Submitted For Your Approval: GOP in the Twilight Zone?

Rod Serling showed us what it is that that you only see out the corner of your eye.He showed us bleak and terrifying futures. He shined a light on the darkness in the heart of mankind. Were I not sure I would think he was showing us a most terrifying tomorrow. The Republican Party.
Buckle up. We're going to wander around in the Republican reality. I know it's scary.

Texas. Again.
In the Lone Star State there has been a spate of women being cavity searched on the side of the road after traffic stops. In most civilized States these searches are done at a Police station or a jail, not on the side of the road, in front of God and everyone. The Texas Department of Public Services and the Legislature has not seen fit to deal with this. It's only women, after all. Had they been home where they belonged this wouldn't have happened.   http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/05/lawyers-illegal-body-cavity-searches-of-women-standard-policy-at-texas-traffic-stops/

Oh, Michelle, Michelle, Michelle. What will we do when you're not in Congress any more?
As usual Rep. Michelle Bachman(R-MN) feels there isn't enough Jesus in our foreign policy. She is standing with the Egyptian military lauding the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. She manages to call them terrorists. She conflates them with Al Qaeda and 9/11. Now I wonder if she's going to go all Tail-gunner Joe McCarthy again and demand a search of Federal Agencies for the Muslim Brotherhood deep infiltration?
She is also sure if the Republicans come to Jesus and pray hard enough a righteous God will smite Hillary's 2016 Presidential aspirations. She is the gift that keeps on giving.

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX). OK. That is usually enough for a head desk or face palm. What's he up to this time?
Well, even as a Measles outbreak sweeps an area of Texas just outside of FT.Worth and his district he had a chat with Allen West about vaccines. They both seem to agree that vaccines are a liberal plot to thin the herd of undesirables. Usually one would think those two would be on board with ridding us of undesirables. Well, they are sure people like them are the target. If only we could get them out of the gene pool. The problem is vaccinations tend to save lives. Oops. By the way, that Measles outbreak? It's among the flock of an Evangelical church the feels that prayer is better than vaccinations.
Gohmert also has compared the Egyptian military leaders to the founders of the United States because they went after that pesky Muslim Brotherhood.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Dear God, why is it always Texas? He feels if there is an American strike on Syria we will be acting as Al Qaeda's Air Force. The Syrian debate is distracting us from serious threats like Benghazi. Also, since Senator Cruz is such a staunch defender of the United Nations, he feels The President needs to take the Syrian issue back to the Security Council. Really, Ted? Careful. You're sounding like a Canadian.

Ohio. Again. Ohio is still trying to out crazy Texas and doing a bang up job.
In July Ohio slipped extremist abortion regulations into the State Budget as an end run around the citizenry's ability to oppose the regs as a Ballot measure. Governor John Kasich (R-OH) in a move to bolster his anti abortion street cred prior to a Presidential run in '16, declined to use the line item veto on these reprehensible regulations. He waived his pro life banner proudly and let them stand. He also dodges taking a stand on The Heartbeat Bill which is too extreme even for Ohio Right To Life. That bill has an excellent chance of passing in Ohio's Taliban Legislature.
The Ohio State Medical Board licenses and disciplines medical providers in the State. You would think appointments to the board would be rather straightforward. Appoint qualified medical professionals with no political ax to grind, right? Not in Ohio.
Kasich is loading the board with anti abortion advocates. That is more important than overseeing Ohio's medical environment.
The Governor has appointed to one of the consumer seats the head of Ohio Right To Life. To another of the consumer slots he appointed a former board member of Ohio Right To Life. These two will stay right on top of those budget regulations .
He also appointed a surgeon who is concerned that genetic counselors will advocate and perhaps trick Ohioan's into having an abortion. As a physician he seems to have no grasp that medical ethics require a Doctor to provide patients with factual information to make reasonable informed choices. Ohio is no longer a good place to be a woman.

A simple sampling. The modern Republican seems to be living in some alternate universe where facts, science and rational thought is non existent. Or a sin.
There are mid terms coming. We need to take back our country from theses theocratic, repressive people and restore rationality to the political process.
Get mad.
Get loud.
Confront the lies.
VOTE!!
Got it?

GOP Domestic Policy: Brinksmanship, extortion and ignorance

                   Speaker Of The House John Boehner (R-OH) is in a quandary. His Caucus seems to be beyond his control. At times it resembles herding cats.
The Republican House Caucus has a plethora of avowed Tea Party aligned members and those pushed to the extreme right by fear of a primary challenge. Many are Freshman or on their second term having been elected in the weird frenzy of 2010. So, many are inexperienced in the way politics and governing actually works. They are also proud of that.
These Republicans came to office after vowing to burn down the House if necessary to undo the socialism and secularism that has in their view ruined America. Compromise, the lifeblood of American politics, is surrender. Everything seems to be a test of ideological purity.
Speaker Boehner, who stumbled into the position after Hastert left the House, seems uniquely ill suited to reign in these maverick members.
The apparent weakness may be that he has a Caucus that rejects politics as usual. Previous Speakers had a caucus that actually attempted to accomplish something. This has been the least effective Congress in history. The Speaker has said success should be measured by how much they repeal not what they pass. By that metric they are an abysmal failure.
Republican policy has been extreme to say the least. They annually pass a budget that has zero chance of clearing the Senate. They have, to date, passed a bill repealing The Affordable Care Act forty times. They have done this knowing it would not even hit the Senate floor and if by some miracle it passed the Senate would be vetoed in a heartbeat. This can only be simple political posturing. These votes are cited at home as proof of their conservative bonafides. The evil Washington Establishment is thwarting the will of the people.
The conservative movement seems to have devolved to the point any theory or conspiracy is treated as a serious issue. Statements that would have sent previous politicians home in ridiculed humiliation are now commonplace. It seems the more ignorant, xenophobic, sexist, racist and absurd the better. And this Speaker allows it.
Rep. Michele Bachman and others send a letter to assorted Federal Departments like the DOJ, Department Of State and Homeland Security, among others, demanding an investigation of deep infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood. This was reminiscent of what Senator Joe McCarthy used to do. They did this with no repercussions from the Speaker. Used to be if a Member embarrassed the House or Party they could expect to be disciplined. Boehner seems loathe to exert any authority based on fear of repercussions. So, they all say anything they want no matter how ill conceived.
We are seeing what unbridled House Members will do or say. I admit at times I find it amusing anyone could be in a position of responsibility and say or even think some of these things. Then I remember these people are in power and cringe.
There are members of The House Science Committee that basically don't believe in science. One decried Evolution and the belief the Earth is over four billion years old, "Lies from the pits of Hell". Others feel climate change is a liberal conspiracy to get grant money and is scientific fascism.
They also are politicizing the peer review grant awarding process by wanting to make sure no money wasting grants are funded. One area they deemed worthless was Social Sciences.
They are ignoring how science actually works by putting a cost/benefit slant on research from the onset.  This is what happens when people who are hostile to science are put in charge of funding research. Had they been in power there would have been no funding for research into things like lasers, robotics, chip design, archeology, climate, biology and a myriad of other discoveries. Luddites on the Bridge of the Enterprise.
It seems ignorance is now considered a career path and is worn like a badge of honor. They are going after women's reproductive rights(denying basic biology as they do it) equal rights for LBGT, voting rights and the biggies. Social Security and Medicare. They are taking the entire social safety net along for the ride.
The goal seems to be who can make the deepest, most draconian cuts.
Unemployment compensation causes unemployment so cut it. After all it is just a paid vacation and all these lazy slackers are partying their asses off on that big money.
SNAP is used to buy drugs and high priced food poor working stiffs can't afford.
Women have more babies just to get more benifits and not work. So, let's cut off contraception. That'll do it. Poor women having babies and not working is one reason for the decline of America. Get a job.
Abortion is a direct challenge to the will of God. Make these women stay home and have babies. Women working and not being stay at home mothers is one reason for the decline of America.
Social Security is a ponzi scheme. It needs cut because we can't afford it.
Medicare creates dependency. Why should there be government run healthcare. That's socialism.
The list goes on and on. Now the big idea is defunding the ACA.
Speaker Boehner received a letter from eighty members of his caucus demanding no funding for it in the continuing budget resolution. Basically, shut down the Government to stop Obamacare. They are being egged on by presidential hopefuls and others in the Senate. Also conservative groups that donate lots of money to campaigns and Sarah Palin are chiming in. Expect any votes not to defund to be used as a reason for primary challenges. Again, any compromise is surrender.
The Speaker and other leaders in the not quite batshit crazy wing of the party see this as a mistake.This is one time the are right. The voices are strident though. The zealots see this as a last stand. They may mutiny and the Speaker will be helpless to deal with it without relying on Democratic House Members.
Boehner is trying to get them on board to forget this extremely bad idea. He is going with a promise of a whale of a battle over raising the debt limit to mollify them.
So, shutting down the government over the ACA is a bad idea in a chamber that has cast forty meaningless repeals of the law. It may be 50/50 he can pull that off.
However tanking the economy, crashing a fragile recovery, ruining the credit of the United States with a default is a wonderful idea.
Boehner is going back to the well again in his strategy to gut the social safety net and also cut programs the not rich benefit from. He feels that the House version of negotiation which is give us everything we want or we'll wreck the Nation is viable. President Obama has already said he will not negotiate to have the House do their Constitutionally mandated job. protect the full faith and credit of The United States Of America.
The Republicans feel however if push comes to shove the Dems will fold. Or, if they stand firm and we default America will blame the President for not giving in to blatant extortion. Somehow they have developed the view if they act like Tony Soprano they will be well liked and seen as heroes. They will take us to the brink and beyond to get their venal view of spending to happen.
The Caucus may take Boehner off the cliff over defunding the ACA and seem gleeful as they shred what's left in the Debt Limit fight. Seems reasonable to me.
Good luck with this plan, Mr. Speaker.
The Senate was devised as a more temperate counterbalance to the House. It's purpose is to slow things down. To basically tamp down a House led plunge off a cliff. Unfortunately this time several of the cliff divers are in the Senate.
Right now three possible GOP Presidential contenders are the ringleaders of a glorious last stand to stop the ACA by defunding it. The plan is defund ACA or shut down the Federal Government. There is enough support for this bit of extortion to give the Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-KY) heartburn.
Mitch has a Tea Party challenger in the Primary. He also has a formidable Democratic opponent ready to go after him in the general election. McConnell is already catching heat for not being on board for a defund based hostage crisis. He's being painted by the rabid right as a sell out. Not a strong enough foe to the liberal, socialist, UN backed, secular attack on God and Country.
So, with an insurrection at home and a high profile possible mutiny in his caucus he is trying to walk a thin line between madness and absurdity.
Senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) has already called those not on board the Surrender Caucus. Conservative groups are cranking up the pressure to force this doomed gesture into being. The Republican Senators are looking at attacks by well funded groups that can make their political life dangerous.
Senators Cruz, Paul, Rubio and Lee are willing to grind America to a halt to throw their temper tantrum. They see this as the last chance to stop the law from going into effect. The opponents believe the President will sign legislation crushing a major accomplishment before it takes effect. These Senators are quite comfortable with extortion.
With the arcane rules of the Senate they may be able to delay action well past the deadline. They are pushing the extreme members of the House to sign on and defund or shut down the Federal Government.  Patriots all.
This backfired in the 90's when they did this to President Clinton. They expect a different result this time. One must remember though you can't reason with zealots.
This is another example of Republicans refusing to accept election results they don't like. Some are trying to figure out how to impeach the President, which worked out so well for them the last time.
Here we go.
Two cliffs. Two chances to be responsible and take care of a couple bookkeeping issues with no muss, no fuss. No. Let's turn it into the Alamo instead. Why be reasonable when you can act like Sonny Corleone and put a horse's head in America's bed. Go to the mattresses. After all this is why you ran, right?

