My Two Cents: Lauren Boebert Can Fuck All The Way Off

In the wake of the shooting at the Club Q in Colorado Springs, Representative, and moron, Lauren Boebert is defending her past anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender tweets, but let’s first read her statement, where bigot, homophobe, criminal, liar Lauren Boebert says she is a victim of the Club Q shooting:

“I have been accused of just about every mass shooting there has been since the Left has learned of my name. Whether it’s Uvalde, or the King Soopers shooting in Boulder, Colorado, or the Buffalo, New York shooting, or even Paul Pelosi getting hammered. I have been blamed for all of that. I think the Left is pissed I won my election. And so they’re trying to find something to go after me about. I expressed my concern for the family, for the victims. And the way that they came after me is absolutely disgusting.”

I personally don’t care that she won her election by about 500 votes; that’s a cross for the voters in her district to bear. I care that Lauren Boebert, who was nowhere near Club Q that night when the lunatic was shooting strangers, thinks she’s a victim because her pro-gun stance and her anti-LGBTQ+ stance are seen by many as reasons for the shooting.

Your words are one of the man y reasons for the shooting, You spew hate and intolerance and then fight for the rights of anyone to own and carry a weapon, and what happens as a result of those two things is your fault,

The only thing Lauren Boebert might be a victim of is being woefully out of her depth, incapable of thoughtfulness, and following the line of rightwingnuts who put guns over people lives, especially LGBTQ+ people. She carries some of the blame for this latest mass shooting because she has failed to support any effort that might have kept guns out of this shooter’s possession, and might have allowed  Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump to go home safe and sound that night.

Lauren Boebert claims to be a victim of the Q shooting because of what she has said in the past about drag queens and LGBTQ+ people:

“I have never had bad rhetoric towards anyone and their personal preference as an adult. What I've criticized is the sexualization of our children. And I've criticized men dressing up as caricatures of women.”

She didn’t have “bad rhetoric”? Let’s just skip the fact that Boebert has no high school diploma, nor has she attended college and perhaps forgive her ignorance this one time, but … she also needs reminding that sexual orientation is not a preference, unless she can explain when and how she came to “prefer” men over women? But let’s also note that she thinks drag queens reading children’s story to children “sexualizes” those children and “grooms” the children.

Grooming? Not a new word, though a new word the right uses to describe the LGBTQ+ community and drag queens; but “grooming” is the word once used to describe how child molesters entrap and abuse their victims and has nothing to do with our community or drag queens, except as a tool of spreading lies, hate and misinformation.

Lauren Boebert has Tweeted that parents should take their kids to church and not drag bars, but she makes no mention at all of the pedophile priest scandal in the Catholic church, or the score of arrests, even in the last few months, of so-called “men of God” and “leaders of their church” who have raped little boys and girls. In the real world, a child is safe at a drag show than alone in the room with a priest or minister or pastor who may be grooming them. In fact, Boebert, who clearly has never been to a Drag Queen Story Hour, seems to equate those events to strip club:

“We don’t need 6-year-old children putting dollar bills in the thongs of grown men shaking and twerking in front of children … that is child abuse.”

That does not happen at a story hour, but Lauren Boebert is too busy lying and spreading fear and hate to know that, even though she continues to spew that garbage. She has even gone so far as to suggest that minor children “can be chemically castrated.” Again, this is a lie; minors can only undergo gender reassignment surgery after years of therapies and with the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

But Lauren Boebert is a victim because she protects gun rights over children in Texas, over shoppers in Buffalo, over people in nightclubs. Those lives, to Lauren Boebert, are meaningless because it’s the guns that matter, and the money the NRA funnels into her offices and campaigns.

Lauren Boebert claims she is as much a victim as Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump, or the kids at Uvalde, the concert-goers in Vegas, the worshippers at the synagogue, the shoppers at Walmart … and … and … and … Except Lauren Boebert is still alive and spreading hate and misinformation and lies written in the blood of true victims.

My Two Cents: SCOTUS' Attack On Women

Sometimes I am too optimistic, too sure that people will do the right thing. I felt that when the SCOTUS leak regarding Roe v Wade surfaced last month; I was certain it wouldn’t happen; I was sure our highest court wouldn’t overturn a law that had been on the books for over fifty years. I never thought women would be less free to make their own choices in 2022 than there were in 1973.

And yet here we are, because of Mitch McConnell and his refusal to grant Merrick Garland a confirmation hearing, and because the GOP, under McConnell, rushed through three justices’ confirmations—two of whom are completely unqualified to be on the highest court … two of whom lied to Congress during their confirmation when they said Roe was settled law, and then turned on it the first chance they got.

