Walters is a guy who hitched his wagon to Trump. Look at what it got him. Did the Orange One come to Walters' rescue? He can't even remember who Walters is (and soon, Trump won't even remember who HE is).
4:30 my time. But I don't usually get on the 'puter until after 5 (mostly to go over the previous day's article to comment/upvote those I missed). All while geting in breakfast and coffee while I wait for the new article to get posted.
"I was never very religious, to be honest. Never a big believer in God or as Muslims call him, Alan, or Jewish people say, Yahtzee. He never endorsed me and I said, 'if he won’t endorse me then frankly we have nothing to talk about.' Basically God is a RINO."
Let’s hope that quite soon Arch-Criminal US President DJT will be communicating with Earthlings from Cloud 9. That is, those unlucky Earthlings who unwisely have their ear to the sky.
Yep, that individual A-C US P DJT can’t remember who or what Walters is or was. He can’t even remember the title of his book that he neither wrote nor even read. WHAT A JOKE !
Well ye gods and little fishes! All appearances sure seem to indicate that Oklahoma may have at last gotten serious about the education of their children. The yap about religion and the 10Cs on the Department of Education website is GONE, along with virtually any reference to a certain former Secretary of Education, and the current holder of that position is less interested in garnering attention to himself than he is boosting the quality of primary and secondary education in the Sooner State.
Hmmm. Is. That. A. Fact? I suspect that there will be more than one teachers' organization that will fall on Walters like a ton of bricks, considering what he did to Oklahoma schools. If he thinks he can tackle unions without some serious blowback, he's got another think coming!
I will be happy when they toss Walter’ ass in prison for his crimes playing with the schools’ money. Let’s never forget how he celebrated the death (murder) of a child because they didn’t conform to his strict gender norms. Noting that the environment he created led to Nex Benedict’s attack and subsequent death. He has blood on his hands.
Also, I hope they shitcanned the Libs of Tik Tok succubus.
This is what happens when you replace a power hungry Christian Nazionalist with an actual educator. Too bad it won't last long. Since Fields is not interested in being elected to his own term, the already indoctrinated voters of Oklahoma are likely to pick another religious demagogue. Let's hope that the Walters 2.0 who replaces Fields will be less likely to violate the Establishment Clause than the child killer. A low bar, I know, but I can hope.
This is why minimum qualifications should be established for every elected position and every candidate had to meet those qualifications before they can run.
As SaintOscar Wilde observed, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they Go.”
And as Saint BensNewlogin observes, it is very likely that Oklahoma will continue to vote for Republicans as they have for the last 50 years, and continue to be at the bottom of just about every measure of social well-being available, because the mentality that elected Ryan Walters — culture wars and religion uber alles— will continue to govern the state.
NEW: Gestapo Barbie is complaining that no Chicago restaurants are willing to serve her and her ICE thugs. 👏 Chicago has some of the BEST food in the country – too good for fascists! THANK YOU Chicago, you're amazing!
Next the hotels and such need to refuse ICE and Neomrod places to stay in Chicago. I've been reliably informed that who you work for is not a protected class.
Religious conservatives always over play their hands. I think this is due to the fact they tend to live in self-reinforcing bubbles where they become convinced they're right and everyone else is a threat to civilization as we know it. In the end, Walters will have set back the agenda he tried to advance because people came to see it for the fraud it is.
I think it's more like Capone; they are going after the financials because that's the only thing they could possibly show criminal wrongdoing on. Everything else was arguably-legal-just-terrible-policy decisions.
SCROTUS has conversion therapy bans in its crosshairs, and the outcome- as has so often been the case this year- sure as hell seems to have been fixed before the argument. The only real question is whether or not they're going to bother writing a full opinion to justify re-legalizing this particular form of torture in all of the states which have outlawed it.
There's two ways I think the states who wish to prevent the practice can resist this.
