Sean Casten Profile picture
Aug 7, 2020 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Today's @GOP: Torn between those who advocate for intolerance and hatred and those who see is purely as a wedge issue to win an election. Almost none willing to simply acknowledge #loveislove and LGBT rights are human rights. politico.com/news/magazine/…
And this ain't just "Trumpworld". Only 8 Republicans voted for the Equality Act to ensure that the LGBTQ community has equal rights under the law. That should never have been controversial in a nation dedicated to equality.
rollcall.com/2019/05/17/the…
When we passed that bill on the floor, the final @GOP amendment was to protect Title IX, on the bizarro-world theory that boys would otherwise change their gender to compete in women's sports. That's not serious policy. It's homophobic / transphobic dog-whistling.
The idea that a teenage kid is going to go through all the social stigma and mental stress that trans kids go through every day on the hope they could be a little more athletically competitive. You have to be utterly devoid of empathy to believe that.
(And, it should be noted, have never watched women's sports. After all, there isn't a single member of the House, male or female who could last a round in the ring against @RepDavids.)
But at a larger level, how do you pursue public office in a country dedicated to the proposition that that we are born with the inalienable right to pursue happiness and then see people who are struggling to be accepted for who they are and decide to punch down?
The answer is you have to yourself be a hateful person, or simply too venal to care. So single-mindedly focused on winning an election regardless of the consequences to burn down hope and love in your wake. It is mean. It is immoral. It is the opposite of leadership.
(Except, I suppose for that group of @GOP officials who are so filled with hate and intolerance that they are actively using their positions of leadership to bend public will towards their paleolithic, hateful views.)
We shouldn't accept this. Fighting for equal rights should not be partisan. Asking elected officials to call out our better angels rather than our lesser demons should be a bare minimum requirement of the job. And yet the @GOP does neither.
Anyway, with all the serious problems in the world, from pandemics to economic meltdowns to global warming it makes me angry that a once-great party wants to re-litigate the culture wars. They need to grow up before we let them eat at the big kids table again. /fin

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More from @SeanCasten

Jul 30
Scott Bessent is a smart guy. But he only got the job as Treasury Secretary because Trump knows how to identify people who will roll over for him. Which is to say, he knows better. So let’s fact check his oped in today’s WaPo, shall we? washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/…
1. First, if you want to understand what the crypto legislation that passed the House will actually do to financial markets, here are the facts.
2. Let’s define terms. “Blockchain technology” is just accounting. It’s a digital tag, tied to a digital purchase that records the buyer and seller. It is interesting, if not especially sexy. To the extent people can’t use it it’s because it doesn’t meet robust audit standards. Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 27
Just learned that Mike Johnson, before coming to Congress claimed to be the Dean of a law school named after a pedophile. Which may explain a few things. Notably… Image
Image
… he then voted to table a resolution I introduced to compel the release of the Matt Gaetz ethics report, which also included significant allegations of underage sexual abuse. clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024490
Anyway, just worth pointing out that his decision to send the House home early rather than force release of the Epstein files is far from the first time he’s put the interests of sex offenders ahead of their victims.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 23
This is anti-scientific, immoral and economically irresponsible. I say this without hyperbole - when the history of this era is written, Donald Trump will have been responsible for more deaths than Stalin, Mao and Hitler combined. nytimes.com/2025/07/22/cli…
Millions, if not billions will die if we don't address climate change; some will survive but if rivers keep moving, coasts keep eroding, fires keep burning we will be forced to become migratory. That is a choice.
And that's of course in addition to the millions the are condemning to death from USAID cuts, or curtailing vaccines, and so much more. It is a trail of avoidable, wanton death. npr.org/sections/goats…
Read 4 tweets
Jul 8
I’m not wild about the cynicism here, partly because it blames all of Congress for things the Republican majority is jamming through, but more because it assumes that our founders actually created a Representative democracy. Some morning musings: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/…
1. To the first point, there are a host of issues that are squarely in the Democratic platform that regularly pass the House when Dems are in power but are blocked by Rs. Women’s rights, sensible gun control, campaign finance reform. All are supported by strong majorities.
2. There is no equivalent in today’s Republican platform but - and humor me on this before you blow up the mentions - that’s not entirely the Republican’s fault.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 2
If you've tuned into CSPAN anytime in the last 2 hours and found yourself slapping the side of the TV, wondering why the screen isn't changing, here's what's happening... Image
1. Lots of us including yours truly got in really late last night to vote on a bill that would slash taxes for billionaires, kick 17 million people off their health insurance, force lots of kids, seniors and veterans to go hungry AND is really unpopular. It's an easy "no" vote.
2. BUT, Trump wants it. And he wants it before July 4th so that he can go out and tell the American people how much he hates veterans, seniors, children and other Americans who are not billionaires. And if Daddy wants something, Republicans will do it.
Read 14 tweets
Jun 28
Because a number of folks keep asking, let’s talk about why the Democrats overwhelmingly voted to table Al Green’s motion to impeach Donald Trump. TL;DR: if you want Trump to be out of office ASAP, this was the right call, right now. Read on for the explanation…
1. Shortly after my wife and I got engaged we took a vacation to Wyoming. In the course of a horseback trip, our guide, upon learning of our upcoming nuptials, prior to offering me some advice said “I’ve been married 5 times, so I think I know a little something about women”.
2. In that vein, in my 6 years in Congress, I’ve seen 3 house impeachments (Trump 2x where I voted yes, Mayorkas 1x where I opposed). None were removed. So I think I know a little something about removing people from office…
Read 14 tweets

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