The GOP War On Women, cont...

Jan 10th, 2012

Sarah Seltzer notes a very bad development today:

"This is bad news--one of the worst laws in the "war on women" being fought in the courts has gotten the go-ahead from an appeals court--which means doctors may now be forced to deliver ultrasounds and read out information to abortion-seeking patients, no matter what they themselves or their patients want."

Sounds like any number of other laws the GOP has passed around the country to promote job growth inflict a narrow moral code on American women, right? Nope. This is way worse.

"In May's Houston Chronicle, writer Beverly McPhail described the procedure that as of today, may have to be enforced (emphases mine):

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 88 percent of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Because the fetus is so small at this stage, traditional ultrasounds performed through the abdominal wall, "jelly on the belly," often cannot produce a clear image. Therefore, a transvaginal probe is most often necessary, especially up to 10 weeks to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The probe is inserted into the vagina, sending sound waves to reflect off body structures to produce an image of the fetus. Under this new law, a woman's vagina will be penetrated without an opportunity for her to refuse due to coercion from the so-called "public servants" who passed and signed this bill into law."

This is state-ordered rape.

What if the women seeking to terminate her pregnancy has conceived as the result of a sexual assault? This will be a second violation. The sheer amount of damage this could cause is incalculable.

DOJ Slams Texas Redistricting

Sept 23rd, 2011

Via TPM:

Image via

"The Justice Department said late Friday that based on their preliminary investigation, a congressional redistricting map signed into law by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have been "adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress."

DOJ's Civil Rights Division is specifically contesting the changes made to Texas Districts 23 and 27, which they say would not provide Hispanic citizens with the ability to elect candidates of their choice.

They say they need more information on the congressional plan to determine what the purpose of the redistricting plan was for sure. But the federal agency came out stronger against the state House of Representatives plan, which they flat out said "violates Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in that it was adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to the Texas House of Representatives."

Just a small part of the big GOP disenfranchisement plan for 2012

Short And To The Point

Sept 21st, 2011

Indeed

Perry Watch - Texas Identity Edition

Sept 19th, 2011

Josh Harkinson observes that Gov. Perry has made some fairly vacant contributions to a certain Texan custom:

"In Austin, where state identity is the manna of politics, governors have long upheld the tradition of naming worthy outsiders "honorary Texans"—a title that Crockett, a Tennessee native who died fighting for Texas, would have deserved. 

Foreign dignitaries, actors, and musicians have been the most popular picks, though some governors have gotten more creative. (Check out the stories behind 10 of the more unconventional picks.) Ann Richards named a breast cancer victim and a women's basketball star. George W. Bush named a Catholic nun and an insurance lobbyist.

And Rick Perry named Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin."

The State of Texas Apologizes

Aug 21st, 2011

HT to EzKool for this.

What Texas Miracle? ctd...

Aug 18th, 2011

During a bloggingheads.tv exchange between Erica Grieder of the Economist and Evan Smith, editor of the Texas Tribune, Smith shared an anecdote that pretty well sums up Rick Perry's so-called "Texas Miracle."

Krugman On Texas

Jan 8th, 2011

Writing in the NY Times a couple of days ago, Paul Krugman critiqued what he calls "The Texas Omen:"

"Wasn’t Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn’t its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that “we have billions in surplus”? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years.

And that reality has implications for the nation as a whole. For Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting — the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending — has been implemented most completely. If the theory can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere."

The primary problem with the current Republican leadership is that they continue to argue against defusing any bombs until they go off. Then, after they go off, they scramble to blame liberals for not defusing them