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As Daily Kos has covered at length, we know Republicans (especially at the local and state level) have been deadset on demonizing trans people (and especially trans youth) during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Republicans trying to find a scapegoat to distract from their failures is nothing new, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. We’ve already seen some anti-trans legislation signed into law by Republican governors, for example, and we’ve seen reports of families picking up and moving states because of this hateful hysteria. At this point, attacks are widening from trans youth to all LGBTQ+ youth, and the focus of some conservatives is starting to feel like they pulled a page from the ‘50s.

One example? Books. Conservatives are raving about books that feature LGBTQ+ people. Specifically, as we saw in a months-long battle at a public library in Wyoming, conservatives don’t want these books available for kids and teens—and some even feel librarians should face criminal obscenity charges for stocking them. One school board candidate in Iowa is now going viral for writing that he wants to know the names of all the youth who checked out LGBTQ+ books from the library. And nope, this isn’t The Onion. 

Here’s the deal: In late October, Amanda McClanahan, a community member (who, as noted by Axios, is not a parent in the district), appeared at a Waukee Community School District meeting in Waukee, Iowa, and read aloud from several LGBTQ+ books stocked in the teen section of a public high school library in the area. McClanahan read excerpts that included teenagers having sex for the first time, including oral sex. Mind you, these books are for teenagers, not young children, and it’s common for Young Adult novels to include sexuality and coming of age stories. These books aren’t erotica.

The books, including All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen, and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, were removed from the Norwest High School Library. The school district ultimately made the call to pull the books. (You can check out an excellent op-ed Kobabe wrote about their book being banned here, by the way.)

So, that’s where we started. From there, however, Vin Thaker, a pro-Trump far-right Republican candidate for the school board, made a truly concerning Facebook post about LGBTQ+ books and students, as reported by Jezebel. Thaker claimed he wants to know the names of all the students who check out LGBTQ+ books from the library and notify their parents. He also wants whoever ordered the titles for the library to explain why they did so. 

“I support the rights of parents to know everything about their minor child,” Thaker wrote in the Facebook post dated Oct. 28. He added: “These books have no place in our children’s education.”

Obviously, this is a huge violation of privacy as it essentially “outs” vulnerable youth to their parents or guardians. This is not only emotionally traumatic but could result in youth being punished, harmed, or even kicked out of their homes. Not to mention the fact that anyone can read books with LGBTQ+ characters—someone might be exploring identities and sexualities, or they might simply like the book for other reasons and not be queer at all. 

This isn’t out of character for Thaker in terms of what else he’s posted on social media. For example, as reported by the Iowa Starting Line, Thaker allegedly has a history of sharing nasty tweets about and to Squad members in Congress, including flinging racist and sexist language around. According to Iowa Starting Line, his Instagram also includes sexist and queerphobic memes; however, at the time of writing, the account appears to have been removed.

School board elections take place on Nov. 2. 

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In an exciting move on Monday, Nov. 1, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Beth Robinson to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This includes Vermont, Connecticut, and New York. Robinson, who is a lesbian, is the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve on any federal circuit court. Robinson was confirmed with a 51-45 vote, including just two Republicans (Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins), as reported by CNN. Robinson, you might remember, was nominated back in August by President Joe Biden. 

As an attorney, Robinson worked to advance LGBTQ+ rights, including serving as co-counsel back in the late ‘90s in a landmark case (Baker v. Vermont) over guaranteeing same-sex couples equal protections and rights. This is in addition to practicing employment law, workers’ compensation law, personal injury law, and family law in the state of Vermont, as reported by Reuters. Baker v. Vermont, by the way, was the historic case that resulted in Vermont being the first state to recognize civil unions back in 1999. Since 2011, Robinson has served on the Vermont Supreme Court and is the first openly gay Vermont Supreme Court justice. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont praised Robinson while speaking at Robinson’s confirmation hearing on Sept. 14, describing her as one of the “most notable champions of equal rights and equal justice” and one of the nation’s “most important pioneers” in LGBTQ+ rights.

Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois who serves as the Senate majority whip, described Robinson as an “experienced litigator” and “respected jurist” with an “evenhanded approach to justice” in an emailed statement, according to Axios. 

Unsurprisingly, progressives and especially LGBTQ+ groups are taking time to celebrate this historic moment. In a statement from Sharon McGowan, chief strategy officer for LGBTQ+ advocacy group Lambda Legal, for example, McGowan not only praised Robinson’s “extraordinary professional expertise” but also pointed out that out of more than 800 federal judges, fewer than 20 are openly LGBTQ+, and none are openly bisexual or transgender. For perspective, the first openly LGBTQ+ person appointed to the federal appeals court was only in 2013 (Judge Todd Michael Hughes). Every openly LGBTQ+ person is a huge step in the right direction, though the work is far from done. 

