Republican Performative Nonsense ‘For the Children’
There are opinions for and against SB14. None of them include encouraging pedophilia.
Republicans seized the narrative in Sacramento on Thursday, shaming Democrats over voting nay on a bill promising to toughen penalties against human traffickers. It was a bad bill, redundantly punishing offenders already facing as much as life imprisonment with an additional “three strikes” requirement.
Once the innuendo started, Democrats caved and revived a bill that had already been killed in committee.
GOP politicos chanted “For the children” on social media as if Democrats were supporting pedophiles. This tactic fed nicely into the nutcase wing of the GOP war on so-called “groomers” they allege are lurking in schools, sex ed courses, and/or libraries.
Here’s nutcase queen, Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia - R), from an interview on CBS 60 Minutes:
“Democrats support—even Joe Biden the president himself—supports children being sexualized, having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Rep. Greene says.
As is true with just about everything Republicans take offense at, their accusation is actually a confession. I’m not saying Dems are pure, but there certainly is a long list of GOP politicos who have been arrested for various sex crimes against children.
If you want to take a deep dive into these instances (more than a thousand), go here.
If one were to make a prototype pedo, they’d have to consider church officials, policemen, conservative elected officials or camp counselors. Because that’s who gets busted for these sorts of crimes.
Locally, activist Shane Harris took to social media to promise he would leave the Democratic party if they voted against the bill. Backing up his threat were a cavalcade of chuds, praising him for being principled, and eager to share their claims about pedophilia.
Never have I seen a politico-wanna-be so aggressively take on the persona of a proto-typical ambulance chasing attorney. If an event seems important, or somebody of note is willing to pose for a picture, you can bet Harris will swoop in.
After weeks of debasing now-resigned Supervisor Nathan Fletcher over a political disagreement, Harris openly speculated about running for the D4 seat. One of his tweets even suggested it was his “side” that forced the D4 Supe out of office.
Yes, I know, Harris is a civil rights “leader” and therefore I’m racist for calling him out. His behavior over the past few years is what it is. Being a leader in San Diego is apparently defined by the mainstream broadcast media as somebody willing to stand in front of a camera on a moment’s notice.
I will say that Harris has shown leadership in advocating for foster children, but that’s where it ends for me.
Now that I’ve taken care of the performative nonsense, let’s look at what the fuss was all about, namely, Senate Bill 14.
The gist of the bill was that it would add human trafficking of a minor for sex to the list of “serious felonies” under California’s penal code. It looks great from a “tough on crime” perspective, but things aren’t always quite as simple as they seem at first glance.
The two big problems with SB 14 that came to the fore were:
Since there are already serious sentencing requirements for trafficking, making it a serious offense puts it in the three strikes category. The problem is that three strikes has failed as a deterrent to crime. It does wonders for keeping already racialized prison populations high and non-violent offenders get caught in its web. That’s okay, though, it sounds tough and pesky facts are no barrier to right wing politicians.
There is a lot of gray when it comes to prosecuting trafficking cases. Victims get charged as traffickers because of actions they may take under duress. The reality that many persons caught up in trafficking are actually hostages doesn’t get enough consideration. And care and counseling for victims is treated as an afterthought more often than not.
The American Civil Liberties Union of California opposed SB 14. Here’s their logic in a nutshell.
Our opposition is rooted in the evidence that demonstrates that SB 14 will not serve the authors’ goals of “strengthen[ing] protections for the millions of victims of sex and labor trafficking and serve as a deterrent[.]” The research demonstrates that survivors need services and assistance, not increased incarceration expenses.2 Further, longer prison sentences do not meaningfully deter crime.3 Effective policy approaches include investing in education and awareness campaigns so that community members can act to identify and support individuals who are at risk of human trafficking. SB 14 takes the wrong approach to public safety as it would monopolize resources that would be better used to invest in fostering safe homes and neighborhoods, addressing vulnerabilities during health care visits, and other supports that survivors and at-risk individuals deserve.
There are opinions for and against SB14. None of them include encouraging pedophilia.
The fact that this set of sex crimes is a talking point is what makes this sort of legislation repulsive. Unfortunately Republicans were first up in framing the bill (which CA Senate Democrats didn’t catch), and a bunch of time has been wasted on name-calling.
This article on the power of Framing is worth a read for better understanding.
"Political ground is gained not when you inhabit the middle ground but when you impose your framing as the common sense position."
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Headlines to Tsk Tsk About
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San Diego Right Wing Church wants you to know it’s drinking the MAGA kool aid
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SAG President Fran Drescher's speech is a must-watch for workers everywhere Via Daily Kos. This is the summer of strikes and standing on the sidelines should not be an option.
Drescher: “It is sad that it came to this crossroads, but we have no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history.”
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Biden raised more than $72M in second quarter, doubling Trump’s haul Via The Hill
The Biden-Harris campaign said that more than 394,000 donors made more than 670,000 contributions across all entities, which also includes the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees. The average grassroots donation was $39, and 97 percent of all donations were less than $200.
The campaign also touted that 30 percent of donors are new ones who didn’t contribute to Biden in 2020, and that the campaign has hosted 38 fundraisers since its April launch. Biden himself has participated in multiple high-dollar fundraisers at the end of the second quarter, including in New York City, Silicon Valley, Calif., and Chicago.