Let that sink in: two Supreme Court Justices got their positions by lying to Congress and to We The People. In America.

And it appears there is no penalty for Supreme Court justices who perjure themselves at their Senate confirmation hearing.

But it isn’t just Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barret to blame, it’s all those voters who stayed home in 2016 because maybe they didn’t care so much for Hillary, but still thought she’d win. How’d that work out for you? If you didn’t learn in 2016, learn it now: voting matters. Voting matters in every single goddamned election you have the right in which to participate. I cannot stress it enough:

Cast a GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKING vote.

A nationwide ban on abortion is on the ballot this November and y’all better cast a GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKING vote.

You see, overturning Roe v Wade and outlawing abortions will never make them go away, it will only make them more dangerous, especially for the poor and marginalized. Women will die because of this unconscionable decision.

And please do not think this is the last attack on freedoms by this radical court. Sure, Alito and Kavanaugh both said not to worry about ‘other’ rulings, that they were only attacking women … this time. But Clarence Thomas said in his opinion on the ruling that maybe they’ll come for birth control, for same-sex relationships, for marriage equality.

Of note, however, in the hypocritical asshatted backwards mind of Clarence Thomas, is the fact that his own marriage is not protected under the same Constitution he says doesn’t protect a woman’s right to choose, or a same-sex couple to marry,, because interracial marriage wasn’t allowed when that document was written; in fact, people of color were not even considered fully human, so I hope Clarence doesn’t think his marriage is safe, though maybe all of this is his chickenshit chance to dump his insurrectionist traitorous wife.

We must stop this court. We have to vote out every hypocritical Republican who hailed this decision as a win, who believe that forcing women to give birth in a  country with no universal healthcare, no universal childcare, no paid family & medical leave and one of the highest rates of maternal mortality among rich nations is the right thing to do.

This isn't about "life." It's about control. If it was about life, we would have had the strictest gun laws ever after Sandy Hook, but the GOP doesn’t care about children outside the womb, they only care about exerting power over women.

Young girls, raped by their fathers or brothers or uncles, will be forced to carry that fetus io term.

Women who are raped will have zero say in their own lives and will be forced to give birth to their rapist’s child, after which the GOP will instantly cease to care for that child.

If you’re against abortion, don’t get one, but don’t inflict your opinion on anyone else, because that’s denying them their freedom.

If you’re against contraception, don’t take any, but don’t tell anyone else what they can do with their bodies.

If you’re against same-sex relationships, don’t have one, but don’t tell other people who they can love.

 If you’re against same-sex marriage, don’t marry someone of same gender and do not come for mine.

I don’t impose my opinions on you, religious or spiritual or otherwise, you should do the same for the rest of us because that’s freedom, and what you’re doing is religious tyranny.

In America. In 2022.

My Two Cents: Gwen Berry

I’ll try to keep this brief … it’s about Gwen Berry, Hammer thrower and political activist, who appeared to turn her back on the American flag as ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ was played at the U.S. Olympic Trials over the weekend. As the song ended, Berry put a black T-shirt with the words "Activist Athlete" on her head. And this isn’t Berry’s first time protesting; at the 2019 Pan American Games she raised her fist in the air as the anthem played.

But this time, this time is the last straw for many on the right, and many who are white. Following her silent protest, many on the right came for her; Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw says Berry should be removed from the team; Senator Ted Cruz tweeted, "Why does the Left hate America;" and former GOP presidential candidate and ex-Wisconsin governor Scott Walker blasted Berry on Twitter:

"What is wrong with people? Growing up, everyone stood for the American flag. Didn't matter your politics, race, sex, income, religion; everyone stood for the flag. It was one of those civic rituals that brought us together. It still should today."  

Here’s the issue these politicized white Republicans don’t understand: this country hasn’t been decent to people of color; sure, slavery is over; sure segregation is over; sure Black people now have the right to vote; sure they’ve won their Civil Rights. But how many white Americans had to fight for those rights? How many white Americans were stolen from their homes, shipped across an ocean, chained together in the bowels of a sailing vessel, sold into slavery, beaten, raped, tortured and murdered?

Yes, all that’s over, to some extent, but we still see Black men, women and children, murdered by police for cigarettes and counterfeit bills, toy guns and failing to signal a lane change, broken taillights and walking while Black.

That deserves a protest. From Gwen Berry, and from all of us. It deserves a protest because these same white GOP politicians don’t hold the Capitol insurrectionists in that same regard. To them, turning your back on the anthem is a crime, but storming the United States Capitol in riot gear, racist shirts, and Confederate flags is patriotism … if you’re white.

