There is a “forced-birth” movement. A “pro-life” movement would be against the death penalty and advocating for universal healthcare, especially for mothers.
Forced birthers do none of those things and mock the very idea. Understanding that lie puts this article into the proper context.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/21/anti-abortion-groups-election-loss-00069569
Ehm Moore : 23 hours ago
What can one really say about a person who is willingly funded by two sons of a billionaire who made his money/empire by being a licensor to, and then a design and build contractor to, Joe Stalin, has a Daddy who was a willing blood-brother cohort of Fidel Castro, and seems to be trying to channel Sen. Joe McCarthy, especially in the “have no shame” category.
via Anti-abortion voters look for one of their own | Dallas Morning News.
Really…what can ya say.
Although the quote is “have you no sense of decency, sir?”. And to be clear….no, Rafael does not have any decency.
Ann Romney tells of miscarriage – Tim Mak – POLITICO.com
Mitt Romney, sitting alongside his wife, appeared taken aback by the story, leading CBS interviewer Scott Pelley to ask if he’d heard that story before.
“I hadn’t heard the story about Craig coming home from school that day and being so devastated,” said the presumptive GOP nominee. “I’m not surprised. He’s a very tender heart and a wonderful father today himself.”
As to the title…if abortion is murder…miscarriage is manslaughter. If this was a real person that died, as the Republicans want to change the law to say it was, there should be an investigation.
Was it irresponsible actions that led to the death? An absent father? My guess is that conservatives will whine more about the tone of this post than the obvious and impssible legal situations their own policies would create (of which the post title is one).
McDonnell: We’re affirming that we’re a pro-life party.The details certainly are left to Congress and, ultimately, to the states and the people on how they ratify such an amendment. More importantly, what they do at the state level.
Stephanapoulous: So is the party for a rape exception or not?
McDonnell: The party didn’t make any judgment on that. It’s a general proposition to say we support human life. The rest of the details are up to the states and the people respectively, George. That’s simply not covered.
via GOP Platform Chair: Rape A ‘Detail’ In The Abortion Debate | ThinkProgress.
On top of that we also get this wonderful euphemism for rape from none other than Paul Ryan.
Here’s the problem…Republicans want to somehow claim that giving into religious extremists on birth control, outlawing all abortion (even in the case of “illegitimate methods of conception”), and bashing Obama’s achievements in gender equality is somehow *in support* of women, and it’s really the Democrats who are waging a “war on women”.
(As a quick aside, I find it hilarious that the champions of the annual TV-event, the “War on Christmas”, take such umbrage about the usage of the term “War on Women” to describe the methodical nature of Republican’s attempts to limit the rights and freedoms of women. It’d be more funny if it wasn’t so blatantly hypocritical…but I guess that’s why it *is* funny…so I’m left in something of a pickle in my not-so-quick aside.)
So, yea…there you have it. Sure, publicly Republicans denounce Todd Akin as an outlier…but the reality of the party’s platform is that it is 100% aligned with the heart of Akin’s comments; “Rape ain’t no excuse, no abortions for anyone…life for all.”
Yes, folks, for a little while in Florida this week, as bizarro universe melds with ours as religious leaders keeping secular employees from getting birth control is called “religious freedom” (as is banning the building of non-Christian places of worship), and “small government” is all about controlling what the majority of the population can and can’t do with their reproductive organs.
GOP 2012…in a nutshell…
…and should probably be in a nuthouse…but they cut funding for those too, if you haven’t been able to tell by the number of mass shootings lately.
States have cut more than $1.6 billion in general funds from their state mental health agency budgets for mental health services since FY2009, a period during which demand for such services increased significantly. These cuts translate into loss of vital services such as housing, Assertive Community Treatment, access to psychiatric medications and crisis services.
Modest increases in state general fund mental health spending fail to compensate for the loss in federal Medicaid revenues that hit states due to reductions in federal Medicaid rates implemented at the end of June 2011. Moreover, to make up for these lost federal Medicaid revenues, states such as Arizona and Ohio have shifted state general fund mental health dollars to Medicaid recipients, leaving many non-Medicaid recipients with serious mental illness without services.
Just two hours after a U.S. district judge stopped a Texas law that would have eliminated Planned Parenthood’s participation in the state’s Women’s Health Program, Federal Appeals Judge Jerry E. Smith issued an emergency stay that lifted that order.
