Thought it couldn't get any worse than Trump? Meet Mary Lou Bruner

[AmazonGrace]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2016/03/02/mary_lou_bruner_extremist_who_thinks_obama_was_a_prostitute_heads_to_runoff.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_tw_top

 

Do you want a person who believes that the current occupant of the Oval Office was once a prostitute to decide what’s in your children’s textbooks? How about a woman who thinks that climate change is a Marxist “HOAX” (caps hers) to steer K–12 curricula for more than 5 million kids?

Well, then Texas has a candidate for you—and she won big on Super Tuesday.

Texas State Board of Education candidate Mary Lou Bruner’s website features a prayer that begins, “Lord, We ask You to show us where we as Christians and as a nation have fallen short of the mark allowing our government leaders to pass evil and ungodly laws which displease God.”

It seems the Lord has been listening to Bruner, for she took a commanding 48.45 percent of the vote in a three-way race for the Republican nomination for one of the state board’s 15 seats. She will face a run-off—in Texas, you have to hit the 50 percent threshold to make it official—against the second-place candidate in what promises to be a very-tiny-turnout election in late May. Because Texas heavily influences textbook content for schools all over the country, Bruner’s probable ascent is a very big—and very disturbing—deal.

[doggie]

in texas it can happen. though they have been someone what doing right with textbooks lately. 

[sawasdee]

Terrifying! And as someone in that article says, kind of ironic that a state ' whose economy  depends on a deep understanding of geology, geophysics and plate tectonics would elect a woman who doesn't believe in geophysics and plate tectonics' to oversee their education system. I guess Texas will be importing all its geologists and geophysicists in about 10 to 15 years........

ETA This also seems to illustrate very neatly the dangers of electing lay people to positions that require professional expertise/knowledge.(Think of elected coroners who are neither medical nor legal professionals). She may have been a teacher - which is scary enough - but she is certainly not competent to decide on the educational materials for an entire state. She obviously did not comprehend her own civics lessons, since she seems to have some difficulty understanding that her religious faith has, by law, nothing to do with deciding what is taught in schools.

[Howl]

The board that determines which textbooks will read by all Texas school children (and by extension, in many other states as well) has been a hot bed of conflict for years.  And keep in mind that this woman is an "EDUCATOR".  See, there is so much What the F*ckery with that that I decided to use scare quotes, go all caps on your a** and bold, because I just cannot wrap my head around it. 

For a bit of context for FJers, Mary Lou Bruner is running for the Texas State Board of Education in District 9.  Upshur County, the home of Big Sandy, is in the exact center of District 9.  Big Sandy is not a buxom women, it is the new home of Bill Gothard's ATI and the Duggar's favorite summer retreat. 

And yes, for a very long time, James Leininger has been deeply involved in these Texas State Board of Education races, pulling strings and throwing money at funding races of hyper conservative candidates.   If the name sounds familiar, it's because he was deeply involved with Doug Wilson's Vision forum and donated at least two buildings to Vision Forum Ministries in San Antonio.  His daughter, Tracy Leininger, acted in Vision Forum's Alone But Not Alone howler. 

From an article titled CREATIONISTS' LAST STAND AT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION in the Dallas Observer in 2013  dallasobserver.com/news/creationists-last-stand-at-the-state-board-of-education-6431134

Quote

 

Big money came to the state board in the form of a pediatric dentist from San Antonio named Bob Offutt. In 1992, he was elected with the help of his benefactor, James Leininger, founder of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. Leininger made his fortune selling high-tech hospital beds. He made his mark on the state by pushing tort reform and injecting heretofore unheard of amounts of cash into state board education elections. He was also, by no coincidence, a staunch advocate for a school voucher system....

...With Leininger's backing and infrastructure, he chose uncompromising, hyper-conservative candidates. In one race, they used Leininger's direct-mail company to distribute leaflets depicting a black man and a white woman, both half-naked and kissing, to mailboxes in East Texas. It accused the Democratic incumbent, a churchgoing grandmother, of attempting to teach oral and anal sex to school children. When the polls closed, the state board had won its first Republican majority.

 

Why am I more than just a little hysterical about this? The Mary Lou Bruner's of this world do not end up in these situations by accident or based on a whim to run.  There has been an ultra conservative strategy in place for a long, long time to control the Texas Board of Education and everything else and scarily, and to a large extent, very successful.  It's worth reflecting on how a wing nut like Mary Lou Bruner can now be seen as mainstream in the ultra conservative wing of the Republican party.  

Charles Krauthammer's OpEd piece this morning (Washington Post, Fox News, conservative) discusses why Evangelicals are abandoning Cruz and flocking to Trump -- they don't care that Trump is the poster boy for soulless  spiritual corruption;  rather, they just want someone who can kick some righteous ass for them as they continue with their attempt to create an American theocratic government from the ground up, with the Mary Lou Bruners of the world as foot soldiers.  Plus, everybody hates Ted Cruz.  

Quote

 

They’ve tried backing exemplary Scripture-quoting Christians — without result. After Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum and considerations of Cruz himself, they are increasingly reluctant to support like-minded candidates who are nonetheless incapable of advancing their cause in a hostile political arena so dominated by secularism.

