Checks and Balances In Action: Two Reassuring Court Decisions

Oh, right, THAT'S how it works!

One of the pillars of the United States model of government is that of checks and balances. Each of the three branches of government has discrete, clear powers that complement and control the powers of the other branches. (Well…ideally, anyway.) Given the many attacks on individual rights pursued by far-right legislatures citizen groups — especially directed at women and other minorities — the role of the courts to restrict that over-reach is critical to a functioning democracy.

This week we have good news in two different cases, both related to the War on Women. Courts in Oklahoma and Texas — the bright red Southwest — have blocked two right-wing actions that were clearly unconstitutional or in violation of Federal law.

In Oklahoma, the issue was the so-called “personhood” movement that would give every fertilized egg all the rights of a person under state law. Even though this effort has so far failed everywhere it’s been tried (even in Mississippi), anti-choice forces still pursue it as a favorite tactic to restrict women’s choices. These misogynists were attempting to put a personhood amendment to the Oklahoma constitution before voters. On Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously shot down initiative, declaring the effort to be a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution. Referring to a twenty-year-old Supreme Court case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the justices rejected this absurd effort in very clear language:

The mandate of Casey is as binding on this Court today as it was twenty years ago. Initiative Petition No. 395 conflicts with Casey and is void on its face and it is hereby ordered stricken.

Also on Monday, a Federal judge in Texas blocked implementation of a recently signed rule that targeted funding for Planned Parenthood. The Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner implemented the rule which said that the Texas Women’s Health Program (which uses Federal Medicaid money), would not fund services at Planned Parenthood or any other “affiliates of abortion providers.” So, even though the services being funded are NOT abortions and are critical health services for low-income women (over 130,000 in Texas!), the Texas government wants to block service to punish one provider. Lovely. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel was just as clear and succinct as his colleagues in Oklahoma:

Medicaid law is very clear; a state may not restrict patients’ choice of providers of services like mammograms and other cancer screenings, if those providers are qualified to deliver care covered by Medicaid.

Getting typically whiny, Texas officials are now threatening to cancel the entire health program rather than follow Federal law and support the health of the citizens they were elected to serve.

It should just be a few days before the Insupportable Rage Machine (TM) on the right starts screaming “activist judges!” The Oklahoma justices may even face an orchestrated attack like the one mounted against the Iowa Supreme Court for simply doing their jobs. We should thank all these officers of the court for doing what they were elected and appointed to do: uphold the law. Now let’s hope the Fecal Five can avoid making the wrong decision about the Affordable Care Act…

Jan Brewer v. Roe v. Wade

Is there anyone whose rights I still need to trample?

Sadly, we have another Stepford wife perpetuating the war on women.  Our Jan Brewer(R. Arizona) who suffers from internalized misogyny, has signed a bill that in many ways challenges Roe v. Wade and sends the message that women are not able to govern their own bodies.   The absurd law states that:

…gestational age as beginning on the first day of a woman’s last period, rather than at fertilization. In practice, that means the state has banned abortions after about 18 weeks.

The absurdly named Women’s Health and Safety Act moves the cutoff threshold for abortions so early that it prevents most medical testing that would inform a woman about the health and viability of a fetus. This is bad enough, but the bill also effectively ends another common, medically sound practice.

Medication abortions, which are nonsurgical and usually performed within the first nine weeks of pregnancy, and account for between 17 and 20 percent of all abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights advocacy group. While women often take the pills at clinics and in their homes, the bill now mandates that a medical provider must have hospital privileges within 30 miles of where the procedure takes place. Many times clinics or homes are not within 30 miles of hospitals, and the distance prevents providers from other cities or even states from caring for women, says Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute. Another factor that could contribute to what Nash called a “shutdown” of medication abortions is that the law requires abortion pills to be administered using outdated protocols, confusing providers and obscuring proper use of the drugs.