Gwen Berry:

"I never said I hated this country! People try to put words in my mouth but they can't. That's why I speak out. I LOVE MY PEOPLE." 

She’s just trying to make it better. And more equal.

My Two Cents: What To Do With The Traitor

It’s been nearly a week since a group of butt-hurt faux-patriots and homegrown terrorists carrying Confederate flags stormed our nation’s Capital building, smashing doors and windows, looting government offices and making their way to the chambers. And all because they didn’t like the outcome of an election and bought into a narcissistic asshat wailing that the election had been stolen.

And just to be clear for the people in the back … this was nothing like Black Lives Matter supporters taking to the streets to protest another murder of a Black American at the hands of police, this was a bunch of cowards furious that _____ lost; these were disgruntled losers who were pissed off and bought into the lies that _____, and many in the GOP, spewed about voter fraud; they were angry that the states didn’t change their ballots, irate that the courts didn’t change the election, incensed that the Electoral College did its duty, and enraged that Congress was about to do the same.

Now, we all know of ______’s involvement, spurring on the rioters before he skulked back to the White House to Tweet his anger at Mike Pence. But who else is to blame? Junior, who also spoke and riled up the crowd, along with Rudy Giuliani, who continued his Tour of Lies about election fraud. And even Daddy’s best girl, Ivanka, who called the rioters ‘patriots’ before deleting that Tweet. Then there’s Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Kelly Loeffler, David Perdue, Lindsey Graham, and many more to blame, because they fed the fire to a bunch of sore losers that an election was stolen. What they did by seeking to deny the results of an election, by refusing acknowledge Joe Biden’s win, was akin to shouting shouted ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater. They, and all their coconspirators, those twelve Senators and 140 Congress members, should be removed from office at first chance; unless of course the media and We The People force them to resign for aiding and abetting terrorism.

Let’s include Senator Ben Sasse [NE] in this mess; while he has been critical of _____, he has not directly called for removal he has said he was “open” to impeachment proceedings.

I guess that dead police officer, as well as the threats to national security, and our legislators isn’t enough to spur Sasse on to actually doing something.

And then we have Michael Elizabeth Pence, whose life was threatened by the rioters storming the House Chambers while ______ Tweeted from the White House of his outrage over Pence not contesting the vote, is said to be opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment.

Your boss basically called on his minions to murder you, but you’ll wait and see; weigh your options?

And then we have my personal favorite, Senator Lindsey Graham [SC], whose lips have never been far from _____’s ass, even though he gave that drunken, whimpering, simpering speech in Congress after the riots about being sad about his BFFs behavior, is now saying this is the “it is time to heal and move on.”

The queen of the ‘thoughts and prayers’ crowd is hoping that the traitor in the Oval will behave and Miss  Lindsey won’t have to grow a spine. Oh, and Graham has some words about impeachment:

“If Speaker Pelosi pushes impeachment in the last days of the _____ presidency it will do more harm than good.”

More harm than good? What is more harmful to our country that having a group of armed, Confederate flag waving, Holocaust denying insurrectionists spurred on by the president invading our Capitol? What’s more harmful than having the Senator from one state call the Georgia Secretary of State and ask him to recount the votes in favor of _____. The most harm done to this country is allowing people like Lindsey Graham to represent us.

So, while Democrats are pushing for impeachment, resignation, or demanding his Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment and remove this lunatic from office, the GOP, after about twenty-four hours of outrage, would like us to be calm …thoughts and prayers. They say they want to move on from this divisiveness but seem to have forgotten that by denying the results of a free and fair election, by taking months and months to even acknowledge Biden’s win, that they are responsible for dividing this country and then trying to set fire to it by riling up a crowd of insurgents.

The GOP also argues that there is no time for impeachment before _____ leaves office, but the Democrats are open to impeaching him  after he’s gone—which can be done—and could result in him losing his pension, his Secret Service detail, and, more importantly, the ability to ever run for federal office again.

And let’s make this clear, as well, the GOP wants to “move on” from this, not because they want unity, but because they don’t want their names associated with _____ and his MAGAts’, at least for now. But justice must be served for the traitors and the enablers. Then and only then can we move on.

Buckle up, Republicans, because not only are Democrats enraged by you, but the MAGAts are done with your party and are coming for you.

But not everyone in the party has so quickly decided to forget the terror attack on the capitol like it was just another school shooting.

Republican Senators Pat Toomey [PA] and Lisa Murkowski [AK], and Representative Adam Kinzinger [IL] have all called for _____ to resign or be removed from office. And several GOP governors—Vermont’s  Phil Scott, Maryland’s Larry Hogan, and Massachusetts’s Charlie Baker—have also demanded that _____ resign or be removed by force.

