The Lower Depths: Oh, Yeah, He Loves the Troops

"Contemptible" fits here, I think. From Politico:

More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states test residents for the coronavirus and trace the spread of infections will face a “hard stop” on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits, according to a senior FEMA official.

The official outlined the Trump administration’s plans on an interagency call on May 12, an audio version of which was obtained by POLITICO. The official also acknowledged during the call that the June 24 deadline means that thousands of members who first deployed in late March will find themselves with only 89 days of duty credit, one short of the 90-day threshold for qualifying for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill.

One. Day. Short.

The looming loss of crucial frontline workers, along with questions about whether the administration is shortchanging first responders, would require a delicate messaging strategy, the official — representing FEMA’s New England region — told dozens of colleagues on the interagency call.

“We would greatly benefit from unified messaging regarding the conclusion of their services prior to hitting the 90-day mark and the retirement benefit implications associated with it,” the official said.

Because it's all about the messaging, which the Republicans have shown themselves to be very good at. It helps that they don't give a shit about these service members -- who have earned the benefits they're being denied,

Scum.

Read the whole article -- the maneuvering of the Trump regime on this is pretty appalling.

Today's Must-Read: Our Last Real President

You may have seen this already, but President Obama spoke to the Class of 2020 last night:

Hi, everybody. Aniyah, thank you for that beautiful introduction. I could not be prouder of everything you’ve done in your time with the Obama Foundation.

And of course, I couldn’t be prouder of all of you in the graduating Class of 2020 — as well as the teachers, and the coaches, and most of all, parents and family who guided have you along the way.

Now graduating is a big achievement under any circumstances. Some of you have had to overcome serious obstacles along the way, whether it was an illness, or a parent losing a job, or living in a neighborhood where people too often count you out. Along with the usual challenges of growing up, all of you have had to deal with the added pressures of social media, reports of school shootings, and the specter of climate change. And then, just as you’re about to celebrate having made it through, just as you’ve been looking forward to proms and senior nights, graduation ceremonies — and, let’s face it, a whole bunch of parties — the world is turned upside down by a global pandemic. And as much as I’m sure you love your parents, I’ll bet that being stuck at home with them and playing board games or watching Tiger King on TV is not exactly how you envisioned the last few months of your senior year.

Now I’ll be honest with you — the disappointments of missing a live graduation — those will pass pretty quick. I don’t remember much from my own high school graduation. I know that not having to sit there and listen to a commencement speaker isn’t all that bad — mine usually go on way too long. Also, not that many people look great in those caps, especially if you have big ears like me. And you’ll have plenty of time to catch up with your friends once the immediate public health crisis is over.

But what remains true is that your graduation marks your passage into adulthood — the time when you begin to take charge of your own life. It’s when you get to decide what’s important to you: the kind of career you want to pursue. Who you want to build a family with. The values you want to live by. And given the current state of the world, that may be kind of scary.

If you’d planned on going away for college, getting dropped off at campus in the fall — that’s no longer a given. If you were planning to work while going to school, finding that first job is going to be tougher. Even families that are relatively well-off are dealing with massive uncertainty. Those who were struggling before — they’re hanging on by a thread.

All of which means that you’re going to have to grow up faster than some generations. This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems — from massive economic inequality to ongoing racial disparities to a lack of basic health care for people who need it. It’s woken a lot of young people up to the fact that the old ways of doing things just don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.

It’s also pulled the curtain back on another hard truth, something that we all have to eventually accept once our childhood comes to an end. All those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? Turns out that they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it going to be up to you.

That realization may be kind of intimidating. But I hope it’s also inspiring. With all the challenges this country faces right now, nobody can tell you “no, you’re too young to understand” or “this is how it’s always been done.” Because with so much uncertainty, with everything suddenly up for grabs, this is your generation’s world to shape.

Since I’m one of the old guys, I won’t tell you what to do with this power that rests in your hands. But I’ll leave you with three quick pieces of advice.

