Moms for Liberty has had a rocky few weeks. First off, they were nearly wiped out in the November elections. Then a couple of weeks ago, this happened:
A Republican pastor who coordinates the faith-based outreach for the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty was convicted a decade ago of sexually abusing a teenage boy.
Phillip Fisher Jr., who leads the Center of Universal Divinity in Olney, helps connect the right-wing group with local faith leaders to boost membership, and other leaders say they’re shocked to learn he pleaded guilty in 2012 to a felony count of aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when he was 25, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
There’s even a Lyndon LaRouche connection. But it gets better. You’ve probably heard about what went on in Florida —
Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler’s admission to having a sexual relationship with the woman accusing her husband of rape has sparked backlash online Saturday, with many labeling the Florida political leader a hypocrite.
A hypocite? You don’t say!
Christian Ziegler and his attorney have denied any wrongdoing on his part, but security footage obtained from the victim’s apartment has shown that he was at the building on the date of the alleged assault. Admissions to law enforcement from his wife have also complicated the matter.
As revealed in recently released court documents, Bridget Ziegler was interviewed by investigators in early November, confirming that she, her husband, and the victim had been friends and had engaged in a consensual sexual encounter roughly a year prior to the assault that the victim now alleges.
When this was first reported I decided to not comment on it until there was some corroboration. Well, there it is.
At the Miami Herald, Fabiola Santiago asks, If Moms for Liberty co-founder had sex with a woman, why is she targeting Florida’s gays? Well, one does wonder, doesn’t one?
The Zieglers were considered a quickly rising power couple — close collaborators of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and also supporters of ex-President Donald Trump. But while he talked tough and boisterously, she seemed to be the real the mover and shaker. The group she co-founded in the name of “parental rights” — credited with banning school books featuring gay characters and Blacks confronting discrimination in a predominantly white society — has spread nationwide at a vertiginous rate: 300 chapters in 48 states in two years. …
… DeSantis not only endorsed Bridget Ziegler’s school board candidacy, but he gave her a seat on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board of Supervisors. This is the agency formed after the dispute with Disney World over its corporate criticism of the “Don’t Say Gay” law banning sexual-identity discussion in schools and following the termination of Disney’s Reedy Creek special taxing district operational agreement with the state.
It couldn’t get any better if I’d made it up. And be sure to visit Bridget Zeigler’s school board campaign website before it gets taken down. She won re-election to the Sarasota School Board in 2022. Now the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is calling for her to go away.
Imagine you are the child of a gay or lesbian couple, and that you are not permitted to acknowledge your family in school. It is cruel and serves no purpose other than cruelty.
Ziegler’s treatment of trans people is equally cruel.
Ziegler spearheaded the forced resignation of Brennan Asplen despite the former superintendent’s “highly effective” rating and excellent leadership of the schools through the pandemic. This wasted precious financial resources and time better spent on real issues. It did not benefit the school system.
As the School Board chair, Ziegler allowed commenters at board meetings to mock and target Tom Edwards, who is an effective leader, because he is gay.
It was unconscionable.
Unconscionable is kind of the point, I think. It gets you on Fox News.
While we’re in Florida: Tt seems the last refuge of failing Republican presidential candidates is to rip Obamacare. Now it’s Ron DeSantis.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would replace Obamacare with a “better plan” — part of an interview in which he criticized former President Donald Trump for failing to deliver on numerous policy promises during his term in the White House, including frequent pledges to replace the health care law.
“Obamacare hasn’t worked,” DeSantis said in the interview with moderator Kristen Welker, which aired Sunday morning. “We are going to replace and supersede with a better plan.”
He declined to provide details about how his plan would “supersede” Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, adding that his campaign would most likely roll out a proposal in the spring.
Of course, he doesn’t have a proposal yet. He’s just reacting to Trump’s recent stupid remark about replacing Obamacare. The GOP had shut up about it in recent years. So we’ll see if DeSantis comes up with anything other than the Standard GOP Health Care Plan That Won’t Work.