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The Greater Ethos, Karma, and Mother Nature Collude to Shut Down RNC

Posted: August 25, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , , |40 Comments

Hurricane Isaac is headed for the Gulf.  It has managed to skirt all but the very edge of Cuba which means it will be in a better position to strengthen once it pulls past that country and the Florida Keys.  It is now bearing down on the Party of Hate, Stupidity, and No and its staged glorification of guns, suppression of women, gays and minorities, money, and singular vision of gawd. Let’s just turn the tables on Pat Robertson for a moment and dedicate this open thread to the idea that you reap what you sow or Karma Happens.

Republicans announced Saturday that they had effectively canceled the first day of its convention for safety concerns associated with an impending hurricane.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement that “the Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th.”

That move essentially postpones the activities of the first of four scheduled days of the convention. But Priebus said in a conference call with reporters that the details of the revised schedule were not yet settled, and could be announced as soon as Sunday.
“The Republican National Convention is going to take place. We know that we will officially nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan,” he said.
Romney will now be formally nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate on Tuesday instead of Monday, said Russ Schriefer, a senior strategist for the Romney campaign.

“Right now, we expect that the roll call will just take place on Tuesday,” he said.

Convention organizers had pushed ahead with the gathering as planned for much of the week, even as it seemed, for some time, that Isaac was on a direct trajectory toward Tampa.

So who got shut down?  Looks like Senator Aqua Buddhas was on the list along with a list of other nutty nutty nuts. Ah, Marie Anntoinette got shut down.  I was looking forward to watching the horse dance.  Huckabee’s on the list too.  The theme was we can do better.  Right, you can do better at getting money out of the rest of us, I’m sure.  It’s our job to join with Mother Nature to stop you.

Remarks by Speaker John Boehner
Remarks by Governor Rick Scott (FL)
Remarks by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
Video
Remarks by Senator Rand Paul (KY)
Various Speakers
Remarks by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA)
To Be Announced
Remarks by Artur Davis and video
Remarks by Senate Republican Candidate Ted Cruz (TX)
Musical Act
Remarks by Governor Nikki Haley (SC)
Remarks by Mike Huckabee
Remarks by Mrs. Luce’ Vela Fortuno
Remarks by Mrs. Ann Romney

Gee, they were even going to have a roll call and nomination.  Guess that’s not gonna happen now.  Actually, I was kind’ve hoping we’d get to really see the hatefest 24/7 for awhile.  Let the public get in touch with the real Republican Agenda.  Let’s just look at a few of those items sitting out there on the platform.

The draft official platform strongly supports a “a human life amendment” to the Constitution:

“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the draft platform declares. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”

Let’s be very, very clear that such an amendment—which Mitt Romney has said unequivocally he would sign—would not only criminalize abortions of any kind for any reason, but also would outlaw many forms of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, and treatment of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. Moreover, it would also criminalize miscarriage.

This amendment is based on the self-same premise that was soundly rejected by voters in Colorado and Mississippi. Radical anti-choice advocates figure, it seems, if you can’t win it in the states, then beat them over the head with a constitutional amendment.

Romney, who in his quest to win the nomination of a party that is oozing with misogyny has all but promised to lock pregnant women in jail cells until they give birth, is now in a real pickle. Post-Akin, he states unequivocally that he would “oh, of course, no question” allow exceptions in otherwise radical abortion bans for rape and incest, through pre-Akin he was absolutely, positively clear he would not allow such exceptions. Ryan is just Akin without the political Tourettes Syndrome: He was an original co-sponsor of the bill to redefine rape, and to let Catholic hospitals deny women care. He also is a co-sponsor of the Sanctity of Human Life Act.

Women’s dignity and self-determination aren’t the only things at stake here.

