Republicans are Callous, Self-Serving Idiots
A roundup of some of the things they've done this week
Meet Gary Byrne. He is the Indiana State Senator from the 47th District. He owns Byrne Satellite Systems. He is a disgrace.
In Indianapolis, on Election Day, people can ride the bus for free to go vote. Malcontent Gary tried to put forth a bill last year (it never went anywhere) to prevent this. Here’s the bill:
Yes, that’s the ENTIRE bill.
But Gary didn’t stop there, oh no. Indiana is currently looking at updating legislation related to what can be taught in human sexuality courses in school. You can see the whole markup here, but it’s included for completeness, it’s not worth reading.
Here’s the thing - as one of the writers of the bill, Gary wanted to remove any discussion of “consent”. You know, the part where they teach that anyone has the right to say “NO” to someone who wants to, um, take liberties with them. All of us rational, reasonable, decent people know that the right to say “NO” is important, and kids should know that information, especially because:
An Indiana Department of Health 2020 report found that more than 13% of high school girls in Indiana and 6.4% of high school boys here reported being physically forced to have unwanted sexual intercourse, and that instances of underreporting are high among Hoosier youth. Source.
Gary never gave a reason, but my guess is that he likes the idea that people are oblivious to the ability to say “NO”. So this week, the consent amendment was stripped out of the bill, but because of huge public outcry, it may be going back in. More info. Obviously a fluid situation, yet to be resolved.
We all know that Kristy Noem’s purse was stolen, at a DC restaurant. Lots of chatter about how her security detail wasn’t close enough to stop the theft, but I have other questions.
They say there was “medication” in the bag. What kind of drugs is she on? Can any of those drugs impact driving and operating heavy machinery? Are any for weight loss? (We know how MAGA likes their women.) Were they legal? So many questions.
DHS (which she heads) says that people with a large sum of cash on them are “suspicious.” In fact, Kilmar Abrego Garcia had more that $1,000 on him when he was abducted, and this was one of the things they questioned. Most people don’t carry a lot of cash on them, although, face it, drug deals are rarely undertaken with Amex. You WOULD need cash if you were leaving the country. HHMMN.
Kristy also had a bunch of blank checks on her. This is FASCINATING. We don’t know how many, but there are generally 20 - 25 in the pack that goes in a checkbook. (And she apparently didn’t have a checkbook, just the checks.)
Now, I carry ONE blank check in my wallet. Mostly I do this out of long-standing habit. When I went off to college, my dad told me that I should always have on me a dime (if I needed to make a phone call), a $5 bill in case I needed to take a cab home, a $20 bill (folded up and hidden) for an emergency, and a blank check just in case1. Today, I have quarters because sometimes I park and need to feed the meter. I also have a blank check, which, in all honesty, is there today because I’m getting my car inspected on Friday, and my mechanic charges extra if you pay with a credit card. Mostly, though, I depend on a phone app or card to pay for things, like most banked people.
What would you need a bunch of checks for? It’s a mystery.They say the thief got her driver’s license and her DHS ID. No mention of credit cards. She’s in her 50’s and she doesn’t carry around a credit card? Is her credit that bad? She’s missing all the points by paying with cash rather than credit.
More seriously, there are those who say more of us should use cash for more things because when you use credit, you’re tracked seven ways to Sunday. Credit cards enable vendors to target market you, and your purchase data is sold to all sorts of bad actors. So, is Kristy flying under the radar? What’s she buying with all that cash? Guns? (We know she likes to shoot her pets.) Drugs? Again, it’s a mystery.
Now, let’s talk about DeathSantis.
Last year there was a ballot initiative on the November election that would have legalized pot. It won 56% of the vote, but needed to clear the 60% threshold to be enacted.
Ronny loves pudding, but is disinterested in pot. Which is silly, because pot will likely make one want MORE pudding. Okay, Doritos and Coca-Cola, but still….
His wife Casey is the person he wants to be the next governor of Florida, since he’s term limited. That won’t happen, the more likely victor is Byron Daniels (and we’ll get to him next). She also runs the “Hope Florida Foundation” which is SUPPOSED to raise and disperse money to faith-based organizations.
BUT
The controversy surrounding the Hope Florida Foundation goes back to last year, when the state of Florida discovered it was owed $67 million in a settlement with the Centene Corp. after the state was overbilled for Medicaid. The draft agreement obtained by media Tuesday suggested that $10 million of that money was funneled through the charity connected to the organization founded and promoted by Casey DeSantis and eventually sent to two nonprofit groups involved in the campaign against the ballot measure. One of those groups gave money to a PAC tied to James Uthmeier, the governor’s then-chief of staff. Source.
Stealing from the theoretically needy to deny regular people access to the escape they need so badly….just doesn’t seem right.
And finally, Congressman Byron Daniels. He did a town hall in his district.
Yes, there’s tape.
Finding information on these folks that shows them for being nasty, moronic, underhanded, stupid, liars, imbecilic, uncaring, idiotic — need I go on? It’s as easy as finding a delicious cookie in a good bakery.
Yes, yes, yes, college was not a recent experience for me.
Didn't Gov. Noem also have a gun in her purse? As for the town hall hosted by Rep. Daniels, I recall that the tape of the brouhaha in his far right district was shown on at least 3 major TV news channels, none of whom reported that the obvious sparsely attended function (half empty seating being visible) resulted from the fact that all the audience had been pre-screened to assure that they were registered Republican residents in the District.