A Question for Missouri's Senator Josh Hawley

I ran across this article yesterday on Missouri Senator Josh Hawley's page on Facebook.

Sen. Hawley lays down new antiabortion marker for Supreme Court nominees

How many more side-stepping issues--like the NBA, first, and now abortion and women's rights, etc.--are you going to take up to avoid doing anything at all about the worst, most killing national and international pandemic in the last more than 100 years?

He's been harping on the NBA alone for weeks.

Even though he's supposed to be representing us, the people of Missouri, someone apparently never informed him Missouri has no NBA team.

Now he wants to attack women's rights, women's reproductive rights.

Clearly he needs to be schooled that this was settled by the US Supreme Court back in 1973.

Senator?

That pandemic?

Please?

Thanks, Republicans!

So Proud of You, Kansas City

Yes sir, so proud of my now hometown.

That's you, Kansas City.

There was a rather hastily put-together protest and march today at the Country Club Plaza. It began at Mill Creek Park, went for a protest march around the Plaza and then back to the park for some speeches.

It was to protest for women's and abortion rights, rightly, after the nightmare week in Jefferson City on the part of yet more Right Wing, mostly all white, Republican men who voted to limit even the possibility of an abortion after 8 weeks of pregnancy.

Forget all the medical facts like how difficult it is to know a woman is actually pregnant in the first few weeks after conception and all the other facts. Yeah, forget all that. Forget that theirs is supposed to be a "small government" political party. Forget all that. They want to have that government come between the patient, the female patient and her doctor.

It's not quite as bad as Alabama's draconian law they passed this week but it's right up there.

So a protest was planned and executed today and it was a beauty. I knew I had to be there. It's estimated 4,000 people showed. And they were boisterous. Herewith, some photos from the day. It was wondrous.

Some of the posters were a bit more, uh, frank, shall we say?

As I said, it was a very good sized crowd. I think we were all very, very pleased with the turnout and energy.

Some people wrote on the sidewalks, too, for a protest that would last a bit longer than just the time we were there.

One of the biggest ironies of all these, again, Right Wing, Republican government representatives is this article on a study of abortions and nations with and without them.

Abortion rates go down when countries make it legal: report

But again, facts and data and scientific studies mean little to these people. It's the same on this topic, abortion, as it is with guns and gun laws. Facts just don't matter.

White Males Against Abortion, Unite!

I saw yet another very privileged, white, middle-class male railing on Facebook about abortion today.

Jeezus Effing C.

Unbelievable.

This guy was a high school friend. I believe he's college educated.

In spite of that education, he rambled something briefly--incoherently?--about "60 million abortions." I've no idea what that was an attempted reference to.

But wow. Freaking wow.

So I decided there needs to be a group for these people.

They need to call it White Male Patriarchy.

WIMP for short.

A white, middle class, at least, if not upper middle-class male, devoid of attachment to the female's situation, of course, since he hasn't and couldn't possibly have or understand that perspective, but also completely void of any lower-class and/or minority situation or issues. But by gosh, rail against abortions! Sure! Makes perfect sense.

The fact is, the numbers of abortions in the nation have been dropping, and steadily, for years.

More importantly, the Right Wing and Republicans have been whittling away at women's legal rights for abortions for years, as we know. Additionally, however, they've also been under-cutting funding for sex education for our children, nationally and locally, in our schools. Added to that, they've been fighting the development and use of "day after" contraception pills, which is really insane. With the availability of these, we could at least reduce, if not even possibly eliminate abortions in the nation if those were available.

It's insane.

It's irresponsible. It's unconscionable. It's certainly immoral--yes, immoral, I'm saying it--on their part.

So here's for all the WIMPs out there!

Long live WIMPs!

And now they have a real "leader" for them, with this Trumpian in the White House.

Wahoo.

Those Rotten Libruls

Stupid State Republicans

Once again, a bunch of mostly all white, old men, Right Wingers, Republicans, all got together, in spite of their claims of being "small government" advocates and ruled one more time against women's and couple's individual reproductive rights. This time, it was out of our own Jefferson City.

New Abortion Restrictions Head To Missouri Governor's Office

And they spent yet more state money in special session to do it, "Conservatives" that they are.

Are the roads and bridges and highways and sewers and all our infrastructure fixed?

No!

Is I-70, from Illinois on the East, all through the state, to Kansas on the West, upgraded and improved and modernized and made safe?

Again, no.

Is our own Missouri Department of Transportation, MoDoT, fully funded and functioning?

Absolutely not.

