State Houses Thread

[GreyhoundFan]

Apparently the Utah legislature is planning a monument to Orrin Hatch:

 

[AmazonGrace]

How is this a thing?

[candygirl200413]

@AmazonGrace I'm going to see if I can find what I think was a buzzfeed long read article about the amount of things physicians and residents are able to do primarily to female patients when they are not conscious. It was disgusting. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Wisconsin judge blocks Republicans’ lame-duck power grab"

Spoiler

A Wisconsin judge on Thursday blocked several lightning-fast actions in December by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to limit the power of its incoming governor, Democrat Tony Evers, and preserve policies implemented by his predecessor, Scott Walker.

The GOP has tried similar power-stripping efforts after losing statewide elections in North Carolina and Michigan. Out­going Michigan governor Rick Snyder vetoed some but not all of the bills passed in December. And in 2016, North Carolina’s outgoing Republican governor, Pat Mc­Crory, defeated by Democrat Roy Cooper, signed a number of lame-duck measures, some of which have been successfully challenged in court.

In Wisconsin, the legislature acted in what is known as an “extraordinary session,” called with little notice. It lasted two days and one night and sparked heated protests.

The measures sought to protect, among other things, Republican agenda items such as work requirements for Medicaid and food-stamp recipients, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and limits on early absentee voting in elections. A federal judge blocked the voting measure earlier.

The three bills enacted during the sessions were extraordinary in breadth. One of them gave the legislature powers usually and exclusively reserved for the attorney general, such as approving legal actions by the state and signing off on lawsuit settlements. Another was aimed at reducing the need for highway construction projects to comply with federal laws governing prevailing wages and minority set-asides. Severe restrictions were imposed limiting the availability of Medicaid.

Republicans pushed through 82 of Walker’s appointments to various state boards and commissions.

At the time of the session, state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos stated its purpose plainly: “We are going to have a very liberal governor who is going to enact policies that are in direct contrast to what many of us believe in,” he said.

Dane County Judge Richard G. Niess invalidated the actions, including the appointments. He ruled that the extraordinary session violated the state’s constitution, which allows special sessions only when convened by the governor. Although Walker signed the bills, he did not call the session.

The lawsuit, one of several, was brought by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Disability Rights of Wisconsin, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities and other groups.

In a statement posted Thursday to Twitter, Evers said: “The Legislature overplayed its hand by using an unlawful process to accumulate more power for itself and override the will of the people, despite the outcome of last November’s election.”

Vos and state Senate Republican leader Scott Fitzgerald promised in a statement emailed to The Washington Post that they would appeal the ruling. They claim the decision threatens all laws ever enacted in extraordinary sessions, including “stronger laws against child sexual predators and drunk drivers.”

Nothing in the decision or the lawsuit purports to go beyond the events of December, Jeffrey Mandell, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, told The Post.

Republicans lost all statewide contests in the midterm elections but retained majorities in both houses of Wisconsin’s legislature.

One of the GOP laws enacted in Wisconsin prevented the state from dropping out of a Texas-sponsored lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act. Immediately after Niess’s ruling, Attorney General Josh Kaul moved to withdraw the state’s involvement in the suit.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"GOP legislator prays to Jesus for forgiveness before state’s first Muslim woman swears in"

Spoiler

State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz was on the ninth “Jesus” of her opening prayer in the Pennsylvania statehouse when other lawmakers started to look uncomfortable.

Speaker Mike Turzai, a fellow Republican, glanced up — but Borowicz carried on, delivering a 100-second ceremonial invocation that some of her colleagues decried as an offensive, divisive and Islamophobic display shortly before the legislature swore in its first Muslim woman.

“God forgive us — Jesus — we’ve lost sight of you, we’ve forgotten you, God, in our country, and we’re asking you to forgive us,” Borowicz said, followed by a quote from the Bible’s second book of Chronicles that implores God’s followers to “turn from their wicked ways.” Then she praised President Trump for his unequivocal support of Israel.

“I claim all these things in the powerful, mighty name of Jesus, the one who, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord, in Jesus’ name,” Borowicz said.