  • NO ABORTION IN CASES OF RAPE OR INCEST. The proposal for a “human life amendment” passed without a hitch — and without any exceptions for rape or incest. The committee didn’t stop there; they also adopted language that would ban drugs that end pregnancy after conception, which could potentially include Plan B, the “morning after pill.”
  • SALUTE TO MANDATORY ULTRASOUNDS. The GOP officially praises states’ “informed consent” laws that force women to undergo unnecessary procedures, require waiting periods and endure other measures meant to discourage them from getting an abortion. One such law receiving a “salute” was crafted by committee head McDonnell, who passed a notorious mandatory ultrasound requirement after he signed an unsuccessful bill to require an even more invasive transvaginal probe ultrasound during an abortion consultation.
  • NO LEGAL RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX COUPLES. The committee embraced extreme anti-gay language, even rejecting a proposal to endorse civil unions for gay couples after vehement objections from Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Romney adviser Jim Bopp, who called it a “counterfeit marriage.” The rejection of civil unions, along with the refusal to include a line affirming the legal equality of same-sex couples prompted the organization GOProud to declare, “Those who have engaged in this public platform fight have provided distraction from important issues and damaged Mitt Romney’s campaign.”
  • REPLICATE ARIZONA-STYLE IMMIGRATION LAWS. Kris Kobach, who wrote the now mostly invalidated immigration laws in Arizona and Alabama, pushed for language calling for a border fence, a national E-Verify system to make it harder for undocumented workers to find employment, the end of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and an end to sanctuary cities. The committee overwhelmingly approved the proposals, as well as a line chastising the Department of Justice to halt the lawsuits against draconian immigration laws in Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina and Utah: “State efforts to reduce illegal immigration must be encouraged, not attacked.”
  • AUDIT THE FED. The pet project of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to audit the Federal Reserve has now been embraced as an official Republican goal. For the first time, the platform calls for an annual audit of the Federal Reserve.
  • NO WOMEN IN COMBAT. The platform condemns “social experimentation” in the military, which covers everything from the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to allowing officers to wear their uniforms in gay pride events to letting women serve on the front lines.
  • NO STATEHOOD, MORE GUNS FOR WASHINGTON DC. FRC’s Perkins, who recently blamed President Obama and the Southern Poverty Law Center for the shooting at FRC’s Washington headquarters, requested and received a section specifically urging the DC Council to expand gun rights. The same section also opposes DC statehood, which would allow the District to govern itself and put an end to Congressional attempts to impose abortion bans on DC.
  • NO NEW TAXES, EXCEPT FOR WAR. The platform calls for a Constitutional amendment requiring a super-majority to approve any tax increase, “with exceptions for only war and national emergencies.” It would also deliberately hobble future Congresses through a cap limiting all government spending to historical average percentage of GDP — “so that future Congresses cannot balance the budget by raising taxes.”

Yeah.  It’s that bad.  So, it’s just Hurricane Season and that’s what you get when you plan a big shin dig in the Gulf during hurricane Season. But, hurricane season is worse because of Global Warming so there has to be a little karma in there somewhere.  However, somewhere down inside in me is the kid that liked to gather up lots of clean white sheets and make fluffy “clouds” on the front lawn.  My girlfriend and I liked to play “goddesses” and zap those hapless humans as Athena and Aphrodite.  It would be nice to think that up there on Mt. Olympus that they joined Demeter to avenge the natural order of things.

40 Comments on “The Greater Ethos, Karma, and Mother Nature Collude to Shut Down RNC”

  1. ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    What was the first night called “Fox & Friends Night”? That lineup of speakers was straight out of the loonie bin. It may benefit them that those speakers won’t be heard.

    And the GOP platform is even more disgusting than usual, but most people will never read that platform. A lot of people don’t think party platforms matter, I disagree, The platform is exactly what the word implies, It is the foundation of the party and an expression of their collective goals. The GOP is exactly what the platform says it is, a bunch of chicken hawk, women hating, gay hating, immigrant loathing, religious zealnuts

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
      August 25, 2012 at 9:20 pm

      I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that platforms don’t matter but I’ve seen people fight to do things to them. Ridiculous.

      • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
        August 25, 2012 at 9:43 pm

        The Democratic Party added the repeal of DADT to it’s 2008 Platform and they made it happen. They also supported the Dream Act in the Platform and the repeal of DOMA. I’m a CSPAN watcher and watched the Dem Senate try to pass the Dream act at the end of 2010, it cleared the House but they couldn’t muster enough votes to get past cloture in the Senate.