And a  handful of Cabinet officials have resigned in protest, most notably Elaine Chao, AKA Mrs. Mitch McConnell, Betsy “Cruella” DeVos, and former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. There is less idea that they are angry, and it feels more like they want the stink of ______ washed off of them.

But even _____’s personal Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned last month not long after denying _____’s allegations of voter fraud, said that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.”

And so, another idea has come up; Congress could have a separate vote that would prevent _____ from ever holding office again. That could be done quickly and would potentially only need a simple majority vote of 51 senators, unlike impeachment, in which two-thirds of the Senate must support a conviction. And with the Senate split evenly at 50-50, under Democratic control, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Senate's tie-breaking vote.

And we’d never have to see that traitorous, rapist, racist, adulterous, transphobic, mother%ker is ever in power again.

Oh, and let’s not forget that if any of the several states who are gearing up to charge _____ with any number of crimes, wins their cases, a felon couldn’t be elected to official.

And that also works for me.

I want him gone. I’d like him chains, but that may never happen. But get him out and write it down in history that he is a twice-impeached, one-term, lame-duck loser.

Tarnish the name. Tarnish the name for the entire family so that if any one of them ever decides to run for office, they’ll have to explain about their father.

The traitor.

My Two Cents: Traitors and Cowards

Clearly, that other party doesn’t know when they’ve been beaten at the ballot box, or they are so terrified of a racist rapist transphobic, criminal con man adulterous impeached one-term lame-duck loser, that they will deny the rule of law, deny our own Constitution, in an effort to overturn an election that has been won by Biden and lost by that other guy, because at least 140 House ReTHUGlicans will likely be joining GOP Senator Josh Hawley, of Missouri, and ten other ReTHUGlican Senators in objecting to the Electoral College results.

As a result, the two chambers of our Congress will be forced to debate for two hours before Joe Biden is declared the winner since Democrats hold the majority in the House and most Senate Republicans—the ones who aren’t traitors—will likely join Senate Democrats in certifying the results over those objections.

Plainly speaking, ReTHUGlicans are working to subvert a legal election to keep _____ in power because they are afraid that when they run for reelection ______ will not support them and actively campaign against them. These ReTHUGlicans are putting themselves, ______, and whatever will be left of the GOP over this country, over the Constitution, over democracy.

It will not be forgotten. Even as other members of the GOP speak out against this lunacy; that, except for a few in Congress. GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska said:

“I think it’s awful. I am going to support my oath to the Constitution. That’s the loyalty test here.”

Mitt Romney, GOP Senator from Utah called Hawley’s move “disappointing and destructive, while Ben Sasse claims its Hawley’s ambition to place himself in the position to run for president one day.

Even the GOP Senator from Mississippi, Roger Wicker, says:

“I’m going to vote to certify the election. I don’t think it’s a good idea and I don’t understand his reasoning.”

Let’s make it perfectly queer: ______ lost the popular vote by some 8 million votes … lost the Electoral College by a count of 306 to 232 … lost all efforts for recounts … offered no evidence of voter fraud … was told by his own Pit Bull Attorney General that the election was fair … and was soundly sent packing by a Supreme Court that he, himself, packed with conservative justices.

Now, while I tried to find the names of those 140 GOP Congressman, and given that most are silently sitting by because they have no spines, no balls, I do have the names of those 11 ReTHUGlican senators who are saying they will vote on January 6 to reject the electors from certain states—just the ones _____ lost; remember the names of these cowards and traitors to our country:

Ted Cruz

Ron Johnson

James Lankford

Steve Daines

John Kennedy

Marsha Blackburn

Mike Braun

Cynthia Lummis

Roger Marshall

Bill Hagerty

Tommy Tuberville

Remember them. Bounce them from office the very next time they are up for reelection, even if, no, even when, they turn tail and say were _____’s lapdogs and cowards and traitors to this country.

A group of seven House Republicans—Ken Buck from Colorado, Chip Roy from Texas, Nance Mace, newly elected by South Carolina, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky—released a statement, also signed by Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California making it clear that the US Constitution gives states—not Congress—responsibility for selecting electors.

The voters selected Joe Biden; every state in the Union certified the results of their elections, whether it was _____ or Biden as the winner; the Electoral College cast  the majority of their votes for Biden; sixty lawsuits were filed claiming voter fraud and all sixty were dismissed; SCOTUS told _____ to get over it.

We’re over it. The GOP, led by traitors Hawley and Cruz have not gotten over it, and they must not be forgotten.

