Conservatives Turned into Snowflakes

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Republicans’ attack on DOJ AG Merrick Garland when he asked law enforcement to investigate protesters’ violence of protesters at school board meetings. I omitted the defense given by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for a man giving a Nazi salute at a meeting and chanted “Heil Hitler.” Cruz tweeted he “was defending the right of citizens to denounce authoritarian policies” but didn’t respond to questions about his Nazi support. Three years ago, he gave the same support after a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs killed 11 people at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue. Cruz complained that “lefty journos” reporting on his remarks were either “dishonest” or “not very bright.” Formerly Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) compared people supporting President Joe Biden’s vaccine push for vaccinations to “brown shirts.” Texas has seen increasing incidents of anti-Semitism such as a neo-Nazi group, wearing swastikas, who hung an anti-Semitic sign from an Austin freeway overpass and the graffiti of swastikas and racial slurs at an Austin high school with a sizeable Jewish population.

In another bizarre situation, Wisconsin has hired someone to help out with an election “audit” because the former Supreme Court justice, voted out of office, doesn’t understand the election process. Her name is Carol, but no one, including Carol, will give her last name. No one knows if she is a lawyer, administrative assistant, or whatever. The former justice, Michael Gableman, began his job as “audit leader” under an alias and has done his work in secrecy, even using a Gmail account under the name of John Delta. Staff email accounts have only digits, not names, keeping them secret.

Last week, a nonpartisan audit of the 2020 election in Wisconsin found no widespread fraud, and a key Republican legislative leader, Robert Cowles, said the results prove the state’s elections are “safe and secure.” But Republicans say they will review the independent audit. GOP Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos ordered the next investigation, now expanded to a cost of over $676,000, because Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) told Vos he was doing too little to probe the election. Vos said the counts will run into 2022–the election year. The legal audit found four people who might have voted twice out of approximately 3.3 million votes with Biden winning by about 21,000 ballots.

Republicans have long called Democrats “snowflakes” because they believe in political correctness—presenting accurate information, not using vicious names for opponents, not hitting them, etc. Today’s Republicans have become the epitome of “snowflakes” such as not having any books available in schools that might make White students “uncomfortable.”

A recent case of GOP snowflakitis comes from the January 6 insurrectionists. DDT supporters have protested the treatment of dozens of the U.S. Capitol rioters held in a Washington, D.C. jail, complaining about civil rights violations. Defendant Christopher Worrell has become famous for right-wingers because of his self-proclaimed health issues. At an October 13 hearing, Worrell’s lawyer said jail officials had not given the defendant medical care for a broken finger that needed surgery. He was also diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and contracted COVID in jail. Prosecutors said Worrell “invented” his medical needs. Other riot defendants complained about their perception of unsanitary or unsafe conditions in the same jail.

Judge Emmet Sullivan explained his awareness of difficulties for defendants to access evidence in their cases to prepare for trial but said the defendants should talk directly to their jail. He said:

“They’re running a jail, not a hotel. Some people want hotel services.”

One doctor called the finger surgery an “elective procedure” because Worrell didn’t like the way a fracture had healed. He added that surgery risks “may outweigh the benefits” and “that ulterior motives are at play.” On May 17, Worrell was treated with a “closed reduction” and a splint for his broken pinky. He has been charged of storming the U.S. Capitol with other Proud Boys and assaulting federal officers with pepper gel spray.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is one of biggest defenders of the January 6 insurrectionists, saying they would be better off at Guantanamo Bay because their treatment would be better there. Describing rioters attempt to overturn U.S. democracy, he’s upset “that American citizens are being treated so much worse than individuals that want to destroy America.” Last May, he said, “Their only crime was supporting Donald Trump” and another time accused Democrats of setting up Capitol rioters. He added that Democrats were trying to “intimidate us from not protesting.” In Summer 2020, Gohmert wanted to use the RICO act against anyone committing criminal offenses during protests.

Minnesota state Sen. Mark Koran (R) is asking for donations for his constituents facing charges in the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He claims four members of the Westbury family are being punished for having “opposing views.” The fundraiser, called “Legal Fees 4 family fighting tyranny 4 you,” is available on the so-called Christian fundraising platform, GiveSendGo. With a goal of $50,000, the site shows about $3,500 raised thus far.

Jurors being considered in the current civil-lawsuit trial are calling the antifa a “terrorist organization” and blaming them for the violence by neofascists at the 2017 “United the Right” rally in Charlottesville (VA) where instigators killed a woman. Attorneys tried to disqualify any jurors who had a favorable view to the antifa movement. One juror who described antifa as “troublemakers” said he heard only about the movement on TV and doesn’t consider anti-Semitism a serious issue. He added it isn’t a problem “where I live.” The judge refused a request to strike the juror describing antifa as a “terrorist organization” as well as jurors with more neutral views.