President and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund Annise Parker shared a similar sentiment while giving a text statement to 19th News. Parker said we keep “reaching milestones” but the problem with these gains is that “when you see a milestone, it means you haven’t reached the end of the turn.” The solution, of course, is to keep pushing forward. 

You can listen to the full introduction from Sanders below.

You can also listen to Robinson explain how she achieves support from both Republicans and Democrats. 

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It’s been 10 months since President Joe Biden made a commitment to resurrect net neutrality—the simple idea that the internet should be treated as a utility, and internet service providers should have to treat all data they send fairly—by naming Federal Communication Commission (FCC) member and open internet proponent Jessica Rosenworcel as the acting FCC chair. Unfortunately that’s as far as he went, leaving another commission chair vacant and leaving the FCC deadlocked with two Democratic appointees and two Republicans. That situation was getting a little worrisome as Rosenworcel’s temporary appointment expires at the end of the year, and we could have ended up with a Republican-led FCC by default.

Biden finally took care of his part of the job last week by nominating Rosenworcel as permanent chair. He even went one better, nominating long-time consumer advocate Gigi Sohn to the vacant seat on the commission. Sohn has been a net neutrality hero for years, having served as then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s counselor, a role in which she definitely influenced Wheeler’s eventual decision in 2015 to implement the Open Internet Order, which set more clear net neutrality rules. The former guy’s guy at the FCC, Ajit Pai, made quick work of overturning that order.

Rosenworcel “has worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success,” the White House said in announcing her nomination. “From fighting to protect an open internet, to ensuring broadband access for students caught in the Homework Gap through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, to making sure that households struggling to afford internet service stay connected through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, she has been a champion for connectivity for all.”

The White House acknowledged Sohn as “one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable, and democratic communications networks,” pointing out her decades of work on behalf of consumers. “For over thirty years, Gigi has worked to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open, and protective of user privacy. If she is confirmed, Gigi would be the first openly LGBTIQ+ Commissioner in the history of the FCC.”

Finally, the broadband components of Biden’s sweeping anti-trust executive order from the summer can be realized. In that order, Biden called for a restoration of the 2015 net neutrality rules, and encouraged the FCC to prevent internet service providers from making exclusive deals or collusive arrangements with landlords to shut out competition from other ISPs, leaving tenants with only one option.

It also asks the FCC to revive another Obama-era effort, a “Broadband Nutrition Label” that “provides basic information about the internet service offered so people can compare options,” increasing transparency and requiring providers to report prices and subscription rates to the FCC. The order also asks the FCC to limit excessive early termination fees that ISPs charge for people switching providers.

Those are really great things that can now happen as long as the Senate hops to it and fast tracks these nominations. And they really have to be fast tracked, because the six weeks in the Senate are going to be jam-packed with the Build Back Better budge reconciliation bill, government funding, and a debt ceiling hike. Three big things in the Senate in less than two months is a tall order, but there isn’t any time to waste. Nearly an entire year of Biden’s presidency will have passed with two hardcore Republican FCC members blocking pretty much anything Biden and Rosenworcel have wanted to do. They can’t have the opportunity to do so any longer.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chair, said the nominations have happened “at just the right time,” perhaps pushing back on the alarm bells advocates have been ringing for the last few months on getting this done. She added that the committee would “swiftly [consider] these nominations before the end of the year.”

That’s one key agency dealt with. Now it’s time Biden does something about Louis DeJoy at the U.S. Postal Service.

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It’s election night 2021! Numerous important races are on the ballot across the country, and we’re liveblogging the top contests below.

Results: FL | GA | MA | ME | MI | MN | NH | NJ | NM | NY | OH | PA | VA | WA

Resources: Election preview | VA county benchmarks | Live cheat-sheet |Special legislative elections tracker | VA House tracker

Follow: Daily Kos Elections on Twitter

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You know, a lot of us don’t have kids, and yet somehow we instinctively know that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton needs a timeout … and perhaps a binky.

Cotton—who represents such a reliably red state that he could be caught masturbating on the Acela train in a Mayor McCheese costume and not lose any voters—appeared on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer on Tuesday to lob a stunningly misguided attempt to discredit the head of the nation’s largest educators’ union, who spent her weekend campaigning with Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor.

