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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Racist Down to Its Rotten Core’: Schumer Blasts Tuberville’s ‘One-Man Mission to Defend White Nationalism’

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U.S. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered strong criticism against Senator Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday, after the Republican from Alabama once again defended white nationalism, this time falsely claiming the belief is not inherently racist.

“The definition of white nationalism is not a matter of opinion,” Majority Leader Schumer reiterated on social media. “White nationalism—the ideology that white people are inherently superior, that people of color should be segregated, subjected, and relegated to second-class citizenship—is racist down to its rotten core.”

“GOP Senator Tuberville has been on a one-man mission to defend white nationalism and even suggest that white nationalism is ‘American,'” Leader Schumer also wrote. “To speculate about what white nationalism means as if it’s some fun little thought experiment is deeply disturbing.”

On the Senate floor, in rare remarks denouncing a sitting U.S. Senator, Leader Schumer blasted Tuberville, saying the Alabama Republican on Monday “suggested that no, white nationalists aren’t inherently racist, that yes, white nationalism is American, and that the definition of white nationalism is a matter of opinion.”

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“It’s hard to believe that the senator from Alabama has to be corrected again,” Schumer added. “The senator from Alabama is wrong, wrong, wrong. The definition of white nationalism is not a matter of opinion. White nationalism, the ideology that one race is inherently superior to other people of color should be segregated, subjected and relegated to second class citizenship is racist, down to its rotten core. And for the senator from Alabama to obscure the basic nature of White Nationalism is indeed very, very dangerous.”

“These words have power and carry weight at the fringe of his constituency, just the fringe. But if that fringe listens to him, excusing, defending white nationalism, he is fanning the flames of bigotry and intolerance.”

“Last week, the gunman who killed 23 People in an El Paso Walmart was sentenced to 90 life terms in prison. He was a self-described white nationalist. The man who murdered 10 people at the Tops supermarket in my home state of New York in Buffalo was a white nationalist. And if those examples aren’t clear enough, let’s not forget Charlottesville, where neo-fascists, far-right radicals and far-right militias paraded through the streets carrying torches and chanting, ‘Jews will not replace us.’ Those who are white nationalists. This isn’t a joke. This is deadly serious stuff. And for a member of the United States Senate to speculate about what white nationalism means as if it’s some benign little thought experiment, is deeply disturbing. I urge my Republican colleagues to impress upon the senator from Alabama the destructive impact of his words, and urge him to apologize.”

Tuberville has a long and disturbing history of defending white nationalism.

In May he declared white nationalists are simply “Americans.”  He also said, “I look at a white nationalist as a, as a Trump Republican. That’s what we’re called all the time.”

Those claims came immediately after an NBC News reporter told Tuberville, “A white nationalist propagates Nazism, a white nationalist could be someone who doesn’t believe that Black and Brown people are equals…”

READ MORE: Republican Claims GOP’s ‘Whistleblower Witness’ Who Is Indicted but on the Run Is Being ‘Silenced’ by DOJ

Sen. Tuberville appeared on CNN Monday night and claimed that he is “totally” against racism, yet repeatedly defended white nationalism, telling anchor Kaitlan Collins (video below), “that’s your opinion” that it’s racist.

On Tuesday he argued with a reporter, who happened to be Black, when she asked him about his remarks from Monday night.

“Listen,” Sen. Tuberville told the reporter. “I’m totally against racism. If the Democrats want to say that white nationalists are racists, I’m totally against that, too.”

When the reporter tried to explain what a white nationalist was, Tuberville cut her off then said, “Well that’s your definition.”

Monday night the conversation on CNN was much longer, but little different.

“If people think that a white nationalist is racist. I agree with that,” Tuberville began, only to twist the definition moments later.

“A white nationalist is someone who believes that the white race is superior to other races,” Collins told the GOP Senator.

“Well, that’s some people’s opinion,” Tuberville replied

“What’s your opinion?” asked Collins.

“My opinion of a white nationalist,” Tuberville said, “to me is an American. It’s an American,” he repeated.

READ MORE: ‘I Am Far Too Busy to Be Prosecuted’: Legal Experts Mock Trump’s Request for Indefinite Suspension of Trial

“Now, if that white nationalists is a racist, I’m totally against anything that they want to do, because I am 110% against racism. But I want somebody that’s in our military that strong that believes in this country, that’s an American that will fight along anybody, whether it’s a man or a woman, Black or white or red – it doesn’t make any difference.”

Then Tuberville again turned the conversation over, immediately attacking Democrats by implying opposing white nationalism is “identity politics.”

