Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 26 10 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
1. The new House Speaker, Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson, is relatively obscure.

But he is now one of the most powerful politicians in America.

Here are some things about Johnson's past that everyone should know

🧵
2. In the early 2000s, Johnson advocated for public schools to teach a course that taught the Bible "as an accurate record of history"

Johnson said opposition to the course was "the height of political correctness."

popular.info/p/what-everyon…
3. Johnson became an unofficial spokesperson for "covenant marriage." He gave national television interviews promoting the practice

Covenant marriage is an alternative to no-fault divorce that makes it difficult for women to leave a marriage, even in cases of physical abuse
4. In editorials from the mid-2000s, Johnson said that "homosexual relationships were inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, ultimately harmful and costly for everyone."

He also supported criminalization of sexual activity between people of the same sex
5. As a state legislator, Johnson sponsored the Marriage and Conscience Act, which prohibited the state from taking adverse action against anyone who "acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction about the institution of marriage"
6. Johnson's bill was viewed as a green light for discrimination and slammed as "bigotry enshrouded in religion"

Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado (D) called Johnson a "despicable bigot of the highest order" for pushing the proposal.

popular.info/p/what-everyon…
7. The bill was opposed by IBM, Dow Chemical, and the state tourism board. They said, if passed, the bill would be a serious blow to business and tourism in the state.

Despite having support of the then-Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindall (R), the bill died in committee.
8. In 2016, Johnson proposed a bill that would protect clergy who didn't want to perform same-sex marriages. The bill was defeated after Johnson allegedly made "changes to the legislation that would have allowed clergy to refuse to perform marriages for interracial couples."
9. Johnson is an original co-sponsor of the "Life at Conception" bill, which would effectively ban all abortions. The bill would grant every "preborn human person" equal rights under the 14th Amendment from "the moment of fertilization."

popular.info/p/what-everyon…
NOTE: This platform is controlled by a right-wing billionaire who publicly advocated for Republicans to take over Congress.

I suggest getting your information directly by subscribing to Popular Information.

It's free to sign up.

popular.info/subscribe

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Judd Legum

Judd Legum Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JuddLegum

Oct 24
UPDATE: Seven months later, a suspect has been charged for the homicide of Mika Westwolf, a 22-year-old indigenous woman Image
2. The suspect is Sunny White, an alleged white nationalist. White named her two young children "Aryan" and "Nation."

White has been charged with 5 felonies, including including vehicular homicide while under the influence & criminal child endangerment

popular.info/p/update-woman…
3. In May, Popular Information revealed the investigation of Westwolf's death was under-resourced, haphazard, & focused victim blaming

The lead investigator seemed unfamiliar w/the facts, confused on the law, and dismissive of White's potential connections to white nationalists
Read 7 tweets
Oct 23
1. In his remarks during his visit to Israel last week, Biden acknowledged that, in its response to 9/11, the United States "made mistakes."

Two decades later, is the United States repeating the same mistakes in its efforts to back Israel?

🧵
2. Biden sent "an urgent budget request" to Congress, including $14.3 billion to Israel.

Biden said the money "will sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge"

According to reports, Israeli officials will "soon" launch a ground invasion in Gaza.

popular.info/p/the-14-billi…
3. But one Q Biden did not answer: What's next?

Israel's Defense Minister said the ground invasion will "defeat and destroy Hamas"

The mission will end w/"the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip" and "the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life"
Read 9 tweets
Oct 18
1. Yesterday, 200 Republicans voted for @Jim_Jordan to be speaker, even though Jordan was a key player in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election

Jordan also enjoys renewed support from major corporations who pledged to stop donating to him after January 6

🧵
2. After January 6, @Mastercard said that "simply decency" and the company's "values" required that it stop donating to members of Congress like Jordan who voted to overturn the election.

@Mastercard donated 1K to Jordan this year

popular.info/p/the-resurrec…
@Mastercard 3. Other companies that pledged to stop donating to Jordan and others who voted to overturn the election but donated to Jordan this year:

@ATT (3K)

@comcast (5K)

@intel (2K)
Read 4 tweets
Oct 17
1. There are still a lot of people with very large microphones talking about the violent "crime wave" sweeping the United States

But yesterday, the FBI released nationwide crime data for 2022 that tells a very different story

🧵 Image
2. In 2022, homicides were down 6.1%, according to FBI data. The nation’s murder rate is now below 2020 levels.

Since 1991, the rate of murder has dropped 36%.

popular.info/p/americas-zom…
3. The FBI also reports that the violent crime rate, including homicide, dropped “an estimated 1.7%” in 2022 compared to the year before.

The rate of violent crime is the lowest it has been since 2014, and is nearly half of what it was in 1991 and 1992.
Read 6 tweets
Oct 16
1. @Scholastic hosts 120K school book fairs annually

Facing pressure from the right, @Scholastic has created a collection of books w/LGBTQ characters or that discuss racism

Schools are then given the options of excluding these books

One librarian calls it a "bigot button"

🧵
2. @Scholastic ignored a request for a list of books included in the "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice" collection

But Popular Information identified many of the books included through photos posted by librarians and other sources

popular.info/p/scholastics-…
@Scholastic 3. Among the books Scholastic is giving schools the opportunity to exclude is Justice Ketanji, a short biography of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The book tells the story of how "Ketanji refused to let naysayers stop her from rising to the top." Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 12
1. Republicans in the Texas legislature are in a massive fight about whether it is OK to associate with white supremacists

This is something that is happening in the United States of America in 2023

🧵
2. Last week, Jonathan Stickland — president of the far-right Defend Texas Liberty PAC — met with notorious white supremacist Nick Fuentes

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) criticized Stickland for hosting a “Hitler Apologist”

popular.info/p/texas-republ…
3. Phelan also called on people who received money from Defend Texas Liberty to return it

Notably, Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick recently received $3 million from Defend Texas Liberty
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(