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

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.