Barefoot, Pregnant and Raped, Oh Well

The proposed plight of women in the teabagger/taliban run world. 

Now that the knuckle draggers of Congress think they have the mandate to change America back to their imagined fantasy world, they have been more forthcoming with specifics. With little fanfare, I would guess, because even their own little women might have a problem with it, a couple of bills have been introduced for consideration on Capital Hill. The bills differ in detail, but their intent is the same-strip women of their rights as human beings, relegating us to little more than sperm vessels for their precious seed.

The House GOP majority, led by Speaker John Boehner, wants to literally change the definition of rape. In other words, it is not rape, unless there is force. What this means is date rape is no longer a crime. Sexing up a teenage girl or boy by a legal and consenting adult, is no longer statutory rape. The intent is to prevent women from using medicaid funds to get an abortion in these cases, since current law allows for an abortion in instances of rape and incest. To their neanderthal way of thinking, if there is no rape, there can be no abortion.

 Another instance, if your 10 year old daughter is repeatedly raped by your 25 year old neighbor and impregnated, she would not qualify for a medicaid funded abortion, again because there was no force involved, as is the case with most incidents of this type. Statistics show that statutory rape and incest  almost never involves the use of force. And, if your daughter is over the age of 18, then the whole situation becomes consensual.  The law allowing for an abortion stands only if the impregnated girl is a minor and the rapist is a relative.

And don't think you can use your Health Savings account to pay for the medical work either because this same bill also bans the use of tax exempt funds...your money...from paying for the abortion as well. Claiming the medical work on your taxes is also history, if this bill passes.

You can read more about it here. 

The second proposal, cosponsored by the arrogant young Randal Paul wants to fix the legal definition of life at conception. In other words as soon as egg meets sperm, a woman is pregnant and subject to the whims of her government and male overseers. Her body is no longer her own, it is a baby manufacturing plant, whose sole purpose is to turn out a tiny human being regardless of concern for the woman, her mental and physical state, the circumstances of conception, and whether or not the she can afford to care for another human being for the next 20 or so years. In this teabagger/GOP world women simply become more second class then they are now.

Make no mistake about it, if this backward thinking contingent of Congressional idiots gets its way, the impregnated woman will also not be able to seek financial recourse through  federal funds of any kind to help her raise the child, either. If Paul gets his way, women will virtually have no choice but go back to trading their bodies for financial support to the so called masters of the universe. In fact, the way things are going economically, soon, under these bills, only the rich guys like Paul, will be able to erase their little "accidental" ejaculations. 

This heinous measure is called the Life at Conception Act and makes the egg and sperm combination a legal person with full protection from the 14th amendment, which as originally written guarantees equal protection under the law to those born on American soil. It conferred human status on slaves, back in the day. Paul's new definition would make the 14th amendment override Roe v. Wade. Passage of the Life at Conception Act makes it unnecessary to amend the US Constitution, according to Paul the Younger.

I don't know about you, but it boggles my brain that anyone who actually campaigned on the premise of getting government out of the lives of citizens would turn around and sponsor bills such as these. Think about it. If these measures become law, what happens when a woman decides to do something...anything....like eating food containing gluten, for example...that may be considered by some to be harmful to  the fetus, because it may set off an allergy...what happens to the woman...is she hauled off to jail for endangering a minor?

At the same time, Paul, in a bill sponsored with prostitute-loving David Vitter (see, women do have a place in the GOP), wants to prevent babies born to illegal immigrants on American soil from automatic citizenship. These are the so called anchor babies. Well, my question is this....what about the wombs of these illegal females....if the product of their womb is illegal automatically...how does the law govern the body of the illegal woman? Can she be jailed for getting pregnant? Will she simply be arrested as soon as she shows up at a hospital? Or will there be a new natal police force, formed to patrol poor neighborhoods, airports, boat harbors and train stations looking for obese women who may be pregnant and not just fat.

The teabaggers like Paul claimed to be only interested in economic and fiscal issues, however the first words out of their collective mouth reveals them to be no different than the failed moral majority social conservatives of the past. These American Taliban simply hid their real pro birther agenda and fooled enough people to get elected, and closer to where they can do some real damage to women, the poor and other racial and gender minorities.

Unless women stand up, the attempts to strip women of human being status will continue. Talking about revolution, ya'll!