“And so I’m totally against identity politics. I think it’s ruining this country. And I think the Democrats ought to be ashamed for how they’re doing this, because it’s dividing this country and it’s making this country weaker every day.”

“But that’s not identity politics,” Collins said, pressing the Senator. “You said a white nationalist is an American.”

“It is identity politics,” Tuberville insisted.

“You said a white nationalist is an American but a white nationalist is someone who who believes horrific things. Do you really think that’s someone who should be serving in the military?” Collins asked.

“Well, that’s just a name that has been given,” Tuberville insisted, echoing his claim on Monday that the only difference between an acting Commandant of the Marines and a permanent, Senate-confirmed Commandant is “just the name.”

“It’s a real definition. There’s real concerns about extremism,” Collins argued.

That’s when Tuberville again turned there tables.

“So if you’re going to do away with most white people in this country out of the military, we got huge problems. We’ve got huge problems,” Tuberville declared.

“It’s not just people who are white, it’s white nationalists,” Collins shot back.

“That have a few probably different beliefs. That have a few different beliefs. Now, if racism is one of those beliefs, I’m totally against. I am totally against racism.”

“But a white nationalist is racist,” Collins again informed the Alabama Senator.

“Well, that’s your opinion. That’s your opinion. But if it’s racism, if it’s racism, I’m totally against it,” Tuberville claimed.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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News

Lone Dissenter Calls Texas Supreme Court Transgender Ruling ‘Cruel, Unconstitutional’

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texas supreme court

The lone justice to dissent called the Texas Supreme Court ruling to uphold the ban on gender-affirming care for minors “cruel” and “unconstitutional” Friday.

The Texas Supreme Court, currently made up of all Republican justices, decided 8-1 to uphold a ban on providing gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers, to transgender people under the age of 18. The Court said that it did “not attempt to identify the most appropriate treatment for a child suffering from gender dysphoria,” claiming it to be a “complicated question” for doctors and legislators.

The Court ruled that even though “fit parents have a fundamental interest in directing the care, custody, and control of their children free from government interference,” that interest is bound by “the Legislature’s authority to regulate the practice of medicine.”

READ MORE: Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Vetoes Anti-Trans Bill After Talking to Families With Trans Kids

“[W]e conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature’s express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine,” Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle wrote.

Justice Debra Lehrmann, the only justice to dissent, was clear in her disagreement. She wrote that the decision means “the State can usurp parental authority to follow a physician’s advice regarding their own children’s medical needs.” Lehrmann identified that gender-affirming care can be “lifesaving.”

She also mocked the idea that the Court’s ruling didn’t “deprive children diagnosed with gender dysphoria of appropriate treatment.” Lehrmann pointed out that by upholding the law, it “effectively forecloses all medical treatment options that are currently available to these children … under the guise that depriving parents of access to these treatments is no different than prohibiting parents from allowing their children to get tattoos.”

“The law is not only cruel—it is unconstitutional,” she wrote, calling the ban a “hatchet, not a scalpel.”

Lehrmann also put the lie to the claims by anti-LGBTQ activists that surgery is common for transgender minors.

“Indeed, the leading medical associations in this field do not recommend surgical intervention before adulthood. Without a doubt, the removal of a young child’s genitalia is something that neither the conventional medical community nor conscientious parents would condone,” she wrote. “Moreover, medical experts do not recommend that any medical intervention … be undertaken before the onset of puberty.”

Lehrmann is correct. Prior to puberty, transgender care is basically limited to social changes. For example, wearing gender-affirming clothing and using appropriate pronouns, according to Advocates for Trans Equality.

Puberty blockers can be prescribed for those who are starting puberty. Puberty blockers are safe, according to Cedars-Sinai, and are not only used for transgender youth. A common purpose is to stop precocious puberty, which affects 1 in 5,000 children, including children as young as 6. For both transgender youth and kids going through precocious puberty, puberty blockers are known to improve patients’ mental health, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Puberty blockers are also fully reversible. However, in terms of trans youth, a study published in The Lancet found that 98% of those on puberty blockers went on hormone replacement therapy upon turning 18. But even for those few teens who realize after being on puberty blockers that they aren’t trans, all they have to do is stop taking them, and their puberty will progress as normal.

 

 

 

 

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BIGOTRY

Rep. Tim Walberg Tells Uganda to ‘Stand Firm’ on ‘Kill The Gays’ Law Ted Cruz Called ‘Horrific’

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Tim Walberg Uganda Kill The Gays Law

Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI) delivered a speech in Uganda to defend the country’s President Yoweri Museveni and the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, better known as the “Kill the Gays” law.