First, don’t be afraid. America’s gone through tough times before — slavery, civil war, famine, disease, the Great Depression and 9/11. And each time we came out stronger, usually because a new generation, young people like you, learned from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.

Second, do what you think is right. Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up.

I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others. You won’t get it right every time, you’ll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that’s inside yourself, even when it’s hard, even when its inconvenient, people will notice. They’ll gravitate towards you. And you’ll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

And finally, build a community. No one does big things by themselves. Right now, when people are scared, it’s easy to be cynical and say let me just look out for myself, or my family, or people who look or think or pray like me. But if we’re going to get through these difficult times; if we’re going to create a world where everybody has the opportunity to find a job, and afford college; if we’re going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we’re going to have to do it together. So be alive to one another’s struggles. Stand up for one another’s rights. Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us — sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed — and set the world on a different path.

When you need help, Michelle and I have made it the mission of our Foundation to give young people like you the skills and support to lead in your own communities, and to connect you with other young leaders around the country and around the globe.

But the truth is that you don’t need us to tell you what to do.

Because in so many ways, you’ve already started to lead.

Congratulations, Class of 2020. Keep making us proud.

Via Bark Bark Woof Woof. Video at the link.

Antidote

After running into stories like this this morning, it was a nice break to see this:

Via Towleroad, which also has a nice Instagram post from Kenworty, which unfortunately I can't copy to here. Do read it -- it's a reminder that there are good people in the world. (It's the news roundup -- just scroll down.)

Today in Christian Love

You may or may not have been following the Chick-fil-A story, but here's a short summary: Earlier this month, Chick-fil-A, which had gained more than a little notoriety for donating heavily to anti-gay groups, announced a change in its charitable giving priorities:

Starting in 2020, the Chick-fil-A Foundation is introducing a more focused giving approach to provide additional clarity and impact with the causes it supports. Staying true to its mission of nourishing the potential in every child, the Chick-fil-A Foundation will deepen its giving to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger.

(Emphasis in original.)

The outrage in "Christian" circles is way up on the Richter scale, with such luminaries as Tony Perkins, the group that Joe Jervis calls the "red-caped Catholic loons" (for the life of me, I can't remember the organization's real name), Charlie Kirk (whoever he is), and Bryan Fischer calling for a boycott. It seems that not only was the company to cease giving to bigoted groups such as the Salvation Army (remember when during the Bush administration, the SA tried to get an exemption from non-discrimination laws?), but actually donated to the "god-hating" SPLC (one of the oldest and most respected civil rights organizations, which has the temerity to call out hate groups -- so designated as a result of their own words and actions). (Interestingly enough, all the stories I can find on that donation are at right-wing sources; I'm not going to link to any of them, because they have very little contact with reality -- the only thing they seem to have reported accurately is the fact of the donation and the amount -- a very modest $2500.)

And we all know how effective boycotts by the "Christian" right have been.

Anyway, according to Snopes, that's not exactly the case.

What's True

The Chick-fil-A Foundation's November 2019 announcement of a new charitable-donations strategy meant the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, both high-profile groups that have been criticized in the past as anti-LGBT, would no longer receive funding in 2020.

What's False

However, the new donations strategy also meant several dozen other groups — with no anti-LGBT record — would not receive funding in 2020 either, and so the strategy does not appear to have been targeted specifically at the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Further, Chick-fil-A has repeatedly declined to specify that the cut to the controversial groups' funding was linked to their LGBT-rights records, and a company spokesperson would not rule out the possibility that the groups could receive funding again in the future.

So once again, there's a lot of manufactured outrage over something that didn't actually happen. I guess someone's not been getting enough attention lately.

And do notice how these "Christians" are reacting to a donation policy focusing on education, homelessness, and hunger. True followers of Jesus, right?

Antidote: It's Official

This is a great story:

It all started when Laura Snyder, the unnamed boy’s teacher at Altamonte Elementary School in Altamonte Springs, Florida, posted the story about the Tennessee-obsessed student.

