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The Obnoxious, Unrepentant Anti-Gay Bigotry Of Tennessee Rep. John Ragan

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As recently reported, Tennessee State Representative John Ragan has been making counter-factual claims about gay human beings.

This reporter e-mailed Representative Ragan, asking him to provide documentation for the veracity of his anti-gay hate speech allegations.

Instead of providing any, Ragan smugly went on the offensive, claiming that apropos of gay human beings and their health, he had “merely asked impersonal questions based upon the tenants of critical thought.”  He fatuously added, “If you are, or anyone else is, uncomfortable with the answers at which you, or they arrive, that is not my problem.”

Meanwhile back in documented reality, Representative Ragan had not “merely asked impersonal questions.” He had made fraudulent assertions about some very fundamental issues related to sexual orientation. For example, he had written, “ Logically, homosexuality is defined by behavior, i.e., unless one engages in sexual activity with a member of the same sex, he, or she, is not a homosexual. (The term sexual orientation is a description of feelings.) Feelings do not control the behavior of a mentally healthy adult human being.”

One could perhaps wonder what a psychiatrist or psychologist would make of Ragan’s dubious assertion. If, as he claims, “feelings do not control the behavior of a mentally healthy adult human being,” are we to understand that when a mentally healthy heterosexual woman and a mentally healthy heterosexual man decide to make love, their feelings are not controlling their behavior?

Not to put too fine a point on it, Representative Ragan appears to be not only a bigot but also a ludicrous jackass. The Tennessee Department of Health said in a phone interview that its STD prevention and control efforts are focused broadly on preventing and controlling infections and are not aimed exclusively at any one demographic. The Tennessee Department of Health, furthermore, provided a link to the STD prevention section of its website. That section contains a link to a Centers for Disease Control page about “Stimga and Discrimination” and how they contribute to poor health outcomes for gay human beings.

The evidence is plain and direct; In speaking to the public about the health of gay human beings, Tennessee State Representative John Ragan is promulgating lies — anti-gay hate speech — that flies in the face of public health information used by — and given out to journalists by — the Tennessee State Department of Health.

This recent incident is hardly the first time that John Ragan has aggressively promoted anti-gay hate speech in his capacity as a State Representative. He believes that despite the repeal of DADT and the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, gay people should not be allowed to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. And, whereas Representative Ragan likes to boast on his C.V. that he has served as a business consultant to companies on the Fortune 100 list, all companies on that list have policies against discriminating against gay people.  That is to say, Representative Ragan is against providing protections to Tennessee’s gay public school students that the major businesses with which he claims to have consulted all offer to their gay employees.

Certain other aspects of Representative Ragan’s thoughts and behavior are of note. He co-sponsored a birther bill. He thinks people should be able to purchase weapons at gun shows without submitting to any background check. And he is against all public school sex education that is not “abstinence only.” The issues section of his own website references “Recognizing the imporant (sic) sacrifice of our nation’s veterans,” its typo suggesting that Representative Ragan is less than a thorough-going, painstaking professional.

Ragan was elected to office for a first time in 2010, 8,569 votes to 7,270. Very evidently, he has not previously understood that reporters will fact-check his public statements and then let the public know when he is telling lies. He even appears to have thought that he could bully a reporter out of understanding and reporting that his lies are — indeed — lies.

Shame on him.

New York City– based novelist and freelance writer Scott Rose’s LGBT– interest by– line has appeared on Advocate .com, PoliticusUSA .com, The New York Blade, Queerty .com, Girlfriends and in numerous additional venues. Among his other interests are the arts, boating and yachting, wine and food, travel, poker and dogs. His “Mr. David Cooper’s Happy Suicide” is about a New York City advertising executive assigned to a condom account.



				
				
																											

													
													
													
													

																												

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OPINION
Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Published
 10 hours ago 
on
 May 6, 2024
By
  
