Archive for the ‘Libertarian’ Category

FedSoc Students Totally Cool On Trans Visibility Day Just Kidding, They Were Vile Trolls – Above the Law

Yesterday was the International Transgender Day of Visibility, an occasion to raise awareness of discrimination against transgender people across the globe. On the heels of Floridas Dont Say Gay bill which, contrary to its public relations strategy isnt about sex ed, but about barring kindergartners from same-sex parents acknowledging their families right-wing spaces have upped the animosity toward the LGBTQ community. And it has a lot to do with how little pushback conservatives received leaning hard into anti-trans hate for the past several years. In this environment, Trans Visibility Day weighed heavily on a lot of minds.

So how did FedSoc students celebrate:

Of course.

Thats a representative of Yale Law Schools FedSoc chapter. We wont identify the student specifically not so much out of protecting him from the consequences of youth, but because we have every reason to assume thats the sort of attention he actually craves when he does this sort of stuff.

For the record, theres nothing necessarily anti-trans about that sweatshirt. Its a DJ Khaled thing and, in that context, they are all the haters that told you that you wouldnt amount to anything. Grammatically it probably should be a slash through them, but whatever. Regardless of which word ends up on there, unfortunately for DJ Khaled, his inspiring self-confidence message is easily co-opted into an anti-trans symbol.

So congratulations, you played yourself.

Because you dont get to wear this shirt on Trans Visibility Day and feign ignorance. Thats obviously a popular strategy for specific Yale FedSoc students.

This was a choice. Yale Law students arent generally stupid and are well aware of what theyre doing. He took a symbol that, whatever it once meant, is openly marketed as anti-trans and decided to wear it on a day celebrating trans people because its the trollish thing to do.

That is his free speech right too. Unlike the prior trap house incident where a recognized student group violated policies against student groups engaging in discriminatory rhetoric, this is just a member of that group being an asshole. Its hateful and juvenile and unprofessional and far more unbecoming of a future lawyer than any protest, but he gets to do it as long as its not some sanctioned student group act.

And unfortunately this probably works out to his benefit. Arguably the biggest miss of my career in legal industry commentary came in 2018 when I speculated that the age of the conservative legal movement rewarding petulant trolls was over. While one might expect the very serious right-wing movement to bypass childish trolls in favor of straight-edge preppies who dream of running hedge funds, in reality, the most established figures on the right seek out the most egregiously vile college and law school students. They want folks out there owning the libs for their own churlish entertainment. Thats who theyll carefully transform over coming decades into federal judges (or legislators as the case may be). As I put it in the past, By the time the Senate confirmation hearing rolls around, they want George Will on the streets and Rush Limbaugh in the sheets.

But its not over. The path to success among the GOP establishment still runs through being the most in-your-face provocateur out there. Anyone can act like a libertarian, upper-class, tax cut banker, but when push comes to shove, how do you know its not just another David Souter? The movement got burned once, its not going to do it again. Its what Ripley said about nuking the site in Aliens.

Crowning the most offensive and insensitive scumbag is the only way to be sure.

Joe Patriceis a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free toemail any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him onTwitterif youre interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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FedSoc Students Totally Cool On Trans Visibility Day Just Kidding, They Were Vile Trolls - Above the Law

Our political consensus is built on lies and fear – The Guardian

George Monbiots claim that our system of organised lying has created an entire class of politicians, officials, media commentators, cultural leaders, academics and intellectuals who nod along with capitalist orthodoxy is largely true (Putin exploits the lie machine but didnt invent it. British history is also full of untruths, 30 March).

Im a metro mayor. Weve run a citizens assembly on climate change and are implementing its recommendations. Weve invested in clean energy and our Green New Deal is operational. We promote our Good Work Pledge, directly tackle child poverty, and are investing in the social and cooperative economy. Our policy objective is to create a zero-carbon, zero-poverty North of Tyne. I call for wealth taxes, and without urgent and crisis-level action, we will destroy our planets capacity to support us.

