Catching Up, Part VIII – The War on Women's Rights, Part I

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In the 2+ months since Republicans took control of the House, they have accomplished absolutely nothing of substance. Instead they have passed several bills that directly attack the rights, welfare and private lives of women.

The first is HR3 or the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”.  Current law states that Federal funds can only be used to pay for an abortion in the case of rape or incest.  This bill would seek to drastically limit those exemptions.

The language is, as is common with these types things, overly vague. Under the new law a woman would not be able to get an exemption unless the rape was “forcible” in nature. Though there is no attempt to clearly and specifically define what this means.

Instead, what Republicans really intend with this law is to strip away any chance of an exemption and leave any woman who is on Medicare, Medicaid or any other Federal medical assistance program forced to pay for an abortion out of pocket.

Sadly, the people that this would affect are at lower middle class or impoverished income levels meaning they would not be able to afford an abortion and would have to try to borrow the money from friends or a family  member.  The chances of someone at that income level being able to qualify for any kind of loan is low.

Leaving women who are raped by a stranger or a family member in the cold and forced to go into debt to pay for an abortion is both an attack on women’s rights and the mental welfare of both the mother and the child.

What are the chances the child will have a loving home if raised by a woman who sees her rapist and re-lives their attack every time they look at their child?  What long-term emotional scarring would that give to both the child and the mother?

Certainly, this is a worst case scenario but the fact that it even has a chance of becoming a possibility in the United States turns my stomach and it should cause the same reaction for any clear thinking rational individual.

Thankfully at this time, this and any other bills that Republicans try to pass have no chance of making it past the still Democratic Senate or the President’s veto pen.  However, doesn’t it at least concern you that sometime in the future when Republicans inevitable regain control of the Presidency or both houses of Congress that they could actually pass this abominable idea?

– “Left of Center”

Catching Up, Part VII – The Arizona Tragedy

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I’d like to start by being another of many who wish Gabrielle Giffords and all others that were injured the speediest possible recovery.  Those that are no longer with us, may their families heal as best they can.  I hope also that many can and should learn a lesson in civility from this sad situation.

Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.  As divisive, heated, hateful and ignorant as the political rhetoric has been during and since the 2008 election, sadly it’s surprising to me that something like this didn’t happen sooner.

The hateful words spoken by crowds at McCain / Palin rallies in 2008.  The absolute nonsense fear mongering over “death panels” during the 2009 health care debate.  The oft-repeated false canard of the country becoming Socialist.  The murder of George Tiller after hours upon hours of news coverage on FOX labeling him a child killer.  The shooter at the Holocaust Museum.  Several other instances in the past 2 years of gun & violence themed euphemisms from some very prominent Conservatives.  People arrogantly, ignorantly and irresponsibly bringing loaded weapons to political rallies.

The media, those that are supposed to be journalists, many of them did nothing to defuse or dispel the lies and the nonsense or call out those that were (and still are) telling these lies and spreading this message of hate, this goal of trying to split Americans across political lines.  Rather than encouraging people to sit and talk about their differences, these individuals would rather incite violence and sit back and rake in the money from the ratings they get from their lies.

While it’s true that it’s almost impossible to prove that any of these things directly caused Jared Loughner to snap and carry out this shameful act of violence, the fact remains that these items I’ve mentioned are none-the-less reckless and irresponsible.  Whether they cause people like that who are on the brink of mental health at best to trip over that edge does not matter.’

What matters is that we have a responsibility to each other to avoid saying things that are false, and contain violent rhetoric that could potentially push someone past the edge of reason. Bringing a gun to a political rally may be your legal right but that doesn’t mean you should.  Using gun-themed statements or targets in your political speeches or materials reeks of ignorance and hate.  Neither of these things are illegal, but they are reprehensible and irresponsible.

– “Left of Center”

Catching Up, Part VI – Defundapalooza, Part II

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Continuing a short breakdown of how the Republican House is ignoring the risks of de-funding several government agencies including the EPA, the Department of Energy, & the Department of Health & Human Services.

The Department of Energy is responsible for overseeing the operation and safety of America’s nuclear weapons stockpile, nuclear power reactors, & nuclear waste disposal, among other things.  The amount of American lives potentially in jeopardy as a result of this makes any risk of losing the NHC look like nothing.  Reducing or removing the funding to carry out safety and maintenance of nuclear material is disgusting and shameful.

Removing funding for the Department of Health & Human Services is just another swing and a miss by Republicans to try and undo President Obama & the Democrats legislative victory at passing an admittedly flawed yet no less historic health care reform law.  By cutting the budget of the HHS to nearly nothing, it would be financially impossible to implement any aspect of the Affordable Care Act of 2008.  There would be no proactive prevention of insurance companies ending your coverage when you get sick and actually need it.  No way to pay for proactively ensuring that you don’t get denied for a pre-existing condition when you switch jobs.  None of the beneficial aspects of this law would be enforced.  Your only recourse would be to waste considerable time and expense after the fact to try and fight a protracted legal battle with your insurance company.  One you are almost certain to lose not because the law isn’t on your side, but because you will run out of money or hope (or if you are sick, you might even die) before reaching a resolution.

Thankfully, many of these items are not going to make it into the final budget because the chances of the Democratically controlled Senate passing this or President Obama signing it into law are next to non-existent.  However, there still remains the issue of Republicans putting forth these dangerous ideas.  Not only are they wasting tax payer dollars that they repeatedly say we can’t afford on these go-nowhere bills, but have no doubt in your mind if they regained control of both houses of Congress or the Presidency, they would move forward with these job killing, life threatening ideas.