Why I stand with women.

             I've been asked by men I know who have occasionally read these posts or talked with me. They usually ask a question. Why do you say what you say about the so-called war on women? "Are you gay, one of the girl's?" I've been asked. No, not that it matters. "Are you doing this just to get laid?" No, I'm not doing this to get laid.

I am doing this because I believe equal means equal.

I do this because I have a daughter.

She is a beautiful, brilliant, nineteen year old Sophomore at a well respected, small Liberal Arts College in Ohio.

When she finishes her education I want her to be able to do whatever she wants. And to be paid the same as a man with equal credentials and talent.

I want her to have full and equal access to the justice system if the unthinkable happens.

I want her to have full and equal access to the healthcare system without conservative religious views codified as law to prevent that. Having a uterus is not a pre-existing condition any more than having testicles is.

I want her vote to be counted and not discarded because she's a student.

I want her to live in a nation where she is not a second class citizen, condemned to a state of socio-economic slavery simply because of gender.

I want her to live in a Nation where a Violence Against Women Act is not used as a political football and is unnecessary.

All I want is a Country where she is a citizen first and a woman, second.

Apparently this is too much to ask.

Ninety-three years ago this week the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. That finally gave women the right to vote.

During those years the fight for women's rights has made significant progress. We have a long road to travel yet but we were always moving in the right direction. I knew this would be a better world for my little girl.

It seems I may have been too hopeful and naive.

Both of us are in Ohio. Not a woman friendly State anymore.

Ohio, through most of it's history was a powerful political State. It was a hotbed of the Abolition movement. Major lines of the Underground Railroad went through the State. 

Many of the stations are still standing as private homes. The owners are proud to point out the history of their house and the hiding places for escaped slaves to visitors. 

Lincoln carried Ohio twice.

During the Civil War Ohio produced more troops per capita than any other State in the Union. Many of the Generals were Ohioans also. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Harrison, Hooker and Custer to name a few.

Ohio continued as a political powerhouse. Senator Sherman of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was a progressive Senator from Ohio.

During the Progressive era Ohio helped those progressive laws pass in the House and Senate.

Ohio produced six Presidents following the Union victory. Two of them were assassinated.

What I am trying to show is Ohio has a tradition of being a moderate, yet powerful force in American politics. A defender of liberty. Sadly in the last decade that has changed.

Now Ohio is a leader of a different kind. The reactionary Republicans that have seized the State are determined to support and champion the rejection of history, science and women as an equal citizen.

In 2011 the lizard brained psychopaths in the Ohio House passed the Heartbeat Bill. They did this in the center ring of the National Political Circus. 

These venal, theocratic rat bastards, in the pocket of the Tea Party and the Westboro Baptist wing of the Party gave us a bill banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, About six weeks, pror to most women even knowing they are pregnant.

In committee, a woman undergoing an ultrasound so her fetus could testify made a joke that a transvaginal probe would work better. The compassionate men on the committee chuckled over that witty bon mot.

The Ohio Senate, after having their asses handed to them by the people of Ohio on Union Busting, buried the heartbeat bill.

The Republicans in 2011 came up with gerrymandered political districts.They appeared to be drawn by Strom Thurmond on acid. So even as Mitt Romney's Presidential dreams were gutted like a trout in Ohio, a more rightwing batshit crazy Legislature was elected.

Thus in their wisdom the Republican Legislators in the Great State of Ohio, after seeing Ohio reject the GOP social stances in the Presidential election, acted. 

With clear logic they came to the conclusion the most pressing issue facing the State was abortion. So, they went after women. They acted with the glee of frat boys spiking drinks at a party.

In order to avoid a ballot repeal by the sane, they put their demented views into the Budget. 

As believers of input from the public they are supposed to represent, these regs were slipped into the budget at the last minute to avoid public hearings. No point turning over a rock to expose these creepy  slimy slugs to the light of day.

They doubled the waiting period to forty-eight hours. An ultrasound must be performed with a voice over of what's going on. 

A woman must be told the chances of carrying the child to term. Healthy or not.

Since being a member of Ohio's Legislature automatically makes you a de facto OB/GYN they redefined pregnancy. It now begins at conception. After all what does the AMA know?

There is a script healthcare providers have to read that links abortion to increased chances of breast cancer. It doesn't matter the American Cancer Society says there's no correlation. A bunch of liberals. 

Fetal pain, something that has never been established as fact must be mentioned as if it's an accepted medical concept. Any MD that doesn't lie to his patient can be found guilty of a felony and fined $1,000,000.(not a typo)

The redefinition of pregnancy makes some forms of birth control abortion agents . So to get the pill, an IUD or Plan B, you get the lecture, ultrasound and waiting period.

The GOP says this is for the health and safety of women. That would be why any women's healthcare clinic that even mentions abortion as an option goes to the end of the line for funding, including rape crisis centers. A child of rape is a gift from God, you know.
 

This puts the anti-abortion fronts known as pregnancy crisis centers to the fore. They routinely lie to women about the effects of abortion. 

In other states they've been caught saying abortion created antibodies that will induce miscarriages in future pregnancies. 

They've tried to link abortion to mental health issues, falsely. 

They say the pill causes abortions, again contradicting the AMA. 

Also, condoms are naturally porous so they don't work. 

The only  way acceptable way to avoid pregnancy is the ole rhythm method or abstinence.

The sole reason for these regulations undoing decades of progress is to force women to give birth. They want to humiliate unmarried women who have sex. Basically codifying slut shaming.

Since women are wilful, sinful creatures they need to be shown the sonograms. Obviously they don't realize that is a baby, not an undeveloped clump of cells.

We all know they blithely seek abortion as an easy, convenient form of birth control. They are too stupid and hormone addled to make these decisions anyway. After all they refuse to accept the consequences of their sinful, wanton desire to have sex outside of marriage.

The very best way to keep these feminazis out of public life is to control their reproductive options. 

Because of the hippies and commies in the Sixties, women have decided they should no longer be subservient to men. They have this absurdist notion they are as intelligent as and equal to men. The girls think they deserve equal pay also.

The Nineteenth Amendment was a mistake. Ask Ann Coulter.

The best way to remove these pesky women from business and politics is let's keep them pregnant through most of their reproductive years. If they can't plan their life they have to settle for women's work. They'll stop taking jobs from men. We'll quit wasting money and time educating them. After all how much education does a walking life support system for a fetus actually need? 

The girls need to go back to their God ordained role in the family. An incubator and child rearer. They need to be obedient to their husband.

To these views being passed off as helping women I say, are you fucking crazy? This is the Twenty-First Century for Christ's sake. We can not treat women like we are still a bronze age nomadic tribe.

I respect women as the individuals they are.

I respect women as equal in all ways before the law and in society.

I want my Daughter to live a long fulfilling life seeking her happiness, not some preacher's view of that.