I know other leaders in local government who also put their (limited) money where their mouths are, and at least some MPs openly say that we need to replace blind profit-centred economics with an economy focused on social and environmental good.

The reason Im in such a minority, and that almost everyone in public life subscribes to the same set of preposterous beliefs is in part down to intimidation. The first question I was asked by a TV journalist after being selected was are you a Marxist? (If anything, Im a libertarian socialist, but try explaining that in 10 seconds!) Britains news organisations, even those not owned by a handful of billionaires, are obsessed with political pantomime. Terrified of being labelled radical, politicians self-censor their views on alternative economics or the lethality of the environmental crisis. McCarthyism is alive and well in Britain. Jamie DriscollMetro mayor, North of Tyne

I applaud George Monbiots ability to call out widespread delusions about limitless economic growth and the appropriateness of the enormous power wielded by those with great wealth. But I take issue with his use of the term lying.

The view of empire as a force for good was not built on lies. It was built on self-delusion. To tackle the assumptions about the necessity of growth and inequality which Monbiot rightly targets, we need a far better understanding of the process of self-delusion that has driven consensus about what is true in both the past and the present. Dr Hugh FirthNewcastle upon Tyne

George Monbiot rightly highlights the increasing havoc wrought by fake news in recent times on all our lives. Since the very idea of fake news would be unintelligible unless one also had some understanding of what is meant by truth and objectivity, surely the time has come to make the philosophic analysis of these issues a central focus of the school curriculum. I can think of no better way to inoculate the next generation against this virus of uncritical thinking.Oliver McAdooPulborough, West Sussex

To George Monbiots list of accepted truths should be added the following common beliefs: war works (despite its highly uncertain outcomes, and its untold millions of casualties); stockpiling nuclear weapons capable of destroying the planet is the best way to ensure our defence against potential aggressors; the military (whose role after all is to kill when ordered to do so) is a noble profession; and employing many of our ablest scientific brains and spending billions annually on researching ever more effective ways of killing people is an honourable and sane use of national resources.Mike GarnierBristol

On reading George Monbiots article, I thought: what if, in this platinum jubilee year, the Queen were to announce that she will dispose of her vast wealth land, real estate, art collections, the spoils of empire accumulated over centuries and make full reparation to all the countries impoverished by that baleful project? Now that would be a legacy to be proud of. Cathy Wood Lichfield, Staffordshire

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Our political consensus is built on lies and fear - The Guardian

In Chicago, the pope’s allies gathered to discuss his vision and his detractors – Religion News Service

(RNS) You could argue last weeks gathering of Catholic cardinals, bishops, scholars and journalists in Chicago wasnt all that unusual. After all, gatherings of influential U.S. Catholics are common, particularly among the churchs conservative wing.

But as news rolled in about the assembly of prominent faithful over the past week, peculiarities emerged. For instance: The event wasnt announced ahead of time, and participants were bound by the Chatham House Rule, which bars them from revealing many specifics of what took place.

Even more notable was how the events title Pope Francis, Vatican II, and the Way Forward echoed its guest list: Participants included a veritable whos who of clerics and thinkers who have championed Pope Francis vision for the church, often holding the line for the bishop of Rome against conservative Catholics who have challenged the pontiff throughout his papacy.

The result was a gathering that, while perhaps not a direct counter to conservative and right-wing brands of U.S. Catholicism, nonetheless constituted a rare formal confab of Francis closest American allies and included robust discussion of his loudest detractors.

Michael Sean Winters. Video screen grab

National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters, an organizer of the event, insisted it was not designed to rival conservative gatherings such as the Napa Institute, which NCR once described as a mix of conservative theology and libertarian economics. The Chicago gathering, he noted, was sponsored by several Catholic institutions: Boston Colleges Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Fordham Universitys Center on Religion and Culture and Loyola University Chicagos Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.

Winters said organizers reached out to a broad array of potential participants, although not all attended.

Andrew Greeley famously said, The opposite of Catholic is not Protestant. The opposite of Catholic is sectarian, Winters said, quoting a prominent Catholic priest and sociologist. One of our guiding principles in terms of topics, in terms of invitations, was that if it turned into a liberal answer to the Napa Institute, we will have failed.