This bill continues the alarming trend of right-wing legislatures (Arizona’s is one of the most draconian) and tea-soaked governors doing everything they can to thwart the established law of the land regarding abortions. Since taking office, Jan Brewer has proved hostile to every vulnerable population she comes across. How sad that this latest action provides more cover for the Republican obfuscationsists to say “how can it be a war on women when a woman supported it?” Bigots and villains have no better allies than the self-loathing, and Jan Brewer clearly loathes everyone.  We tried to reach Gov. Brewer for comment, but she was busy directing her minions to build a wall around Arizona to keep out Latinos.

Bigot of the Week Award: March 16, Mitt Romney

Bigot of the Week Award

As the gruesome clown car pileup that is the GOP Presidential Primary season grinds on, it would be sadly easy to give the BWA to any given candidate any given week. Mitt Romney manages to sink below the pack sufficiently this week to make it a lock. Pandering ever-farther to the right as he tries to fire up the base that horrifically prefers even Rick Santorum, the Mitt-bot has staked out some pretty loathsome positions over the past few months, including his support of so-called “personhood” and his signing of a virulently anti-gay pledge. Most of these actions — which Romney characterizes as emblematic of his “severe conservatism” — are direct contradictions of positions he staked out as Governor of Massachusetts or during his failed run to unseat Senator Ted Kennedy.

His dangerous and desperate flip-flopping has him so coated in Santorum that he’s adopting the most far-right talking points as his campaign positions, no matter how illogical or unpopular. The terrifying example that wins him this week’s award is a single sentence from a campaign stop, bizarrely included in a discussion of budget cuts: “Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.” REALLY? Let’s set aside for a moment that this is an independent organization, not a Federal program, so any attempt to “get rid” of it is anti-business (ironic much?). Far more terrifying is that the putative front-runner for President in one of our two major parties has officially endorsed the war on women. The Romneyborg wants us ignore the fact that the vast majority of the services Planned Parenthood provides are critical women’s health care to poor and rural women. He has become so extreme in his eagerness to clinch the nomination that he’s endorsing the radical anti-contraception position that the vast majority of Americans (including Catholics and all Republicans other than the Tea Party) oppose. This candidate’s dizzying spin might provide a great alternative energy source; in every other respect it just induces nausea–yes, I will have to spit up after publishing this.

A huge dishonorable mention goes to the Arizona legislature for even entertaining the idea of allowing women to be fired from their jobs if they use birth control.

War on Women Continues…

Jeers to Gov. Bob McDonnell, of Virginia, for signing into law the ultrasound bill, which exploits women at a very vulnerable moment to discourage them from having an abortion–yet another chip away at Roe v. Wade by Right Wing KKKristians. Thus, the war on women continues, as we police women’s bodies in an attempt for our government to own every vagina in the country. My hope is this article will wake people up and show how close we are to completely objectifying women, as we send the message that we don’t trust women to exercise control over their own bodies.

There are still 450 other bills on birth control and abortion in state legislatures across the country. With a far-right faction of the GOP holding a majority in many of them, it’s unclear how many we can stop. But let me just say this: It is time we STOP right wing Republicans from holding the US hostage, unless Republican men are willing to have their sperm policed in the exact same ways we police women’s eggs.

Currently, New Hampshire, Florida, Arizona (home of Jan Brewer), Ohio (Home of John Boehner), and many other states are considering similar legislation.  The Texas legislature is in the midst of a bitter fight to eliminate state support for a wide range of women’s health services. They’ve already eliminated two-thirds of their funding for women’s health, closing more than half of the state’s Planned Parenthood and other clinics. And now they’re voting to reject aid for the Medicaid Women’s Health Program. They claim they’re doing this to fight abortion, but what they’re actually doing is denying hundreds of thousands of women access to basic health care.  This is called fascism and we have to stop it by how we vote!