I do this for my daughter's better tomorrow.
Who do you do it for??

Again the Ohio Gop is ready to ban Abortion in a heartbeat

                  Same old story. The same old song and dance.
In the last legislative Session the Ohio House of Representatives decided a major problem that faced the once moderate State of Ohio was Abortion. So they acted.
After passing their version of Senate Bill 5, gutting Public Sector Union rights and passing a draconian budget, they turned their attention to women. As attention was directed at trying to stop the union busting bill in the Senate the House went to work.
In 2010 the GOP gained control of both Ohio Houses. As I remember the election cycle in '10 was the GOP slamming Democrats for losing jobs in Ohio during the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression. The litany was job,jobs, jobs, mirroring the National Party's strategy to retake the US House of Representatives.  If abortion was mentioned I don't recall it being a front and center promise by the Republicans.
Republican Rep Danny Bubp cited the 2010 Election as a vote for change which the Caucus sees as a green light to go after abortion rights in Ohio. Thus the Heartbeat Bill was introduced. The bill's primary purpose was to ban abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. That occurs at about six to seven weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant.
The bill was written as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade which permits abortion, as a woman's right, until fetal viability outside the womb, commonly seen as 24 weeks. Everyone knew the bill would not stand judicial scrutiny as to its constitutionality. Speaker of the Ohio House Bachelder   even said they were writing bills for the courts. After slashing the Ohio Budget to the bone saying education, safety nets and safety services were unaffordable at pre-2011 levels an expensive court fight was reasonable. Because, you know......FREEDOM.
The bill garnered forty-eight Republican co-sponsors. It contained no provision for rape, incest or the mental health of the mother. Janet Folger Porter the former legislative Director for Ohio Right To LIfe called the bill the most "protective" in the nation. Opponents called it the most restrictive.
This bill was called unconstitutional by Ohio Right To Life and they urged the House not to pass it. They saw no point in a protracted, expensive court fight on a loser of a law. They were also concerned a loss on this fight could roll back the restrictions Ohio had passed and were planning.They were ignored as the House opened a mortifying example of political theater. Ohio was about to take center stage in the National theater of the absurd.
In committee the GOP had fetal testimony via ultrasound to have the heartbeat heard and the fetus seen on a big screen. One woman who was nine weeks along, when they had trouble finding a heartbeat quipped if a vaginal probe was used there'd be no problem. This witty comment drew chuckles from the men on the committee. A classy bunch, these Republicans.
An attorney said many women who are raped want to carry that child to term as a form of victory over their rapist. This elicited gasps from women in the audience. Surprising since who knows how a woman feels about rape better than a man. He also mentioned had Romeo been able to detect Juliet's heartbeat he wouldn't have committed suicide and would have saved Juliet from that fate as well. When your reasons to push a bill are mostly fictional you may as well cite a play.
The only comment Ohio Governor John Kasich had was the bill may not be a good for attracting new businesses to Ohio.
The Heartbeat bill hearings and vote were the caliope for the political circus that was Ohio during 2011. It passed along a party line vote and went to the Senate. The Ohio GOP was in the process of being bitch slapped by voters over the Union busting bill and The Senate Majority Leader quashed the abortion bill in the Senate. It never made it out of committee before the session ended in 2012.
Since the Republicans controlled all the Statewide offices and both Houses of the Legislature they gerrymandered the State to within an inch of it's life. The result was a larger, veto proof, more extreme GOP Legislative majority.
When the new Legislative session began Ohio was under the gun for a new biennial budget. They prohibited Medicaid expansion. Also because it is an important budgetary issue, they passed extremely restrictive abortion regulations and redefined pregnancy in the budget. For good measure let's slide these provisions in at the last minute to prevent public hearings.
Many observers felt since these regulations were so restrictive Governor Kasich would use the line item veto to remove them. He got the budget on Friday afternoon. Over the weekend he reminded everyone within earshot of his pro life credentials. Every chance he got and the media gave him numerous chances. On Monday, surrounded by only men, he declined to veto those measures.
This was celebrated as a victory by the pro lifers. They were giddy with self righteous joy.
At this time Texas was hogging the headlines with their own abortion extravaganza so Ohio didn't receive the outrage it should have. Once more this is portrayed as a Southern attitude as Ohio tries to out crazy Texas. Which they have since Texas hasn't redefined the definition of when pregnancy starts. Yet. The North has proved this isn't a regional issue. It is a Republican Priority to appease the base.
Since to the Ohio GOP the provisions of the budget didn't restrict abortion enough they decided to revisit the issue. The Heartbeat Bill is on a comeback tour.
The anti-abortion group Faith2Action sponsored the presser to announce the CPR on the Heartbeat Bill. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar,along with seventeen of their nineteen children, attended and endorsed the bill. The circus is putting the big top back up.
One should expect the absurdities once more as the Republicans posture and proclaim their pro life credentials prior to the 2014 elections. Red meat galore will be thrown around the State House. Political theater masquerading as thoughtful debate in committee. After all being a Republican officeholder in Ohio make you a de facto OB/GYN and qualified to direct MD's in the proper, moral way to practice medicine.
Once more into the breech.
Our voices need to be raised.
The bill will pass the House. It may pass the Senate. I believe Kasich, as he positions himself for a run at the White House will sign it. There is no better way to prove you are a champion of marginalizing women than signing a bill that won't survive a court test. You tried but those activist judges thwarted the will of Ohioans.
We need to yell, NO! Reasonable Buckeyes need to make this an issue. Force the GOP to proudly show how they feel about women in this State.
We need to get out the vote and try to overcome the gerrymandered districts and take back the State from the Taliban.
Make it loud.
Make it local.
Make it Statewide.
Make it National.
Make Kasich a one term Governor.
Stop his Presidential hopes here and now.
JUST SAY NO.

Kasich in '16? The branding of the meritocracy of mediocrity.

          Governor John Kasich(R-OH). has utilized the non-denials from election playbooks to play down a supposed groundswell of support for a future run at the Presidency. Let's remember that in 2000 he left the US House of Representatives and started a campaign for the White House.
He tried to position himself as the guy who single handedly balanced the Federal budget. John boy has never been shy about taking credit where credit isn't due. His campaign collapsed under massive indifference.
So. He took a job with Lehman Brothers(Yeah, those guys), hired on at Fox News and was considered a viable political commentator. Kasich had a Fox show called "The Heartland" until he started running for Governor. He subbed for Hannity and O'Reilly. He was seen all over the Network.
During his run he was on with Sean. The appearance was basically a telethon for Kasich's fundraising efforts. Not surprisingly Hannity tossed Kasich softballs and mused about how important "we" win the Ohio Governorship. Sean has never been shy about overt partisan campaigning on his show. The only real surprise is Fox allowed it for so long.
John ran a campaign against Democratic Governor Ted Strickland that was the usual GOP,Tea Party infused, fact challenged travesty that 2010 was so noted for. It was vicious. He blamed the meltdown of Ohio's economy on Governor Strickland, ignoring the catastrophic collapse caused by his former employer Lehman Brothers and Wall Street using the market as a casino. As it was he barely won by about a percentage point in a year when The Tea Party and GOP bitch slapped complacent Democrats across the country.
To plug an 8 billion dollar hole in the Budget (exaggerated, some reports said) Kasich slashed State Jobs(as he gave large raises to political appointees) cut school funding by nearly 12% and funding to local governments by 50%. This lead to layoffs of  teachers.firefighters and police officers and curtailment of other vital services. All this did was move the need for funding to local property tax levies. The administration also thought it was a good idea to eliminate the Estate Tax and cut taxes for the wealthiest Ohioans.
The 2010 electoral massacre gave Kasich a nominally GOP State Senate and House.The reality though was most of the freshmen were Tea Party members or sympathetic to them. This caused issues for the leadership in both Houses. Zealots are notoriously tough to keep in line. A lot like herding cats.
Like George Bush in 2004, Kasich felt a razor thin victory was a mandate to over reach. They decided it was an amazingly good idea to take on Organized Labor. Bills were introduced and passed stripping bargaining rights for Public Sector Unions. Kasich pitched this as a way to save local governments money and make Ohio more business friendly. We Democrats knew if this passed Private Sector Unions were next.
The protests I attended at the Ohio State House were the largest I'd seen since the opposition to the Vietnam War. I liked the fact there were no clubs and tear gas. Union members from across the State voiced their opposition. A Delegation from Wisconsin arrived in a show of solidarity. You know you have issues when WI feels sorry for you. After assorted Republican political shenanigans the bill passed and was signed into law.
Immediately those opposed to this scathing strike against traditional Union rights sprang into action.
A petition drive to put this law on the ballot for repeal garnered a record amount of signatures in a record amount of time.
Panicked by poll numbers the GOP tried to negotiate. They said they would remove restriction on Police Unions in a blatant attempt to divide and conquer. To their credit the Ohio Fraternal Order Of Police told them to shove it. The Republicans offered to repeal if the ballot measure was dropped. They basically said, trust us. We'll change the bill. Since all opposing committee testimony was ignored, the decision was made not to trust them.
So, as massive amounts of out of State money poured in, The Right tried to paint the supporters of repeal as unreasonable for not negotiating. This ignored the Legislature's steamrolling this bill through.
Kasich stumped for the law. GOP contenders Mitt Romney and Rick Perry came out in opposition to repeal. A Republican operative I know said the poll numbers was only an education problem. Voters needed to be taught why repeal was bad. He predicted the repeal would fail. He also predicted Romney would take Ohio by 5 points.
The repeal won 61% to 39%. Kasich and the Republicans had their asses handed to them.
So the Legislature looking at the vicious fight going on over the repeal and the impending defeat of their law they continued business as usual.  They basically outlawed abortion.
The Ohio House introduced The Heartbeat bill in the Spring of 2011. This bill banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected. This usually occurs around five or six weeks before most women even realize they are pregnant. There was also no exemptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. At the time it would have been the most restrictive abortion law in the country.
The Republicans had testimony from fetuses via ultra sound in committee. They heard from supposed "abortion survivors", and women who said they were mislead about the effects of abortion. Opponents' testimony was given short shrift.
The House Speaker admitted the bill was designed to challenge Roe v. Wade. Right to life groups were split on the bill. It passed in the House along party lines.
When asked about the bill the Governor's Press Secretary said the Governor doesn't take a position on every bill and took the opportunity to fly Kasich's pro life banner for the base.
On the same day the House passed three abortion bills. One banned abortion after 20 weeks. One prohibited the coming insurance exchanges from having abortion coverage in any policy sold there. And the Heartbeat bill.
The first two passed the Senate and became law. The heartbeat bill languished in the Senate and died there at the end of the session.
2012. Social issues were debated in the Presidential campaign. The President won Ohio, convincingly.
Social issues were also debated in the Ohio United States Senate campaign. Democrat Sherrod Brown spanked challenger Josh Mandel the Eddie Haskell of Ohio politics.
Due to the gerrymandered districts in Ohio more extremist right wing State Reps and Senators were elected. There is a veto proof majority in both Houses. Following the rejection of their social agenda they did the only logical thing. The GOP immediately went after abortion, again.
They passed regressive attacks on women's health and rights in the biannual budget bill. This stops a ballot repeal. Many Dems I know felt these were so restrictive that the Governor would use the line item veto on them. I disagreed. I would have rather been wrong. He let them stand. Texas was on stage at the time and Ohio sorta slid under the lights not getting the outrage it deserved.
Prior to signing the Budget Kasich took every opportunity to mention his pro life credentials. By signing that bill he was presenting himself as a fearless defender of the unborn and a champion of marginalizing women. This was for the National conservative base.
He has received presidential endorsements(meaningless this early). He's already appearing on Fox and getting softballed. He came out in support of a balanced budget amendment, a perennial conservative favorite.
So I don't care about denials. John's preparing a run.
The best way to derail him is to make him a one term Gov. However his tendency to go off script would have been fun to watch as he crashed and burned.
The people here in Ohio have to take back our State from the extreme.
Ohio was once reasonable.
It must be again.

