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GOP To Use Bush-Rove Anti-Gay Hate Playbook To Battle Obama Re-Election

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The GOP has decided to use the Bush-Rove playbook of the early 2000s campaigns to drive voters to the polls by using anti-gay hate and a focus on social issues like gay marriage, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, religion, and abortion to battle President Obama’s re-election bid, which he announced Monday. Karl Rove, the man who claimed he would install a permanent Republican majority, used wedge issues like marriage equality to win the elections of 2000 and 2004, but left, some say in disgrace, when his tactics ultimately made his boss, George W. Bush, one of the most-unpopular presidents in recent history.

It took less than twelve hours after Obama’s announcement for the GOP’s Republican National Committee (RNC) to launch a new website, “Hope Isn’t Hiring,” as its latest Internet Alinsky-style attack against a prominent Democrat. Previous similar GOP sites included “Fire Nancy Pelosi,” “GOP Valentine,” and the now-defunct “BarackBook,” a Facebook-like parody that reportedly included statements like, “Barack Obama is now friends with Antonin ‘Tony’ Rezko.”

Read: “What The GOP Means By “Jobs Bills”

“Hope Isn’t Hiring,” essentially a fundraising site for the GOP’s upcoming billion-dollar campaign against the incumbent president whose poll numbers have remained remarkably consistent — and consistently above his Republican predecessors — lists five major “issues” in tabs at the top, including “Obama’s spending, Obamacare, Obamanomics, Broken promises, and Social issues.” The latter’s headline, in an attempt to appear like a legal arraignment, states, “The Case Against Obama: Social Issues,” and includes questionable rhetoric like, “Despite It Being The Law Of The Land, Obama Refused To Continue To Defend The Defense Of Marriage Act In Court,” “Obama Repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell While U.S. Troops Are Still On The Battlefield,” and, “Obama Opposed California’s Prop 8 And Has Expanded Government Recognition Of Same-Sex Couples.”

Many of the statements are decidedly anti-gay and homophobic, while others continue the GOP war on women and children, re-awakened after the November 2010 elections that gave the GOP control of the House of Representatives, a majority of governorships, and a heightened presence in other state and local governments.

Read: “The GOP’s War On Women And Children“

Yet this is a major gamble on the part of the GOP, which has decided to ignore polls which find that the majority of the American people do not want their government to focus on social issues. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that only 17% of Americans who vote or lean Republican say social issues and moral values are important, and rank them third of four major categories, after government spending and business and the economy.

The “Hope Isn’t Hiring” attack on Obama and the gay community also flies in the face of other studies which show that 51% of voters oppose DOMA, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage (even conservatives are evenly split on DOMA,) and three nationwide polls that show a majority of Americans support marriage equality.

“And you’d have thought the Republican National Committee would have gotten over the gay-baiting, what will all the senior level gays working Republican Hill offices, the RNC, and considering that the former head of the RNC, Ken Mehlman, was himself gay,” wrote gay activist and blogger John Aravosis, in “RNC thinks gays shouldn’t be permitted to visit their partners’ death bed,” Monday evening. “You’d think with all of that, the RNC would know better than to start gay-baiting yet again. But the Republican party just can’t help itself. Hate, intolerance and bigotry is what they know best, whether it’s racism against blacks and Latinos, sexism against women, or homophobia against gays. If it’s not about who you’re supposed to hate today, the Republican party just isn’t interested in hearing about it,” the well-known Washington, D.C.-based blogger stated.

“It’s just mind-blogging that with all of the challenges that face us as Americans, the Republican Party apparatus would resort to this demeaning fundraising stunt so that the red-meat crowd will become energized,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, Monday night.

HRC rightly points to poll after poll showing Americans of all political affiliations support the LGBT community, and offers these facts:

  • Just a few weeks ago, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 53 percent of Americans support marriage equality. A growing number of Republicans are beginning to support the same rights, benefits and obligations for all Americans irrespective of their sexual orientation. The same ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 31 percent of Republicans overall and 29 percent of conservatives support marriage equality. Last year, the Pew Research Center found that 41 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans supported marriage for all Americans.

It appears that the RNC has horribly misread the strong opinions of Americans. An HRC/Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Poll conducted last month found:

  • Sixty-nine percent of Americans believe that the Republican Congress is doing a fair or poor job of focusing on issues important to the American people.
  • Eighty percent of Americans believe that Republican Congress is doing a fair or poor job creating jobs and improving the economy.
  • Seventy-one percent of Americans believe that the Republican Congress is doing a fair or poor job of keeping their campaign promises. And 74 percent believe that the Republican majority is doing a fair or poor job of dealing with the federal deficit.
  • When giving a list of priorities, 54 percent of Americans rated the economy and jobs as their top priority; only 5 percent of Americans rated gay marriage as their top priority.

