Thursday Reads
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: 2012 primaries, legislation, Marriage Equality, morning reads, PLUB Pro-Life-Until-Birth, religion, U.S. Politics, War on Women, Women's Healthcare, Women's Rights | Tags: constitution, DOMA, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Republican Debate, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul 47 Comments
Good Morning!!
There was another Republican debate last night, and it may actually be the last one! We live blogged it here. I watched the debate and all it did was remind me how distasteful–actually repulsive–every one of these candidates is. Romney is the slimiest, liar ever; Gingrich is nothing but a grifter; Ron Paul is a whiny old geezer; and Santorum is a sanctimonious, preachy theocrat. After this election, the Republican Party may be truly dead. It’s already brain dead.
Here are a few reactions to the debate for those who are interested.
Paul Begala: Romney Wins the battle, but it may lose him the war.
Andrew Sullivan: The winner’s in the White House.
TPM: Rick’s rough night.
Hot Air: Tough night for Santorum
In state legislatures around the country women are fighting back against the Republican war on women. Yesterday, Governor Bob O’Donnell of Virginia was forced to back down on the anti-woman state-sanctioned rape law that he had originally said he’d sign. In Georgia, (via Charlie Pierce), state rep. Yasmin Neal
was the driving force behind a brilliant bill filed yesterday that would outlaw vasectomies in Georgia on anti-abortion grounds — namely, that the lives of millions of potential “persons” were snuffed out because of the vas deferens between the way we see men as reproductive critters and the way we see women as reproductive critters:
Thousands of children are deprived of birth in this state every year because of the lack of state regulation over vasectomies,” said Rep. Yasmin Neal, D-Riverdale, author of the Democrats’ bill. “It is patently unfair that men can avoid unwanted fatherhood by presuming that their judgment over such matters is more valid than the judgment of the General Assembly, while women’s ability to decide is constantly up for debate throughout the United States.”
Now some Democrats are fighting back at the federal level.
The House Judiciary Committee recently passed a bill that would ban selective abortions based on race or gender by a 20-13 vote. The biggest hurdle to passage was the bill’s name.
Democrats proposed calling the bill “The Ronald Reagan Impose Your Beliefs on a Woman’s Womb Act” and “The Tea Party Determines What Rights a Woman Has Act.”
The legislation (H.R. 3541), sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), was originally entitled the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Non-discrimination Act of 2011.” But after objections by committee Democrats and an amendment by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the bill, which passed on Feb. 16, was changed to the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act (PRENDA) during mark-up sessions last week.
Thirteen Democrats voted against the measure claiming it violated the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide, and would “make it more difficult for women of color to obtain the basic reproductive health care services.”
The GLBT community is fighting back against the GOP haters too. Not too long ago, an anti-gay Tennessee state legislator was asked by the owner, Martha Boggs to leave her restaurant because of his bigoted public statements. Today, Antonio a gay hairdresser in Santa Fe, said he will no longer cut Republican New Mexico governor Susannah Martinez’s hair. Even {gasp!} Alan Simpson is getting in on the act. He says Rick Santorum is “rigid and a homophobic.”
Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.) weighed in on the Republican presidential primary on Wednesday, calling Rick Santorum “rigid and a homophobic.”
In an interview with CBS News’ Bob Schieffer, Simpson faulted the Republican field for making issues like same-sex marriage and reproductive rights central to their platforms, warning that they would lose favor with voters if the conversation does not change.
“I am convinced that if you get into these social issues and just stay in there about abortion and homosexuality and even mental health they bring up, somehow they’re going to take us all to Alaska and float us out in the Bering Sea or something,” said Simpson, long known for colorful commentary. “We won’t have a prayer.”
He continued, “I watch Republicans, they give each other the saliva test of purity, and then they lose and they bitch for four years.”
Simpson supports Romney, who also claims to be homophobic, anti-choice, and anti-birth control. Oh well….
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and one of those mainline Protestant churches that Rick Santorum thinks have been taken over by Satan offered drive-thru ashes! Someone needs to tell Rick! It’s the Devil’s work!!
Over the weekend, Newt Gingrich tried to look macho by claiming “you can’t put a gun rack on a Chevy Volt!” But lots of people have stepped forward to prove him wrong.
A GM exec came forward to prove Newt was incorrect.
