Connect with us

Michigan GOP Pass Bullying Bill Giving ‘License To Bully’

Published

on

Michigan Senate Republicans have passed a bullying bill — not an anti-bullying bill — that actually gives license to bully. In an Orwellian twist, the bill, which passed 26-11, with zero Democratic votes, allows kids to be bullied by anyone: teachers, fellow students, school employees, volunteers and parents, if they can provide a so-called religious or moral reason for their actions, giving the phrase, “the devil made me do it” sufficient validity.

The bill itself amounts to a white collar hate crime against all victims of anti-gay bullying motivated suicide, as it’s named for a Michigan teen who died by suicide as a result of bullying. As one lawmaker, Michigan State Senator Gretchen Whitmer said in an impassioned speech (video below), “the saddest and sickest irony of this whole thing is that it’s called ‘Matt’s Safe School Law’. And after the way that you’ve gutted it, it wouldn’t have done a damn thing to save Matt!”

The bill is named for Matt Epling (photo.)

The Michigan Messenger reports:

In a floor speech Minority Leader in the Senate Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) slammed the Republicans over the amended language.

“Here today you claim to be protecting kids and you’re actually putting them in more danger,” Whitmer said. “But bullying is not OK. We should be protecting public policy that protects kids — all kids, from bullies — all bullies. But instead you have set us back further by creating a blueprint for bullying.”

“Shockingly, Senate Bill 137 will do more harm than good. Senate Republicans left our students behind in favor of partisan politics and passed a bill that actually allows more bullying. Students and parents expect lawmakers to lead the charge against bullying, but instead Republicans made ideology more important than school safety,” said Emily Dievendorf, policy director of Equality Michigan. “Research clearly shows that only states with enumerated bills see a reduction in bullying. We need a bill that mentions the most affected populations and requires statewide reporting of bullying and harassment. SB 137 simply does nothing to reduce bullying in our schools.”

“To the families of the ten reported suicides that were directly linked to bullying and the countless others that have gone unreported, this bill adds insult to injury,” said Senator Glenn Anderson (D-Westland). “I have been working for years to pass legislation to provide a safe school environment for all of our students. This bill goes in the exact opposite direction and in fact provides a license to bully.”

The legislation passed 26-11. It now moves to the Republican-controlled House.

“I am ashamed that this could be Michigan’s bill on anti-bullying, when in fact it is a ‘bullying is OK in MI’ law,” said Kevin Epling, an East Lansing parent whose son committed suicide as a result of bullying. His comment was posted on his Facebook page.

In an interview he had more to say.

“For years the line has been ‘no protected classes,’ and the first thing they throw in — very secretly — was a very protected class, and limited them from repercussions of their own actions. This line has no purpose within this piece of legislation except to incite ‘religious bigotry’ within our schools. Schools are trying to build more tolerant students and future leaders, not automatons blindly following misguided adult leaders who seek a return to a 1950′s America,” Epling said. “This will only cause unrest in schools and give schools one more thing to deal with rather than trying to solve a problem. Also it is not a very well thought out ploy, as in some areas of the state the tables might be turned on the ‘anointed ones’ they seek to keep from being punished. This is just very wrong and the way it was done was wrong as well. It was bullying at its best.”

The Detroit Free Press notes:

Kevin Epling, whose son Matt Epling killed himself in 2002 after being bullied, said that the added language will allow anyone to bully a student and cite their religious beliefs. He has worked with lawmakers for years to developed anti-bullying legislation.

“This is just unconscionable. This is government-sanctioned bigotry,” said Epling of East Lansing, who said he is “ashamed” that lawmakers added the language at the last minute.

The DFP also notes that the bill addresses cyber-bullying but only when school district owned devices are the tools of the bullying.

 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zDK-ja8PLgg%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US%26rel%3D0

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that Matt Epling died as a result of anti-gay bullying. It is not known what the nature of the bullying was, nor is it known that Matt Epling was gay, nor was there any attempt to suggest he was. Anti-gay bullying can be focused on anyone, regardless of their orientation, but our apologies for not being more clear.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Terrific’: Trump Defends Kristi Noem After Shooting Her Dog to Death

Published

3 mins ago

on

May 14, 2024

By

Donald Trump came to the aid of embattled Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose story about shooting to death her 14-month old German wirehaired pointer named Cricket has been denounced by Americans on the left and right for weeks.

Gov. Noem not only chose to put the story in her memoir, but has repeatedly defended her decision to drag the dog into a gravel pit and shoot her, killing her with one bullet without even warning her child, who asked when they returned home from school, “Where’s Cricket?”

