The weekend is upon us and I still haven’t gotten my chromatic harmonica in the mail, so I’m a bit salty. Well, that’s not the only reason, but it doesn’t help. In any event, if I want to be pissed off, there’s plenty in the news today to do it. So let’s get it out of our system.
Before we start, it is the official position of Enon Holler World Headquarters that we support everyone in how they live their life so long as they’re not hurting other people. In this instance, this means we are pro-trans folks. That is, if that’s what brings them peace, we are on their side. If you think there’s something, anything, “wrong” about them, we are against you. We have had friends who were trans women and trans men, and we so no real reason to be assholes to them about the trans thing. Indeed, we see being an asshole about the trans thing as a fault in character.
American Conservatism, realizing that the fight against gay folks was pretty much lost, has shifted its ire onto trans folks in the last couple of years as the cause of all of Western society’s ills. The reason for this is people who are buttholes need someone to be buttholes to, and since trans acceptance is pretty much a given (like gay acceptance was in the ’90s), the last remnant of buttholery has to fight against that particular dying light due to their lack of inner soul.
The latest iteration of this comes in the Mississippi state government passing legislation that would ban trans girls from competing in high school girls’ athletics. The bill in question, Senate Bill 2536, has been Orewellianly described as the “Mississippi Fairness Bill” by its main instigator, Sen. Angela Hill of Picayune. Hill’s most well-known for helping to scuttle an “equal pay for equal work” bill last fall, making the Magnolia State the only one in the union without such a guarantee for its citizens.
Remember last year when Mississippi got rid of the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag? Well, that was done with quickness mainly because the SEC and NCAA threatened to pull out of all events in the state if they didn’t join the 20th century. The pro-LGBT group the Human Rights Campaign warn similar threats could arise because of this bill, especially given, as we’ve noted, the ongoing acceptance of trans Americans.
This has become a bone of contention for conservatives who’re pretending to give a shit about women’s athletics after years of trying to defang Title IX. And while this has been a favorite go-to for anti-trans bigots, there’s no evidence of this being a problem in high schools. Not in Mississippi and not, for that matter, in the rest of the country. We’re not the only state to pass such measures, as Idaho did something similar recently. Again, since it’s not actually been a problem except in the minds of buttholes, it’ll probably be a bit before it comes under legal scrutiny. It will eventually, though.
Moving on, it seems the dumbass tax cut/raise championed by Rep. Phil Gunn looks to be dying on the vine. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann swings the biggest stick in the Senate, and probably the Capitol in general, and has indicated it probably wouldn’t survive the Senate. “I don’t want to be Kansas,” he said, referring to the similar tax plan put forth by Sam Brownback back in 2012 that wound up wrecking the Jayhawk State.
The to-and-fro over the bill had another positive effect, as an attempt to restrict voting fell stillborn due to time running out. One bill would’ve sent voters who hadn’t voted in two years a postcard. If they didn’t respond to the postcard and didn’t vote in the next election, they were off the rolls. The other more insidious one, backed by Walls Rep. Dan Eubanks, would’ve gotten into potential voters having to prove they were citizens if their names came up. They would’ve had thirty days to come up with a birth certificate, passport, or citizenship papers, which Jackson Rep. Zakiya Summers said was too close to a poll tax to be of comfort. So, those are dead and that is a good thing.
A couple of things more and we’ll call it a night. Despite the state government doing sweet Fanny Adams about it, reports from Jackson Public Works Director Charles Williams said less than 5,000 city residents are still without water. This is a good thing, as the state capital’s water woes are inching up on a month since Winter Storm Uri. For reference, a little over 166,000 souls call the City With Soul home. More homes will be back online by Monday, Williams said, joining the already 42,000 returned to being able to flush their toilets since the storm.
Jackson is over 80% Black with around 30% of the population living under the poverty level. Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said the problem with the city’s pipes is that the infrastructure is over 100 years old and has only been patched together over the years. The problem is because of major-league white flight over the past couple of decades, the tax base has steadily shrunk and the actual state government doesn’t really give a damn. The city has been under a boil warning since February 16 and Lumumba has asked Gov. Tate Reeves for $47 million to fix the city’s system, patching pipes, and cleaning out reservoirs. That’s just to get it functional again. A complete overhaul will run between one and two billion dollars.
Finally, one of Mississippi’s U.S. Representatives, Steven Palazzo, is in the hot seat. A non-partisan Congressional ethics board has found what it’s calling “substantial evidence” that the Republican, who covers primarily the coastal region as a part of the Fourth Congressional District, mishandled what’s called the Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA). Basically, this is supposed to cover things like travel, staff pay, and everyday office expenses, and every member of Congress gets one. Fair enough. However, Palazzo is accused of repeatedly using said funds for campaign purposes, which is a serious no-no, as well as using the money for personal reasons, such as using $80, 000 for a house in D’Iberville he tried to claim as a campaign office.
He also may have used his position to help his brother Kyle out in ways unbecoming a U.S. Representative. The investigation’s been going on since March and while Palazzo denies the charges, he isn’t talking to any press at the moment. It should be noted that in recent years, the Representative has voted against any aid bills pertaining to COVID-19 relief but has supported a bill that would restart the contentious Keystone XL Pipeline though it would in no way benefit the people he’s supposed to represent.
And that’s about it. There’s some more concerning the Senate voting down reconciliation on a proposed $15 minimum wage, and particularly tacky actions by dissenting Democrats Chris Cooper and Kyrsten Sinema. Eight Democrats voted against it, but they had to be jackasses about it. However, that needs to marinate a couple days so maybe we’ll look at it Sunday. Otherwise, have a nice weekend and stay dry.
Dear Y'all 