The Bad and The Good ... Monday April 18, 2022

These really are the easiest posts to compile, because, literally, there are dumb people everywhere ... but that's what makes it so frightening. So this week, I decided to include some Good News as sort of a palette cleanser for the crazies …

Florida

The Department of Education has said the state will exclude over fifty proposed math textbooks because their content included references to critical race theory and other “prohibited topics” and “unsolicited strategies.”

In math books?

Perhaps they were suspicious of the “secret” meanings behind the = and ≠ signs?

I mean, it is Flori-duh, after all.

GEORGIA

GOP Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign a bill allowing Georgia residents to carry handguns in public without a license or background check into law Tuesday.

Yes, you don’t need a license, and no one will check if you are a criminal, a domestic batterer, a thief, a person suffering from mental illness, or just an angry White man looking to even the score.

What could go wrong?

Florida

GOPQanon Governor Ron DeSantis has joined his fellow Republican governors in stomping on a woman’s right to make her own healthcare choices by signing a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks.

The bill does not grant exemptions for rape, incest or human trafficking.

So, Florida, if your husband rapes you daughter, set up the nursery! If any woman is being trafficked and ends up pregnant, then traffic the baby, too.

Always remember that in Florida, woman cannot choose.

Mississippi

For the third year in a row, GOP Governor Tate Reeves has declared April to be Confederate Heritage Month, keeping a tradition his predecessors began 29 years ago, saying:

“April is the month when, in 1861, the American Civil War began between the Confederate and Union armies, reportedly the costliest and deadliest war ever fought on American soil.”

And, this is rich, after issuing the same proclamation last year, Reeves appeared Fox News to say there “is not systemic racism in America.”

Reeves' Confederate Heritage Month proclamation comes a month after he signed a so-called "critical race theory" ban into law, saying CRT "humiliates" white people and makes white children "feel guilty because of their race."

No, they feel guilty letting racist pricks govern their state.

And now for some good …

Pennsylvania

Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has pulled ahead as the US Senate frontrunner over Conor Lamb, with 41% of registered Democrats saying they support him and 17% of voters supporting Lamb.

Fetterman first gained notoriety in 2013 when, as mayor of a small Pennsylvania town, he defied state law and performed a same-sex marriage ceremony. In 2021 he made national news by defying a ban on rainbow flags in the Pennsylvania Capitol.

Vote Blue Pennsylvania.

Tennessee

The General Assembly’s bill that sought to create a legal marriage pathway available only to straight couples will not advance this year following public outcry over the initial version of the legislation.

After a tough line of questions from GOP colleagues bill sponsor Representative Tom Leatherwood said he wanted to send the bill to summer study. The move kills the bill for the session, though it could re-emerge next year.

Good.

Kansas

Democrat Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a proposal that would have banned transgender athletes from girls’ sports and another that would have required schools to let parents challenge classroom curriculum, something she calls a “teacher demoralization act.”

Republican lawmakers are expected to try to override both of the vetoes, but face potentially long odds.

Good.

America

With at least 15 states enacting or considering bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the U.S. Air Force is offering medical, legal, and relocation assistance to servicemembers whose families have been harmed by such laws, according to a recent press release:

“Various laws and legislation are being proposed and passed in states across America that may affect LGBTQ Airmen, Guardians, and/or their LGBTQ dependents in different ways. The Department of the Air Force [DAF] has assignment, medical, legal and other resources available to support Airmen, Guardians and their families. The health, care and resilience of our DAF personnel and their families is not just our top priority … We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our Airmen, Guardians and their families. Medical, legal resources, and various assistance are available for those who need them.”

Also, if the service members live in states where it’s illegal for trans youth to get medical care, “Commanders can work to get the service member to an assignment where their loved ones can receive the care they need.”

The Air Force is the only branch of the U.S. military known to be offering these services to servicemembers and their queer and trans family members.

Now, that’s Good News.

Please note that the Good News, the sensible news, comes from Democrat-run states, and Democratic Governors. That speaks volumes.

Get educated and save yourselves from The Stupids.

And CAST A GODDAMNED VOTE!