Tag Archives: Dennis Hastert

Stop It!

Posted on by under education, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I don’t know about you guys, but I am sickened and disgusted by the recent surge in intolerance and downright hatred against the LGBTQ community.  We are all humans, for Pete’s Sake!  What does it matter who another person chooses to love or how they choose to live?  I was surprised and pleased to see Dan Rather address this topic, so I will turn the floor over to him and Elliott Kirschner now …

Stop It

Attacks on the transgender community

Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner

15 April 2023

We are facing many threats and challenges to our nation’s prosperity and security. These include a belligerent China, the war in Ukraine, economic disruption, our global climate crisis, and even the specter of artificial intelligence, just to name a few. 

These are the issues government should be debating and legislating. 

And yet Republican statehouses and Fox News would have you believe our greatest threat is drag queen reading hour. 

It’s meant to be a divisive distraction. 
It’s lunacy, but it is also a dangerous injustice. And a tragedy. 

You can tell a lot about a society by how it treats its most vulnerable, marginalized, and ostracized. 

History is replete with the horrors inflicted by those who wielded the power of position and privilege against those who had little to none of either. Persecution has taken many forms — legal, cultural, economic, and social. It has led to unimaginable suffering, violence, and death — even reaching the scale of genocide. 

About this, there are many lessons from the past to be heeded. Divisive hatred should be called out and rebuffed. And it is especially incumbent on those outside the group being persecuted to stand in meaningful solidarity. An attack against one segment of society is an attack against all whose existence might challenge a narrow definition of what is considered “acceptable.”

Right now, few groups face more direct hostility than the transgender community. There is a wave of animus sweeping the nation. It is being codified into law, wielded as invective, and used as a springboard to violence. 

This divisiveness and scapegoating pose a threat to our ideals. And thus they are a threat to all who care about freedom in a pluralistic constitutional republic based on the principles of democracy. 

More fundamentally, those under attack are fellow human beings who deserve the same respect and opportunity to live their lives as anyone else. 

There are a lot of reasons bigots are focusing their hatred on transgender people. Gender fluidity is a concept foreign to how many were raised, and thus it can be disorienting to comprehend. It challenges the binary many of us learned as children and believed to be utterly fundamental.

“What did you have?” is often the first question new mothers are asked from family and friends. And the implications of the query are understood even if they go unstated: Did you have a boy or a girl? 

It is also understood that the implications of that question will endure far beyond infancy. Gender is seen as portentous for what the rest of life will entail. There was a time when biological sex determined everything from one’s likely occupation to one’s legal rights. Boys and girls have different aisles in toy stores and sections in clothing departments. 

In many ways, we have made progress toward gender equality. We have women in positions of political power and leading businesses. We have women firefighters, police officers, and pilots. But we also still have a ways to go. And the recent rollback of abortion rights shows we are capable of losing ground. 

Into all of this complexity comes the rise in trans awareness and its backlash. While it is understandable that children and adults who do not fit into a traditional gender overlay could be a challenging reality for many, we should be clear that this makes it all the more important that we try to understand. 

Science informs us that gender is often a blurry concept in nature. History proves that transgender identities in humans are not new. We can gain understanding from medical and mental health professionals about responding with care and empathy. 

And we should be clear that claims of “this is abhorrent,” “this isn’t how things should be done,” “this isn’t natural,” or “this is dangerous” are the kind of rhetoric long used to attack the “other,” no matter who it may be. 

We have seen these attacks lobbed at other members of the LGBTQ community. We have seen them target interracial marriage, the customs of non-Christians, and communities of immigrants. 

We have seen discrimination wielded time and again as a cudgel for those with power to bolster their standing by picking on others. It is bullying, pure and simple. 

The attacks on drag queens and others in transgender communities as “groomers” or prone to child abuse are particularly despicable. There is no evidence backing these allegations. And those who push them are often conveniently quiet about those who have been prosecuted for abuse but belong to groups more aligned with conservative values, like the clergy, Boy Scouts, and even Republican politics (former House Speaker Dennis Hastert comes to mind).

The purpose of these attacks on the trans community is transparent. It’s about political power, and a power built on division. It’s about picking on those who have the least ability to defend themselves, including and especially children. 

We can try to wrestle in good faith around the implications of a changing society. We can discuss what this might mean for sports or bathroom design. We can be sympathetic to those who are still early in their journey of understanding. 

But as history has shown, we should not be quiet. We should not look the other way. We should not allow this hatefulness to take root and distract us from the real problems with which we must contend. 

Those who are being targeted must know that they are not alone.

