Let It Go, GOP.
LGBT equality is happening. For it or against it, the perception battle has been resolved. For decades both sides of this conflict have been making their cases to the American people. Equality fans have argued that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is immoral, and in no way holds up to the Jeffersonian standards our society is built on. It is also impractical, mean spirited, costly and generally shameful in just about every conceivable way. On the other side, our opponents maintain that it is in fact LGBT people that are immoral, because of Jesus. Over time, more and more people have come to embrace the concept of LGBT equality over the mean spirited prejudicial view of homosexuality, in increasingly dramatic numbers. At last count, some 54 members of the Senate now support marriage equality, and recent polling shows the same level of support nationwide.
Despite what considerable legal challenges remain from the days when our leaders used to spend their time attempting to legislate gay people out of existence, the theoretical fight, the “conversation,†is over. We won. Bigots lost. Even Limbaugh knows it.
“This issue is lost,†he said. “I don’t care what the Supreme Court does. This is inevitable. And it’s inevitable because we lost the language on this.â€
Limbaugh added that conservatives lost the debate because they allowed the term “marriage†to be “bastardized.â€
“As far as I’m concerned, once we started talking about gay marriage, traditional marriage, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, hetero marriage, we lost,†Limbaugh said. “It was over.â€
As our rhetorical victory begins to translate in to judicial and legislative success, being opposed to LGBT equality will increasingly become a marker of the small minded and hateful, and over time will force equality foes farther and farther into the margins of what is acceptable in polite society. This process is inevitable, and has only now begun to really take hold. As of this moment, the path of bigotry has forked away from what is acceptable in the mainstream, never to meet again.
This is, objectively, a tough spot to be in for anti-gay folks. Unfortunately for them, their decades of fighting social progress will inevitably be viewed by people in the future as the loathsome and despicable efforts of small minded primitives, who for no discernible reason chose to oppress what will be by then an entirely accepted segment of society. It will be similar to how we in the present view segregationists of the past.
Meanwhile, many anti-gay activists who have spent years going on record saying and doing things their grandchildren will be mortified about now have to figure out how to gracefully disengage from the hate movement in a way that might help them retain some level of respectability in a world where bigoted behavior toward homosexuals will no longer be tolerated. Some people will have genuine changes of heart, while others will be simply protecting their careers and reputations, but the abandoning of these stale attitudes has already started happening. Many casual equality foes have already started to make this shift, leaving the remaining culture warriors in increasingly extreme and unflattering company. Simply standing alongside these people will soon bring a damaging mark of intolerance.
All the while, we in the equality movement still have fighting to do. The natural impulse of those who remain committed to anti-gay activism will be to double down on hate, shifting to a strategy of obstruction designed to make this inevitable outcome as difficult to achieve possible. This will have the effect of delaying needed legal changes, prolonging the suffering of LGBT families across the nation, and putting LGBT youth in needless danger. This obstruction will slow down, but won’t stop our progress, and serves only to further tarnish the reputations of those engaged in the effort.
Beyond any moral considerations, this is a tremendous waste of resources, especially in service of a fight whose outcome is already determined. The fighting could stop today, provided those with no stake in the matter would simply come to their senses and drop their fruitless and ultimately doomed opposition. As people that have no actual stake in the matter, they could simply give up and move on with their lives. We don’t have that option, as it is our own equality for which we fight.
I think I have a solution that can help resolve this matter quickly. I am proposing an anti-gay amnesty program. The idea here goes beyond a simple armistice. This is about absolution and forgiveness. It gives bigots a convenient exit from their opposition, while at the same time lightening the load for the equality movement. Everyone wins.
The terms are simple. Stop. Just stop. Stop fighting. Stop saying horrible things about us. Stop trying to take our children away. Stop trying to get us fired from our jobs. Stop attacking us, and demonizing us, and trying to make our lives difficult and miserable. You have to give up eventually unless you want this subject to forever defame and define you, so get it out of the way now. Disavow your previous opposition in every way. You don’t have to like us, you don’t even have to really change on the inside. Just lay down your arms, and walk away. If you can do that, if you completely knock off 100% of the hate and get out of the way of equality, we should agree to let you off the hook for every horrible thing you’ve ever done to our community.
