Tag Archives: Roe v Wade

The End Of “Liberty and Justice for All”

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary, voting rights

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court voted to take away a substantial portion of the rights of women when they voted in private to strike down the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision.  We all saw it coming, but I think we all had our fingers tightly crossed that the Court wouldn’t opt to go down this perilous path.  That hope is gone.  What’s next?  Will we lose our right to “equal pay for equal work”?  Will our voting rights be further restricted (working women are already among the groups for whom voting has been made significantly more difficult)?  Will the Court ultimately also strike down Obergefell v Hodges and take away the rights of same-sex couples to marry?  Just how far is this ignominious Supreme Court willing to push We the People?  And perhaps the bigger question is … how far will we allow them to push us before we push back?  It’s only a matter of time, my friends … only a matter of time.

One line of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft of the decision reads …

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start …”

Ah yes … anything that allows a woman to have a degree of control over the path her life takes must be considered ‘egregious’, for we all know that Alito and his ilk still believe women to be the inferior gender, unable or incapable of rational thought, of logical decision-making even when it comes to her own body.

My suggestion to all the women in this nation is unless you actively want to get pregnant, make your guys have a vasectomy, else lock the bedroom door and tell him to sleep on the sofa.  Yes, I am serious!  Sex might be fun for both parties, but then we women are left to pay the price for the rest of our lives!

And don’t let those pseudo-Christian evangelicals who fought so hard to make this happen fool you with their “right to life” spiel!  It’s a damn lie.  They claim they are concerned because the fetus might have a chance to become a living, breathing human being.  But you know what happens once the woman gives birth to that little human being?  Those “right-to-life” people disappear.  The mother needs financial help because the sire has disappeared, but where are the “right-to-lifers”?  They bitch and moan about people on welfare and how a few of their measly tax dollars are helping to support single mothers AND those children they were so concerned about back when they were a fetus!  Where is their concern for those little living, breathing human beings now?

And when that little child grows up, graduates from high school with good grades, and wishes to go to college … where are the “right-to-life” folk?  They are busy complaining that some of their tax dollars might go to help pay for his/her education!

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the sire has moved on, has a continuing prescription for Viagra so that he can go impregnate still more women without accepting either responsibility or consequence.  And the mother?  Well, she has been working two, sometimes three minimum-wage jobs to try to provide the best possible life for that child and has had zero opportunity to improve her own lot in life.

Or maybe, since mom was so busy trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, the youngster didn’t have enough parental supervision, fell in with the wrong crowd, got into drugs and either died of an overdose or else ended up in prison.  Right to life, did you say?  Define life?  Is it simply breathing and having a heartbeat, or is there something about ‘quality of life’?

Or consider the very likely alternative in some cases … back alley abortions will resume and I’d buy stock in wire coat hangers today, for no doubt there will be a run on them soon.  Women will die or be permanently damaged … what was that about “right to life”?

This decision by the Court is the last bit of evidence we needed that the Court has been taken over by partisans … right-wing partisans to be specific.  The three Justices who were appointed under the previous administration were cleverly chosen for both their bigotry and their relative youth, meaning each of the three could conceivably serve for several decades.  Although I have not been in favour of it in the past, I think the time has come to expand the Supreme Court, to level the playing field, to ensure a return to JUSTICE instead of a pandering to the religious fanatics and bigots in the nation.

As it stands now, “Liberty and Justice” for all is a farce … liberty and justice are only for white, straight males.  R.I.P. America … it was nice knowing you, however briefly.

Making Me Growl … Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

A number of things in yesterday’s news set my teeth on edge, so let’s talk about some of them.  The first two are ugly, but the third one is the stuff that invokes @$%& words and deep-throated growls, maybe even the launching of a projectile at a wall!

Send Republicans to live in Russia!

In 2016, the former guy met with Russia’s authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin, at the Helsinki summit, whereby Mr. Trump claimed that Putin denied interfering with our 2016 presidential election in order to assist Trump’s ascendence into the Oval Office (note that Trump actually lost the election by nearly 3 million votes, but due to the quirks of the electoral college system, was able to occupy the White House for 4 ugly years).  Trump praised Putin and denigrated our own intelligence community who had indisputable evidence of Russia’s attempts to sway the election.