        I’ve read the Dems are going to have a “Freedom to Marry” plank in support of gay marriage. I think that plank, as well as Obama’s support of Gay marriage, is a very gutsy move. There is still a major push in our society to force L/G’s back into the closet, I’M NOT GOING BACK Y’ALL! 🙂 i spent the first 40 years of my life keeping a low profile to avoid being arrested, then to avoid losing my children, and to avoid losing my job. I told my family I was gay in my late 20’s, shortly after divorcing. it took some of them nearly 40 years to get over it. I’m never hiding again. If someone has a problem with my sexual orientation, it’s their problem, not mine.

      • Pat Johnson's avatar Pat Johnson says:
        August 25, 2012 at 9:54 pm

        But this is the election they do really matter.

        Look how close Rick Santorum came during the primaries. Ryan is merely his substitute. They mean business this time out and they have enough Repub states in their pocket that have been making inroads for the past decade.

        This year that plank is no longer something they insert to satisfy a certain segment of their base. That “certain segment” is now their majority.

      • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
        August 25, 2012 at 10:32 pm

        “That “certain segment” is now their majority”

        True Dat!!!

  2. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    It sure does seem like Karma, alright. But those speakers will still be heard. I think they are still going to go four nights. Ann Romney had been rescheduled already.

  3. ecocatwoman's avatar ecocatwoman says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    Reality: none of the visiting Republicans will experience more than a little inconvenience, maybe some fright. Should Isaac strengthen, which is likely, it will be the residents of the areas hardest hit who will feel the real effects of the storm. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I read this earlier today:

    I can’t write this post without mentioning our sea turtles. We have more than half of our nests left to hatch, so I’m very sad at the timing. Currently we’ve witnessed over 1850 hatchlings into the Gulf of Mexico and, were it not for storms, we could have passed last year’s hatchling record of 3400 in the Gulf, hands down. Hopefully I will still be able to do my Sunday patrol and get some photos. Ft. Pickens is always the first of our area to be affected due to its elevation, so it will probably be the first to close.

    I’ll try to keep folks updated in the days ahead. Keep the Florida Panhandle dear to your heart and hope for a small Cat 1!

    The above is from the blog Barrier Island Girl: http://barrierislandgirl.blogspot.com/2012/08/countdown-to-isaac.html

    And one of the panelists on MHP this morning said that with the barrier islands & wetlands gone from the Gulf of Mexico near NOLA that there is less protection than ever before for NOLA when a hurricane hits. He expected the 9th Ward to be especially susceptible.

    Whatever damage occurs, what lives are harmed or lost will not change the attitudes or platform of the RNC. Climate change is real, it is affecting our weather patterns, along with the out of control, worse than ever fires & Romney’s energy plan will only make it worse faster.

  4. Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    Just how much fucking more can they expand gun rights?

    • Pat Johnson's avatar Pat Johnson says:
      August 25, 2012 at 9:51 pm

      On the day you are discharged from the maternity ward you are handed a gun along with your infant formula and your membership card in the NRA.

      • ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
        August 25, 2012 at 10:31 pm

        Yeah, we can apply for the newborns Social Security Card and their Permit to Carry all before they leave the hospital. Hey I like that idea, it’s very premptive. We could also go ahead and get a sample of their DNA, their fingerprints, get them a photo ID and go ahead and let them sign up for Selective Service. Might as well take care of all the important things right up front and before the Obama terrorists try to take over and the UN has to go to Lubbock and face down a Judge. America, America god shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. Right!!!

      • Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
        August 26, 2012 at 9:27 am

        I can see it now, gold and silver membership card.

    • Beata's avatar Beata says:
      August 25, 2012 at 10:36 pm

      Every fetus should have the right to bear arms.

  5. Pat Johnson's avatar Pat Johnson says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    Reading about the death of Neal Armstrong reminded me that over 40 years ago we stood for something as a nation. We put a man on the moon with less technical resources than we have now and managed to achieve a worthwhile mission.

    Today, 40 years plus from that historical event, where are those same high minded efforts toward progress? Arguing the reproductive rights of a woman! Truly amazing.

    The vision of JFK to win the race for outer space was an example of government working tirelessly on behalf of mankind. So many technological advances were gained from those space missions that are still being felt within the culture. But our priorities in 2012 rests in the hands of complete “shit for brains” idiots who would rather curtail progress.