Vote Blue. Always. Teach the GOP, or what’s left of it, and _____, or what’s left of him, that this behavior is unamerican and traitorous and wrong. Pay attention to what happens this week, and what your Senators and Congressman do, and vote accordingly. Send a message that this kind of behavior will never be voted for, will not be tolerated or won’t ever be rewarded.

My Two Cents: Tara Reade

I believe the women, which is why this one bothers me.

More than a year ago … a year ago … Tara Reade accused Joe Biden, as other women have, of touching her shoulder and neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, when she worked for him in 1993. That makes sense; Joe admits he’s been known to do that. And then earlier this year, in March, she came out again with the same story, but it got little to no traction, so in April she came out again, though this time the story was different.

This time Reade claimed that in 1993 Joe Biden pushed her up against a wall, put this hand down her skirt and put his fingers in her vagina. But … how is that not the story the first time out? I mean, it feels like the touching of the hair didn’t meet some sort of objective, so she doubled down with fingers penetrating her.

As I said, I believe the women, but this one troubles me, and here’s why:

Although Reade waited 27 years to accuse Biden of sexual assault, that doesn’t bother me so much. I understand that it’s hard to step into the light and go up against a powerful man. And if I believe Christine Blasey Ford—and I do—waiting for many years before speaking up about Brett Kavanaugh, I’d have to believe Reade, except …

How do you tell the story of Biden touching your hair and neck, but forget to mention the penetration with his fingers? And why tell one story first, and then add more graphic details more than a year later?

Reade has an explanation for that. She claims that when she came forward with her allegations in March 2019, she wanted to speak to The Union newspaper in California, but says the reporter’s tone made her feel uncomfortable, so she “shut down” and didn't tell the whole story. She waited another year before finding someone else to tell her story.

That doesn’t ring true.

It also is strange that Reade says she complained about Biden's assault to Marianne Baker, Biden’s executive assistant, as well as to top aides Dennis Toner and Ted Kaufman, and yet all three say she made no such complaints. And these three did simply say they didn’t remember a nearly thirty-year-old complaint, they all completely deny ever being told the story by Tara Reade.

Still, Reade insists she told them, and insists she filed a written complaint against Biden with the Senate personnel office, and yet reporters and staff have never found that written complaint. Even Tara Reade doesn’t possess a copy of the complaint, though she has copies of all other relevant paperwork from that time, including a copy of her 1993 Senate employment records.

That strikes me odd.

Even more troubling is that Reade cannot remember the date, the time, or the exact location of the alleged assault, except that it occurred in a “semiprivate” hallway connecting Senate buildings. She expects us to believe a powerful well-known man assaulted her in the halls of Congress and yet she cannot remember. This is troubling because, with her lack of memory on this point, it’s next to impossible for Joe Biden to go through records and prove he could not have committed the assault, because he was somewhere else at the time. 

Also troublesome is that Tara Reade provides two different explanations for why she stopped working for Biden in 1993. She claimed once that she was fired because Biden wanted her to serve drinks at an event and she refused. Reade says she then felt "pushed out” of her job and so she quit.

However, Reade also claimed that after she filed a sexual harassment complaint—and now she says she never used the words ‘sexual harassment’ in that complaint—with the Senate personnel office, she faced retaliation for complaining and was fired by Biden’s chief of staff.

Quit or fired? It cannot be both.

It also cannot be both that Tara Reade was sexually assaulted by Joe Biden in 1993, but as recently as 2017 she would “Like” praise for Biden’s work combating sexual assault, to which she tweeted:

“My old boss speaks truth. Listen.” 

She was praising him for his work in trying to end the very thing she now claims that he did to her.

It doesn’t make sense. What happened?

Bernie Sanders? Not a stretch; in January of 2020, Reade came out in support of Sanders for president, saying Biden was “the blue version of Trump” and that the Democratic National Committee was trying to “shove” Biden “down Democrat voters throats.” 

And then Tara Reade suddenly began contradicting all she said before about Biden, saying her decision to finally come forward was due to “the hypocrisy that Biden is supposed to be the champion of women’s rights.”

Praise him? Accuse him.

Were her allegations against Biden a form of retaliation for Bernie not winning the nomination? For 27 years, Tara Reade did not publicly accuse Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her, but after his string of victories derailed Sanders from his path to the Democratic nomination, Reade went public with her claim.

And these not just her claims; there is an alleged phone call from her mother to a talk show; friends and family who’ve suddenly remembered, and then remembered more, have come forward.