Even so, the conference singled out voices who, though popular among some conservative Catholics, have come to represent opposition to Francis in the U.S. Winters argued there is no value in having a dialogue with Michael Voris, for instance, referring to the head of Church Militant, a conservative Catholic media outlet long condemned by critics for incendiary rhetoric they decry as, among other things, racist and homophobic.

People named names, Winters said.

To wit, Heidi Schlumpf, NCRs executive editor, sat on a panel titled The Money, Media, and Networks that Opposed Pope Francis. She told Religion News Service her presentation examined the state of Catholic journalism and drew from her 2019 series investigating conservative Catholic media empire Eternal Word Television Network, unearthing ties to a broader conservative Catholic funding apparatus. She said there was also discussion of Church Militant and LifeSiteNews, which she referred to as so-called media outlets, as well as The Pillar, a controversial publication she described as more of a blog operating on the newsletter subscription service Substack.

Heidi Schlumpf. Photo by Alicia Motz Wiechert, via National Catholic Reporter

Schlumpf said discussion highlighted funding streams for the various groups as well as whether or not they follow accepted journalistic practices involving anonymous sources and bylines on stories.

Schlumpf noted Francis himself voiced what was widely seen as criticism of EWTN in September 2021, referring to a big Catholic television station that continually speaks poorly about the pope as the work of the devil.

I do think it was important in that group, which included a couple dozen bishops, to say the names of some of those media outlets out loud and be able to talk about how they differ journalistically from more reputable Catholic media including my own publication that follow accepted journalistic principles, Schlumpf said.

While such discussions are common in many lay Catholic gatherings, the presence of high-profile prelates was unusual. The conference was hosted within the Archdiocese of Chicago, which is overseen by Cardinal Blase Cupich, one of Francis closest U.S. confidants. Cardinals Sean OMalley of Boston, Joseph Tobin of Newark and Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, were also in attendance, according to NCR, as were multiple archbishops such as Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis and Roberto Gonzlez Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Also present were representatives of the Holy See itself, including Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vaticans ambassador to the U.S.

Asked about the impetus for the conference, Matthew Sitman, an outgoing associate editor at the liberal-leaning Catholic publication Commonweal Magazine and a moderator for one of the panels at the event, pointed to growing opposition to Francis over the past few years. The pandemic, he said, exacerbated the trend, with some conservative U.S. clerics and Catholic voices decrying vaccines or pandemic restrictions despite Francis repeatedly voicing robust support for the shots.

I think that sort of brought the opposition to Francis to a fevered pitch that must have played some role in the urgency behind this conference, Sitman said, referring to general discordance between Francis message and the rhetoric of some U.S. Catholics.

Winters agreed, noting that some participants mentioned EWTN commentator Raymond Arroyo, who has become a staple on Fox News. In January, Arroyo participated in a segment on Laura Ingrahams show in which the two mocked people who contracted COVID-19 despite being boosted, including a Vatican official.

Winters said the vaccine debate was Exhibit A of another discussion topic at the gathering: the influence of the broader culture wars on the Catholic Church.

It was important, Winters said, to examine how the culture war mentality of certain bishops, certain theologians and certain kinds of professional Catholics distorted our own theological tradition to join the kind of libertarian, dont-tell-me-what-I-can-do opposition to the vaccine.

Matthew Sitman. Photo courtesy of Commonweal

But the conference wasnt just trying to point fingers at enemies or opponents of Francis, stressed Sitman who co-hosts a popular liberal podcast titled Know Your Enemy, which features interviews with prominent politically conservative voices. Instead, he said speakers and keynoters highlighted broader trends, such as how U.S. Catholics have embraced or in many cases refused to embrace church reforms instituted during the Second Vatican Council that took place during the 1960s.

He said attendees also brought up the influence of neoliberalism, an ideology that centers support for free-market capitalism, and how it created an individualized ethic that Sitman argued was in conflict with a proper Catholic understanding of the common good.

