congress

All posts tagged congress

I cannot for the life of me understand what the Republicans are trying to do by introducing a bill that limits federal funding of abortion except in the case of forcible rape and incest (if the woman is under 18). Even more mind boggling is the fact that the bill is co-sponsored by several women representatives. New Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has said the bill is a top priority for the new congress. It’s a top priority of the United States government to degrade women, risk their health, sacrifice their constitutionally protected right to the pursuit of happiness (they like to wave the constitution to justify their bullshit)???? What country is this – Somalia?

Is this what the “American people” voted for in November??? At what point when they were listening to “the American people” did we tell them women were an underclass, to be treated as breeding machines and slaves to men? Have the “American people” all suddenly converted to the Christian Right’s perverted definition of Christianity?? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!

The men who support this bill are not real men. They are not Christians. That men like these can be somehow voted into positions of national leadership is a disgrace! At best they are weak, craven men, beholden to the religious zealots who gave them money to run for office and now hold the puppet strings. At worst they are themselves the religious zealots who believe they’ve been put on this earth to mandate the morality of “the American People” they so hypocritically claim to revere.

The women who support this bill… I just can’t wrap my mind around them at all. But I would ask each of them – if someone drugged you or your daughter and sexually assaulted you or her, impregnating you or her… is it the role of government to force you to have that child?? Oh, you’re just preventing federal dollars from paying for the abortion, you’re not forcing the mother to have the child. Well I thought that federal dollars came from “the American People”, all of them not just the ones paying your way. Some of that is my money, my sister’s money, my wife’s money, my neighbors’ money. And we think she should have the same protections as the women who were raped at knifepoint, or gunpoint, or who had their arms and ribs and legs broken. Bones heal, minds… not necessarily. Wait, I get it, their limbs weren’t broken so it’s ok to break their lives.

I know it’s not possible that all Republican women agree with this bill, but where are they? Why are they not rushing to the nearest TV studio, or newspaper, or radio station to denounce this slouch toward theocracy? They push nonsensical unnecessary laws to prevent extreme muslimism from supplanting the laws of the land, and they ignore the encroaching fundamentalist vision their colleagues want to impose.

Nothing good can come from this bill. Unless it wakes up the swing voters who for some reason supported these cretins out of misguided fear or misunderstanding to vote them out in 2012.

One more thing… Where are the jobs Mr Boehner???

In this article in Mother Jones, soon to be ex Representative Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) describes what the tea party and used to be far right are doing to the republican party and conservative movements in America. From wingnuttery to know nothingness to demagoguery and conspiracy theories, Inglis explains just where in the concrete the teabaggers have drawn the line of ideological purity, if not consistency. “Conservative” has a new meaning, and if you don’t use the right buzzwords, embrace dishonesty, and at least politely fail to notice if not rabidly espouse xenophobia you lose the support of the base in favor of those who will. It’s especially heinous in South Carolina, where it’s just not possible to be right wing enough.

While the rise of the tea party and all the noise that comes with it should be disturbing in the short term, moderates and liberals everywhere should take the long view. As far as regaining the White House, Republicans have already marginalized themselves as a southern, white man’s party, making it almost impossible to see how they win the presidency again ever, never mind in 2012. For the short term yes, they’ll gain seats in both the house and senate this year and it will become even more difficult for Obama and the Democrats to pass any kind of meaningful legislation . But all that really means is we’ll see two more years of the party of hell no, two more years of callous disregard for struggling Americans, two more years of obstructionism, and two more years of blatant hypocrisy on tax cuts and deficit spending (Fox  News Sunday, Rachel Maddow Show). 23% of voting Americans can make a lot of noise for a while, but remember Ross Perot? You don’t – well that’s what his 20% got him.