In the appeal for the emergency stay, a team of attorneys led by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott compared Planned Parenthood to a terrorist organization.
“Planned Parenthood does not provide any assurance that the tax subsidies it receives from the Women’s Health Program have not been used directly or indirectly to subsidize its advocacy of elective abortion,” Abbott wrote in his motion to stay the injunction. “Nor is it possible for Planned Parenthood to provide this assurance.”
“Money is fungible, and taxpayer subsidies — even if ‘earmarked’ for nonabortion activities — free up other resources for Planned Parenthood to spend on its mission to promote elective abortions … (because ‘[m]oney is fungible,’ First Amendment does not prohibit application of federal material-support statute to individuals who give money to ‘humanitarian’ activities performed by terrorist organizations).”
via Texas Attorney General Compares Planned Parenthood To Terrorist Organization.
This pretty much just disgusts me. In order to get after a small percentage of women making horribly difficult choices in an increasingly difficult work situation (that whole wealth disparity thing I go on and on about affects women disproportionately…in the bad way), there are going to be massive collateral damage as the fundies look for loopholes to punish helping poor women.
If you want to ban abortion, try to pass an amendment to the Constitution doing so. Quit trying to redefine words, claim helping women is an act of terrorism, claiming a fertilized egg is a functioning citizen, shoving wands up vaginas against the people’s will AND BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT.
That’s what really disgusts me about this whole debate…the base dishonesty.
Presidential hopeful Herman Cain to allow exemptions for poor in his 9-9-9 tax plan – The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/presidential-hopeful-cain-to-allow-exemptions-for-poor-in-his-9-9-9-tax-plan/2011/10/21/gIQA9PMc2L_story.html
“America is ready for solutions, not more rhetoric,” he said. “The American dream has been hijacked, but we can take it back.”
He then called for no abortions for anyone but noted he would not force government regulations on women. Seriously, he did that.
Video evidence: Note where he starts, and where he ends up. Textbook hypocrisy.
UPDATE: To be fair, Cain later backtracked straight to boiler plate talking points in an environment where he doesn’t have to explain them.
As a side note…is Al Sharpton really *that bad* at reading? Painful to watch. And how did he get a show? No real worries, since I don’t pay for cable (and thus his salary, like *everyone* who has cable), but I was surprised to see that one. Looks like he’s lost some weight too. Good for him.
We’ll let you know when they get to the first bill adressing the whole “jobs, jobs, jobs” thing they campaigned on.
It will be sometime after they do their best to reassert government control over the repoductive habits of the majority of the population.
And probably after the House Committee on Un-Christian Activities gets some serious play.
And probably sometime before Justice Clarence Thomas echoes his wife’s public statements, and those of her very generous employers, and declares [again] that regulatin’ America’s real citizens is Unconstitutional. {it will be sometime after he declares that income, since he just barely got around to doing that}.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Job-Killing Health Act Repeal” bill last week. Everyone stand up and give them a big round of applause for wasting everyone’s time and money in doing so. Give them an encore for passing it, even though it’s title was exposed as a lie many moons ago.
What CBO actually said is that the impact of the health care law on supply and demand for labor would be small. Most of it would come from people who no longer have to work, or can downshift to less demanding employment, because insurance will be available outside the job.
“The legislation, on net, will reduce the amount of labor used in the economy by a small amount _roughly half a percent_ primarily by reducing the amount of labor that workers choose to supply,” budget office number crunchers said in a report from last year.
That’s not how it got translated in the new report from Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other top Republicans.
CBO “has determined that the law will reduce the ‘amount of labor used in the economy by.roughly half a percent.,’ an estimate that adds up to roughly 650,000 jobs lost,” the GOP version said.
Gone was the caveat that the impact would be small, mainly due to people working less. Added was the estimate of 650,000 jobs lost.
Yes, the “job-killing” in the title of the repeal bill came from a willful mis-understanding of the CBO’s report. Unless you consider old people, who were only staying at their jobs to get healthcare, deciding to leave those jobs as they get health insurance from another avenue as a “job killed” instead of a “job opening”. Ultimately, what the Republicans called “job-killing” is actually an acceleration in the turnover of the workforce, something the economy desperately needs right now.
I am not surprised the Derp, Derp Congress is voting directly against the interests of the country, and I am happy they don’t have enough power to do anything other than waste taxpayer time on this issue. Sadly, their impact on other issues could be more…actual.
