HATE SPEECH

Forget about Senate collegiality. Republican State Sen. Lana Theis (Brighton) quashed any notion of that recently when she called three fellow Democrat Senators – Mallory McMorrow (Royal Oak, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills), Rosemary Bayer (Bloomfield Township, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Clarkston) and Dayna Polehanki (Livonia) –  “trolls” and “groomers that sexualize our children.” Her rant began during a Senate invocation, generally a non-confrontational introduction to the session, and continued on Twitter, where she expanded her attacks on “Democrats who want to teach their children LGBTQ+ issues and America's history as 'enlightened elites' who believe parents must surrender to the wisdom of teacher unions, (and) trans-activists.”  McMorrow said enough. Responding in the Senate and on Twitter, she labeled the attack as “vile.” Ten million views later of a video of her response, coverage in national print publications and on TV, McMorrow's retort is being held out as the playbook for pushing back on the increasing far right weaponization of social issues.