– “Left of Center”

Weekend Special Edition: Olbermann Wrong, MSNBC Overracted

Let’s get one thing out of the way to start. Keith Olbermann was wrong. Not for donating to Democratic candidates. He’s a private citizen, he used his money and did not directly endorse or recommend that anyone vote for any specific candidates on his program. No, he was wrong because he broke the rules outlined by his employer. As an employee of GE/NBC/MSNBC he is required to inform his employer of his choice to make campaign donations. He did not do this, so he was wrong.

Full disclosure, and in the interest of honesty and fairness. I’m a fan of Olbermann’s political commentary. Is he hyperbolic? At times. Is he sometimes divisive? Sure. Does he frequently report false information? No. Is he always trying to scare people to further his own agenda? Not unless you count trying to scare you with truthful information about what’s actually happening. The belief that he’s the Progressive “Liberal” mirror image of Bill O’Reilly is a shameful false equivalency.

I have watched Countdown & other MSNBC news commentary shows for years and cannot recall a time when something untrue was reported that was not corrected on a subsequent program. When you measure that against just Glenn Beck alone, the comparison is ridiculous. Add in Limbaugh, Malkin, Hannity, Palin, etc and the scale of truth is very heavily weighted in Olbermann & MSNBC’s favor.

That doesn’t change the fact that he was wrong. However, what is also true is that GE/NBC was more wrong. Requiring employees to essentially get permission from your boss before making a private political donation with your own personal money, while apparently not illegal, perhaps should be. What business is it of your employers what you do with your money? Even for news station’s television personalities, why should your employer have the right to know where that money is going? Their policy is wrong and overreaching.

Setting even that aside, suspending the very popular host of your number one show indefinitely without pay? Despite the fact that he was wrong, that’s really an extreme response. Certainly they want to make it clear to the public that the common comparison of MSNBC to FOX “News” is a fiction, but suspending someone indefinitely without pay for what, from the information that has been released, is a first offense is an extreme overstep and is likely to hurt the viewers opinion with the network more than it will help.

What’s worse is that, thanks to the SCOTUS “Citizens United” decision, we now live in a United States where NBC or another corporation can give unchecked, undisclosed millions to a campaign or candidate without any question but a private citizen cannot donate their own money without fearing reprisal should their employer dislike the candidate or campaign you’re donating to. I don’t know about you, my fellow Americans, but that’s not the way I want things to work in this country.

Update 11-07-10: MSNBC has confirmed Keith Olbermann will return to Countdown on Tuesday 11-09-10

– “Left of Center”

$200 Million Per Day? Absolute Laughable Idiocy

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Earlier in the week a report was published in an Indian newspaper that President Obama’s 10 day trip to India would cost roughly $200 million per day. That’s the only source for this, no vetting or verification in US papers or news outlets.

Yet, despite the evidence to support this being as flimsy as wet toilet paper the typical cast of the ultra-Conservative fringe took the ball and ran with it. Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Matt Drudge, Michelle Malkin, Don Imus, and several other less prominent talking heads parroted this clearly false story without any regard for research, responsibility, or facts.

Given that the Afghanistan War costs roughly $190 million, there’s no logical way that a Presidential diplomatic trip could come remotely close to that cost, let alone eclipse it. The idea that such a thing is possible is laughable on it’s face and should never have gotten past water-cooler jokes. However, unsurprisingly the Republican TEA Party’s communications division, FOX News went to town with a false non-story yet again.

The actual cost of Presidential working trips abroad is not discussed due to security concerns. The excuse is overused, for sure, but in this case it fits. If a dollar figure was known, security experts could potentially determine the scope and strength of efforts to protect the President. This isn’t new under the Obama Administration, it was the same under Clinton & George W Bush. If we’re to return to a time of responsibility and proper journalistic integrity in our politics, perhaps we need to entertain the idea of assessing civil penalties to those who are caught in these kind of intentional falsehoods.

– “Left of Center”

More Commentary:

CNN’s Anderson Cooper

Injunction Against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, Part II – The Reaction

 

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Earlier, I covered the facts regarding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Federal Judge’s ruling. Now let’s review what the predictable Conservative reaction will be. This one is too easy. The primary vector the Republican Tea Party and it’s associated talking heads will use will be nothing more than two words – “judicial activism”.  This very statement gives light to their sad and obvious irrational misunderstanding of how our Federal Government is structured.

As anyone who passed high school history (and/or government) class should have learned, there are three branches to our government. The Legislative Branch is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This body writes bills and votes on them. The Executive Branch – The President, Vice President and their respective cabinets and staff. Once Congress passes a bill, it’s sent to the President to be signed. Once the President signs the document, it is considered officially law.

Here’s where the Conservatives that constantly throw around the idea of “judicial activism”. The next branch of our government is the Judicial Branch. Their job is to review bills passed into law by the other two branches and decide based on the Constitution (and precedent set by previous rulings) if the items in question are legal! So when Conservatives whinge about “judicial activism”, they are protesting the fact that the Judicial Branch is doing it’s Constitutionally appointed duty!

So, despite that reality, individual Americans who subscribe to the Republican Tea Party mantra are under educated in matters of civics, political science will still echo the cries of “judicial activism” coming from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, et al. What excuse do those individuals have? Do they not understand the function of the Judicial Branch any better, or are they intentionally ignoring the reality of their job for the purpose of making people afraid and angry? Has anyone else noticed that Conservatives only cry “judicial activism” when it’s a decision they don’t agree with, but they seem to have no complaints or concerns about the Citizen’s United decision?

– “Left of Center”