The first is by use of nongovernmental accreditation. Our state requires that you must be accredited by the APA to practice in the state. As a non-state, private nonprofit, they are not as tightly bound by 1a limitations. Sorry, we don't control whom they accredit. Since this actually seems to be the norm in the medical and legal world, I doubt there's much SCOTUS can do if some major NGO accrediting body comes out with the opinion that this is bad or unethical practice and says they won't accredit users of it.
But the second is probably the best, if most difficult; see the public is informed. Whether through government sources or grassroots social opinion, try and ensure anyone struggling with their orientation has good sources of information available, that these pop up first in any traditional or AI search, and that if they go to state web sites, those relay actual records of success and outcomes of various therapies. Spend some time on the communication aspect, because ultimately crap hokey medicine gets rejected when people understand it to be crap, not when government legally drives it underground. This case is about *voluntary* *talk* *therapy*. I.e. the ability of a counselor to hang out a shingle and say they do this. Thus all it takes for broad social failure is for clients to choose to go elsewhere. An accurate Yelp review saying "this therapist will religiously proselytize you and tell you it's a sin instead of, y'know, helping you" might be sufficient in many cases.
I will reserve judgement about the changes towards proper educating the children in Oklahoma, because the next superintendent may be just as bad. And the positive changes may be temporary, if another Christian nationalist get the top job of the educational system.
I would also like to see Ryan Walters charged with accessory to murder for his hate rhetoric against trans which made it possible for the murder of Nex Benedict. I guess I just have to hope that will happened (I know it won’t).
I wasn’t saying Walters wasn’t true Christian (he says he is so he is), I just wary about how the average magas will forget about the disaster that Walters was, and demand that another Christian nationalist take his place!
I know and I agree with you. I’m just playing. Amen to recognizing real world harm and violence that hate rhetoric and polices have on people’s lives. More of this!
The magas responsible for electing him probably think he did a great job but didn't go far enough with the dominionism.
It's the moderate conservatives that don't vote in high numbers for off-year state positions that need to get on the stick to ensure it doesn't happen again.
The moderate conservatives that like his policies, but find his personality off putting type? Or the “fiscal” conservatives that are certainly not racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic? Remember it isn’t them, it’s those other people over there. It’s someone else, sigh.
The people who want abortion illegal, want illegal immigrants removed with little recourse, who generally dislike welfare and social programs, who yes don't want transwomen to play with cis women in school sports...but also don't want the school system buying bibles, don't want their history courses filled with Barton lies, don't want the superintendent withholding school funding for insulin shots, and don't want 10C posters in each classroom.
Because we liberals sometimes get mentally lazy and think that all the collective conservative ideas come in some single lump sum package, when they don't. It is perfectly standard and normal for a person who identifies as conservative or moderate holds some of the views we dislike while holding some of the views we like. The response to Ryan Walters' leaving by the teachers etc. of Oklahoma - an overwhemingly red state - tells me that a whole ton of those teachers are exactly that sort of "we hold some of the conservative positions you don't like, but also several positions you do" type.
I agree with you on moderates, but because I don’t find it acceptable to support doesn’t mean I am or liberals (which I don’t consider myself either) are intellectually lazy. I don’t consider other people’s humanity as a “difference of opinion” or something that should or can be “debated”. This is not about engaging in healthy or intellectual conversations about policies, it’s about simple cruelty and punishment of people who the administration doesn’t like. Anyone who supports that is no friend of mine and that’s ok. I would argue that those still supporting this regime as time goes seriously need to work on developing their emotional intelligence. I know plenty of “moderate republicans” and I don’t think they are awful or stupid human beings. I think they have been heavily propagandized. We all have been to some extent, but everyone needs to sit with it, be uncomfortable, and hopefully decide to make changes.
As encouraging as it is to see Oklahoma make such a rapid move to distance itself from Walters and his evil legacy... I fear that, in the end, their efforts to do so will skew more towards "𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦?" than any attempt to push education policy in a better direction. That they'll be more concerned with getting Walters and his malevolent antics out of the public eye, and less with actually undoing the harm he caused during his tenure.