More than a few times, Trump praised Putin just as he did other autocratic leaders such as Kim Jong-un of the DPRK and Victor Orbán of Hungary.  In light of that, consider the following statement by one of many brainwashed Republicans: “I’m convinced that Putin would be a lot, LOT more hesitant to invade if Trump was President. Biden simply does not evoke any sense of strength or danger to our enemies.”

Say WHAT???  Trump himself claimed Putin’s aggressive moves toward Ukraine to be “wonderful”, “savvy”, and said Putin is a “genius”.  And the majority of people in the Republican Party think this ‘man’ should be president again???  Rather than an Invasion of the Body-Snatchers, I believe the U.S. is the victim of an invasion of the brain-snatchers!!!  The question becomes, how do we educate those who have been lied to so convincingly that they are now truly incapable of sorting fact from fantasy, good from evil?

Women have more rights WHERE???

For those who continue to believe that the U.S. is more advanced than Latin American nations, consider this … at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, on Monday, Colombia’s highest court decriminalized abortion.  Not only that, but Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in a similar decision last September, and Argentina’s Congress legalized the procedure in late 2020. Now three of the four most populous Latin American countries have opened the door to more widespread access to abortion.

At a time when women’s rights are on the chopping block, thanks largely to ultra-conservative evangelicals, more and more countries are finally recognizing women as people with rights.  If the Court does overturn Roe v Wade it will set women back a hundred years or more in this country, and we will no doubt see a return to back alley abortionists and an increase in the sale of wire coat hangers.  Funny, nobody questions a man’s right to a vasectomy … think about it.

Rick Scott’s “11 Points”

Since the Republican Party has been unable to come up with any sort of a platform, U.S. Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, has released what he calls his “11-Point Plan to Rescue America” and frankly I’ve never seen so much bigoted crap in one document in my life!  Here are his ‘points’ …

  1. Education — Our kids will say the pledge of allegiance, salute the Flag, learn that America is a great country, and choose the school that best fits them.
  2. Colour Blind Equality — Government will never again ask American citizens to disclose their race, ethnicity, or skin color on any government form.
  3. Safety and Crime — The soft-on-crime days of coddling criminal behavior will end. We will re-fund and respect the police because, they, not the criminals, are the good guys.
  4. Immigration — We will secure our border, finish building the wall, and name it after President Donald Trump.
  5. Growth/Economy — We will grow America’s economy, starve Washington’s economy, and stop Socialism.
  6. Government Reform and Debt — We will eliminate all federal programs that can be done locally, and enact term limits for federal bureaucrats and Congress.
  7. Fair, Fraud-Free Elections — We will protect the integrity of American Democracy and stop left-wing efforts to rig elections.
  8. Family — We will protect, defend, and promote the American Family at all costs.
  9. Gender, Life, Science — Men are men, women are women, and unborn babies are babies. We believe in science.
  10. Religious Liberty and Big Tech — Americans will be free to welcome God into all aspects of our lives.
  11. America First — We are Americans, not globalists.

Check out the details of his plan for each item has a number of growl-inducing statements, but the one that got the attention of the public was under #5, Growth/Economy …

“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”

The uproar was so intense that he had to walk it back within 24 hours of releasing his “points”.  First, roughly 50% of Americans on the bottom half of the income distribution do not pay federal income taxes because they do not earn enough to have income tax liability and because many receive tax credits.  Second, most people 65 or older and receiving Social Security do not have income tax liability unless they also earn more than a certain amount outside their Social Security checks.

No doubt I will be writing more about his “11 Points”, but for today this seems to be the one that is most on people’s minds.  Many of his other points would take away women’s rights, Black people’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and would erase factual history from our schools … do take a look at it and delve into some of the ‘finer’ points!

The funny thing is, though, that nowhere in his statements on the economy did Mr. Scott plan to ensure that the wealthy finally pay their fair share of taxes!  Oh, but wait … it makes sense when you realize that with a net worth of $259.7 million, Rick Scott is the wealthiest member of Congress!  Why would he want to raise his own taxes?  No, much better for him to raise taxes on the poor, the homeless, and the elderly!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  In my book, Mr. Scott is a filthy piece of human flesh, a waste of space on planet Earth!