Buckeye John Kasich

Will somebody please explain to me the necessity of approaching a sitting governor in the 21st century to ask him to put people of color or of non heterosexual persuasion in his cabinet? John Kasich, the newly installed governor of the great state of Ohio has chosen his cabinet and advisors. He's even bragged that he has given his aides pay raises before they go on the job.

They will be the highest paid gubernatorial  flunkies in the history of the Buckeye state and not one of them black, brown or queer. Most of them are male. Now with a 13% minority state population, you would think that John-boy would have at least one black or brown or gay friend qualified to help him out...answer a few phones...hold his coat...walk ten paces behind so the photogs can see he's not afraid of minorities.

 Kenny Blackwell is still out there somewhere. Charlie Winburn is available for anything. He'd leave Cincinnati City Council in a heartbeat. I hear Michael Steele is looking for a window seat. There are lots of young up and coming minorities fresh out of college who don't remember the bad old days of racism and think being republican is the best thing to be in this allegedly non racial world. Did they all leave town for States who walk the walk instead of just talk?

It is simply amazing to me that the very people who deny the need for affirmative action, equal opportunity, civil rights and equality laws while claiming to be compassionately and Christ-like in their conservatism, with  nonracial viewpoints about life, always seem to get caught perpetrating, as we say in the ghetto.

 By the way,  in this age of tightening budgets, Kasich has already killed the job-making light rail system, said "no" to federal education funds, literally screwing Ohio school districts, and supports repealing health care, as well as cutting back on medicaid and medicare.



So much for government of the people and for all of the people.

The Republicanization of Barack Obama

Last night's State of the Union speech was long on symbolism, civility, gravitas, and kumbya moments, as pointed out repeatedly by the mainstream media. However, it was also very, very short on substance and detail. In fact, after the speech, I found my self in the uncomfortable situation of agreeing with the twit from Delaware, Christine O'Donnell, who was selected by Good Morning America to sit next to Donna Brazile and to dissect the session, presenting opposing GOP and Democratic viewpoints.

To put O'Donnell in so called "expert" position on a political panel gives witness to just how far the media has fallen in common sense and credibility. The Christine O'Donnells of the world are nothing more than media created comic relief inserted into what should be real and informative discussions about the state of our world. Yet, here she was in pundit position next to democratic operative Brazile who attempted to make the most of a lousy situation. O'Donnell is a direct slap in the face to women such as Brazile who have worked hard for their credibility and respect only to have it shredded in the space of a 4 minute television interview by Bozo the Clown's daughter.

So, I was somewhat surprised to hear O'Donnell say that President Obama took all of his talking points from the Tea Party. I agree absolutely. Obama did last night what the GOP has been doing for the past couple of decades-talking a lot of stuff, but not presenting any solutions on how to get it done.

I would have loved to hear Obama present a plan for putting people back to work, like something along the lines of a WPA project to rebuild our infrastructure. We need bullet trains, but do you honestly think the GOP is going to fund such a project when the man in the White House actually said he was willing to look at cuts to medicare, medicaid and social security funding? Sure, he said he would not support privatization of social security, nor would he allow any cuts to affect those who are retired or stand on the brink of retirement now. After that, he invited cuts to the health care law, leading me to wonder what all the fuss was about two years ago, if he's not willing to fight for his masterpiece, now that it is actually on the books.

I wanted to hear Obama demand cuts in the military budget. It is not enough to bring home the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Military bases need to close. Antiquated weapons systems need to be eliminated. Pretending to fight spending by threatening to veto any bill with earmarks is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Mideastern dictatorships that America has been propping up for years need to be allowed to fall as they are doing now. He stressed the need to improve education as states like Ohio dismantle and refuse the educational funding that he put into place just one year ago. New Ohio GOP governor Kasich has killed the rail system program, is threatening to stop all education programs, all the while giving his assistants big raises and bragging about it as they come into office.

The State of the Union address, as presented last night, could have been delivered by a republican, like John Boehner and except for the multi syllable words, no one would have known that it was crafted by the democrat in the oval office. It left me wondering if Obama has farmed out his speech writing to someone with Rand Paul tendencies. O'Donnell didn't disappoint, because after making the teabagger comparison, she then fell back into her usual shtick of Obama bashing without really understanding the words coming out of her mouth. Her points on the program obviously written by someone else with a better understanding of politics in general. She actually referred to notes during what should have been an impromptu session.

