"Rebranding" BS

Earlier this month, we noted the lower House of Congress' failure to ensure equal access to military family benefits. Yes, you read that right. The G-O-TEA led House could not even agree to that.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Paradise) has been working on this issue for some time. And finally, she succeeded this month at securing a committee vote for her legislation as an amendment to a related veterans' bill. It then lost by one vote.

Obviously, Rep. Titus was upset. However, she's not alone on this.



And she isn't stopping on this one issue. Yesterday, Rep. Titus joined Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) in signing a discharge petition for ENDA. And as of today, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) now has 75 signatures for his ENDA discharge petition.

The catch? All 75 of those signatures are from Democrats. And House Republican "leaders" just canceled all remaining work days until after the election. How sweet. So right after Congress returns from summer recess, the House will essentially enjoy a fall recess. We wonder where else one can find so many paid vacation days.

Unfortunately for millions of LGBTQ American workers, it's far from easy to even feel safe at work. Rep. Polis has amended the House version of ENDA to close any & all loopholes opened by the US Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision. Even though President Obama did sign an executive order forbidding federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination, that still leaves millions of LGBTQ Americans throughout the nation who simply have the misfortune of living in a state without a state level ENDA and working for a company without any federal contracts.

Last November, the US Senate passed ENDA on a broad, bipartisan 64-32 vote of approval. Yet since then, the House has refused to take it up. Just like House Republican "leaders'" blithe dismissal of military equality legislation, they've been awfully swift in shooting down any & all attempts at bringing ENDA to the House floor.

Last November, the Republican Party's internal culture war burst onto national media headlines when Liz Cheney nearly disowned her sister in preparation for a US Senate campaign in Wyoming. Yet while Liz Cheney later abandoned her diastrous attempt at electoral politics to return to the cozy confines of the Northern Virginia DC suburbs, her sister Mary Cheney continues to plead with her party to make peace with the 21st century. Unfortunately for her and other Republican campaign consultants hoping to "revamp the party's image", the 21st Century Know Nothings continue pulling the G-O-TEA in more of a 19th century direction.



They're still struggling to accept marriage equality. They're still attacking transgender Americans with reckless abandon. They won't allow a floor vote on ENDA. And they can't even allow equal access to military spousal benefits. And we're supposed to believe "Republican rebranding" is real?

Sure, it's real... Bull$h!+.