By the time she said “Amen,” Borowicz had invoked Jesus 13 times, deploying the name between prayerful clauses as though it were a comma. She mentioned “Lord” and “God” another six times each and referenced “The Great I Am” and “the one who’s coming back again, the one who came, died and rose again on the third day.”

As the prayer reached a crescendo, at least one member shouted objections. Turzai, standing behind her, looked up again and nudged her elbow, prompting her to quickly conclude the address. Afterward, the protests only grew louder.

“It blatantly represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders — leaders that are supposed to represent the people,” Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the newly sworn-in Democrat who is Muslim, told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Monday. “I came to the Capitol to help build bipartisanship and collaborations regardless of race or religion to enhance the quality of life for everyone in the Commonwealth.”

Johnson-Harrell brought with her 55 guests, all there to see her historic moment at the statehouse. Thirty-two of them were Muslim, she told local news outlets. She later called for the General Assembly to censure Borowicz.

Johnson-Harrell’s new colleagues also came to her defense.

“Never have we started out with a prayer that divides us,” said the chamber’s top Democrat, Rep. Frank Dermody, speaking from the House floor. “Prayer should never divide us. It should bring us together.”

Rep. Jordan Harris, another high-ranking Democrat who called himself a devout Christian, criticized Borowicz for “weaponizing” her religion.

“I’m a Christian, and I believe in Christ,” Harris said in a statement. “What I believe is Christ’s teaching more than anything, and his teaching would not be about, and was not about, dividing us as a people, but uniting us as a people.”

Other state lawmakers called Borowicz’s prayer racist and said it was “fire and brimstone Evangelical prayer” that “epitomizes religious intolerance.”

Borowicz, responding to a local reporter’s question, refused to apologize.

“That’s how I pray every day. … I don’t apologize ever for praying,” she said.

Turzai later said that when the House invites religious leaders to lead the invocation, they’re instructed to respect all religious beliefs. However, the Patriot-News reported, lawmakers were not given the same instructions.

In recent years, the customary opening prayer — which kicks off every Pennsylvania legislative session day and was historically noncontroversial — has become another, minor front in an ongoing battle over religious representation and the separation of church and state. Last year, a federal court overturned statehouse rules that barred non-theists, who do not hold beliefs about any deity, from giving the opening invocation.

The judge ruled that the ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause, which protects the free exercise of religion. Republicans have appealed that verdict.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

I propose we put Kris Kobach (R-Fascist) in a closely confined camp together with all the other disgusting repugliklans.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"A Texas bill would make it possible to put women to death for having abortions"

Spoiler

Men and women, young and old, native Texans and immigrants, they rose to ask lawmakers to protect life, describing a “genocide” and foreseeing the arrival of “God’s wrath.”

The act of public atonement they are seeking is passage of a bill that would criminalize abortion without exception, and make it possible to convict women who undergo the procedure of homicide, which can carry the death penalty in Texas. Though it faces steep odds of becoming law, the measure earned a hearing this week amid a larger legislative push in GOP-controlled states to curtail abortion rights, in a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.

The legislation is the brainchild of state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican from Arlington, Tex., who was placed under state protection because of death threats he received when he first introduced the bill in 2017. The Air Force veteran, who has been married five times, argues that the measure is necessary to make women “more personally responsible.” He said Tuesday that his intention is to guarantee “equal protection” for life inside and “outside the womb.”

Some of his supporters see the issue in even more fateful terms.

“God’s word says, ‘He who sheds man’s blood, by man — the civil government — his blood will be shed,’” said Sonya Gonnella, quoting the Book of Genesis and asking lawmakers to “repent with us.”

Announcing herself as a “follower of the lord Jesus Christ,” Gonnella was among hundreds of people who testified in a marathon hearing that stretched from Monday into early Tuesday before the Texas House’s Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.

It was the first time in the state’s history, committee members said, that public testimony had been heard on a measure holding women criminally liable for their abortions. The legislation was left pending on Tuesday, as Democrats claimed a contradiction in the agenda advanced by its supporters, who call themselves “pro-life.”

“I’m trying to reconcile in my head the arguments that I heard tonight about how essentially one is okay with subjecting a woman to the death penalty for the exact — to do to her the exact same thing that one is alleging she is doing to a child,” said state Rep. Victoria Neave, a Democrat who represents part of Dallas County.