But are women and couples' private, personal, again, reproductive rights yet more limited even though, as we know, abortion is legal and has been since 1973?

YES!!

And they spent yet more state money, that they say we don't have, to do it!

For them?

SUCCESS!

I've said it before but why any woman would vote Republican is beyond me. Far beyond me. Well, unless she's a Right Wing, "Christian", anti-abortion zealot, of course.

But then, why any Black person, Hispanic, Latino, gay, physically-challenged or elderly person would vote Republican also baffles me completely. (Unless that elderly person is already filthy, stinking rich, of course. Then I think they have to vote Republican, don't they? Isn't that a law?).

Keeping in mind, this is also the state political party that just voted lower wages for Missourians into law, too.

Yay, us.

Link:

Missouri legislature sends right-to-work bill to Gov. Eric Greitens

"Small Government", Republican, Right Wing Governor Goes After State's Women

Here we go again.

Yet one more Right Winger, another Republican who runs and ran on the promise of "small government" and lower spending but what's he do?

Stacey Newman: Estimated $160,000 being spent on Governor's  special anti-abortion session

A bit from the article:

UP TO DAY SIX - GOVERNOR'S SPECIAL SESSION ON ABORTION 

 
$20,000 per day of your taxpayer dollars in order to a) repeal the St. Louis City reproductive anti-discrimination ordinance (how on earth does that affect any other community?) and b) pass more unconstitutional restrictions on abortion providers.

So, first, he wants to legislate still further on and about women and women's reproductive rights. It's typical very Right Wing behavior, certainly, but that doesn't make it any less repulsive or hypocritical. 

"Small government"? Governor Greitens wants it so small it reaches into Missouri's womens' and couples' private, reproductive lives. That's how "small" they want their government.

And never forget, never forget, the procedure they're wasting all this time and energy and our tax money on is a very legal one. It's been legal since 1973, famously.

Someone needs to remind this guy and all his fellow Republicans of what has now become a cliche' seen all over the internet and that is that Roe v Wade wasn't the start of abortions in America. 

It was the end of women dying by them.

Meanwhile, I-70 is an ignored mess that needs updating and modernizing and repairing and hopefully, one day soon, maybe widening so we're all safer out there and maybe we can do more business, more commerce and more pleasure travel, thereby creating more jobs, too.

You think maybe they could work on that or one of the other many and very important issues before the state?

Here's hoping.

Links:

Missouri governor calls special session on abortion 

Greitens uses religion, women as political tools

Rare Good News Out of Kansas

Here's a rare one.  Good news out of Kansas state government. Naturally, it comes from the Courts, where intelligence, so far, still rules. From the New York Times over the weekend:

A Kansas appeals court, in a split decision, held that the state Constitution, like the federal one, protects abortion rights, affirming a lower court order blocking enforcement of a restrictive 2015 law.

A bit from the article:

In a split decision, the Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday held that the state Constitution, like the federal one, protected a woman’s right to an abortion and affirmed a lower court order blocking enforcement of a restrictive 2015 law.

The ruling resulted from a 7-to-7 vote by the appeals court.

That, as I said, it the good news. Now, the bad. It's likely still not fully settled.

In a tie, the lower-court ruling is upheld, but the split suggested that the interpretation of abortion rights under the state Constitution is far from settled and is likely to be considered by the state Supreme Court.

Given how the Right Wing and Republicans seem to want to fight this issue until it's illegal in the nation, it will, no doubt, come up again.  And again.

But for now, anyway, intelligence and common sense ruled.

It's a rare, happy day in the Sunflower state.

Meanwhile, there is this, from the more national front:

Hillary Clinton rallies Planned Parenthood vote, fights all restrictions on abortions

Enjoy your Monday, y'all.

Missouri's Senator Roy Blunt Gets Outrageous

I can hardly believe what I'm seeing on Senator Roy Blunt's Facebook page today. You may not believe it yourself. It started with this preamble:



"Next year, the new Republican-led Congress is waging a war for women. We're waging a war for families, workers, seniors and young people who have been burdened by the current administration's policies."

You can see more of this rather outrageous chutzpah and nonsense here:

Roy Blunt: Republicans' war for women

Whoa.

That is stunning.

It's especially stunning because..... uh... of this---this vote in our own US Senate just earlier this year, aa recently as this last September:

Paycheck Fairness Act Blocked By GOP

To make that clear. Only this year, just a few months ago, this very same group, the Republicans in the US Senate voted that women were not worthy of and should not get equal pay for equal work.

That, in itself, is amazing. Is this not America? Have we not always told ourselves "All men are created equal"?

