Miscellaneous political stuff - Part 12

This guy has a lot more to say, not so good either...

Grothman, who was first elected in 2014 and represents east-central Wisconsin communities including Winnebago, Sheboygan, and Fond du Lac, has a lengthy history of controversies.

Because they are a presidential candidate and if they called it something else, that would give the incumbent a perceived advantage.

Merge couldn't click like. Knew you would have the info, though.

Someone needs to make copies..
I don't know how...

So, it seems they did a search at Bedminster.. I have said from the beginning they need to look in Ivan's casket. She was cremated. It was VERY heavy!!

Really really funny .

Texas passed s bill to have religious persons replace licensed guidance counsels in schools along with other assorted laws. Let's just add more religious fanatics and perverts to be alone, unsupervised, with kids in school. Not like there isn't a history there?!?!? Just add them to the guns!  Oh right, they will up close for their thoughts and prayers..... Comforting....
Go Gov Abbott.,.....

GOP lawmakers in the state House approved Senate Bill 763 on Wednesday, one day after their counterparts in the state Senate passed the legislation. The measure, which permits school districts "to employ or accept as volunteers chaplains to provide support, services, and programs for students," now heads to the desk of far-right Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law.

In addition to undermining religious freedom, the legislation also advances the American Legislative Exchange Council's longstanding goal of weakening occupational licensing requirements, thus threatening both the secular foundations and quality of public education in the Lone Star State. The right-wing Christian lawmakers backing S.B. 763 and related bills have called the separation of church and state a "false doctrine."

Senate Bill 1515, which would have required teachers to display an edited version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in Texas, was approved by Senate Republicans last month, but the proposal died in the House because the chamber didn't vote on it before midnight Tuesday.

"The purpose of these bills is clear: The same lawmakers trying to control what students think by banning books and censoring curricula now want to dictate what students worship."

S.B. 1515 "was an unconstitutional attack on our core liberties that threatened the freedom of and from religion we hold dear as Texans. It should never have gotten this close to passage," ACLU of Texas attorney David Donatti said in a statement. "Whether trying to place the Ten Commandments in every classroom or replacing school counselors with unlicensed chaplains, certain Texas lawmakers have launched a coordinated effort to force state-sponsored religion into our public schools."

"We cannot overlook their attempts to push legislation that would sanction religious discrimination and bullying," said Donatti. "The First Amendment guarantees families and faith communities—not politicians or the government—the right to instill religious beliefs in their children."

S.B. 763 and S.B. 1515 "came in a session of aggressive legislative measures in Texas and several other states aiming to weaken decades of distinction between religion and government," The Washington Post observed. "Supporters say they believe the [U.S.] Supreme Court's ruling last summer in Kennedy v. Bremerton, in favor of a high school football coach who prayed with players, essentially removed any guardrails between them."

Texas Senate Republicans "also passed a bill to allow districts to require schools to set aside time for staff and students to pray and read religious texts, and a second bill to allow public employees to 'engage in religious prayer and speech'—modeled after the coach ruling," the newspaper reported. "Those two bills failed to make it out of House committees Wednesday and were not considered likely to resurface this session."

Carisa Lopez, senior political director for the progressive Texas Freedom Network, denounced GOP lawmakers for approving S.B. 763.

"This bill violates the religious freedom of all faiths and Texans of non-faith by placing chaplains in our schools who are not required to be certified educators or omit their personal religious beliefs when working with students," Lopez said in a statement. "Chaplains, unlike counselors, are not given the professional training required to care for the mental health of all students, and we cannot be reasonably certain that every chaplain hired or allowed to volunteer would give unbiased and adequate support to an LGBTQIA+ student, someone grappling with reproductive health decisions, or a student who may struggle with suicidal ideation or self-harm."

"I find it egregious—especially on the one-year anniversary of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde—that lawmakers would pass a bill allowing chaplains to be compensated with funding meant to address school safety," said Lopez.

"Yet again, our elected officials have squandered their opportunity to pass meaningful legislation that would keep kids safe, like commonsense gun reform or bills addressing the school counselor and teacher shortage," she added. "We will never stop fighting the religious right's agenda to inject their personal beliefs into our schools, and we urge Texans to hold these lawmakers accountable at the ballot box."

Rev. Erin Walter, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Texas, also condemned the state's GOP lawmakers for pushing theocratic legislation that violates the U.S. Constitution and, in the case of S.B. 763, could harm the well-being of students by leaving them in the care of unqualified chaplains rather than licensed counselors who have completed the requisite training.

"As a religious leader, I'm disgusted by this assault on religious freedom and the right of all religious communities to conduct their own religious education," said Walter. "As a mother, I'm angry that these politicians believe they know how to raise Texas children better than their own parents do."

"As a former public school teacher, I'm appalled by this erosion of public education as a means of preparing young people to thrive in our diverse state," Walter continued. "And as a fourth-generation Texan, I refuse to accept this government intrusion into our private lives."