Women’s Rights Is Only The Beginning

Posted on by under History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Today the Supreme Court, once a fair and non-partisan branch of our federal government, is hearing a case to decide whether to uphold the recent Mississippi law banning abortions.  The general consensus is that the Court will, either in this case or the next one, do significant damage to Roe v Wade, if not completely overturn the 1973 decision that gave women the right to control their own bodies.

Make no mistake … this is NOT simply about abortion, about the fate of a fetus that might or might not otherwise become a human.  No, people, this is about women’s rights, about where women stand in the grand scheme of this country.  Make no mistake – the United States is still very much a man’s world where men, regardless of how corrupt, how cruel, how ignorant they are, are revered over women, considered somehow ‘superior’ to women by the majority of people.  Don’t believe me?  Look at the U.S. Congress and tell me how many women you see there?  144 women hold seats in the U.S. Congress, just under 27%, while women comprise more than 50% of the total population of the country.  Also notable is the disparity between parties … 105 of those 144 women are Democrats, while the other 39 are Republicans.  And frankly, among the Republican women in Congress are the likes of Margie Greene and Lauren Boebert … radical conspiracy theorists who are not in any way representative of women in this nation.

What’s next in the fight for women’s rights?  Will they take our right to vote?  To own property?  To divorce our husbands?  Women in this nation have had to fight tooth-and-nail for every single right we have, and now, thanks to the bigotry of the former guy and his court appointees, we stand to lose, stand to be shoved back into the dark ages of the nation’s history.  If the bigots have their way, a young girl raped by her father or an uncle will be forced to give birth to a baby, her life forever changed, forever damaged.  Thousands of unwanted children will be born into households where they stand no chance of a normal life, where food is scarce, where parents are ill-prepared to cope with another mouth to feed.

Given the current structure of the Supreme Court, I no longer hold out any hope for justice, for equality, for human rights to win the day.  The Court today is merely an extension of the Republican Party, the minority party and the radical religious right.  Separation of church and state is destined to become a tenet of the past as the Court supports the bigotry that is ingrained in the evangelical doctrine.  Sadly, women’s rights are not the only ones on the chopping block, but also LGBT rights and voting rights stand to take a knife in the back under today’s Court.

There is only one possible means of overcoming the radical right majority currently in the Supreme Court and possibly salvaging the third branch of the federal government, and that is for President Biden to add seats to the Court.  This is not as simple nor as straightforward as some would have us believe, but it may well be the last best hope this nation has of salvaging its democratic principles.  Without the checks and balances on the power of any one branch of the federal government, we are destined to become a nation ruled by religious bigotry, by men more interested in their own power and wealth than the well-being of the citizens of the nation.  I don’t know about you, but that is not a nation I would be proud to call home.  Think about it.

Outraged!!!

Posted on by under History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

There are so many competitors for my anger these days that I am often simply overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin.  This one, however, robbed me of a night’s sleep and nearly wrote itself in my head last night as I tried counting sheep, counting backward by 2s from 200, and played countless games of Sudoku on my phone.

The target of my acerbic tongue today?  Women’s rights … women’s rights that in the last two days have been set back by 100 years or more in the not-so-great state of Texas.  No, folks, this isn’t just about abortion as many would have you believe … this is about women’s rights.  Now that we are told we cannot decide for ourselves whether we are financially and emotionally ready to have a child, the rest of our rights will be as a house of cards.

The Texas legislature passed a draconian bill that was signed into law by the clown of a governor, Greg Abbott (the same man who is trying to kill the children of Texas by banning vaccine and mask mandates).  This bill prohibits abortion after 6 weeks … many, if not most women do not even know they are pregnant before six weeks!  And, long story short, if a woman has an abortion and a friend or neighbor report it, the reporter is eligible for a reward of up to $10,000 and the woman and the abortion provider can be sued by the state.

