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All 10 Democratic members of the Missouri Senate signed a letter Monday urging Gov. Mike Parson to remove the chair of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights over his recent public statements in opposition to LGBTQ-rights legislation.

Timothy Faber, a lobbyist for the Missouri Baptist Convention, testified in a Senate committee hearing last week about a bill that would amend Missouris Nondiscrimination Act to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Faber used biblical references to argue that the bill infringed on religious liberty. He did not disclose his position as chair of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights until he was asked directly about it by a Senator.

During his testimony, he referred to the commission as they while arguing that the legislation would lead to more lawsuits that the commission would have to handle.

This would create an even greater backlog of cases for the Missouri Commission on Human Rights staff than they already have, Faber testified.

Are you not the chair of the Human Rights Commission? asked Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton.

Faber said he did not come to testify on behalf of the commissions but confirmed his position as chair.

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The letter, sent by Becks office, said Fabers attempt to obfuscate his position erodes the trust Missouri legislators require from members of Missouris boards and commissions.

The commission has 11 spots for governor-appointed commissioners. Only four of the positions are filled, meaning it cant conduct business because it does not have a quorum.

Faber often testifies on behalf of the Missouri Baptist Convention, including during a hearing about the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Im taking that your stance is that LGBTQ folks shouldnt have the same rights as I have not to be discriminated against, Beck asked him during his testimony. Is that what youre saying, based on the Bible? Or what exactly are you saying?

Im saying that an employer or a landlord should also have rights in how they conduct their business, Faber answered.

They can discriminate against someone based on a number of factors, he said. Thats their right.

According to current state law, it is illegal to discriminate against Missourians because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex or age, as it relates to employment, disability, or familial status as it relates to housing.

It is not illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The letter from the senators said Fabers lobbying job interferes with his duties on the commission.

The commission says its role is to eliminate discrimination through the enforcement of the Missouri Human Rights Act and prevent social inequality through education and outreach on its webpage.

The Missouri Commission on Human Rights has an incredibly important duty to investigate complaints of alleged discrimination in employment, public accommodations and housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, disability, age and familial status, the senators letter says. This duty cannot be fulfilled with confidence when its chairman has lost the trust of elected leaders.

The Independent contacted the commission, which did not have a comment at the time of publication. Faber did not respond to attempts to contact.

The governors office did not return a request for comment.

I do not speak for the Human Rights Commission. Thats not my role, Faber told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That was not my intent. And I dont even have the legal right to do so, especially considering that the commission has not addressed these issues. Thats why I did not identify myself as a commissioner.

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Democrats call for the removal of Missouri Commission on Human ... - Missouri Independent

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Democrats in Palm Beach County had mixed feelings Monday about former President Donald Trump's impending arraignment this week.

They believe it sends the right message, but there are some concerns about how this may further divide the country.

Democrats said the indictment has been a long time coming, but they are not celebrating because many also believe it does not improve the morale of the country.

RELATED: Poll shows support for Trump remains strong despite indictment

The Box Gallery located in West Palm Beach is a place where art meets advocacy, often a stage to highlight big issues in the Legislature.

Owner Rolando Chang Barrero, the president of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus in Palm Beach County, thinks Trump's indictment has had enough of the spotlight.

"I think Trump has gotten his money's worth out of that hush money," Barrero said. "I think it's time to put it to rest."

Barrero believes many Democrats feel the indictment was long overdue.

"I think it's going to be a boon to confront apathy," Barrero said. "People have gotten very apathetic, thinking that nothing gets done, that politics are just outside of the reach."

Other voters said they're more interested in what's in the indictment rather than the spectacle of a surrender.

"Everybody has their opinion," voter Matthew Martino said, "but once you get to the court, the facts matter, so the facts will speak for themselves."

Voter Amy Jordan said this isn't a Democrat versus Republican issue. She hopes Trump and all elected officials are held accountable if they're suspected of wrongdoing.

"Taking no responsibility, I would say that if he was a Democrat. I'm so tired of the sides," Jordan said. "This is about an incompetent leader who wants attention, which the media has given him."

Palm Beach County Democratic Party chair Mindy Koch released the following statement on Trump's upcoming arraignment:

"We have faith in the American justice system and know that through this process our democracy will be strengthened," Koch said.

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Donald Trump's indictment brings mixed emotions for Democrats amid fears of more division - WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm

On the evening of March 31, 1968, at the end of a televised speech to the nation on the raging war in Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson made a stunning announcement, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president. It had been a tightly held secret. LBJ, in fact, had two separate endings to the speech. Vice President Hubert Humphrey (who went on to lose the 1968 election to Richard Nixon) was only informed of Johnsons final decision midway through the speech.

For all of Johnsons raging ambition, his reelection campaign effectively died three weeks earlier when Eugene McCarthya cerebral, mercurial antiwar Minnesota senatorwon more than 40 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary. The stunning repudiation of the Vietnam War in the kickoff primary prompted the doomed Robert Kennedy to also enter the race against Johnson in mid-March. After the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Kennedy, the bitterly divided Democrats nominated Humphrey, amid the stench of tear gas at the August Chicago convention.