In 1991 an anonymous woman—who Reade now claims was her mother, who is now deceased—called in to CNN's "Larry King Live" show and said:

"I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him." 

Her problems there? If we believe Tara Reade, and we believe this woman was her mother, then why talk “problems”? Why not say, anonymously, oddly enough, that your daughter was sexually assaulted by this “prominent senator”?

And then you have Reade’s brother, Collin Moulton, who, in an interview with The Post, says his sister told him Joe Biden inappropriately touched her neck and shoulders. He said not one word about sexual assault until a few days later, when he texted The Post that he suddenly remembered Reade saying Biden put his hand "under her clothes.” 

Again, a man touching your sister’s hair and neck is inappropriate, so why lead with that? If the man forced your sister up against a wall, kissed her, shoved his hand down her skirt and inside her, that would be the story.

Two of Reade’s friend, who requested anonymity, have differing stories, as well. One says Reade told her she was sexually assaulted by Biden, while the other said Reade told her that Biden touched her inappropriately.

Two friends, two different stories.

In addition, in prior interviews, Tara Reade gave an exhaustive list of people she told of the alleged assault, and yet neither one of these women were on that list.

A third friend, Lynda LaCasse, gave an interview to Business Insider, claiming Reade told her of the assault in 1995 or 1996. Insider called LaCasse the “first person to independently corroborate, in detail and on the record, that Reade had told others about her assault allegations contemporaneously.”

That word ‘contemporaneously’ is troubling, because in legalese it generally means ‘existing or occurring in the same period of time,’ but if Reade was sexually assaulted in 1993, telling a friend two or three years later is not contemporaneous at all. 

And one other thing I find disconcerting about Reade’s story. We know that several women claimed that Joe Biden made them uncomfortable with things like a shoulder touch or a hug, but there has never been one hint of sexual assault in all of Joe Biden’s life, except for Tara Reade.

Now, it could be possible that in his entire life Joe Biden committed just one sexual assault, against Reade, but generally speaking men who do these kinds of things don’t do them just once … just look at the twenty-five very similar allegations against the sitting president.

As I said earlier, I believe women, but that doesn’t mean all women are being truthful. It doesn’t mean all women shouldn’t be questioned about inaccuracies in their stories. It doesn’t mean I can’t support the #MeToo movement and question allegations of sexual assault that seem off.

Do I believe Tara Reade? I don’t know because I wasn’t there; only she and Biden know the truth. But I do know that her story doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Her lack of memory on vital parts of the story, like when and when, bother me.

Her changing the story from touching her hair to penetrating her with his fingers bothers me.

Her friends and family who remember one thing, but then suddenly remember more bothers me.

Her praise in the years after the alleged assault for Biden and her sudden attacks on him when she became a Sanders supporter bother me.

The whole thing bothers me.

My Two Cents: _____ Attacked Jews In New York

There, I said.

Look, it’s like this … way back in 2016, _____ came down an escalator to announce he was running for president, and he started off by labeling Mexicans as drug dealers, rapists and murderers, invading our borders and taking our jobs. And then, as president, he went after those other brown people, Muslims, and wanted them banned from our country.

That’s hate;  that’s racism; that’s _____. But it gets worse, because his followers, all of whom hate the same people he does, and many more people, decided to get into the business of speaking out about “others,” meaning anyone who isn’t white and straight and Christian.

And we’ve seen a rise in hate crimes since _____ took office and that is no coincidence. When you stand as the leader of a country and denounce a group of people based, really, on the country of their skin, or the shithole countries they come from, you feed hate, and violence, and murder.

But then it’s not just the brown people, is it? This weekend we saw yet another anti-Semitic attack in New York, just one of dozens in the last few weeks. And why?

Simple, when you speak hate against a brown person, hate-filled people will go after brown people; a woman in Iowa is in jail because she ran down a young girl because that girl is Mexican. But you also feed the hate of people who hate the Jewish community, and we’ve seen a rise in anti-Semitism since_____ took office; and you also feed the hate of people who despise the LGBTQ+ community, and we’ve seen a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ crime since _____ took office; when you order children to be taken from their parents and held in cages, you feed the hate. And hate knows no color or race or gender or sexual orientation or ethnicity.

Hate just hates.

See, maybe he just wanted y’all to hate brown people, from south of the border, or the Middle East—well, not the brown Middle Easterners who give him money while they behead journalists, but he wanted y’all to hate.

And so every time there’s a shooting of mostly brown people in, oh, I don’t know, let’s say El Paso; and when there’s a shooting of a synagogue in Pittsburgh, for example; and when you have white people telling black people to get out of their parks, out of their dorm rooms, out of their hotel lobbies, out of their stores, you lay it at the feet of _____.