Of the 25 organizers and participants on trial, Christopher Cantwell (right), is acting as his own lawyer. Christopher Miller described his opening appearance:

“Wearing a blue shirt without a tie or jacket, he proceeded to name-check Mein Kampf, drop the n-word, plug his far-right radio program, call himself ‘good-looking’ and a ‘professional artist,’ and blast antifascist activists all in a matter of minutes. Surprising nobody in the courtroom, Cantwell, who prepared for this moment with help from two other neo-Nazis in prison and spending evenings watching Tucker Carlson, said ‘I’m not a lawyer … [but] I’m the best attorney I could afford.’ He added, ‘And I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.’” 

Also representing himself, another white supremacist, Richard Spencer, was cut off three times in his opening statement, one time when the federal judge stopped him from ranting about the Black Lives Matter protests. The third time was Spencer’s lecture on the importance of his case on the concept of “justice.” In an effort to excuse himself from the lawsuit, Spencer falsely claimed Cantwell was an “acquaintance” and had exchanged only “a few” test messages with him and “ate lunch one time.

Not all Republicans are supporting DDT’s “big lie” of a stolen election. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s GOP Secretary of State, is coming out with a book in November, Integrity Counts, in which he describes how he and his wife were targeted by DDT and his supporters with violent threats. He also criticizes other Georgia Republicans for not speaking out against DDT’s lies about election fraud and for removing him from chairing the Georgia Board of Elections this year. Raffensperger said these Republicans lack “moral courage.”

Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) voted against holding Steven in criminal contempt for refusing the congressional subpoena, but they evidently weren’t happy about their votes. According to McCaul, Republicans protected Bannon because of the “wacko birds” in their party. The comment came during a casual conversation when someone said they hoped Wagner would get a more conservative district from re-districting for an easier re-election. Wagner said she didn’t want a more conservative district because “then you get those wacko birds.” McCaul agreed, saying they were “why we had to vote the way we did today.” This may be the last time McCaul speaks around the press.  

A huge case of GOP snowflakitis comes from the recent book banning. It has become the basis of the GOP candidate’s campaign for Virginia governor after a mother reported the “trauma” her son suffered from reading Nobel-prize winning Toni Morrison’s Beloved. At the time, he was 16 and taking an advance-placement English class. Now recovered, the son is a lawyer working for the Republican party. Less than a year ago, GOP snowflakes were traumatized by the Theodor Geisel Foundation’s decision to discontinue publication of six books by “Dr. Seuss” because of racist portrayals of some characters. Conservatives used the decision to blame Democrats for “cancel culture.” A few months later, the same conservatives demand the censorship of any books they describe part of critical race theory in their attempt to block any view of racism. The protection of Dr. Seuss’ outdated books morphed into the banning of any book that makes White people “uncomfortable,” a term used by an increasing number of laws in red states.

Now the conservative snowflakes are terrified of masks and vaccinations so they bully anyone who tries to protect their own and others’ health. And GOP leaders cannot buck DDT. Who’s the snowflake?

Indifference Leads to Culture of Rape

“If you think that rapes only happen at Notre Dame or in India or in Steubenville, you are wrong. A person is sexually assaulted in the United States every two minutes, and many of these are in small towns, including where you live. For every 100 rapes, only three lead to jail time for the rapist.”

I wrote this on January 23, 2013 in Nel’s New Day. Since then, the Portland (OR) chief of police, Mike Reece, has shown that his ignorance may promote the culture of rape in this Northwestern city. The media is forcing Reece to rethink his personnel decisions,  but without the prevalence of newspaper articles about his indifference to—or ignorance about—what constitutes sexual contact, a demoted police officer might have continued to direct detectives who investigate sexual assault and human trafficking in this city of over 2 million people.

Reece’s problem went public last summer after a Portland police review board voted 5-1 to fire a captain, Todd Wyatt, because he inappropriately touched female employees and continued a road rage confrontation by pointing a gun at another motorist when he was off duty. Board documents showed that it found him “untruthful” and questioned his ability to perform with integrity. Part of the testimony was an audiotape of Wyatt’s meeting with a subordinate and the employee’s union representative in which he lost his temper and threatened to have the subordinate arrested. One board member “believed that [Wyatt] manipulated the truth in these encounters and never saw himself at fault,” instead mischaracterizing the motives of those who complained about his behavior.

Reece demoted Wyatt to lieutenant and re-assigned him to supervising robbery and sex crimes investigators. Wyatt said that he had apologized to one of the several female employees complaining about his behavior four different times and had attended sexual harassment training four times.

Even Reese has found Wyatt a problem employee. In a lengthy letter after an internal investigation relying on multiple credible witnesses including Washington State patrol officers, Reece showed Wyatt to be a hot-tempered bully who makes insulting and inaccurate snap judgments about civilians, says demeaning things about women, and engages in unwanted thigh-touching at work. Reece also indicated that he reassigned Wyatt to the sex crimes division because he needed “close supervision.”

