#The Salt Lake Tribune

[cynicalclassicist]

It sounds like a horrible parody of American politics! But not really, because this is what we have come to expect!

When the effective president is doing a Nazi salute and the official president just hangs out with Nazis...

Nazi flags can fly in Utah schools, but not pride flags, GOP lawmaker says

A new bill would allow for Nazi and Confederate flags to be displayed in some instances in Utah schools and government buildings, but pride flags would be banned.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune

* * * *

Trump’s Thanksgiving rant was not normal.

As most of the nation was blissfully preparing for Thanksgiving, Donald Trump posted a Thanksgiving “greeting” at 2:00 AM on Thursday that is a sign of a disordered mind filled with hate and rage. We shouldn’t dwell on what Trump says, but this post is important, as explained below. I have removed a racial slur and omitted some rambling passages, but here is the gist:

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL, including the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, who has let Murder & Violent Crime FLOURISH, & Businesses FLEE; the Radical Left Trump Hating Judge, a “Psycho,” Arthur Engoron, [and] Crooked Joe Biden, who has WEAPONIZED his Department of Injustice against his Political Opponent, & allowed our Country to go to HELL; & all of the other Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists, Democrats, & RINOS, who are seriously looking to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY.

          Trump was not content to allow our nation to have a moment of peace. Instead, he tried to stir up feelings of resentment and hatred against imaginary enemies on Thanksgiving. Heather Cox Richardson highlighted another dictator who employed similar tactics in her book, Democracy Awakening.

          Reader Jay M. sent me the following passage from HCR’s book with a prefatory note. Jay M. explains that HCR cites a report written after World War II for the OSS (precursor of today’s CIA) that was finally declassified in 1999. Professor Richardson writes:

The U.S. Office of Strategic Services had picked up on Hitler’s manipulation of his followers when it described Hitler’s psychological profile. It said, “His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.”

          The similarity between the OSS assessment of Hitler’s psychological warfare tactic of keeping his followers in a constant state of anger and Trump’s rage-filled Thanksgiving “greeting” is stunning.

          Trump’s Thanksgiving greeting deserved front-page treatment. His post is a sign of mental illness and fascist intent—a dangerous combination. But most media outlets did not bother to report on Trump’s post. Instead, on Thanksgiving Day, Frank Bruni penned a very respectful, very supportive op-ed to the Biden family suggesting that they stage a loving intervention with Joe at the Thanksgiving table:

Does he have a plan for the pace of the next 11-plus months? When he’s brutally honest in his self-assessment, does he feel the same vim that he did in the past? If he doesn’t, there’s no shame in that — in fact, there’s honor in the acceptance of it.

          A very soft touch, but the message is unmistakable: Biden is too old to run. Would that Bruni devote his talent to describing the danger bristling in Trump’s Thanksgiving greeting. Or at least give it equal time. Maybe Bruni will get around to it after the Thanksgiving weekend. We can only hope.

Concluding Thoughts.

Ugh. That was a rough newsletter, especially as a re-entry into the news after a long Thanksgiving weekend (for some). I wish it were otherwise, but there were tough topics that needed to be addressed.

          I am going to take this opportunity to make a direct plea to journalists, producers, and editors in the news media who read this newsletter. I know you are out there because I hear from you when you feel that I unfairly bash the news media. I occasionally receive mistaken “reply-to-all” or forwarded emails to your colleagues that inadvertently include me. (Don’t worry; I delete them immediately.) (Hint: Do a Google search for “How to remove a name from autofill in an email address field.”)

          Let me start with an olive branch. There are exceptional journalists doing great work every day. I cite them every day. They can’t please everyone all the time. They deserve our support and thanks—and forbearance for the occasional mistake. So here it is: Thank you to every journalist who is doing a tough job well in a news environment that is the equivalent of a war zone of disinformation.

          Ignore my whining and carping; dismiss me as a crank if you want. But please ask yourselves whether the news reporting and editorial stances at your outlet are rising to this perilous moment in American history. Everyone—including you—knows in their bones that Trump is a unique threat to democracy. He is consciously emulating the worst dictators of the last century. His aides are leaking their plans to undermine democracy. That existential threat must be in every story you write. If you must, report on polls or horse races or political infighting but do so while acknowledging that one candidate seeks to destroy democracy while the other candidate seeks to operate within its confines.

