Don’t Say That

Given the history of our country’s relationship with Russia, you would think that the egregious and deadly invasion of Ukraine would be one thing Democrats and Republicans could agree on. But then again, why should we be surprised by a lack of unity when we can’t unite on getting vaccinated to end a pandemic?

While some Republicans are outraged by Russia’s actions, others led by their two leaders, The Don and Tucker Carlson, are saying “Hey, what’s the big deal? What’s so cool about Ukraine that we should take its side?”

Here’s Carlson:

“It might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, ‘What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?’” he said. “‘Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?’” (After a lot of blow back, Carlson did finally say that Putin was at fault; but the fact that he could say it at all shows you how over the cliff he is.)

In true form, The Don, not only didn’t think Putin’s actions were terrifying but praised him.

Here’s The Don:

‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful, “He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.”

It seems that some Republicans hope Russia succeeds on Biden’s watch as that will weaken him and the Democrats further as we approach the midterms. One wonders if Hitler were around whether Carlson and the Don would be singing his praises as well and urging their people to buy “Mein Kampf!”  I mean look at that guy. Can you believe how he is gobbling up countries? It’s like he is playing a game of Pacman.

The support of autocracies like Russia is just another part of the Republican playbook to undo our very own democracy. I wouldn’t be surprised if right wing congressmen  like Mo Brooks or Louie Gohmert equate Russia’s actions in Ukraine with January 6th. After all, Putin is just taking back what is part of Russia and the patriots of January 6th were just taking back their country.

While Putin bullies his way into undoing Ukraine’s democracy, Republicans are doing their darndest to undo ours.

Banning books, discussions about race, the teaching of an accurate history of the impact of slavery, are all an attempt to elevate the White Chrisitian narrative at the expense of other voices and the truth.

45 states have considered 245 bills that would restrict the right to peaceful assembly. Thirty-six of those bills passed. Some of them would protect drivers who hit protesters with their cars on public streets. As Putin rounds up protesters in his country, how long will it be that peaceful demonstrators in our country will suffer a similar fate?

Now 15 bills in state legislatures are gaining momentum that restrict how textbooks and curriculums teach LGBTQ+ topics, who can be hired and what teachers are allowed to say when it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation.

Unsurprisingly, Florida is leading the way with what is being called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The bill, passed by the Florida House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would ban certain discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools (It still needs to be passed by the senate and signed by Governor DeSatanist.)  And if that wasn’t bad enough, a new amendment to the bill would explicitly require schools to inform parents of their child’s sexual orientation within six weeks of learning the student is any sexual orientation other than straight.*

Will they make these students wear pink stars like the Nazi’s did?

And then we have another Floridian, Senator Rick Scott, blessing us with his “Rescue America Plan.”

When asked about the plan Scott remarked:  “I’ll warn you; this plan is not for the faint of heart.” You could say that again. Forget the faint of heart: It’s heartless! It is an outright assault. It plays the top hits of the Republican/Trump world: a declaration that there are only two genders, a potentially unconstitutional mandate that all kids stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, Voter ID would become the law of the land (voter suppression!), no tax dollars could be used for “diversity training or other woke indoctrination that is hostile to faith.”

Scott also wants to restart the construction of the US-Mexico border wall and name it after, you guessed it, Donald Trump. Rumor has it that he wanted to change the name of our country to Trumerica, but that was a bridge too far for some of his supporters

In true Trumpian style, Scott projects the Republican party as the defenders of democracy:

“Today’s Democrat Party is trying to rig elections and pack the courts because they have given up on Democracy. They don’t believe they can win based on their ideas, so they want us to game the system and legalize voter fraud to stay in power. In true Orwellian fashion, Democrats refer to their election rigging plans as “voting rights.” We won’t allow the radical left to destroy our democracy by institutionalizing dishonesty and fraud.

Wait, isn’t that what the Republicans are doing? The Republican playbook is to accuse the Democrats of the very things they are guilty of. It’s like the fox going into the hen house, getting caught with the chicken in his hand and then pointing to the farmer accusing him of being the thief. Given the depraved state of the Republican party, it’s possible, with some help from Tucker Carlson, that millions of people will think the farmer is the thief! 

By the way, this is exactly Putin’s strategy. He is claiming that he needs to de-Nazi-ify Ukraine, a democracy with a Jewish leader. Scott and his anti-democratic cronies preach autocratic doctrine claiming he and his party are the good guys, protecting democracy,

*A recent survey by the Trevor Project, a LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention group, which found 42 percent of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.

A separate report from the Trevor Project found that LGBTQ+ youth who learned about LGBTQ+ people or issues in school had 23 percent lower odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the last year.

Among middle and high school LGBTQ+ students, 19 percent who reported never learning about LGBTQ+ issues or people in school attempted suicide in the last year compared to 16 percent of students who had received LGBTQ+-related lessons.