Right-wing media escalate DEI panic, embrace blatant racism against Black pilots and airline employees

Stephan: 

The MAGAt world has reached a level of racism and genderism, worse in some ways than the 1950s. Something has gone seriously awry with the psyche of about a third of the White population, as well as a small group of self-loathing Blacks and Hispanics. What Black or Hispanic person with self-esteem, could be part of the Republican Party when one of its most prominent characteristics is the assertion that people of color are inferior to Whites, and that women are and should be subordinate to men?

Right-wing media have continued to blame diversity, equity, and inclusion measures for theoretical airplane accidents after a widely publicized Boeing 737 Max malfunction, attacking the principles of DEI to suggest that plane failures are the result of airlines hiring Black pilots and employees of color. Some figures have questioned whether Black pilots are “qualified” and have called DEI “racist.” 

  • Right-wing media have baselessly blamed Boeing plane’s malfunction on DEI
  • Following a malfunction that caused a Boeing 737 Max 9’s door to dislodge mid-flight, right-wing media were quick to blame diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for the mechanical malfunction. In their criticisms, figures claimed that the airplane manufacturer had a “DEI obsession” that created a “major risk to airline safety.” Some also blamed Federal Aviation Administration guidelines that promote hiring people with physical and intellectual disabilities and from other underrepresented groups. [Media Matters, 1/12/241/18/24]
  • DEI measures have been repeatedly demonized by right-wing media figures and used to question the merits of the groups meant to benefit […]
    Read the Full Article

    1 Comment

American Values Gone Awry

Stephan: 

John Alexander lays out an excellent outline of how American culture has changed. It is a very sad and tragic outline, and I hope you will take some time to think about it in depth and what you can do to counteract this decay in the spirit of the United States.

Over 350,000 people had starved to death in Somalia. Then, “In 1992, President George Bush desired to strengthen the UN peacekeeping capability. President Bush and his administration looked to the UN as a tool to assist the U.S., ‘shape a world consistent with American values and interests.’” Notably, the lame duck, President Bush the Elder, for the first time in history, deployed the U.S. military in support of “American Values.”  Notably, Operation Restore Hope was done in coordination with then-President-elect Bill Clinton.

Imagine, just 30 years ago America, on a bipartisan basis, and upholding “American values,” was willing to commit American forces on a massive humanitarian effort to save starving people in Africa. Of course, a President Trump would later identify Somalia (and all of Africa) as a “shithole country.” How America has changed!

During and following World War II, the United States became a leading influence in the world. The first to develop nuclear weapons, we became the most powerful nation on Earth from a military perspective. That capability emerged as a stabilizing force and counterbalance to the Soviet Union and expansion of Communism. The Apollo Lunar exploration program established American technological dominance. Concurrently, our middle class burgeoned forth and based […]

Read the Full Article

1 Comment

Arizona Republican says state lawmakers, not voters, should pick president

Stephan: 

I think it is time that we admit that about a third of the White population in the U.S. neither understand nor want America to be an equalitarian democracy — where all people are created equal. Instead they are Republicans, which means they are White nationalist fascists who see women as a subordinate species. This is tearing America into two countries and the Republican Party is actively, as this article describes, trying to destroy democracy.

The US representative Paul Gosar, left, talks with Anthony Kern, now a state senator, in 2020. 
Credit: Ross D Franklin / AP

A proposal from an Arizona lawmaker calls for the state legislature to decide on presidential electors instead of adhering to a popular vote.

The state senator Anthony Kern, a Republican, served as a fake elector in 2020, falsely asserting that Donald Trump won the state. Those involved in the fake electors schemes in several states have been charged. In Arizona, the fake electors are under investigation by the Democratic attorney general, her office has confirmed. Kern also attended the 6 January 2021 rally at the US Capitol.

The senate concurrent resolution says that the “sole authority to appoint presidential electors” should fall to the legislature. It calls on the legislature to stay in session during presidential election years for this purpose. As a concurrent resolution, the proposal does not require the governor’s signature and does not have the force of law; it functions more to state the legislative body’s position on an issue.

Such a change would […]

Read the Full Article

No Comments

Republicans now say it might be okay to ignore the Supreme Court

Stephan: 

When I tell you that the Republican Party is trying to destroy America’s over two-century-old democracy I want to be clear that I am not exaggerating. Here is yet another example of what I mean. If you care about democracy, if your family and friends care about democracy you must all vote for only Democrats. Why? Because if you don’t by the end of 2025 America will no longer be a democracy, and trust me, you really won’t like that. The poor sad MAGAt people don’t seem to understand what they are supporting. They are pathetic and very dangerous.

Republicans now say it might be okay to ignore the Supreme Court Credit: Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post

A consequential development of the Trump era is what increasingly looks like the Republicans’ acrimonious divorce from the rule of law.

The party that once prided itself as the law-and-order side has leaped headlong into highly speculative theories about the “weaponization” of the justice system, spurred by former president Donald Trump. Both Trump and his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani recently flouted civil defamation verdicts against them by continuing to defame their victims — cheered on by many on the right. Republican voters increasingly want a president who is willing to break both rules and laws to get things done.

But some members of the party have in recent days crossed a new threshold: by suggesting that it’s okay to disregard the Supreme Court.

After the Supreme Court ruled last week that federal authorities can remove razor wire that Texas put on the U.S.-Mexico border, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) posted on X, formerly Twitter, that […]

Read the Full Article

No Comments