What the GOP and the RNC, whose new Chair, Rence Priebus has been conspicuously quiet since his election earlier this year, decide to do next will pave the way for the 2012 elections. But it’s clear that they’ve decided to look back at what worked then, not realizing this is a new millennia, and the American people, who have changed in the past decade, have more on their minds than social issues.

 

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News

‘Antisemitism Is Wrong, But’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Pilloried for Promoting Antisemitic Claim

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12 hours ago

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May 1, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was strongly criticized Wednesday after promoting a historically and biblically false, antisemitic claim while declaring antisemitism is wrong.

As the House voted on an antisemitism bill that would require the U.S. Dept. of Education to utilize a certain definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the far-right Christian nationalist congresswoman made her false claims on social media.

“Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews,” Greene tweeted.

The definition of antisemitism the House bill wants to codify was created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Congresswoman Greene highlighted this specific text which she said she opposes: “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.”

READ MORE: MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions

What Greene is promoting is called “Jewish deicide,” the false and antisemitic claim that Jews killed Jesus Christ. Some who adhere to that false belief also believe all Jews throughout time, including in the present day, are responsible for Christ’s crucification.

Greene has a history of promoting antisemitism, including comparing mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic to “gas chambers in Nazi Germany.”

Political commentator John Fugelsang set the record straight:

“If only you could read,” lamented Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Esq., CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. The Antisemitism Awareness Act “could not convict anyone for believing anything, even this historical and biblical inaccuracy. It only comes into play if there is unlawful discrimination based on this belief that targets a Jewish person. Do you understand that distinction @RepMTG ?”

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“Not surprising,” declared Jacob N. Kornbluh, the senior political reporter at The Forward, formerly the Jewish Daily Forward. “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been accused in the past of making antisemitic remarks — including her suggestion that a Jewish-funded space laser had sparked wildfires in California in 2018, voted against the GOP-led Antisemitism Awareness Act.”

Jewish Telegraphic Agency Washington Bureau Chief Ron Kampeas, an award-winning journalist, took a deeper dive into Greene’s remarks.

“Ok leave aside the snark. The obvious antisemitism is in saying ‘the Jews’ crucified Jesus when even according to the text she believes in it was a few leaders in a subset of a contemporary Jewish community. It is collective blame, the most obvious of bigotries.”

“The text she presumably predicates her case on, the New Testament,” he notes, “was when it was collated a political document at a time when Christians and Jews were competing for adherents and when it would have been plainly dangerous to blame Rome for the murder of God.”

“Yes,” Kampeas continues, “that take is obviously one that a fundamentalist would not embrace, but it is the objective and historical take, and *should* be available to Jews (and others!) as a means of explaining why Christian antisemitism exists, and why it is harmful.”

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere also slammed Greene, saying she “is standing up for continuing to talk about Jews being responsible for the killing of Jesus. (John & Matthew refer to some Jews handing over Jesus to Pilate,not Herod. But also: many, including Pope Benedict, have called blaming Jews a misinterpretation)”

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OPINION

MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions

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May 1, 2024

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Visitors to Oklahoma’s State Schools Superintendent’s personal social media page will notice a post vowing to “ban Critical Race Theory, protect women’s sports, and fight for school choice,” a post linking to a Politico profile of him that reads, “Meet the state GOP official at the forefront of injecting religion into public schools,” a photo of him closely embracing a co-founder of the anti-government extremist group Moms for Liberty, and a video in which he declares, “Oklahoma is MAGA country.”

This is Ryan Walters, a far-right Republican Christian nationalist who is making a national name for himself.

“God has a place in public schools,” is how Politico described Walters’ focus.

Last week the Southern Poverty Law Center published an extensive profile of Walters, alleging “hateful rhetoric toward the LGBTQ+ community, calls to whitewash curriculum, efforts to ban books, and attempts to force Christian nationalist ideology into public school classrooms.”

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“Walters is superintendent of public instruction, and public schools are supposed to serve students of all faiths, backgrounds and identities,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, told SPLC.

Walters is supporting new legislation in Oklahoma that follows in Texas’ footsteps: allowing untrained, unlicensed, uncertified, and unregulated religious chaplains and ministers to be hired as official school counselors.