A number of hurdles stand in the way of the legislation, including the reluctance of the committee’s chairman, Republican Jeff Leach, to bring it to the full House. Even some antiabortion groups, such as Texans for Life, oppose the severe changes to the state’s criminal laws.

Yet, the fact that the measure, which did not get a hearing in 2017, is now being entertained in Austin is a testament to new zeal behind the campaign to roll back abortion rights. Enthusiasm for the antiabortion cause was evident as well in the surprise box office success of the film “Unplanned,” which paints a dark picture of Planned Parenthood and other groups that defend abortion rights. The White House is screening a film with a similar message on Friday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In Texas, which has already advanced legislation punishing doctors who fail to try to save the lives of infants born after attempted abortions, the battle lines have been clearly drawn. Republican lawmakers describe the initiatives to prevent abortions in later trimesters as the “anti-New York” bills, a response to a measure signed into law in January by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that critics falsely claim strips medical care from infants born alive during procedures, which happens extremely rarely.

The emotional showdown in Texas came amid a broader effort, in states where Republicans enjoy legislative control, to impose sweeping new restrictions on abortion rights. From Georgia to Ohio, from Florida to West Virginia, about a dozen states have moved on legislation banning abortion once a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat.

Some states are intent on taking additional steps. Last week, legislation was introduced in Alabama that would criminalize performing an abortion at any stage, with the only exception being a threat to the mother’s life. The effort is aimed squarely at Roe v. Wade.

That the Texas bill, which goes even further, is a clear violation of the 1973 landmark decision appears to be precisely the point for those who asked lawmakers to advance it out of committee. The measure directs authorities to enforce its requirements “regardless of any contrary federal law, executive order, or court decision.” In testimony, proponents hailed President Trump as a champion of the “unborn” and beseeched state lawmakers to do their part in giving him a “chance” to help advance their agenda before a Supreme Court whose makeup he has shifted to the right.

“Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional,” said Jim Baxa, president of West Texans for Life. “And the 10th Amendment puts it to you all to stand up to that tyranny and do what’s right.”

Baxa said the bill was his organization’s “No. 1 priority” because it was the first to treat abortion fully as a capital felony, giving those who claim to “believe abortion is murder” a chance to “prove that.”

“A woman who has committed murder should be charged with murder,” he affirmed.

Stephen Bratton, a pastor from Houston, sounded a similar note. “Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty,” the religious leader said.

In all, 446 witnesses registered their approval for the bill. Mainly representing faith groups and local arms of the GOP, they told lawmakers they would have to account for their actions before their “creator” as well as before their voters. The “pro-life” label wouldn’t protect them, said a GOP precinct chair, Cassandra Weaver, in a prophecy for the committee’s Republicans, some of whom have been reluctant to endorse the legislation. Voters, she said, “think that you’ve come into this office because you are trying to end abortion.”

Faith wasn’t the only justification offered for the bill. “We are literally missing billions of dollars in taxpayer money,” one woman said, suggesting that preventing abortion would increase the state’s population, meaning more people contributing to public coffers.

Speaking in opposition were 54 people, among them business leaders, women’s rights activists and legal experts.

“Murdering your citizens for a medical procedure is pretty extreme to me,” said Caroline Caselli, a technology CEO recently transplanted from California, who said she feared for her female employees.

Drucilla Tigner, a strategist for the ACLU of Texas, observed bluntly that the legislation was unconstitutional and would be invalidated, while Jasmine Wang, a legislative and legal intern with the abortion rights organization NARAL, said the hearing was a “waste of time.” She accused the Republican majority of showing “blatant disregard for the proper practice of medicine.”

That claim appeared to irk the committee’s chairman. Leach, who represents a swath of Collin County in North Texas, said he was committed to giving each bill introduced by a member a hearing before the committee. And he challenged Wang to say at what interval she was no longer comfortable with a woman terminating her pregnancy.

Wang refused to say, objecting, “Representative Leach, respectfully,” to which he rejoined, “Chairman Leach,” instructing the intern to acknowledge his title.

The hearing was celebrated by committee members as an illustration of the democratic process.