“This particular child came to me and told me that he wanted to wear a University of Tennessee shirt, but he didn’t have one. We discussed that he could wear an orange shirt to show his spirit. He told me every day leading up to it that he had an orange shirt that he was going to wear”, Snyder said in her post.

When the day finally came the boy showed up to school wearing his orange shirt with a piece of paper attached to it with his homemade design of the University of Tennessee logo drawn on.

But when the boy went to lunch, things apparently took a turn for the worse.

But when the University of Tennessee heard about it, it got better:

The University of Tennessee decided that they would take the boy’s design and make it an official school shirt with a portion of the proceeds being donated to STOMP Out Bullying, a national non-profit organization that is dedicated to eradicating bullying of all forms.

The shirt design became so popular that the University of Tennessee’s online store crashed yesterday.

Here's the news report:

Read the whole article -- and grab a hankie.

Via Joe.My.God.

Today's Must-Read: "Christian Nation"

If this doesn't send a chill up your spine. . . .

Recently, a congressional staffer going about his business on the Hill encountered a couple of people who handed him a pamphlet with the scintillating title "Sexual Sin and the Aphrodisiac of Power." Sadly, this was not a post-#MeToo effort to discourage sexual harassment in the halls of Congress. Instead, the document implored "legislators, staff and lobbyists" to adopt a strict fundamentalist view of sexuality, which holds that there is no legitimate expression of sex — including masturbation — outside "the confines and commitment of a husband and a wife (a male and a female) in the bonds of matrimony."

Most urban dwellers, in Washington or elsewhere, have had these chance encounters with religious proselytizers trying to lure in the lost, lonely and emotionally vulnerable. But this was no random encounter with some true believer or doorbell-ringer. These folks were working for Capitol Ministries, a powerful right-wing group that is laser-focused on founder Ralph Drollinger's goal of recruiting public leaders and leaning on them to impose the group's far-right views on a public that overwhelmingly rejects them.


Furthermore, the group has been quite successful so far. As the pamphlet indicated, sponsors of the Capitol Ministries Bible Studies includes seven members of President Trump's Cabinet, the head of NASA, and Vice President Mike Pence. According to Peter Montgomery of People for the American Way, who has been monitoring Capitol Ministries for years now, the group has weekly Bible studies for House members and senators, as well as one for Cabinet officials.

"[Drollinger] uses this really rare and privileged access he has by doing things like a Bible study with members of the Cabinet to tell these powerful public officials that the Bible mandates right-wing economic, social and environmental policies," Montgomery told Salon.

This is what the "religious" right has been working toward for decades -- since Ronald Reagan, in his infinite wisdom, thought he could control the Moral Majority. And as an example as to how far these fanatics have corrupted the teachings of Christ, get this:

As Montgomery has carefully chronicled at Right Wing Watch, a blog for People for the American Way, this relationship between Drolllinger's teachings, right-wing ideology and Trump officials is visible in a number of policy choices. Drollinger is fiercely anti-immigration, claiming that God deliberately separated people at the Tower of Babel and, by implication, that they should stay that way. He opposes environmentalism as a "false religion." And, of course, he opposes same-sex marriage; and teaches that despite all the language in the Bible about caring for the poor and the vulnerable, programs that do so are illegitimate.

So if you were wondering about the origins of those rule changes that target the poor, immigrants, women, and sexual minorities -- minorities of all kinds, actually -- it's not just Trump's petty cruelty. It's the petty cruelty of the religious right.

Read the whole thing -- it focuses mostly on these "Christians'" attempts to control everyone else's sex lives (because, after all, they're obsessed with sex), but there's enough in there to indicate just how wide-ranging their agenda is.

Via Joe.My.God.

Oops!

That's not what they were supposed to say:

"Fox & Friends” on Monday had a panel of independent voters to discuss the caravan of Central American immigrants heading through Mexico toward the United States — but it backfired hilariously after the guests expressed empathy for migrants.

Even though the show had spent the entire morning running scare-mongering segments about the caravan, the independent voters on the show said they were nonetheless supportive of helping the migrants.