“We heard a lot of talk about a lot of those support staffs, people such as counselors, having shortages,” Rep. Kevin West, a Republican, said, KFOR reports. “I felt like this would be a good way to open that door to possibly get some help.”

Walters praised West, writing: “Allowing schools to have volunteer religious chaplains is a big help in giving students the support they need to be successful. Thank you to @KevinWestOKRep for being the House author for this bill. This passed the House yesterday and moves on to the Senate where @NathanDahm is leading the charge for this bill.”

As several Oklahoma news outlets report, there’s a wrinkle lawmakers may not have anticipated.

“With the Oklahoma House’s passage of Senate Bill 36, which permits the participation of uncertified chaplains in public schools, The Satanic Temple (TST) has announced its plans to have its Ministers in public schools in the Sooner State. If the bill advances through the Senate, this legislation will take effect on November 1, 2024. State Superintendent Ryan Walters, a vocal advocate for religious freedom in schools, has endorsed the legislation. The House approved SB 36 by a 54-37 vote on Wednesday,” a press release from The Satanic Temple reads. “The Satanic Temple, a federally recognized religious organization, has expressed its dedication to religious pluralism and community service.”

READ MORE: DeSantis Declares NYC ‘Reeks’ of Pot Amid Florida’s Battle for Legalization and 2024 Voters

Walters responded on social media to The Satanic Temple’s announcement.

“Satanists are not welcome in Oklahoma schools, but they are welcome to go to hell,” he wrote.

Former Lincoln Project executive director Fred Wellman served up an equally colorful response.

“Hahahaha!!! You are an idiot,” Wellman wrote. “How did you not see this coming? Satanists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Pastafarians…come one come all! After all you’re not trying to establish Christianity as the state religion are you? We had a whole ass revolution about that. There are history books about it…oh…right. Not your thing. What a fool.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) served up a warning.

“The state of Oklahoma cannot discriminate against people or groups based on their religious beliefs,” the non-profit group wrote. “Walters’ hateful message shows, one again, that he only believes in religious freedom for Christians and that he is unfit to serve in public office.”

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News

Potential Trump VP Pick Says ‘If You’re a Billionaire’ You Should Vote for Trump

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18 hours ago

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May 1, 2024

By

One of the possible picks to be Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, seen as “rapidly ascending” the list, is urging billionaires to vote for the ex-president.

North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum “is quickly moving up former President Trump’s list of possible vice presidential picks because Trump’s team believes he would be a safe choice who could attract moderate voters,” Axios reported on Sunday. “Burgum is on a long list of VP contenders, but Trump’s rising interest in the North Dakota governor has been clear in recent weeks — and reveals his latest thinking about how he thinks his running mate could help him with undecided voters.”

Praising Governor Burgum, the National Review’s Michael Brendan Dougherty on Monday wrote he was “the only candidate in 2024 to easily exceed expectations in the debates.”

“He is a well-liked governor from a small state. He projects seriousness and sobriety, two qualities Pence also had that were important to balance the 2016 Republican ticket. Burgum is also good at championing Republican policy, including our desperately needed policies of energy abundance and supply-side reform. He is also the right age — 67 — with no signs of slowing down. Burgum needs to survive the millions poured into opposition research, but, if he does, I think he would bring credit and balance to the Republican ticket.”

READ MORE: ‘Next Week, Absolutely’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Will Move to Oust Speaker Johnson

On Tuesday, Gov. Burgum, appearing on Fox News, told Laura Ingraham, “when you see someone who cares this deeply about this country, what he’s going through and what the Democrats and the liberal media is putting him through, and how he gets up and fights for every day people in America every day, and then his policies are all in the right direction.”

“If you’re a billionaire and you care about your shareholders, you care about your family and your grandkids, you should be voting for someone that’s going to bring prosperity to America and peace to the world, that’s what President Trump is going to do, that’s what he did for us when he was president,” Burgum claimed.

The Hill adds, “Ingraham suggested a lot of billionaires are still planning to support President Biden, especially those that are the ‘Wall Street types.’”

Last year, asked if he would ever do business with Trump, Bergum told NBC News, “I don’t think so,” and added, “I just think that it’s important that you’re judged by the company you keep.”

Some reports call Bergum a billionaire, while Forbes last year reported it “estimates Burgum’s net worth to be at least $100 million.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Would Not Oppose State Pregnancy Surveillance or Abortion Prosecution

 

 

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