I don’t care if you are Tony Perkins or Brian Fischer, if you agree to those terms, if you completely disavow your previous efforts and commit yourself to equality, we will exempt you from the judgment of history. Simply give a speech or release a statement about how you’ve evolved, or how God spoke to you, or whatever you want to do that will allow you to save as much face as you can, and then drop all of your opposition. Think about something else for a change. Surely your energy would be better spent on some other task. I don’t need to see you at pride, I just need you to get out of the way of history.
Simple. Let it go, and we will too.
Now is the time for you to separate yourself from those too foolish to take advantage of this offer. Who do you want to be? The last bigot standing? Or one of the people who took a brave stance in the face of hate, and stood up for what is right? Are you the hero, or the villain in this story? The outcome is determined, and you still have time to decide. You’ll be surprised how quickly our community embraces you. We really are friendly people, when we aren’t being compared to pedophiles and bestiality aficionados.
Consider my offer carefully, because rejecting it comes at a cost. Those who choose not to take this generous opportunity for amnesty will find themselves in increasingly smaller and more extreme rooms, and will become the David Dukes of the next generation. Once the legal matters are decided, our mission will become one of protection, warning the good people of our nation about the dangerous fringes of our society that are bent on destroying honest gay citizens for no reason other than general animus. We will be talking about you. We know your names, and will be making sure everyone else knows them too. Expect boycotts. Expect protesters. Expect outrage every time you so much as look at a television camera. Only shame and disgrace awaits you, and you will carry the weight of it to the grave.
You know those fears you have about losing the ability to publicly express your views on how disgusting gay people are without being labeled a bigot? That fear is valid. That fear means that you know I’m right. You understand what the future holds. You have reached your Scrooge moment. I’ve shown you your future, and now it’s Christmas morning. Your fate can be avoided. There is still time for redemption. You just have to act now. The window is closing quickly, so don’t hesitate.
Image by DonkeyHotey
Benjamin Phillips is an Essayist, Web Developer, Civics Nerd, and all around crank that spends entirely too much time shouting with deep exasperation at the television, especially whenever cable news is on, and proudly serves as Director of Development for The New Civil Rights Movement. He lives in St. Louis, MO and spends most of his time staring at various LCD screens, occasionally taking walks in the park whenever his boyfriend becomes sufficiently convinced that Benjamin is becoming a reclusive hermit person. He is available for children’s parties, provided that those children are entertained by hearing a complete windbag talk for two hours about the importance of science education, or worse yet, poorly researched anecdotes PROVING that James Buchanan was totally gay. If civilization were to collapse due to zombie hoards or nuclear holocaust, Benjamin would be among the first to die as he has no useful skills of any kind. The post-apocalyptic hellscape has no real need for homosexual computer programmers who can name all the presidents in order, as well as the actors who have played all eleven incarnations of Doctor Who.
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U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon late Tuesday afternoon issued an indefinite postponement of the court date in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump on Espionage Act charges, in the indictment commonly referred to as the classified documents case.
Claiming it would be “imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court,” along with other matters, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, wrote: “the Court finds that the ends of justice served by this continuance…outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial.”
Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports, “It may be months before we know the new schedule.” Trial had been slated to begin May 20.
“With 13 days before her trial was supposed to kick off, Judge Cannon finally says what has been obvious to every legal journalist I know: She’s not just canceling the existing trial date; she’s also not picking a replacement,” MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin reports.
READ MORE: Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
The 37 count indictment was brought after Trump removed well over 1000 items, including hundreds of classified documents, out of the White House, retained then refused to return them, allegedly violating several statutes under the Espionage Act.
“Trump mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack,” according t0 the federal indictment, Reuters reported last year.
