cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15286301
“A group of Republican lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday which would send “any person convicted of unlawful activity” at a college or university, to do community service in Gaza for six months.”
“Strangely, the bill appears to refer to any “unlawful activity on the campus of an institution of higher education beginning on and after October 7, 2023” but does not specifically mention the ongoing student protests, rendering it stupidly broad.”
"Ogles spoke with Fox News about the bill, saying that, “If you support a terrorist organization, and you participate in unlawful activity on campuses, you should get a taste of your own medicine. I am going to bet that these pro-Hamas supporters wouldn’t last a day, but let’s give them the opportunity.”
I mean, they probably know there’s no chance in hell of that bill gaining traction let alone passing (for so many reasons ‡). It’s all performance / pandering to their base in an election year.
The scary takeaway should be that’s what the Republican base wants to hear.
‡ The fact that you can’t just “deport” a citizen to a random country is the least of the things logically wrong with this bill.
It’d be nice if they stopped wasting money on things that they knew were unconstitutional though.
“Arooo, that may be so. But I know a place where the Constitution doesn’t mean squat!”
I think we should always take these bills as serious attempts to accomplish what they say. Anything else gives them cover, like:
https://piped.video/watch?v=VYHGnsOwHvI
Next year they could pass this and the Supreme Court could approve it. Imagine still believing in guardrails…
Just wait until next year. I wonder if you’re post will seem silly or prophetic.
As with any statement I make when I make fun of Republicans, I sincerely hope it turns out to be silly.