I am getting tired of stressing every 4 to 6 weeks, wondering if I am going to be legislated out of existence. We allowed these asshats to be elected and it is up to us to make sure that they are not elected again.
Ive been worried about this one since the last extension. Transgender issues seem to be such an ignored issue by Dems at the national level and in the media. I feel like there is a chance that Democrats will blink.
Holy fuck. Excuse me, but this is ridiculous. Nothing but bullying. And they don't give a fuck about trans kids. Witness the way they are reacting to Nex Benedict's murder. Sorry, my emotions are out about that poor child's death.
The most likely result is that the government will shut down for a while. Not because the Democrats have deeply principled objections to all these anti-abortion and ant-LGBTQ+ attacks, though some (perhaps even many) of them undoubtedly do. It's because caving into all these insane Republican demands is terrible politics.
If the Democrats cave, they look indecisive, weak, and unable to govern. The government stays open, but plenty of Democratic base voters are hugely disappointed. Democrats are weakened going into the election.
If the internal Republican debate collapses because they can't even get a majority of their own caucus to agree, then the Speaker will probably cobble together a compromise with the Senate that doesn't even address any of the hot-button culture war topics. The government stays open, but the Speaker probably loses his job, and a segment of the base is angry. Republicans are somewhat weakened going into the election.
If the government actually shuts down, public sympathy probably leans pretty strongly toward the reasonable-seeming Democrats and against the uncompromising Republicans. There's no guarantee, but historically that's how it's worked out. And the party blamed for a government shutdown seven months before the election is just straight up going to lose, by a lot.
The only scenario where Republicans are strengthened going into the election is if the House caucus gets its collective shit together, negotiates a compromise spending bill with the Senate that includes some real Republican governing priorities and excludes all the grandstanding, hostage-taking nonsense they're throwing out there right now. Except we know that's not going to happen because Republicans don't actually have governing priorities, and they're more interested in grandstanding than actually governing.
These wing-nut Freedom Caucus Republicans have a lot less power in the real world than they think they do.
That's my analysis anyway. The crazier the Republicans sound, the more that crazy drags them down in November with anyone outside the evangelical MAGA base. It's always possible I'm wrong and that we're barreling down the road to fascism so fast that nothing can stop us. I don't think that's true, but it's hard to know what this country is going to do these days.
Shitty, I feel like this is the trajectory we’re on. Now is the time more than ever to support the Democratic Party. If they go along with it fuck them but only if they go along with it. It’s easy to nitpick but we need to unite with our allies. We need to be very loud. Now is not the time to hide. Reach out to your local reps. They do listen.
Good. I don't think people care enough to shut down the government over trans people and there is no way Biden caves on this kinda junk. People don't know, but he wrote the forward in the autobiography of Sarah McBride, a trans woman. She is a family friend. Really, the guy isn't always articulate about it, but he's more of a zesty advocate than people give him credit for.
Just sent this to Congresswoman Shontel Brown of Ohio:
Hello,
I'm a trans rights advocate. I have over a dozen grown adult trans folks that call me Papa Dave. I love them all and wish that they could live in peace, without fear of being attacked by their own government.
I also follow over one hundred other trans folks globally. They are all watching what our country is doing to their siblings.
Being trans is a birth condition. It cannot be groomed or indoctrinated into a person. The Religious Right, the Republican Party and other willfully ignorant people are trying to convince the American population otherwise.
Your colleague in D.C., Mr. Crenshaw has clearly stated that stopping ALL affirming care for trans folks, nationwide is "The hill that the Republican Party will die on." I am hoping that stopping him and his ilk will be the hill upon which you can claim victory.
There is NO "Trans Agenda". (Except to stay alive and not be killed by people following Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh and a host of others who call for stochastic violence against anyone who doesn't fit the Colonizing Patriarchs', White Supremacist mindset) There is NO Trans Movement, where kids are going to be "Transed". (As suggested by the sanctimonious Ron DeSantis)
Trans people as well as other folks on the LGBTQ spectrum have been with us since before 7,000 years BC, as documented in history, cultures worldwide, and even mentioned in Hebrew and other religious texts. They have always been here, as they are a natural variation on our human condition. You cannot erase or eradicate natural variation, without causing extinction, or genocide.
Please step up against Republicans who are causing, literally a genocidal state for trans folks in our country. Please learn about the rich history of contributions made by folks in the LGBTQ community. Please learn as much as possible about the REAL medical and scientific studies done to help trans and non-binary folks live as their Authentic Selves. They are who they say they are and HOW they say they are. I love my little family of trans kids (Ok, they're adults, but I'm their elder, advisor and defender) I do not want to see them die at the hands of bigoted Republican lawmakers, who are on a mission to destroy my kids, for their own political gain.