And sure, I get that it was a lie then and it's been a lie during our entire union, as a nation, but don't we consider ourselves enlightened enough by now---the 21st Century---to agree that men and women should get the same pay for the same work? That they are, in fact, equal?

"NOT SO!" said the Republican Senators, famously. Infamously.

And not only that, but this is the 2nd time they voted this down. And it was the 2nd time they voted it down THIS VERY SAME YEAR.

And now, all of a sudden, the Republicans have come out to say they're going to wage a 'war for women"?

Are you freaking kidding me?

That entire political party, from the national, federal level, out of Washington, down to the individual states level have repeatedly come out against equality for women and in more ways than just equal pay.

So it's clear this isn't just one example of an extremely wrong-headed policy, note that the following just came out, too, this week from our own Jefferson City:

This GOP Lawmaker Wants a Woman to Get Permission From the Father Before Having an Abortion

Hi there, patriarchy! Women in Missouri could soon have to get permission from their sexual partners in order to get an abortion, if state Rep. Rick Brattin gets his way. Brattin has filed a bill saying that "No abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion."

When asked about how this would effect cases of rape, Rep. Brattin said the woman would have to prove it was a "legitimate rape", echoing ignorant strains of, again, Republican Todd Akin and his remarks from our dark past.

These people just don't quit. They've been so anti-women, and for so long, it would seem laughable now, to hear them say anything like this, if it weren't so tragic for women---and their families, their children and all.

To end today, I leave you with this little beauty from a Missouri Republican out of Jefferson City. You tell me if that political party can honestly now be for women. These people have been incorrigible.

New, monumental Republican stupid out of Jeff City

I can hardly believe, frequently, the extraordinary things said by people in the Republican Party out of the respective state capitols of Jefferson City, Missouri and Topeka, Kansas.  Here's the latest one, from just yesterday:

WATCH: GOP Lawmaker Compares Getting Abortion to ...

Missouri GOPer Compares Abortion To Buying A Car

Oh, yes he did:

A Republican lawmaker in Missouri who is sponsoring a bill that would mandate women seeking an abortion undergo an ultrasound and wait three days for the procedure defended his measure Tuesday, suggesting a woman getting an abortion should treat it with the same deliberation as shopping for cars or carpeting.

State Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger (R) explained to his colleagues on the Missouri House's Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities committee that when he goes to buy a new vehicle, he doesn't just make a snap decision.

"I have to look at it, get information about it, maybe drive it, you know, a lot of different things. Check prices," he said, according to video recorded by Progress Missouri. "There's lots of things that I do putting into a decision. Whether that's a car, whether that's a house, whether that's any major decision that I put in my life. Even carpeting."

What's so amazing/fascinating/incredibly stupid about this is that, first, Rep. Gatschenberger seems to be saying--or wanting to say--that this is an incredibly important, rather grave decision, yet he compares it with--ulp--buying a car or carpeting.

Wha?

Second, he seems to think and assume that women of all ages could, would or do think of having an abortion lightly.

Since he's not a woman and so, can't have ever been in this situation, it's clear he has no idea whatever what these women go through in such a situation.

Fortunately, others in the House--not Republicans, of course--caught him on this, got him to rethink, at least a little bit, and apologize for making so light of this situation:

State Rep. Stacey Newman (D) called Gatschenberger out on the car comparison in a testy exchange.

"Are you equating that with a medical decision?" she asked Gatschenberger.

"No--" Gatschenberger said.

"That was your analogy, and that was extremely offense to every single woman in this hearing, representative," Newman said. "Your comments were extremely offensive to every single woman sitting in here, whether they're pregnant or whether they're not. I want to point that out, because that kind of attitude is demeaning to women, regardless of what they decide to do."

"That was not the intention. I apologize for that," Gatschenberger responded.

But Gatschenberger was pressing Newman to reconsider the bill seconds later.

Honestly, if people's own lives' and rights' weren't at stake, this would be funny.

Instead, it's tragic.

Tragically stupid, in fact.

With this kind of statement repeatedly coming from people in the Republican Party, on top of yesterday's vote by Republicans in the Senate disavowing equal pay for women doing the same job as men in the workplace, it stuns me any woman--any woman--would vote with these neanderthals.

Final note:  Lest anyone think this might be overlooked by the rest of the nation or even the world, the article is in both Mother Jonesand Talking Points Memo.

On the Roe v. Wade anniversary today

 

Too many don't get this.

 

 

 

Texas does it again

The Republican jobs plan for America

Imagine what would be possible for America

Can you imagine what not just what the Republicans but America could accomplish if they didn't focus so much on trying to legislate on guns, abortion and women's reproductive rights?