Ohio. Again. The Heartbeat is on a comeback tour.

          Ohio. Again. I am so tired of typing those two words. This State was once moderate and sane. In the Seventies and Eighties we had two Democratic Senators. John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. A decorated fighter pilot. An extremely effective and respected Senator. Senator Metzenbaum vied with Ted Kennedy as the most Liberal voice in the Senate. Now we have Sherrod Brown, a strong progressive voice and Rob Portman, George W. Bush's former Budget Director. This man has forgotten his history and is now somehow a Deficit Hawk.
After Republican control of Ohio for nineteen out of the last twenty-three years Ohio Republicans have, like the party Nationally, lurched blindly to the extreme right. This in a State that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both carried twice. There are those who feel Ohio was stolen in 2004 by George Bush with the aid of the extremist Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.
Following the 2010 Census GOP lawmakers met in secret to carve up Ohio into safe districts. They rented a hotel room in Columbus with taxpayer money and excluded Democrats from the process. Needless to say the public was also excluded. The result was basically election proofing the Ohio Legislature to maintain GOP control of both houses and the Congressional delegation till 2020.
These extremist Ohio House members passed the "Heartbeat Bill" in 2011. It would have banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected. Since that usually happens at approximately six weeks, before most women know they're pregnant, it would have effectively banned abortion in Ohio. The Ohio House had "Testimony" from a fetus via ultra sound. Ohio became a national laughingstock. Again. There was also testimony from so-called "Abortion Survivors".
This bill was extreme enough to split the anti-abortion movement in the State.
The bill's backers were open that this bill was designed to challenge Roe v.Wade. The phrase ending abortion in Ohio was thrown around a lot. Many leaders in Ohio's anti-abortion movement felt this was the right bill at the wrong time. They saw such a blatant rejection of established Constitutional law would be a loser in front of SCOTUS. The result would be overturning Ohio's existing restrictive laws. They were hoping for a GOP Presidential win and a more conservative court before having such a draconian law passed.
These concerns didn't deter the Ohio House. They passed the bill in 2011 and sent it to the Ohio Senate. There it languished in committee until it was quashed by the Senate Majority leader.
With the Gerrymandered map Ohio wound up with an even more extremist Legislature in 2012. Both Houses had enough Republicans to steamroller any Democratic opposition.
Following the GOP attack on Public Sector Unions in 2011, when they had their asses handed to them by Ohioans via a ballot measure The Ohio Legislature decided to go after women's reproductive healthcare and rights by using the budget process.
Planned Parenthood and responsible medical providers were moved to the back of the funding line simply for making abortion referrals as were Rape Crisis centers. After all a child of rape is a gift from God. The so-called Pregnancy Crisis Centers are front and center for State family planning funding. In other States these groups have been caught giving misleading information and lying outright about birth control. They only support abstinence for single women and the rhythm method for married women. So organizations that don't believe in birth control are the ones providing advice.
The Budget also redefined pregnancy. The AMA defines the beginning of pregnancy as the implantation of a fertilized egg to the uterine wall. The State of Ohio, in their superior wisdom, defines pregnancy as beginning at conception. This plays havoc with some forms of birth control.
This budget is an anti-woman repression template for the rest of the Reactionary State Legislatures. To see the lengths these people have gone to I recommend an excellent Ohio political site, Plunderbund.com .The budget coverage here has been supurb. The appalling regulations are laid out in detail as are the consequences.
This repressive attempt to relegate Ohio women to simply being a life support system for a fetus doesn't go far enough for these Legislators. They plan to reintroduce The Heartbeat Bill. After all Ohio can't be outdone by Texas for slut shaming and stripping women of their rights as American citizens.
The bill is designed to force a direct challenge to Roe v.Wade. None of the supporters deny this. However at this time it is simply a moot pander to the base. North Dakota already has a similar law. It has been blocked by a Federal Court as an unconstitutional attack on established law. The current SCOTUS is unlikely to over rule this court's opinion. This would also make the Ohio and Texas versions void as well.
Since Governor John Kasich of Ohio has Presidential ambitions and signed the extremist budget he would likely sign a Heartbeat Bill. It would solidify his position as an anti-choice crusader. Ohio doesn't seem to get sustained coverage of it's attack on women. The media prefers the idea this is simply a Southern aberration. Texas gets the press. Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas seem to get a pass. These States have passed awful laws on restricting women's access to safe abortion and family planning services. They are all Northern States. This shows this isn't a regional or Old Confederacy issue. I know this give scant comfort to women in the South but their Northern sisters are under a concerted attack also.
So sane women and men in Ohio and Nationally must be prepared to stand against this attempt to reestablish the time when women were trapped by biology in roles that kept them from fulfilling their potential as human beings.
Women are not walking incubators. They have an inalienable right to decide how their bodies will be used.
They are equal citizens with all the inherent rights that come with that.
The best way to remove women from the public and political arena is to keep them pregnant during most of their reproductive years, Keep them at home, too harried and busy to do anything else.
We can not allow this to happen.
Women across the country must stand with their sisters.
Men must stand with their wives,lovers, sisters, daughters, aunts and mothers.
Draw the line in the sand,. No farther.
Stop this war on women.
Through inaction comes defeat.
Through defeat comes slavery.
Act now. Raise your voice and an army of support.
Now. Time is running out.

Ohio joins up with Pregnancy Centers for Women's health. What??

          In  the rush to judgement over the abortion restrictions in Ohio we have lost sight of the deep, caring commitment the GOP legislators are showing to Ohio women. After all, these rules passed in Ohio's budget are for the health and safety of Ohio women. Just ask them.
Clinics that provide abortion services are required to have transfer agreements( A precaution in case of medical complications). These clinics are now forbidden from having transfer agreements with Public hospitals. Since most private hospitals in Ohio have religious affiliations clinics may have problems fulfilling this requirement. It is an excellent idea in a medical emergency,when time is a critical factor, to increase the distance a patient needs to be transported. After all any life saving procedure would be tantamount to an abortion and we can't have public money used to save a woman's life. We all know if she had not had sex she wouldn't be in this situation. Obviously it is the stance of the State of Ohio that sluts don't deserve compassion.
Another way to prove there is no war on women in Ohio is to defund Planned Parenthood. Or sorta defund.
What Ohio has done is change the funding priorities. Any family planning service provider, even if they don't offer abortion services, move to the back of the line for funding if they even make abortion referrals. This includes Rape Crisis Centers. Everyone knows children of rape are gifts from God. Since being a Republican legislator in Ohio makes you a de facto OB/GYN, you can decide if medically responsible treatment can even be mentioned. Once again, had the tramp not gotten knocked up there wouldn't be an issue.
So under these rules Christian anti-abortion, push for carrying to full term propaganda groups are funded. Planned Parenthood, not so much.Thus to ensure the health and safety of Ohio women, which is what these regulations are all about, contraception services will be provided by groups that don't believe in contraception. Natural methods are front and center. Rhythm and abstinence. Two methods that are proven to control a women's reproductive options.
Now, just because these groups have been caught lying in other States doesn't mean they will lie in Ohio. They won't tell women that condoms don't protect against STD's or pregnancy because they are naturally porous. They won't tell women that birth control causes mental health issues. They won't claim abortion can cause the formation of antibodies possibly forcing her immune system to reject a fetus causing a miscarry. Side effects not on the warning sheet are possible.
I am so very proud to live in a State that feels women need to be lied to, humiliated and considered too stupid to make important decisions concerning her health and future. Facts are stubborn things. They only get in the way of caring for women. Giving faith based groups public money to advance their anti-science agenda is needed. God knows women are willful creatures needing a strong hand to guide them. Now, let's go after other rights that are an affront to God. It's the new American way.

