that 57% of Americans think that trans kids and their families being the target of political attacks, as in these anti-trans bills, is a major problem.”

“When you look at the actual numbers of kids that are, for instance, they have gender dysphoria, and they’re getting top surgery. How many kids do you think got top surgery last year?” she asked, not receiving a response from any of her co-hosts.

READ MORE: DeSantis ‘Shuts Down’ Question of How He Would Handle His Kids Being LGBTQ: ‘We’ll Leave That Between My Wife and I’

“Under 300,” answered Tarlov, who “holds two Master’s degrees in political science and public policy, as well as a Ph.D. in Government from the London School of Economics and Political Science,” according to Variety.

“Then think about an issue that’s really important to Democrats –” she suggested, trying to continue before co-host Greg Gutfeld interjected, asking: “Children?”

“Minors,” she responded, referring to the question of top surgery.

“That’s an atrocity,” Gutfeld declared. “But continue,” he added, laughing.

“But over 5800 kids were victims of gun violence, for instance,” Tarlov pointed out. “I don’t hear Republicans talking about that. Tyranny of the minority –” she again tried to continue before Gutfeld interrupted.

“Oh, what a false comparison,” he snarked.

READ MORE: Former Santos Staffer Indicted on Wire Fraud and Identity Theft Charges: Report

“It absolutely isn’t,” responded Tarlov. “It’s a priority on the right to talk about trans issues, a priority on the left to talk about gun violence. Which affects more people?” she asked.

“Abortion is another instance of the tyranny of the minority,” Tarlov continued. “I get it, federalism – you send it back to the states where a group of elected officials have decided, for instance, in like Texas, Louisiana, that women should not be able to get abortions after six weeks. We have women that are bleeding out, going into sepsis. In Louisiana, a woman was forced to carry a baby that had no skull.”

Gutfeld, apparently outraged, screamed, “What does this have to do with this topic?”

“What are you talking about?” she replied. “This is, he says tyranny of the minority.”

“But that had to do with LGBTQ,” Jeanine Pirro interjected, “not with all of your favorite issues.”

“He’s running to be president of the United States of America,” Tarlov argued.

“But that’s not what we’re talking about, we’re talking about –  I asked you specifically about pronouns,” Pirro complained.

READ MORE: Democratic Senator Slams ‘Racist’ Videos That Will Be ‘Piped Straight Into the Bloodstream’ of Florida Schoolchildren

“And I said he was wrong to act as if the GOP is the party of the majority opinion – they are not. They’re taking minority positions and running with them,” Tarlov explained.

An agitated Gutfeld again interjected, “Pro-life isn’t a minority position.”

“It is, actually,” she replied.

“What, are you gonna talk about the fact that it’s like 48%,” Gutfeld, hands raised, again snarked.

“No, I’m going to talk about the 69% – it’s the highest it’s ever been recorded – that now support abortion at least through the first trimester,” she replied. “And what’s happening then in Ohio and Kansas and Kentucky.”

“What’s the Democrat stance on abortion?” Gutfeld asked.

“That it’s between a woman and her doctor to make those decisions,” she said.

“No, what’s the what’s the cut off?” Gutfeld asked. “Is that what you call that tyranny of minority as well?”

Frustrated, Gutfeld added, “I think the logic here is that you’re slicing these issues –”

“Are you talking about, ‘we want to kill live babies’?” Tarlov asked, referring to conservative talking points.

“I didn’t say that,” Gutfeld replied.

“I’m just pointing out that this isn’t actually the right argument, but go ahead,” he offered, before Pirro took over and said, “I’d like to get back to the issue.”

Watch below or at this link.

 

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘That’s How Fascists Talk’: Matt Gaetz Slammed for Threat of Violence

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1 month ago

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August 13, 2023

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According to an expert on authoritarianism, comments made by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Saturday while standing with former president Donald Trump should raise flags as he promised to use “force” to create change in Washington, D.C.

Considering the former president was recently indicted for conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 insurrection that led to lawmakers fleeing for their lives, historian and author Ruth Ben-Ghiat called Gaetz comments alarming.

Speaking before a crowd at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, Gaetz stated, “Mr. President, I cannot stand these people that are destroying our country. They are opening our borders. They are weaponizing our federal law enforcement against patriotic Americans who love this nation as we should,” before adding, “But we know that only through force do we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington, D.C. And so to all my friends here in Iowa, when you see them come for this man, know that they are coming for our movement and they are coming for all of us.”

Reacting to Gaetz’s proclamations, Ben-Ghiat told MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin, “What he is saying is that they are not going to have change through elections or through legislation or through reform. They are going to have change through violence.”

“And that’s how fascists talk,” she added. “So, even if Trump is out of the picture, these are people who have adopted methods very familiar to me as a historian of fascism, that violence and corruption and lying that’s what the party is today.”

Watch below or at the link:

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