The educational culture groomed by Walters must be torn down, and the damage he did must be repaired. Having a PR consultant re-do the department webpage is a small first step; shitcanning Walters' lingering minions is a bigger one. Investigating Walters' misconduct is even more hopeful sign.
But we've seen hopeful signs lead us in circles before, all over this country. Oklahoma needs to be 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 aggressive about this effort, if any of the powers that be truly want the change to stick. I fear, though, that they'll lose their resolve as soon as Walters' name clears the news cycle and fades from public memory. The change Oklahoma needs is uncomfortable, messy, and expensive- all things politicians would generally rather avoid. Especially when so many of them 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 Walters, until his over-the-top fascism became politically inconvenient.
But all this is just a normal, if extreme swing to the right, and everything will swing back to the left at the midterms because voters are upset about the shutdown and price of gas and groceries. Or so my Father tried to tell me, while trying to convince me that my feeling that I need to get out of at least Texas if not the U.S. within a year is paranoia. He's in denial. If some Democrats are still acting like the situation is just an aberration, I shouldn't be surprised a Republican "refugee" thinks so, I guess.
Yeah I'm pessimistic about 2026 right now. The Dems have no single strong voice on illegal immigration policy: they'll happily say Trump's policies are terrible, but they don't offer an alternative. It's going to be critical that they come up with one, keeping in mind that a whole lot of public does indeed want illegal immigration reduced or eliminated. That's probably going to be THE signature debate of the next election cycle, so it's critical they actually find a voice on this if they want to win. There are so few competitive races in the House and Senate these days that I don't think they can win control of either legislative body just running on "Trump is awful."
dammit barry, I had to give my 4 away when I got sick. Their owners say that they're happy, but I have never done anything more horrible. I will not forgive me.
I don't know how many times Americans need to learn that lesson. But anyone who is a fundamentalist is always going to prioritize their particular flavor of religion above serving the people.
The primary system combined with gerrymandering makes it hard not to. To create a district with >55% "guaranteed" votes for one party, that means including the most loyalist voters. Which in turn means that during a primary in which only that one party is voting (OK GOP holds closed primaries), those loyalists dictate who will win and go through to the general. Then you have the grassroots participation issue - I.e. the more fundie groups are really good at getting their members to show up for state and local votes.
State superintendent vote doesn't have the gerrymandering problem, but its still going to be the case that if the GOP primary is decided mostly by GOP voters, and the fundie groups are really good at turnout, then that gives the right wing of the party much higher representation than the rest of us would like.
So let's drill down on "don't elect" a couple more steps:
-> Moderate GOPers, do not wait for November to complain about the candidate offerings. Show up for your party's primary, whenever that is. Select the non-fundie.
-> Then show up for the general. Be willing to vote across party lines if you lost the primary.
-> Democrats, do something similar. Don't wait until November to get involved; vote in your primary, and in that contest vote with an eye towards someone who can win over Oklahoma's population. The candidate that reaches the general should be someone moderate enough to be able to gather cross-party GOP voters, in case the GOP candidate is a dominionist.
Just wanted to add: There will always be a fundie on the primary. It makes no difference if we're talking about the Repubs or the Dems, there will be a fundie. These folks honestly think that they know how to do it right and truly deserve to be elected, so they will always be there. Mal's right about the long game on this one, and it's past time to learn to plan accordingly.
Walters is a guy who hitched his wagon to Trump. Look at what it got him. Did the Orange One come to Walters' rescue? He can't even remember who Walters is (and soon, Trump won't even remember who HE is).
What's your impression after taking Oraxx's place as first commentator ? 😁
Just keeping Oraxx's seat warm. ;)
How early did you have to get up to pull this off?