What’s so terrible about this is that they’ve become so fervent in their hate that they will do anything, they will shut down the whole government, place their reelection at stake, stop other more important legislation from passing, all to try and hurt and destroy a group of people that make up 1% of the country, in the vain belief that they are the silent majority, that everyone hates trans people with just as much fervor as them, and considers our destruction so important as to let everything else stand aside. They keep losing on this issue and they keep going back to it, because the fascist will never simply stop. They can’t stop until all things they view as disgusting and evil are vanished, by any means necessary. God I hope the Dems don’t fumble this, but they’ve failed us before, and I doubt they won’t do it again.
Their demands in that letter are terrifyingly villainous...
Increase gun violence, stop protecting the planet, defund healthcare and access to it for select groups, defund and distance us from world organizations focused on health and human rights, put and keep more people in loan debt, censor and denounce medical science, defund efforts against a pandemic, reduce someone's pay to $0, punish and enforce anti-trans laws in schools and sports, and generally the most dangerous threat to the beginning of a fascist run genocide. WHAT GOOD IS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT OF THIS?! WHAT BENEFIT DOES ANY OF THIS PROVIDE THEIR CITIZENS?! WHY IS THE ONLY THING REPUBLICANS ARE "FOR" IS BEING *AGAINST* OTHER PEOPLE?!
"Should Republican leadership proceed without any of the anti-trans policy riders, many Republican voters will likely vote against the bill, and Speaker Johnson could see his own speakership threatened."
Poetic justice for Johnson, at least, if he loses his job due to extremist infighting
Call their bluff. Let them shut down the government, with their leading Presidential candidate under multiple indictments, on the heels of their inability to even decide on a Speaker, their colossal blunder in overturning Roe that's already cost them elections at every level, and failures lining up even their own votes behind their Impeachment agenda in the House. Film every second of it, and play it on repeat every commercial break from now 'til November.
Fuck these assholes. What in the hell? They never even did this over abortion or segregation or any of their other bullshit bigoted causes. And they are doing this because of their opposition to the best people I know. I’m just going to call them the Nazi Party from now on. That’s what they are.
This is disgusting and disgraceful. Hopefully the Democrats will maintain a united front against these riders, as they did the last time this was attempted.
I am getting tired of stressing every 4 to 6 weeks, wondering if I am going to be legislated out of existence. We allowed these asshats to be elected and it is up to us to make sure that they are not elected again.
Ive been worried about this one since the last extension. Transgender issues seem to be such an ignored issue by Dems at the national level and in the media. I feel like there is a chance that Democrats will blink.
Holy fuck. Excuse me, but this is ridiculous. Nothing but bullying. And they don't give a fuck about trans kids. Witness the way they are reacting to Nex Benedict's murder. Sorry, my emotions are out about that poor child's death.
The most likely result is that the government will shut down for a while. Not because the Democrats have deeply principled objections to all these anti-abortion and ant-LGBTQ+ attacks, though some (perhaps even many) of them undoubtedly do. It's because caving into all these insane Republican demands is terrible politics.
If the Democrats cave, they look indecisive, weak, and unable to govern. The government stays open, but plenty of Democratic base voters are hugely disappointed. Democrats are weakened going into the election.
If the internal Republican debate collapses because they can't even get a majority of their own caucus to agree, then the Speaker will probably cobble together a compromise with the Senate that doesn't even address any of the hot-button culture war topics. The government stays open, but the Speaker probably loses his job, and a segment of the base is angry. Republicans are somewhat weakened going into the election.
If the government actually shuts down, public sympathy probably leans pretty strongly toward the reasonable-seeming Democrats and against the uncompromising Republicans. There's no guarantee, but historically that's how it's worked out. And the party blamed for a government shutdown seven months before the election is just straight up going to lose, by a lot.
The only scenario where Republicans are strengthened going into the election is if the House caucus gets its collective shit together, negotiates a compromise spending bill with the Senate that includes some real Republican governing priorities and excludes all the grandstanding, hostage-taking nonsense they're throwing out there right now. Except we know that's not going to happen because Republicans don't actually have governing priorities, and they're more interested in grandstanding than actually governing.
These wing-nut Freedom Caucus Republicans have a lot less power in the real world than they think they do.
That's my analysis anyway. The crazier the Republicans sound, the more that crazy drags them down in November with anyone outside the evangelical MAGA base. It's always possible I'm wrong and that we're barreling down the road to fascism so fast that nothing can stop us. I don't think that's true, but it's hard to know what this country is going to do these days.
Because cruelty is the point. People need to stay engaged, vote, and keep their friends engaged and voting. The fascists only win if we quit!
Shitty, I feel like this is the trajectory we’re on. Now is the time more than ever to support the Democratic Party. If they go along with it fuck them but only if they go along with it. It’s easy to nitpick but we need to unite with our allies. We need to be very loud. Now is not the time to hide. Reach out to your local reps. They do listen.