Maybe someone needs to sniff Cotton’s diaper, too, because this is a pantload the likes of which no one has ever seen before. Cotton, with his signature dead eyes and syrupy Southern drawl, told Hemmer that people who don’t have children aren’t qualified to educate children.

Yes, really.

Roll the tape.

Transcript!

HEMMER: “Randi Weingardner [sic] is the president of the American Federation of Teachers. She’s been a target throughout COVID and beyond. Terry McAuliffe had her at his final campaign rally last night in northern Virginia. What’s that tell you?”

COTTON: “I mean, isn’t it amazing that Terry McAuliffe ends his entire campaign with the head of the teachers unions. Randi Weingarten is a joke. Randi Weingarten does not even have children of her own. What in the hell does she know about raising and teaching kids? In fact, that’s probably why she was perfectly fine to shut down schools for two years and force kids to wear masks, because she didn’t have to deal with it at home. And, if fact, Loudoun County, where they finished their campaign, the exact county that covered up two rapes, is also, now, closing schools this week. That’s what Democrats across the state of Virginia are going to do if Terry McAuliffe gets reelected. They’re going to shut down your schools again.”

Yes, God forbid these childfree nanny-state liberals try to prevent Virginia kids from, you know, dying. Or from spreading a deadly virus to their more vulnerable elders. What an outrage. 

Of course, school districts’ agonizing deliberations over how to protect kids in public schools would be a thing of the past if more people simply got vaccinated. And while Cotton has gently nudged people toward the vaccine, he’s not exactly been insistent, having said, “Don’t take Dr. Fauci’s word for it. Talk to your doctor. Make the decision that’s right for you.” Yeah, unfortunately, for too many of Cotton’s constituents, their “doctor” is the cashier at the feed store who hooks them up with that sweet, sweet livestock medicine. And Arkansas, the state Cotton purports to serve, remains a laggard when it comes to vaccination rates. 

Weingarten, who is a lesbian, noted in her response that childfree people have been ably teaching kids for centuries.

For the nontweeters:

WEINGARTEN: “Wait…Did I misread this or did Tom Cotton just say any teacher who is not also a parent shouldn’t be able to teach? Really? Is he now disqualifying every nun from teaching? Or is this simply a new divisive & hateful homophobic slur against LGBTQ teachers?”

Oh, good point, Randi. There are these things called universities, and at these venerable laboratories of learning, parents, future parents, and the childfree all learn best practices in pedagogy. But, hey, keep gurgling nonsense, Cotton. I mean, this is like distrusting your childfree pediatrician so much that you bring your kids to the Duggars’ for a COVID-19-spreading party. 

I’ll trust the educator who doesn’t want more Americans to die. Seems like the obvious choice. We’ll see what Virginia voters think tonight.

It made comedian Sarah Silverman say, “THIS IS FUCKING BRILLIANT,” and prompted author Stephen King to shout “Pulitzer Prize!!!” (on Twitter, that is). What is it? The viral letter that launched four hilarious Trump-trolling books. Get them all, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.

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Who knew that the United Nations Climate Change Conference would turn so competitive so quickly? Though Joe Biden vowed to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 in a speech Monday, that pledge made fewer waves around the world than the promise made by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As detailed in a five-prong solution to combat climate change, Modi announced that India intends to reach net-zero by 2070.

This is the first time India has made a carbon neutrality pledge, though COP26 generally hopes countries reach net-zero by 2050. The U.S. and E.U. have already vowed to do so, while China says it will reach net-zero by 2060. India is the world’s third-largest carbon emitter, while China and the U.S. round out the top two spots.

Biden’s COP26 speech zeroed in on methane in particular because, as the president said, methane remains “one of the most potent greenhouse gases.”

“More than 70 countries have already signed up to support the rapid reduction of methane pollution, and I encourage every nation to sign on,” Biden said. “It’s the single most effective strategy we have to slow global warming in the near term.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one ton of methane released into the atmosphere has about 80 times the warming impact of one ton of carbon dioxide. Methane accounts for 10% of American greenhouse gas emissions, though the proposed reduction of 41 million tons of methane emissions is the equivalent of 920 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The U.S. is hoping to reach this goal by 2035.

Not to be outdone by its neighbors to the south, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday that his country would also be targeting methane emissions. 

Canada has already signed onto the Global Methane Pledge. Its goal of reducing methane emissions by at least 75% within the oil and gas industries is significant, as that sector represents the largest polluter in Canada of not just methane emissions but overall greenhouse gases. Methane accounts for 13% of Canada’s overall emissions.