How does the distorting influence of neoliberalism which is something Francis has rightly taken aim at in his encyclicals distort the way we relate to each other and view politics and society? Sitman said.

Schlumpf said there was also ample conversation about the ongoing Synod on Synodality, a Vatican-led effort that has struggled to gain traction in the U.S. but which she said has been better received in Central America.

One of the keynotes was about the Central American Bishops Conference and how much theyve done on synodality already, and how far ahead they are of us in North America on the process of synodality, she said.

It seems like the conference, in some ways, was an experience of synodality in that people were getting together hierarchy, lay professionals having conversations and talking about their hopes and dreams for the church.

The conference, Winters argued, was ultimately less about the central figures opposing Francis so much as the theological ideas that have been percolating around for a while that help us understand the opposition to the pope a little bit more particularly those that are endemic in American culture.

What happens next is unclear. All participants who spoke to RNS expressed optimism that future events would occur, if only to keep the dialogue going.

Its kind of an indictment of the leadership of the U.S. church for the past however many years that gathering of theologians and bishops is considered remarkable, Winters said.

In the meantime, Sitman suggested assembling Francis supporters is already a powerful tool for pushing the popes vision forward.

The opposition to (Francis) has been extraordinary in the United States, he said. The pushback to that has been piecemeal, occasional, not well organized and not very well funded.

This gathering was important because the Catholics in the United States, both lay and among the bishops, who want to try to implement Francis vision getting those people together just to talk was, I think, a signal event in the Francis papacy in the United States.

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In Chicago, the pope's allies gathered to discuss his vision and his detractors - Religion News Service

Thumbs: We have Ron Paul to thank for music icon Selena? – Houston Chronicle

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Student activists place fliers in banned books at a park across the street from Seven Lakes High School in Katy on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. The group will distribute books to other students in Katy ISD.

Members of the Memorial Park Conservancy attend the inauguration ceremony of the eastbound Memorial Drive Land Bridge, Monday, March 28, 2022, in Houston.

Artist Roland Saldana (@soder_texas) pained the Selena mural outsideThe Arena vintage clothing store at 4802 Washington.

Ron Paul couldnt deliver the presidency for the Libertarian Party but the doctor appears to have earned a spot in history after revelations that he delivered a beloved American musical icon in a Lake Jackson hospital. The Chronicles Joey Guerra reported this week, citing overlooked comments in a recent interview of Abraham Quintanilla, that his daughter, Selena, was delivered in 1971 by the former presidential hopeful and former Texas congressman. The father claims Paul didnt just bring the late Latina star into the world, he saved her from another doctors bad diagnosis. Quintanilla says his wife had been told she had a tumor and needed an operation to remove it, but when they consulted Paul for a second opinion, Quintanilla said Paul told him, that tumor that the other doctor wanted to remove has two arms and two legs. Shes pregnant. Imagine. Without Paul, there may have been no Selena, even for the short time that the Queen of Tejano Music graced this earth. To that prospect, we say ah-ah-ay, cmo nos duele!

The bird wasnt born in Texas but it visits as often as it can. An African flamingo known affectionately as Pink Floyd and officially as No. 492 for the tag on his leg, was spotted recently near Port Lavaca after 17 years on the lam following his triumphant 2005 jail break from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas. Looks like Pink Floyd has returned from the dark side of the moon! Texas Parks and Wildlife wrote this week in a Facebook post complete with a video of the lanky, blushing bird sunning amid glistening waters. Sadly, his (or her?) pink partner in crime in the great escape from Kansas was never seen again. Were not sure how No. 492 has eked out a living all alone in the wild. We guess he just winged it. Spotted annually in Texas since 2018, with pit stops in Louisiana and Wisconsin, Texas wildlife officials say the flamingo is the only bird of its kind on the Texas Gulf Coast. Oh, the stories No. 492 could tell. His journey, the New York Times declared, would fit snugly into a Pixar movie script. Unfortunately, the best we can do is this humble Thumbs mention. Thumbs up to a flamboyant fowl out seeing the world, living his best life. Were confident this isnt the last leg of his journey. Texas wildlife officials say they have no plans of clipping the wild wanderers wings.

