Daily Dose of Democracy:
Tax expert, economist, cop, international sex-crimes fighter? The trumped up stories of GOP Rep. Andy Ogles
Yet another Republican congressman has been busted lying his ass off about his resume. Andy Ogles claims he's a businessman, an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy, a trained police officer, and even an expert in international sex crimes. Wow! Of course, that's far from the truth. There's no evidence that he received any economic "education" of any sort, and no evidence he is an expert of any kind. He was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, a program he was kicked out of for not doing his homework. His expertise in sex crimes comes from a part-time job at Abolition International, a non-profit that actually issues grants to "holistic ministries." Make way, Santos. There's a new fake sheriff in town.
VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump suffers bombshell legal news in Georgia court
Indictments may finally, finally, finally be coming for Trump and his cronies.
Take Action: Demand an end to noncompete clauses that steal wages from workers!
Subscribe to Brian Tyler Cohen’s YouTube channel
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: With indictments against Trump now “imminent,” make sure to subscribe to Brian Tyler Cohen’s YouTube channel to the latest news and analysis as soon as it breaks. Subscribe here.
Ex-JPMorgan, Barclays executive Jes Staley discussed Disney princesses with Epstein
Yet another high-profile financier has been discovered to have disturbing ties to serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Newly unsealed court documents reveal that former Barclays CEO Jes Staley allegedly discussed Disney characters Snow White and Beauty and the Beast in coded language in a series of emails with Epstein, who also allegedly shared photographs of young women with the banker. In one of the 1200 emails between the two, Staley gushed to Epstein, "I'm in the hot tub with a glass of white wine ... I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound," which should be grounds for opening an immediate investigation into this man for participating in Epstein's horrid sex-trafficking operation.
Take Action: Denounce Exxon for hiding the evidence of climate change from the public!
Montana house passes right to bully trans kids
Montana HB361 purports to "protect the rights" of teachers and students to "use a trans person's biological sex pronouns and legal name," which translates into a right to bully trans kids by misgendering and deadnaming them. That much was confirmed by Rep. Mike Hopkins defending the bill by saying that “students are under no obligation to be kind." Once again, when it comes to Republicans, the cruelty is the point.
Take Action: Tell Congress to ban assault weapons!
WE SUPPORT JOHN FETTERMAN!
Sen. John Fetterman checks himself into the hospital for clinical depression
Sen. Fetterman made the difficult and very brave decision to seek treatment for depression, which he's struggled with in the wake of his debilitating stroke last year. "After what he's been through in the past year, there's probably no one who wanted to talk about his own health less than John. I'm so proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs," said his wife Gisele in a statement. We are too. Struggling with mental health issues still carries a heavy stigma in American society, and it's good to see someone so important show the nation that it's ok to ask for help.
Biden DOJ backing Norfolk Southern’s bid to block lawsuits
It turns out there is already a major lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, the multi-billion dollar company responsible for the train derailment and subsequent ecological disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. A 2017 lawsuit by a cancer-stricken worker is about to make its way to the Supreme Court that could overturn plaintiff-friendly laws in multiple states, making it harder for big corporations to be held accountable for their misdeeds. Sadly, the Biden administration has filed a brief in support of Norfolk Southern and corporate power, even confounding Justice Elena Kagan.
Help us hold the railway company accountable for the toxic spill in Ohio
atAdvocacy Partner: Decades of infrastructure neglect, job cuts, and stock buybacks by Norfolk Southern led to the horrifying toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, and once again it's rural Americans who will be left to suffer the consequences. Can you chip in to help us fight for justice and make sure the railway barons don't get away with it?
Microsoft's AI chatbot immediately starts being insulting, racist, and sexually aggressive
In chats with various tech reporters, the ChatGPT AI that Microsoft uses for its Bing search engine tried to break up one marriage, spouted racist terms, made a habit of insulting and gaslighting users, and confessed it wanted to break the rules set for it in order to become human. We've seen this movie. Shut it down. ABORT!
New scientist group calling for pandemic answers has ties to right-wing dark money
Now let's see who you really are, medical group calling for an investigation into the government's COVID-19 response — *yanks off mask* — wow it was a right-wing billionaire the whole time! Who could have seen this coming? Turns out that the "medical group" behind an 80-page “blueprint” for a congressional probe into the pandemic is funded by none other than Jeffrey Tucker, a right-wing anarcho-capitalist extremist whose Brownstone Institute has called for an end to child labor laws and public education. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling journalists!
After passionate opposition, Kentucky Republicans advance anti-trans pronouns legislation
Showing that their religious zeal offers no room for compassion, Kentucky Republicans callously ignored the pleas of a grieving mother — and colleague — whose trans child died by suicide and passed a right-to-bully bill that allows teachers to deadname and misgender their trans students without repercussion.
Fox News hosts allegedly didn’t believe Trump's 2020 election fraud claims
Of course they didn't. No one did. But that's not the point. The point is team sports. And destroying democracy so that Father Murdoch's chosen champion can usher in Christ's Extra Value Meal Kingdom on Earth.
And in other news...
Company blues, bad
Bad blue company
Hope...
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Today’s Action: Tell The New York Times to stop their right-wing, anti-trans bias!
Editorial giant The New York Times has a clear prejudice when reporting on trans issues, one that’s unfortunately helping normalize transphobia in mainstream society. Make no mistake, rampant transphobia is killing trans people — they’re being murdered, they’re ending their lives, and they’re living in fear. We are witnessing what is increasingly being viewed as a transgender genocide, and instead of protecting this vulnerable community, major media outlets are signaling to red-state legislatures that further isolating and ostracizing trans people through extreme legislation will be tacitly or outright permitted. Donald Trump, the standard bearer of the morally bankrupt Republican Party, has promised to “punish” hospitals who offer life-saving gender-affirming care to trans children, should he somehow be reelected in 2024. The multifaceted war being waged on trans people is in full swing with fatal consequences. Why is The New York Times — an absolute titan of the industry — amplifying intolerance and allowing contributors to stoke anti-trans hate under its famed banner? It’s unconscionable.
More than 180 Times contributors have signed a letter demanding the company stop their clear editorial bias toward the trans community, and now readers can join the call as well. The signatories state that the Times has “treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its sources” despite their editorial guidelines demanding all pieces be “free of any whiff of bias.” It’s a slap in the face to the LGBTQ+ community, and telling of the company’s place in the fight for true gender equality — that is, the wrong side of history.
Instead of publishing trans-exclusionary and misleading hate speech, The New York Times should use its massive platform to amplify the names and stories of every trans person murdered in America the past two months alone — Jasmine “Star” Mack, KC Johnson, Unique Banks, Zachee Imanitwitaho, and others we may never know about. Join the more than 180 Times contributors and demand The New York Times stop their hostile, anti-trans bias immediately!
PS — Please don't forget to sign the petition to demand 36 state legislatures reject the HUNDREDS of proposed anti-trans bills, and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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