4:30 my time. But I don't usually get on the 'puter until after 5 (mostly to go over the previous day's article to comment/upvote those I missed). All while geting in breakfast and coffee while I wait for the new article to get posted.
I am rarely up that early. 😴
Used to get up at 4:45. That little 15 minutes earlier made all the difference.
I never have trouble sleeping through the night because I get to bed around 10, 11 tops. Sometimes I fall asleep in my recliner and just stay there.
From Dictator for a Day (DictatorForADayShow.com), opening monologue, Trump vs. God:
"I was never very religious, to be honest. Never a big believer in God or as Muslims call him, Alan, or Jewish people say, Yahtzee. He never endorsed me and I said, 'if he won’t endorse me then frankly we have nothing to talk about.' Basically God is a RINO."
Let’s hope that quite soon Arch-Criminal US President DJT will be communicating with Earthlings from Cloud 9. That is, those unlucky Earthlings who unwisely have their ear to the sky.
Yep, that individual A-C US P DJT can’t remember who or what Walters is or was. He can’t even remember the title of his book that he neither wrote nor even read. WHAT A JOKE !
See ya round like a rubber ball.
💙 …🦘🦘🦘
Well ye gods and little fishes! All appearances sure seem to indicate that Oklahoma may have at last gotten serious about the education of their children. The yap about religion and the 10Cs on the Department of Education website is GONE, along with virtually any reference to a certain former Secretary of Education, and the current holder of that position is less interested in garnering attention to himself than he is boosting the quality of primary and secondary education in the Sooner State.
Damned. Good. News!
JoeMyGod reports ol' Ryan had a ghost employee... not a woman.
https://www.joemygod.com/2025/10/ex-oklahoma-schools-chief-had-ghost-employee/
Hmmm. Is. That. A. Fact? I suspect that there will be more than one teachers' organization that will fall on Walters like a ton of bricks, considering what he did to Oklahoma schools. If he thinks he can tackle unions without some serious blowback, he's got another think coming!
I don't know, I can see the legal protections for unions going bye-bye in just a couple of years.
Who you gonna call?
Nutbusters.
I will be happy when they toss Walter’ ass in prison for his crimes playing with the schools’ money. Let’s never forget how he celebrated the death (murder) of a child because they didn’t conform to his strict gender norms. Noting that the environment he created led to Nex Benedict’s attack and subsequent death. He has blood on his hands.
Also, I hope they shitcanned the Libs of Tik Tok succubus.
"I have been silenced!"
“𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛,” 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. “𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠.”
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠.
We already knew that. All ideology and indoctrination, no desire for students to actually 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 things.
“𝑇𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑂𝑘𝑙𝑎ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒."
This is what happens when you replace a power hungry Christian Nazionalist with an actual educator. Too bad it won't last long. Since Fields is not interested in being elected to his own term, the already indoctrinated voters of Oklahoma are likely to pick another religious demagogue. Let's hope that the Walters 2.0 who replaces Fields will be less likely to violate the Establishment Clause than the child killer. A low bar, I know, but I can hope.
He will be xorking closely with others educators. Let just hope one choose to be a candidate for the sake of the children.
Hope he's not xorking too closely, they might catch something... Sorry 😜
This is why minimum qualifications should be established for every elected position and every candidate had to meet those qualifications before they can run.
As SaintOscar Wilde observed, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they Go.”
And as Saint BensNewlogin observes, it is very likely that Oklahoma will continue to vote for Republicans as they have for the last 50 years, and continue to be at the bottom of just about every measure of social well-being available, because the mentality that elected Ryan Walters — culture wars and religion uber alles— will continue to govern the state.
Almost as bad as Louisiana.
Almost. They must really try harder.
The Wilde quote is new to me. I had a good chuckle. Thank you.
You are welcome
And, I hope it need not be said, but I liked your comments yesterday about Thoughts and Prayers costumes.
I was just teasing you, and I was pretty sure you knew it.
Indeed I did.