Joe the Pipefitter Invited to Speak at RNC

Posted on by under Humour, Political commentary

My friend Joe, a pipefitter, and a Republican, albeit one who is not planning to vote for Donald Trump in November, received the following letter from GOP Chairman Reince Priebus yesterday:

 

Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee

320 First St., SE

Washington, DC  20003

Mr. Joe XXXXXXXX

XXXXX  XXXXXX XX

XXXXXXXXXX, XX  XXXXX

24 June 2016

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX,

Our records indicate that you have been a loyal supporter of the Republican Party and its’ candidates throughout the years. We are grateful for all your support, and as a small token of our appreciation, we would like to invite you to speak on behalf of our presumptive nominee at the Republican National Convention next month.  The convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena July 18-21, 2016.  We have an open slot for you to speak on Tuesday, 19 July at 10:30 a.m., though other speaking times are also still available.

We will, of course, reimburse you for travel and lodging expenses, and upon acceptance of this offer, we will send you a copy of the prepared speech we would like you to memorize for the event.  We are having a bit of difficulty garnering enough speakers this year, as GOP leaders around the nation seem to be very busy and have already made other commitments for that week.  We had hoped to feature Dennis Hastert, former Congressman from Illinois and former Speaker of the House, but he is otherwise occupied serving a prison sentence for raping young boys.

If you are interested in this great opportunity, please complete the attached form with your letter of acceptance no later than 30 June, so that we can send your speech to you in order for you to have plenty of time to learn what you are to say.  Also, if you have other friends who might be interested in speaking at the convention, please have them contact me on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ReincePriebus.

I look forward to seeing you next month, and thank you again for your loyal support.

Sincerely,

reince sig.jpg

Reince Priebus

Chairman, Republican National Committee

My friend Joe will not be attending the convention, as he is pretty sure he will have a sore throat that day and be unable to speak for long periods of time.  Either that, or he will have to fit some pipes somewhere.

I read in Politico yesterday that the RNC is having trouble getting prominent Republicans to even attend the convention, let alone give speeches in favour of Mr. Trump.  Gee … I wonder why that is?  In past years, being invited to speak at the convention was considered to be a great honour among Republicans, but apparently this year, not so much.

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, said he is taking his family to the beach instead.  “I’m not,” said South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford, a former two-term governor. “But hope you have a good Thursday!”  “Don’t know,” said Sean Duffy, a reality-TV-star-turned-Wisconsin congressman. “I haven’t thought about it.”  Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo: “I won’t be there.”  The widespread lack of interest, Republicans say, boils down to one thing: the growing consensus that it’s best to steer clear of Trump.  GASP … do you really think so?  I’m thinking “what if they held a convention and nobody came?”  I do imagine, however, that they can at least count on America’s #1 and #2 Bimbox to be there!  Gonna be a fun show, folks.

Updates and Tidbits – Funny, Scary, Sad

Posted on by under Humour, Political commentary, Social commentary

Updates:

  • As I reported in my April 23rd post, former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert was to be sentenced today. The prosecution had asked for a sentence of six months, while Hastert’s lawyers argued that he was ill and should get probation.  I thought it was likely he would get probation, but … wait for it … Judge Thomas M. Durkin, after asking Hastert a number of questions, handed down a sentence of fifteen months … yes, folks, 15 months!  Granted, it is not nearly long enough to be considered justice for the young men Hastert abused, but it is significantly more than we could have logically hoped.  Though the statute of limitations had run out on his sex crimes against minors, the matter of those crimes obviously weighed heavily in Judge Durkin’s decision.  In addition, Hastert must pay a fine of $250,000 and will undergo two years of supervised probation after his release. It may yet be that Hastert will never see the inside of a prison, as he is old and unwell, and there is no doubt that his attorneys are working on filing appeals as I write this.  But Judge Durkin did his job and did it well.  Full story.
  • Follow-up to  Filosofa Rants, 26 April 2016 The City Council of Oxford, Alabama unanimously approved a new ordinance that will punish individuals for using restrooms that do not match their biological sex as stated on their birth certificate.  What is it with people south of the Mason-Dixon???  Is there something in the drinking water that kills brain cells?  Who carries a birth certificate around with them?  I can honestly say that I have never once carried my birth certificate in my pocket, nor am I about to start now.  Here is an excerpt, directly quoted, from the text of the new ordinance: “… citizens have a right to quite [sic] solicitude [sic] and to be secure from embarrassment and unwanted intrusion into their privacy while utilizing multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facilities by members of the opposite biological sex.”  They cannot even spell, yet they feel qualified to make totally unenforceable and discriminatory laws.  It also warns that “… single sex public facilities are places of increased venerability [sic] and present the potential for crimes against individuals utilizing those facilities which may include, but not limited to, voyeurism, exhibitionism, molestation, and assault and battery.”  For. Pete’s. Sake.  Each violation of the ‘law’ is punishable by up to a $500 fine or six months in jail.  I like to think that upon the first violation, a smart person will challenge it in court with equally smart lawyers and it will quickly be overturned.  But it is the south.  Full story.