Trump, speaking Tuesday on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” the successor to the late Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio program, did not appear to have a full grasp of the story or the massive outrage and upset Gov. Noem caused.

“I’m sure you’ve seen some of the Kristi Noem story. She might be the only person getting worse press than you on the left right now with the dog shooting story,” Clay Travis told Trump. “Is she still in the mix as a VP? Have you thought maybe she’d make more sense in a cabinet? How do you analyze stories like that as you go about making a choice?”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Noem, until the dog shooting story came out, was widely believed to be on Trump’s short list as a vice presidential running mate.

“Well, until this week, she was doing incredibly well and she got hit hard, and sometimes you do books and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully,” Trump offered as a defense of the governor whose dog-shooting story came out weeks ago. “You know, you have ghost writers, do they help you? And they this case didn’t help too much.”

“Now, she’s terrific,” Trump continued, lavishing praise on Noem. “Look, she’s been a supporter of mine from day one. She did a great job of governor, as governor. And you know, you look at South Dakota numbers. She’s really done a great job.”

Trump did not say what numbers specifically, nor did he say on what Governor Noem did a great job. he also did not answer the question Travis posed about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, nor did he bring up any of the other controversies surrounding the book.

“And in some form, I mean, I think I think she’s terrific. A couple of rough stories. There’s no question about it. And when explained the dog story, you know, people, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently, but that’s a tough story. And, but she’s a terrific person. She said she had a bad, she had a bad week.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

Continue Reading

News

‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

Published

3 hours ago

on

May 14, 2024

By

In his remarks outside the courtroom Tuesday, Donald Trump demanded Judge Juan Merchan rescind the tailored gag order placed on him that was designed to ensure the sanctity of the trial and the safety of witnesses, jurors, court staff, and their families.

“The gag order has to come off,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, adding his frequent “never been anything like this in the history of our country” claim.

Judge Merchan just last week reportedly cited Trump’s own words from his own book when defending his decision to keep the gag order in place and not modify it.

“When you are wronged, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It’s just part of doing business,” Trump’s book passage reads.

But as The Washington Post reported Monday, Trump’s surrogates are saying “the forbidden stuff for him.” They “have helpfully stepped forward to offer a timely and convenient service: lodging those same attacks, while appearing at the trial in support of him.”

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

“Republican lawmakers have appeared at Trump’s trial — even entering and exiting the courtroom with him — and proceeded to say precisely the kinds of things he’s not allowed to.”

Because the “kinds of things he’s not allowed to” say violate the gag order.

Politico reports, “Trump’s surrogates continue launching verbal attacks that would violate gag order if Trump said them himself.”

But according to the text of Trump’s gag order, he is “directed to refrain from”:

“Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; Making or directing others to make public statements” about attorneys “in the case other than the District Attorney,” “members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel or staff member” or “any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

The prosecution has not indicated it will, but it could ask the judge to examine the “directing others to make public statements” portion of the gag order.

On Tuesday, one of the most powerful elected Republicans in the country, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, became the most high-profile Trump surrogate on the planet.

RELATED: ‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

Critics are blasting Speaker Johnson, who is second in line to the presidency, for attending the trial Tuesday and for delivering remarks some are calling false, in support of the indicted ex-president and 2024 GOP presumptive nominee.

“When asked for his worldview when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House and nobody knew anything about him he said, ‘you want to know my worldview? Go read the bible, that’s what I stand for,'” MSNBC’s Willie Geist said Tuesday. “And now today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with their infant son.”

Johnson and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are among those who went and said what the judge told Trump he could not.

Johnson strongly defended Trump Tuesday morning. And following the Trump playbook, he attacked the prosecutor, the judge, and the judge’s daughter, which could be deemed a violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump if he decides Johnson’s remarks came at Trump’s request.

Award-winning journalist Laura Bassett, the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, responded to that video, writing, “The guy who admitted that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake is out here publicly lying on behalf of a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid to cover it up.”

Calling it “Craven,” and “lawless,” Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien remarked, “House Speaker Mike Johnson is outside the NY courthouse right now and essentially helping Trump sidestep the court’s gag order by acting as his proxy by attacking the integrity of the trial and judicial process. He’s even targeting Justice Merchan’s daughter.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Congressman Donalds, who is on the short list to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also attacked the judge’s daughter on Tuesday, from outside the courthouse.