Kids these days. You cant seem to keep them away from books. Or at least, Katy ISD cant seem to. School districts like Katy ISD gained national interest for efforts to ban or restrict access to books like Maus, a nonfiction graphic novel-style text about the Holocaust published decades ago that is currently under review in KISD. In response, students across the state organized to resist with book clubs and distributions. At a Katy ISD school board meeting Monday, several students spoke against district efforts that encourage parents to flag books like Toni Morrisons Beloved for review and removal. I encourage you to read these books, Seven Lakes High School student Cameron Samuels told the board. Samuels has been making the case for five months now along with students like Cinco Ranch High School senior Peniel Otto. Were unimpressed with a school district playing book police. Thumbs up to the students you know, the people the school board claims to be protecting for standing up for themselves and their peers.

Big news for the big tunnels on Memorial Drive. After starting construction in 2020, the first 25-foot high tube covered in grass is now open. Part of a blockbuster project, the tunnels are part of a land bridge that pedestrians will eventually be able to use and cross, connecting the two sides of Memorial Park. Its historic. Its transformational, Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters the day before the eastbound lane opened to traffic Monday. Across Houston, theres a need for projects that stitch together green spaces and walkable infrastructure. And we like the planned addition of acres of prairie landscape atop the land bridge. But its hard not to see the big investment as yet another accommodation to cars, which are now free to speed through the eastbound tunnel. Theyll have to wait until May to try out the westbound tunnel.

Speaking of accommodating cars, the estimated costs of the Interstate 45 rebuild jumped $750 million, according to the latest numbers. The project has been years in the making despite ongoing community complaints. While the highway overhaul has support from suburban drivers and officials, people in neighborhoods that would actually be affected by the plans, as well as environmental advocates, have continued to object to the now increasingly pricey project. For now, the federal government is still reviewing those objections. What primarily is a highway for, we asked back in 2021 when the city and county both raised their frustrations with the plans. Is it to move people through an area as quickly as possible? Or is it designed to help make life better for the residents through whose neighborhoods and cities it passes? The jury is still out, it seems. Meanwhile, the meter is running as a flawed project gets even more expensive.

The kind of dedication that leads a sports columnists to literally eat the ink-spiced strips of an entire Chronicle sports page just because he said he would if his Texans prediction proved wrong deserves more than a mention in Thumbs. It deserves admiration, gratitude and maybe even a whole day named just for him. And thats exactly what Hall of Fame sportswriter John McClain got when he announced his retirement this week in his 47th year on the job. Mayor Sylvester Turner announced plans to proclaim April 5 John McClain Day in the city of Houston. Amid the well wishes and fond memories from coaches, players, Chronicle readers and especially colleagues who recalled not just a journalist of integrity but a man of kindness and generosity who made time to sign autographs and mentor new colleagues, one Twitter follower summed up McClain simply: Legend, the post read. Exactly.

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Thumbs: We have Ron Paul to thank for music icon Selena? - Houston Chronicle

Letter: We are all defined by our actions – Chico Enterprise-Record

Two things every Liberal, Conservative, Progressive, Libertarian, Anarchist, Et al. have in common is our humanity and overlapping needs and beliefs

A Libertarian believes in equality for all. Im all in for this!

An Anarchist believes that governmental hierarchy is flawed. Im all in for this!

A Liberal believes in equality before the law. Im all in for this!

A Conservative believes in individual freedom. Im all in for this!

A Progressive believes in evidence-based governing. Im all in for this!

Et al. believes in the personal pursuit of happiness. Im super all in for this!

We are not defined by our political affiliation, nor are we defined by our thoughts and beliefs. We are defined by our actions.

A wise Oroville houseless grandad I met in 2012 reinforced a core belief of mine thusly, Just act like a human being and you can safely go anywhere.

I believe this to be true, and we need to hold this truth as self evident; for we are all human. Flawed, factious and fantastic.

Bill Mash, Chico

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Letter: We are all defined by our actions - Chico Enterprise-Record