AMERIKAN MISOGYNY
By AFP
January 21, 2025
Admiral Linda Fagan, pictured speaking during a Senate hearing in June 2024, has been replaced as head of the US Coast Guard
- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Andrew Harnik
President Donald Trump’s administration has removed Admiral Linda Fagan — the first woman to lead a US military service — as the head of the Coast Guard.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Coast Guard, did not immediately respond to a request on Tuesday for comment on Fagan’s dismissal.
Fox News cited a senior official saying reasons included her failure to address border security threats, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and an “erosion of trust” over the Coast Guard’s investigation into sexual assault cases.
Trump and other Republicans have long railed against government programs aimed at fostering diversity, and border security is a key priority for the president, who declared a national emergency at the US frontier with Mexico on Monday, the first day of his new term.
“She served a long and illustrious career, and I thank her for her service to our nation,” acting DHS secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a message to the Coast Guard, which is one of the five US military branches.
Fagan had led the Coast Guard since 2022, and previously held posts including vice commandant of the service.
She “served on all seven continents, from the snows of Ross Island, Antarctica to the heart of Africa, from Tokyo to Geneva, and in many ports along the way,” according to an archived version of her biography, which is no longer available on the Coast Guard website.
Bishop lectures stony-faced Trump in church
By AFP
January 21, 2025
Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde launched a strong criticism of President Donald Trump's policies from the pulpit - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
Donald Trump was forced Tuesday to sit through a sermon by a bishop begging him to have “mercy” on gays and poor immigrants as the Republican celebrated the start to his second term as US president.
Trump scowled as the Washington National Cathedral’s Mariann Edgar Budde pleaded the case from the pulpit for LGBT people and illegal migrants — two groups that Trump targeted with executive orders within hours of being sworn in on Monday.
Trump had gone to the traditional presidential service to commemorate his inauguration and was clearly not expecting the criticism.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr President,” the bishop said softly, evoking the “fear” that she said is felt across the country.
“There are gay and lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families,” she said.
“The people who pick our farms and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation,” she said.
“But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
An unsmiling Trump, who sat in the first pew, looked back at Budde and sometimes away. His family and Vice President JD Vance seemed similarly surprised and displeased at the intervention.
Asked later by a reporter for his reaction, Trump said: “I didn’t think it was a good service.”
“They could do much better.”
Among scores of executive orders signed late Monday were measures to suspend the arrival of asylum seekers and expel migrants in the country illegally.
Trump also decreed that only two sexes — male and female, but not transgender — will be recognized.
President Donald Trump’s administration has removed Admiral Linda Fagan — the first woman to lead a US military service — as the head of the Coast Guard.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Coast Guard, did not immediately respond to a request on Tuesday for comment on Fagan’s dismissal.
Fox News cited a senior official saying reasons included her failure to address border security threats, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and an “erosion of trust” over the Coast Guard’s investigation into sexual assault cases.
Trump and other Republicans have long railed against government programs aimed at fostering diversity, and border security is a key priority for the president, who declared a national emergency at the US frontier with Mexico on Monday, the first day of his new term.
“She served a long and illustrious career, and I thank her for her service to our nation,” acting DHS secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a message to the Coast Guard, which is one of the five US military branches.
Fagan had led the Coast Guard since 2022, and previously held posts including vice commandant of the service.
She “served on all seven continents, from the snows of Ross Island, Antarctica to the heart of Africa, from Tokyo to Geneva, and in many ports along the way,” according to an archived version of her biography, which is no longer available on the Coast Guard website.
Bishop lectures stony-faced Trump in church
By AFP
January 21, 2025
Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde launched a strong criticism of President Donald Trump's policies from the pulpit - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
Donald Trump was forced Tuesday to sit through a sermon by a bishop begging him to have “mercy” on gays and poor immigrants as the Republican celebrated the start to his second term as US president.
Trump scowled as the Washington National Cathedral’s Mariann Edgar Budde pleaded the case from the pulpit for LGBT people and illegal migrants — two groups that Trump targeted with executive orders within hours of being sworn in on Monday.
Trump had gone to the traditional presidential service to commemorate his inauguration and was clearly not expecting the criticism.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr President,” the bishop said softly, evoking the “fear” that she said is felt across the country.
“There are gay and lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families,” she said.
“The people who pick our farms and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation,” she said.
“But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
An unsmiling Trump, who sat in the first pew, looked back at Budde and sometimes away. His family and Vice President JD Vance seemed similarly surprised and displeased at the intervention.
Asked later by a reporter for his reaction, Trump said: “I didn’t think it was a good service.”
“They could do much better.”
Among scores of executive orders signed late Monday were measures to suspend the arrival of asylum seekers and expel migrants in the country illegally.
Trump also decreed that only two sexes — male and female, but not transgender — will be recognized.
Bishop makes powerful plea to Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ people and migrants
A bishop delivered a powerful speech to Donald Trump urging him to have mercy on LGBTQ people and migrants targeted by his administration’s policies.
During an inaugural prayer service yesterday, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, said: “I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now”.
Rev Budde added: “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
“The people who pick our crops, and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals”, she said, “they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
She added: “They pay taxes and are good neighbours.”
In reference to Trump’s immigration policies, Budde said: “I ask you to have mercy Mr President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”
Between 2017 and 2021, the previous Trump administration separated at least 3,900 children, some only a few months old, from their parents under what it called a “zero-tolerance” policy against people crossing the US-Mexico border illegally.
Trump sat with a stern, irritated expression beside Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance during Budde’s speech.
Online, people have praised the Reverend’s courage for “speaking truth to power”.
Trump told reporters, “I didn’t think it was a good service,” and in a video on X, Georgia Representative, Mike Collins, suggested: “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list”.
In an unhinged rant on Truth Social, Trump attacked the Reverend stating: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater”.
“She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart…. She and her church owe the public an apology!”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
During an inaugural prayer service yesterday, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, said: “I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now”.
Rev Budde added: “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
“The people who pick our crops, and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals”, she said, “they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
She added: “They pay taxes and are good neighbours.”
In reference to Trump’s immigration policies, Budde said: “I ask you to have mercy Mr President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”
Between 2017 and 2021, the previous Trump administration separated at least 3,900 children, some only a few months old, from their parents under what it called a “zero-tolerance” policy against people crossing the US-Mexico border illegally.
Trump sat with a stern, irritated expression beside Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance during Budde’s speech.
Online, people have praised the Reverend’s courage for “speaking truth to power”.
Trump told reporters, “I didn’t think it was a good service,” and in a video on X, Georgia Representative, Mike Collins, suggested: “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list”.
In an unhinged rant on Truth Social, Trump attacked the Reverend stating: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater”.
“She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart…. She and her church owe the public an apology!”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
No comments:
Post a Comment