          I believe that Americans will prevail against the threat of MAGA extremism with or without the support of a free press rising to the challenge of this moment. But it would be easier—and victory would be more assured—if major media outlets did not treat Trump as just another candidate after his failed coup and incitement to insurrection.

          Imagine if Hitler had survived WWII and then ran for re-election as Chancellor of Germany from a prison cell. Would any story be written that merely reported on polls discussing the level of voter support for Hitler versus his opponent? Or would every story include discussion of his fascist takeover of Germany, his war on Europe, and his attempt to exterminate the Jewish people? Why does Trump get a free pass in hundreds of articles a day that treat him as the legitimate political opponent of Joe Biden? How can any story be written that asks, “Is Biden too old,” without asking the more urgent question, “Will Trump end democracy in America.”

          I have slipped back into offense when I meant to invite you to reflect on the balance and editorial position of your news organization. Tens of millions of Americans are hoping that you will get it right. You don’t have to defend Democrats or Joe Biden. But defending the Constitution and democracy is not partisan. The future of our democracy is partly in your hands. It should be a part of every story you write.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[aunti-christ-ine]

[ninsiana0]

Beautiful.

(Photo by Salt Lake Tribune photographer Francisco Kjolseth)

[petsincollections]

Pigeons

Salt Lake Tribune Negative Collection

Department of Cultural and Community Engagement

[alliluyevas]

good morning

[memecucker]

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the parent, who remains unidentified for privacy reasons, submitted their challenge on Dec. 11 along with an eight-page list of passages from the Bible that they found to be offensive and worth reviewing.

“Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent wrote in their request. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”

[politicalprof]

From the Salt Lake Tribune, 2017:

“I am a 67-year-old American white woman. My parents enlisted in World War II to fight fascism. They both served; my mother was a nurse, my father navigated bombers. They lost friends in that bloody war so that all the world could be free of fascism. They did not fight so that some white people could claim supremacy or that Nazis could openly walk the streets of America.

White person to white supremacist person: What is wrong with you?

People of European heritage are doing just fine in the world. They run most of the world’s institutions, hold much of the world’s wealth, replicate as frequently as other humans. You’re not in any danger here. The world is changing, that’s true. Others want a piece of the pie. They work for it, strive for it and earn it. Technology (robotics) is having a greater effect on your job prospects than immigrants. Going forward, tackling corporate control and climate change will need all of our attention, ideas and energy. Put down your Tiki torches and trite flags and get involved in some real work.

By the way, the world won the war against Nazi fascism in the 1940s, just as America won the war against the Confederacy in the 1860s. Aligning with two lost causes just labels you as profound losers.

And finally, white person to white person: Like my parents before me, I will not stand idly by nor give up my rights or the rights of other Americans because you think you are better than some of us. It doesn’t work that way. All Americans stand shoulder to shoulder against your hatred and bigotry.”

Jonna Ramey

Salt Lake City

[nerdygaymormon]

A podcast episode was recently released of Sheri Dew interviewing Elder Holland, and part of the episode involved him reacting to his "musket fire" address at BYU from 3 years ago. I responded to his remarks in this post.

I was contacted by a reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune who sent me the following: In a recent interview with Sheri Dew, Elder Holland reflected on the "musket" speech and the response he received from it. I am curious: Are they enough? Are they helpful? And what fallout did you witness/experience at the time and in the wake of the address?

I sent a 3 paragraph response, from which they chose 1 sentence. I knew they wouldn't run my whole response, but I thought I'd share on my blog what I sent.