They have no illusions about Trump. They have no expectations of religious uplift. What he offers them is not spirit but “muscle” 

 

And before I run off into a corner to tear at my hair and rend my clothes, it's extremely entertaining to read conservative pundits reflecting on What the Hell Just Happened to the Republican Party?  

[SpoonfulOSugar]

I have a thread in Politics about crazies like these . . . they seem to be far more prevalent than I ever realized.

Every time someone says, "Trump cannot get elected," I think, "Have you seen Maine's governor?!  And he got elected twice."

And then I cry.

[sawasdee]

@Howl and @SpoonfulOSugar If I were American, I would be so terrified and depressed at what seems to be the unstoppable advance of the christian right. They and the tea party, with co-operation from the more traditional Republicans, appear to have gerrymandered a perhaps permanent majority in the House - which means any Democrat President will be hog tied. And they have shown, only too clearly, that they consider their programmes more important than the interests of the country as a whole - viz. the shutdown of the Government. Obama has GOT to get a candidate for SCOTUS through, or they will dominate at least two of the three branches for the foreseeable future.

They absolutely scare the shit out of me.

[sawasdee]

Sorry to double post - but how can this woman make allegations that Obama was a prostitute and a drug addict without being sued for libel and slander? In the UK, she'd be in court. There must be a basis of truth to defend such allegations - and there certainly ain't no truth here!

[Howl]

@sawasdee, that's it in a nutshell.  Us Democrats and liberals are going to have to form a Prozac/Paxil buyer's club and set up some bulk orders.  Wonder if Big Pharma will give us a discount on large orders?   (joking here, of course they'll raise the price).  And yes, gerrymandering has been key (at least in Texas) to developing a conservative majority in the US House of Representatives by splitting and reassigning the districts of long standing Democratic representatives.  There are still lawsuits pending over this. 

Edited to add that moderate Republicans need to start a buyer's club for Depends because of the real possibility that The Donald will get the nomination. 

[samira_catlover]

On 3/5/2016 at 9:40 AM, Howl said:

@sawasdee, that's it in a nutshell.  Us Democrats and liberals are going to have to form a Prozac/Paxil buyer's club and set up some bulk orders.  Wonder if Big Pharma will give us a discount on large orders?   (joking here, of course they'll raise the price).  And yes, gerrymandering has been key (at least in Texas) to developing a conservative majority in the US House of Representatives by splitting and reassigning the districts of long standing Democratic representatives.  There are still lawsuits pending over this. 

Edited to add that moderate Republicans need to start a buyer's club for Depends because of the real possibility that The Donald will get the nomination. 

How about we also make a deal with BigPharma for REALLY heavy-duty antihypertensives, because my diastolic blood pressure is probably about 300 in the shade, at the concept that That Damned Fool might control nuclear launch codes? "Make American Torture-OK Again"--maybe a new post count.

@sawsadee: There was a big landmark case that hit the Supreme Court in 1964: not really a Certified Law Professional (tm pending), but my understanding was that if you were a public figure, you had a major problem proving malice and damages.  The Wikipedia article isn't bad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._Sullivan

 

[sawasdee]

@samira_catlover Thanks! I knew that US law was very different from UK, but did not realise it was that different. In the UK, the person who publishes the libel must show it to be either true or fair comment.  It can also be privileged - you can't sue over a slander uttered in Parliament, for example.

This lady would be in big trouble in the UK if she made such statements,as I think none of those three defences apply.

[salex]

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2016 at 8:39 AM, sawasdee said:

Sorry to double post - but how can this woman make allegations that Obama was a prostitute and a drug addict without being sued for libel and slander? In the UK, she'd be in court. There must be a basis of truth to defend such allegations - and there certainly ain't no truth here!

It is all over my fakebook that Obama is gay and that Michelle is a transsexual, etc... I don't usually read the articles because, because this is my "Stalk people we talk about on Free Jinger" account, not my true friends, but it is disconcerting how many people link hatefull busllshit as a full time occupation.

Meanwhile about Trump.  I don't think he's a true conservative... I think he is much more middle right than people like Cruz, etc.... and if he were not such a walking dick, I might be able to support him.  But the mouth on him and his grimacing face make it impossible for me to take him seriously.  I see him as eventually insulting some foreign head of state, publically, and causing all kinds of international problems.

This election is the republican's to lose.... it was "their turn" and sanders is a long shot and Hillary has a lot of issues.  But, it seems they are working hard to lose it this round.

 

 

 

Secondly,

[Howl]

45 minutes ago, salex said:

...But the mouth on him and his grimacing face make it impossible for me to take him seriously.  I see him as eventually insulting some foreign head of state, publicly, and causing all kinds of international problems.

El Chapo Guzman got wind of Trump's "let's insult all Mexicans" comments and threatened to kill him.  Trump took the threats very seriously because this was during the time that El Chapo had escaped and El Chapo is really, really good at having people murdered. 

(posted with the caveat that I do not consider El Chapo to be a foreign head of state!) 