'As SaintOscar Wilde observed, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they Go.”'
My mother had a variant on this, "Everyone brings joy to this house, some when they arrive, and some when they leave".
Your mother was a wise woman.
"Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism" i.e. Office of Christian Persecution Complex and Blind Allegiance to Political Policy.
NEW: Gestapo Barbie is complaining that no Chicago restaurants are willing to serve her and her ICE thugs. 👏 Chicago has some of the BEST food in the country – too good for fascists! THANK YOU Chicago, you're amazing!
Apparently, Chicago restauranteurs understand the Parable of the Nazi Bar.
It’s probably too much to hope that the restaurant owners are citing their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Next the hotels and such need to refuse ICE and Neomrod places to stay in Chicago. I've been reliably informed that who you work for is not a protected class.
Isn't that the 3rd amendment? No forcible quartering of troops? I did an assignment about that sort of thing many, many years ago.
As the article shows, mixing religion with education is just as disastrous as mixing religion with money.
And yet religion cannot survive without 'education' (inculcation) and money.
Religion is truly a parasite as well as an anachronism.
Religious conservatives always over play their hands. I think this is due to the fact they tend to live in self-reinforcing bubbles where they become convinced they're right and everyone else is a threat to civilization as we know it. In the end, Walters will have set back the agenda he tried to advance because people came to see it for the fraud it is.
jesus hates us,
this we know.
Cuz its minions
scream 'tis so.
Delusion does that to people.
Religion is the ultimate delusion; so much so that its definition excludes religion.
To be fair, Oklahoma isn't doing it on purpose. It's just illegal to teach history.
You know things are really bad when you are a magots white man and you pissed off magots and conservatives white men.
"Drummond contended Walters had a “well-established history of mishandling tax dollars.”
1) That confirm that he will run his new venture into the ground
2) Drummond can use this example and apply it to abusers and rapists instead of empty PR.
Only pissed off because of the financials. The rest of the stuff is fine.
Just like holy mother church. Abuse people? Shuffle the perps around, deny, cover up. Take their money? Hang the perps.
I think it's more like Capone; they are going after the financials because that's the only thing they could possibly show criminal wrongdoing on. Everything else was arguably-legal-just-terrible-policy decisions.
OT- 𝘍𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘤𝘬.
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lgbtq-conversation-therapy-transgender-1b10b8e959e2e9284724f4f65efe5f7d
SCROTUS has conversion therapy bans in its crosshairs, and the outcome- as has so often been the case this year- sure as hell seems to have been fixed before the argument. The only real question is whether or not they're going to bother writing a full opinion to justify re-legalizing this particular form of torture in all of the states which have outlawed it.
The cruelty is the point.
Then let's use conversion therapy on straights to turn them LGBTQ. Sauce for the goose.
According to them, we can already turn people queer just by 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 in their general vicinity, so how hard could it 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 be? /s
"I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I exist in your general direction!"
Cattle prods at the ready!
Not turning John Wayne into John Waters was a damned missed opportunity!
There's two ways I think the states who wish to prevent the practice can resist this.
The first is by use of nongovernmental accreditation. Our state requires that you must be accredited by the APA to practice in the state. As a non-state, private nonprofit, they are not as tightly bound by 1a limitations. Sorry, we don't control whom they accredit. Since this actually seems to be the norm in the medical and legal world, I doubt there's much SCOTUS can do if some major NGO accrediting body comes out with the opinion that this is bad or unethical practice and says they won't accredit users of it.
But the second is probably the best, if most difficult; see the public is informed. Whether through government sources or grassroots social opinion, try and ensure anyone struggling with their orientation has good sources of information available, that these pop up first in any traditional or AI search, and that if they go to state web sites, those relay actual records of success and outcomes of various therapies. Spend some time on the communication aspect, because ultimately crap hokey medicine gets rejected when people understand it to be crap, not when government legally drives it underground. This case is about *voluntary* *talk* *therapy*. I.e. the ability of a counselor to hang out a shingle and say they do this. Thus all it takes for broad social failure is for clients to choose to go elsewhere. An accurate Yelp review saying "this therapist will religiously proselytize you and tell you it's a sin instead of, y'know, helping you" might be sufficient in many cases.