1976: A Man, A Plan, Panama

Original post:
Democrats (and Republicans) Have Challenged Their Party's ... - The New Republic

Rep. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina has used it to explain the complex fight over raising the debt limit. Rep. Robert Garcia of California has used it to engage with members of the LGBTQ+ community. And Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has used it to give an overview of Election Day results.

Aspressure against TikTok mountsin Washington, the more than two dozen members of Congress all Democrats who are active on the social media platform are being pushed by their colleagues to stop using it. Many defend their presence on the platform, saying they have a responsibility as public officials to meet Americans where they are andmore than 150 million are on TikTok.

Im sensitive to the ban and recognize some of the security implications. But there is no more robust and expeditious way to reach young people in the United States of America than TikTok, Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota told The Associated Press.

Yet the lawmakers active on TikTok remain a distinct minority. Most in Congress are in favor of limiting the app, forcing a sale to remove connections to China or even banning it outright. The U.S. armed forces and more than half of U.S. states havealready banned the appfrom official devices, as has the federal government. Similar bans have been imposed in Denmark, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, as well as the European Union.

Criticism of TikTok reached a new level last week asCEO Shou Zi Chew testifiedfor more than six hours at a contentious hearing in the House. Lawmakers grilled Chew about the implications of the app for Americas national security and the effect on the mental health of its users. And the tough questions came from both sides of the aisle, as Republicans and Democrats alike pressed Chew about TikToks content moderation practices, its ability to shield American data from Beijing and its spying on journalists.

Ive got to hand it to you, said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, as members questioned Chew over data security and harmful content. Youve actually done something that in the last three to four years has not happened except for the exception of maybe (Russian President) Vladimir Putin. You have unified Republicans and Democrats.

While the hearing made plain that lawmakers view TikTok as a threat, their lack of first-hand experience with the app was apparent at times. Some made inaccurate and head-scratching comments, seemingly not understanding how TikTok connects to a home Wi-Fi router or how it moderates illicit content.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., who is active on the app and opposes a nationwide ban, called the hearing cringeworthy.

It was just so painful to watch, he told the AP on Friday. And it just shows the real problem is Congress doesnt have a lot of expertise, whether it be social media or, for that matter, more importantly, technology.

Garcia, who said he uses TikTok more as a consumer, said most of his colleagues who are proposing a nationwide ban told him they had never used the app. It gets hard to understand if youre not actually on it, the freshman Democrat said. And at the end of the day, a lot of TikTok is harmless people dancing and funny videos.

Its also incredibly rich educational content, and learning how to bake and learning about the political process, he said.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who has more than 180,000 followers on the app, held a news conference with TikTok influencers before the hearing. He accused Republicans of pushing a ban on TikTok for political reasons.

There are 150 million people on TikTok and we are more connected to them than Republicans are, Bowman said. So for them, its all about fear-mongering and power. Its not TikTok, because, again, weve looked the other way and allowed Facebook and other platforms to do similar things.

Critics of TikTok in Congress say their opposition is rooted in national security, not politics. TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary ofChinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., which appoints its executives. They worry Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over TikTok data on American users, effectively turning the app into a data-mining operation for a foreign power. The company insists it is taking steps to make sure that can never happen.

The basic approach that were following is to make it physically impossible for any government, including the Chinese government, to get access to U.S. user data,general counsel Erich Andersensaid during an interview with the AP on Friday at a cybersecurity conference in California.

TikTok has been emphasizing a $1.5 billion proposal to store all U.S. user data on servers owned and maintained bythe software giant Oracle. Access to U.S. data would be managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity run independently of ByteDance and monitored by outside observers.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina took the unusual step of releasing a public statement urging all members of Congress to stop using TikTok, including from his home state seemingly a jab at Jackson, who is one of the more active members with more than 1.8 million followers.

I was just saying if were having a discussion about TikTok then I think we ought to at least reduce the pull factor by elected officials who can simply come off of it, Tillis said this week, when asked about his statement. I dont have a TikTok account. So that was an easy separation for me.

Loud warnings about TikTok have also been comingfrom President Joe Bidens administration. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and FBI Director Christopher Wray have told Congress in recent weeks that TikTok is a national security threat. Blinken told lawmakers the threat should be ended one way or another.

But some members are unconvinced.

Its like turning your cell phone off on an airplane. Youre supposed to do. And if it was super dangerous, I dont think we will be allowed to have the phone on the plane, Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, said Wednesday, So if it was super dangerous for members of Congress to have this app on their phone, you have to imagine the administration or our government would say absolutely not, you cant have it on a government phone.

Concerns about what kind of content Americans encounter online, or how their data is collected by technology companies, also arent new. Congress has been wanting to curtail the amount of data tech companies collect on consumers through a national privacy law, but those efforts have stalled repeatedly over the years.

Supporters of TikTok on Capitol Hill are urging their colleagues to educate themselves about social media as a whole so Congress can pass legislation that deals with broader issues of data privacy, instead of hyper-focusing on a ban of TikTok, which could risk political backlash and a court fight over the reach of the First Amendment.