[Sundaymorning]

I was just browsing the website of one of our local newspapers, when I saw an article headline which says (translated to English): A madwoman trumps Trump

And as I read the article, I realized that the author is right: this woman indeed makes Trump look mentally sane. Some of her gems: Dinosaurs are extinct cause there were only baby dinosaurs on the arch, so they couldn't reproduce. School shootings started after the schools started to teach ebil evolution. Obama supports gay rights cause he was a male prostitute in his 20s.

This lunatic is running for the Texas Board of Education, and the worst thing is, according to the article, her chances of getting elected are really good. I truly feel sorry for the Texan students.

For those who speak German or use google translate: http://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/welttheater/index.php/36786/eine-irre-uebertrumpft-trump/

English articles: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/04/a-texan-who-called-obama-a-gay-prostitute-may-soon-control-what-goes-in-childrens-textbooks/

http://gawker.com/meet-the-science-and-muslim-hating-conspiracy-theorist-1758545449

[laPapessaGiovanna]

There's no limit to the crazy.

What shocks me more though is the very real possibility of such a dimwit in charge of education  

[sawasdee]

This has been discussed in Obama is a Gay Prostitute and Other Points of View.

Sorry - don't know how to link.

But she's a cracker!

 

[Sundaymorning]

Oh my bad. I put her name into the free jinger search function to make sure that this topic wasn't discussed here previously, and nothing came up. But maybe a helpmeet could merge the threads?

[samurai_sarah]

10 minutes ago, Sundaymorning said:

Oh my bad. I put her name into the free jinger search function to make sure that this topic wasn't discussed here previously, and nothing came up. But maybe a helpmeet could merge the threads?

The helpmeets have discussed merging, and decided to keep this thread open and separate from the Obama thread. The original discussion about this woman was a side-discussion in the Obama thread. Nothing amiss with giving her a thread of her own, if FJers want to discuss her specifically.

 

[47of74]

Yeah we have our share of reich wing idiots around here.

Ms. Bruner reminds me of this one guy we have up here.  Real nasty piece of work too.  He used to have a site in which he would put up all sorts of nasty racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamaphobic screeds.  He took the site down last August for some reason.  His thing nowadays is hanging out on the local newspaper's comment boards and being stupid on there. 

 

[ophelia]

I read the german article and I have to say that I checked the date it was published several times, just to make sure it really says 2nd of april. I was hoping so badly that this was a canard.

Wow. That woman really is a piece of work. Who is able to vote the members for the Board of Education in Texas? Every citizen in a district or only school principals?

[AmazonGrace]

On 2.4.2016 at 0:09 AM, samurai_sarah said:

The helpmeets have discussed merging, and decided to keep this thread open and separate from the Obama thread. The original discussion about this woman was a side-discussion in the Obama thread. Nothing amiss with giving her a thread of her own, if FJers want to discuss her specifically.

 

Whatever you decide is of course fine but the thread "Obama is a gay prostitute" is a thread about  this woman, not a thread about Obama. (At least, I started it to talk about Mary Lou Bruner and not Obama.)

Sorry for the confusing title.

[samira_catlover]

Just spotted: http://patch.com/us/across-america/s/fn041/texas-candidate-who-claimed-obama-was-gay-hooker-loses-runoff-election

>>(my snips) The woman who came this close to being elected to the State Board of Education -- the government body that sets curriculum standards and adopts textbooks for the state's 5 million-plus school students -- believes (as she has stated both out loud in public, with people around, and on her prolific string of social media posts):

President Obama was a gay prostitute in his youth, an occupation he took up to finance a drug addiction;

Climate change is a hoax orchestrated by communists to undermine capitalism;

Democrats engineered the assassination of John F. Kennedy to allow his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, to enact a socialist agenda;

Pre-K programs at schools are designed to indoctrinate children into multiculturalism, socialism and homosexuality;

The Affordable Care Act is part of a plot by the United Nations to take over the U.S.;

Baby dinosaurs were among the animals on Noah's Ark.

Despite those interesting theories, Tea Party activist and former schoolteacher Bruner had been highly favored to win the election after nearly having won it against political rival Keven Ellis in the March primary.

Had she won, Bruner would've represented the East Texas region in the 15-member State Board of Education.

Ellis, an East Texas chiropractor who also is president of the school board in Lufkin, ultimately won the contest by 18 points.<<

[Howl]

Yeah, Demonic forces triumphed and we won't have Mary Lou to kick around anymore.  She believes that she lost because she was demonized by the media -- although it's pretty obvious that all anyone had to do was listen to what she actually said and read her old facebook posts to get the full frontal bat-shit crazy that is Mary Lou Bruner.    

On 4/4/2016 at 4:04 AM, ophelia said:

Wow. That woman really is a piece of work. Who is able to vote the members for the Board of Education in Texas? Every citizen in a district or only school principals?

Ophelia, she was running for the East Texas position on the State Board of Education, so only Texas voters in District 9 could vote in the run off.  District 9 is one of 15 State Board of Education districts and is in the northeast corner of Texas, and includes Big Sandy (new Gothard headquarters).  

[ophelia]

Thank you for the explanation, @Howl