Republicans now understand that they will most probably lose elections unless they cheat in one way or another. This will continue of course, because---well--they are republicans.
A gentlemanly 'agree to disagree' is for differences in football teams and pizza toppings, not the abrogation of basic human rights and incipient Fascism. No; I'm not in the least bit interested in listening to Reich-wing apologetics. We collectively heard quite enough of that heinous bullshit in 1865, and again in 1945.
this is exactly the point I was trying to make. We can’t have a nuanced discussion about what level of discrimination is okay and we can’t compare the erosion of rights some wacky conspiracy flat earth theory.
Tell us, who are these wonderful people "who care and are concerned for the well being of gender confused individuals?" What religious right conversion therapy group are you talking about? I don't assume there's no goodwill on one side. Sad to say, it's a conclusion I've arrived at after years of careful thought and observation. So far, you haven't changed my opinion.
Everyone who burned witches at the stake did so out of an abundance of concern for their spiritual health. Just because you don't understand someone doesn't mean that they're "confused". We don't need a "discussion of how best to treat gender dysphoria"; gender-affirming health services have long been endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. Bigotry doesn't get to fucking vote on human rights. "Tyranny"? REALLY? To leave others the fuck alone to live their lives as they see fit in peace, people whose lives do not interfere with yours in any way, is "tyranny"? Or is what you really mean by "tyranny" is being denied the traditional White male privilege to bully, brutalize, and persecute anyone who looks, thinks, and acts differently than yourself?
The “concern” argument is irrelevant. It’s also wrong. If it were genuine concern the anti-trans laws wouldn’t have begun only immediately after trans rights were mentioned on Fox 2,000 times in 2022. It’s a generated culture war. Trans people existed before this “concern”. However, that aside, the reason you’re stripping rights away doesn’t matter at all. You don’t get to say you’re taking someone’s rights away but it’s okay because you mean well. That’s called rationalization One last comment on the book banning. What really irritates me is what if I wanted my kid to be tolerant and read the book or what if she just likes the book? You already have the right as a parent to opt out of any material that hurts your ego. Why do you have to also opt my kid out of it? That’s why it’s a ban. All from the party of small government Also re the goodwill and tyranny - these laws can be bigoted, which they are, honesty is also important, and there still be goodwill on the gop side. There are people in the gop, including in the part of the country where I live, that denounce this crap. if you want to have an honest nuanced conversation, and actually make concessions you’ve said you’ve made - tell me how just one of these laws is bigoted
I don't think that's true, at least in my case. I have formed opinions about political matters on the basis of my experiences, available facts and reasoning. But I think if I were presented with sound arguments and evidence that went the other way, I might change my mind. I've done so in the past. My problem with what you've posted so far is that your case seems lame and your arguments specious. You've tried to convince us that billionaires are just as oppressed and put upon as racial minorities still suffering the impacts of discrimination; that the designation of certain groups as "protected classes" is arbitrary: that DeSantis has been horribly mischarcterized, when in fact he seems to be playing semantic games to euphemize his actions.DeSantis Calls Book Bans a Hoax, Brags About Banning Books ; that we should be open to thinking of transgender individuals as "confused", etc. How open are you to reconsidering these positions?
The word woke is becoming more beautiful by the day. Why? Because the absolute worst people on earth use it as a slur against everything that is good. Stay Woke.
Woke is pretty bad. And, and still, pretty is rather nice. The confuctions of language are in play. A neg/pos = wild nonsense. Your jokes are stupid. "And now we hear from our dear correspondent. with this snooze."
I have my mind made up because I’ve been watching the attack (that’s the right word) on minorities for years. People like DeSantis don’t hide who they are. I didn’t make up my mind on a whim
I have been trying to figure out in what way LBGQT folks are affecting my life. Can't seem to think of any. Guess I'll just move on to something else. Hmmm---lets see---oh I know---a huge gang of right wingers tried to overthrow our democracy. Yeah--that'll do it.
De Santis' recent Iowa speech seemed to be an exercise in how many times can you use "woke" in a sentence. "We will fight the woke mob!" (Is he talking about us?) We will fight 'the woke' in the legislature, we will fight the 'woke' in education,we will fight the woke"in the businesses." We will fight them in a boat, we will fight them with a goat, We do not like them, said DeSant I am. (I added the last part myself, cuz his speech reminded me of a Dr. Seuss classic.) Recall that when pressed in court, Ryan Newman, DeSantis’ general counsel, said that “woke” is “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” He added that DeSantis does not believe that such injustices exist. Florida’s Anti-Woke Laws Deny Existence of Systemic Racism. I think that clarifies it. So Mexxi, if you're still with us, do you think there are no systemic injustices in the USA?
According to Sally Haslanger (Philosophy, Sept. 9, 2022), "systemic injustice occurs when an unjust structure is maintained in a complex system that its self-reinforcing, adaptive, and creates subjects whose identity is shaped to conform to it". Braveman et al ("Systemic and Structural Racism: Definitions, Examples, Health Damages , and Approaches to Dismantling," Health Affairs, vol. 41(Feb., 2022): "Systemic and structural racism are forms of racism that are pervasively and deeply embedded in systems, laws, written or unwritten policies, and entrenched practices and beliefs that produce, condone, and perpetuate widespread unfair treatment and oppression of people of color, with adverse health consequences. Examples include residential segregation, unfair lending practices and other barriers to home ownership and accumulating wealth, schools’ dependence on local property taxes, environmental injustice, biased policing and sentencing of men and boys of color, and voter suppression policies." In his influential book A Theory of Justice, Rawls identifies the basic principles that describe just practices in a society: · that each person has the same claim to a full scheme of equal basic liberties · that offices and positions are open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity, and · that social and economic inequalities must be arranged so that they benefit the least-advantaged members of society. We're talking about distributive or social justice, here, rather than commutative justice. For Biblical support, see Amos 5:24; Isaiah 1:17; Jer. 22:3;Proverbs 21: 15; Proverbs 31:9; Psalm 82:3-4; Luke 10:30-35; James 1:27. So that seems to be what we're talking about. Any thoughts, Mexxi?
I applaud the family that grows corn and beans, feeds pigs, slaughters those and then has a local epicure barbeque stand. It smacks of systemic though. Oh, so colorful, eh ? Black? Na... colorful and charming and delicious and a perfection of tradition. The modern theory of a complex system is ignorable.
Of course that's not really what DeSantis is talking about. He's more into the culture wars aspect: Critical Race Theory, in a broad, vague sense; and gender identity issues. He's found a catchy word and is using it, without much regard to precise meaning. In fact, better to keep it vague, so it can be a buzzword for anything his supporters don't like.
dem·a·gog·uer·y /ˈdeməˌɡäɡ(ə)rē/ noun political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
