Republican Fuckery XVIII: Clarence Thomas Paid Off, Kevin McCarthy’s Usual BS & MI Republicans are Behind the Times

In the moment, it is easy to believe that you are making the right decision. History, however, may say otherwise.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s reputation has taken a nosedive over the past few years (not that it was solid, to begin with. Re: Anita Hill). The most recent scandal is that he has been allegedly bought and paid for by right-wing Real Estate mogul Harlan Crow (the perfect James Bond villain name).

Among the many lavish gifts that Crow has bestowed Thomas are expensive vacations and buying Thomas’s mother’s house so she can live out the rest of her days without worrying about where the next rent payment is coming from. While the latter could be seen as Crow being altruistic, the former is highly problematic. If this isn’t the case for a potential investigation into ethics violations, I don’t know what is.

In other news, Kevin McCarthy continues to prove why he is spineless and a hypocrite. During an interview with CNBC last week about the debt ceiling, McCarthy claimed that Biden has not even tried to negotiate. The truth is that the President has agreed to come to the table. What he will not budge on are cuts to help those who need it the most and ruining our country’s financial reputation.

And finally, nine Republican state Senators from Michigan voted to keep a century old that bill would make it illegal for unmarried couples to live together.

I don’t know about anyone else, I have plenty of friends who lived together before they married. I also know other couples who are not married and happily living together. I have two questions for these state Senators:

1. Don’t you have more important things to worry about than whether or not a cohabitated couple has said: “I do”?
2. What era do you think we live in?

If this side of the aisle wants to remain in power and win future elections, I suggest that they stop alienating young voters. The wise person would not ignore their collective voice/vote.

Just another day in America.

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The Manslaughter Charge Against the Oxford Shooter’s Parents Sends a Message That All Parents Should Heed

When a parent sends their child to school in the morning, they send them knowing that the place will keep their kid safe and educate them. They do not send them to die at the hand of a fellow student.

In November of 2021, four young people were murdered by one of their own at Oxford High School in Michigan. Earlier this week, the parents of this boy (who will remain nameless on this blog) were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Though this particular event was one in a long list of murders in an educational setting, it is the first time that the parents of the minor charged will face charges themselves.

As I have said before, I have nothing against guns. It’s not my cup of tea, but that’s ok. What I am against is this loosey-goosey vision of the 2nd amendment in which the lives of the average person are less important than the firearm itself or the NRA.

Granted, the child accused of killing his classmates was 15 at the time. By that age, most parents (hopefully) give some amount of autonomy to their offspring. However, he is still underage, and his parent’s responsibility. Unless they were living under a rock, they had to know what was going on with their son. The signs of mental illness are not unknown to us. Neither is the ability to secure one’s weapons and keep them away from small hands.

Obviously, no one can predict what the verdict will be. That being said, I can only hope that the message is loud and clear to anyone who calls themselves/is referred to as a parent.

More Republican Fuckery: FL’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law, TX’s Anti-Transgender, Cowardly Kevin McCarthy, and MI’s Banning Contraception For Married Couples

It says something about a nation when one political party is focused on the future and bringing people together while the other one is focused on the past and pulling people apart.

In both Texas and Florida, laws against the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ kids have created a dangerous precedent that puts lives at risk. As of Monday, the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida is one step closer to becoming law. The details of the bill are as follows:

Should the bill become law, Florida educators would be barred from speaking to primary school students about certain LGBTQ+ topics that are not considered “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”

Under the bill, parents would also have greater authority to take legal action against school districts they believe to be in violation.

In Texas, parents of transgender children who seek out hormone therapy to help their offspring become their true selves could be characterized as child abusers. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to foresee the potential mental health issues that may have a hugely detrimental effect on an entire generation. If we lose young lives due to these laws, the blood will be on the hands of those who wrote and supported these pieces of legislation.

Several weeks ago, Kevin McCarthy was asked by a member of the press about January 6th. Instead of answering her question, he ran away.

Contrast this to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When asked by the US if he wanted to get out of the line of fire, he said no and asked for ammunition. We should all be so lucky to have a President like him.

Finally, in Michigan, the three Republican candidates for State Attorney General were asked about the 1965 Supreme Court decision Griswold vs. Connecticut. The ruling states that married couples can buy contraception without the government stepping in. All three of them (who are all men, if it was not already obvious) state that they believed it was up to the state and not the federal government.

Who are they to make these decisions? When Roe V. Wade was ratified as the law of the land in 1972, it came down to privacy. That same concept applies to married couples. The choice to end a pregnancy and/or use contraception is one that belongs to those who are involved in that process and no one else.

Just another day of Republican fuckery.

P.S. I hope I was not the only was one who was offended and horrified by the outburst by Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene during last night’s State of the Union. It was akin to drunken idiots insulting the opposing team during a baseball or football game. What is worse is that they chose to do this when President Biden was speaking about his son who he lost to cancer. How much more disrespectful can they get?

Both/And: A Life in Many World Book Review

It’s easy to think that we know someone famous based on the headlines and the soundbites coming from the press. The reality is that we don’t know them at all.

Huma Abedin‘s memoir, Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds, was published last November. Born to Muslim Pakistani and Indian immigrants in Michigan, she spent her formative years in Saudi Arabia. Taking a job with the Clinton administration in the late 1990s, she has worked for Hillary Clinton for more than two decades. She is also known for her troubled marriage to Anthony Weiner, a politician whose fall from grace can only be described as brutal.

The reader is taken on a journey across the world and across the spectrum of local, national, and international politics over the last few decades. Abedin’s tale is that a woman who has broken boundaries, redefines what it is to be American, and that of a survivor who has thrived in spite of the dark times in her life.

This book is so good. Abedin leaves nothing off the table, telling her story in an emotionally honest and open manner. Her narrative is nothing short of inspirational.

The part of the book that was the most challenging for me as a reader was the scandal that broke up her marriage and opened the door to he who shall not be named. It is akin to a rollercoaster that had no off switch. Given what was being thrown at her, she could have easily taken to her bed and soothed her grief with food or alcohol. Instead, she took it one day at a time and got through it with her head held high and her courage intact.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Charging the Parents of the Oxford High School Shooters is Absolutely Necessary

Another week, another school shooting in America.

On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy (who shall not be named in this post) walked into Oxford High School in Michigan and started shooting. He killed four classmates and wounded seven others.

This firearm was given to him by his parents as an early Christmas present less than a week before the massacre. His parents have been charged with four counts of homicide involuntary manslaughter. As of yesterday afternoon, they were absent from their court appearance.

Ryan Busse, a former executive from a major gun company, published his memoir recently. Introduced to weapons as a young man by his parents, he received a message very early on how dangerous they could be.

Though forcing the shooter’s parents into court will not bring back the teenagers who were killed, I am hoping that it sets a moral and legal precedent. They could have made it absolutely clear that there were caveats and responsibilities attached to this gift. Just as a sixteen-year-old is limited to where they can drive once they get their license, the rules about where and when he could use it should have been crystal clear.

Instead, his parents gave him carte blanche to do as he wanted and as a result, the lives of four families will never be the same.

Maybe the memories of these innocent souls forever be a blessing.