The trial now is not expected to conclude before the November presidential election this year.
“This is news but it’s hardly unexpected,” declared professor of law, former U.S. Attorney, and MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance wrote. “Judge Cannon seems desperate to avoid trying this case. This isn’t justice. defendants aren’t the only ones with speedy trial act rights, we the people have them too.”
“After the election,” professor of law and former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter commented, “if Trump wins Jack Smith gets fired, the case gets dismissed, and Judge Cannon is ready for SCOTUS.”
READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Attorney and author Luppe B. Luppen noted, “Judge Cannon’s rationale for indefinitely postponing Trump’s classified documents trial is that a large number of pretrial motions remain unresolved—a state of affairs she has literally engineered by failing to resolve them.”
Professor of law and noted election law expert Rick Hasen asked: “Is it too cynical to believe that Judge Cannon timed the announcement of the postponement of a Trump classified documents trial to take away from the salacious sex details from Stormy Daniels’ testimony today?”
National security attorney Brad Moss served up a “silver lining to Cannon not setting a new trial date: she isn’t blocking the DC or Georgia election cases from resuming in the late summer/early fall, pending SCOTUS ruling on immunity.”
Foreign policy, national security, and political affairs analyst David Rothkopf added, “Justice delayed is justice denied. Both the defendant and the public have the right to a trial ‘without unnecessary delay.’ (Sixth Amendment.) When does Jack Smith seek a remedy for the problem Judge Cannon clearly represents? Tick freaking tock.”
READ MORE: Judge Hands Trump ‘Incarceration’ Threat as Experts Say Next Time He’ll Toss Him in Jail
Last month Donald Trump falsely told reporters Justice Juan Merchan had blocked him from attending his youngest son’s high school graduation, refusing to give him the day off from his required attendance at his New York criminal court case.
Justice Merchan had actually told Trump he would take the request under advisement, but Trump quickly ran to reporters painting the judge as heartless.
On April 15 Trump said, “it looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son who’s worked very, very hard and he is a great student.”
“It looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam. It’s a scam trial,” Trump alleged.
The Associated Press reported, “Trump then furthered his criticism of the judge on his Truth Social platform, writing in one post both that he ‘will likely not be allowed to attend’ and that ‘the Judge, Juan Merchan, is preventing me from proudly attending my son’s Graduation.’ He wrote in another post less than two hours later that he is ‘being prohibited from attending.'”
READ MORE: Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
None of that was accurate.
Last week Judge Merchan granted Trump the day off from court to attend his son’s high school graduation.
But The Lincoln Project and others on Tuesday posted the announcement for “Minnesota’s 2024 Lincoln Reagan Dinner With Special Guest DONALD J. TRUMP” on Friday, May 17, 2024.
Trump, as The New Republic notes, will be the headline speaker at the event in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which starts at 5:00 PM.
The fundraiser offers supporters the opportunity to spend $100,000, which grants them “10 VIP Dinner Seats | 10 VIP Reception Passes | 3 Photo Opportunities with President Trump.”
Or, for example, for $50,000, a supporter can get a “Chairman’s Host Table – 10 VIP Dinner Seats | 10 VIP Reception Passes | 1 Photo Opportunity with President Trump.”
Trump plans to attend a fundraiser on the day of Barron’s graduation.
Wonder what Judge Merchan thinks when he sees this. pic.twitter.com/d74ms3FhP1
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 7, 2024
KARE reports “the visit is expected to be the former president’s first trip to Minnesota of the 2024 election cycle.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Trump has strong motivation to head to Minnesota.
Over the weekend, as NBC News reports, “Top officials for former President Donald Trump’s campaign believe they can flip Democratic strongholds Minnesota and Virginia into his column in November, they told donors behind closed doors at a Republican National Committee retreat Saturday.”
Barron Trump’s graduation from Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida reportedly will be the same day, May 17. Depending on timing, It’s possible Trump could fly from Florida to Minnesota to get to the fundraiser by 5 PM.