“There’s a humanitarian crisis taking place in Central America,” said one independent voter interviewed by Fox News’ Steve Doocy. “And yet, this issue gets turned into a complete political football. There’s very little about what’s actually happening.”

A second guest quickly piped up to agree, while subtly knocking Fox for its efforts to frighten viewers about the migrants.

“Treating this as an ‘invasion’ is a bad idea and it’s going to end horribly,” he said. “People have to realize, yeah, these are human beings coming here, and there needs to be a real solution offered in dealing with it.”

American are better than what Trump wants us to believe. It occurs to me that the erosion of our standing in the world is not simply that our president is a joke. It wasn't based on money or military power (for those nations not led by people like Trump), but much more on our willingness to help. We took the lead in the fight against AIDS in Africa and Asia, we've always been there with relief for natural disasters, both at home and abroad, and -- well, remember the Peace Corps?

And, as it turns out, most Americans still believe in that. Which makes me wonder all the more how we put a bunch of sociopaths like Trump and the Republicans in charge.

Today's Must-Read: The VA on the Ropes

For some reason I'm particularly sensitive to the plight of the Veterans Administration. Maybe it's because of the number of homeless veterans I see on the streets of Chicago. Best estimate is that there are just shy of 40,000 homeless veterans (as of January, 2016, there were 39,471 homeless veterans in the U.S., down significantly from 2010; last year, that number went up slightly.)

The fact that there are any homeless veterans in this country -- or homeless people at all -- really, really pisses me off.

At any rate, here's an interesting article at RawStory about what the VA is having to deal with. The author, however, makes what I think is one mistaken assumption:

The VA has long been in crisis. Nevertheless, it has pioneered evidence-based medicine and, overall, gets better outcomes at lower costs than many private health care providers.

As someone who has studied government budgets and the organization of government agencies, I believe Admiral Jackson, like his predecessor, will have to address three major problems if the VA is to be effective in meeting the needs of the millions of veterans who depend on it for their care.

This assumes that anyone in this regime (I can't really call it an "administration"), or any Republican in Congress, wants the VA to be effective. The goal here is privatization, because that always works so well -- for the owners of the companies that are getting the contracts. Actually providing the services mandated is not a consideration.

(I may have mentioned that I firmly believe there are some things that should not be subject to the profit motive -- schools, roads and bridges, prisons: add the medical care for veterans to that list.

At any rate, read it. There's some good information there.

Today's Must-Read: What America Is

It occurred to me while surfing through the news this morning that Trump's whole message, from the beginning of his candidacy and continuing through today, has been completely negative: his appeal is to the worst of us.

Tom Sullivan has a post at Hullabaloo that helps to put it all into perspective.

The #Resistance locks progressives into a confining frame. An energizing one, perhaps, but restrictive nonetheless. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018 behind us and the first anniversary Women's March ahead, and with the next volley from a president dishing red meat for his base coming as surely as the sun rises, perhaps it is time to clarify who we are rather than simply protest what we stand against.

Ed Kilgore offers an anecdote from Rev. William Barber II's book, The Third Reconstruction:

Not long ago I was a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, with one of America’s most prominent atheists. Wearing my clerical collar, I realized that I stood out among his guests. So I decided to announce to Bill that I, too, am an atheist. He seemed taken aback, so I explained that if we were talking about the God who hates poor people, immigrants, and gay folks, I don’t believe in that God either. Sometimes it helps to clarify our language.

One could say the same about what makes America great. If American greatness means slamming the golden door to fellow human beings, to refugees from places the sitting president considers "shitholes," then I am not an American either.

He goes on from there. I found this particularly tellling, a quote from our last real president:

We are called to better things. The last president, a man not born to wealth or the privilege of whiteness, had a clearer sense of who we are. Nancy LeTourneau excerpts Barack Obama's speech at the Edmund Pettis Bridge:

For we were born of change. We broke the old aristocracies, declaring ourselves entitled not by bloodline, but endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. We secure our rights and responsibilities through a system of self-government, of and by and for the people. That’s why we argue and fight with so much passion and conviction, because we know our efforts matter. We know America is what we make of it.