Just hours after a New York State Supreme Court Justice held Donald Trump in criminal contempt of court for violating his gag order and threatened him with jail time, the ex-president attacked several of the judges overseeing his cases, and suggested he may violate the gag order for the good of the U.S. Constitution.
“Because this judge has given me a gag order and says you’ll go to jail if you violate it. And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day,” Trump claimed.
Trump is on trial for 34 criminal felonies for falsification of business records, which experts describe as election interference after he paid “hush money” to an adult film actress in an effort to keep his alleged affair away from the public eye just before the 2016 presidential election.
The ex-president, who announced his 2024 run for the White House, insiders say, to escape prosecution for a wide variety of alleged crimes, began his Monday post-trial news conference with reporters by criticizing the prosecution’s announcement it expects to wrap up its portion of the trial in about two weeks.
READ MORE: ‘Israel Aid, Ukraine Aid, Kitchenaid’: Dem Mocks GOP’s ‘Hands Off Our Appliances’ Week
“The government just said that they want two to three more weeks,” Trump complained. “That means they want to get me off the [campaign] trail for two to three more weeks. Now, anybody in there would realize that there’s no case, they don’t have a case. Every legal scholar says they don’t have a case. This is just a political witch. It’s election interference. And this is really truly election interference, and it’s a disgrace. It’s a disgrace, and in every poll I’m leading by a lot.”
Those statements are false.
The New York Post reports, “Prosecutor Josh Steinglass estimated that the DA’s office would wrap up its case around May 21, two weeks from tomorrow. But he cautioned that’s a ‘rough estimate.'”
Concluding the District Attorney’s Office did have a case, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts.
A great many legal scholars say there is a case.
There is no evidence of a “political witch-hunt.”
Trump is not leading in all the polls, nor, in all the ones he is leading in, is he leading by “a lot.” Nor do political candidates get exempt from prosecution because they may be leading in a particular poll.
The ex-president went on to claim prosecutors “figure maybe they can do something here, maybe they can do, this case should be over, this case should have never been brought.”
“And then Alvin Bragg brought the case, as soon as, when I’m running and leading, that’s when they decided, let’s go bring a case. So it’s a disgrace. But we just heard two to three more weeks. I thought that we’re finished today and they are finished today. We look at what’s happening. I thought they were going to be finished today and then 2 to 3 more weeks,” he again complained, again saying prosecutors “all want to keep me off the campaign trail. That’s all this is about. This about election interference. How do we stop it? And it’s a disgrace.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Trump then brought up the gag order.
“Where I can basically, I have to watch every word I tell you people, you asked me a question, a simple question I’d like to give it but I can’t talk about it,” he claimed, falsely.
“Because this judge has given me a gag order and say you’ll go to jail if you violate it. And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”
Trump attacked three of judges overseeing his case, excluding U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon.
“But what’s happening here is a disgrace and the appellate courts ought to get involved. New York looks so bad, system of so called justice was so bad between this judge and [Judge Arthur] Engoron and [Judge Lewis] Kaplan the triple teamed with the corrupt judges is a disgrace to our nation. So I should be out there campaigning.”
Watch Trump’s remarks below or at this link.
READ MORE: Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
 
Continue Reading
OPINION
‘Israel Aid, Ukraine Aid, Kitchenaid’: Dem Mocks GOP’s ‘Hands Off Our Appliances’ Week
Published
 13 hours ago 
on
 May 6, 2024
By
  
Last year in January, in the wake of a study that found 650,000 children have developed asthma because of gas stoves, Bloomberg News reported: “US Safety Agency to Consider Ban on Gas Stoves Amid Health Fears.”
There was no ban in the works or on the way, and the chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was forced to issue a statement promising, “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.”
Republicans however, went on the attack, with some, like U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), a physician, shouting on social media, “I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!”
Congressman Jackson soon doubled-down, appearing on Newsmax.
One month later, West Virginia Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin teamed up with several Republicans to protect Americans’ “right” to non-electric cooking.
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
“Gas stoves have been in the news lately and I’ve come out strongly against the Consumer Product Safety Commission pursuing any ban of gas stoves,” Manchin declared, despite there being no possibility of that. “In fact, I’m introducing legislation today with Senator [Ted] Cruz that would ensure that they don’t and separately sending a letter to the commission with Senator [James] Lankford.”
For decades the scientific community has known about the health dangers of gas stoves, but Americans love them and there are no plans to have any federal government agency coming to take them away.
The Biden administration would like to help Americans buy new, energy-saving home appliances, but Republicans oppose those efforts as well.
Nearly sixteen months later, Republicans are still working to protect Americans from what some have suggested will be the federal government knocking on the doors of U.S. citizens to take away their gas stoves.
Last month, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was all set to revive the House’s focus on ensuring Americans can continue to grill baby grill – indoors – childhood asthma-be-damned, and nearly put HR 6192, the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, and several others on the floor for votes, including:
The “Liberty in Laundry Act” (HR 7673), the “Clothes Dryers Reliability Act (HR 7645), the “Refrigerator Freedom Act” (HR 7637), the “Affordable Air Conditioning Act” (HR 7626), and the “Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act” (HR 7700).
But at the last minute he changed the schedule after aid to Ukraine and Israel became the national focus.
READ MORE: Judge Hands Trump ‘Incarceration’ Threat as Experts Say Next Time He’ll Toss Him in Jail
MSNBC’s Steve Benen reports Monday, “the ‘Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act’ … will likely reach the floor this week, possibly as early as tomorrow.”
One year ago this month, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) delivered amusing remarks during a House hearing.
“I want to apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party that we have decided to put kids’ safety, in their neighborhoods from getting gunned down, in movie theaters, or grocery stores, or school churches, or synagogues – we as Democrats have clearly lost our way that we are not focused on appliances,” Moskowitz said sarcastically in a viral video.
Now he’s back, along with the House Republicans’ renewed focus on the false fear-mongering the federal government is coming for your home appliances, or is going to ban them.
In response to Axios’ Andrew Solender reporting, “Appliance Week is BACK in the House!” Congressman Moskowitz replied, “Israel aid, Ukraine aid, Humanitarian aid, Kitchenaid.”
He then grew even more sarcastically excited:
Watch the videos above or at this link.
READ MORE: Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
 