They did find the time to pass two job-creating-anti-abortion-funding bills. Because, you know, federal abortion funding was a huge issue during the election…well…for some people…others realized Obama wrote an executive order banning funds in HCR being used for abortions, and the legislation itself forbade it. That did not stop Tea Party Republicans from telling people the exact opposite was happening (noticing a trend yet?) and so we get two bills focused on this non-topic.
House Republicans turned their focus to abortion on Thursday, introducing two bills to ban federal funding for the procedure.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the measures necessary, even though President Barack Obama signed an executive order last year that bars federal funding for the procedure.
“Clearly, there is an awful lot of doubt as to where the administration really is on this issue,” Boehner said. “I think the will of the people is that we enact this clear-cut prohibition on the use of taxpayer funds for elective abortions.”
Yes, I clearly remember abortion being a front and center issue that tha Tea Party wouldn’t shut up about. And the ties between federal-abortion-funding and job creation are too numerous to count. This legislation is essentially the long form of Joe Wilson’s “you lie”, and is just about as accurate.
But the Derp, Derp, Congress isn’t done yet. Given that NASA recently pointed out that 2010 was tied for as the hottest year on record, and that a majority of Republicans believe that thermometers have a liberal bias and are all secretly controlled by George Soros, you can guess how the Derp, Derp, Congress plans to deal with the issue.
Top staff members for key House and Senate Republicans met in a closed-door session Tuesday with energy industry interests to work on strategy to handcuff the Obama administration’s climate change agenda.
With the backing of GOP caucus leaders, aides for House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) are seeking unwavering support from a host of industries for an all-out push to block federal and state climate rules.
“The feedback we got was ‘hey, great, go for it guys,’” one Republican aide told POLITICO. “And we pretty strongly told them we do need your help to get this done. And when we walked away from the meeting the feeling was we got that.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47867.html#ixzz1ByW5Hgtk
Yes, the Derp, Derp, Congress is not only ignoring the brightest minds for the shiniest objects on this one, they are actively trying to screw stuff up. Check out the name of this other bill that will pass and then fail (since the Derpsters only control the House, derp)…
Ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA had the authority to regulate greenhouses gases if they pose a danger to the public, some have criticized the prospect of government-set limits on carbon pollution from fossil fuels.
The House legislation, the Free Industry Act, introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has 96 co-sponsors — all Republicans except Rep. Dan Boren, a Democrat from Oklahoma.
The bill would change the law so that greenhouse gases couldn’t be considered air pollution and it would tell the EPA that nothing in the law empowers the agency to regulate the pollutants that cause climate change.
See how that works? All you have to do is say that a problem is not a problem and it is solved. Derp, derp.
Or, to be more creative, you can take a solved problem (fed funds for abortion) say it isn’t solved, and pretend to solve it again. Derp, derp.
But that’s on the national stage, what about the states? We have previous coverage of the Derp, Derp, States here.
Some more…
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From the Christian-Only State of Alabama to the Corporate States of Florida, Texas, Ohio, Nevada, Michigan, and Oklahoma. Public coffers are at all time lows, corporate profits are all time highs…time to reward the tax cutters (who created that very scenario) with lavish parties and huge cakes.
Oklahoma is also going the direct and no-questions-asked anti-science route. Considering that their Senator Inhofe is a leading “thermometers-are-a-socialist-conspiracy” proponent, this is less than surprising.
Final, bonus link…if you want to see how *actual scientists* deal with overblown rhetoric and press releases, this is a good story for you. If y0u want to see how quotes and skepticism are taken from science stories out of context and overblown, check out Inhofe’s next press release referencing the same thing.
I can’t believe I have to do this. I was reading an interview that Rick Warren (of the Purpose Driven Life) gave and was struck by something he wrote. So I kept reading the interview and was struck by a few other silly things he said.
Look, I’ve got nothing against Rick Warren personally. From what I’ve seen he seems like a nice guy who does some good work. My problem is with the lack of…shall we say…accountability of his theology. And the lack of reason and logic in his worldview. In his mind, what you do in life doesn’t matter, as long as you declare your love for God, it’s all good.
This leads to some really, really, nasty things when applied to real life, which is far more complex that it seems Mr. Warren is capable of conceiving.
Read on for that argument…
I don’t know if you heard, but yea. It’s a different world today.