—————————————————

One thing I hope people understand is that most minorities grow up within a culture that helps give them a sense of solidarity, a group of people that they can go back to, usually their family. There’s a sense that I’m learning to navigate being this particular minority within a larger culture. LGBTQ+ individuals are generally without this support. We have a minority experience that’s different because we generally experience this individually. It's an individual process to try to understand ourselves and our place in society. There is stress involved in recognizing yourself as an identity that separates you as an individual minority within your family and within your religion and your university. This makes queer people, especially those who are younger, vulnerable. It's important for queer individuals to know others like themselves, to find a community where they have a sense of belonging and don't have to hide, to feel hope that the future is gonna be better. We need love, support, guidance, acceptance and affirmations. It's difficult to stop hiding and come out and be authentic about our feelings and our experiences if the messages we get are that you are not wanted, you don't belong.  

Just before Elder Holland spoke to BYU faculty and staff 3 years ago, the president of BYU in Provo announced the creation of the Office of Belonging which aimed to root out prejudice of any kind on campus, and then Elder Holland gave his message that he wanted to stop all the ways queer students have made their presence known—no flag waving or protests or sharing some heartfelt words at graduation, no lighting the Y in Pride colors. That was crushing as it feels like just existing is considered problematic, that we are to remain unseen and unknown.

I know several queer individuals who've met with Elder Holland and they have shared that he is caring, he listened to them and cried with them. He is aware of the hurt and pain they experience in this church. His remarks on the podcast reflect the compassion he showed to my friends. I am glad that he acknowledges his address from 3 years ago at BYU caused a lot of pain to LGBTQ students and members. That was important. I wish that the compassion he feels for the pain of queer students and members would be turned into a desire to want a better place for us at BYU and in the Church. 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Walter Einenkel at Daily Kos:

Utah is doing its best to join President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the GOP’s national anti-diversity culture war. A new bill banning pride flags from schools, government buildings, or any government property while still allowing Nazi and Confederate flags to be used in classrooms, passed through the Utah House Education Committee. The HB77 bill bans pride flags but it does have a list of exemptions that include, “a historic version of a flag … that is temporarily displayed for educational purposes.” According to the Salt Lake Tribune, bill sponsor Rep. Trevor Lee explained to the committee what those exemptions would include. Lee later claimed he never mentioned a Nazi flag during the committee meeting. “There is a difference between displaying flags in curriculum when you’re teaching on them,” Lee said, and added that schools should not “censor history.”  The bill, which started out as simply a bigoted school bill, has been expanded to include all government buildings in the state. Lee and proponents argue that the bill keeps people’s “ideologies” out of the classroom. Opponents point out that the LGBTQ+ communities in Utah are people, and the only political symbol that a pride flag extols is that LGBTQ+ people deserve basic human and civil rights—which while “political” to bigots, is a constitutionally protected right (for now). 

What a grossly bigoted thing this Utah bill does (HB77): permit Nazi and Confederate flags but ixnay to the LGBTQ+ pride flag.

[crossdreamers]

Pride Flags Out and Nazi Flags In In Utah

The debate over the display of Pride flags in Utah schools has escalated, as lawmakers push forward a bill that would prohibit the flags not only in schools but across all government buildings and property.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the legislation, originally targeting only public schools, was broadened in scope Thursday by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, before being favorably recommended by the House Education Committee.

House Bill 77 (HB0077) now stipulates that only select flags—including the U.S. and Utah state flags, military flags, flags of other nations, Native American tribal flags, and official college or university flags—may be displayed on government property.

Additionally, the bill allows for the temporary display of “historic versions of flags” for educational purposes, a category that Lee explicitly stated would include the Confederate and Nazi flags when relevant to curriculum.

So the Confederacy and Nazi Germany are part of the curriculum, which they should be. Using their flags is another matter entirely, though. But why would not LGBTQ history be part of what students learn about?

During the committee hearing, Lee framed the legislation as a measure to reduce political division in schools. “Our schools should be a place for children to learn, to not feel like they are being pushed or seen as agendas in one way or another as it pertains to political beliefs,” he said. Lee originally introduced the bill on the social media platform X, stating his goal was to ban pride flags.

It is typical that right wing extremists believe that compassion and inclusion are dividing, while racism and transphobia are uniting. Make no mistake about it: They want to unite American on their terms, no dissent allowed.