Worse yet … there are no exceptions in the cases of incest or rape.  Imagine this scenario …

16-year-old Chloe comes home late one night from a party dressed … well, rather scantily.  Her father, who has been tippling a few drinks, sees her, says he’s going to teach her a lesson, rips her clothes off of her and brutally rapes her on the living room sofa.  Chloe screams for her mother, but the mother claimed she heard nothing.  Chloe misses her next period but doesn’t think too much of it.  By the time she misses the second and seeks a medical consultation, it is too late for Chloe to seek an abortion.  With advice from her friends, she invests in a few packs of gauze and a pack of wire coat hangers, for she is not going to carry her half-brother or half-sister in her body for the next nine months.  Long story short, Chloe is now dead.

Variants of Chloe’s story will play throughout the state of Texas in the coming months/years.

The United States Supreme Court, our last bastion of hope for protecting our rights, has refused to block the Texas law.  Late last night, the Court announced it would not block the new Texas law while the legal challenge made its way through the federal courts. Amazing, even for this conservative court. It’s a sad day for women, but also for the rule of law.  I was pleased that Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the rights of women, even though he is not a fan of Roe v Wade.  But the other five – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Amy Barrett, and Samuel Alito – took an axe to women’s rights, ultimately throughout the nation.

This is a dark day for women in the United States.  If you think other states, emboldened by Texas’ easy success, won’t follow suit, then think again.  What’s next on the chopping block?  Our right to equal pay for equal work?  Our right to vote?  Our right to own property in our own name?  Our right to divorce our husbands?  All of these rights have come as a result of long, hard fights, and even today … the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that was first proposed in 1923, has not passed!  This amendment would solidify women’s rights in many areas including healthcare, housing, and the workplace, but … it seems doomed to fail.  WHY???

In 1972 Congress passed the ERA and it was sent to the states for a vote.  Simple, right?  Of course … 1972 … the world is enlightened, women have contributed in every area imaginable … a no-brainer!  HAH!  What happened?  In a word, the dishonourable Phyllis Schlafly.  A wolf in sheep’s clothing, Schlafly mounted a campaign to stop states from passing the ERA.  She warned women that if equal rights were enshrined in the Constitution, the heterosexual world order would collapse. Morality would fall by the wayside and women would be at risk of losing their femininity and the opportunities presented by marriage.

If the amendment passed, she wrote, women would be forced to go to war, would lose their right to child support and alimony, and society would fall apart. “The women’s libbers are radicals who are waging a total assault on the family, on marriage, and on children,” she said.

Eventually, the now-expired ERA will come back into the limelight and someday it may even become a Constitutional amendment, but likely not in my lifetime or yours.  Meanwhile, there is Texas and other states will follow.  My response to the draconian law in Texas is this:  Okay, fine, but no longer can a male walk into a doctor’s office and walk out with a prescription for Viagra.  No longer will men be given penile implants to extend their pleasure at our expense.  In fact, women should be much more discriminating about letting a man within 15 feet of her body!  Keep your wee willy winkies to yourself … buy yourself an inflatable doll!

The Texas law and the Supreme Court’s refusal to block it are the first step in what I predict will be a major setback for women’s rights across the nation.  What is it that makes us inferior in the eyes of so many – both men and women?  Is it that we weren’t born with that all-important anatomical part?  Is it that we don’t have deep voices and chest hair?  Or is it just that all that testosterone makes the male of the species need to feel superior over someone?  Either way … look out, guys, ‘cause one of these days we’re gonna rise above all this.

The Week’s Best Cartoons 7/24

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, education, Environmental Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I’m just now getting around to sharing TokyoSand’s cartoon post from Saturday … sorry for the delay!  As always she has scoured the Internet and found the cream of the crop!  The topics this week range from the strange Tokyo Olympics to the Republican’s about-face regarding the COVID vaccine to anti-vaxxers and much more!  Thank you, TS, for pulling these together for us!  Here is a sampling …

Be sure to check out the rest of the ‘toons over at Political Charge!

Filosofa Stomps Her Feet

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Free Press Issues, Global Issues, History, Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

STAY BACK!!!!  Filosofa is in a horrid mood … approach at risk of life and limb!!!! 