What happens when you turn the Torquemada Wing of The GOP loose...

         The stampede of so-called conservative thought over the cliff of sanity may actually be proof of evolution for science deniers. Since Newt Gingrich enabled the reactionary right to take over the GOP House majority in 1994 The Republican Party has developed a "wide stance". Their stance on issues was once narrow. Government was the problem, not the answer. taxes were too high and Welfare Queens were a sign of the downfall of America. It was basically the Gospel of Saint Ronnie.
Gingrich helped engineer the first loss of the House of Representatives by the Democratic Party in forty years.They did this by making Liberal a term of derision, uniting the right wing factions and stoking the underlying racial fears and tensions present in American life. They immediately over reached with reactionary slash and burn policies. Clear cognizant political analysis was a skill the GOP lacked then and now.
The idea that any Democrat winning the White House was an illegitimate usurpation of the will of the mythical conservative American majority took root and blossomed. Unfortunately the bloom was the Rafflesia arnoldii. The corpse flower. It's name is an apt description of it's scent.
The Republicans spent the Nineties as the Minority, then the majority party, trying to destroy, discredit and remove President William Jefferson Clinton.
President and Mrs. Clinton were accused of murdering Assistant White Counsel Vince Foster who tragically took his own life. (I'm expecting this to be resurrected by the Beck's and Limbaugh's should Hillary run in '16)A special prosecutor was appointed to investigate a land deal in Arkansas called Whitewater, The prosecutor was replaced for not being aggressive enough in his investigation of the President and was replaced By Ken Starr. After five years and millions of dollars Starr managed to convict Clinton Arkansas associates Susan and Jim McDougal along with Clinton's successor as Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker and have the conviction of Webster Hubbell overturned for prosecutorial misconduct.
Failing to find criminal conduct in Whitewater, Starr expanded the scope of his investigation. It spread through the Executive Branch like MRSA. Firing of people in the White House travel office. No traction. Obstruction accusations against Hillary. No traction. Fraud. Nope. They eventually found Monica Lewinski. I am not proud of how this young woman was treated by we on the Left. She was ridiculed and vilified.She was not the first woman ever seduced by men with power. And won't be the last.
Starr recommended the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton for lying under oath about a blow job (perjury) and trying to stop the investigation of said blow job. (Obstruction of Justice). In a lame duck session the GOP controlled House voted basically along party lines to impeach President Clinton. This was the second time a President was impeached by the House. On a straight party line vote the Senate, for the second time in it's history, failed to convict on Bills of Impeachment. And this was with a Republican majority. This action was unpopular with the American people as the President had an approval rating of over 60%. The Republican response was pretty much, Sorry Honey, it's been a long time and I prematurely pulled the trigger.
Al Gore, distancing himself from Clinton won the popular vote and saw the Electoral College handed to George Bush by the Supreme Court.
After his disastrous first term President Bush and the Republicans lost the House and Senate in the '06 mid terms. Until then Bush had a rubber stamp Congress that enabled him to spend us into record debt by reducing taxes as we went to war for the first time ever. Following these tax cuts the GOP went on a spending spree like a thief using a stolen high limit credit card. The debt ceiling was repeatedly raised with no qualms by a Republican House. Oh, after gaining a House Majority the Democrats did not vote to impeach Bush or Cheney. They instigated no political witch hunts. They did not repeatedly hold political repeal votes that had no chance of passing the Senate. They actually tried to govern. Imagine that.
In 2008 Senator Barack Obama was elected President in an impressive victory over Senator John McCain. The right wing immediately went into bat shit crazy mode.
A person I know who was a Republican operative at the time said had they nominated a true conservative they would have won. He also said this in '12 when Romney had his ass handed to him by President Obama. Election night in '08 Sean Hannity said he was going to be a leader in the resistance. Mere hours after the '08 election Obama Derangement Syndrome was in full swing. The right wing idea that a Democrat could not be elected President without massive fraud was back. Any Democratic President was illegitimate.The election had to have been stolen. It is so easy to manufacture a few million votes on cue.
On Inauguration Day in 2009, Republican leaders met to plot a way to obstruct any meaningful agenda put forth by the President.
Immediately the existence of Bush spending policies ceased to exist. The record debt and near collapse of the economy was the doing of a President who had not been in office. The lies and misrepresentations were spewed from Republican office holders, RWNJ blogs, so-called news sites and Fox News.
The once fringe idea that The President was foreign born, a secret Muslim, a possible sleeper agent, a black militant and a America hating Socialist went mainstream.The mainstreaming of once ridiculous,once fringe conspiracy theories has become a hallmark of the modern Republican Party. Had Dems met the day Bush was inaugurated to plan to obstruct they would have been in the dock being tried for sedition and treason.There was no investigation to find any criminal culpability in any of the Bush Administration's actions.
Faced with a problematic Senate the President was still able to accomplish a lot in the first half of his first term. The Affordable Care Act became the clarion call to the right to solidify opposition to any progressive agenda that was proposed. It has since become the most public face of Obama Derangement Syndrome. More about that later.
Following the President's election, hard as it is to believe, Fox News became even less connected to reality. Any person who had a conspiracy theory, any misrepresentation of the facts concerning any Presidential policy and supposed proof we were marching down the road to Socialism was given extensive airtime. We discovered there was a Federally mandated war on Religion. The Majority Religion in The United States felt they were being persecuted.
The Tea Party became the darlings of Fox News. They were treated as an actual, reasoning political force. They were a political force but without reason. Racist statements and views were downplayed  and denied. Bastardized inaccurate and out right lies were passed off as actual accepted history. America was depicted as being founded as a Christian nation contrary to facts stating the opposite. Quotes by the Founders were pulled out of context. Contradictory statements and letters were ignored. The role of slavery in American was woefully misrepresented. The radical underpinnings of the Revolution was being shown as only a taxation issue and a conservative movement. The Constitution was being interpreted as The Articles Of Confederation 2.0. The very existence of Federalism was being denied. I don't think a conservative movement has ever resulted in a Radical reformation of the world order.
More and more of the Tea Party was being elected to offices. Fox and others presented this as proof that the American political landscape is conservative. The usual denial of fact. These tea party activists have pushed the GOP farther and farther to the right. This is simply because of Primaries.
For decades the primary system has been dominated by the zealot on both sides. The true believers are the ones who work in campaigns, donate money and vote. The GOP Primaries were hijacked by the reactionary right. Any office holder who failed a purity test was purged in a challenge from the right. Any candidate that survived moved right to protect their political future. The major method of governing with two political parties, compromise. was vilified and denigrated as selling out.
Recent negotiations between the GOP controlled House and the White House has borne this out. The GOP position has been give us everything we want or we drive the nation over a cliff. These ideologues would rather burn down America rather than not get their way. In fact many see burning down our house as a good way to reach their political utopia.
Ideas,attitudes and beliefs that would have at one time been ridiculed are now considered to be a viable political philosophy. Willful ignorance is thought to be a path to election and reelection. It is seen as a pathway to the Presidency under the assumption ignorance is a virtue.
Jack Kennedy as a Catholic felt he had to speak to the concerns of Protestants that America wouldn't be ruled from Rome by the Pope. Today conservative evangelical views are worn by Republican candidates as a prerequisite to being an office holder. Let's forget this is the antithesis of two centuries of American political practice and thought.
We have people in power who reject the existence of the 21st Century. They reject evolution. They believe creationism should be taught as a viable scientific principle. They believe the Universe and Earth are the same age. 6,000 years. They deny human physiology as a liberal secular plot. Some decry science as lies from the pit of Hell. They believe their view of Christianity must be codified into law to prevent some Old Testament style smiting.
So we are seeing unprecedented denial of the world being signed into law. Pregnancy has been redefined. Women have been redefined from being humans and citizens into ambulatory incubators. A life support system for a fetus should be her role.
We need to run a modern society based on books and beliefs of a Bronze Age nomadic civilization. Women are property. They also are the reason for all sin and misery in the world. They are so seductive they force themselves to be raped. Women are disobedient harlots who need to be beaten into submission for their own and the world's good.
These good Christian who seek to rule every aspect of our lives and our very thoughts are vehemently opposed to any healthcare reform in their presence. Saving lives must be an affront to God. People without insurance who get sick are freeloaders. They should have been buying insurance all along. If you have a preexisting condition sorry. you know, free market. Rationing by ability to pay is what God and the founders wanted. So, the House sees fit to have forty repeal votes in a show of political theater. This way they can go home and say, look i'm trying but these Godless Democrats want to take away your freedom to deny healthcare to those you don't like.
Now these people are going to try to extort the repeal of the ACA in the budget negotiations and debt ceiling fight. They would rather shut down the government than admit they lost the last two elections. They refuse to admit that they were found wrong by the American electorate.
The right feels they have a God given mandate to establish a theocratic oligarchy. It appears they will stop at nothing to do it.
We have to stop them. Organize.
 Evangelize.
Help people get voter ID's.
Give rides to people to get them to the poll.
We have to stand against this tide of intolerance, hate and repression.  We must take our country back.
Stand.
Fight.