Good. I don't think people care enough to shut down the government over trans people and there is no way Biden caves on this kinda junk. People don't know, but he wrote the forward in the autobiography of Sarah McBride, a trans woman. She is a family friend. Really, the guy isn't always articulate about it, but he's more of a zesty advocate than people give him credit for.
Just sent this to Congresswoman Shontel Brown of Ohio:
Hello,
I'm a trans rights advocate. I have over a dozen grown adult trans folks that call me Papa Dave. I love them all and wish that they could live in peace, without fear of being attacked by their own government.
I also follow over one hundred other trans folks globally. They are all watching what our country is doing to their siblings.
Being trans is a birth condition. It cannot be groomed or indoctrinated into a person. The Religious Right, the Republican Party and other willfully ignorant people are trying to convince the American population otherwise.
Your colleague in D.C., Mr. Crenshaw has clearly stated that stopping ALL affirming care for trans folks, nationwide is "The hill that the Republican Party will die on." I am hoping that stopping him and his ilk will be the hill upon which you can claim victory.
There is NO "Trans Agenda". (Except to stay alive and not be killed by people following Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh and a host of others who call for stochastic violence against anyone who doesn't fit the Colonizing Patriarchs', White Supremacist mindset) There is NO Trans Movement, where kids are going to be "Transed". (As suggested by the sanctimonious Ron DeSantis)
Trans people as well as other folks on the LGBTQ spectrum have been with us since before 7,000 years BC, as documented in history, cultures worldwide, and even mentioned in Hebrew and other religious texts. They have always been here, as they are a natural variation on our human condition. You cannot erase or eradicate natural variation, without causing extinction, or genocide.
Please step up against Republicans who are causing, literally a genocidal state for trans folks in our country. Please learn about the rich history of contributions made by folks in the LGBTQ community. Please learn as much as possible about the REAL medical and scientific studies done to help trans and non-binary folks live as their Authentic Selves. They are who they say they are and HOW they say they are. I love my little family of trans kids (Ok, they're adults, but I'm their elder, advisor and defender) I do not want to see them die at the hands of bigoted Republican lawmakers, who are on a mission to destroy my kids, for their own political gain.
Thanks for your time.
David M. Iosue
Cleveland Ohio
What’s so terrible about this is that they’ve become so fervent in their hate that they will do anything, they will shut down the whole government, place their reelection at stake, stop other more important legislation from passing, all to try and hurt and destroy a group of people that make up 1% of the country, in the vain belief that they are the silent majority, that everyone hates trans people with just as much fervor as them, and considers our destruction so important as to let everything else stand aside. They keep losing on this issue and they keep going back to it, because the fascist will never simply stop. They can’t stop until all things they view as disgusting and evil are vanished, by any means necessary. God I hope the Dems don’t fumble this, but they’ve failed us before, and I doubt they won’t do it again.
Their demands in that letter are terrifyingly villainous...
Increase gun violence, stop protecting the planet, defund healthcare and access to it for select groups, defund and distance us from world organizations focused on health and human rights, put and keep more people in loan debt, censor and denounce medical science, defund efforts against a pandemic, reduce someone's pay to $0, punish and enforce anti-trans laws in schools and sports, and generally the most dangerous threat to the beginning of a fascist run genocide. WHAT GOOD IS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT OF THIS?! WHAT BENEFIT DOES ANY OF THIS PROVIDE THEIR CITIZENS?! WHY IS THE ONLY THING REPUBLICANS ARE "FOR" IS BEING *AGAINST* OTHER PEOPLE?!
They're blowing smoke. Not gonna happen with such a razor-thin majority in the House.
But let these assholes asshole. They're bringing down the entire GOP with them. And I, for one, am enjoying the show.
"Should Republican leadership proceed without any of the anti-trans policy riders, many Republican voters will likely vote against the bill, and Speaker Johnson could see his own speakership threatened."
Poetic justice for Johnson, at least, if he loses his job due to extremist infighting
Call their bluff. Let them shut down the government, with their leading Presidential candidate under multiple indictments, on the heels of their inability to even decide on a Speaker, their colossal blunder in overturning Roe that's already cost them elections at every level, and failures lining up even their own votes behind their Impeachment agenda in the House. Film every second of it, and play it on repeat every commercial break from now 'til November.
Why are these middle aged white men so obsessed with other peoples' genitalia? I want them to answer that question. I think they're fucking perverts.
Fuck these assholes. What in the hell? They never even did this over abortion or segregation or any of their other bullshit bigoted causes. And they are doing this because of their opposition to the best people I know. I’m just going to call them the Nazi Party from now on. That’s what they are.
This is disgusting and disgraceful. Hopefully the Democrats will maintain a united front against these riders, as they did the last time this was attempted.