Chevrolet executive Selim Bingol fired back this morning via GM’s new blog, called BTW:
“Newt Gingrich has taken up saying that ‘You can’t put a gun rack on a Volt.’ That’s like saying ‘You can’t put training wheels on a Harley.’ Actually, you can. But the real question is ‘Why would you?’ In both examples:
It looks weird,
It doesn’t work very well, and
There are better places for gun racks and training wheels — pickup trucks and little Schwinns, respectively.
Seriously, when is the last time you saw a gun rack in ANY sedan?”
OK, I know I haven’t posted much serious news this morning. I guess I’m just punch drunk from that debate last night. We did get a bit of good news last night though. A federal judge in California–a Bush appointee yet–found the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.
You may recall that Martha Coakley got the ball rolling in Massachusetts in 2010, convincing the Obama administration to stop defending the law. Yesterday’s decision is the third time a court has called DOMA unconstitutional
The New York Times has an interview with the mother of Marie Colvin, who was killed in Syria yesterday. Colvin was majoring in anthropology at Yale in the late 1970s,
but took a course with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer John Hersey. She also started writing for The Yale Daily News “and decided to be a journalist,” her mother said.
On Wednesday, Marie Colvin, 56, a veteran correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, was killed as Syrian forces shelled the city of Homs. She was working in a makeshift media center that was destroyed in the assault. A French photographer, Rémi Ochlik, was also killed.
At her family’s split-level home on Long Island, the telephone rang at 5 a.m. It was so early, her mother said, that “I knew it was something terrible.”
“She was supposed to leave Syria” on Wednesday, Ms. Colvin said. “Her editor told me he called her yesterday and said it was getting too dangerous and they wanted to take her out. She said she was doing a story and she wanted to finish it and it was important and she would come out” on Wednesday.
Photojournalist Remi Olchlik was also killed in Syria yesterday
Remi Ochlik didn’t waste any time celebrating after he won one of photojournalism’s most prestigious prizes two weeks ago. Hours later, he was on a plane headed back to work in Middle East danger zones, a friend recalled.
On Wednesday, the promising 28-year-old French photographer was dead, killed in a barrage of gunfire and shelling by government forces in Homs, Syria, where he had arrived just the night before….
Colleagues remembered Ochlik as careful and experienced despite his young age, but driven to cover a string of conflicts that won him a reputation as one of the world’s best young photojournalists.
At just 20 years old, Ochlik got his professional start covering riots in Haiti in 2004. The next year he set up photo agency IP3 Press and covered sports, society and politics. When the “Arab Spring” erupted last year, Ochlik was all over it: In Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, and most recently, Syria.
That’s it for me this morning. What are you reading and blogging about?
Eeps! They’re doing it Again! Live Blog for Republican Debate
Posted: February 22, 2012 Filed under: 2012 elections, 2012 presidential campaign, 2012 primaries, Live Blog, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum | Tags: Arizona debate 134 Comments
Newt’s been oddly quiet. Romney is scrambling for funds and any sign of enthusiastic support from outside of the Republican Money Class. Paul picked up a big super pac donation from a really odd Louisianian. Then there’s Saint Rick of the Sexually Obsessed. He’s undoubtedly going to get the spotlight tonight as his completely crazy religious views have taken him to places that I doubt any one has one before. The establishment hates him but the crazy base thinks he’s just right. Afterall, his culture jihad got him thrown out of his senate position.
“Santorum’s job tonight is to quell fears about his general-election electability,” says Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “Taking on social issues to differentiate himself from [Newt] Gingrich and Romney is a good strategy, but it’s high risk. He’s been over-talking.”
Santorum’s first task, Mr. O’Connell says, is to take his strong views on social issues – a plus with the so-called “values voters” in the Republican base – and turn them into a discussion on limited government and strong families, not about telling individuals what to do. In recent days Santorum has been all over birth control, women’s role in society, and same-sex marriage.
Then there’s the story about his 2008 speech on how Satan was “attacking the great institutions of America,” now in its second day on the highly read Drudge Report. When asked about it Tuesday, Santorum didn’t disavow the remarks.
“I’m a person of faith. I believe in good and evil,” Santorum said in response to questions from CNN, host of the Wednesday night debate, which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Then he added that he didn’t think the topic was relevant to today.
“What we’re talking about in America today is trying to get America growing. That’s what my speeches are about. That’s we’re going to talk about in this campaign,” said Santorum.
Meanwhile, Romney’s hoping his newly released tax plan will get some votes. I’m sure it won’t be from economists or people that like strong economies. Look for him to try to fit this in where he can. Well, that an some pointed jabs at Santorum.