The U.S. is one step ahead of Canada in legislation, with plans to release new regulations on methane this week. Canada will announce its own series of regulations later this year, as will the European Union. One thing to especially look out for in the U.S. is a proposed methane fee that would require oil and gas giants to pay as much as $1,500 per metric ton of emissions that exceed a certain threshold in 2025. The methane fee is part of the Build Back Better Act, which Biden touted during his COP26 speech.

Much of what Biden is most proud of, in terms of combating climate change, hinges on the passage of the Build Back Better Act. The president is hoping to realize his pledge of investing billions in reducing emissions as well as helping developing countries hit the hardest by climate change, but none of that can be achieved if the bill continues to languish. It’s critical—especially on a global stage—that the U.S. put its money where its mouth is. Call on lawmakers to pass the Build Back Better Act for the sake of our planet and generations of Americans to come.

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Mark Richards, the attorney of vigilante and darling of the far-right Kyle Rittenhouse argued Tuesday that his client acted in self-defense when he chased down an unarmed Joseph Rosenbaum and shot him four times, once in the back. 

Richards claimed that it was Rosenbaum’s skateboard that was the real threat since it’s possible to “separate the head from the body” with a skateboard, he alleges. 

In his opening statements, Richards said: “He [Rittenhouse] acted in self-defense, ladies and gentlemen,” he told the jury. “The evidence will show his actions … were reasonable under the circumstances as they existed that night, being attacked by Mr. Rosenbaum.”

But Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger portrayed Rittenhouse as an enemy of the city, someone who came in to ignite an ember into a raging inferno. 

“Like moths to a flame, tourists from outside our community were drawn to the chaos here in Kenosha,” said Binger. “People from outside Kenosha came in and contributed to that chaos.

“The evidence will show that hundreds of people were out on the streets experiencing chaos and violence and the only person who killed anyone was the defendant Kyle Rittenhouse,” Binger said, adding: “When we consider the reasonableness of the defendant’s actions, I ask you to keep that in mind. We’re not asking you to solve a mystery in this case.”

The reality is, Rittenhouse is a teenage wanna-be cop who drove himself from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, with an AR-15-style .223 rifle in his car, wearing a backward baseball cap and harboring an intention to act as citizen police. He took it upon himself to protect a couple of local businesses on the night of a peaceful protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. 

Videos from the night of the shooting show that several protesters attempted to disarm Rittenhouse, who fatally shot Rosenbaum, 36, then Anthony Huber, 26, and seconds later Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who was wounded. 

CNN reports that several social media accounts believed to belong to Rittenhouse paint a picture of a white man with a love of weapons, President Donald Trump, and “Blue Lives Matter” rhetoric.

The Proud Boys have rallied behind him. Trump himself has refused to decry his actions and photos of Rittenhouse posing with Proud Boys and throwing white supremacist hand signs have flooded the internet. 

Last month, attorneys for Rittenhouse attempted to argue that he was legally allowed to carry his AR-15 weapon because he had a certificate to hunt. 

Of course, the next obvious question is if that’s the case … what exactly was Rittenhouse hunting?

Under Wisconsin law, there are certain training and supervision requirements for anyone 16 years or younger in order to possess a gun for hunting. The law does not outline limits for people over 16.

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder denied the motion to drop Rittenhouse’s weapons possession charge.

Rittenhouse, now 18, is charged with five felonies: first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He is also charged with misdemeanor possession of a dangerous weapon under the age of 18 and a noncriminal violation of failure to comply with an emergency order. He has pleaded not guilty. 

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After damning revelations emerged Monday about Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell, a Republican adversary pounced.

Former GOP Rep. Ryan Costello mocked a Parnell campaign statement denying the sworn testimony of his estranged wife that Parnell choked her, verbally denigrated her as a “whore” and “piece of shit,” and hit their kids.

Parnell, who Donald Trump has endorsed in the open Republican primary, said he “anxiously” awaited the chance to refute his estranged wife’s testimony. “Let me empathically state: I have never raised a hand in anger towards my wife or any of our three children,” Parnell claimed in a statement. 

Costello, a more moderate Republican who is still weighing a Senate bid, quickly subtweeted, “Let me emphatically state he would’ve lost the General (election) by 5 before this, even to the do-nothing clown (John) Fetterman, but now it’s clear he’d lose to a golden retriever by double digits.”

Calling Parnell a “disaster of a candidate,” Costello added that Parnell should “write books & play hero on Fox & gtfo out of the race.”

