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VIDEO: “You can’t ban abortion. Roe v. Wade, right?” Tell Arkansas, where they just passed an unconstitutional law.

Posted by GottaLaff

· Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 at 4:02 pm

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Rachel Maddow:

There is something slightly inexplicable going on in the great state of Arkansas right now. The Republican-controlled legislature in Arkansas has just passed back-to-back unconstitutional bans on abortion.

You can’t ban abortion. Roe v. Wade, right?

Arkansas’ Democratic governor Mike Beebe vetoed both of the bans. No so much because he’s pro-choice, he actually has a mixed record on the subject. No, he has vetoed the bills because, dude, they are blatantly unconstitutional.

Quote: “The adoption of blatantly unconstitutional laws can be very costly to the taxpayers of our state.”

Well, today after already overriding the governor’s veto of the first ban, the Arkansas senate voted to override his veto of the second even stricter abortion ban. If the house also votes to override the veto, the ACLU naturally has already promised that costly lawsuit that the governor was talking about in his veto messages… …It is all but a forgone conclusion that the state will lose that lawsuit.

Guess what, Rachel, the New York Times has an update:

The law was passed by the newly Republican-controlled legislature over the veto of Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, who called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” On Tuesday the state Senate voted to override his veto by a vote of 20 to 14; on Wednesday the House enacted the bill into law by a vote of 55 to 33, with several Democrats joining the Republican majority. [...]

Adoption of the law, called the “Human Heartbeat Protection Act,” is the first statewide victory for a restless emerging faction within the anti-abortion movement that has lost patience with the incremental whittling away at abortion rights — the strategy of established groups like National Right to Life and the Catholic Church while they wait for a more sympathetic Supreme Court. [...]

Last weekend, a number of Democrats “got worked over” by constituents who support stringent anti-abortion measures, said Representative Greg Leding, 27, a Democrat and House minority leader.

Rita Sklar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said “ It shows an utter disregard for women and their ability to make important personal decisions about their own reproductive health.”

Rachel:

…Also, the legislature can go on record as having tried to illegally ban abortion, even though they all know that is not a thing they are allowed to do. Apparently nothing is a waste of money when it comes to making the same point ever more emphatically in anti-abortion Republican politics.

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Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : abortion rights, ACLU, Arkansas, birth control, choice, lawsuit, mysogyny, pro forced birth, reproductive rights, Roe v. Wade, The Rachel Maddow Show, unconstitutional, video, War on Women, women's health care, womens rights

VIDEO: Women’s rights under attack by anti-abortion extremists

Posted by GottaLaff

· Saturday, January 19th, 2013 at 10:58 am

· No Comments

Previously I posted two must-watch videos here: Despite murder threats by anti-abortion extremists, new clinic aims to serve Kansas women.

Here are the next two from Rachel Maddow who clearly and urgently delineates the War on Women in states that are doing away with women’s ability to access reproductive health services.

Sure, Roe v. Wade is still around, and women have a constitutional right to an abortion, but that doesn’t mean conservatives in several states aren’t making that nearly impossible, and defunct, by requiring clinics to do things clinics just cannot do.

Please watch all the segments we’ve made available in both posts. This is about as disturbing as it gets for women’s rights as “illegal, violent, threatening behavior” and obstacles to medical programs continue under the protection of state laws. Harassing and intimidating easy female targets, hostility and scare tactics aimed at physicians and other personnel, are all working, although they are being bravely resisted and outmaneuvered when possible.

Clinics are closing, health services are disappearing, and women are being deprived of care as well as their rights.

Happy 40th, Roe:

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Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : abortion rights, Arkansas, birth control, choice, kansas, Mississippi, mysogyny, North Dakota, pro forced birth, pro-life my ass, reproductive rights, South Dakota, The Rachel Maddow Show, video, War on Women, women's health care, womens rights

Dem Congressional campaign manager’s family pet slaughtered, corpse painted with “Liberal”

Posted by GottaLaff

· Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 10:35 am

· 7 Comments

This is exactly the kind of horrific story that many of us feared we would see this election season. Of course, the other genuine concern is that a human being will be next. What kind of lowlife finds it acceptable to kill in the name of political rivalry?