I am in a horrid mood tonight.  I have expressed hatred toward my body, the country in which I live, and a number of politicos here.  Let me share just a few of the red-hot thoughts rambling through my mind tonight as I wish I were anywhere else but here …

Israeli arrogance

My father was a Jew.  My paternal grandparents narrowly escaped Hitler’s reach, and my great aunt Margaret and great uncle Rip (Rinehart) spent more than two years in Hitler’s death camps.  This was the legacy with which I grew up in a few short years after the Holocaust.  That said, I am not a fan of the Israeli land grab nor of Benjamin Netanyahu and his cruel brand of leadership.  After all this time, I am more empathetic to the Palestinians for what has been done to them than to the Israelis.  The Holocaust ended 76 years ago.  The Jews can only expect to play on the sympathies of the world for so long, and today they have become the oppressor, rather than the oppressed.

Yes, both sides share fault, but Israel is greedy and arrogant and … the Palestinians are being/have been driven from their homeland.  Netanyahu deserves a life behind bars while other, less greedy, more functional minds attempt to sort this out.

Male/evangelical arrogance

I am a woman.  As such, there are some things that I consider to be nobody’s business but my own.  One of those things is my body.  If I were pregnant (never mind that, at age 70, it would be something for the record books) and could not afford in one way or another to raise a child, it is MY business, not Ted Cruz’ or Franklin Graham’s or anybody else’s!  If I decide to have an abortion, it is entirely MY business.  Unless, of course, you plan to take my child, raise it as your own, provide for its every need, including a college education?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  It’s a funny thing that those who call themselves “Pro-life” actually don’t give a royal fig about a child’s life once it is born, once their will is forced upon a woman.  At that point, when asked to contribute to that child’s welfare, the blonde airhead “pro-lifer” backs up a few steps, holding her hands out, saying, “Oh no … no no no … this isn’t my problem!”

Evangelicals and the rest can take their ‘right to life’ platform and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine!  The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on the case of a Mississippi law that, going against the ruling of Roe v Wade, seeks to ban most all abortions.  I realize that the people of Mississippi are not highly educated nor sophisticated, but damn them … they are NOT going to dictate to every woman in this nation!  None of the Justices on the Supreme Court have any idea what it is like to be a single working mom, struggling to raise your children with no damn help!  Listen to Elvis’ “In the Ghetto” sometime … think about those lyrics, so very real for so many of us!

Facebook ‘standards’

A few days ago, Facebook ‘chastised’ me for a comment I left on a post about the ignoble former guy.  They removed my comment several hours after I had posted it and after it had received a number of ‘likes’.  Facebook sent me no less than two messages explaining that my comment violated their ‘community standards’ and after a number of people had given a thumbs-up to my comment.  Frankly, I don’t give a royal shit, for I’ve been considering dumping Facebook for some time now.  But, I admit it galls me a bit that I am chastised for something that is far more mellow than other comments that have been allowed.

Then yesterday, I came across the daily Claytoonz cartoon/editorial, and noticed a note at the end of his post that said …

“I am appealing, but this cartoon has already been removed by Facebook and my account has been suspended for 24 hours. I’ll update if there is a change to that.”

This is the ‘toon that got him suspended …

Being a bit of a mischief maker, and not giving a royal fig if Facebook bans me for life, I copied the ‘toon to my own Facebook page to see how long it would take them to either chastise, or worse yet, ban me.  Twelve hours later, the ‘toon is still on my FB page and I’ve not yet received one of their nasty little notes.  Hmmmm … maybe I’ll have to try harder?

Nite nite …

I am going to bed now, hoping to sleep off this horrible mood that has taken over my psyche, that has made me want to yell at everyone, including my own self.  Buenas noches, amigos.

S-s-snarky S-s-snippets

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants

I am in rather a dark mood tonight … I even yelled at an animated character, a cute li’l octopus, on television and called her a … well, you get the picture.  Two things in particular stirred my angst tonight, and both, I think, are well deserving of venting a bit of snarky steam.

Pathetic

“Suburban women: Will you please like me? Please. Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, okay? The other thing: I don’t have that much time to be that nice. You know, I can do it, but I gotta go quickly. They want me to be politically correct. I got rid of a regulation that was a disaster and it was really unfair, and you’ve been reading about it for a long time and it’s gotten a lot worse under Obama and Biden. We’re going to see that the women really like Trump a lot. Remember four years ago, they said women will never vote, then I got 52 percent. … You damn well better vote for me Pennsylvania, you better vote.”