“The Texas legislature still works,” Leach said, commending his colleagues and the residents who had filled the committee room, as well as an overflow area, to provide testimony.

Tinderholt agreed, saying he was “honored” that his proposal had generated so much interest.

“I think we set an example for Washington, D.C.,” he concluded.

 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"A Texas bill would make it possible to put women to death for having abortions"

  Reveal hidden contents

Men and women, young and old, native Texans and immigrants, they rose to ask lawmakers to protect life, describing a “genocide” and foreseeing the arrival of “God’s wrath.”

The act of public atonement they are seeking is passage of a bill that would criminalize abortion without exception, and make it possible to convict women who undergo the procedure of homicide, which can carry the death penalty in Texas. Though it faces steep odds of becoming law, the measure earned a hearing this week amid a larger legislative push in GOP-controlled states to curtail abortion rights, in a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.

The legislation is the brainchild of state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican from Arlington, Tex., who was placed under state protection because of death threats he received when he first introduced the bill in 2017. The Air Force veteran, who has been married five times, argues that the measure is necessary to make women “more personally responsible.” He said Tuesday that his intention is to guarantee “equal protection” for life inside and “outside the womb.”

Some of his supporters see the issue in even more fateful terms.

“God’s word says, ‘He who sheds man’s blood, by man — the civil government — his blood will be shed,’” said Sonya Gonnella, quoting the Book of Genesis and asking lawmakers to “repent with us.”

Announcing herself as a “follower of the lord Jesus Christ,” Gonnella was among hundreds of people who testified in a marathon hearing that stretched from Monday into early Tuesday before the Texas House’s Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.

It was the first time in the state’s history, committee members said, that public testimony had been heard on a measure holding women criminally liable for their abortions. The legislation was left pending on Tuesday, as Democrats claimed a contradiction in the agenda advanced by its supporters, who call themselves “pro-life.”

“I’m trying to reconcile in my head the arguments that I heard tonight about how essentially one is okay with subjecting a woman to the death penalty for the exact — to do to her the exact same thing that one is alleging she is doing to a child,” said state Rep. Victoria Neave, a Democrat who represents part of Dallas County.

A number of hurdles stand in the way of the legislation, including the reluctance of the committee’s chairman, Republican Jeff Leach, to bring it to the full House. Even some antiabortion groups, such as Texans for Life, oppose the severe changes to the state’s criminal laws.

Yet, the fact that the measure, which did not get a hearing in 2017, is now being entertained in Austin is a testament to new zeal behind the campaign to roll back abortion rights. Enthusiasm for the antiabortion cause was evident as well in the surprise box office success of the film “Unplanned,” which paints a dark picture of Planned Parenthood and other groups that defend abortion rights. The White House is screening a film with a similar message on Friday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In Texas, which has already advanced legislation punishing doctors who fail to try to save the lives of infants born after attempted abortions, the battle lines have been clearly drawn. Republican lawmakers describe the initiatives to prevent abortions in later trimesters as the “anti-New York” bills, a response to a measure signed into law in January by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that critics falsely claim strips medical care from infants born alive during procedures, which happens extremely rarely.

The emotional showdown in Texas came amid a broader effort, in states where Republicans enjoy legislative control, to impose sweeping new restrictions on abortion rights. From Georgia to Ohio, from Florida to West Virginia, about a dozen states have moved on legislation banning abortion once a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat.

Some states are intent on taking additional steps. Last week, legislation was introduced in Alabama that would criminalize performing an abortion at any stage, with the only exception being a threat to the mother’s life. The effort is aimed squarely at Roe v. Wade.

That the Texas bill, which goes even further, is a clear violation of the 1973 landmark decision appears to be precisely the point for those who asked lawmakers to advance it out of committee. The measure directs authorities to enforce its requirements “regardless of any contrary federal law, executive order, or court decision.” In testimony, proponents hailed President Trump as a champion of the “unborn” and beseeched state lawmakers to do their part in giving him a “chance” to help advance their agenda before a Supreme Court whose makeup he has shifted to the right.

“Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional,” said Jim Baxa, president of West Texans for Life. “And the 10th Amendment puts it to you all to stand up to that tyranny and do what’s right.”

