Last month, Brian Kilmeade provided Fox & Friends validation for NC Gov. Pat McCrory's defense of his state's anti-transgender "bathroom" law. This morning, an irate Kilmeade helped TX attorney-general justify his opposition to the Obama administration's guidance on transgender student accommodation. Do I detect a pattern?
A group of GOP states' attorneys-general are suing the Obama administration over "federal guidance directing schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identities." TX attorney-general, the indicted Ken Paxton, who accused Obama of attempting to “bully Texas schools into allowing men [transgender women are not men but do we expect a TX Republican to get it...??] to have open access to girls in bathrooms," is leading the charge.
So it was no surprise that Fox & Friends, as the mouthpiece of the transphobic right, would openly embrace Texas' fight against these guidelines. Fox friend Tucker Carlson, during his interview with Paxton, claimed that Obama is "forcing" Americans to accept bathroom accommodations for those who are mentally deranged. Naturally, he provided no rebuttal to the Paxton's bogus and transphobic talking points. On a subsequent Fox & Friends, during an interview with TX Gov., Greg Abbott, Steve Doocy provided the same kind of affirmation to the same kind of anti-transgender and anti-Obama talking points.
This morning, a fired up Kilmeade reported "a dramatic turn in the battle [Fox does love its conflict verbiage] over transgender bathrooms." He described the states' lawsuit against OMG "the president's directive telling schools in America to let transgender use the bathrooms of their choice." He didn't mention that all the states are governed by the GOP.
He introduced Paxton as being one of the litigants and, sarcastically, said "Ken, you're supposed to show tolerance and acceptance for all, you should do what the government tells you to do, shouldn't you?" Paxton asserted that only congress can make changes to educational policy. More sarcasm when Kilmeade commented that this is discriminatory against students. Paxton articulated the bogus transgenders are predators argument when he claimed that this "about safety for children." Showing his total ignorance of what transgender means, he claimed that this will "open the door for all kinds of issues with men deciding one day that they want to be women and switching back the next day." No response from Kilmeade
Venom dripping from his mouth Kilmeade noted that Obama has "hanging over every state's head that doesn't comply, federal funding for schools. He reminded us of the "slings and arrows" that fell on North Carolina when sports teams made HB 2 "a polarizing issue." To his question of what Paxton's advice to them would be, Paxton "reminded" them that we need to follow the law.
Kilmeade then provided the VERY IMPORTANT FOX MESSAGE: "There's law and there's logic. Does there seem to be logic in this? Out of all the issues that are facing this nation, does this seem like a priority, regardless of where you stand?" Paxton invoked the "safety" argument, again. Kilmeade described TX's fight against the guidelines as "admirable."
If Fox News is "America's Newsroom," that America obviously doesn't include the LGBT community. Ya think?
The flick is incredibly instructive on current Republican (and thus FOX News) arguments. The arguments masking bigotry and intolerance are exactly the same. It’s all about state’s rights because we cherish the Constitution. The fear-mongering traditional America will collapse and it’s the end of morality as we know it. Cries it’s just a bunch of liberal radical troublemakers stirring up anarchy. The fear-mongering of how awful it’ll be to force reasonable people to share restrooms with the undesirables. Oh, and we love freedom so businesses should not be forced to serve them.
And, naturally, there’s the cast of Southern politicians representing a region of heavy bigotry fearful for their jobs and willing to fight tooth and nail against civil rights, principles be damned. Say hello to governors McCrory and Abbott. 👍
The only key difference here is after a historic 70+ day filibuster in the Senate LBJ was able to get a civil rights bill through Congress – only after stripping voting rights from it (passed separately in the Voting Rights Act later in 1965 after LBJ survived an election cycle). There’s no way Obama can pass civil rights legislation through a right-wing Congress ruled by Republicans in both chambers. So he uses administrative maneuvers.
Not surprisingly, LBJ predicted the Democrats would lose the South over civil rights and nothing has changed in this back ass-ward region. *I’m embarrassed to call it my home. 😒