GOP leaders are unified in their continued support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh as President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. They denounce Democrats of trying to derail the Senate confirmation process for partisan political purposes.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) accused Democrats of throwing “all the mud they could manufacture” at Kavanaugh.
The shameful, shameful smear campaign has it a new low,” continued McConnell. “Senate Democrats and their allies are trying to destroy a man’s personal and professional life on the basis of decades-old allegations that are unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.
This is the very same Mitch McConnell who refuses to ask for an FBI investigation into the allegations. This is the very same Mitch McConnell who refused to initiate confirmation hearing on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland for over ten months.
President Trump referred to Kavanaugh a “wonderful human being,” and accused Democrats of not only playing a “con game,” but also argued that “they don’t believe it themselves, they know he’s a high-quality person.”
Trump is trying to undermine the credibility of the second person, Deborah Ramirez, who came forward with charges of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
“I can tell you that false accusations are made against all sorts of people … it would be a horrible insult to our country if this doesn’t happen … it cannot be allowed to happen,” Trump claimed.
Vice President Mike Pence called Kavanaugh “a man of integrity,” and continued:
[Kavanaugh has] impeccable credentials and a proven judicial philosophy [and has established a] strong record of support for limited government, religious liberty and our Second Amendment. He is a conservative who will interpret the Constitution as written, and his record and [his] career deserves the respect of every member of the United States Senate.
White House Advisor, Kellyanne Conway claimed that Kavanaugh was the target of a “smear campaign” and what “is starting to feel like a vast left-wing conspiracy.”
I know there is pent up demand for women to get their day, woman who have been sexually harassed and sexually assaulted, and I personally am very aggrieved for all of them,” she added. “But are we going to put decades of pent up demand for women to feel whole on one man’s shoulders? What exactly is the standards for ruining one man’s life based on decades of allegations that have nothing to do with him?
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said of charges against Kavanaugh by former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez:
We know what this is about,” Hatch said. “We always have these phony allegations late in the process.
Reporters asked Hatch why he referred to Ramirez’s charges are phony?
“Because I know they are, that’s why,” he replied.
Hatch described allegations against Kavanaugh by Ramirez, as “thinly sourced,” and accused Democrats of engaging in a “smear campaign” against Kavanaugh.
“No innuendo has been too low, no insinuation too dirty. Everything is an excuse for delay, no matter how unsubstantiated,” Hatch said.
When asked if he thought Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations were “phony” as well, Hatch asserted: “I think she’s probably sincere,” he said. “At least I hope she is. I think she’s sincerely wrong.”
“Senate Democrats are demeaning both the Senate and the Supreme Court through their partisan games and transparent attempts at character assassination,” Hatch concluded.
Though GOP leaders reject charges of sexual abuse and harassment by Kavanaugh, even in the light of credible allegations, these same “leaders” and their co-conspirators voice deep concerns about false theories and contrived accusations of predatory behaviors of transgender women and girls in women’s bathrooms, and transmale and transfemale military personnel.
A crucial point in the psychology of stereotyping and scapegoating is the representation of minoritized groups as sub-human life forms, as predators, as criminals, as those who are determined to harass, molest, and rape members of the dominant group, and in particular its women and girls, though also its men and boys.
A law, HB2, passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory went further than a narrow elimination of Charlotte’s civil rights ordinance, which had generated the most controversy by a change that protected transgender people who use public restrooms based on their gender identity. A compromise bill was approved in 2017 repealing HB2. It retains, however, some restrictions in anti-discrimination ordinances of cities and counties.
Florida, one of the states known for its infamous so-called “stand your ground” law (“justifiable use of force” law), proposed standing its patriarchal ground once again, this time in its “SSingle-SexFacilities” law. If passed by the state legislature, CS/HB 583 would impose criminal penalties on persons who knowingly enter restrooms of a sex not designated on their birth certificates.
Sponsors of this clearly discriminatory bill designed it specifically to ban trans people from using restrooms that most closely align with their gender identities. Legislators saw the writing on the bathroom walls signaling the establishment of gender-inclusive restroom facilities throughout the nation, which have existed in several nations around the world for decades.
Other states in addition to Florida are considering similar laws. In Texas, for example, a proposed bill, HR 2801, includes a provision that would offer students $2,000 for reporting and claiming “mental anguish” for having to share restroom facilities with students of another sex.
If cismen want to harass or abuse ciswomen, cismen can and will go into women’s rooms whether transwomen use women’s rooms. The “cisman predatory justification” to ban transwomen from using women’s rooms is political cover to promote discrimination against and deny the civil and human rights of transwomen.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has declared war on the transgender community.