LGBTQ+ advocates and students voiced strong opposition, warning that such legislation could further marginalize queer youth. Millie Dworkin, a high school senior, denounced the bill as unconstitutional and harmful. “Queer people commit suicide at a higher rate than everybody else… If you pass this, you will have queer blood on your hands,” she said.

Indeed.

The Tribune reports that the bill will now advance to the full House for consideration.

Jack Molay

Photo: Bethany Baker and The Salt Lake Tribune. Protesters gather in front of the Utah Capitol on Jan. 25, 2024.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

* * * * *

Republicans push wave of bills that would bring homicide charges for abortion

Proliferation of bills in Texas, Kentucky and elsewhere ‘exposes fundamental lie of anti-abortion movement’, experts say

Poppy Noor

@PoppyNoor

Fri 10 Mar 2023

For decades, the mainstream anti-abortion movement promised that it did not believe women who have abortions should be criminally charged. But now, Republican lawmakers in several US states have introduced legislation proposing homicide and other criminal charges for those seeking abortion care.

The bills have been introduced in states such as Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some explicitly target medication abortion and self-managed abortion; some look to remove provisions in the law which previously protected pregnant people from criminalization; and others look to establish the fetus as a person from the point of conception.

It is highly unlikely that all of these bills will pass. But their proliferation marks a distinct departure from the language of existing bans and abortion restrictions, which typically exempt people seeking abortion care from criminalization.

“This exposes a fundamental lie of the anti-abortion movement, that they oppose the criminalization of the pregnant person,” said Dana Sussman, the acting executive director of Pregnancy Justice. “They are no longer hiding behind that rhetoric.”

Some members of the anti-abortion movement have made it clear the bills do not align with their views, continuing to insist that abortion providers, rather than pregnant people themselves, should be targeted by criminal abortion laws.

“[We] oppose penalties for mothers, who are a second victim of a predatory abortion industry,” said Kristi Hamrick, the chief media and policy strategist for Students for Life of America. “We want to see a billion-dollar industry set up to profit by preying on women and the preborn held accountable. The pro-life movement as a whole has been very clear on this.”

A spokesperson for Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America echoed the same sentiment: that the organization unequivocally rejects prosecution of the pregnant person.

The bills are likely to be controversial as they proceed, even within conservative circles: Republicans have frequently hit walls when trying to pass anti-abortion legislation, with lawmakers at odds over exactly how far bans should go.

The reproductive justice organization If/When/How points out these bills are an indication of the different wings and splinter groups in the anti-abortion movement, increasingly evident since the Dobbs decision last year that overturned Roe v Wade.

“What we’re seeing, post-Dobbs, is a splintering in tactics that abortion opponents are using, and emboldening on the part of more hardline” factions within the movement, said Farah Diaz-Tello, senior counsel and legal director at If/When/How.

“That has always been an undercurrent” in the movement, Diaz-Tello added. “As we see other abortion opponents declaring their opposition to criminalization of people who end their pregnancies, this is the opportunity for them to really step up and put those principles into action.”

The bills being introduced in Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina look to establish that life begins at conception. Each of these bills explicitly references homicide charges for abortion. Homicide is punishable by the death penalty in all of those states.

Bills in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas also explicitly target medication abortion, which so far has fallen into a legal grey zone in much of the country.

A bill in Alabama has also been announced, although not yet been introduced, by Republican representative Ernest Yarbrough, that would establish fetal personhood from conception and repeal a section of Alabama’s abortion ban that expressly prevents homicide charges for abortion. The state’s current law makes abortion a class A felony, on the same level as homicide, but exempts women seeking abortions from being held criminally or civilly liable.

Laws that establish fetal personhood also bring the risk of opening pregnant people up to battery and assault charges for endangering a fetus. Such charges have already been documented in hundreds of cases, using criminal laws championed in recent decades by the anti-abortion movement that recognize fetuses as potential victims.

“It never starts or stops with abortion,” said Sussman of the far-reaching effects of fetal personhood laws.

“That means that not getting prenatal care, not taking pre-natal vitamins, working a job that is physically demanding – all of those things could impose some risk to the fetus – and that could be a child neglect or child abuse case.”

Such laws have been used to target pregnant people who have taken prescribed medication, taken illegal drugs or drunk alcohol while pregnant, even when there has been no adverse outcome on the fetus.

