Hey there Readers! I’m back in action after an incident with a bread knife that required stitches made typing a chore for a bit. Let’s share some link love to celebrate!
The Cheeto Tinted Tyrant kicked off the month of June with a visit to the Houston area, where in his own words “we’re going to have a little fun today.” This was an odd way to phrase it since his trip to Houston was to visit with the parents of victims in the May 18th school shooting at Santa Fe High School. Rhonda Hart, whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly was killed at the school described her encounter with the President…
Rhonda Hart, whose 14-year-old daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, was killed at the school, told The Associated Press that Trump repeatedly used the word ‘wacky’ to describe the shooter and the trench coat he wore. She said she told Trump, “Maybe if everyone had access to mental health care, we wouldn’t be in the situation.”
Hart, an Army veteran, said she also suggested employing veterans as sentinels in schools. She said Trump responded, “And arm them?” She replied, “No,” but said Trump “kept mentioning” arming classroom teachers. “It was like talking to a toddler,” Hart said.
“If you ever hurt my daughter I swear to God I’ll let her navigate her own emotional growth!” Snerk…
“Families Belong Together” was the banner under which thousands around the country marched to protest the Trump administration’s inhumane treatment of immigrants at the border.
Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy has galvanized activists nationwide, with a fervor reminiscent of the early days of the Trump administration and the travel ban.
On June 14, progressive groups organized “Families Belong Together” protests in dozens of cities to call for an end to family separation.
Spontaneous protests have also broken out across the country. This month, demonstrators confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she dined at a DC Mexican restaurant. And New Yorkers recently gathered at LaGuardia Airport to welcome children, reportedly separated from their parents, who were set to arrive in the city.
About 600 women were arrested on Thursday during a nonviolent civil disobedience action organized by the Women’s March. Hundreds of protesters took over a Senate office building to call for the abolition of ICE and the end of family separation and detention.
Presidential Fact Launderer Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a fancy Lexington restaurant because the staff was uncomfortable serving their farm to table fare to a Dollar Store Herman Goehring. The response from across the political spectrum was to have a big sad. Chris Hall at The Orbit is having none of that shit.
But while people were getting their knickers in a collective wad over the allegedly less-than-civil treatment of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, another woman’s experience was going viral. On Friday night, a schoolteacher from Peoria, Arizona named Nicole Arteaga posted on Instagram about how a pharmacist refused to fill her prescription for misoprostol, a drug that would terminate her nine-week pregnancy. The doctor gave her the prescription because her fetus had stopped growing and there was no heartbeat; in short, she was carrying a corpse inside her. The other option was to remove the dead fetus via a D&C procedure (dilation and curettage).
It’s not just the border crisis, our culture is bad at supporting families across the board.
There’s a lot for parents to be scared of today. We have to move past our fear.
Wednesday is Independence Day here in the US. I’m not sure what to make of it this year. Even in our darkest times, this summer celebration of liberty has always lifted my heart. But that heart is so heavy these days. America is supposed to be a promise. Even Republicans used to know that, were were a shining city on the hill, we were a thousand points of light. Now I’m not sure what we are.
We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune
But it’s all right, it’s all right
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest
Featured Image Credit: Adam Carter on Flickr
