Things that upset Flip Filippi, continued

So many issues, so little time

By Will Collette

Charlestown's shame. Photo by Steve Ahlquist

This year’s session of the RI General Assembly is almost over. That will close out Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi’s Prime Time for grievances that grab him some media attention. 

Though he can find ways to get coverage during the rest of the year, this is Flip’s busy season to kvetch about other people’s actions and issues.

Flip is truly outraged because the RI General Assembly might actually pass some or all of the bills recommended by Attorney General Peter Neronha. Even though many of us still remember the December 2019 mass shooting at the BabcockVillage assisted living site in Westerly, Flip thinks it’s too soon to adopt new gun control measures.

Even though there are daily shootings in Providence and the rest of the metro area, Flip thinks we just don’t know enough to attempt to slow down the bloodshed.

Even though Congressional Republicans have forbidden the CDC from researching the subject and withheld funding, Flip thinks nothing should be done without this research that his fellow Trumplicans blocked.

On June 14, he tweeted:

As legislators, we should have accurate data about how our existing gun crime laws are being enforced before we consider passing new ones.

That same day, he tried to rebut fellow legislator Brandon Potter who noted the death toll from gun violence by tweeting:

Except that Casey’s bipartisan H-5727 simply calls for some modest revisions in the way AG Neronha frames his annual report and was not in any way a condition for the passage of pending gun legislation.

 It's a good thing to have solid accurate broad-based data; there's no argument about that. It's a bad thing to use that to delay long-overdue action on a problem we experience daily.

Flip, who is also an attorney, set up a strawman to distract from being exposed for his ploy of insisting “we need more data” before we can take steps to stop the killing. Shame on you, Flip.

💩 💩 💩 💩

Flip is still outraged by Executive Orders and apoplectic that accidental Governor Dan McKee extended the state’s pandemic emergency declaration as this tweet shows.

Notice how none of his colleagues will even look at him

But here’s the thing. Because the pandemic is still raging in many parts of the world as well as in Trumpland across the Deep South and the Midwest, we are not in the clear despite our high vaccination rates. Note that Flip still has not disclosed if he has been vaccinated; we know his wingnut colleague Justin Price is not.

Nearly all US deaths from COVID and most hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated with cases among the young rising sharply. There is genuine concern among scientists that as the virus moves along and mutates, it’s only a matter of time until a vaccine-resistant strain emerges.

If that happens, we will need fast action, not long debates spurred by anti-vaxxer yahoos.

When the picture tells the story

Flip’s Trumplican colleague Senator Elaine Morgan wants to block COVID vaccination mandates, even though school kids must prove they’ve had their shots to get into school. 

She is targeting the COVID vaccine on the basis of the blanket indemnification the federal government (i.e. the Trump Administration) granted vaccine makers to speed up the process.

In my opinion, getting vaccinated should NOT be an individual choice, but a public health and safety requirement. 

There are hundreds of instances where the public good outweighs individual choice, stop lights being one of the most common examples.

On June 12, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the vaccine mandate by Houston (TX) Methodist Hospital. Just over 100 of its workers (out of 24,000) still refused to be vaccinated and either quit or were fired. Again, in my opinion, I don’t want to be treated by an anti-vaxxer medical provider, so I’m fine with this decision.

Over 600,000 Americans have died of COVID so far. No one has died from any of the COVID vaccines despite the occasional story about rare side effects that are usually either mild or treatable.

So far, about 15% of Rhode Islanders have tested positive for COVID. Some of them will suffer from this disease for years to come, a medical condition called “long COVID.”

💩 💩 💩 💩

The new Texas state mushroom

He nearly popped an aneurysm over Rhode Island legislation that designated an official state coral – the reason for his outrage wasn’t exactly clear – but Flip has had nothing to say about the state of Texas’s recent action. 

The Texas Leg is filled with Flip’s kindred spirits, a supermajority of Trumplicans.

Yet, what did those Texans do but designate an official Texas State Mushroom, the Chorioactis geaster, which is extremely rare and seldom seen. Trumplican Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the official mushroom bill into law.  

💩 💩 💩 💩

To my surprise, Flip did not express outrage at legislation that ends the long-standing practice of requiring a legislative vote when a couple seek to have a person who is not officially empowered to preside over a wedding be allowed to do so.

Since gay marriage was legalized, there have been a number of instances where the engaged couple sought legislative permission for the officiate of their choice. However, this usually meant a vote that exposed the homophobia of some members of the legislature. 

Reliable “NO” votes included local wingnut Rep. Justin Price, conservative Catholic Rep. Sam Azzinaro of Westerly (D) and Rep. Arthur “Doc” Corvese, one of the leaders of the state Democratic Party.

It will now be up to the Governor to approve one-time officiates.

I expected Flip to be outraged at the end of this marriage legislation, not because he cast homophobic votes, but because "marriage solemnization" bills were pretty much the only kind of legislation Filippi could get passed.

💩 💩 💩 💩

To see some of Progressive Charlestown’s previous coverage of things that outrage Blake “Flip” Filippi, go to:

http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/search/label/Filippi. Flip’s lead outrage is over a tweet by RI Progressive Democrats which includes a table showing that beef production is a leading source of greenhouse gasses. Flip shows himself lovingly embracing a cow he is raising for slaughter. Go figure. 

He was also outraged at a bill by Rep. Anastasia Williams to require the teaching of black history in public schools. Like every other Trumplican in the country, Flip is outraged at the whole idea of “critical race theory.”

http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2021/05/video-more-things-that-upset-rep-flip.html. In addition to being outraged over the official state coral, Flip is outraged over remote sessions of the General Assembly, mask-wearing, vaccine “passports,” and unisex one-seater restrooms.

http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2021/05/some-more-things-flip-filippi-doesnt.html. In this edition, Flip gets outraged over a plan to make RIPTA rides free in the push to get cars off the road and promote public transportation. He is also outraged over organ donation becoming the default option on your driver’s license.

http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2021/04/what-do-flip-filippi-and-dan-mckee-have.html   Flip doesn’t like telling anyone whether he’s been vaccinated and is outraged that anyone would ask.

http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2021/04/filippi-doesnt-know-how-government-works.html   Flip really hates the Act on Climate legislation now signed into law. And (see above) he seems to think the new law will stop him from raising cattle for slaughter - which is not true.