If it's Friday, it must be Teabagistan.

          I like to think I'm quasi well informed. A certain amount of self delusion is necessary to remain a more or less functional Human Being. Having one's head constantly exploding can not be a good thing. It's messy for starters.
So anyway I have found that considering a lot of what the right does as entertaining political theater works for me as a coping mechanism. I have spent the week throwing things, weeping uncontrollably and laughing my skinny Irish American ass off. Let's revive That Was The Week That Was. More or less.
Ok. Let's see here.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY{State, not the lube}) will be facing a Primary challenge from the right since he is so liberal. A loaded Tea Party favorite is going after the Senate Minority Leader for being a big government spender, confirming liberal judges, working hand in hand with the Democratic Majority to subvert the Constitution and general not true conservative chicanery. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up and I've tried.This Primary challenge should be fun since a national Tea Party group has endorsed McConnell and KY groups oppose him. Fratricide? Please? I do know the campaign will give The Senate Minority leader a chance to show off his visionary view of America, his amazing grasp of political reality and devotion to clean, accurate, informed. intellectual issue oriented campaign debate. Another profile in courage, I am sure.
While in Kentucky, let's check out the Junior Senator who is making noises about a possible Presidential bid in 2016. Senator Rand Paul.
Recently Senator Paul was hailed as a gun rights hero for actually doing a real filibuster because...freedom. Senator Paul visited Iowa to address the State's evangelical Pastors. The Senator is reaching out to minority voters saying no one in the Senate is a bigger supporter of minority rights than him. Now, this is the guy who thinks the Civil Rights Act is unconstitutional.
The Federal Government had no right to ban segregation by private entities.He feels that the free market would have ended segregation because it was doing such a bang up job of that in the Sixties. Were they still around we could verify that with Woolworth's. You know with their lunch counters in the South being so progressive and all.
Senator Paul feels the GOP is the natural home for minorities if they can get past the image problems. So he is promoting a big tent approach as he slams Rep. Peter King(R-NY) for being exclusionary. The Junior Senator from Kentucky is doing this with a straight face as he woos the Taliban wing of Christianity and the so tolerant, reasonable Tea Party voters.
I am looking forward to the 2016 GOP Presidential Primaries as is every stand up comedian, The Daily Show and Colbert. It is promising to make the 2012 Republican field look sane and thoughtful.
I am positive , in a Nation where religious test for public office is expressly forbidden, we will see all the contenders trying to out Taliban each other as the truest conservative Christian. They all know in spite of the lies taught in secular, liberal history classes America was founded as a Christian theocracy. Ask David Barton.
Already we have Senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) seemingly contemplating a run. I am waiting for the inquisition to start over a son of a Cuban who fought with Castro, becoming a citizen in 2005 and an American mother who gave birth in Canada to start any minute. Just kidding. He's not a Democrat. Cruz's platform seems to simply consist of being against anything a sane, rational person is for. He is also proud he is not considered a team player by his Senate Republican colleagues because if he runs for President it is always a good idea to alienate like minded potential allies.
Arch conservative Catholic Rick Santorum hasn't ruled out another run. After all his desire to reestablish the Catholic Inquisition and other archaic, abandoned Church positions and practices as law were so very popular.He may be seeking support of the Torquemada wing of the GOP.
Governor Rick Perry of the Great State of Texas has decided not to seek reelection. This frees him up to spend months and other peoples money to embarrass and humiliate his home State. He'll be able to expound on the great job he has done saving Texas women from their natural stupidity and general sluttiness.
Then there is Perter King of New York. This GOP House Rep has made a career of saying really stupid, intolerant offensive shit is planning a run. His strategy seems to be pissing of everyone except a few racist, homophobic, islamophobic, misogynist white guys. Another guy who couldn't carry his home State in a bucket. Let's also ignore the fact there has been no successful run for the Presidency by a member of the House since the latter part of the 19th Century.
We still haven't heard from the usual suspects Palin, Bachman(if she can stay out of jail).Huckabee and the darling of the literati, Donald Trump.
There are also staunch defenders of women and unions looking at a run. Governor John Kasich of Ohio and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.  These guys will be great choices for Republican outreach to women. Their impeccable record of protecting women from themselves speaks for itself. Surely they will attract the support of the Pro life movement. I am anticipating the well reasoned, well researched appeals to logic we will see from these activists. How can you go wrong attacking 52% of the population? Maybe Ann Coulter will help with the base by reminding everyone she thinks women are too stupid to vote.
America can also look forward to candidates for State Elections, Federal House and Senate seats to enlighten us with their views. These stalwarts of Freedom will attack science, history and knowledge as having a Liberal bias. There will be calls to put God in the classroom. They will lecture us on the Constitution, States Rights, creeping socialism, Tyrannical Healthcare. the Feminist, Lesbian, Homosexual secular agenda and a subject they have proven to be experts on, rape. Basically it will be a clarion call for a return to the Dark ages.That did work well for religious leaders and the political elite.
In 2016 I do believe we can continue to see American Political discourse devolve even more into entertainment. A reality show. We must raise our voices to push a substantive debate on real issues. Real American tradition is to expand rights not to strip segments of the population of them. This should never be done using religion and tradition as a rallying cry. After all this was the basis for slavery. This is used to keep the harlot in her place. Decent women want to serve their man.
OK. We have a choice. America moves forward. Or America solidifies itself as a theocratic oligarchy. We stand and watch, wringing our hands or we fight. We vote. We educate. We stand and say no. No farther. This is unAmerican and is not what this Nation was envisioned as.  The time to start is now. As the right is so fond of saying, "I want my Country back". We do. We will prevail as long as good people of belief and vision fight the coming darkness.

