Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Texas
Related: About this forumTexas, Where Republican Leaders Have Gaslighted Us All
The lies we're told/are cruel and old/ deep in the heart of Texas. Picture by Carly Kocurek
Its been a very bad week in Texas. The so-called heartbeat bill went into effect, essentially ending reproductive freedom. The draconian election bill custom designed to disenfranchise marginalized people passed the Senate. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick wanted to hold the entire legislative branchs pay hostage so he could have transphobic, racist new laws put in place.
What is endlessly frustrating about all of this is that the actions of the Republican leaders are founded on complete bullshit. Literally none of their actions have a foundation in fact. Its the mass gaslighting of a state, calculated falsehoods meant to make residents question their own sanity hard enough to capitulate.
The entire pro-life movement is based on a lie. The myth is that the protection of reproductive freedom enshrined by Roe v. Wade (itself a case about Texas nonsense) under the Fourteenth Amendment so outraged the religious right of the country that they started a crusade to protect innocent fetuses from murder. This is demonstrably false. The 7-2 decision was fairly non-controversial at the time and organized national resistance did not emerge until 1979, six years after the case was decided. Baptist Press even praised the ruling as an advancement of religious liberty.
The reality was that evangelical leaders were keen to toss out President Jimmy Carter in favor of a conservative because they wanted to keep religious schools racially segregated. Bob Jones University in particular had resisted calls for desegregation, claiming that the Bible supported the practice. A nasty fight led to the IRS pulling Bob Jones tax-exempt status in 1976. However, figures like Jerry Falwell realized that actively campaigning on segregation in a post-Civil Rights Act America was a non-starter. Instead, they latched onto the success of a wave of anti-abortion sentiment in Minnesota in 1978 when Republicans won both senate seats and the governorship. A lot of the success came from dedicated Catholic leafletting on the subject of abortion.
Read more: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/texas-republican-priority-bills-are-based-on-lies-11848475
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 625 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (9)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Texas, Where Republican Leaders Have Gaslighted Us All (Original Post)
TexasTowelie
Sep 2021
OP
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)1. Very good article all Texans and all Southerners really, especially white ones, should read.
All Southerners have been duped for a fucking century. Wake up, smell the rancid yankee bacon.
Shell_Seas
(3,318 posts)2. Would it be gaslighted? Or gaslit?