The Republican War on Nearly Everybody
Posted: February 28, 2011 Filed under: abortion rights, Psychopaths in charge, right wing hate grouups, Violence against women, Women's Rights | Tags: Christian Extremists, defunding planned parenthood, forced pregnancy, miscarriage police 25 CommentsRepublicans don’t seem to be able to help themselves any more. They’ve adopted the policy that no public good is a good public good. Shortsightedness appears to rule their doctrine and policy measures. The war on American Women is just one instance. Here’s Agent Orange telling Christian Extremists that defunding planned parenthood is just one “battle’ that’s part of a “war” that he wants to win. Evidently forced pregnancy and death in childbirth appear to be front and center on Speaker Boehner’s list of priorities. I’m warning you that this comes straight from the American christian version of the taliban so venture over to that site at the risk of killing some brain cells.
David Brody: “Can you commit to them that (defunding Planned Parenthood) will stay in the CR no matter what?”
Speaker John Boehner: “The continuing resolution passed 10 days ago did in fact defund Planned Parenthood and that bill has gone over to the United States Senate. They, like the House were out last week. What they’ll do with that bill I have no idea. In the short term CR though our focus is on cutting spending and making sure that we keep the government open. In order to get this through the House and through the Senate and signed by the President by March 4th, we’re not going to take any big chances on the fact that they’re looking for an excuse to shut down the government. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer they’ve been rooting for a government shutdown. We do not want to give them an excuse to do that.”
David Brody: “But then again with Planned Parenthood and this whole situation we know what’s going to happen in the Senate. It’s not going to be part of the CR. The pro-life community wants the GOP leadership to stand firm here in conference and is that a line in the sand?”
Speaker John Boehner: “The goal here again is to cut spending and keep the government open. I met with a lot of religious leaders earlier today to talk about the strategy and I think it’s important that we understand that what we want to do here is win the war not just win a battle and there will be an opportunity sometime in order to win the big war and we’re looking for that opportunity. I don’t think this short term CR is the opportunity that will get us there.”
David Brody: “So in essence you’re saying if it comes to that you’re not going to shut down the government over the defunding of Planned Parenthood.”
Speaker John Boehner: “There are a lot of options on the table but I don’t think in the short term CR (Continuing Resolution) this is the opportunity we’re looking for.”
There is absolutely nothing pro-life about these people. It is merely about out and out ownership of women and their bodily functions. They will not be satistified until they set up a police state whose function it will be to check the results of women’s monthly cycles and enforce breeder status on every functioning uterus. This is seriously sick.
It’s just not reproductive rights that are at stake here. It’s the funding of nearly all services that support the health and well being of women, pregnancies, and children. The speaker is sadly obsessed with one small part of a huge federal budget. This can only be seen through the lens of christianist extremism.
Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody, Boehner vigorously supported a recent House vote that defunds the organization entirely, a move that would strip it of more than $75 million in government cash.
Currently, the organization is allowed to apply government subsidies to all services except abortion procedures. Critics argue that restriction is too limited, saying that applying the government’s money to other procedures leaves more of the group’s own cash on hand to allocate to abortion-related services.
“The goal here again is to cut spending and keep the government open,” Boehner said of the move to defund the organization, in an interview published Sunday. “I met with a lot of religious leaders earlier today to talk about the strategy and I think it’s important that we understand that what we want to do here is win the war not just win a battle and there will be an opportunity sometime in order to win the big war and we’re looking for that opportunity.”
The defunding vote from the lower chamber came as part of a continuing resolution that included dramatic spending cuts across a range of programs. The Democrat-controlled Senate is set to consider the spending bill this week and is likely to reject a significant amount of the GOP’s spending cuts, including those that affect Planned Parenthood.
We’ve seen the erosion of women’s autonomy and individual liberties now for decades. There has been a method and a madness to the religious zealots who seek to enact specific religious tenets into the laws and funding of our national priorities. This type of thinking has reached a zenith in crazyland. Let me just remind you that Georgia legislature wants every single miscarriage investigated for possible wrongdoing. Rational thought has left the building.
It’s only February, but this year has been a tough one for women’s health and reproductive rights. There’s a new bill on the block that may have reached the apex (I hope) of woman-hating craziness. Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin—who last year proposed making rape and domestic violence “victims” into “accusers”—has introduced a 10-page bill that would criminalize miscarriages and make abortion in Georgia completely illegal. Both miscarriages and abortions would be potentially punishable by death: any “prenatal murder” in the words of the bill, including “human involvement” in a miscarriage, would be a felony and carry a penalty of life in prison or death. Basically, it’s everything an “pro-life” activist could want aside from making all women who’ve had abortions wear big red “A”s on their chests.
I doubt that a bill that makes a legal medical procedure liable for the death penalty will pass. The bill, however, shows an astonishing lack of concern for women’s health and well-being. Under Rep. Franklin’s bill, HB 1, women who miscarry could become felons if they cannot prove that there was “no human involvement whatsoever in the causation” of their miscarriage. There is no clarification of what “human involvement” means, and this is hugely problematic as medical doctors do not know exactly what causes miscarriages. Miscarriages are estimated to terminate up to a quarter of all pregnancies and the Mayo Clinic says that “the actual number is probably much higher because many miscarriages occur so early in pregnancy that a woman doesn’t even know she’s pregnant. Most miscarriages occur because the fetus isn’t developing normally.”