To finish off, out of order from Sullivan's post, another quote from Rev. William Barber:

Trump is a symptom of a deeper moral malady. And if he was gone tomorrow or impeached tomorrow, the senators and the House of Representatives and Ryan and McConnell and Graham and all them would still be there. And what we have found, Amy, when we look at them, no matter how crazy they call him or names they call him or anger they get with him, it’s all a front, because at the end of the day, they might disagree with his antics, but they support his agenda.

Trump really is a symptom of the moral rot that has infected American conservatism since the days of Ronald Reagan, if not before. And it's not just the Republicans in Congress -- it's the billionaires who own them, who think that their own greed is the guiding force of this country, or should be; it's the "Christian" right whose lust for power has left far behind any claim that they may have once had to being real Christians; it's the small, confused people who live in fear that someone not just like them will take something away from them. I'm sure you have your own candidates for this list. And right now, they're in control.

As always, read the whole thing. It's truly inspiring.

Food Is a Privilege

So we've been told by one of the dimmer bulbs in the Senate. That is, of course, one of the bases of the Republican philosophy, and once again, they're getting ready to put it into action:

The budget resolution passed by the House on Thursday will push millions of already struggling people off food stamps, leaving the neediest Americans—children and the elderly among them—without food.

The $4.1-trillion budget will take over $150 billion away from several poverty programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income people keep food on the table, by giving them small amounts of supplemental money to spend on groceries—anywhere from $100 a month to $700 a month for a family of five, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

If you can't take their health care away, just starve them to death. I wonder whether any of them know that the majority of people on welfare are poor whites -- and whether that would make a difference: to Republicans, it seems that the poor are an ethnic group.

This is one of the ways Republicans figure to pay for the tax cuts for billionaires.

Another WTF? Moment

Courtesy of Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin:

In a rare town hall type of meeting, a student asked Johnson if he thought healthcare was a right. His reply was jaw-dropping in its cruelty, ignorance and hypocrisy:

Wisconsin's junior senator did not hesitate: "I think it's probably more of a privilege."

He continued:

"Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Past that point, we have the right to freedom. Past that point is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us to afford those things."

Johnson then referred to comments made by Sen. Rand Paul more than six years ago when Paul compared the "right to health care" to slavery.

He said the task of public officials is to create an environment that grows the economy so that more people can enjoy the "privilege" of food, shelter and health care.

Spoken like a true "I've got mine, screw you" Republican.

There's a sort of sick humor in watching Republicans fall back on the "grow the economy" mantra, since they have proven repeatedly over the last thirty-five years that they have no idea how to go about it. (Hint: tax cuts for the rich don't do it -- they just tuck the money away in offshore accounts. And austerity doesn't do it -- taking money out of a consumer-driven economy is beyond stupid.)

And as to whether food, clothing, and shelter are rights -- isn't that what "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are all about?

Here he is in action:

Today in Disgusting People

I'm not sure which is worse, the sheriff or the spokesbot:

As Hurricane Irma churns towards Florida, the Polk County Sheriff’s Department sent out a series of tweets Wednesday telling those with outstanding warrants that they will be sent to jail if they turn up at a storm shelter. The tweets used cheeky language—“we’ll gladly escort you”—as a guise for a policy that will likely risk lives. Floridians who stand to be jailed may simply choose not to seek shelter in the midst of a Category 5 storm. If that happens, Carrie Horstman, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s office said, the fault won’t lie with authorities. “I don’t know at this point what this storm will do,” she told The Daily Beast. “We are trying to give people a heads up as many days in advance as possible to prepare of this storm.” In an interview, Horstman further explained that it was policy to check IDs at the shelter doors to prevent sex offenders from getting to close to children. “While we are checking, if we see someone with an active warrant we have to place them under arrest,” she added. She didn’t seem persuaded by the criticism that this would discourage people from showing up in the first place. “That is a risk a person would run,” Horstman said. “I think it is much safer to be in our jail than to expose yourself to a Category 5 storm. You are using the phrase, ‘people who are scared to go to jail.’ If you have a warrant, legally you should be in jail. You should turn yourself in and be safe in our jail rather than risk your life waiting out a storm.”