I will reserve judgement about the changes towards proper educating the children in Oklahoma, because the next superintendent may be just as bad. And the positive changes may be temporary, if another Christian nationalist get the top job of the educational system.
I would also like to see Ryan Walters charged with accessory to murder for his hate rhetoric against trans which made it possible for the murder of Nex Benedict. I guess I just have to hope that will happened (I know it won’t).
I can hear all the BUT “he wasn’t a true Christians” all the way from here.
NOBODY can be a true xtian. NOBODY can be that self-contradictory a hypocrite..
I wasn’t saying Walters wasn’t true Christian (he says he is so he is), I just wary about how the average magas will forget about the disaster that Walters was, and demand that another Christian nationalist take his place!
I know and I agree with you. I’m just playing. Amen to recognizing real world harm and violence that hate rhetoric and polices have on people’s lives. More of this!
The magas responsible for electing him probably think he did a great job but didn't go far enough with the dominionism.
It's the moderate conservatives that don't vote in high numbers for off-year state positions that need to get on the stick to ensure it doesn't happen again.
The moderate conservatives that like his policies, but find his personality off putting type? Or the “fiscal” conservatives that are certainly not racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic? Remember it isn’t them, it’s those other people over there. It’s someone else, sigh.
I was blowing off Dear Leader steam. My apologies 😂
Blowing off steam, but worth answering.
The people who want abortion illegal, want illegal immigrants removed with little recourse, who generally dislike welfare and social programs, who yes don't want transwomen to play with cis women in school sports...but also don't want the school system buying bibles, don't want their history courses filled with Barton lies, don't want the superintendent withholding school funding for insulin shots, and don't want 10C posters in each classroom.
Because we liberals sometimes get mentally lazy and think that all the collective conservative ideas come in some single lump sum package, when they don't. It is perfectly standard and normal for a person who identifies as conservative or moderate holds some of the views we dislike while holding some of the views we like. The response to Ryan Walters' leaving by the teachers etc. of Oklahoma - an overwhemingly red state - tells me that a whole ton of those teachers are exactly that sort of "we hold some of the conservative positions you don't like, but also several positions you do" type.
I agree with you on moderates, but because I don’t find it acceptable to support doesn’t mean I am or liberals (which I don’t consider myself either) are intellectually lazy. I don’t consider other people’s humanity as a “difference of opinion” or something that should or can be “debated”. This is not about engaging in healthy or intellectual conversations about policies, it’s about simple cruelty and punishment of people who the administration doesn’t like. Anyone who supports that is no friend of mine and that’s ok. I would argue that those still supporting this regime as time goes seriously need to work on developing their emotional intelligence. I know plenty of “moderate republicans” and I don’t think they are awful or stupid human beings. I think they have been heavily propagandized. We all have been to some extent, but everyone needs to sit with it, be uncomfortable, and hopefully decide to make changes.
As encouraging as it is to see Oklahoma make such a rapid move to distance itself from Walters and his evil legacy... I fear that, in the end, their efforts to do so will skew more towards "𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦?" than any attempt to push education policy in a better direction. That they'll be more concerned with getting Walters and his malevolent antics out of the public eye, and less with actually undoing the harm he caused during his tenure.
The educational culture groomed by Walters must be torn down, and the damage he did must be repaired. Having a PR consultant re-do the department webpage is a small first step; shitcanning Walters' lingering minions is a bigger one. Investigating Walters' misconduct is even more hopeful sign.