We’ve seen this kind of insanity coming out of statehouses and congress for several months now with little pushback by Democratic legislators. What type of people would seriously think and say these things? How have they gotten into positions where they get to make laws?
Every penny spent on Planned Parenthood is a penny well-spent. Unplanned and dangerous pregnancies are bad for children, bad for women,and bad for the society. There exists an incredible amount of evidence that show that every dollar spent to prevent unwanted and dangerous pregnancies save thousands of dollars and lives later on down the road. Seriously, what kind of people live in this country that cheer on actions that would lead to abundant suffering? Again, what kind of a sicko do you have to be to say these things? Speaker Boehner is an embarrassment to the country. The sooner we get his pathetic drunk and emotionally damaged ass out of Washington DC the better off we will all be. Unfortunately, he seems intent on damaging the present and the future as best he can.
Sunday Night, Open Thread
Posted: February 27, 2011 Filed under: just because, open thread 15 CommentsI have a tale to tell, not a tale more an embarrassment. While working on my puzzle tonight, I decided that I would partake in a little treat of Animal Crackers. We have a constant supply of these little critters in my house because it seems they are fat free. Anyway, as I was working on my cookies and putting together my puzzle, I got a bit carried away. Did you ever realize that an Animal Cracker is about the same size and shape as a puzzle piece? And since these things are fat free, they taste about the same as the cardboard pieces of the puzzle. Yes, I chomped on a puzzle piece. That I did this to begin with is a funny thing…that I did it 3 times in a span of 5 minutes is pathetic!
So, this is an open thread. Feel free to share a link or two…or an embarrassing story of your own, so I don’t feel so damn foolish.
And here for your enjoyment, a tale of one who steals from the rich and gives to the poor…to trip and trip and trip it up and down!
Diary of a Madman
Posted: February 27, 2011 Filed under: Foreign Affairs, Libya | Tags: Colonel Qaddafi, Libya uprising 7 CommentsGaddafi continues to cling to delusion and power in Libya. His insane tenure has joined Arabs and Israelis and sent the above Youtube into viral territory. It seems every one wants to get into the act of sending Gaddafi a get out of Dodge message.
Noy Alooshe, 31, an Israeli journalist, musician and Internet buff, said he saw Colonel Qaddafi’s televised speech last Tuesday in which the Libyan leader vowed to hunt down protesters “inch by inch, house by house, home by home, alleyway by alleyway,” and immediately identified it as a “classic hit.”
“He was dressed strangely, and he raised his arms” like at a trance party, Mr. Alooshe said in a telephone interview on Sunday. Then there were Colonel Qaddafi’s words with their natural beat.
Mr. Alooshe spent a few hours at the computer, using Auto-Tune pitch corrector technology to set the speech to the music of “Hey Baby,” a 2010 electro hip-hop song by American rapper Pitbull, featuring another artist, T-Pain. He titled it “Zenga-Zenga,” echoing Col. Qaddafi’s repetition of the word zanqa, Arabic for alleyway.
It’s a bit of levity in some otherwise gruesome news as AJ reports on Gaddafi’s defiance. It does seem like it’s just a matter of time before Gaddafi falls, however, that’s not helping people in Tripoli that are suffering.
As more cities fall into the hands of the pro-democracy protesters, Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is hanging on to the capital where security forces loyal to him seem to have a firm hold, even amid reports of sporadic gunfire.
On Sunday, protesters had reportedly taken over the towns of Misurata and Zawiyah, further shrinking the control of Gaddafi’s government.
However, tanks were surrounding Zawiyah, 50km from Tripoli, and locals feared an imminent raid by pro-Gaddafi forces.
In an interview with Serbian television, a defiant Gaddafi repeated his message that he will stay in Libya and blamed foreigners and al-Qaeda for the unrest that is threatening his 41-year rule.
The phone interview with TV Pink in Belgrade was carried out while Gaddafi was in his office in Tripoli.
The Libyan leader also condemned the United Nations Security Council for imposing sanctions on him and launching a war crimes inquiry.
Gaddafi said the UN council could not see that the capital, Tripoli, was secure.
Residents said banks were open but bread and petrol remained tightly rationed as the opposition grip on large swathes of the nation disrupted the distribution of basic goods.
Gaddafi is now bribing families $400 each to like him. That hasn’t stopped the Security Council of the UN from calling for a War Crimes inquiry into Gaddafi’s treatment of Libyan citizens.
The vote, only the second time the Security Council has referred a member state to the International Criminal Court, comes after a week of bloody crackdowns in Libya in which Colonel Qaddafi’s security forces have fired on protesters, killing hundreds.
Also on Saturday, President Obama said that Colonel Qaddafi had lost the legitimacy to rule and should step down. His statement, which the White House said was made during a telephone call with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, was the strongest yet from any American official against Colonel Qaddafi.
The Security Council resolution also imposes an arms embargo against Libya and an international travel ban on 16 Libyan leaders, and freezes the assets of Colonel Qaddafi and members of his family, including four sons and a daughter. Also included in the sanctions were measures against defense and intelligence officials who are believed to have played a role in the violence against civilians in Libya.
Unfortunately, sanctions have not worked very well in the past and the people are asking for a no-fly zone. This would stop Gadaffi from firing on his citizens with airplanes and helicopters. How many more people will die before this madman is finally gone?
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