Some of the bills, such as the one in Arkansas, allow a partner to file an unlawful death lawsuit against a pregnant person who has had an abortion.

“The ways in which pregnant people could become a mere vessel for an entity that has separate and unique rights is becoming closer and closer to reality. And there are ways in which this could be used that we haven’t even contemplated yet,” said Sussman.

[The Guardian]

[brothermouse]

I adore your art and the way that it is so mormon but also abstract from the way that art that is typically mormon is, the sort of picture that are shown in class or on the church walls.

But something about it seemed really familiar and I've just realised what it reminds me of (as in vibes not really art style)

This book, which is pretty much where's wally but instead it's finding a nephite who's been thrown through different time periods but the one that really reminds me of it is this one page where they are in a sci-fi kinds church?

I adored this book when I was younger and I adore your art now, thanks for making it.

I had that book growing up! Plus some other collections of Pat Bagley’s stuff! He does a lot of editorial cartoons for the Salt Lake Tribune, so a lot of it is taking a humorous look at Mormon (specifically Utah Mormon) culture. The vibes of “I Spy a Nephite” are definitely a subconscious inspiration for me. It kinda showed me that that was a viable direction to take my stuff in? Like, it gave me permission to be a little cheeky, artistically speaking. I haven’t thought about it in a while but looking back I loved just poking through all the little details and gags in the book.

I take this comparison as a huge compliment, though I do wish i could get my brain to work with that more messy Bagley style.

[petsincollections]

Monkeys, 1949

MSS C 400 Salt Lake Tribune Negative Collection

Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement

[darkmaga-returns]

“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary.”Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

This is how it begins. This is how it always begins, justified in the name of national security.

Mass roundups. Raids. Indefinite detentions in concentration camps. Martial law. The erosion of habeas corpus protections. The suspension of the Constitution, at least for select segments of the population. A hierarchy of rights, contingent on whether you belong to a favored political class.

This is what you can expect in the not-so-distant future.

Once you allow the government to overreach the restraints imposed  by the Constitution, no matter what that threat might be, it will be that much harder to restrain it again, no matter which party is at the helm.

We’ve seen this played out time and again.

Some years ago, for instance, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board suggested that government officials should mandate mass vaccinations and deploy the National Guard “to ensure that people without proof of vaccination would not be allowed, well, anywhere.”

In other words, they wanted the government to use the military to round up and lock up the unvaccinated in concentration camps.

That didn’t happen, but it so easily could have.

Now the script has been flipped, and it’s the soon-to-be Trump Administration promising to use the military to round up and lock up undesirables in concentration camps.

At this moment in time, those so-called “undesirables” are illegal immigrants, but given what we know about the government and its expansive definition of what constitutes a threat to its power, any one of us could be next up in the police state’s crosshairs.

[thepro-lifemovement]

A Nevada border city will not become a destination spot for abortions after its city council rejected a permit request Tuesday from the Planned Parenthood abortion chain.

Stacy Cross, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, admitted they have been eyeing the city of West Wendover since early last year because of its close proximity to Salt Lake City, Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Aborting unborn babies is legal right now in Utah, but state leaders are battling in court to enforce its abortion ban. State lawmakers also just passed a bill to ban abortion facilities, and many predict unborn babies will be protected from abortion soon in Utah.

West Wendover is located just a few miles across the border in Nevada, which allows unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to 24 weeks.

Cross told the Salt Lake Tribune that Utah pro-life laws were “certainly something that we considered in our planning.”

However, the billion-dollar abortion chain’s plans came to a halt Tuesday when the West Wendover City Council voted 4-1 against granting it a permit to open a medical facility, KSLTV 5 reports.

“Health care has been the No. 1 complaint about living in West Wendover for years,” Holm wrote in a Facebook post. “Prenatal care, for instance, usually involves 10-15 visits to the (doctor) during pregnancy.”

However, LifeNews could not find any mention of prenatal care services on Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s website. A Live Action investigation found 95 percent of Planned Parenthood facilities do not offer prenatal care, including some that advertised it.