I have long been bothered by what I see as the "republican" tendencies of America's first black president. His total embrace of all things Bush began the day he took office. Others have compared him to the great communicator, as Ronald Reagan was called. Those comparisons continued last night. One pundit even said the speech echoed all things Reagan in tone and tenor, and sadly, I could not disagree.

The general lack of respect for Obama, with the Reagan comparisons continues albeit in a more civil manner. In other words, he doesn't have a thought in his head, that a white man didn't have first. But that's another post. I disgress.

This past Sunday, on CBS Sunday Morning, Ben Stein said based on what America has seen from its first Black man in the White House, maybe he should switch parties and run in 2012 as a Republican. I couldn't agree more. Doesn't mean I won't vote for him. Just means I would like him to come out of his political closet and be who he really seems to be.

Palin, The Popes and The Patriot Act

Been reading all the rationales, defenses and support for Lady Sarah and her nearly 8 minute video on the recent events in Tucson. Didn't intend to write anything myself because my thoughts on what she said were purely negative and it takes soooo much energy to answer negativity with more negativity. There is already enough of that out there.

However today, I read columnist Stanley Fish, who among other things compared Palin to a Frank Capra story, specifically, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Fish obviously did a lot of work on the column, as have most who have weighed in on this issue. To me, however, all are missing the point. Fish's column is here.

The 8 minute video by Palin was simply a bad audition tape put together by a wannabe broadcast journalist who has found that huffing politics is a better high that can last for years, if you work it right. She looked uncomfortable in the staged setting. Even her clothing didn't seem to fit right. She was playing the part of a presidential candidate or at least what in her mind was a presidential looking person.. And then, there was that thing she does with her mouth when she finishes a sentence.

Those ticks can make or break you on camera. Instead of taking her cues from Reagan, who was very photogenic, she should have taken one or two from Nixon, who refused to wear make up during his debates with the luminous JFK. That one thing cause Nixon to look bad on camera and probably, more than anything else, lost him the election in 1960. Palin should practice in front of a mirror while she is studying up on policy. It is not only what you say..it is how you look when you say it.

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Doesn't there seem to be a rush on to make a saint out of the late Pope John Paul II? His miracle was reportedly curing a French nun of Parkinson’s disease. Well, what about the 2000 or so children who were abused during his reign as Pope? What kind of miracles did he work for them? The evidence is getting stronger every day that he actively took part in the three decade long coverup which was overseen by the current Pope Benedict.

Santo subito? I think not....

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The Patriot Act is coming up for renewal once again. This nefarious piece of legislation, which was passed before the ash and dust settled on the World Trade Center, takes away many, many freedoms that we citizens take for granted. Under the Patriot Act, the government can come into your home without a warrant...they can gain access to your phone records, your emails, or your medical records...just to name a few things....without ever having to show that you are suspect of crime. They don't have to ask for them either.

And...there is an on going “gag order” meaning that anyone involved cannot tell you that you are under suspicion, either.

Everything we, write, say or do is now under surveillance by the government, if this act stays on the books. This act means I can be arrested and jailed for what I am writing now.

A simple call or email message to your congressman will help. Big brother really is watching...

Fear infested America

The events in Arizona are not a surprise to anyone who has lived and grown up here in America. In fact, most Black people my age have lived with a collective knot in our stomach since 2008 when Barack Obama was sworn in as president. It will hurt deeply if someone gets close enough to harm him or his family, because while we are used to the constant eruptions of violence, both verbal and physical, from those who fear us, as neighbors, classmates, co workers, supervisors and leaders, it won't be a surprise And no one of us will sleep easily until he safely leaves the White House.

That same fear now surrounds our government, infecting our political discourse, strangling all debate turning any and all difference of opinion into a nasty verbal free for all. All congressmen have been painted as evil and uncaring bastards whose only reason for working on Capital Hill is to enrich themselves at our expense. I am guilty of this myself, having openly wished on this blog for someone to “drop a bomb on Capital Hill” so the country can start over. Being a writer, I fully and completely understand the gravity of my words. I was thinking nuclear, knowing full well the near impossibility of my vision. But I take full responsibility for what comes out of my mouth and like most, should sometimes tone it down, or write after I've cooled off a bit. Civility, empathy and understanding should always guide what we do toward each other.