What is it with sheriffs in this country? Penis envy?

Via Digby.

Antidote: It's What I Keep Saying

We take care of each other:

A tiny baby elephant got trapped in a water trough, and lions were closing in — when the most amazing thing happened 🐘💞 pic.twitter.com/URK2wfUAlp

— The Dodo (@dodo) July 31, 2017

At least, we're supposed to.

Stray, but somewhat related thought: Judaism, the parent religion to Christianity (and Islam, as it happens), was a tribal religion: exclusive, xenophobic to the point of being out and out racist, strongly patriarchal and authoritarian. Along comes Jesus*, who preaches inclusivity, love, compassion, charity, generosity -- all attributes that one might find in early Judaism, but in that case limited to the members of the tribe. Jesus expanded the definition of "us."

And modern evangelical "Christians" have gone back to the worst aspects of early Judaism, while the Jews have gone the way of early Christianity.

It's an idea that requires more thought/development, but I think it has the seeds of truth.

* Oh, and about the perennial debate over whether Jesus actually existed: it doesn't matter. The myth is there.

Pushback

Apparently I'm not the only one who was infuriated by Trump's "policy statement" via tweet about transgender servicemembers. There've been more negative reactions in addition to the ones I reported the other day.

First, Americans at large (via Joe.My.God.):

A majority of Americans believe that transgender individuals should be allowed to serve in the military, according to an exclusive Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday.

The July 26-28 poll suggested that the country largely disagrees with President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that he will ban transgender personnel from the armed forces.

When asked to weigh in on the debate, 58 percent of adults agreed with the statement, “Transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military.” Twenty-seven percent said they should not while the rest answered “don’t know.”

From a group of Senators. From WaPo via Joe.My.God.:

A bloc of 45 U.S. senators is asking the Pentagon not to discharge any transgender service members until the Defense Department completes an ongoing review of whether they should be able to continue serving in uniform. The letter holds no legal sway over the Pentagon and lawmakers cannot stop President Trump from carrying out his stated intention to ban transgender people from serving in uniform, but the letter puts almost half of the U.S. Senate on record as opposing the surprise announcement.

And a group of state attorneys general, who want Congress to cut Trump off at the knees (not that that will ever happen):

The top legal officers in 18 states and the District of Columbia have asked Congress to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender service members.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin sent the letter dated Thursday in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement, via Twitter a day earlier, that he would ban transgender people in the military.

The letter asks the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees to reaffirm in legislation that transgender people may not be banned from serving in the military. It urges lawmakers to include transgender protections in the National Defense Authorization Act. Eighteen other attorneys general, who like Chin are all Democrats, also signed the document.

(Sidebar: Yes, Lisa Madigan, Illinois' AG, signed. And both of Illinois' senators signed the letter from Kirsten Gillibrand noted above. Just so you know.)

And it looks like Trump may have made some positions in his administration harder to fill:

A former executive director of the Delaware Republican party has notified the Dept. of Homeland Security that he is withdrawing his name from consideration for a senior position in direct response to President Trump's announced ban on military service members who are transgender. John Fluharty had been interviewing to be DHS's assistant secretary of partnership and engagement.

“As I mentioned in our conversation, I am a strong advocate for diversity, both in the Republican Party and in government,” Fluharty wrote in an email to DHS, as Politico reports. “The President’s announcement this morning — that he will ban all of those who identify as transgender from military service — runs counter to my deeply held beliefs, and it would be impossible for me to commit to serving the Administration knowing that I would be working against those values.”

And just a note, in case I haven't mentioned it before: you don't get support from your generals if you don't keep them in the loop:

Top military leaders, including Joint Chiefs chair, didn't know ban on transgender service members was coming https://t.co/50bZm3lFBD pic.twitter.com/JgsgftKG0G

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 27, 2017

Late Thursday morning Reuters broke a story quoting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who said in a memo that there will be no changes to U.S. policy on transgender service members until he receives explicit direction from the Commander-in-Chief.