We are uninformed and misinformed. We dont even understand how social media works. We dont know anything about data brokers and how data brokers sell our data to foreign countries and foreign companies right now, Bowman said. So ban TikTok tomorrow, this stuff is still going to be happening.

___

Associated Press writer Haleluya Hadero in Sausalito, California, contributed to this report.

Originally posted here:
Cringeworthy: Millennial and Gen Z-friendly Democrats say efforts to ban TikTok are missing the point - Fortune

Local members of the Jefferson County Democratic Party gathered Saturday for their annual dinner and reception and heard from both state and local leaders concerning the partys plans for the future.

Standing before a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl said the party wants to bring people together to achieve real solutions to problems, and have less of the division that he said is harmful to politics.

People will shoot to one side and they dont really listen to the detail. They dont really get the facts. They dont really get the context, Schmuhl said. It feels like people are so pushed to the edges. Youre either on this side or on that side.

Schmuhl said the Democratic party, with its policies and issues, is seeking to deliver for people ... Were focusing on issues that are less partisan, and about solving problems for people.

He noted that Joe Kernan was the last Democratic Governor in Indiana, losing in 2004 to Republican Mitch Daniels. What I have been telling people all over the state is we need to have a conversation about the last 20 years in Indiana, and whether we like what were getting out of our government.

Cami Keltch, one of the leaders of the newly created Jefferson County Democratic Alliance, formerly the Jefferson County Democratic Womens Club, said shes working to get more women involved in the political process locally, statewide and nationally through the Democratic Party.

I am eager to find ways to get more women involved in our local Democratic party, state and nationally. As it currently stands 52% of our countys population is comprised of women, yet only 35% of our elected positions are held by women, Keltch said, noting that rather than resurrect a womens club we wanted a group thats all inclusive and thats the reason for the new name for the organization whose mission will be to support the county Democratic party candidates through fundraising, canvassing, education, mentorship and the recruitment of members and future candidates. We have a lot of big ideas on how to make our local party stronger.

Keltch said although she is a baby to the political arena she decided to become active in the Democratic party because she realized that showing up to the ballot box every year is no longer enough and she wants to be a part of being a changemaker.

Adam Dickey, chair of the Ninth District Democratic Party, said this time and moment in history demands that Democrats be part of the change. It will be what defines us to future generations and makes all the difference for our communities moving forward.

In an election year when voters will focus on municipal elections in the city of Madison, the top local race for will be for mayor where Councilman Dan Dattilo will carry the Democratic Partys banner against incumbent Republican Bob Courtney.

Im passionate about this city, said Dan Dattilo, a third generation Madisonian who has been an at-large member on city council since 2016. My wife and I chose to raise our children here, and outside my college career Ive been here in Madison my whole life.

Dattilo said he plans to bring bold leadership to the office. When I say bold leadership, I mean making decisions that arent always easy, but are right, which can involve taking risks and be willing to make mistakes.

Bold leadership requires transparency and its important that Im honest with the public and with all the decisions I make, Dattilo added. Transparency builds trust and trust will build a foundation in my time as Mayor. And when Im transparent, Ill show the public that I respect them and I am committed to serving their interests.

Dattilo said he will oppose wasteful spending and provide clear and regular updates about planned spending and expenditures as well as require all city employees to sign statements of ethics.

He said he plans to foster a good working relationship with Jefferson County Commissioners and all nearby cities and value diversity within the administration and on city boards. Those are my promises.

A guidance counselor at Southwestern High School, Dattilo said he listens to people often. I hear good and bad. Im not here to judge. Im here to listen. I will do the same as your Mayor, the same as I have done as your councilman because your ideas will impact my decisions. I need to hear from all of you. That is important to me.

I love the diverse people of Madison. Its a wonderful place to be. It has great architecture, a beautiful setting, amazing people its a great place to work, play and live. Im so proud of this community and I want to make it even better, Dattilo said.

Schmuhl said the Indiana Democratic Party stands for strong and safe communities, stronger public education for kids, more pay for teachers in Indiana and more programming for workforce development in Indiana. He said Democrats want to create opportunities for keeping young people in Indiana so they have a future in the state and protect the environment and natural resources.

Jefferson County is a beautiful county, and we should be protecting those natural resources for generations to come, Schmuhl said. He noted the Democratic party will always stand up for organized labor and working people, lower healthcare costs for Hoosiers, and always protecting Social Security and Medicare.

Although the Democratic Party is currently the minority party in Indiana, Schmuhl said hes optimistic about the partys future because of our policies and our values. I think were transparent. I think were open. I think were honest.

He noted that President Joe Biden talks a lot about respect. Its about dignity, its about the soul of our nation. Thats why I am hopeful for the future of the Democratic Party in Indiana. I dont think those are just Democratic Party values, I think those are American values, and I think if we do a better job of getting our message out there, I think more and more Hoosiers will agree with us.

Read more here:
Local Democrats hoping to bring voters back to the party - Madison Courier