Congresswoman Giffords is a victim of our collective refusal to tone down the public discourse. She was targeted in the past for her vocal support for Health Care Reform. Following her vote she was vilified, and the windows of her office were shot out in 2009. Anyone who agrees with the “other” side is “defriended” on Facebook, or forced to undergo an electronic lynching or smear campaign via the internet, for all to see. Now, I guess, they risk being killed for speaking out and exercising their first amendment rights.

24 hour news is filled with  so called pundits who make millions of dollars spewing vitriol against any issue and any person, solely in the name of profit, power and ratings. What this ultimately leads to is the lesser brains among us, who don't distinguish between literal and figurative speech...between hyperbole and calls to action. This is the dangerous world in which we live. The crescendo of hyperbole has reached deadly ear shattering levels and must be silenced.

It's not just political rhetoric. It's all things, like the weather for instance. One word from the local weatherman can cause a stampede on grocery or hardware stores, or cause airlines to cancel flights before the planes are affected by bad weather. Pitchmen daily attempt to scare everyone into buying insurance....life insurance... pet insurance...health insurance....flood insurance. Parents are cautioned to strap their two year olds to a chair in front of a computer and drill them for hours on the latest baby genius program or risk having your little einstein fail to get into kindergarten. Hyperbole needs to be dialed down in all phases of our lives. Is it any wonder that heart attack is the leading cause of death among human beings?

The treadmill of fear keeps us running away from each other, running from our neighbors in other countries, branding anyone with a different skin color, culture or religion as the enemy to be smashed and destroyed rather than met with compassion, understanding and welcome. 

The events in Arizona should lead us to ask the question of when is enough, enough? When do we stop trying to solve every problem with violent acts? When do we stop fearing each other and start working toward common goals? It is not a game or sporting event or war. It is not a competition. The person who ends up with the most toys doesn't win....he or she dies like the rest of us...It is our life, people and like it or not, there are 5 billion of us sharing this planet. We all need to get a grip.

My thoughts, prayers and blessings go out to the Congresswoman, her family...the families of the victims and the wounded. May you find peace....

Barack “ET” Obama

Unemployment drops to 9.4%.....can hear the GOP spin now....”See...we told you tax cuts for the rich and famous would make for more jobs!” Nevermind that it's been steadily improving since Obama took over when he unleashed the GOP crafted stimulous. Wonder if the new majority will suddenly start taking credit for “their “stimulus” and “their” health care bill...anyone who keeps up with the goings on on Capital Hill knows that most of what is in the Health Care Bill originated with the Republicans...They were all for it, until the Black guy decided to get it passed into law..

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Ted “I'm straight with issues” Haggard is getting his own “reality show,” on TLC. I'll be TIVOing that right after I set the timer to catch Sarah Palin's Alaska and The Jersey Shore or whatever it's called....You know, the one that stars the fake Italian with the totally fake skin color named Snooki. Based on her sprayed on palor, I'd call her baby Boehner.

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Speaking of Big Bad John, can't seem to distinguish between the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Thought all those teabag/GOP folks had both comitted to memory...

And as for the Bullshit symbolism of reading the Constitution....if it's so perfect....why didn't they read the parts about black people being only worth 3/5ths of a white man?

Today, congress is taking up repeal of the 14^th amendment....you know the one that grants citizenship to anybody born in America...Anyone ask "anchor babies" Alberto Gonzales, Michelle Malkin or Bobby Jindal about the proposed repeal?

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Major bigot Steve King is hyperventilating overtime to try and get President Obama's citizenship revoked. Doesn't like the Black man and really doesn't like the fact that his middle name is Hussein...Well, oh my, Steve ARNOLD King......any relation to the guy named Benedict Arnold? Is he hiding in your ancestral closet? I guess you'd be all right with that considering that despite being a traitor to America he was an all white American traitor right? Okay to be named after him, huh..

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While we're on the subject of citizenship and the Constitution.....Birthers need to get a grip...They keep arguing Obama was born in Africa.....SO WHAT!.....His very lilly white Momma was born in Kansas...she could have given birth on the moon and made his name Barack ET Obama to commemorate the event...and he would still be an American citizen...Daddy was taken out of the equation back around the 1620's.

