The Day In "Slut Shaming"

Feb 29th, 2012

It's been a hell of a day in the world of "slut shaming." A hell of a day, indeed. In case you haven't heard yet, Rush Limbaugh savagely attacked Sandra Fluke, the young woman whom House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) refused to allow to testify during his all-male-witness contraception hearing two weeks ago:

"What does it say about the college coed Susan [sic] Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.

"She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps.

"The johns, that's right. We would be the johns -- no! We're not the johns. Well -- yeah, that's right. Pimp's not the right word.

"OK, so, she's not a slut. She's round-heeled. I take it back." EMPHASIS MINE

via Media Matters


In case you are wondering what set Rush off, Ms. Fluke managed to get her voice heard in a separate hearing held by the The Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. Although House Republicans managed to intentionally prevent her appearance from being broadcast, it wound up being seen by a lot of people anyway. You know how that pesky internet is.



This woman not being effectively silenced altogether was too much for Rush to bear.

Of particular note is his remark today about the quantity of sex a person engages in having anything to do with "contraception."

Beyond a refusal to recognize the fact that a majority of women use "contraception" as an essential component of health-preserving hormone therapies (such as the one related in Ms. Fluke's testimony), this exposes the psyche of the contemporary, self-declared conservative male...

They think this debate is about rubbers and fucking.

Steve Benen raises an eyebrow:

"Behold, the most influential voice in Republican politics.

I'm curious whether GOP officials, including Darrell Issa, are comfortable with the language Limbaugh used today. If recent history is any guide, Republican officeholders are loath to disagree with the radio host publicly, and it'll be interesting to see if GOP lawmakers or candidates make any kind of exception here.

Given that they started this War on Women, it seems unlikely, but here's hoping I'm wrong."

That's a damn good question. And, it should be asked of every single elected Republican in the United States.

Believe it or not, the day got even more depressing.

The National Review published a "hilarious" piece by Charles C. W. Cooke showing just how stupid we liberals are and 'exposing' the fact that access to birth control is a phony issue. His piece, titled "My Contraceptive Haul," (yuk yuk) details how easy it was for him to find condoms simply everywhere in NY City.

"Were one to have listened uncritically to the more hysterical elements in America’s news media over the past month, one would have concluded that contraception is intractably hard to come by in the United States; but a cursory glance at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s well-appointed website gives quite the opposite impression. There, contrarily, visitors are informed that anyone in need of contraception is somewhat spoiled for choice." EMPHASIS MINE

While poking fun at the "NY Condom App" available for a number of smart phones, he says:

"Never has a society been so precisely and easily led to safe sex."

He even describes how his pockets were "bulging" with so many rubbers. Again, it's all about rubbers and fucking.

"Next time someone tells you that, if the federal government does not force all health insurers to cover contraception without raising premiums, the sky is going to fall, why not take him for a walk in a major urban area? You’ll only have to go a couple of blocks." EMPHASIS MINE

You just read that right.

"Take him."

There are so many things wrong with these two men that go beyond their dripping smarm.

They are speaking for millions of Americans who think that women shouldn't be speaking on this subject at all.

A Prominent Observer

Jan 1st, 2012

TMZ (of all places) has an interesting report on actress Ellen Barkin's run-in with the NYPD while she was observing Occupy Wall Street protests. She took to her twitter account and let loose.

Quote Of The Day

Nov 21st, 2011

Image via

"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression."
-- W. E. B. Du Bois

Quote Of The Day

Nov 15th, 2011

"If repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason that we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost."
-- Michel Foucault

It's Just An Idea

Nov 15th, 2011
Please call NY city hall at 212-788-3058 and contact NYPD Superintendent Ray Kelly HERE

I have an idea.

It's not terribly original, but I really like it.

Of course, I am prone to childish flights of fancy.

Sorry.

It Would Have Been More Surprising...

Oct 6th, 2011

After this weekend's events on the Brooklyn Bridge (coverage HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) further clashes between the NYPD and the rapidly swelling Occupy Wall Street movement were to be expected. As the protests continue to coalesce and draw in more allies, it may get uglier still. It would have been more surprising had there not been some violence last night. Everyone should grateful that not only was it not worse, but also that there were professional media right up front. They took the hits too. Watch how actually "fair and balanced" news coverage can be when journalists behave like... well... journalists.

Occupy Wall Street Arrests; Fox 5 Crew and Protesters Hit by Mace, Batons: MyFoxNY.com

Quote Of The Day

Aug 9th, 2011

"The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society."
-- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Welcome to Kochistan part 2 - The Women of Kochistan.

August 1st, 2011
by Stephanie Baselice
part 1 is available HERE

The other day my daughter came in from the back porch to tell me there were two ladies outside and she had no idea what they wanted. Having some idea, I wiped my hands on my apron and came out onto the porch. Two sixty-ish women in flowered dresses approached my back steps. One greeted me, and said they were on a "Christian Mission" in my area. I reserved judgment and let her go through her intro spiel. 

 When she got to the part about how she understood that most people had their own church, but since I had children, wasn't I worried about what was going to happen in the world, and with Obama and everything, what did I think was going to happen, I gently told her I'd prefer not to discuss religion with her and wished her a blessed day. The flowered Christians made a civil retreat. But I am indeed worried about what is going to happen to my world. Especially since I have children though not necessarily because of "Obama and everything." 

"A Massacre"

Feb 2nd, 2011

Selma Al-Tarzi reports from Cairo for Democracy Now.

It's Time To Ask

Jan 31st, 2011

How long can the nation of Israel maintain the position that it's very existence is dependent on preserving the oppressive regimes of it's neighbors? Yuval Ben Ami asks the question:






"According to Haaretz, the Israeli government sent a message to world governments urging them to enhance their support of Mubarak’s regime in Egypt. The message urged that the stability of Egypt’s regime is beneficial to the stability of the entire middle east and thus must be preserved.

What is the value of our so called democracy if it can only flourish by keeping millions and millions out of democracy’s reach? We have been told for years that such occupation techniques as the construction of the separation barrier are neccesary to ensure the survival of “the Middle East’s only democracy”. We learned to accept that our democracy is dependent on human rights infringements. Now we learn that the scale of these infringements must be fantastically greater.

For 30 years Israel enjoyed the status quo with Egypt, while Egyptians suffered from tyranny, lacked freedom of speech and could not effect their own destiny. What message is Israel sending now? Does it truly imply that only a dictatorial Middle East will permit it to survive as a Jewish state?

Is this Jewish state such a fragile fantasy, that an entire region of the world must be kept imprisoned in order for it to thrive?" 

"How many people must be deprived of liberty so we can have ours? Can we only have our liberty by maintaining absolute dictators as allies? Are we really that scared?"

Worth 1,000 Words

Jan 28th, 2011

This just came across the interwebs. A protester in Cairo kisses a "bewildered" security officer.