A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Big Yikes
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) wrote a childrens’ book about cancel culture titled “Fame, Blame, and the Raft of Shame,” and now I wish I never learned how to read.
- The book’s description on the publication site includes this dire warning: “While today’s culture presents canceling others’ opinions as the solution to their problems, they don’t realize that a culture of canceling eventually cancels culture entirely.”
Here’s the summary:
Deep in the ocean, Starlotte City blooms beneath a dome made of glowing seaweed. The city’s beauty and strength are mirrored by its vibrant culture, and Eva wants nothing more than to take her place on Starlotte City’s stage. But, when one star performer suggests that they ought to cancel some animals for insensitive comments, the true strength of the seaweed city and its citizens is put to the test. Will Eva have the courage to stand up to the crowds, or will she allow fear to silence herself and others?
🎵 Morning Memo Radio 🎵
Texas Cuts LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Hotline Under Political Pressure
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services took down its web page that provided a suicide hotline and other resources for LGBTQ+ youth after Don Huffines, one of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) primary challengers, stirred up outrage over it on Twitter in August.
- Huffines accused the agency (and Abbott??) of “promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth.” That apparently had agency staffers scrambling to reassure the public that no, the Texas government does not look out for young transgender people.
- Records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show that the agency’s media relations director emailed the agency’s communications director less than 15 minutes after Huffines posted the tweet, warning him that the video “is starting to blow up on Twitter.”
- The communications director then emailed the agency’s web and creative services director telling him that “we may need to take that page down, or somehow revise content.”
- Lo and behold, the agency’s entire Texas Youth Connection website (not just the page for LGBTQ+ youth) got taken down.
- Huffines gleefully took credit for the website’s removal. “I promised Texans I would get rid of that website and I kept that promise,” he said.
Kentucky’s Only Democrat In Congress Announces Retirement
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), who chairs the House Budget Committee, announced yesterday that he won’t be running for reelection.
US Will Open Its Land Borders To The Fully Vaccinated
The Biden administration is slated to announce that fully vaccinated non-U.S. citizens will be allowed to cross by land into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.
- Travel through the border via rail, ferry and vehicle is currently limited to “essential travel.” The U.S. announced last month that restrictions would be loosened in November to allow air travel for fully vaccinated foreigners.
- The new Canada/Mexico border protocols will be implemented in November, according to the Associated Press.
Florida City Sued For Painting Black Firefighter As White In Mural
Latosha Clemons, the first Black female firefighter in her town of Boynton Beach, Florida, is suing the city after after its commissioned mural depicted her as a white woman.
- Clemons wasn’t the only Black person who got literally whitewashed in the mural. The artwork also depicted a Black male former fire chief as white.
- Clemons called the mural “humiliating, painful and demoralizing.” “As the first and only Black woman in the department, I deserved the respect I earned on a daily basis serving the citizens of Boynton Beach and deserved to be recognized for who I am: a Black woman,” she said.
Birx In The Hot Seat
Ex-White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx (been a while since you’ve heard that name, eh?) took questions from investigators on the House COVID-19 select committee yesterday, according to Politico.
- The interview was part of the committee’s investigation into Trump’s botched response to the pandemic.
- Birx, who quit after Biden’s inauguration, said shortly after her resignation that she had been “censored” by the White House.
Michigan GOPers Quietly Installing Pro-Trump Election Truthers On Election Boards
Several GOP Michigan county chapters have been nominating a slate of people to county canvassing boards who either traffic in or have ties to Trump’s Big Lie crusade.
- One nominee, Nancy Tiseo, tweeted in November that Trump ought to suspend the Electoral College and direct “military tribunals” to investigate voter fraud.
- The district GOP committee chair who nominated Tiseo argued that the nominee could “very easily be removed” if “things get out of hand.”
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