Why a war on women: II The sequel

          It's SUMMER and sequels are BIG!! So why not?
Why does the religious right/GOP/Tea Party have such a problem with the modern American woman?American women today have more freedom, empowerment and options than at nearly anytime in our history. Oh,oh. There's the reason.
Why?
I live in Ohio which seem to be a microcosm of America in general. I am exposed to sermons disguised as policy and dogma disguised as Legislative initiative. The idea of establishing a fundamentalist Christian theocracy seems to be a mission and duty to those in power. Once American religious thought was served by the mainstream Denominations. Now the loudest and most influential sects make a Southern Baptist look like a Unitarian. WTF is going on here? Well, lets turn over some rocks and take a look.
In the 2010 election cycle the American electorate through complacency and pique allowed extremist reactionaries to seize power. These people seem to reject the last half of the 19th, all of the 20th and 21st centuries as an affront to God and an abandonment of "Christian"values. They also reject the secular, humanist and enlightenment influences and underpinnings of the United States Constitution. They not only reject these influences but have found history deniers to extol the idea America was founded as a Christian theocracy. David Barton and a few historians who are as respected in their fields as Dr. Daniel Jackson was as an archeologist in "Stargate"babble about lost histories.
Emboldened they view anything curtailing their reactionary actions and message as a war on Christians. The majority religion in The United States is whining about being oppressed. With a God given sureness and arrogance born of zealotry they are flexing their muscles.
Since 2010 there has been a crusade against the moderate secular majority. No view, statement or attempted legislation seems out of bounds to them. Being on a mission from God gives you a lot of leeway as to what you target.
In a nation where a religious test for office is expressly forbidden, the 2012 Republican Primary candidates felt a need to out Jesus each other. This in a country where in 1960 John Kennedy felt compelled to speak to the role of religion in American Politics.JFK expressed the idea he could separate being a Roman Catholic from his duties as POTUS of all the American people. Rick Santorum felt the urge to tell us this speech, which is considered as one of the most important, as one of the best political speeches of the Twentieth Century, nauseated him.
These candidates wouldn't acknowledge they believed in evolution.
Sitting Republican officeholders believe in different types of rape. Some forms are more legitimate than others.
Views that not that long ago would have been ridiculed are now a path to election to public office.
A member of the House Science And Technology Committee called science lies from the pit of hell.
A common thread to all these views is America has strayed from a righteous path into the briars of secularism. Traditional American Christian values have been subverted. We face an Old Testament style smiting by a wrathful God.
To restore America to greatness these problems must be removed. The word of God, as they understand it,must be restored as our moral and legal compass.
So they go after the Biblical cause of all of mankind's problems.
Women.
Since Eve women have been the source of all evils to befall us as a species. Disobedient harlots and temptresses who constantly seduce men into straying from the one true path.
Modern women are no longer chained to home and hearth. They are educated, empowered and independent members of society. They are Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists and political leaders. They are free to determine their own lives, options and futures. In other words the destroyers of traditional values.
They have stolen jobs from men. Women not being stay at home mothers has destroyed the American family dynamic. They feel they can think independently of their husbands. These women actually believe they have the right to decide if or when they will bear children. For some satanic reason they don't believe they should be subservient to men. Submission is no longer seen as a duty. Abhorrent disrespect to the will of God.
If you view modern women as a threat and thorn in your side what is the best way to deal with them?
How do you push them out of public life and back into the home? How do you save and restore America?
Control the reproductive options of a woman.
SInce the introduction of hormonal birth control having a reliable method of birth control has allowed women to step outside of the traditional roles if she wishes.
A family can plan when to have children. A family can decide not to have children.
The fact a woman can enjoy and have non procreational sex is more evidence of their responsibility for the collapse of civilization. Everyone knows that by their very nature women are tramps, sluts, harlots and whores. The only thing that keeps these lustful seductresses in check is the possibility of unintended pregnancy. Once that threat is minimized they are free to wreak havoc on the world.
They will challenge men as their betters. They will reject the need of a stern, strict hand to keep them in there ordained place. How can this be stopped?
First demonize abortion. Make a medical procedure be seen as murder. Lie that it is blithely used as a convenient form of birth control. Thus only sluts that refuse to face the consequences of their wanton actions seek to abort. Slut shaming is needed to intimidate and humiliate women. How else can we drive the life lesson home?
Since the secular heathens won't allow outright abortion bans any possible barrier to access must be devised and put in place. Unnecessary preferably humiliating and invasive medical procedures need to be mandated. Lectures containing disputed and purposely false information need to be required. Waiting periods are a good idea. So is forced counseling by groups whose purpose is to urge carrying the pregnancy to term. Change regulations to require unneeded and expensive renovations of provider sites. This may force some to close. Eliminate legal reasons for abortion. After all a baby conceived in rape and violence is a gift from God. All of a woman;s healthcare needs to be controlled by men. We all know women are too emotional, irrational and let's face it guys. just not smart enough to make decisions that decide their future.
Now to compliment abortion denial we need to make birth control harder to access and seem dangerous. This will need a public/private collaboration. First of all where we can get away with it let's redefine pregnancy. The AMA defines it as happening on the implantation of a fertilized egg to the uterine wall. However as GOP lawmakers we are more knowledgeable about this. Science after all has a liberal bias. Pregnancy begins at conception. Any method of birth control that in any possible way could prevent implantation is now an abortion causing agent. So we can force the abortion regulations to get an IUD or a prescription for the pill. Plan B ? Same thing. Morning after pill? Ditto.
Companies will need to challenge any coverage of birth control or abortion as a violation of their religious freedom. It is vitally important this be done with a straight face.
We all know unions are evil. Let's attack them. Since Teachers, medical workers and public employees are predominately where women find good paying jobs they will be the main target If union protection and wages can be eliminated women will be economically forced to rely on men again. It also has the added benefit of curtailing any political voice that could be raised in defense of our attempts to strip the gals of full citizenship. Praise God!
We can not let the religious right impose their shameless agenda to strip our sisters, wives, sweethearts and mothers of the rights that are those of any citizen. We can not allow women to be classified as simply walking incubators. Stand. Raise your voice and say NO!  This will not stand!
Send these people back to their pews and pulpit where they belong. Religion has no place in law.

Why a war on Women? Is the right really that crazy?

          I am an older white male. I know we are the generic oppressors. I also know that is as accurate as any other stereotype. Any person who has read my blog posts can easily see my positions and the stands I take on the idea of equality. I believe equal means equal. Period.
The rights of any citizen is not something to be graciously granted by a patriarchal Legislative body or voted on whether to grant or deny said rights at the whim of an electorate. The rights one segment of society enjoys should be without question the rights all must have. Again, period. There should be no discussion or debate.
Once a debate starts about rights it is usually to deny or strip a certain portion of the population of equality under assorted guises. The most popular of these guises are "Tradition" and "Religious" rights and freedoms.
I have never posted twice in one day. However this simmering anger and dismay of mine has annoyed me to the point I need to address this subject again. In this political climate I am also sure this won't be the last time.
I have a question for the Congress of the United States of America, the Legislatures of Ohio, Texas,and Wisconsin along with the others doing this. Why, with the pressing serious issues facing the States and our Nation has you priority been the systematic attack on women's rights, heatcare options and futures? Have you lost your minds?  Seriously.
Any moderately informed person knows your stated reasons are a sham.
This has nothing to do with safety.
This has nothing to do with education.
This has nothing to do with options other than limiting them.
I am going to once again examine this and give my ,I like to feel is informed, opinion on the why's. And the hows.
I was out of High School when Roe v. Wade was decided.  When I was in high School a young woman that became pregnant vanished. As a slut her education was over. It usually resulted in an early marriage of two kids unprepared to be parents. Since both were out of school without a diploma their future was limited. The only recourse was a GED. Or the girl went to visit relatives for several months and then an adoption. It was a way to hide the fact your daughter was a tramp.
Birth Control was something not discussed in polite society. I can remember when condoms had the disclaimer sold for prevention of disease only. Yep, in places birth control was illegal. That pretty much ended when SCOTUS struck down Connecticut's statute.
There has been amazing progress made in women's rights since the Sixties. We still have a long road to travel. The idea that a woman should know her place and that place was the home has, until recently, been dismissed as archaic.  I had hoped we could continue towards full equality and elimination if institutionalized sexism. Now a movement to undo centuries of progress has raised it's head and bared fangs.
Somehow the very idea that women are human beings, valuable members of society and full citizens has come under fire. Some disguise it as concern for women;s heath and option education. Others may be less disingenuous when they say women need to fulfil their God defined role in society.
The history of civilization is ,with minor exceptions, a tale of patriarchal societies. One could tell how evolved a society was by the way they treated women.I am sorry to say the record is not pretty.A battle that unlike other societies, Americans were actually willing and able to fight. It was a war I thought had been mostly won. I felt we were in the end stages, like Patton crossing the Rhine in the waning days of WWII.
The war was long. Women went from effectively being property to being able to own property. They were able to eventually have money in their own right. Suffragettes finally forced the passage of the 19th Amendment to The US Constitution giving women voting rights. Many men thought this would simply double their vote. A wife would never vote in a way that her husband disapproved. This was also recent enough that it affected both my Grandmothers.
During the Second World War with so many men in uniform women stepped forward to staff the arsenal of democracy. Rosie the riveter became an icon. Women ferried bombers to the European Theater of War. Women built the weapons needed to end the war. When it was over they were expected to return home to the kitchen. many did. Some didn't.
In the Fifties you saw the rise of the working woman. She was basically limited to traditional women's jobs. Nurses, though a few became Doctors. Legal secretaries, though some became lawyers And so on and so forth.
Eventually more and more women were able to gain a foothold in The Man's World.
Following the introduction of hormonal birth control in the early Sixties women were finally able to control if, when and how many times they would become pregnant.
Finally a woman had some control over her life. She could get a degree. She could pursue a career.
From the Sixties forward it was an upward curve for women. They forced more doors open. Roe v. Wade gave them safe access to abortion. Women gained control of their reproductive health which gave them control of their lives and futures.
Attitudes were slow to change. Most realized it would be a generational battle. You can't change ingrained thinking overnight.
I know I was confused. The paradigm I grew up in was obsolete. I had a choice to evolve or not. I chose evolution.
I had to change how I thought. I had to reevaluate how I interacted with women. It was a learning curve for both genders.
Some though saw empowerment of women as a direct challenge to their manhood. Others were dismayed that women were able to have sex without the spectre of an unwanted pregnancy looming in the shadows. They gnashed their teeth and tore at their garments as they saw the end of a christian nation. Women enjoying sex. Women not beholden to a man. Women free to live as a full citizen. The end times are nigh. Somehow these people went from fringe whackos who were laughed at as holy rollers to positions of power and authority.Once ensconced they went to work.
These were devout evangelicals and anti abortion activists. They were the ground troops for the GOP throughout the Eighties and early Nineties. They learned how campaign were fought. They knew how to raise money. They were also tired of Republicans only paying lip service to their issues. So they mounted Primary challenges and took seats from party faithful.
The problem with electing zealots is they won't play nice. They vote their ideology not the party line. They see compromise as a sin and weakness. They will burn down the world to build their Utopia on the ashes.
More and more were elected. This pushed the GOP farther right each cycle. Sitting politicians toed these new ideals to avoid a challenge.
People who had no idea how government works were elected.  People who held extreme positions found what once would have ostracized them now got them elected. Then they discovered something.
 A) In spite of having high profile women espousing their ideas most women weren't having it. They were leaving the party in droves
B) They were sure as good Christians, women were sinful creatures and must submit to a strict hand. They needed to be saved from themselves.
C) Gop members who weren't evangelicals saw women as a threat. Since they weren't getting their vote anyway they may as well destroy any political power they had. If the men seemed caring and pious as they did it, so much the better.
The best way to strip a woman of any ability to plan their lives is prevent them from having access to family planning.
So as the extreme became mainstream others with similar views were emboldened to come forward.
Some business owners felt there would be no downside to discriminating against women.
In 2010 the Tea Party fueled US House and State legislatures took up the sword. Not surprisingly women's rights were not an election issue. The call was jobs, spending and taxes. Once in power the first order of business was attacking women.
The House cut funding on anything that benefited women SNAP. WiC. Pell Grants. Laws were passed with the express purpose of challenging Roe v. Wade. Thankfully these laws had no prayer of passing the Senate and died in limbo.
The States were a different story.
Ohio attempted to redefine pregnancy to conception and ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat was detected. This happens before most women even know they are pregnant. A fetus testified via sonogram. This weas 2011. There had been a bruising battle over union rights and the Senate had no taste for for another fight. The supposed Heartbeat bill died. This year with a bigger majority Ohio was emboldened to try again. As was Wisconsin, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas.
The 2012 election had these issues debated and espoused or opposed by both candidates. The President was reelected with a rejection of the Republican point of view. In spite of this the new year saw a renewed and vigorous attack. The righrt feels had a more conservative ran thet would have run. I have never understood this line of reasoning. So with their majorities due to Gerrymandering the attack is on. Ohio. Texas. Wisconsin. Arkansas.
Pregnancy has been redefined. Clinics are regulated out of existence. Planned Parenthood is defunded. Contraception is attacked as causing abortions. Real sex education make teenagers have sex.
So, if you have issues with women. You are intimidated by smart women? You don't like working for one? You feel superior? Fine. The best way to get women out of public life and the private sector, give her a choice. Celibacy during her child bearing years or pregnant during most of her child bearing years.
Corporations claim they're Christian and can't cover birth control for their women employees becaus it offends the company's morals.
If a women has children it is easier to keep her out of politics. Busy. Easier to keep her out of the workforce. If you refuse to pay equal wages you make women more dependant on men to survive.
Large families keep women at home. They fulfill the bible standard as wives and mothers. She is too busy to be a pest by working in campaigns. Worn out and old before her time.
This frees up jobs for men.
Keeps women from major involvement in political life.
A win win for the evangelicals and women haters.
A blissful return to the Fifties.
This is not a place where I want to live. A nation that values women as vital parts of the society.  A country that is better for them. A country that realizes we need the intellect and different point of view to move forward. We stand together.