Tidbits:

  • Senator Ted Cruz just committed suicide.  Political suicide.  He named Carly Fiorina as his running mate should he win the GOP nomination.  Apparently, in light of Hillary Clinton’s successes and the fact that we are all 99% certain she will be the Democratic nominee, the GOP candidate felt pressured to select a woman as his running mate to level the playing field.  What he achieved, instead, was to tilt the entire field in Donnie Trump’s favor.  If Trump feels that same compulsion to select a woman, it will likely be Sarah Palin.  I should be upset by Cruz’ utter stupidity, and for the briefest of seconds, I was.  But then I realized that Trump is headed for the nomination anyway, unless the nominating committee can pull a rabbit out of their collective hats, so it doesn’t matter much.  I was hoping, however, that Cruz could stay in the race long enough to keep Trump from gaining his magical 1,237 delegates, forcing a contested convention, and giving the powers-that-be a chance to ‘dump trump’ once and for all.  If Trump chooses Palin as his running mate, he will have equally doomed himself, though he is already doomed to begin with.  If Cruz or Trump think that selecting a woman is a running mate is the way to beat Hillary, that simply points up their ignorance of women.  Women, contrary to what Mr. Trump has already asserted, do have brains and we generally keep them right inside our heads, also contrary to Mr. Trump’s assertions.  We are not going to vote for a candidate merely because she is a woman, but because she is a woman who is qualified, whether it is for the position of president or vice-president.  Neither Carly Fiorina nor Sarah Palin are qualified for anything much beyond dogcatcher, if that.  Then again, neither is Mr. Trump.

 

  • amazon truckOnline retailer Amazon just announced the launch of a new service called Prime Now. Apparently for some, one-two day shipping was not fast enough, so with Prime Now they can get one-two hour shipping!  Two-hour shipping is free to Amazon Prime members, just as two-day shipping has always been.  Now … I have been an Amazon customer since 2003 and a Prime member since 2005.  I have always been pleased, on the rare occasions there was any problem, they went well above and beyond to make it right.  But never, not once, have I felt the need to order something and have it delivered that very day, let alone in an hour or two.  I am not sure whether to think this is consumer laziness, consumer greed, or some combination of both.  As one friend said, it is the “I want it now” mentality, and Amazon is quite good at being in tune to the needs and desires of their customers.
  • Amazon droneAmazon is also working on a future service that will see drones delivering packages.  My feelings about that are similar to the self-driving car … too much technology and too many things that can go wrong.  I can envision a drone dropping my monthly shipment of Tide pods and Clorox wipes, and coffee right on my head some morning as I step out for my morning walk!  Thanks, but no thanks!

And last, but not least … 

  • Mary Lou Bruner is running for a seat on the State Board of Education in Texas. A reminder for those who do not live in the U.S., Texas, like Alabama, is in the southern half of the U.S.  Among her beliefs are that “President Obama had worked as a gay prostitute in his youth, that the United States should ban Islam, that the Democratic Party had John F. Kennedy killed and that the United Nations had hatched a plot to depopulate the world.” I believe she has been watching too much X-Files! New York Times  Bizarre enough, but she also claims that “The GLBTQ [sic] agenda is one of the big reasons the liberals want 3-year-old and 4-year-old children to attend public school Pre-K programs. The federal government wants to indoctrinate the little children, teaching them a homosexual marriage is just as good as a marriage with a father and a mother.” And finally, “The government curriculum plans to tell the little children their parents are ignorant, and they don’t understand because of the way the parents were taught. Or the little children will be told their parents are bigoted because they do not accept Islam and gay marriage,” Oh yes, and she also believes that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012 was a government hoax.  Try telling that to the parents of the murdered children.  Now for the really frightening part:  she was the winner of the primary, winning 48% of the votes cast.

After that last story, I am too discouraged, almost sick, to write any more tonight.  I am seriously considering renouncing my membership in the human race.  G’day.

A Serial Pedophile in Congress?

Posted on by under Rants, Social commentary

The longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in the history of the United States Congress is among the most despicable creatures on earth.  Dennis Hastert was in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1982 until 2007, and was Speaker of the House from 1999 until 2007.  He was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois from 1965 until his election to the House in 1981.  During his tenure as a coach, he was a pedophile.  Yes, you read that correctly, he was a pedophile who sexually abused at least four of the boys under his tutelage.