Reducing the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent was a central point of an economic proposal Romney offered in September. The former Massachusetts governor’s plan, which would eliminate taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for individuals making $200,000 or less per year, came under criticism over a lack of details.
Romney suggested during a town-hall meeting in Shelby Township, Michigan, yesterday that he’d offer details.
“I’ll be coming out with some proposals of my own this week that describe how I cut, create more pro-growth tax policies,” Romney said. “I want to see a flatter, fairer, broader-based tax system.”
The Debate will be on CNN tonight at 8 pm EST. It’s being held not too far where my parents lived for awhile in Mesa Arizona.
Washington bureau chief Sam Feist, who’s producing CNN’s seventh debate this cycle, said the 8 p.m. face-off “comes at an important moment in the campaign” as tight races develop in Arizona and Michigan. And given the lack of debates since January, Feist said “there are a lot of topics that are likely to come up in this debate that, frankly, haven’t come up in the other debates.”
Feist wasn’t about to tip off the candidates about what moderator John King might throw their way, but social issues, which received increased media attention since the Florida debates, are expected to get some play.
It’s also possible that former senator Rick Santorum could be asked about his 2008 comments about Satan “attacking the great institutions of America,” which had a second life Tuesday thanks to The Drudge Report. When asked if the Satan comments could come up, Feist simply said that “nothing is off the table.”
The questions asked during the previous 20 debates this week came under scrutiny from New York University professor Jay Rosen and his students in the Studio 20 program, who studied all 839 of them. The students, working with The Guardian, found that 13 percent of the questions asked involved “campaign strategy and the way the candidates responded to each other’s negative ads.”
However, they noted that members of debate or online audiences asked zero questions about polls, flip-flops or negative ads, suggesting that journalists may be preoccupied by process-oriented questions that are of less interest to the public.
Feist said he found the study “interesting and valuable,” but quibbled with how the questions were categorized. “If you ask a candidate about a comment made in a negative ad, I don’t see that as campaign strategy,” Feist said. “I see that as a rare opportunity to have the candidate respond to the negative ads that the public has been inundated with.”
This will be last debate before Super Tuesday so look for every candidate to try to make high impact statements. Will they all play nice?
Virginia Governor Backs Away from State Sanctioned Rape Bill
Posted: February 22, 2012 Filed under: fetus fetishists, Media, PLUB Pro-Life-Until-Birth, the blogosphere, U.S. Politics, War on Women, Women's Healthcare, Women's Rights | Tags: abortion, Gov. Bob McDonnell, transvaginal ultrasound, Virginia state sanctioned rape bill 10 Comments
VA Gov. Bob McDonnell
The Hill is reporting that the Virginia House of Delegates has passed their anti-abortion bill that apparently doesn’t include the mandated transvaginal ultrasound requirement. The state Senate has already passed a version of the bill.
According to Think Progress, Governor Bob McDonnell “publicly backtracked” from his previous position in support of the ultrasound requirement and asked for an amendment to the bill:
I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily. I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age. Should a doctor determine that another form of ultrasound may be necessary to provide the necessary images and information that will be an issue for the doctor and the patient. The government will have no role in that medical decision.
But Think Progress notes that even requiring the less invasive ultrasound is still an attempt to intimidate women who need abortions.
…the ultrasound bill is still unnecessary. Studies have shown that viewing an ultrasound does not change a woman’s mind before an abortion, and the Guttmacher Institute reports that requiring an abortion only adds to the cost of an abortion. “Since routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of first-trimester abortion, the requirements appear to be a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion,” the group writes.
According to NBC news, the “watering down” of the ultrasound requirement “likely dooms the measure.”
The amended bill now returns to the Senate where its sponsor, Sen. Jill Vogel, said she will strike the legislation.
The House action came moments after McDonnell — facing outrage from women and appeals from GOP moderates — announced he was opposing the original bill requiring vaginal probes.
RH Reality Check calls it a “partial victory.” Naturally, they’re a bit more harsh than some of the corporation media outlets:
Today, after a week of media coverage of a bill mandating that women seeking abortion undergo medically unnecessary state-sanctioned trans-vaginal ultrasounds, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is now backing down. A little.
Over the past year, Virginia has been a “leader” in passing laws to harass and intimidate abortion providers and patients. Recently, for example, and despite widespread condemnation by the public health and medical communities, McDonnell signed into law regulations for clinics providing abortion care intended to do nothing other than shut them down. In this instance, medical evidence meant… well… nothing to him.