    Trying to imagine a effort to make the world a better and safer place while discussions abound over the “personhood” of a zygote while suffering, hunger, and natural disasters are pushed aside, is shameful.

    Neal Armstrong was a hero. Unforutnately there are few around today who it can be said enjoy the same tributes.

  6. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    August 25, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    With an h/t to Charles Pierce, has anyone noticed that obvious anagram Reince Preibus with the vowels removed spells RNC PRBS? Couldn’t be a more appropriate name.

  7. Beata's avatar Beata says:
    August 25, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    • Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
      August 26, 2012 at 9:29 am

      Dylan always puts a smile on my face, especially when I look back to the 1960’s in politics…………I am surprised he didn’t have a cig in mouth while tpying.

  8. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    August 25, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    The Bain files released by Gawker show that Mitt Romney is basically a welfare queen.

    http://www.salon.com/writer/alex_pareene/

    • RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
      August 25, 2012 at 11:14 pm

      How completely appropriate!

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
      August 25, 2012 at 11:46 pm

      My impression is that I can’t believe some one would pay that much in management fees and that much in tax attorney fees to avoid taxes. I’d bet he paid more in those than he would’ve paid in taxes. Setting up funds and Swaps with teams of lawyers is damned expensive.

      • RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
        August 25, 2012 at 11:56 pm

        I’m betting he doesn’t pay those bill. Chances are Bain pays them as part of that swell long running retirement package of his.

  9. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    August 25, 2012 at 11:51 pm

    Two Countries Have One People, Our Road Has a Storm
    By Charles P. Pierce

    http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/hurricane-isaac-2012-12058876

    There will be some who believe to this to be unfair. I don’t care anymore. The reckless right has translated its reckless rhetoric into reckless action once too often for me. In 2009, the Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by the zombie-eyed granny-starver who is their presumptive vice-presidential nominee, took a meat-ax to all of those programs, cutting over $450 million from NOAA’s budget alone. Some of the leading conservative intellectuals — which is to say, some of the most lucratively subsidized corporate tools — have long advocated privatizing the National Weather Service, essentially arguing that the NWS was scaring people with its warnings. (“Intellectuals,” you may have noticed here, is a relative term in this context, in the same way that, say, “andiron” is a relative term in the context of food.) Rick Santorum, the place horse in this year’s Republican primaries, climbed on that bandwagon as well. One thing we’ve learned since Todd Akin unlimbered himself concerning the secret secretions of the ladyparts, and since Willard Romney told his “birther” joke and gave the crowd around him a chance to howl with delight, is that anything the Republicans refer to as a “fringe” idea is merely one the common wisdom of the party that you’re not supposed to say out loud. That is where we are with them — a cult of the Kabbalah of Stupid.

  10. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    August 26, 2012 at 12:00 am

    Some people have all the fun.

    John Cole: Very Angry White People

    So I drove to the St. Clairsville Mall in Ohio today to hit a couple stores, and I drove across a crowd of very, very, angry white people:

    I couldn’t get better pictures because when I saw all the War on Coal signs, saw the Romney/Ryan bus (which you can barely make out on the far left there), something in me made me drive by honking my horn yelling “FOUR MORE YEARS” and “OBAMA/BIDEN 2012.” After the third trip by being belligerent, I couldn’t even hear the speaker ranting about the 14th amendment (was Rush talking about that this week?) I was getting booed so much. Pro-tip: Driving with multiple Obama stickers as well as a WV Public Radio sticker and stickers that say “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one” on a Subaru honking it’s horns and terrorist fist jabbing while yelling FOUR MORE YEARS will make you persona non grata at a Romney rally. I had fun, anyway.

    Turns out the teahadists were doing this all over the state of Ohio:

  11. Klown Mom's avatar Oswald says:
    August 26, 2012 at 6:31 am

    How about irony?

    The latest forecasts have Isaac headed for NOLA

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
      August 26, 2012 at 12:19 pm

      Thanks for taking time from your busy to do list of taking candy from babies and kicking dogs to comment here. Don’t you have a kkk/teabagging rally to attend this week?

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