Baxa said the bill was his organization’s “No. 1 priority” because it was the first to treat abortion fully as a capital felony, giving those who claim to “believe abortion is murder” a chance to “prove that.”

“A woman who has committed murder should be charged with murder,” he affirmed.

Stephen Bratton, a pastor from Houston, sounded a similar note. “Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty,” the religious leader said.

In all, 446 witnesses registered their approval for the bill. Mainly representing faith groups and local arms of the GOP, they told lawmakers they would have to account for their actions before their “creator” as well as before their voters. The “pro-life” label wouldn’t protect them, said a GOP precinct chair, Cassandra Weaver, in a prophecy for the committee’s Republicans, some of whom have been reluctant to endorse the legislation. Voters, she said, “think that you’ve come into this office because you are trying to end abortion.”

Faith wasn’t the only justification offered for the bill. “We are literally missing billions of dollars in taxpayer money,” one woman said, suggesting that preventing abortion would increase the state’s population, meaning more people contributing to public coffers.

Speaking in opposition were 54 people, among them business leaders, women’s rights activists and legal experts.

“Murdering your citizens for a medical procedure is pretty extreme to me,” said Caroline Caselli, a technology CEO recently transplanted from California, who said she feared for her female employees.

Drucilla Tigner, a strategist for the ACLU of Texas, observed bluntly that the legislation was unconstitutional and would be invalidated, while Jasmine Wang, a legislative and legal intern with the abortion rights organization NARAL, said the hearing was a “waste of time.” She accused the Republican majority of showing “blatant disregard for the proper practice of medicine.”

That claim appeared to irk the committee’s chairman. Leach, who represents a swath of Collin County in North Texas, said he was committed to giving each bill introduced by a member a hearing before the committee. And he challenged Wang to say at what interval she was no longer comfortable with a woman terminating her pregnancy.

Wang refused to say, objecting, “Representative Leach, respectfully,” to which he rejoined, “Chairman Leach,” instructing the intern to acknowledge his title.

The hearing was celebrated by committee members as an illustration of the democratic process.

“The Texas legislature still works,” Leach said, commending his colleagues and the residents who had filled the committee room, as well as an overflow area, to provide testimony.

Tinderholt agreed, saying he was “honored” that his proposal had generated so much interest.

“I think we set an example for Washington, D.C.,” he concluded.

 

This is so illogical that it is making my Spock like brain hurt!

 

[fraurosena]

Good has prevailed over evil in Texas today.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[47of74]

An idiot showing the world how not to do an invocation in the Virginia House of Delegates;

Quote

A case in point of what an invocation should absolutely, positively *not* be took place on April 3, 2019, during the “reconvene”/”veto session” of the Virginia House of Delegates. See the video, below, as Pastor Randall Snipes of the Oak Ridge Baptist Church in Colonial Beach delivered a fire-breathing, hard-right speech, disguised as a prayer, in which he was the opposite of ecumenical, in which he urged god to “convict us of sin,” said “those who reject you will be sentenced,” and in which he spoke of “the millions and millions of innocent lives that have been murdered for the sake of convenience,” adding, “God we ask you for forgiveness for the bloodshed that is on our hands as a nation.” So yeah, basically, Pastor Snipes – invited by Speaker Kirk Cox, by the way – just called out every pro-choice member of the Virginia House of Delegates for basically having the blood of “millions and millions of innocent lives” on their hands. Charming start to the day, eh? Must have made everyone feel very “energized and rejuvenated,” right?

Anyway, check out the video below, followed by some comments from Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria/Arlington), who called this invocation “incredibly offensive,” adding that “no one invited into the House of Delegates should be praying to God that any of us go to hell,” that “I’m sure this guy would be happier living in a theocracy,” and that “his comments were un-American and beneath the dignity of Virginia and the House of Delegates.” What do you think? Personally, I’m with Del. Levine on this one…

 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, 47of74 said:

An idiot showing the world how not to do an invocation in the Virginia House of Delegates;

*grins, and waves both hands in the air*

Hot damn, I have a bingo!!!

[47of74]

An eastern Iowa state lawmaker is switching parties and laid it at the feet of fuck face;

Quote

A lawmaker in the Iowa House of Representatives said he's leaving the Republican Party in part because of his disapproval of President Donald Trump.