Obvious answer: A sick, twisted one:

“His four children discovered the gruesome scene.”

Shameful, despicable, heartless, scary, disturbing, horrifying, cruel: Those words don’t even begin to describe such a crime. The kids– the kids, for chrissake!– were exposed to the “slaughtered” carcass of their pet and will remember the trauma, and the senseless madness behind it, for the rest of their lives.

Here is the press release, in part:

On the heels of a weekend of positive news coverage for the campaign of Democratic Congressional candidate Ken Aden, Aden’s campaign manager returned home to find his family pet slaughtered, with the word “liberal” painted on the animal’s corpse.

The Russellville Police Department is investigating, and a report will be made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday morning.

Jacob Burris, who has served as Aden’s campaign manager since late October, arrived home with his family Sunday evening, and his four children discovered the gruesome scene as they exited the family vehicle to enter their home.

The family pet, an adult, mixed-breed Siamese cat, had one side of its head bashed in to the point the cat’s eyeball was barely hanging from its socket. The perpetrators scrawled “liberal” across the cat’s body and left it on the doorstep of Burris’ house. [...]

“It is one thing to engage in civil political discourse, and for Republicans and Democrats to disagree with each other, which is an expected part of the political process. Taking it to this level is beyond unacceptable,” Aden said. [...]

Aden said they did not believe the Womack campaign to be responsible. “… I do not believe in any way that Congressman Womack or his campaign had anything to do with this incident,” Aden said. [...]

“We suspect this is the action of a rogue individual or group of individuals who are the type of folks that stoop to the lowest common denominator instead of engaging in civil political discourse,” Aden said.

7 Comments

Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : 2012 elections, animal abuse, Arkansas, death, sickos, violence

Quickie: Bill Halter may enter Arkansas congressional race

Posted by GottaLaff

· Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 4:40 pm

· No Comments

Today’s Quickie:

The GOP is scoffing at this, says Roll Call. But they scoff at everything the Dems do, so who gives a good goddamn (and yes, I’m getting progressively crankier as I watch this country sink into the vast teabagger-induced abyss):

Former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) is pondering a bid to take on Rep. Tim Griffin (R) in the state’s 2nd district, according to a Democratic source in Little Rock. [...]

Halter took on then-Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Democratic primary. With the help of national liberal interest groups, he raised more than $4.2 million during his short campaign.

Remember that? Too bad he didn’t win that one. I bet the GOP scoffed then, too.

That was today’s Quickie. Was it good for you?

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Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : 2012 elections, Arkansas, Bill Halter, quickie

Rep. Mike Ross the Latest Blue Dog Dem to Not Seek Reelection

Posted by Paddy

· Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 8:08 am

· 1 Comment

He may be a Blue Dog, but we’re not going to keep that seat without him. h/t Dave Weigel on Twitter.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., will not seek reelection in 2012, according to a senior source, becoming the fourth moderate Blue Dog Democrat to head to the exits this year after a midterm election cycle that decimated their ranks.

Ross was first elected in 2000 and is now Arkansas’ lone Democrat in the four-member House delegation. Ross’s retirement makes his House seat a prime battleground for 2012, one that Republicans believe they can pick up. The current district favored Republicans at the national level, voting 58 percent for John McCain in 2008. Under the state’s already-approved redistricting plan, it becomes slightly more Republican.

(snip)

Ross was singled out by National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions and NRCC Vice Chair Greg Walden at a briefing last week as one of 12 House seats they believed they could defeat in 2012. The NRCC has also already run a radio ad in April against Ross after he didn’t vote in favor of a budget.

1 Comment

Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : 2012 elections, Arkansas, House of Representatives, mike ross

VIDEO: GOPers face townhall audiences who are no fans of tax breaks for the rich, demolishing Medicare

Posted by GottaLaff

· Friday, April 29th, 2011 at 3:45 pm

· 1 Comment

Let’s start with this little tidbit from The Hill, about the Eddie Munster of budget fiascoes himself, Paul Ryan:

Contrary to some of the angry scenes at certain of his town-hall meetings, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday that the crowds are “overwhelmingly supportive” of his budget plan.