Earlier this month, Rep. Cole Hefner (R-5), the House sponsor of S.B. 763, insisted during a floor debate that the legislation doesn't seek to promote religion.

"We have to give schools all the tools; with all we're experiencing, with mental health problems, other crises, this is just another tool," said Hefner.

But as The Texas Tribune reported, "opponents fear the bill is a 'Trojan horse' for evangelizing kids and will worsen the state's mental health crisis through disproven counseling approaches."

"Our elected officials have squandered their opportunity to pass meaningful legislation that would keep kids safe, like commonsense gun reform or bills addressing the school counselor and teacher shortage."

Critics of S.B. 763, including some religious groups and Christian Democrats, worry it could allow "religious activists to recruit in schools and would exacerbate tensions at local school boards, which would have the final say on whether to allow chaplains in schools," the Tribune noted. "Worse, opponents say, the bill could deepen the state's youth mental health crisis by providing students with unproven, lightly supervised, and nonscientific counseling that treats common childhood problems, such as anxiety, as 'sins' or issues that can merely be prayed away."

According to the newspaper, "The head of the National School Chaplain Association—a key supporter of the chaplains bill—has led another group for decades that touted its ability to use school chaplains for evangelizing to kids."

During debate on the House floor, "a half-dozen Democratic lawmakers rose to ask Hefner to amend the bill, saying it didn't provide protection for a diversity of religions, among other things," the Post reported. "Hefner and the majority rejected almost all amendments, including one requiring parental consent and another requiring chaplains to serve students of all faiths and not proselytize."

"Groups that watch church-state issues say efforts nationwide to fund and empower religion—and, more specifically, a particular type of Christianity—are more plentiful and forceful than they have been in years," the newspaper noted. "Americans United for Separation of Church and Statesays it is watching 1,600 bills around the country in states such as Louisiana and Missouri. Earlier this year, Idaho and Kentucky signed into law measures that could allow teachers and public school employees to pray in front of and with students while on duty." However, the group "said it knows of no other bills that replace guidance counselors with chaplains."

In a blog post published earlier this week by the ACLU of Texas, Walter argued that "the purpose of these bills is clear: The same lawmakers trying to control what students think by banning books and censoring curricula now want to dictate what students worship."

www.rawstory.com/texas-gop-accused-of-coordinated-effort-to-force-state-sponsored-religion-into-our-public-schools/

Durham will appear before the House, GOP led, Judiciary Committee.

"The hearing will happen on Wednesday, June 21," Fox adds. "The day before, Durham will appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door briefing."
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National security and legal experts have torn the Durham report apart, with some noting his investigation directly conflicts with findings from a DOJ Inspector General and the then-GOP majority Senate Intelligence Committee's report.

www.rawstory.com/bill-barrs-former-special-counsel-john-durham-to-testify-in-house-hearing/

Freebies for Musk from DeSantis..

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that loosens regulations on space flight a day after he announced his presidential campaign in an event hosted by Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.

Twitter's CEO Musk is also the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX, which launches from Florida -- and the new bill would shield space flight companies from being sued for accidents that kill or injure crew members, reported Rolling Stone.

"DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1318 – Spaceflight Entity Liability along with 27 other bills," the magazine reported. "The law exempts 'spaceflight entity from liability for injury to or death of a crew resulting from spaceflight activities under certain circumstances.

SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever built last month from its privately owned spaceport in South Texas, but the craft exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, sending chunks of concrete and metal into sensitive habitat below and setting of a 35-acre fire on state park lands near the launch site.

Environmental groups and cultural heritage nonprofits have sued Federal Aviation Administration over the explosion, saying the agency failed to conduct a thorough environmental review.

www.rawstory.com/ron-desantis-elon-musk-2660659540/

Charlie Kirk he who says a few dead kids are worth his right to own guns...
The convicted sex offender is ok, because as a christian he has repented..


Charlie Kirk, the founder of the right-wing group Turning Point USA, recently accused Target of "grooming" kids by offering Pride youth apparel. Yet that reportedly hasn't stop his organization from being bankrolled by a registered sex offender, new reporting reveals.

Rolling Stone reported that Shawn Bergstrand is a "benefactor" of Kirk, and that his criminal history "opens up TPUSA to charges of hypocrisy."

"Rolling Stone has learned that one of the TPUSA summit’s corporate sponsors is a Christian fashion company that is led by a registered sex offender, Shawn Bergstrand, who served time in federal prison for attempted 'coercion and enticement' after trying to persuade 'a minor female' to 'engage in sexual activity,'" it wrote.

For its part, the organization said it wasn't aware of the "incident," but also provided a type of defense for the apparent hypocrisy.
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"One of the core tenants of the Christian faith is forgiveness rooted in repentance. After discussing the issue with him, we believe [it] was critical to bringing him to faith,” Kolvet added, the report shows. “He doesn’t hide from what happened, he instead posts his testimony online on his company website. TPUSA Faith will not toss away a repentant, decent person because of a mistake that happened over a decade before, or because a leftwing outlet wants to write a hit piece on the amazing work our team is doing.”