These are the words of the incumbent in the Oval Office, spoken during a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night.  First he begs and cajoles, then he threatens.  And this is the person who has ‘led’ this nation into chaos for the past nearly four years and hopes to be given another four years to complete the destruction.

Joe Biden, by the way, is leading in the polls in Pennsylvania by an average of 6 points.

Pointless

I have not paid particular attention to, nor written about, the hearings taking place in the Senate to determine whether or not to confirm Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the U.S. Supreme Court.  It’s not that I’m not interested – I am.  It’s not that I don’t think it’s important – I do.  It’s just that from what I have read it is just another … yawn … Republican dog-and-pony show with the outcome predetermined.  I truly have better things to do with my time than watch the Republicans preen and Ms. Barrett deflect.

To date, apparently Ms. Amy Coney Barrett has refused to answer all relevant questions, so … what is there to write about?  Ms. Barrett is 48 years old, so We the People are likely to be saddled with her religious views becoming the law of the land for the next three decades or so.

The burning questions that she has refused to answer are on the topics of the Affordable Healthcare Act (whether the majority of us will be able to afford medical care when and if we need it), Roe v Wade (whether women will retain control of their own bodies, or be subject to a misogynistic rule), and Obergefell v Hodges (whether a significant portion of the population will be allowed to marry the person they love, or whether that, too, will be dictated by a bigoted Supreme Court).  Ms. Barrett has refused to answer how she would rule on any of these topics.  In my book, that removes her from consideration, for we have a right to know who will be deciding how we must live.  And would somebody please tell me WHY Ms. Barrett’s children are front and center in the hearings???  They have no role in this, they have no place here!  Best I can figure, it’s another ‘photo op’ moment like Trump having citizens forcibly removed from the streets of Washington so he could hold a bloody book in front of a damn church!  Send the children home to do their online learning, Amy!  Better yet … go home with them, since you have proven yourself useless.BarrettIn the Republican’s book however, it is a little different.

Here are some of the questions Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas asked of Ms. Barrett:

  • Do you speak any foreign languages? (French)
  • Do you play any musical instruments? (Piano)
  • What was it like staying at home during the pandemic with seven children? (Challenging)
  • Why did she and her husband adopt two children from Haiti? (A long story)

Ooooohhh … what relevant questions for a potential Supreme Court Justice who will be expected to make decisions that may mean life or death for us all!  Way to go, Teddy!

Now, one thing I didn’t mention above was Ms. Barrett’s take on climate change, arguably the single most important issue of the day.

“I’m certainly not a scientist. I have read things about climate change. I would not say I have firm views on it.”

Say WHAT?  You have “read things”???  What things?  Details, woman!  How … HOW can anybody in this, the year 2020 with wildfires consuming much of the West Coast, with devastating hurricanes costing lives and untold property damages, and with the average temperature this past summer 92° in an area that usually has a summertime average of 85° … how can any sane person look at the statistics, step outside and attempt to breathe the air, and still have “no firm views”???  This woman is either very, very stupid, else she is already in the pockets of the corporate donors such as Koch Brothers and the fossil fuel industry!

I’m not a scientist, either, but I still possess some parts that Ms. Barrett may be missing:  a brain, eyes, ears, and lungs … all of which tell me that humans, in their greedy quest for more useless money, have begun and continue the destruction of the environment here on planet Earth.

So, in conclusion, Ms. Barrett refuses to voice an opinion on women’s rights, LGBT rights, the right to medical care, and worst yet, she is stupid about the environment.  GET. HER. OUT.

But no, the boot-lickers in the Senate have a majority, albeit a narrow one, and there doesn’t seem to be a single one with the cojones to “just say ‘no’” to Donald Trump.  On top of that, the unconscionably powerful Koch Brothers have thrown their support behind her nomination.  And thus began the beginning of the end of civilization in what was once known as the United States.

And I shall end on that note, for my temper is about to take me where I ought not to go.  Let me just say, though, that if Donald Trump is elected for and seated for another term, I shall renounce my citizenship from the U.S., if not from the entire world.  I can see nothing good in the future of this nation if the people continue to elect and applaud bloody fools and to put corporate profits ahead of people.