Yet more monumental stupid coming out of Topeka

Here's another case of not hardly being able to believe what some Right Wing, Republican wacko thought up:

Kansas Bill Would Ban Abortion Clinic Employees From ‘Bringing Cupcakes’ To Their Child’s School

Link here: Kansas Bill Would Ban Abortion Clinic Employees ... - Addicting Info

Yes sir, folks, you can believe it:

Kansas Republicans are once again resuming their war against a woman’s right to choose and this time they are targeting abortion clinic employees in a very personal way.

A Kansas House committee passed HB 2253 on Wednesday along party lines, with Republicans pushing the bill through while Democrats opposed it. The bill is a broad spectrum of anti-abortion laws sponsored by GOP state Rep. Lance Kinzer, who is the poster boy for many of the outrageous abortion bills introduced and passed in Kansas these days. Included in the bill are measures declaring that life begins at conception, measures that keep women from deducting the cost of abortion procedures on their tax forms, and measures that affect “information the Kansas Department of Health and Environment distributes on abortion and fetal development,” according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
But these measures weren’t the ones that Democrats objected to the most. Republicans apparently included a section in the bill that would affect employees of abortion providers in a most personal way. The Capital-Journal reports:

“Much of the debate centered on a portion of the bill that bars anyone associated with an abortion provider from working in a public school. It is meant to prevent districts from contracting with groups like Planned Parenthood to provide sexual education materials.”

Democratic Rep. Emily Perry opposes HB 2253, and pointed out another egregious section in the bill designed “to prohibit parents from going in and volunteering at their child’s school if they work at a place that provides abortion services.” Perry’s claim was later confirmed by Republican Rep. Arlen Siegfreid, who stated that the bill would “prohibit an abortion clinic secretary from ‘bringing cupcakes to’ school for his or her child’s birthday party.”

Forget that abortions are legal in this country and have been since 1972. Forget that.

Ignore that this is a form of discrimination.

Totally block out of your mind that they should be working for the state, for the people and for the people's good--tangible, intelligent good things and good work and legislation.

No, no, try to come up with yet more insane ways to focus on only one issue in the state of Kansas.

Looney.  Truly crazy.

1978--true then, still true now

 

‎"Safe abortions have always been available to the rich, Dan. You simply want to deny them to the poor, and if you succeed, poor women will be forced to get them anyway. They’ll be forced into the alleys with hangers, plungers and vacuum cleaners, risking death or mutilation. But you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Dan? You sadistic, elitist, sexist, racist, anti-humanist pig!"

 

 --Saturday Night Live, NBC-TV. 

 

This aired in 1978.

 

Thirty-four years later, it’s still a debate, tragically.


Happy International Women's Day  anyway.

Two things the Right Wing never wants fixed

It seems clear there are two issues the Right Wing and Republicans and "Conservatives" really never, ever want "fixed" or solved in this country. 

The first is immigration. This out today:

'Reformer!' Rubio Rejects Obama Immigration Plan

Through negotiations from both sides of the political aisle, a deal was made that would require immigrants here, most specifically from Mexico, that would take 8 years to become a legalized citizen if they're already here illegally.

As though that would be easy, Senator Marco Rubio (R, Fl) has announced the plan virtually "dead on arrival."

But of course this is the man who, with his water-gulping response to President Obama's State of the Union address, kicked off his own campaign to become the next Republican president in 2016.

So naturally he can't be for any real solution to the immigration problem.

The 2nd, other problem the Right Wing and Republicans never want to really solve in this country is that of abortion.

Sure, they want fewer abortions, but they don't really want this issue to go away or to actually be illegal because, after all, then what single-issue would they have?  What could or would they use then to "rally their troops" and raise millions of dollars?  You can only bash gays so much and besides, that doesn't raise nearly as much money.

If people were so truly against abortions in this country, they'd support scientific, health care solutions like RU486 and "Plan B", day-after pills to eliminate abortions.

But again, if they did that, where would their issue go?

Answer: it would be gone.

And then what would they rail against?

Great Planned Parenthood news out of Kansas

Indeed, great news from NPR and the AP:

Charges Dropped Against Kansas Planned Parenthood

A Kansas prosecutor on Friday dropped all remaining criminal charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic accused of performing illegal abortions, ending what was believed to be the first attempt in the U.S. to prosecute a facility affiliated with the group.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced that 32 misdemeanor charges against the clinic had been dismissed. Those charges were the last part of a criminal case filed in 2007 by Howe's predecessor. Howe said his decision to end the case came after consulting Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. All three are Republicans.

