Briefing: Richard Kim on Gay Marriage in California and the Ground Zero Mosque

Briefing: Richard Kim on Gay Marriage in California and the Ground Zero Mosque

Briefing: Richard Kim on Gay Marriage in California and the Ground Zero Mosque

The right-wing media has gone silent on gay marriage in California, says Richard Kim, and fearmongering has shifted to the Ground Zero mosque.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

"Who needs gay bashing when you have the Ground Zero mosque?" Richard Kim, senior editor at The Nation, asks guest host Esther Armah. In a week when gay and lesbian couples are seeing their right to marry in California get closer, he notes, right-wing media is strangely silent on the issue. Even Glenn Beck is suddenly sounding a libertarian note. Instead, it’s all about the "Ground Zero mosque" even as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown decide not to pursue their case to uphold Prop 8.

The Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court will rule on the case soon, but it seems that the fearmongering over the issue has shifted dramatically. Even the dramatic exit of JetBlue flight attendent Stephen Slater has gotten more media—perhaps because Americans trapped in lousy jobs by the recession have bigger concerns than their neighbors’ marriages.

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Ad Policy
x