The bigots are choking on a system they created...It spawns from the “one drop rule.” In other words, back in the day...if you had one drop of black blood in you, then you were considered black regardless of the brightness of your skin tone...heritage was changed to be charted through the mother....not the father...to keep all those magnificent plantations from legally falling into the hands of their secret, dusky off spring....Now that one of the dusky relations has made it to the White House...the Birthers want to change the game yet gain...White people created the system...Black people survived it....Now it's coming back to haunt you...

Another result of this “system” is that Black Americans have more white blood in them than African, and sometimes many whites in general...the term African American should be put to rest....It was useful at one time, back in the days of "I'm black and I'm proud." But we are Americans, period. The term implies that we emigrated to this country instead of being born here or brought here in chains.

We were considered chattel and bred like cattle...bought and sold to enrich whites...you can't run away from that no matter how many times you excise the word “nigger” from your history or literature books.

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Wonder how Arizona Gov Jan is sleeping these days....I know there is a special place in hell for people like her...

Taking Back Their Country.

Will somebody please tell me what kind of symbolism is being invoked tomorrow when the GOP and it's arrogantly imbecilic cousin the Tea Party reads the Constitution during swearing in ceremonies on Capital Hill?

Is this symbolizing the taking back of their country? Inquiring minds want to know?

I thought they'd all read the document and comitted it to memory before they got to Washington.

Othewise how else would they know that Obama is so wrong in his approach to governing the country, other than looking at him, of course.

If they decide to impeach Obama for not being a citizen...are they going to kick John McCain out of Congress, too? McCain was born in Panama...by the way...

What about the one drop rule...is it being written into the Constitution and made to apply to men, since that is the only way it would apply to Obama?

Just askin'

If the new rulers in Washington are really serious about balancing the budget...

1...Are they willing to give back their own health care...when they repeal mine?

2...Are they willing to cut their own salaries....not just their office budgets....by 50%...to show they mean what they say....After all, Why do congressmen need six figure salaries with government spending so out of whack and 15 million Americans are out of work...Congressmen sit on corporate boards and draw salaries...their wives and mistresses are kept employed by lobbyists seeking their votes...and their kids' education are paid for by these same lobbyists, when the kid can't qualify for a legacy grant, or given a job just to keep his daddy or mommy happy and voting for corporate welfare. Will these legacy brats be prevented from using affirmative action grants that were created to help the poor...the name Quayle comes to mind in this context...

If government workers can be laid off or have their salaries frozen to cut the deficit...why not Congressmen and judges? Presidents should be excluded from this salary cut because his is a 24/7 job, unlike Congress. Proof of this is in the incoming speaker's reported office hours and location after 5pm daily.

3....What about the Defense budget....will it be cut and the money redirected into energy programs designed to benefit all instead of just those wealthy enough to invest? When is Congress going to go after Defense contractors and their supporters who have been stealing from the government for years...the names Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Haliburton and Blackwater come to mind..Are these the upcoming investigations that they are promising?

4....How about ending the wars....is that gonna happen quicker? Why are we fighting over there anyway? What's so wrong with a people determining its own method of governance? Why do we have to constantly rebuild the rest of the world in our own image?

5....What happens to all outdated weapons programs...talking about the ones the military says it no longer needs? Why are certain members of Congress still demanding they be funded?

6....What about other useless pork barrel projects? Or is it time to admit that these projects are nothing more than welfare for the wealthy to keep them happy and voting republican?

7....Farm subsidies to rich farmers....the name Bachmann comes to mind...Why are we paying farmers not to grow food? Why are we paying farmers to produce corn for ethanol when most American cars can't use it yet?

8...What about job projects to put people back to work? Why not a new conservation corps to work on roads, highways, bridges and trains? When is Congress going to get serious about job loss and outsourcing that has literally killed the manufacturing base? Why not make all America corporations come back to America to employ Americans?

9....Congress votes this week to raise the debt ceiling.....Isn't that counter to what all the teabaggers and GOP have campaigned against before coming to DC? How are they going to justify this increase....same way they justified extending the Bush tax cuts....pretending they are Nike...just do it?

10....Are they going to make us better off come 2012, considering all they're offering is a re run of 2004 and 2008 in both policy and personnel?

Rather than reading the Constitution....the GOP should read the psychological definition of crazy out loud until it sinks in.....”doing the same thing over and over...but expecting different results..” That's crazy...

Let the games begin....