Now, however, angling for a role as Vice President in the 2012 election, watching the backlash against the far right’s efforts to politicize women’s health, and after a week of intense media scrutiny of a plan to mandate trans-vaginal ultrasounds (including by RH Reality Check) medical evidence has suddenly become very, very important to the governor.
Thanks to the overwhelming negative reaction to this outrageous bill in the blogosphere and the quick action of Virginia women in organizing their silent protest at the Virginia statehouse, we appear to have won a small battle in the war against women.
In Indiana, Even The Girl Scouts Are Vilified
Posted: February 21, 2012 Filed under: 2012 primaries, abortion rights, Feminists, fetus fetishists, fundamentalist Christians, Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood, War on Women, Women's Healthcare, Women's Rights 24 CommentsMitch Daniels should hang his head in shame. Neither a motorcycle nor a Marlon Brando pose can sweeten the latest news from the Great State of the Indiana.
The Girl Scouts are under siege. Yes, these Girl Scouts.
Innocent? I think not.
Making this pledge.
Certainly you can see the security threat. Why? Because they’re . . . girls. They may grow up to be She Wolves with hearts and minds of their own. They might even grow up to be SEXUAL beings. Ooooo, scary!
Better safe than sorry, according to Bob Morris, a Republican Indiana State Rep, who refused to support a resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts of America [GSA]. Why? According to Morris, the Girl Scouts of America is a ‘radical’ organization, sexualizing little girls and promoting homosexuality.
Notice how frequently the word “radical” is being used in political conversation. Women’s healthcare is . . . radical. Having a sense that we’d do well not to spoil our own nest [the environment] for the sake of Extraction Capitalism is a sure sign of radical intent. Contraception and abortion are radical ideas, just an excuse for eugenic tinkering, a sneaky way of culling the herd.
However, probing a woman with a transvaginal device is peachy keen, something that a pregnant woman should shrug off because she’s already allowed herself to be penetrated, so says CNN contributor and Andrew Brietbart blogger, Dana Loesch.
It’s no different than consensual sex.
No, Loesch was not kidding. This is what we do to Girl Scouts when they grow up!
Thank goodness for cultural warriors like Bob Morris, a man willing to flush and call out the Girl Scouts for what they truly are and have always been–an evil cabal.
Who knew the GSA was an active arm of Planned Parenthood, an organization that has poisoned the well, corrupted our girls, led them down that crooked path of feminism, lesbianism and OMG—communism!
Morris’s letter of concern to his esteemed legislators can be found here in its entirety. I’ve provided a small sample below, but word of warning: Do Not Read this letter or any small part while drinking coffee, soda, wine or any beverage. Unless, that is, you’re prepared to mop up your keyboard.
Nonetheless, abundant evidence proves that the agenda of Planned Parenthood includes sexualizing young girls through the Girl Scouts, which is quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood instructional series and pamphlets are part of the core curriculum at GSA training seminars. Denver Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley of Denver last year warned parents that “membership in the Girl Scouts could carry the danger of making their daughters more receptive to the pro-abortion agenda.”
How comforting to know that the Catholic Church strikes another note of wisdom and reason. Did I mention the Girl Scouts no longer allow scouts to pray or sing Christmas carols? So says, Bob Morris, a clear indication that GSA is training an army of soulless, female zombies.
The march of the female zombies
Sorry, we’re into true la-la land with this insanity. This isn’t about religion; it’s about mental health. In years past, a position like this accompanied by a written letter would label you certifiable. Now, it marks you as a tri-cornered hat patriot.
Morris’s other objection to all things Girl Scouts is Michelle Obama’s position as ‘honorary’ president of the group. By association, Morris claims that since the First Lady and President Obama are huge abortion supporters and fans of Planned Parenthood, the GSA is automatically tainted and antithetical to true American values.
I’m not even an Obama admirer but there’s a distinct whiff of McCarthyism in these endless charges. By mere association, anything and anyone attached to Planned Parenthood or the WH are automatically labeled suspect, evil and un-American.
With that in mind, perhaps it’s time to resurrect Joseph Welch’s famous retort during the 1954 Army/McCarthy hearings. I suspect Welch was as weary and disgusted as I am by the onslaught of mean-spirited, petty and stupid accusations. His question is as relevant now as it was nearly 60 years ago:
Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
dakinikat
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Recent Comments