Walberg traveled to Uganda in October to attend a national prayer breakfast organized by the Fellowship Foundation, also known as The Family, which also covered the cost of his trip, according to TYT. In the speech, transcribed by the blog Take Care Tim, he told the attendees to “stand firm” in the face of criticism.

“Whose side do we want to be on? God’s side. Not the World Bank, not the United States of America necessarily, not the UN. God’s side,” Walberg said. “I think as we go on here, it says, ‘So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.’ – Who’s gonna do that? God is gonna do that. Your esteemed President, his excellency, President Museveni needs a nation that stands with him and says, though the rest of the world is pushing back on you, though there are other major countries that are trying to get into you and ultimately change you, stand firm. Stand firm.”

READ MORE: Mike Johnson Once Agreed to Speak at ‘Kill the Gays’ Pastor’s Conference – Until an NCRM Report

Walberg made it clear he knew his view would be unpopular in the United States.

“Now, this will probably get back to the national media in the United States, and I expect some pushback, but I’m not gonna give in to them. … I know that your President is a warrior. I like that about him. We’re in a battle, folks. We are in a battle,” he said.

Though Uganda has had homophobia enshrined in its legal code since it was a British protectorate, the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 is a drastic escalation. Previously, homosexuality was punished with life in prison, according to the Advocate. The new law allows the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” It also bans “promotion of homosexuality,” much like Russia bans queer “propaganda”.

The law is so draconian that Republican Senator Ted Cruz—no ally to the queer communitycondemned it. In May, shortly after Museveni signed the law, Cruz called the law “horrific” on X, formerly Twitter.

This Uganda law is horrific & wrong. Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is grotesque & an abomination. ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse. #LGBTQ,” Cruz tweeted.

Attempts to pass a similar bill to the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 started in 2014, with a bill also called the “Kill the Gays” law. That form of the bill was built by anti-LGBTQ activist Scott Lively, who previously claimed then-President Barack Obama was secretly gay.

While it didn’t go into effect then, the bill and ones like it kept popping up on Uganda’s parliamentary agenda. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden threatened to cut nearly $1 billion in annual aid to Uganda if the bill passed.

A previous version of this story credited Salon with the initial reporting; Salon had republished the article from TYT. The sourcing has been corrected; NCRM regrets the error.

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Federal Judge Issues Injunction on Idaho Anti-Trans Law Days Before It Takes Effect

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A federal judge issued an injunction Tuesday against an Idaho anti-trans law that would bar prescribing puberty blockers to transgender youth.

The Idaho anti-trans law, House Bill 71, was signed into law by Republican Governor Brad Little last April, according to the Idaho Statesman. It was scheduled take effect on January 1, 2024. Providing gender-affirming care to minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries would become a felony under the law. This is even though it is exceedingly rare for a person under 18 to be offered these type of surgeries, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, stopping the Idaho anti-trans law from taking effect in less than a week. Winmill said that the pending lawsuit filed by two trans minors and their parents will most likely succeed, citing the 14th Amendment, according to the Statesman.

READ MORE: ‘I’m Suing’: Montana Democrat Silenced by Republicans in Battle Over Transgender Health Care Files Lawsuit

“Time and again, these cases illustrate that the 14th Amendment’s primary role is to protect disfavored minorities and preserve our fundamental rights from legislative overreach,” he wrote. “That was true for newly freed slaves following the Civil War. It was true in the 20th century for women, people of color, interracial couples and individuals seeking access to contraception. And it is no less true for transgender children and their parents in the 21st century.”

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador told the paper he will appeal the injunction. Labrador claims “Winmill’s ruling places children at risk of irreversible harm.” The use of the phrase “irreversible harm” echoes the anti-trans book Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier. Shrier’s book endorses the since-debunked theory of “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.” The theory claims girls will declare themselves to be transgender as part of a “social contagion”—basically comparing transitioning to a fad.

Winmill, appointed to the Idaho district court in 1995 by President Bill Clinton, has recently ruled in other pivotal culture-war cases. This August, Winmill blocked Labrador from prosecuting doctors who send patients out-of-state for an abortion, KMVT-TV reported.

In August 2022, he also issued an injunction stopping Labrador from prosecuting ER doctors who provide an abortion in attempts to stabilize a patient, according to the Idaho Capital Sun, while a suit against the law.works its way through the court system. The injunction was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in September of this year, according to the Capital Sun, though the lawsuit itself is still pending.

 

 

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