In 2008, the City Council of Porterville, California became the first and only government body to formally vote to urge residents to support Proposition 8 on the statewide ballot. That proposition would go on to pass, and banned marriage equality (AKA gay marriage) in the state. In 2013, after appeals and rulings, the United States District Court would strike down the initiative as un-Constitutional. (In 2015, the United States Supreme Court would rule that marriage equality bans were a violation of the US Constitution as well, and struck down all bans.)
What has this to do with Liberty Hill, Texas? That’s the déjà vu all over again.
I’m sure Liberty Hill has, like most communities, a lot of issues for local government to deal with. It takes something like a Pride Proclamation to get the folks of the town to pay attention. They showed up at the city council meeting, most of them not happy. You’d think the Mayor had just imposed ‘wokeness’ on them, and the citizens now have to wear stylish clothes and listen to Drag Queens read them children’s stories.
Here is the text of the entire proclamation:
PRIDE PROCLAMATION
Whereas, Liberty Hill is a Loving, Wholesome and Family-centered community; and
Whereas, Liberty Hill is an inclusive and supportive community; and
Whereas, We value all of our citizens because of the unique and precious nature of all of God’s children; and
Whereas, We oppose hate, abuse, discrimination or bullying of any person,
Now Therefore, I, Liz Branigan, as Mayor, do proclaim the month of June as Pride Month in Liberty Hill, in harmony with the larger community of the United States.
Proclaimed this the 14th day of June 2023.
Mayor Liz Branigan
That’s rather bland, isn’t it? It doesn’t even specifically refer to LGBTQ. That didn’t stop the “loving Christians” from flooding the council chambers and going off on the ‘slippery slope’ the city was forcing on them.
This is almost a replay of the events of June, 2013, in Porterville, California. Porterville is a small city in Central California, smack in the buckle of the state’s very red, very conservative Bible belt of the central valley. Kevin McCarthy is the Congressman for the area, as Devin Nunes was before him.
Here’s a blog I wrote about the Porterville proclamation, before it was issued.
When the proclamation was issued by Porterville’s mayor, all hell broke loose. (Kudos to Liberty Hill for not having a scene anything like Porterville’s.)
It should be noted that up until this proclamation, the process to issue one in Porterville was similar to Liberty Hill’s. The mayor gets an application from someone in the community, they decide if it meets the very basic requirements, and if so it gets placed on the agenda. Someone on city staff prints up the proclamation, it’s slipped into one of those blue folders, the Mayor and, if they desire, the city council members sign it. It’s then presented at a council meeting, usually to the person that initiated the request.
The only person to sign Porterville’s proclamation was the Mayor, Virginia Gurrola. Here’s the Porterville proclamation.
Another one of those “divisive” “gay agenda” things being “rammed down their throats”.
The proclamation did not go over well.
Other city council members decided enact another first in the nation (as far as we can ascertain), and rescind the proclamation in a formal vote. That didn’t work out as first planned, because the council members were in such a rush to undo what the Mayor had done that they didn’t add it to the agenda correctly. Thus began a Keystone Kops caper stretching over the summer as the other council members struggled to get it right. They eventually did, and rescinded the Pride proclamation, and ‘replaced’ it with a proclamation of “A Month of Community Charity and Goodwill to All in Porterville”. Doesn’t that sound like something that was said in the Liberty Hill meeting?
So now Liberty Hill Texas has a choice. Will they wish their LGBT community a happy Pride Month, or will they go the Porterville route, and fight tooth and nail to remove a rather milquetoast proclamation? Will they vilify the mayor?
The Visalia Times Delta published a blog post I wrote about the entire situation in the September 21-22, 2013 print edition of the Opinion page. You can read it here.
It’ll be interesting to see what Liberty Hill decides to do.
Like I said, déjà vu all over again.
Hamas attacks Israel
October 8, 2023
Jim Reeves commentary, News, Personal CIA, Hamas, Israel, MI6, Mossad, Netanyahu, terrorist attack Leave a comment
The terrorist organization Hamas launched an attack against Israel that has left hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead. Israel has said it had no intelligence that would lead them to believe an attack was being planned.
I don’t buy that.
Mossad is one of the premier intelligence agencies in the world. Their association with the CIA and MI6 makes me think, despite movies that pit each agency against each other for dramatic effect, that they had to have known something was imminent. How could Hamas moved, secured, and kept hidden that many rockets and guns without someone being aware of it and letting Israel know?
Maybe it’s my cynicism in my old age, but I suspect this story will unravel to become one of the most damning conspiracies in recent history. Why do I think that? Well, sit back and let me ‘splain it to you, Lucy.
Here’s my scenario:
It all goes back to Trump and Jared.
We know Trump provided access to secret intelligence documents to unauthorized individuals. Jared (Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, just in case you didn’t know the name) was “in charge” of the Middle East “peace process”. We know nuclear secrets of one of our allies (presumed to be Israel) was given (you can’t even give it the prestige or precedent of calling it a “leak”) to unknown agents (assumed to be Saudi Arabia). I think it’s safe to assume a lot of other information was included in this incident.
Jared was rewarded with 2 billion dollars.
Saudi Arabia has had several years to infiltrate Gaza with weapons, provide intelligence and support, and plan an assault on Israel.
All of that is bad, but here’s where my inner cynic really gets wound up.
I think Mossad knew Hamas was planning an attack. If they didn’t, they’re incompetent, and the entire upper leadership should not only be sacked, but charged with criminal negligence.
I suspect Netanyahu new there was an attack coming, and let it happen.
Why?
Because that would give him the political power to do what he’s always wanted to do: Destroy the Palestinians.
I think his government knew. I think the CIA knew. I think MI6 knew. Maybe not how big the attack was going to be, but they had to know something was cooking and ready to boil over. Netanyahu and his government let it happen to be able to respond with the full force of their US-supplied military.
This weekend’s attack and the (totally justified) Israeli response has set the peace process back at least 50 years.
Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to World War III.
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