In a memo sent from his Department of “Justice” to US attorneys, department heads, and federal agencies, Trump’s Attorney General, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, reversed an Obama-era policy that protected trans employees from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Session made clear that his department would no longer interpret gender protections in Title VII to include gender identity and expression.
Since Trump’s inauguration, he abolished an Obama-era executive order permitting transgender students to use school facilities most closely aligning with their gender identities, and the White House website has removed reference to LGBT issues and policies from the previous administration.
When the Trump administration promoted its 2017 “American Heroes Week,” the alleged Commander-in-Chief let it be known in a torrential three-tweet series that he does not include trans people in the category of “American Heroes,” especially those currently and previously serving in the U.S. military.
After consideration with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow…… …Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming….. ….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.
Trump’s official policy-by-tweet contradicts Department of Defense regulations released June 30, 2016, under Defense Secretary Ash Carter permitting trans people to join and openly serve their country. At that time, the United States added its name to an ever-increasing list of 20 other nations welcoming trans people into their military ranks, with the Netherlands as the first as far back as 1973. A sampling of others includes Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, and Spain.
A Rand Study fully debunks the Lier-in-Chief’s assertion of some sort of burdensome “tremendous medical costs” expended on trans service members. Of the Pentagon’s annual military health care budget of $6.28 billion, an estimated relatively minuscule $2.4 – 8.4 million accounts for transition-related health care costs.
In addition, Rand found that merely 25 – 130 active-component trans military personnel have deployment restrictions due to transition-related medical treatments. In comparison, 50,000 active-duty soldiers in one single branch, the Army, cannot deploy for medical and other reasons.
Trump’s latest assault on the trans community comes in the form of a yet another likely rollback of protections initiated by his immediate predecessor.
The Obama administration issued a policy directive manual enumerating the rights and responsibilities of transgender people in prison related to several areas including housing, strip searches, and medical care. The directive advised respect and protection of transgender inmates and, on a case-by-case basis, the possibility of residence in prisons matching their gender identities.
Trump’s expected dismantling of protections will have wide-ranging negative effects.
The National Center for Transgender Equality found that 16% of transgender adults (including 21% of transwomen) have been incarcerated in prison or jail at some point in their lives. Nearly half (47%) of black transgender women have been incarcerated.
These high rates are associated with disproportionate poverty, homelessness, societal and workplace discrimination, involvement in street economies, and sometimes, bias from law enforcement. They are also at higher risk for harassment, abuse, and violence in juvenile detention facilities, jails, and prisons.
“Corrections” officials routinely deny transgender people transition-related medical care, and they often suffer prolonged sentences of isolation.
It should be crystal clear that Trump’s motive in declaring war on an entire category of people has nothing to do with concerns over improving military readiness, or ending discrimination in schools and in the workplace, or improving prison conditions. It has nothing to do with health care costs. It has nothing to do with some alleged and unspecific “disruption,” and it certainly has nothing to do with “religious freedom.”
Trump’s actions are intended to harden his appeal of the base feelings with his base of support by targeting scapegoats for his failed policies and increasingly failed presidency.
Trump’s not-so-surprising assaults on trans people has the heavy thump print of Vice President Pence who, in his first congressional campaign in 2000, argued for public funding of so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ people. On his website at the time, his disdain for same-sex attractions and sexuality stands out:
Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.
Pence opposes marriage equality and LGBTQ non-discrimination protections, and as Indiana Governor, helped to pass the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration law allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The state was forced to amend the law after experiencing serious political and financial push back.
The Republican Good-Ol’-Boys Club has closed ranks around a accused sexual abuser while denying an FBI investigation and attacking the credibility of the women making the charges. In addition, many of these same Good-Ol’-Boys supported the Senate candidacy of an accused child molester in the state of Alabama.
The GOP is standing behind Kavanaugh because it expects him to become the deciding vote on the Court to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. Trump also expects Kavanaugh to fight for the idea that sitting Presidents cannot be charged in criminal proceedings.
On the other hand, the GOP has made a concerted effort to defame, marginalize, and deny trans people their civil and human rights while representing them as sexual predators.
But hypocracy and lies have never stood in the way of the Grand Old Republican Party.
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I’m a republican. And, I am concerned about the redefinition of public restrooms away from their traditional role of serving an anatomical, biological need, and toward a new function of affirming personality traits in individuals. I believe that restrooms should be segregated by anatomical sex – if one has a penis that is capable of penetrative intercourse, that person should not be able to share an intimate, semi private space with female persons. Not because I think transgender people are predators – I ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE that trans people are significantly more honest, more respectful of others, and thus FAR LESS… Read more »