Republicans and Abortion

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

It seems these days that republicans, in general, don’t much like facts, but prefer right-wing rhetoric. Roe v Wade shouldn’t be the major issue on the docket for the 2020 election, but for a large portion of the republicans, it seems to be the only issue. But, they have their facts all wrong, so our friend Xena has done her homework and sets the record straight for us all. Thank you, Xena!

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

I’ve never been one to vote based on issues that are not relevant to my life or the betterment of this country, such as climate change.  For at least two decades, I’ve personally heard Republicans say they were voting for a politician because they are anti-abortion and/or anti-gay rights.  I always asked if they planned to have an abortion and if they are gay?  To that, they wanted to quote from the Bible, in which I had to remind them that the United States does not have a theocratic government.

Frankly, I’m tired of hearing Republicans say that they don’t understand how Christians can be Democrat when Democrats  made abortion legal in the United States.  That is simply not true.  At the time of Roe v. Wade, six (6) of the Justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Republican presidents.

Voting because of wanting laws that control the lives…

View original post 322 more words

Women’s Rights On Trial

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Alabama is back on my radar again … if I had to choose one state in this union to give away, it would be Alabama.  My friend Herb takes me to task for this, reminds me that there are 6 people in Alabama who are kind, compassionate and intelligent, and that I shouldn’t lump all Alabamans together.  So, my apologies to those six … you guys can move up north before I sell Alabama to Mexico.

I have concluded that lawmakers and judges in the State of Alabama do not respect women.  Not. One. Bit.  First, there was the passage of the most restrictive law on abortion, completely illegal and going against Roe v Wade, the law of the land.  The Alabama law sets women’s rights back at least 46 years, more likely hundreds of years.  But on to the latest outrage …

Meet Marshae Jones.Jones-Marshae.jpgLast year on December 4th, Ms. Jones was five months pregnant when she was shot in the stomach.  She survived, but her baby did not.  The shooting transpired during an altercation with another woman, the woman who pulled the trigger, one Ebony Jemison.  The argument was over the father of Ms. Jones’ child.  Initially, police charged Ms. Jemison, the shooter, with manslaughter in the death of the fetus.  The grand jury, however, failed to indict Jemison because police concluded that it was Ms. Jones who started the argument, so prosecutors turned their sights toward the victim of the shooting, Ms. Jones.

On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Ms. Jones, she was arrested, and tossed into Jefferson County jail pending a $50,000 bond.  Why, you ask?  Because, according to Pleasant Grove police Lieutenant Danny Reid, she shouldn’t have started the fight, she was pregnant and should have been home behaving herself.

“When a five-month pregnant woman initiates a fight and attacks another person, I believe some responsibility lies with her as to any injury to her unborn child. That child is dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.”

Let that one sink in for just a minute. But the real reason is … well, look at her picture.  She has two strikes against her – female and black.  You don’t get a fair shake if you are either of those, in Alabama. Or, to be fair, Louisiana, Mississippi, or any number of other states, particularly south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Seems to me the town of ‘Pleasant’ Grove better re-name itself.  Perhaps “Misogyny Meadows” would be more apt, for when a woman can be charged for the death of her own child simply because she was a participant in an argument, there is nothing ‘pleasant’ at all about that town.

Fortunately for Ms. Jones, advocacy groups have taken up the gauntlet.  Yellowhammer Fund, part of a nationwide umbrella advocacy group, is one such.  Executive Director Amanda Reyes said …

“The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care.”

She’s right … this opens a whole can of worms that we didn’t need opened.  If Ms. Jones is found guilty and convicted, it will be a blow to equality, to women’s rights, to civil rights.  This cannot be tolerated, it simply cannot, for if it is allowed, the poison will spread, and before long, women will be paid less than their male compadres (in many industries and areas, they still are), will have lost their rights to make their own decisions, and what next?  Somewhere along the line, the male-dominated legislatures decide that she should not own property, or vote?  Far-fetched?  Sure it is … today.  But yesterday, a woman being put on trial for being shot while pregnant was far-fetched and unthinkable.  That was yesterday.  This is today.  What does tomorrow hold?women