Policing Sperm as We Police Women’s Eggs

At Least One Smart Voice in Oklahoma

Oh, how I love Constance Johnson the state Senator from Oklahoma.  Sadly, she may be one of the only intelligent voices left in Oklahoma.  Sen. Johnson is proposing a “Spilled Semen” amendment to Oklahoma’s absurd and misogynistic “Personhood Bill.”  Johnson raises the important issue of palpable hypocrisy:

As a woman and a 31-year veteran of the legislative process in Oklahoma, I am increasingly offended by state law trends that solely focus on the female’s role in the reproductive process. With Oklahoma’s new, never-before-experienced Republican majority, we are seeing enactment of more and more measures that adversely affect women and their rights to access safe medical procedures when making reproductive healthcare decisions…

My amendment seeks to draw attention to the absurdity, duplicity and lack of balance inherent in the policies of this state in regard to women. Oklahoma already incarcerates more women than any other place in the world. Under the latest provisions, a woman in Oklahoma may now face additional criminal charges and potential incarceration for biological functions that produce or, in some cases, destroy eggs or embryos, such as a miscarriage. In vitro fertilization, involving the fertilization outside the womb for implantation into the womb, would also potentially represent a violation of the proposed Personhood statute.

Sen. Johnson does a marvelous job of pointing to the disgraceful way American culture punishes and polices women in ways we do not police men.

For that matter, any masturbatory emissions, where the sperm is clearly not seeking an egg, could be termed reckless abandonment. (Legally Blonde)

Yes, I actually just used a quote from Legally Blonde, but it makes perfect sense.  We, as a country, need to take a strong stand here and STOP misogynistic laws like the “Personhood Bill,” and STOP the hate coming from organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

The Puppet Master Behind the Susan G.Komen Foundation

I love a Tea Party but hate women and gays!

Corrupt Komen Caves, Kind of!  Yes, yesterday the Susan G. Komen Foundation offered a less than milquetoast apology for their bad behavior.  The apology came not because it was the right thing to do, or because of some great care and compassion for women of color, women without means, and all women who suffer from the intersections of oppression, rather the apology came because of political pressure.  I don’t want to dismiss the power of this pressure, but I would like us to examine closely the Power behind the Komen Foundation, for I personally would like to see this organization crash and burn and be replaced with a more inclusive organization that truly reaches out to all women to help prevent breast cancer.

Just to be clear, the Komen Foundation is still refusing to commit to future grants to Planned Parenthood.  So who has the power and what does this power look like at the Komen Foundation? Sadly, Komen’s Senior VP is  Karen Handel.  You may remember Handel.  She ran for Governor of Georgia two years ago and was endorsed by the Tea Party, including Sarah Palin.  Yes, our Handel is exceedingly anti-woman and is a homophobic bigot, as witnessed by her own words!

I will conclude by saying that if you truly believe in women’s rights and you believe women should have access to health care regardless of color or access to resources and if you really believe in social justice, you will boycott the Susan G. Komen Foundation and put your money into Planned Parenthood.

I need to say a special thanks to my friend Jay and to the Voice of the Trailer (VOT) for helping me with this article and allowing me to express my rage in a socially productive way.

Bigot of the Week Award: January 6, Rick Santorum

Bigot of the Week

Congratulations to Iowa’s Republican caucus voters. They’ve just given momentum and credibility to one of the most bigoted presidential campaigns of all time. Rejected Senator Rick Santorum was already infamous for his rabid anti-gay, anti-woman stands. He made nearly 150 campaign stops in Iowa promising to stick by his history and was rewarded with a virtual tie in Tuesday’s vote. While his campaign is still a long-shot, the boost he received from his last-minute surge has provided Santorum with an ongoing platform for his words of hate. He has argued with college students about marriage equality, continuing his irrational comparisons with polygamy. On the O’Reilly Factor, he managed to surprise even that bastion of illogic with his extreme stand, maintaining that as President he would force a Constitutional “one man, one woman” amendment and then work to ensure that all legally performed marriages between same-sex couples were invalidated. It takes some doing to stand out as the most potentially dangerous in this pack of candidates. Rick Santorum earns yet another BWA by doing his best to prove he’s the one.

Am I the only one wondering what is hiding in his “closet?”

Number 1 Bigot of the Year Award 2011: John Boehner

Number 1 Bigot of 2011

For those that have been following TSM for any amount of time, it should come as no surprise that Mr. Fake and Bake, crocodile tears, Mr. 1%, John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, earns the most dubious honor of the Number 1 Bigot of the Year for 2011.

