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'Reprehensible' and 'disgraceful': House Democrat scorches GOP book bans and 'Parental Bill of Rights'
March 23, 2023
Far-right pundits at Fox News and Newsmax TV have had a lot to say about "cancel culture" and "woke" progressives they claim are trying to shut down conservatives they disagree with. And many Democrats, in response, have stressed that it is far-right MAGA Republicans — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who are trying to abolish, from public schools, books with gay or African-American themes that offend them. DeSantis has drawn criticism for banning an advance placement course on Black studies from Florida high schools.
One of the Democrats who is speaking out is Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts). During a Thursday, March 23 speech on the U.S. House floor, McGovern slammed Republicans for pushing book bans in the name of a "Parental Bill of Rights." And he noted that a Florida teacher was "fired for exposing a book-banning spree at the hands of Ron DeSantis that would make the Chinese Communist Party blush."
"Now, I have a few books that Republicans want to ban — too many to go through," the 63-year-old McGovern told fellow House members. "But let me recite a few."
McGovern, who described book bans as "reprehensible" and "disgraceful," went on to cite Kathleen Connors' "The Life of Rosa Parks," Kadir Nelson's "Nelson Mandela" and a book on gay rights activist Harvey Milk as specific examples of books that have come under fire from MAGA Republicans.
The Massachusetts Democrat told House members, "Now, do you notice any pattern here? They want to ban books about Black and brown people, and they want to ban books about LGBTQI+ people. It is sick. It is hateful."
Addressing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California), McGovern added, "What is wrong with them, Mr. Speaker? If you don't like a book, don't let your kid read it. But you don't get to tell the rest of us parents what our kids should be allowed to read. Talk to your kids' teachers. Run for school board. But don't take away money from schools that fall down on the wrong side of the MAGA culture wars."
Watch below or at this link.
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‘He really said that’: CNN’s Jake Tapper stunned by Trump’s latest attack on Manhattan DA
March 23, 2023
CNN's Jake Tapper reacted with astonishment at former President Donald Trump's latest attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday.
This comes as an indictment has yet to be handed down by the grand jury, but experts believe one is extremely likely at this stage.
"Donald Trump says the prosecutor investigating him in New York is doing the work of the devil. Yes, he really said that," said Tapper. "Trump attacks on another level, belittling the importance of keeping protests peaceful as New York prosecutors weigh an indictment and the D.A. leading the hush money case sends a letter to Republican leaders with a few choice words of his own."
"We start today with our politics lead," said Tapper. "The New York grand jury is in session. The district attorney is really steamed and Donald Trump is back to screaming in all caps on social media. The legal headlines are plenty today, starting in Manhattan, where the grand jury hearing the hush money case involving Stormy Daniels is meeting today. Sources saying, however, they are not discussing Donald Trump in the grand jury, which means the decision on whether to charge the former president in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, that decision slides into next week."
IN OTHER NEWS: GOP lawmaker ‘very sad’ Utah parent used his law to request ‘sex-ridden’ Bible be removed from school
"Meanwhile, the man prosecuting the case, District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is unleashing on House Republicans, who have been taking steps to investigate the team investigating Donald Trump," said Tapper. "Bragg sent a letter today, claiming that the GOP leaders 'only got involved after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day, and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.'"
"We should note that day that Trump was supposed to be arrested, according to Trump — that day was Tuesday, and that day came and went without an arrest or indictment," added Tapper.
Watch video below or at this link.
Jake Tapper on Trump's "devil" remarks www.youtube.com
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GOP lawmaker ‘very sad’ Utah parent used his law to request ‘sex-ridden’ Bible be removed from school
March 23, 2023
Responding to a new law allowing for "pornographic" books to be removed from school libraries, a Utah parent has moved to have "one of the most sex-ridden books around" removed as well, namely, the Bible.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the parent, who remains unidentified for privacy reasons, submitted their challenge on Dec. 11 along with an eight-page list of passages from the Bible that they found to be offensive and worth reviewing.
“Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent wrote in their request. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”
“Get this PORN out of our schools,” the parent wrote. “If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk.”
IN OTHER NEWS: Melania Trump remains angry at her husband over alleged affair with Stormy Daniels
The parent's move was in response to the conservative group Utah Parents United, which has challenge books in state schools for being inappropriate -- primarily focusing on books dealing with racial and LGBTQ subject matter.
"Based on the new Utah law, something is indecent if it includes explicit sexual arousal, stimulation, masturbation, intercourse, sodomy or fondling," The Tribune's report stated. "According to state attorneys, material doesn’t have to be 'taken as a whole' in those situations or left on the shelf during a review. If there is a scene involving any of those acts, it should be immediately removed."
In their request, the parent goes on to say: “I thank the Utah Legislature and Utah Parents United for making this bad faith process so much easier and way more efficient. Now we can all ban books and you don’t even need to read them or be accurate about it. Heck, you don’t even need to see the book!”
Utah Parents United responded, telling The Tribune: “We believe in following the law. That’s all we’re asking schools to do.”
Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan), the chief sponsor of the bill, called the parent's request another example of “antics that drain school resources.”
“There was a purpose to the bill and this kind of stuff, it’s very unfortunate,” he said. “There are any number of studies that directly link sexualization and hyper-sexualization with sexual exploitation and abuse. Certainly, those are things we don’t want in schools.”
“For people to minimize that and to make a mockery of it is very sad,” Ivory added.
Read the full report over at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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