Watch Trump’s remarks from April 15 below or at this link.
In a clear attack on the executive branch, the judicial system, states’ rights, and the rule in law in America, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson vowed on Tuesday to use all the powers of Congress at his disposal to end all four current criminal prosecutions of ex-president Donald Trump.
Johnson’s remarks late Tuesday morning came at the exact same time Stormy Daniels was giving sworn testimony about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump in a Manhattan Superior Court case. The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee is on trial for 34 felonies related to falsification of business records when he allegedly paid hush money to the adult film star, then covered up those payments in what prosecutors say was election interference.
“President Trump has done nothing wrong here and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare,” Speaker Johnson told reporters Tuesday during an official House news conference (video below). “It has to stop. And you’re gonna see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can, because we need accountability. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s bigger than President Trump. It’s about the people’s faith in our system of justice. And we’re gonna get down to the bottom of it. All these cases need to be dropped, because they are a threat to our system.”
Johnson’s remarks also come as he faces an ouster threat from far-right MAGA Republican Christian nationalist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Speaker, who repeatedly has said he speaks to Trump frequently, spent the weekend at the ex-president’s Florida resort and residence, Mar-a-Lago. He also traveled there just weeks ago as Greene’s threats were heating up. Trump and Johnson held a joint press conference on “election integrity,” an image some say was a show of strength and support from the leader of his party.
READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Johnson’s job is being protected by Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the vast majority of the Democratic caucus, which have promised to protect him should Greene call up her motion to vacate.
Claiming Republicans are “trying to keep steadying hands on the wheel here and keep the legislative branch moving and operating in the best interest of the people,” Johnson also alleged, “One of the things that is also in jeopardy right now is our judicial branch. And it’s our system of government itself. And I don’t think we can say often enough here how much of that has been abused under this administration, and with local prosecutors, state prosecutors, and at the federal level, who are using lawfare. They’re using our judicial system to go after political opponents.”
The Speaker continued his targeting, declaring Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “case should never have been brought.”
“If there’s ever been an example of lawfare, everybody can look at that and see, the trial is being orchestrated by Democrats, supporters of President Biden who are trying to make a name for themselves. I mean, they’re pretty open about that. They used it in their campaign flips. We’ve got a Democrat District Attorney, a Biden donor judge whose daughter is a Democratic political consultant and has clients that use the case in their solicitation emails to raise money.”
Justice Juan Merchan, CNN reported last month, made a $15 donation to the Biden campaign, amid a total of $35 total in 2020.
Johnson also called Justice Merchan “a well-known Democrat” who “is pursuing an indefensible gag order on President Trump,” and “trying to override President Trump’s constitutional right to defend himself against the constant smears of his political opponents.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Pointing to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump in the Espionage Act case, often called the “classified documents” case, Johnson called it “the weaponization of our justice system.”
He called all the cases against the ex-president “a clear attempt to keep Donald Trump in the courtroom and off the campaign trail. That’s what this is. It’s an election interference. It is borderline criminal conspiracy and the American people see right through it.”
Watch a short clip of Johnson’s remarks below or at this link.
Johnson: President Trump has done nothing wrong… it has to stop and you’re going to see the Congress address this in every possible way because we need accountability. All these cases need to be dropped because they are a threat to our entire system pic.twitter.com/Vvg6pQRU52
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 7, 2024
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Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
Marjorie Taylor Greene Delivers Demands to Johnson as Her Three-Person Posse Weakens
Trump Battled to Go to Son’s Graduation – So Why Is He Speaking at a Fundraiser That Day?
‘This Isn’t Justice’: Legal Experts Blast Cannon for Postponing Trump Case Indefinitely
‘This Isn’t Justice’: Legal Experts Blast Cannon for Postponing Trump Case Indefinitely
Trump Battled to Go to Son’s Graduation – So Why Is He Speaking at a Fundraiser That Day?
Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
Marjorie Taylor Greene Delivers Demands to Johnson as Her Three-Person Posse Weakens
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