The letter quoted Washington State patrol officers who described Wyatt as “arrogant and cocky” after they stopped Wyatt following another driver’s 9-1-1 call and faulted Wyatt for escalating the road rage incident. Reece wrote, “Even after six months following the incident, your statements do not reflect a thoughtful and appropriate approach.”

Wyatt’s reference to one woman who complained about his touching was redacted in his disciplinary letter, but the response remains readable: “The victim’s ‘physical appearance or level of education or skill is irrelevant. Your comment is insulting and unprofessional and shows a lack of accountability or awareness as to how your actions are perceived by others.'” In addition, the letter states, “… your [Wyatt’s] response lacks a general sense of awareness of the different points of view regarding power and authority. Additionally, your comments about [redacted] are unprofessional to say the least.”

In a meeting with the editorial board of Portland’s newspaper The Oregonian, Reece said that he didn’t consider the women’s complaints to be “sexual in nature.” The “inappropriate touching” described in the women’s complaints was Wyatt’s rubbing them on their legs and thighs at work. Wyatt claimed that he only touched one of the women on her knee with his knuckle when he said good morning to her.

Since the media attention, Reece has reassigned Wyatt to his own office to handle special projects. Wyatt, who contends that he was the subject of frivolous claims retaliating for his part in contract talks, plans to sue the city over his demotion. The Portland Police Commanding Officers’ Association, which represents lieutenants and captains, also has filed a grievance with the city, challenging Wyatt’s discipline. Rob Wheaton, an AFSCME Local 189 union representative for civilian employees in the police bureau’s records division, dismissed Wyatt’s allegation that the complaints were retaliatory. “I think that shows an exaggerated sense of self worth,” Wheaton said.

According to columnist Susan Nielson, a 2007 city audit of Portland’s rape response found that detectives often see sex crimes as a less desirable assignment, partly because of very high turnover among supervisors. “Many detectives who do come to work in the sexual assault detail,” auditors said, “are waiting until other assignments open elsewhere.” National crime surveys show that the majority of victims of sexual assault don’t go to the police. Victims fear being judged, demeaned, and touched by strangers; they fear people with power will side against them.

Yet Reece chose to send Wyatt to be in charge of these investigators after a series of complaints by his female colleagues about his unwarranted touching. He said, “The women never complained it was a sexual encounter.”

Phyllis Barkhurst, who spent 17 years in Oregon assessing sexual harassment complaints for businesses and local governments, said about Wyatt’s case, “This is inappropriate behavior targeting one gender, and sexual harassment under the law is a form of sexual discrimination.” Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or conduct of a sexual nature that’s directed toward a person because of gender. It can include physical touching or graphic comments. Perhaps Reece needs to attend sexual harassment training.

This “culture of indifference” is repeated across the nation.  Members of “the Athletics department and the Penn State administration contributed to a climate where athletes, staff, and faculty within the Athletics program either felt immune from possible repercussions of their actions or felt fearful in reporting what they saw or heard,” according to NOW activist Joanne Tosti-Vasey. Last summer Tosti-Vasey, past president of Pennsylvania NOW, called on “every school in this country [to] heed and change their policies and programs to end any form of campus violence against anyone who steps foot on their campuses.”

The culture of indifference continues with the prosecution of the alleged rape in Steubenville (OH) when perpetrators made a video of carrying a teenage girl from one house to another and raping her. Although Ohio A.G. Mike DeWine stated that “knowledge in and of [the rapes] is not a crime under Ohio law,” a blog pointed out that “Ohio Law decrees that ‘no person, knowing that a felony has been or is being committed, shall knowingly fail to report such information to law enforcement authorities… Whoever violates division (A) or (B) of this section is guilty of failure to report a crime.'”  DeWine criticized the social media for their involvement, but without their participation, it is likely that no one would have been charged in this crime.

Erin Matson reported that the Washington, D.C. police would not file a report about a man who exposed himself to her and masturbated because she didn’t stay with the man until the police came. Her treatment by the police shows a culture of indifference.  Watson’s blog about parent Laura Murphy wanting to ban Toni Morrison’s Beloved for all students in the Fairfax County School District (VA) also demonstrates that parents are trying to shield everyone from the problems that surround them.

Despite the school district’s policy that allow students to opt out of reading assigned texts because of parental objection, Murphy is working for a state law that would require schools to notify parents before sexual topics arise in the classroom so that they can remove their children from the class. When school officials explained that AP English is a college-level class that often involves discussions of adult topics, Murphy said, “To me, mature references means slavery or the Holocaust.”

Murphy’s position that it’s okay talk about the history of the Holocaust in another country but not about the problems in our own community supports the culture of indifference—an attitude that leads to the culture of rape.