HGotW: A Roundup
It is a two-fer this week! We have a governor who thumbs his nose at past precedent (and will likely get away with his egregious behavior) and a candidate for governor who is shockingly awful
Every week, I get to Wednesday morning and I am just struggling to find a suitable candidate for Human Garbage of the Week. This despair doesn’t last, because it is almost universal that the clouds open up, and the Gods deliver an obvious candidate.
This week, there are two. First up will be the Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, who signed a bill into law that mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in all public-school classrooms. But, not to be outshone, the Republican candidate for Governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, has some interesting takes on Me Too.
Louisiana Religious Nuttery
Yesterday morning, as I was doing my news scrolling, the article popped up in the WaPo: Louisiana requires Ten Commandments to be displayed in public classrooms, and it is just what the title says. The law in LA now requires that all public school classrooms must prominently display the Ten Commandments:
“This bill mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom — public elementary, secondary and post-education schools — in the state of Louisiana, because if you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,” Landry said at a bill-signing ceremony.
What mealy-mouthed bullshit. Look, the Republicans have been howling since the 1950’s that taking God out of the classroom was the genesis of the downfall of American culture. But, every time they have tried, the courts have upheld the establishment clause and the concept of separation of church and state.
Yet, sensing that the current conservative, MAGA-curious, 6-3 slant of the Supreme Court is open to reversing 70 years of precedent, Louisiana is going to go there, and sadly, it is likely to be effective.
Of course, this is not going to go unchallenged. From the article:
Critics vowed to challenge the law in court, calling it unconstitutional and warning that it will lead to religious coercion of students.
“The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government,” the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and other groups said in a joint statement Wednesday. “Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools.”
Landry has signaled that he welcomes the fight.
“I’m going home to sign a bill that places the Ten Commandments in public classrooms,” he said Saturday at a GOP fundraiser in Nashville, the Tennessean reported. “And I can’t wait to be sued.”
Yeah, Landry and the Louisiana pols are pretty confident they will be successful navigating the appellate gauntlet.
Naturally, this is decided case-law, and in 1980, the SCOTUS ruled definitively that displays of the Ten Commandments were verboten under the establishment clause.
Of course, today, the current crop of MAGA-curious justices are all super hard to eliminate this precedent, and I would bet my bottom dollar that the ACLU will lose this effort.
The law requires a context statement to accompany the commandments, positioning the text as “a prominent part of American public education” from the late 17th century through the late 20th century. Schools have to use donated posters or spend donated money, rather than public funds, to purchase the displays.
Reading that bolded part makes me throw up a bit in my mouth. Sure, no public funds will be used for the sourcing of the posters, but you can be certain that a fuck-ton of Louisianan tax dollars will be spent defending the state against the slew of lawsuits that are inbound already.
You know what would be better? If Louisiana actually spent that money on improving their schools, because they are 48th in the ranking (losing out to Mississippi at number 50) and being 50th in quality of life for their population.
But my Democratic friends would tell me to cut them some slack, because there are some Democrats in the state. I can’t your state is totally fucked, and your politicians are rabid jackals that should be euthanized.
I do know that after this wends its way through the courts, I will again post about how the right-leaning shitbirds on the court give this two thumbs up.
Fuck, I am tired of this shit.
Mark Robinson
Numero dos this week is the Republican candidate for Governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson. He became a right wing firebrand when he went on an obscenity laden tirade about gun control, attracting the attention of the Republicans who a. love them some guns, and b. like deranged black people who speak fluent MAGA-nese.
And Mark Robinson is that to a fucking T.
Again, from the WaPo, there is an article titled “GOP Pick for N.C. governor downplayed Weinstein allegations, assault by Ray Rice”.
He really is a piece of work, and that was even before this revelation.
A review of Robinson’s social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent men, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Bill Cosby and now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. In one post, Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, characterized Weinstein and others as “sacrificial lambs” being “slaughtered.”
Yeah, he has left a slimy trail of filth through his social media posts, with a ton of shit-takes, so he fits right in with the other shit-weasels in the GOP.
Further, he excuses Ray Rice’s behavior (caught on motherfucking camera no less):
Robinson also wrote repeatedly of a 2014 domestic violence encounter involving then-NFL star Ray Rice, who was seen on a surveillance video dragging his apparently unconscious fiancée out of an elevator. In a post directed at Rice’s “lady friend,” Robinson suggested the woman was at fault for the physical altercation.
“I’m a 350lb man but aint no way in HELL I’m gonna’ slap no pro football player,” Robinson wrote on Facebook. “I’m to [sic] old for an a$$whoopin’.”
Of course, as all R’s in the age of MAGA, he is defiant to a fault:
Asked about Robinson’s comments on domestic violence and sexual assault, Robinson’s campaign accused The Washington Post of being part of a “Democrat smear machine.”
“No matter how many partisan hit pieces The Washington Post cranks out, if and when he should become governor, Mark Robinson will take the oath and duties of his office with the utmost respect, working to make North Carolina better for people of all backgrounds and walks of life; by growing our economy, reforming our schools and creating a culture of life that does more to support mothers and families,” Robinson campaign spokesperson Mike Lonergan said in a statement.
Yeah, that spokesperson (Mike Lonergan) took lessons from the Stephen Cheung school for PR and image consulting.
Apparently, he is running about even with the Democrat in the race. How the fuck is that even possible?
Oh yeah, that’s right, we are in a nightmare.
Last pull-quote:
At least one of Robinson’s comments on domestic violence came up during the Republican primary for governor. In February, one of Robinson’s primary opponents, Dale Folwell, posted on X a screenshot of a 2017 Facebook post from Robinson that asked, “So if someone beats the bird dog hell of their spouse at the mall…. is it still ‘Domestic Violence?’”
“Were you asking out of personal concern?” Folwell wrote. “Have you ever hit a woman @markrobinsonNC? Yes or no?”
Do read the article, and be as horrifies as I am.
I have to admit that I am losing my patience for politics. Next week is the debate and I am worried that it will make not one scintilla of a difference in the race.
Oh well, enough for now!
It is no longer “politics”.
It is survival.
This is not hypothetical nor hyperbole. It’s a fact.
Don't be disheartened. As they say, this too will pass.