It appeared that Donald Trump removed any doubt about his moral fiber–or lack thereof–when he declared that any NFL player who kneels during the national anthem is a “son of a bitch” who needs to be fired posthaste. He apparently saw fit to blast Colin Kaepernick and others with harsher language than he has used […]
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria ravishing the United States and Caribbean, we’ve seen a number of pastors revert to what has become a very disturbing tradition–claiming that these and other natural disasters are the result of sin. Never mind that whenever they spew this bilge and word gets out about it, […]
Let’s get real. It’s getting ugly out there. White cops killing unarmed Black men, the necessary removal of our Confederate monuments, the “free speech” event at Berkeley turning violent, and the terrorist attack by a white nationalist at the Charlottesville rally in Virginia just a few weeks ago… What is going on here? The reason […]
Hello, dear readers, your friendly liberal lawyer is back with another guide to the oft-misunderstood first amendment. This week we’ll look at religious free speech, specifically, what clergy can and cannot say and what lines they must not cross. 1. The Basics As you may remember from my first freedom of speech piece, the first […]
ESPN contributor Jemele Hill took a lot of heat this week for speaking her mind on President Donald Trump. In a series of tweets earlier this week, Hill suggested that Trump harbored racist attitudes, and surrounded himself with people in the White House who shared similar ideals. After pressure was put on the network from […]
It’s no secret that the religious right has bowed down to Donald Trump. It’s also no secret that the nation’s so-called moral guardians have convinced many of their followers to join them in doing so, often by bullying them. After all, well over 70 percent of white evangelicals approve of Trump’s performance–more than double what […]
I was 17-years-old when the attacks of September 11 happened. Even though I didn’t live anywhere close to New York, Washington D.C., or even Pennsylvania, I will never forget that day, and consider it a formative event in my life. I think that a lot of people from the Millennial generation agree — 9/11 changed […]
In the digital age, everyone has the ability to have an opinion. Freedom of Speech is one of the most important pillars of the collection of rights we have as American citizens. Our first President George Washington declared that “if freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep […]
Almost from the time Donald Trump’s upset victory in the presidential election was beyond doubt, the religious right has been warning us against opposing him. Their explanation? Any opposition to Trump is being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself. For that reason, if we oppose Trump, we oppose God’s plan for America–and we’re […]
Earlier in the week, hard-right pastors Rick Joyner and Jim Bakker became the latest to blame a national tragedy on abortion and marriage equality. They suggested that Hurricane Harvey dumped gallons of rain on Houston not because of climate change, but because its gay-friendly reputation left it up to its eyeballs in “sin and wickedness.” […]
Ever since Donald Trump’s upset victory, the religious right has gone overtime warning the nation against speaking out against him. Their explanation? Trump is carrying out God’s plan for this country, and those opposing him are being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself. So therefore, if you stand against Trump, you’re standing against God […]
President Donald Trump bucked many people’s expectations this week when he made an agreement with his political rivals, Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, over the debate on the extending debt ceiling. Not only did Trump agree to a three-month fix on the issue — a plan that other Republican leaders like Speaker of the […]
Days after the September 11 attacks, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson claimed the planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon because of abortion and gays. They were deservedly sliced, diced, and julienned from all sides. However, the fundie fringe apparently didn’t take the hint. Ever since then, almost like clockwork, whenever disaster […]
As of Labor Day weekend, Donald Trump’s average approval rating, as calculated by FiveThirtyEight, stands at 37.5 percent. At risk of sounding like a broken record, this is the lowest approval rating on record for a newly-elected president at this stage in his presidency. But, again at risk of sounding like a broken record, the biggest […]
Am I the only one who never really thought that much about Chelsea Clinton? Did I like her? Yes. Admire her? Certainly. But stand back and say “whoa this girl is a BADASS”? Not so much. I think most people thought of Chelsea Clinton as the “girl next door” (who just happened to be a high […]
Well Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s loyalty to malignant narcissist Pres. Donald Trump has paid off. He’s been pardoned by the worst president in American history. From Friday’s New York Times: President Trump on Friday pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff whose aggressive efforts to hunt down and detain undocumented immigrants made him a national symbol of the divisive […]
As we know by now, the Donald Trump administration has ramped its war on the media into Defcon 1. But one collection of Trump’s most ardent supporters has had it at that level for some time–the religious right. Almost from the moment of Trump’s upset victory, they have been warning us against daring to speak […]
UPDATE: The racist lady has been charged. Summer Cortts, 39, a Boca Raton, Fla., resident, has been charged with disorderly conduct and inciting an affray, a legal term that basically means “fighting.” The incident took place Tuesday at a La Quinta in Coral Springs. Can you say “iron fist in a velvet glove”? Or “big […]
For some time, the religious right has been mounting a ham-handed bullying campaign to warn white evangelicals against joining the resistance to Donald Trump. Their explanation? Those who oppose Trump are supposedly being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself to oppose God’s plan for America. Therefore, opposing Trump not only risks your salvation, […]
As of Monday afternoon, Donald Trump’s average approval rating, as calculated by FiveThirtyEight, is 37.2 percent–easily the lowest on record for a newly-elected president at this stage in his presidency. But as bad as these numbers are, there’s ample evidence that they’re heavily inflated. After all, the biggest reason Trump’s approval ratings are even that […]