Hastert entered a guilty plea in October 2015, and will come before Judge Durkin next Wednesday, 27 April 2016, but technically not for sexual misconduct.  He has been convicted only of “felony structuring,” which stems from his withdrawal of millions of dollars in increments of $10,000 or less to avoid bank reporting as required by law.  The money was being used to buy the silence of one of the people he abused. Prosecutors have requested a six-month prison sentence, however his lawyers are trying to spin the case as one of a retired, sickly, 74-year-old man who has had a stroke and who has been punished enough.  Six months for repeatedly molesting at least four children?  The maximum sentence for the crime of which he was convicted is five years, which still is inadequate, but better than six months. I do not understand why he has not been charged with child sexual assault and abuse.  According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, nearly every state has a basic suspension of the statute of limitation for civil actions while a person is a minor. Many states have also adopted additional extensions specifically for cases involving sexual abuse of children.  So, no matter how long ago, he should still face charges.  Why not?  Because he was a Congressman?  Punished enough?  Can this individual ever be “punished enough”?  I think not.  Now comes the kicker … and the purpose of this post …

Former House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, has written a letter to Judge Durkin, asking for leniency for his old friend, Hastert!  He characterizes Hastert as “a man of strong faith … and great integrity”.  How, I ask you, can a man who abused children in the most horrific way possible, be a man of “great integrity”? A few of the more memorable lines from the letter:

  • “We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few.” So, pedophilia is just a little flaw???
  • “He is a good man that loves the Lord. He gets his integrity and values from Him. He doesn’t deserve what he is going through.” Being religious does not absolve him from his heinous crime, it only adds the charge of hypocrisy! And people who sexually abuse children are NOT good people.
  • “I have observed him in many different and difficult situations. He has never disappointed me in any way. He is a man of strong faith that guides him. He is a man of great integrity. He loves and respects his fellow man. I have never witnessed a time when he was unkind to anyone. He is always giving to others and helping anyone including me so many times.” His ‘strong faith’ guided him, alright!  Just as it guided Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and others.
  • “We held each other accountable and we studied God’s word and applied it to where we were at that moment,” wrote DeLay, who is a longtime advocate for foster children and adoption. “Nothing could have been more intimate between us. So I know his heart and have seen it up close and personal.” Once again, since when does prayer, a belief in a higher being, or religion absolve one from abusing children?

 

DeLay himself is no angel, having been convicted of money-laundering and sentenced to three years.  His conviction was overturned due to lack of evidence, but his political career ended in disgrace just as his bosom-buddy Hastert’s.  DeLay was not the only letter-writer.  In all, the judge received 60 letters asking leniency for Hastert.  Included are letters written by Hastert’s wife, two of his sons, two of his brothers, former Congressman and head of the Central Intelligence Agency Porter Goss, former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner, several ex-congressmen and a few retired law enforcement officers, including retired Kendall County Sheriff Richard Randall and members of the U.S. Capitol Police force.  As I read this, my jaw dropped.  How can all of these people be willing to overlook what Hastert did?  Are they being paid to write these letters?  Some of the content of the letters:

  • Hastert’s wife of 43 years, Jean, wrote that she’s never known a “more honorable and devoted man.” I wonder if she has stopped to consider that while she was home taking care of his children, he was out having sex with somebody else’s children?
  • Retired Illinois state Sen. Doris C. Karpiel called Hastert “the best kind of public official.” “He cared about and listened to his constituents and worked hard to represent their interests,” Karpiel wrote that he had already lost “his good name.” “Further punishment will serve no real purpose, and I ask that you take his years of public service and many accomplishments into account when he is sentenced.”

Another If you can stomach it, you can read the article in Politico.

The only alleged victim of Hastert to be named so far is Steve Reinboldt, the equipment manager of the team. In 1979, years after he was out of high school, Reinboldt, who died in 1995, told his sister that Hastert abused him for four years. His sister asked him why he had not spoken up sooner. “… he just turned around and kind of looked at me and said, ‘Who is ever going to believe me?’” Reinboldt’s sister said.  His sister is expected to appear at the sentencing on Wednesday, as well as one of the thus-far unnamed victims.

What he did was criminal, was among the worst crimes, in my mind anyway, that a person can ever commit.  That he will not be punished for his crime only compounds it.  His lawyers have argued that Hastert’s name has “become forever tainted” and he has been “stung by the public repudiations of him that followed his indictment, including the removal of his portrait from the United States Capitol.”  Oh please.  I cannot believe anybody could say that without choking on their own words.

The irony is that during his tenure in the House, he spearheaded legislation to prevent use of the Internet to encourage sexual acts with children. “We must continue to be proactive warding off pedophiles and other creeps who want to take advantage of our children,” said Hastert.  Hastert publicly called for legislation to “put repeat child molesters into jail for the rest of their lives.”  I guess he considers himself above the law. One final irony … Hastert will keep his Congressional pension.