And I’m very, very happy about it.
Obama Wins
As I mentioned previously, this was a pretty big deal for me and a whole lot of folk.
As a quick note on the jocular title of the post….here’s the stats.…
It turns out that saying Americans “retired” McCain would probably be one of the more accurate ways to explain the voting. His age was a major concern for a lot of voters, which I think was accentuated by the Palin problem.
Ultimately, it turns out that people wanted to change the national (and Republican) policy of “concentrate the wealth” that we’ve been following for the past 30 years. It seems that many think maybe “spreading the wealth” a bit could provide major dividends. I happen to agree, for a number of reasons, mainly having to do with the idea that spreading some of the wealth will do wonders for many workers in the economic realm of “motivation.”
I thought this was a big deal also because of the world opinion. It was something that didn’t show up on polls, and maybe was even a net-negative for Obama (in the weird world of U.S. politics), but I think it was Obama’s true stength, and that (r)ace-in-the-hole that will help a great deal in our negotiations with the rest of the world.
The whole world has to take a second look at the U.S. A long hard second look. And THIS IS A GREAT THING. We’ve got a pretty amazing country here, and it’s something that many have forgotten, not the least of whom live here. And now we’ve proved a great many people wrong. Again.
We’ve raised the bar on Western democracy. We’ve slapped racial bullshit in the face. The United States of America elected a President who’s middle name is HUSSEIN.
You know what’s funny? The only major demographic group, IN THE WHOLE WORLD, that is bothered rather than elated by this achievement of Martin Luther King’s dream of judgement on character over skin-color, is here in the U.S. I hope and pray they’ll calm down and get it back together, I met some rather devastated people last night. Some who genuinely believe we just elected a terrorist. After all, his middle name is Hussein.
The world had become increasingly wary of this kind of U.S. after seeing some of our actions following 9/11. World opinion was in a steady decline after Bush’s Choice to invade Iraq. And Cheney’s Choice to torture some of the people we captured didn’t help either. The CIA jetting around the world on black ops and weird rumors filled the air. Any number of shady decisions and actions took place, the extent of which we may not know for years.
The decline in world opintion was precipitous, especially after the world’s sympathy was so quickly and openly offered to us after our own great tragedy. In 2004, when the U.S. electorate endorsed the lies, and the war, and the torture, the world turned its collective back.
By 2006, we had stepped back a bit domestically, and I think we could see the peak of anti-U.S. opinion was probably in the 2005-2006 window. By 2007, the world (and the U.S. electorate) was decided on Bush and kinda just ignored him. Everyone had made their judgment and it was not good. Once 2008 kicked in the world was watching to see what we would do. Curious to see if their judgment of the 21st century U.S. was correct. Looking back over their shoulder a bit, wondering if we’d regained our special-ness.
Our U.S.’ed-ness.
While the world judged Bush harshly, we did get that second (third, actually) chance to amaze the world.
And it would seem they approve.
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With a couple of exceptions….
SUDANESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ALI AL-SADIG“We don’t expect any change through our previous experience with the Democrats. When it comes to foreign policy there is no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.”
…actually I guess that’s about the only exception. He’s an exception because he knows the genocide his government is pursuing in Darfur is going to get some real attention now (one would HOPE).
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That being said, there were some other big ballot initiatives around the country.
Looks like the Mormons and Catholics got their bigotry endorsed in Cali, Florida and Arizona, the “straight” states. They are now like Iran, where gays don’t exist…or have less rights…is there a difference?
Women retained some degree of control over their own lives in South Dakota and Colorado, and it’s time to spark it up in Michigan and get that gloucoma under control.
Obama lost Nebraska, and black and women Nebraskans lost the ability to sue for “employment fairness” (on a serious note re: the title of this post…it’s going to be *really* hard to argue for expanded or even continued affirmitive actions programs in a lot of places…expect more of this).
Oregon knocked down the “stay culturally ignorant” rule and Washington is paging Dr. Kevorkian.
North Dakota and Taxachusetts both voted against tax cuts (!)cliche evidence(!), and you can finally lose your shirt on a riverboat in Missouri. Previously, you could only lose your shoes.
All in all, it was quite a day.
A: If she did, eventually she would get a question like this.
And she might, just might, realize she is right about one thing…it’s a heckuva choice to make…and wrong about another…that it’s hers to make for everyone.
Robot Pirate Ninja 