Continue Reading
News
‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Published
 16 hours ago 
on
 May 6, 2024
By
  
Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem continues to make media appearances promoting her new book, which has received massive attention for the story about her shooting to death her 14-month old dog, Cricket, and a goat, and her reportedly false claim she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
But in discussing that apparent lie that appears in her book, Noem appeared to tell a few more – and seemed to suggest she may have actually met with Kim Jong Un but should not have put that meeting in her memoir. Experts have said it’s unlikely she did meet with him.
“The book is called, ‘No Going Back,’ but it sounds like the publisher, Center Street, is going back on a couple of the details in the book,” CBS Mornings told Noem.
“Well, I don’t believe so,” Noem replied.
After hearing the apparently false details of her alleged meeting with Kim Jong Un being read on-air straight from her book, Noem explained, “when I became aware of that we changed the content, and the future editions will be adjusted.”
READ MORE: Judge Hands Trump ‘Incarceration’ Threat as Experts Say Next Time He’ll Toss Him in Jail
Noem also said she’s “met with many, many world leaders, I’ve traveled around the world. I should not have put that anecdote in the book, and at my request they have removed it.”
She was then asked, “That specifically didn’t happen?” but Noem appeared to brush off the question.
“What I’m saying is I’m not talking about that meeting, I’m not talking about my meetings with world leaders, there are some that are in the book and there’s some that are not in the book.”
Asked, “Did you tell your ghost writer to write that?” Noem refused to answer the question.
“I specifically have worked on policy for over 30 years, and over that time I have traveled around the world and met with leaders around the world. And that anecdote, I’ve asked them to change the content, and it will be removed.”
“It’s a simple question, did you or did you not meet with Kim Jong Un?”
“That’s the answer that I have for you,” Noem replied.
READ MORE: Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
She also did not tell CBS why she chose to put it in the book at all, if she knew it was false.
Noem does not mention that she recorded the audio book version for “No Going Back,” and would have read those words about meeting with the North Korean dictator aloud, yet apparently did not ask her publisher to remove it until a local newspaper, The Dakota Scout, published a report starting her account of the event was “in doubt.”
On Sunday, Noem first began to suggest the meeting might have taken place. Speaking with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Axios reported, “Noem declined to talk about specific meetings she had with various world leaders, and never outright said she didn’t meet with Kim during the interview.”
A CBS News transcript of that interview shows “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan saying, “you released video of your recording of the audio book. you didn’t catch these errors when you were recording it?”
“Well, Margaret, as soon as it was brought to my attention, I took action to make sure that it was reflected,” Noem responded, before leaping into an attack on the media.
Also on Sunday, The Independent reported, “North Korea experts say it’s highly unlikely Ms Noem ever met the North Korean leader.”
“From 2011 to 2018, Mr Kim did not leave North Korea, according to University of Notre Dame professor and North Korea expert George Lopez.” The Independent added, “Benjamin Young, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an expert on North Korea, told The Dakota Scout that Ms Noem’s account of meeting Kim was ‘dubious.'”
“I cover North Korea very closely, and I have never heard of Kim Jong Un meeting congressmen or congresswomen,” Young said.
Watch Noem’s full CBS interview from Monday below or at this link.
READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
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