He fed the haters while running for office and then unchained them after he was elected.

So, yes, Donald J. _____ killed those people in New York this weekend, with the words he used to start his campaign. And let’s be clear, one day the hate will be directed at you, unless you do something about it.

My Two Cents: Messing and McCormack Are Setting A Dangerous Precedent

Debra Messing and Eric McCormack, Will and Grace are upset about an Emmy week fundraiser in Beverly Hills for_____ and vow to name and shame anyone who dares to show up, hoping to blacklist participants from working in Hollywood.

Messing started all this with a Tweet:

“Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know.”

And that’s fine; but then McCormack took it a step further:

“Kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. ”

That crossed a line in my book; if someone wants to support _____ they are allowed to do so; I, personally, think they’re utter morons or racists or asshats or all three, but it’s their right. And for Messing and McCormack to want to release their names and try to keep those _____ supporters from working in Hollywood smacks of the same kinds of things _____ likes to do.

Now, I do think the _____ supporters need to step out into the light and show themselves, but not so they can be blacklisted, but so we, the public, the ones who pay their salaries, can decide if we want to continue to support them.

Or not. But let’s not start blacklisting people … again.

And let’s think on this … what if _____ wins in 2020? And what if he decides that people who don’t support him should be blacklisted? Is that the way we’ll be doing things from now on? I am all for knowing who is publicly supporting_____, but not so we, or people like Messing and McCormack, or _____, can decide who works in Hollywood and who doesn’t.

McCarthyism cuts both ways.

My Two Cents: California Governor Suspends the Death Penalty

I am staunchly anti-death penalty in every single case.

Every.Single.Case.

If murder is wrong, why is state sanctioned murder okay? I mean we don’t punish rapists by raping them, that would be savage, so why murder murderers? I am against it. And not just for ethical reasons, though they alone make me an anti-death penalty proponent, but for financial reasons.

If you sentence a person to death they have years, decades, really, of appeal after appeal, all paid for by We the People. But, sentence them to life, and many times the convicted won’t, or can’t appeal. It’s actually cheaper to sentence someone to life, then death.

I am not just spouting this randomly today, but because last week Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the death penalty in his state, saying that it is ineffective and cruel, and that he "will not oversee the execution of any individual." He signed an executive granting reprieves to all 737 Californians awaiting executions—a quarter of the country's death row inmates:

"Our death penalty system has been—by any measure—a failure. The intentional killing of another person is wrong. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual."

And Newsom did that despite the fact that three years ago, California voters rejected an initiative to end the death penalty and instead voted to speed up executions.

Why, you ask, did he do that? Well, Newsom says, and rightly so, that the death penalty system has discriminated against mentally ill defendants and, especially, people of color, and yet hasn’t made California any safer, and is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

But those aren’t the only reasons, though judicial racism, stricter sentences, harsher punishments, for people of color should be reason alone, but what about the innocent who are jailed, or even put to death?

If even one person is put to death who is innocent, and proven innocent, that’s too many. We the People have murdered an innocent person. That is intolerable.

There are people who believe that the death penalty gives the victim’s families and loved one’s closure, but does it, really? Sticking a needle in the arm of a convicted murderer suddenly erases the pain for the survivors? I don’t think that’s true.

You may ask if, goddess forbid, someone murdered someone I love, Carlos perhaps, would my opinion change. The hard answer is No; putting to death a murderer would not bring Carlos back to me and killing someone would not give me pleasure or closure. I would still be living a life without someone I love and murder won’t ever change that.

And so, I know there are some who have no moral objection to the death penalty, and even some who believe it’s a deterrent, or somehow just, but refusing to care about its racist application, its use on people with mental illness, people with cognitive disabilities is neither just nor moral.

Killing innocent people isn't justice.  And my mind will never change on that.

I remember at the sentencing hearing for Aaron McKinney, who along with Russell Henderson, murdered Matthew Shepard. Henderson pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he was given two consecutive life sentences. 

The jury, having found McKinney guilty of felony murder, began to deliberate on the death penalty, until Mathew Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

In court, after the deal was struck, Dennis Shepard told McKinney the sentence means:

“You won’t be a symbol. No years of publicity, no chance of commutation, no nothing—just a miserable future and a miserable end. It works for me …. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.”

I think that’s punishment. If Aaron McKinney had been put to death he’d be seen by bigots and homophobes as having died because he believed being gay was wrong, that if a gay man somehow comes on to you, murder is acceptable. But lock Aaron McKinney up, for life, with no chance at all of ever being free, and he will wake up each morning, and go to bed each night, knowing that he’s there because of what he did to Matthew Shepard.