"It is an unfortunate conclusion that I don't think is going to satisfy anybody, but that is the reality of what we have to deal with today," Howe said during a news conference at his office at the courthouse in Olathe. "But ultimately, the decision should be about the law and the evidence."

Yeah.

Tough thing, that.

The law, I mean.

All those rules.

Link: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/17/159037912/charges-dropped-against-kan-planned-parenthood

Kansas GOP in the news

Yessirree, Bob, good ol' Kansas Republicans are in none other than the New York Times yesterday and for good things, as far as the rest of us thinking humans are concerned. It seems they just can't stand fellow Republicans, less'n they think Right Wing, like they do.

Make that FAR Right Wing:

In Kansas, Conservatives Vilify Fellow Republicans

Kansas politics have been tilting more to the right for at least the last two decades. And now that shift is prompting a bitter clash within the state’s Republican Party. Conservatives are feverishly working to win the Senate and drive out the last remnants of what they see as moderate Republicanism in a state with a deep-rooted history of centrist Republicans in the mold of Bob Dole, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Nancy Kassebaum.

The divisive primary campaign reflects the ambivalence gripping Republicans across the country, yet the situation here is more complicated than the typical conservative-versus-establishment disputes.

What sets the battle in Kansas apart is the distance between the factions. Conservative and moderate Republicans essentially operate as separate parties, and so far, no one — including Mr. Brownback — has stepped forward to try to bridge that gap in the popular tradition of moderation. Instead, each side claims to represent the soul of the party.

“We don’t even know what it means to be a Republican in the state of Kansas,” said Casey W. Moore, a conservative Senate candidate from the Topeka area.

Personally, I like the smell of Right Wing cannibalism in the morning.

Heck, I love that any time of day or night.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/us/in-kansas-primaries-conservatives-attack-fellow-republicans.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

Kansas, people are laughing at you (again, some more)

Laughing at you, Kansas, or shaking their head in disbelief:

Kansas Board of Health Revokes License of Doctor for Not Forcing Ten-Year-Olds to Give Birth

In a continuing effort to both curb access to abortion and reiterate their own opinion that there is never any situation where abortion could be necessary for a patient's well-being, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts has decided in favor of revoking Dr. Ann Neuhaus's medical license. Neuhaus, a colleague of Dr. George Tiller, assisted him by providing second opinions for mental health exceptions for late abortions.

According to the Associated Press, Neuhaus was hoping to have her full medical license restored after spending years only allowed to provide limited medical care for charity work. Instead, an ongoing investigation into 11 patient cases obtained by Operation Rescue became the center of a movement to have her license stripped all together.

The cases all involved girls who sought abortions due to mental health issues from depression to suicide, with an age range from 17 years old to as young as 10. The board alleged that Neuhaus's exams were not thorough enough based on the available records provided, and that her follow up care was inadequate, as she did not recommend counseling or hospitalization afterwards.

I found this link on Facebook so it's clear people are, in fact, laughing at you or incredulous, given your callousness and/or ignorance.

Kansas: One sad state.

Link: http://truth-out.org/news/item/10003-kansas-board-of-health-revokes-license-of-doctor-for-not-forcing-10-year-olds-to-give-birth

Kansans being played for chumps by Topeka

What other conclusion can you come to but that you're being played for a chump when your state legislators in Topeka are blowing more than one-half billion dollars on unnecessary legal maneuvers that mix church and state?:

Kansas AG pays $644K to defend state abortion laws

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Kansas attorney general's office paid outside lawyers more than $644,000 to defend anti-abortion laws enacted last year.

The office says it paid more than $328,000 as of Friday to Foulston Siefken, a Wichita firm helping defend a budget provision denying federal dollars for non-abortion services to Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood has filed a federal lawsuit against the measure.

Forget that abortion is legal in the United states and has been since 1973.

Forget that no one--no one--even thinks about, let alone goes through an abortion procedure without a great deal of thought and emotional upset.

Forget that there are plenty--too many--laws on the books in Kansas on abortions, abortion rights (or the lack of them) and abortion procedures.

Forget, finally, that the state of Kansas doesn't have a big budget, period, for most any services and that they need to make whatever funds they have go as far as possible.

Forget all that.

Just keep focusing on one single issue that you can mix your Christian faith with government on and blow $644 million on totally unnecessary legal machinations in the courts.

Brilliant.

Link to original article: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/11/3652327/kansas-ag-pays-644k-to-defend.html#storylink=rss#storylink=cpy