Ohio, Indiana, Iowa. And Texas. But it's always"And Texas".

      After the last few weeks, just as you thought Republican Legislatures and right wing syncophants could not get more egregious, they don;t disappoint.
In Iowa a State Supreme Court decision was handed down upholding the firing of a 33 year old woman who had worked for a Fort Dodge Dentist for a decade. Her terminating offense? Being too hot. Even though she was an excellent employee that was enough to cost her job. This woman's workplace behavior was never considered improper. Her attire was business appropriate. However the Dentist and his wife thought she was a threat to their marriage because the Dentist wanted to nail her. So it's her fault, for being only an attractive woman. Because you know, that;s all she is. She couldn't possibly be seen as a productive human being.
It's her fault not the Boss who was so sure of his prowess that he'd charm her into an affair. Shr is a potential homebreaker so the threat must be removed. Everyone knows every man is too stupid and primitive to control his Libido. As Jimmy Buffett said, "There's always a woman to blame. " Bravo Iowa for setting the image of men back a century or so. Should the livestock also be wary?
Iowa's High Court(with this ruling I think they may be) found this was not discrimination because it was based on feelings, not gender. As the attorney for the Plaintiff said, dark skinned African Americans could be fired to be replaced by lighter skinned ones. Because, feelings. Small breasted women could be fired and replaced with big breasted women. Because, feelings. So could Catholics be fired to be replaced with Protestants because a feeling the Pope is the Anti-Christ? Can one fire liberals because you feel they're evil and un American. What if you feel someone is a witch? Can you burn them at the stake? Iowa, welcome to the 17th Century.
Ah, Indiana. Even though same sex marriage is illegal there they felt the need to criminalize it, by making it a felony. As of 7/1/2014 it will be a felony punishable by eighteen months in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine.for same sex couples to apply for a marriage license. There is no option on a license in Indiana for applicants of the same sex. Thus it is falsification and fraud. Lovely. Just to make it more interesting anyone who performs a same sex marriage is guilty of a misdemeanor with a six month jail sentence and fine. I hope Ohio doesn't notice.
Ohio. Again. Still.
In Ohio following his signing a State Budget into law which contains some of the most repressive and restrictive abortion regulations in the Nation Governor John Kasich was lauded by the so called right to life groups foe saving women from themselves. In fact the Governor received his first endorsement for President. This should remove some doubts Kasich's move was other than blatant pandering to the national base. the conservative mob is poised to fight against a proposed ballot initiative to equalize marriage in Ohio.  They are breaking out all the reactionary views usually deployed to fight for an idea whose time is passed. As Ohio moves left the Government stumbles farther right. I expect a concerted effort by Legislators to thwart this issue. And Ohio Government used to be moderate and reasonable.
And Texas. Isn't it always "And Texas"?
Following the failure of abortion legislation  in the last Special Session due to horrendous time management and the inspiring filibuster by State Senator Wendy Davis(D-Ft Worth) Texas faced a decision. Which was promptly made by Gov. Rick Perry. Let;s have another Special Session to deal with the most pressing issue faced by Texas. Women were actually being treated as citizens instead of ambulatory incubators. That must be rectified.
The Democratic Minority in the Legislature and actual thinking, sane Texans came into this fight energized. National media attention was focused on this fight. Like the Alamo there was hope this losing battle could enable sanity to prevail down the road. The Republicans also seemed to get crazier. I know, how?
As seems to be the norm in Republican controlled State Legislative bodies there appears to be the belief pregnancy from rape and incest is a gift to be treasured.Very young girls who are victims are forbidden to have an abortion because it is dangerous. This ignores that a full term pregnancy at a young age is high risk in and of itself.
As the GOP steamrollered Dems the thousands of sane Texas women and men protested. So, naturally they are an unruly mob not citizens. Texas DPS vowed to clear the chamber if decorum was not maintained. So ever a stylish example of the ideals of Southern Womanhood the outraged women of the Lone Star State pelted the Senators with tampons and pads. At least they weren't used.
In response, women were required to have handbags searched. Tampons and pads were confiscated.By the way, anyone holding a valid concealed carry permit was able to use a special entrance and enter the Senate armed. Because..freedom. Any fool knows tampons are weapons of mass absorption.
Thank you Texas, you never disappo the comedy writers of America.
Hey, GOP. I need a break. Can you shut up and go home for awhile. Please? It's summer. I want to relax. You'll have plenty of time to be stupid in the fall.

Send in the Clowns. Don't bother, they're here. Ohio. Again.

     In 2004 one of the things Karl Rove and company, in an effort to rally and get out the far right vote, supported so called Defense of Marriage ballot measures which sprang up across the United States. Not unlike foul, poisonous hallucinogenic toadstools.
Here in Ohio the ballot measure for an Amendment to the State Constitution banning Same Sex Marriage and recognition of such unions from other States may have been the driving force in the loss of this battleground by John Kerry.The issue passed. For the first time Ohio's Constitution bans equality of a certain portion of the population. That was then.
This is now.
Currently there is a petition drive to place a Marriage Equality Amendment on the ballot in 2014. As the GOP extremists are fond of saying, "Repeal and replace". This should galvanize the progressive vote in Ohio. It will likely help the Democrats in The Buckeye State. It is actually garnering support from former Republican officeholders. Why this sudden show of sanity here after our inmates running the asylum politics of the last few years? In my opinion I'd say demographics, image,jobs and the economy.
Younger people in American society simply are not fixated on sexual orientation. They know and are friends with out homosexuals. They have other worries than what someone is doing in their bedrooms.
When it comes to jobs and the economy Ohio is at a disadvantage. Highly educated members of the LBGT community leave to live where they are not objects of legally mandated discrimination. High Tech and other cutting edge firms are less likely to relocate for the same reason. In the 21st Century institutionalized discrimination is bad for business and image. Those jobs and companies go elsewhere.
This Amendment makes Ohio look intolerant, backwards ignorant. Oh believe me it can be all of those things when poked in the right place.
So how do the people who pushed this anti gay law to begin with feel about this?
Governor John Kasich does not support gay marriage. You will likely see him come out in opposition to a ballot issue.
Your national organizations are again wringing their hands over the destruction of the religious foundations of America and the coming outlawing of religion.The arguments are stale and repeated ad nauseum.
What they miss in the cacophony of the noise machine is that this has nothing to do with religion. Period.  Religious ceremonies are not mandated. It does not effect a single religion. Not one. This legalizes CIVIL marriages.
Civil marriages are performed all the time. Inter faith marriages are not a threat to "traditional" marriage. They aren't illegal or condemned.
The big stick that's always used is traditional christian values. This was the argument used to justify and support slavery. It was used to prevent inter racial marriages. Religion is always used to support the status quo and oppose progress.
The other specious argument is the will of the people. It was voted on. Historical perspective says that voting on what rights a minority should have is always a good idea.
An election in Ohio always attracts media attention and tons of outside money. Civil discourse on the issue is already a casualty
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) now supports gay marriage. Unfortunately, like too many conservatives. it took his son coming out. He was immediately attacked by the right wing blogosphere and groups. It was suggested gay reversion therapy was an option. As was denouncing and turning his back on his boy. Always classy.
With midterms,elections for Governor and the other Statewide offices happening this won;t be pretty. There is a visceral anger in the electorate following the GOP attacks on women. Those members of the Legislature are all up for reelection also.
So 2014 will here in Ohio be caustic, vicious, filled with personal attacks and lie filled ads. In other words, business as usual..

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