Also late Thursday morning, USA TODAY reported Vice Admiral Robert Burke, the Chief of Naval Personnel, sent an email stating transgender service members can continue on as usual, at least for now.

USA TODAY obtained the email and reports the "Navy will not immediately discharge transgender sailors and will continue to provide them with medical treatment despite the tweets fired off by President Trump on Wednesday."

Way to go, Donnie.

Footnote: Interesting article in Air Force Times about some of the serving transgender personnel. Worth reading.

Today's Must-Read: The Evangelical Clown Show

I'm not talking about the evangelical "Christians" themselves, but what they seem to be willing to put up with from The Hairpiece. From Jennifer Rubin (yes, that Jennifer Rubin):

No group has been as blindly loyal to President Trump as Christian conservatives. They have not let religion or values get in the way of their support. Consider the “Access Hollywood” tape, the attack on a Gold Star family, a mass of inexplicable ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials (and the president’s open invitation to Russia to continue hacking), the firing of the FBI director, the humiliation of evangelical-favorite Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the politicization of the Boy Scouts, the threats to the special counsel and now an interview with Trump’s out-of-control, potty-mouthed communications director. What about Trump, exactly, reflects their values? (Taking Medicaid away from millions and separating families to deport law-abiding immigrants?) The Trump administration is a clown show — but it’s the evangelicals who supplied the tent, the red noses and the floppy shoes. Each day presents a new insult to the office of the presidency and a repudiation of civilized behavior.

She goes on from there. And the comments are scathing. Read it.

Antidote 2

Just remember: we're better than the gang in Washington wants us to believe:

The New York Daily News reports that 32-year-old Aaron Tucker was on a bus headed toward a job interview in Stanford, Connecticut, when he saw a car that had flipped over and had smoke pouring out of it just ahead of the bus.

Tucker, who had recently completed a 22-month sentence related to a weapons charge, asked the bus driver if he would wait for him if he got out of the bus to help people in the wreck — but the bus driver declined.

Tucker got out of the bus anyway and found the car’s driver strapped into his seat and hanging upside down in the car. After removing the driver from the car, Tucker noticed that the man was bleeding from his head — and so he took off his shirt and used it to slow down the bleeding.

Tucker kept the man alive and conscious before an ambulance could arrive to take him to a nearby hospital, and the Daily News says many in the man’s community are crediting Tucker with saving his life.

But it's not just him:

Even though Tucker lost his opportunity to interview for a job as a bus boy, he has since received job offers for jobs in construction and in a rubber factory.

What’s more, the community of Westboro, Connecticut has created a GoFundMe page on Tucker’s behalf that is looking to raise $25,000 for him to thank him for saving the driver’s life.

Like I said, we're better than Washington (and that includes the press) wants us to believe.

Antidote

When life hands you a bag of lemons, make lemonade -- for those who don't have any:

An Indiana bride-to-be, who cancelled her wedding reception at a pricey hotel, is not going to let all of the food and cake go to waste. Instead, she is inviting local homeless families for dinner after failing to get her deposit back.

According to the Indy Star, Purdue student Sarah Cummins, 25, and her fiance. Logan Araujo, had a wedding planned at the Ritz Charles in Carmel, Indiana with a budget of $30,000 to cover the whole thing. After canceling the wedding — for unspecified reasons — Cummins was unable to get her deposit back.

“It was really devastating to me. I called everyone, canceled, apologized, cried, called vendors, cried some more, and then I started feeling really sick about just throwing away all the food I ordered for the reception,” Cummins explained, saying she has worked an event planner at Ritz to rework the evening.

According to Cummins, she has arranged for buses to picks up homeless families at local shelter for the dinner this weekend, where the attendees will dine on bourbon-glazed meatballs, goat cheese and roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breast with artichokes and Chardonnay cream. And, wedding cake, of course.