That, as Dennis Shepard said, works for me. And I thank Governor Newsom for standing up against this barbaric misuse of justice.

But that’s just me.

My Two Cents: Bombers and Shootings; Ain’t That America?

The van; the van was almost as big a story as the bomber—who, by the way, will not be mentioned here—who owned it and decorated it with hate.

It was shortly after noon last Friday when we actually the van, the tarp removed. The van’s windows were covered with right-wing bumper stickers that praised the president and denigrated his so-called enemies. It was as if the president himself had morphed into a vehicle, the hate so real, the attacks so vicious … Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Maxine Waters, George Soros, and more.

All people that the president has railed against, called names, demanded that they be imprisoned though they have neither been charged with, nor found guilty of, any crimes; the man the president once questioned about his birth, his faith, his leadership; the man the president once said he could physically beat up; a woman he has called stupid and ignorant and a liar; a man he claims pays protestors to speak up for the Democrats.

The stickers covering the van are the exact sort of stickers one can buy at a _____ rally; _____’s presidential seal; images of Hillary Clinton, her face in rifle crosshairs; the words “DISHONEST MEDIA CNN SUCKS”; a drawing of Trump holding a rifle and standing atop a Trump-branded tank. There were several “Make America Great Again” caps lining the dashboard. On a side window, the message:

“ZERO TOLERANCE KILL YOUR ENEMY AND THOSE WHO ROB YOU THEN TAKE THEM TO THE EVERGLADE [sic] FOR GATORS.”

The owner is clearly a _____ fanatic; he supports the president; he no doubt cheers “Lock her up” at every turn; he probably laughed when _____ said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still be elected; he believes Obama is not one of ‘us’; he believes the media, well, except for the president’s favorite channel, is nothing but liars.

He believes that because he believes what the president says; he follows the president’s lead in dressing up his car; in spouting his Hate Speech, but then he took it all one step further and created bombs sent around the country to those so-called ‘enemies’ of the president and tried to assassinate them.

And then came the gunfire.

While we were still reading about the MAGABomber, there were shots fired at the Tree of Life synagogue, in Baldwin, a suburb of Pittsburgh and eleven Americans were killed.

Joyce Fienberg, 75

Richard Gottfried, 65

Rose Mallinger, 97

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66

Cecil and David Rosenthal, 59 and 54, brothers

Bernice and Sylvan Simon, 84 and 86, a married couple

Daniel Stein, 71

Melvin Wax, 88

Irving Younger, 69

Federal prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against the man—who, like the bomber, will never see his name on this site—they say stormed that synagogue with an assault weapon and several handguns.

The shooter made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting and targeted Jews on social media, and then he took his hate and rage and committed the deadliest on the Jewish community in US history.

To be fair, the shooter is a critic of _____ and had said in the past that the president surrounds himself with too many Jewish people. But what did the president say about it all?

More guns are the answer.

That day _____ told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland:"If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him."

Yes, he wants men with guns inside places of worship; inside schools, shopping malls, convert venues, movie theaters … guns everywhere.

You’d think the NRA wrote that statement. But here’s what I think …you have a guard inside the synagogue, but when a man enters with an AR-15 and starts shooting, does the guard even have the time to pull his weapon? Or is the guard shot first in a hail of bullets.

And we may have to put guns in a building of worship because, since _____ has been elected, anti-Semitic incidents in this country have surged nearly 60%; there were 1,986 cases of harassment, vandalism or physical assault against Jews and Jewish institutions last year alone.

But, can we lay this on _____, even if the shooter claims to have disliked the president? I say, ‘Yes.’

When you have a man, who sits in the Oval Office and espouses hate, and then you have one of his rabid followers send bombs to the very people ______ rails against most of all, then it’s the president’s Hate Speech that spurred this on.

And when you have this kind of hate speech, when you have a president say some Nazi’s and white supremacists are nice people, what’s to stop them from opening fire in a synagogue.

Maybe _____ didn’t put the guns in the shooter’s hands, and maybe he didn’t teach the bomber how to build a bomb, but his words lit the fuse, and his words were the bullets.

And the only way to stop this is to stop the man at the top.

Vote. Dammit.

Vote for candidates who will stand up to the NRA; vote for candidates who will stand up to hate speech, even from the president—note that very few republicans, or Fix News, have even suggested that _____’s words are dangerous—and say that this is enough.

Think on this one last thought …

.

Rose Mallinger survived the horrors of the Holocaust and lived to be 97, until a gunman, a Nazi white supremacist killed her right here in America.