But we've seen hopeful signs lead us in circles before, all over this country. Oklahoma needs to be 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 aggressive about this effort, if any of the powers that be truly want the change to stick. I fear, though, that they'll lose their resolve as soon as Walters' name clears the news cycle and fades from public memory. The change Oklahoma needs is uncomfortable, messy, and expensive- all things politicians would generally rather avoid. Especially when so many of them 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 Walters, until his over-the-top fascism became politically inconvenient.
But all this is just a normal, if extreme swing to the right, and everything will swing back to the left at the midterms because voters are upset about the shutdown and price of gas and groceries. Or so my Father tried to tell me, while trying to convince me that my feeling that I need to get out of at least Texas if not the U.S. within a year is paranoia. He's in denial. If some Democrats are still acting like the situation is just an aberration, I shouldn't be surprised a Republican "refugee" thinks so, I guess.
Denial is a hell of a drug- get enough people to take it, and 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 people will die from the overdose.
Yeah I'm pessimistic about 2026 right now. The Dems have no single strong voice on illegal immigration policy: they'll happily say Trump's policies are terrible, but they don't offer an alternative. It's going to be critical that they come up with one, keeping in mind that a whole lot of public does indeed want illegal immigration reduced or eliminated. That's probably going to be THE signature debate of the next election cycle, so it's critical they actually find a voice on this if they want to win. There are so few competitive races in the House and Senate these days that I don't think they can win control of either legislative body just running on "Trump is awful."
To ALL my fur babies, past, preset and future
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/556976246_122261452394021789_9061108795273785272_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s640x640_tt6&_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=NrwpL-wt19AQ7kNvwEu7ekI&_nc_oc=AdnIbzvNZZ12cumr4KCFUp1Ir-eP3OpLaClrFFe3vngQJOfZNXBSBuoaslwPfYUNZbw&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&_nc_gid=kvQX-4oF441bL6vIBnCyGw&oh=00_AfeDupT0_yQ3-d_gytOvJSFcV3Tfa1JbWDJGRzsWZ2iziw&oe=68EB149B
Not just yeah, but HELL, YEAH! Our four fuzz-buzzers are my bestest buddies, and I love 'em all!
And now you made me cry. Thank you.
dammit barry, I had to give my 4 away when I got sick. Their owners say that they're happy, but I have never done anything more horrible. I will not forgive me.
Don't elect fundamentalists.
I don't know how many times Americans need to learn that lesson. But anyone who is a fundamentalist is always going to prioritize their particular flavor of religion above serving the people.
The primary system combined with gerrymandering makes it hard not to. To create a district with >55% "guaranteed" votes for one party, that means including the most loyalist voters. Which in turn means that during a primary in which only that one party is voting (OK GOP holds closed primaries), those loyalists dictate who will win and go through to the general. Then you have the grassroots participation issue - I.e. the more fundie groups are really good at getting their members to show up for state and local votes.
State superintendent vote doesn't have the gerrymandering problem, but its still going to be the case that if the GOP primary is decided mostly by GOP voters, and the fundie groups are really good at turnout, then that gives the right wing of the party much higher representation than the rest of us would like.
So let's drill down on "don't elect" a couple more steps:
-> Moderate GOPers, do not wait for November to complain about the candidate offerings. Show up for your party's primary, whenever that is. Select the non-fundie.
-> Then show up for the general. Be willing to vote across party lines if you lost the primary.
-> Democrats, do something similar. Don't wait until November to get involved; vote in your primary, and in that contest vote with an eye towards someone who can win over Oklahoma's population. The candidate that reaches the general should be someone moderate enough to be able to gather cross-party GOP voters, in case the GOP candidate is a dominionist.
We need to play the long game. Always and forever.
Just wanted to add: There will always be a fundie on the primary. It makes no difference if we're talking about the Repubs or the Dems, there will be a fundie. These folks honestly think that they know how to do it right and truly deserve to be elected, so they will always be there. Mal's right about the long game on this one, and it's past time to learn to plan accordingly.