The Resistance: One Chicago

I've been seeing these posters on bus shelters around town, from One Chicago. Strangely enough, I can't find images of them online -- this must be a very new part of the campaign, which was launched in late May. Hah! Found one, which is one I haven't seen yet:

The ones I've seen read "100% Mexican, 100% Chicagoan" and "100% Somalian, 100% Chicagoan." Considering the ethnic makeup of my neighborhood, which is about as mixed as it gets, that's not so strange.

At any rate, Chicago is not about to put up with Trump's inflammatory immigration rhetoric or his policies. From WLS:

The city's "One Chicago" campaign kicked off Sunday at the DuSable Museum of African American History as part of Chicago's sanctuary city role.

There is a PSA and a website which explains "One Chicago" was established in response to the emerging needs of Chicago's immigrant and refugee communities most affected by recent federal policies. The slogan of the campaign is, "Three million residents, three million stories, one Chicago."

U.S. immigration arrests are up nearly 40 percent from January to April under President Donald Trump compared to the same time last year, according to the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director.

President Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to so-called "sanctuary cities," but so far, a federal judge has blocked that executive order. And now cities, like Chicago, are sending a direct message to their residents, you are home here.

Take that, you racist asshole.

OF All Places

This is not something I would have expected:

Lithuania’s Parliament marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia this week.

Marked on May 17 around the world, IDAHOT raises awareness of persecution and hate crimes faced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals and transgender people around the world. . . .

The day is heavily marked in countries that are already progressive on LGBT rights, but it is also making inroads in places where there is still a way to go on LGBT equality.

Lithuania has lagged behind on equality, with no legal recognition for same-sex couples, no gender recognition for transgender people, a ban on same-sex adoption, and generally negative social attitudes.

However, progress is slowly being made, and the day was marked this week with celebrations in the country’s Parliament in Vilnius.

My father's family is Lithuanian; my grandparents came to the US before World War I, which marks us, I guess, as the first wave. I went to university with a group of kids whose families came over after World War II -- most of them were born in Germany. They tended to be very conservative, mostly because they hated Russia and everything Russian, but I suspect they reflected attitudes prevalent in the old country -- as the article notes, Lithuania has not been on the forefront of the struggle for gay rights.

But, times change, and so do attitudes. They even lit up Vilnius city hall with rainbow colors.

A more substantial mark of a change in attitude is this:

But two asylum seekers from Chechnya have been granted asylum in Lithuania, reports the Russian Interfax news agency.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius has confirmed that the two men have been granted asylum there after fleeing persecution in Russia.
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He said that the Lithuanian Government had “issued visas to two people from Chechnya who were persecuted because of their sexual orientation”.

“We have consistently raised these issues both within the EU and in the parliamentary structures of the Council of Europe – regarding the possibility of helping and, if necessary, granting asylum,” he added.

The US, under our neo-fascist regime, has so far refused to grant visas to gays fleeing persecution in Chechnya.

Idiots in Charge

Remember Ben Carson? Who is now secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and displays all the acumen he showed while running for president. NYT, via Joe.My.God.:

Ben Carson does not like the creature comforts, at least not for low-income Americans reliant on the government for a helping hand. As he toured facilities for the poor in Ohio last week, Mr. Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-housing secretary, joked that a relatively well-appointed apartment complex for veterans lacked “only pool tables.” He inquired at one stop whether animals were allowed.

At yet another, he nodded, plainly happy, as officials explained how they had stacked dozens of bunk beds inside a homeless shelter and purposefully did not provide televisions. Compassion, Mr. Carson explained in an interview, means not giving people “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’”

Like the rest of the Trump regime, Carson has an adversarial relationship with reality. As one commenter pointed out, if someone on public assistance manages to get a job, it's likely going to be minimum wage, and even at full time, it won't be enough to make ends meet -- plus they lose things like Medicaid and their housing and a few other things, like food stamps.

But simple solutions seem to appeal to simple minds.

There's also one other aspect of this that seems to be common among contemporary Republicans. Commenter fuzzybits nailed it:

A devotee of the Paul Ryan school of compassion.