Political commentator Bob Cesca observed, “If you’re wondering why Vance, Tuberville, and Johnson are there, it’s because of the gag order. They’re Trump’s voice. The Mouths of Sauron,” he wrote, referring to the near-entirely evil creature from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“BTW, asking surrogates to attack witnesses and the judge’s daughter is a violation of the gag order,” he added.

Former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman remarked, “Note how Trump gets Vance and Johnson to violate the gag order for him. Mobster tactic. Make your Trump champions violate the law right along with you. Once they are in for a dime, they are in for a dollar and stuck with MAGA.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Continue Reading

News

‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

Published

6 hours ago

on

May 14, 2024

By

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is the latest high-profile Republican to travel to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building in New York City to show his support for Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee facing a total of 88 criminal charges, including 34 felonies in his election subversion, falsification of business records case, better known as the “hush money” trial. Johnson holding a news conference Tuesday morning from the courthouse in support of the indicted ex-president.

Earlier Tuesday morning from the courthouse (video below) Trump was asked by a reporter, “are you directing surrogates to speak on your behalf?” Trump avoided the specific question but claimed, “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully, and they come from all over Washington and they’re highly-respected and they think this is the greatest scam they’ve ever seen.”

Johnson’s grip on his job has been challenged by the far-right extremists in his own caucus, led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) but his travels to Mar-a-Lago to see and be seen with Trump have fortified his hold.

As NCRM reported Monday, during the early days of the Trump New York criminal trial many noted the ex-president was alone. He was sitting, and at times, snoozing, alone in court, unsupported by family members or friends. That changed as the weeks went by, and now his son Eric Trump is a regular face in the courthouse, and GOP lawmakers, generally in twos, are showing up daily to act as campaign surrogates inside and outside the courthouse.

RELATED: ‘Grave Danger’: Trump’s ‘Raw Display’ of Power at Court Alarms Conservative

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Tommy Tuberville (R-GA) and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) were the latest pair to attend the trial. Sen. Vance attacked the judge’s daughter, which prosecutors may decide to bring up to the judge as it may have violated Trump’s gag order if the ex-president directed him to do so. Congressman Tuberville, a white Christian nationalist, followed the Trump playbook, attacking the judicial system, and the jurors, whom he suggested were not U.S. citizens.

And now the Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency, is at the Criminal Courts Building in lower Manhattan, effectively stumping for the indicted leader of his party.

Critics are expressing outrage.

Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob, who comments on politics and the media on Substack, blasted Speaker Johnson.

“MAGA Mike Johnson is showing up at the Trump trial today to show his support for cheating on your wife with a porn star, paying her hush money, and then falsifying business records so the voting public doesn’t find out the truth,” Jacob wrote, adding: “This is Mike Johnson’s version of Christianity.”

Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist at Substack, lamented, “This is what half of American politics has become. It is embarrassing. There could be bills trying to solve price gouging, the border, poverty, homelessness, worker pay, or addressing any other real and current issue.”

“Instead members of Congress waste their time making a show of going to a trial for someone who had affairs, paid hush money, and covered it all up to mislead the public ahead of a close election,” Sears continued. “Then they will get in front of the cameras and say phrases like ‘weaponized justice’ and ‘lawfare’ when they know full well no such thing is happening. All so that their dear leader doesn’t mean tweet about them.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Journalist Marcy Wheeler, who writes about civil liberties and national security, served up a damning indictment of Speaker Johnson: “It is newsworthy NOT just [because] the entire GOP is pro-crime, but ALSO that a man who would dictate reproductive choice and other life choices to others is backing a guy whose cover-up for f*cking multiple sex workers (without a condom!!) was charged as crime.”

Appearing to focus on the media, she added: “Speaker Mike should be GRILLED about whether he supports extramarital affairs during pregnancy. Don’t give him this stunt for free.”

Journalist Jonathan Ford of Ford News called it “an absolute disgrace,” while observing, “You don’t see Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries showing support for Senator Menendez.”

“Last week,” The Nation’s John Nichols notes, “most House Democrats voted with most Republicans to save Mike Johnson’s speakership. This week, Johnson is in a NYC courtroom to support Donald Trump. Democrats need to STOP providing cover for the most extreme Speaker in American history.”

Former Obama chief strategist and senior White House advisor David Axelrod commented, “As if this weren’t already a bizarre reality show, now we have celebrity guest courtroom gallery appearances of acolytes looking to punch their card with the Boss.”

Watch Trump’s remarks, with Speaker Johnson in the background, below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.