The Mason Missile: December 2023

Greetings, Americans! We are in the midst of the holiday season, and I notice that old Christmas tradition isn’t happening so much—Fundamentalist Christian Rightists howling about how they can’t say “Merry Christmas” anymore. Actually you can, but they feel oppressed by the fact that there are other religions in this country, and other holidays this season, like Hanukah (my jam!) and Kwanza, the secular African-American celebration. Here is a link to learn about Kwanzaa and its principals: (https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initiatives/kwanzaa) The Republican march to nowhere goes on. Kevin McCarthy, who sold what was left of his soul to Donald whatshisface and the MAGAs in their caucus, is finally out. He went through fifteen votes and made concession after concession to the “Freedom Caucus”, thus weakening his authority as Speaker, and he still got ejected from the Speaker’s Chair. (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/03/us/politics/kevin-mccarthy-house-speaker.html) (https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/matt-gaetz-kevin-mccarthy-house-speakership-10-03-23/index.html) McCarthy, after the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden after the January 6 riot, announced how the attempt to destroy the democratic process by trump’s disciples was trump’s responsibility; then later, McCarthy went to Mar-A-Lago to kiss trump’s ring (and other things), thus proclaiming trump as the leader of the party. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/politics/donald-trump-kevin-mccarthy-meeting/index.html) It’s a pattern: Ted Cruz called trump a “sniveling coward” after trump slandered Cruz’s wife and father in 2016, then later endorsed him and afterwards hailed him (https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/politics/donald-trump-kevin-mccarthy-meeting/index.html); Lindsey Graham called him “a race-baiting xenophobic religious bigot” who “doesn’t represent my party” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bkDykGhM8c), then became one of trump’s golf buddies. They must have seen the voters for trump, how jazzed up they were for him, and how he kept winning primaries and the nomination; do they this these trump-loving maniacs think THESE are the real American people, how Americans are like—racist, ignorant, violent, gun-loving? As interim Speaker was Patrick McHenry of Louisiana, from North Carolina. (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/17/patrick-mchenry-tries-to-calm-svb-crisis-00087456) One of McHenry’s first acts was to evict former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) from their House offices—for what? Because they led the opposition? (https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203566052/pelosi-office-patrick-mchenry-speaker) Now we have Mike Johnson, from Louisiana, as Speaker. Johnson is a product of the evangelical political movement that attached itself to trump. He spoke about the software Covenant Eyes, which he shares with his son to monitor each other, to see if they’re watching porn; he learned about this software from attending a meeting of the Promise Keepers, a ministry for men that teaches them to rule over women. (https://www.alternet.org/Frontpage-videos/mike-johnson-2666165894/) He has also called the concept of the separation of called the separation of Church and State “a misnomer”, insisting that the writers of the Constitution really did want religion to influence governmental acts. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-mike-johnson-says-separation-church-state-misnomer-rcna125181) Plus, a video found by a German news agency had Johnson with his daughter at a “purity ball,” a phenomenon of the early 2000s, which has the father attending a ball which looks like a wedding, but it’s to symbolize the supervision of the father over the daughter, who vows to maintain sexual “purity,” and the father is in effect her “boyfriend,” and he keeps her from any sexual “promiscuity,” vetting any men who would marry her. (https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2014/03/daughters-pledge-to-preserve-their-virginity-at-purity-balls) (https://abcnews.go.com/US/speaker-mike-johnson-daughter-profiled-attending-purity-ball/story?id=105785626) Along the way, Johnson has been a passionate enemy of LGBTQ+ rights, equating them to “pedophilia,” and fighting against same-sex marriage and calling for the criminalization of gay sex. (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/new-house-speaker-mike-johnson-spent-years-fighting/story?id=104312903) This is the person, once a back-benching extremist, who is second in line to be President, and we have to work hard in 2024 to make sure he gets back there, and the way to do that is for us to vote in massive numbers; that’s what the Republicans fear, and that’s why the voter restriction laws going through Republican controlled state legislatures. However, I’m having some schadenfreude over the latest Republican-evangelical scandal. Bridget Ziegler is a member of the Sarasota County School Board and one of the co-founders of “Moms For Liberty,” an Astroturf group that raids school-boards to demand the removal of books dealing intelligently with LGBTQ+ issues and African-American history, and has terrorized transgender kids about bathrooms and lockers, and harassed drag shows. (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty); Christian Ziegler was the Chairman of the Florida Republican Party, and they were both close to trump and Governor Ron DeSantis, so they were a serious power couple. Christian has been accused of raping a woman who—hang on—has had a three-way sexual relationship with BOTH of the Zieglers. Since then, another video has surfaced showing Bridget having sex with—another woman! These are people prominent in the movement to police and dictate other people’s consensual lifestyle choices. For me, another person’s private life is their business, and I’m not monogamous myself, but the hypocrisy from these two is appalling. (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/christian-ziegler-bridget-ziegler-rape-accusation-scandal) (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/02/rape-accusation-florida-republican-party-chair-ziegler-00129753) (https://www.advocate.com/news/bridget-ziegler-sex-woman) (https://flcga.org/police-have-recovered-second-ziegler-sex-video-sources-say/) That, Americans, is what we’re up against. It’s not about being moral, it’s about control on other people, from a formerly dominant group who project their desire to rule over them over the formerly subservient group, and, alas, the Republican Party is their vehicle to run the rest of us over. SO, upon this New Year, let’s resolve to educate ourselves, communicate with each other, and VOTE when voting time comes. We can do it, as we have in the past. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! Am Yisrael Chai! America will be free! Happy New Year!