The congressman from Ohio has consistently demonstrated an abuse of power from a wealthy white heterosexual that rivals some of the super rich white boys on the Supreme Court.  Boehner’s hypocrisy, double standards, misogyny, and homophobia have set his legacy of hate and abuse of power in history!  Rather than working for the American people to balance the budget and get out of a deficit, the ubiquitous obstructionist Boehner said, “we will not raise taxes,” as he was working tirelessly to protect the incomes of the top 1% of Americans–damn the rest of the country.

Yet, while operating out of a deficit, Boehner is spending tax payer dollars to defend discrimination by hiring an attorney to defend DOMA–yes, we must be fearful of the Gay Agenda!  

Pandering to the outer fringe of his party rather than brokering meaningful compromise (how sad is it when you can make Sen. Mitch McConnell look reasonable?) he has made 2011 the year of the do-nothing Congress. Let us hope that his recent capitulation on the payroll tax holiday is the beginning of his downfall–Boehner, another rancid tea bag.

Flashback  2010: The Bigot of 2010 was John McCain.

Number 2 Bigot of the Year 2011: GOP Presidential Candidates

Number 2 Bigot of 2011

The title of the article could have easily been Ship of Fools.  What an embarrassment of riches we have with this misogynistic, homophobic, classist, racist, group of rancid tea-baggers.  Thank you to the many TSM readers for nominating the GOP Presidential candidates–I’m sure it did not come as a surprise that I was already on the same track. Perhaps regular reader Jay put it best in his nomination of:

…the Republican Party, especially the embarrassing cohort which is seeking that party’s nomination for President, and the party’s Congressional “leadership.” The second major party of the US has veered dangerously off-course, with potential and real tragic effects upon not only the US and its citizenry, but the world at large.

This coagulation of corrupt and crazy candidates is so awful that even Republicans cannot seem to find one they like. Perpetual self-denier Mitt Romney is the marginal leader, but he’s so toxic that almost every other joker in the pack has had a shot at the top. As TSM contributor Lex “WebWordWarrior” Kahn noted in his nice overview of the candidates, even before any of them got heavy press there was much to dislike. As each has flared into and out of prominence, their baggage and their utter disdain for the people they would lead has become clear. Perhaps nothing has been so damning, however, as their own words and actions during the incessant stream of debates. From Mitt’s pandering to Newt’s frothing to Perry’s babbling they have all shown their true ugly colors, perhaps none so much as hypothetical Libertarian Ron Paul and his blithe acceptance of the death chants from the audience. As the primaries and caucuses get underway next week the pack will thin and we’ll get to learn a lot more about a smaller number of these rabid monsters. Let’s hope that ugliness proves to the American people how lucky we are to have the President we have.

Flashback to 2010: The #2 Bigot last year was the U.S. Supreme Court’s Fecal Five.

Bigot of the Week Award: December 16, Lowe’s

Bigot of the Week

My husband and I stopped shopping at Lowe’s when we learned they scored a 15 out of 100 on the HRC consumer guide of LGBT friendly stores. Now, with their recent endorsement of Islamophobia, I hope everyone will boycott Lowe’s Home Improvement Store.  Lowe’s had been one of the sponsors for the television show “All American Muslim,” but they withdrew their sponsorship after caving into right wing hate groups like The Florida Family Association, which referred to the TLC show as:

propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.

How bigoted do you have to be to continue to target a marginalized population?  Am I the only one that is exceedingly tired of Americans vilifying Muslim Americans?  How ironic that most acts of terrorism in the United States have been perpetrated by white heterosexual men such as: Timothy McVeigh, Ted Kaczynski, and Scott Roeder of Operation Rescue.  It seems to me that we need to be much more afraid of white heterosexual men than we do of Muslims.

Shame on Lowe’s and other corporate giants that contribute to marginalization of Muslims, women, or the LGBT community. I hope people will boycott Lowe’s.

*Don’t forget TSM is taking nominations for Bigot and Hero of the Year Awards.