Ryan claims that his constituents know him well and appreciate that he is trying to reduce the nation’s debt and deficits with his 2012 budget plan, which is strongly opposed by Democrats.

I guess we shouldn’t believe our own eyes then, huh Paul? Like this little compilation via Think Progress that includes the “appreciated” Congress member himself:

Think Progress has all the details about each of these videos, so please follow the links and read them. I thought I’d put a few in one post to demonstrate the obvious unhappiness with Ryan’s attempt to kill Medicare and give tax breaks to the very few wealthy people who don’t need them

Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) heard from a 14-year-old boy yesterday, among others:

Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) got an earful about “trickling up” instead of “trickling down”:

This GOP fill-out-a-card method fits into the quest for control over the audience, a tactic that is frequently seen at these events, including the one Allen West held, in which Nicole Sandler was forcibly removed for trying to get heard when there were no mics:

[Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR)] had attendees write their questions on index cards and then read them out loud, “but a handful of audience members weren’t satisfied and shouted at Crawford from their seats.” [...]

Crawford replied, “I don’t support tax cuts for the wealthy over help for socio-economically challenged individuals.” A number of his constituents repeatedly challenged him on this claim, accusing Crawford of “class warfare against the poor people” and explaining that tax cuts don’t create jobs. Crawford apparently did not appreciate this, and ended the session.

And finally, here’s Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), who “didn’t listen to people. He said yes, yes. He followed his script and he is Republican and it is what he thinks.”

Someone in the crowd called for a single payer system. Them’s fightin’ words:

Things have changed since the unruly health care tea party explosions of 2009. Attendees are not only more civil, they’re better informed.

1 Comment

Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : anger, Arkansas, gop fail, Medicare, michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Paul Ryan, public anger, retaliation, right wing talking points, ryan budget, town hall meeting, wisconsin

“The bill might as well be called the voter intimidation & disenfranchisement act”

Posted by GottaLaff

· Monday, March 21st, 2011 at 3:16 pm

· 1 Comment

Disenfranchisement of the elderly, students, and minorities generally means disenfranchisement of Democratic voters. Every presidential election season, this becomes an issue, one that is a potential threat, one that doesn’t get enough attention, IMHO. You’d think stealing democracy would be a bigger deal, wouldn’t you?

Requiring a photo I.D. at the polls is tantamount to said disenfranchisement, because these are often unaffordable or otherwise not accessible for many.

Conclusion: Arkansas and North Carolina sure seem to be trying to suppress the Democratic vote.

Arkansas:

The Arkansas House has approved legislation that would require voters to present photo identification to election staff before being allowed to cast a regular ballot.

North Carolina:

[I]t’s the ID requirement that has provoked controversy.

“The bill might as well be called the voter intimidation and disenfranchisement act,” [Democratic Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte] said. [...]

According to the state elections board, there are more than 460,000 active voters, or 8 percent, with no photo ID issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

An analysis of those numbers by Democracy North Carolina showed that a third are over 65 and almost two-thirds are Democrats.

This is from a previous post:

Think Progress has an extensive post up about Disenfranchisement 2011 that just made me reach for my Pepto. Read their intro and weep (much, much more at the link):

In statehouses across the country, Republican lawmakers are raising the specter of “voter fraud” to push through legislation that would dramatically restrict the voting rights of college students, rural voters, senior citizens, the disabled and the homeless. As part of their larger effort to silence Main Street, conservatives are pushing through new photo identification laws that would exclude millions from voting, depress Hispanic voter turnout by as much as 10 percent, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. In the next few months, a new set of election laws could make going to the polls and registering to vote significantly more difficult — in some cases even barring groups of citizens from voting in the communities where they live.

Conservative legislators across the country have said these laws are necessary to combat alleged mass voter fraud. But these fears are completely overblown and states already have tough voting laws on the books.

I rest my case.

H/t: Leftpalm

1 Comment

Categories : Uncategorized

Tags : 2012 elections, Arkansas, democracy, disenfranchised, North Carolina, voter suppression

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