Rep. Andy McKean, an Anamosa lawmaker, announced Tuesday that he plans to register as a Democrat and vote with the minority caucus.

"With the 2020 presidential election looming on the horizon, I feel, as a Republican, that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party," McKean said during a news conference at the Capitol. "Unfortunately, that's something I'm unable to do."

McKean said Trump is just one part of a bigger trend of partisanship in the country, which made him feel out of place in the Republican caucus. McKean said when he joined the Legislature 40 years ago, there were many moderates in the Republican Party. But now, according to him, the ranks have thinned.

Of course the Republicans are acting all butt-hurt over this. 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[fraurosena]

Good news!

 

[AnywhereButHere]

Kansas may have left the battlefield, but Alabama is stepping into the breach. They’re ready to take their fight to the Supreme Court. Disgusting.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1000461

Quote

Ala. — The Alabama House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to outlaw almost all abortions in the state as conservatives take aim at the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

The Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted 74-3 for legislation that would make it a felony to perform an abortion on a woman at any stage of her pregnancy. The proposal passed after Democrats walked out of the chamber after sometimes emotional debate with opponents and supporters crowding the gallery. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.

...

House Republicans voted down Democrats' attempt to amend the bill to add an exemption for rape and incest. Representatives voted 72-26 to table the proposed amendment.

"They would not even allow an exception for rape and incest. ... What does that say to the women in this state," House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels.

Collins argued that adding exemptions would weaken the intent of the bill as a vehicle to challenge Roe. She said if states regain the ability to decide abortion access, Alabama lawmakers could come back and decide what exemptions to allow.

[RosyDaisy]

It's actually worse than that in Alabama. People are prepared to defy the Supreme Court if it comes to that. I hate my state! [emoji49][emoji49][emoji49][emoji49][emoji49][emoji49]

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[fraurosena]

21 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

Rape has nothing to do with sex, or passion, or lust. It is an overt act of domination by one human being over another. It is horrific and contemptible and should be condemned in any and all cases.

His lack of empathy for the victims of rape shows him to be callous, unfeeling and heartless. His statement gives me the impression that he would like to dominate women himself, and specifically physically and sexually. This looks like it's his excuse to legally be able to give in to his deviant urges. It's the will of god after all.

I know his tiny little mind hasn't thought of this possibility, but according to his own logic, it would also be the will of god if he himself were to be raped. 

[47of74]

Another GOP staffer bites the dust

Quote

Following reports that Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada’s chief of staff sent sexually explicit text messages to an intern and a lobbyist, used cocaine in the legislative office building and sent texts disparaging African Americans, the embattled staffer tendered his resignation on Monday.

Cothren had initially resisted calls to resign following a NewsChannel 5 report last week that claimed he had written text messages in which he’d referred to black people as “idiots” and NFL player Jameis Winston as a “thug n****r.” Cothren also allegedly sent an offensive “black people” meme to Casada, a veteran Republican lawmaker who was sworn in as House speaker in January:

According to the USA Today report, Cothren sent text messages in 2015 to an intern that solicited oral sex and naked photos. He allegedly made sexual advances toward a married lobbyist and suggested in other text messages that he would “keep hitting on” a different intern “just to see what happens.” 

He also allegedly exchanged sexually charged comments about women with Casada; one referred to a woman as a “cunt” and another described police officers who gave him parking tickets as “rent a cop cocksuckers.”

 

[CTRLZero]

Glen Casada should follow Cade Cothren out the door.  They both engaged in despicable behavior.  I get tired of the excuse that someone had "personal issues" leading them to send racist/misogynist/whatever texts.  And Casada kept enabling him for years.  Ugh.

[47of74]

1 hour ago, CTRLZero said:

Glen Casada should follow Cade Cothren out the door.  They both engaged in despicable behavior.  I get tired of the excuse that someone had "personal issues" leading them to send racist/misogynist/whatever texts.  And Casada kept enabling him for years.  Ugh.

Ten bucks says Casada will go the fuck face route and say that Cothren was a covefe boy who just ran errands for him and he barely knew the guy.