Republican real estate developer and primary opponent Jeff Bartos already declared Parnell “unelectable” in September because Parnell’s wife had secured two temporary protective orders against him in 2017 and 2018. Both were expunged with no public record of their contents accessible.

On Monday, Parnell’s estranged wife reportedly testified that she endured years of physical and verbal abuse. “It just got worse and worse,” she said, adding that the family was “walking on eggshells. The minute he walked back into the house, we were petrified.”

GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring from the seat, couldn’t even bring himself to generally denounce abusive behavior when he was asked Tuesday about the allegations against Parnell.

“I really don’t have anything for you right now,” Toomey told HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic.

What a profile in courage. Toomey couldn’t even muster the standard response: If proven true, these are very serious allegations.

The entire GOP Senate slate is shaping up to potentially offer voters an array of allegedly abusive behavior. Whether it’s Herschel Walker in Georgia allegedly threatening to “blow” the brains out of his former spouse and girlfriend, Missouri’s disgraced ex-governor Eric Greitens allegedly sexually violating and blackmailing a woman with whom he had an affair, or Parnell’s family allegedly living a life of fear, Republicans are assembling a regressive field of men with stunningly horrific anger issues.   

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Senate staffer and parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who has twice rejected immigration provisions for inclusion in the budget reconciliation package, may have worked to deport immigrants when she served as a prosecutor roughly two decades ago, Pablo Manríquez reports for Latino Rebels.

Manríquez brings to light a 2012 Politico profile that noted her late 1990s work as “a Justice Department trial attorney, handling immigration cases from a gritty jail office in Elizabeth, NJ.” Respected attorneys tell Latino Rebels that her position and the location of her work means she may have argued in favor of deportations as she’s now given immense say over the future of millions of immigrants.

“Generally speaking, INS trial attorneys were similar to the ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] trial attorneys of today,” University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Immigration Clinic Director Michael Kagan told Latino Rebels. The report notes INS, or Immigration and Naturalization Service, handled deportations before Congress created ICE in 2003. “If [MacDonough] was an INS trial attorney at the Elizabeth detention facility, it’s hard to imagine what role she would have performed besides arguing for the detention of immigrants or the deportation of immigrants,” Kagan continued.

The report said that attorneys are now trying to find out more about MacDonough’s work at the Justice Department, including filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Amy Maldonado, another respected attorney who has advocated for vulnerable children in federal immigration detention,” has not received any specific information from the request, but she told Latino Rebels that she intends to pursue possible legal action against the government if the request is not expedited.” 

But Manríquez noted during an interview with The Takeaway last month that MacDonough “was an immigration attorney so long ago that those records don’t actually exist through FOIA. We’re looking for mentions of her in FOIA, because the impression that a lot of people have who worked at INS back in the day is that somebody of her role could have only done one job, and that is defend the deportations that the United States was doing at the time.”

“It seems to me like a really weird thing that you would have a deporter attorney as the impartial arbiter of an immigration reform package,” he continued.

Advocates have previously called on Senate Democrats to disregard MacDonough’s opinions. Mainstream media outlets and others have erroneously stated that MacDonough’s opinions are final rulings when in reality they are non-binding and can be overruled. Experts have also already pointed out that “[o]n both the budgetary effect and the ‘merely incidental’ test, legalization qualifies” for passage through reconciliation. Now in light of her possible deportation work, the need to disregard her opinion is even more urgent, advocates say.

“The Parliamentarian is supposed to be the nonpartisan referee of the Senate’s rules, but MacDonough is not an impartial voice on the issue of immigration,” the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) said late last month. “Before becoming the Senate Parliamentarian, MacDonough worked as a trial attorney handling immigration cases for the U.S. Department of Justice. As someone who has worked to deport people, she cannot be trusted to rule objectively on immigration issues.”

Senate Democrats may present their third immigration proposal, dubbed “Plan C,” to MacDonough as soon as this week. That plan would allow undocumented immigrants to apply for temporary deportation protections and work permits, a significant departure from the permanent relief offered by a pathway to citizenship (and promised by Democrats). She put forward her non-binding opinion against that in September. A second non-binding opinion against Plan B, which focused on legalization through a “registry,” came just days later.

MacDonough has the final word on permanent relief for millions of undocumented immigrants only if Senate Democrats allow her to have the final word. “So the parliamentarian needs to recuse on including immigration reform in this bill,” Daily Kos’ Joan McCarter tweeted on Tuesday in response to the Latino Rebels report. “And @SenSchumer and @VP need to be prepared to ignore her advice on it if she doesn’t.”