Extremes!

The Republicans are so far right that they are in “Never, Neverland! In some fantasy place where they ignore the Constitution, ignore the will of the people, and are proposing wacko legislation!

Case in Point #1: A Gag Order

LGBTQ people, allies dodge $1,500 fines in North Dakota
AP News
By Trisha Ahmed
January 20, 2023


As more than a dozen states consider passing anti-transgender legislation this year, North Dakota lawmakers rejected a bill Friday that would have made people pay $1,500 each time they refer to themselves or others with gender pronouns different from the ones they were assigned at birth.

“The main purpose of the bill was to eliminate state funding for entities including education that would promote, allow or support the ideology of transgenderism,” said Republican sponsor Sen. David Clemens, of West Fargo. Others testified at a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the bill is designed to discriminate, and could impact the state’s behavioral health providers.

The vote tally came to 39 senators against the bill and eight in favor.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had said they agreed with the bill’s purpose, but that it was poorly written and would be difficult to enforce. It would also have harmed people who do not identify as transgender and would possibly violate First Amendment rights, they said.

How sick is that!

They knew that they went too far with that bill and what made the legislator think he could get the bill passed.

It is like when here in Connecticut when the gender inclusive was being voted on one Republican Senator raised an amendment that would require all trans people to registered the Department of Motor Vehicles as trans so we could get a marker on our driver license signifying we’re trans. It was so awful that even the other Republicans didn’t vote for it.

Case in Point #2: The Wild West

Judge issues order blocking Illinois semiautomatic gun ban
AP News
January 21, 2023


A judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking the new Illinois law banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued the order after former Republican candidate for attorney general Tom DeVore sued to block the law. DeVore said he’s representing hundreds of people from dozens of counties who argue the law violates their constitutional rights.

Morrison’s ruling only applies to 850 plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit in Effingham County and four licensed gun dealers.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he was not surprised by Morrison’s ruling.

“Although disappointing, it is the initial result we’ve seen in many cases brought by plaintiffs whose goal is to advance ideology over public safety,” Pritzker said. “We are well aware that this is only the first step in defending this important legislation.”

Ah yes, let's have people armed with AR-16s, AK-47s, and other assault type weapons walking down the streets of Chicago!

Case In Point #3: Racism

Black FedEx Driver Kept Composure During Racist Attack And Went Viral On Social Media
"Welcome to Facebook," the driver informed the white customer at the end of the video.
The Root
By Candace McDuffie
January 20, 2023


Uncensored Twitter recently shared a viral video of a Black FedEx worker who was subjected to racist threats by a white man during a stop in an Atlanta suburb. Somehow, the employee managed to keep his composure. The video, which was posted on Twitter, has now been seen almost six million times and is half a minute long.

Many who saw the video commented on the driver’s ability to keep his cool. To summarize, the white (and bafflingly barefoot) customer calls the worker several racial slurs including the n-word. He then threatens to fight the driver if he runs over his dog, which can also be seen in the video.

Bias crimes are on the rise, why do people like this feel bold enough to verbalize their hate. What has changed the climate in the U.S. and the world where racism and anti-LGBTQ+ violence is on the increase.

Case In Point #4: Government Sanctioned Racism

Florida Explains Why It Blocked Black History Class—and It’s a Doozy
The Florida Department of Education was concerned with the class teaching students about activism and reparations without providing a “critical perspective or balancing opinion.”
The Daily Beast
By Alec Karam
January 20, 2023


The Florida Department of Education says it banned AP African American History because it teaches students about activism, intersectionality and encourages “ending the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people,” according to a document the department sent to The Daily Beast.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected a request from the College Board to provide the class in high school classes in the state Wednesday. The move comes in the same week the far-right Republican—who a judge just ruled violated free speech laws by firing a prosecutor for being “woke”—requested info on trans students from universities state-wide.

[…]

A representative for DeSantis said the now-banned class “lacks educational value and historical accuracy” in a statement to The Daily Beast.

The document further admonishes the teaching of intersectionality, claiming it is “foundational to” Critical Race Theory, without explaining how.

The department also takes issue with topics advocating for reparations—a movement with the goal of helping recipients overcome generations of human rights violations.

“There is no critical perspective or balancing opinion in this lesson,” the document says of one topic devoted to the Reparations Movement.

WTF… “There is no critical perspective or balancing opinion in this lesson,” there is nothing good about slavery and the way Blacks were treated by their “Owners” this is nothing more that the new “Jim Crow” laws.

“As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” the department said in a letter to the College Board.

The department apparently doesn’t want people to think DeSantis is against Black history, however. After all, according to department representatives, he specifically promotes teaching (some of) it.

Case In Point #5: A Women’s Body Is For Government Control

2 States Introduce Radical Bills To Prosecute Pregnant People For Abortions
Republicans in Arkansas and Oklahoma have proposed legislation that would criminalize those who seek abortion care.
HuffPost
By Alanna Vagianos
January 20, 2023


Republicans in Arkansas and Oklahoma introduced bills this week that would allow authorities to criminally prosecute pregnant people for seeking abortion care. The legislation offers a terrifying preview of what’s to come in a country that no longer has federal abortion protections.

Oklahoma Senate Bill 287 and Arkansas House Bill 1174 were proposed with the specific intent to criminalize anyone who gets an abortion. The Oklahoma legislation aims to amend the state’s near-total abortion ban to eliminate language that protects pregnant people from prosecution. The Arkansas legislation would let the state’s homicide laws apply to aborted fetuses and give them due process protections, while also repealing protections for people who “solicit, advise, encourage, or coerce a pregnant woman” to get an abortion.

Both bills include exceptions for preserving the life of a pregnant person. But as with rape and incest exemptions in bans in other states, the wording is vague and will likely force people to be at death’s door before they are legally allowed to receive lifesaving care. The Arkansas legislation also includes exceptions for miscarriages, but this may be virtually meaningless since abortion and miscarriage are medically indistinguishable.

Case In Point #6: Gag Orders

You all know the First Amendment about free speech… now do you think a state banning the use of words might violate it?

Sanders’ Latinx ban wades into community’s generational rift
AP News
By Andrew DeMillo and Claire Savage
January 22, 2023


One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ first acts as Arkansas governor was to ban most state agencies from using the gender-neutral term Latinx, tapping into a debate that’s divided Hispanics along generational lines.

Sanders called the word “culturally insensitive” in an order that’s prompted complaints from some critics who view it as yet another attack by Republicans on the LGBTQ community. Yet her move may have limited impact, given that the word does not appear to be widely used in Arkansas government.

It was among several orders the 40-year-old former White House press secretary signed within hours of taking office office that were cheered by conservatives, including restrictions on teaching critical race theory in public schools and banning TikTok on state devices. The Latinx prohibition gives agencies 60 days to revise written materials to comply.

“One of the things as governor that I will not permit is the government using culturally insensitive words,” Sanders said as she signed the order.

The governor doesn’t care about banning speech she is ignoring the 1^st Amendment by banning words.

The Republican have lost sight of reality and is being driven by people who have loathing in their hearts against people who are different, different color of their skin, different sexual orientation, different gender identity, and are misogynistic. But the dangerous and scary thing is that 50 percent of the people agree with their extremes!