Dear Mr. Trump

Dear Mr. Trump,

Nasty women vote.

Sincerely,

The Women of America

P.S. You're fired!

I Stand with Planned Parenthood #StandwithPP

Today is "Pink Out Day." People around the country--including Pittsburgh*--are rallying in support of Planned Parenthood as once again, congressional Republicans (and Republican presidential candidates) continue their relentless attacks on reproductive health care. They do this even to the point of threatening to shut down the government, despite the fact that government funds do not go to paying for abortions.

One in five American women have received care at a Planned Parenthood health center. And in 2013, Planned Parenthood served 2.7 million women, men, and young people. Maybe that's why USA Today found that Americans back government support for the group by more than 2-1.

If you're not already at a rally, you can still participate:

Wear pink to show your support for women's health and for Planned Parenthood, and make sure your friends know why. 

Share a #PinkOut selfie to #StandwithPP on social media.

Pink Out your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image.

Let them know that we're sick of this bullshit.


* Thank you  Lynn Cullen, and City Councilman Dan Gilman!

Gov. Corbett's Greatest Hits!

Just a reminder as you go to vote...

Post by Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Post by Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Post by Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Post by Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Post by Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Corbett compares same-sex marriage to incest.


Corbett makes insensitive remarks about the mandatory ultrasound bill, telling women who do not want to see the ultrasound "you just have to close your eyes."

Independence Day

"I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

- Patriot Abigail Adams, 1776

"Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws."

- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, 2011

While the Founders would obviously have no problem with discrimination against women, how many truly believe they'd be in agreement that corporations were people who had religious beliefs that allow them to discriminate against a class of citizens and be exempt from duly passed laws?

Certainly the five Catholic, male judges on the Roberts Court believe that it's perfectly fine for corporations to hold others (others of course being women) hostage to their own particular religious views.

And while the media and supporters got the Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case wrong by insisting that it was a "narrow" ruling, it only took a day for that to be proven false and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be correct (in calling it a "decision of startling breadth"):

In fact, it only took a day for the Court’s “narrow” decision to start to crack open. On Tuesday, the Court indicated that its ruling applies to for-profit employers who object to all twenty forms of birth control included in the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, not just the four methods at issue in the two cases decided on Monday. 

In light of its ruling on Hobby Lobby and a related suit, the Supreme Court ordered three appeals courts to reconsider cases in which they had rejected challenges from corporations that object to providing insurance that covers any contraceptive services at all.

[snip] 

 It’s bad enough that the Court privileged the belief that IUDs and emergency contraceptives induce abortion over the scientific evidence that clearly says otherwise. With Tuesday’s orders, the conservative majority has effectively endorsed the idea that religious objections to insurance that covers any form of preventative healthcare for women have merit.

Just as bad, these males on the court actually lied about their ruling.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in a dissent on Thursday (signed by all the women on the court), noted, “Those who are bound by our decisions usually believe they can take us at our word. Not so today.”

Sotomayor was referencing that accommodation was one of the reasons Justice Samuel Alito cited to justify his Hobby Lobby decision:

Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the government has to show it has pursued the least restrictive means to accomplish its goal. Alito claimed that because the nonprofit accommodation exists, that means the government has other ways to get women access to contraception that respects religious liberty. Yet only a few days later, he ruled that the nonprofit accommodation – again, signing a form – is also a violation of religious liberty.

Yep, that means that the often trotted out example of the Little Sisters of the Poor (with a name like that, how could anyone deny them anything?) can refuse to even sign a damn sheet of paper saying they want a waiver for providing birth control because: religion.

To recap: Corporations are people with religious beliefs. Their beliefs trump women's beliefs, women's rights under the law and women's health. Women can be discriminated against and have no rights against discrimination under the Constitution. And, it's perfectly fine for Supreme Court justices to lie in their rulings.

Happy Fucking Fourth, ladies!

SCOTUS rules that many corporations are people with religious rights and that they can discriminate specifically against women's health care because Eve was a dirty, dirty slut

Did you expect anything else?

If it were 200+ white girls...

On Saturday, President Obama joked about CNN's obsessive coverage of missing plane MH370 and his trip to Malaysia, saying "The lengths we have to go to, to get CNN coverage these days. I think they're still searching for their table." The really sad joke is that if 200+ white girls had gone missing, we'd have wall-to-wall coverage on all stations and everyone would be clamoring for some type of action. US Secretary of State John Kerry did say on that same Saturday that 'Washington will do “everything possible” to help Nigeria deal with Boko Haram militants, following the kidnapping of scores of schoolgirls.'

If you think these girl's lives are as important as the typical single missing white woman/girl story that the media loves to obsess over, please attend today's rally:

Pittsburgh Women Rallying to #BringBackOURGirls 

When: Today (May, 5, 2014), 7:00 pm 

Where: Freedom Corner, Centre Ave. & Crawford Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (map)

Facebook Event Page: Here

Silly Tea Party! Everyone knows that penis-shaped cakes are for birthdays, not weddings!

(Via Cake Wreks)

From the Headlines:

Tea Party Leader: Arizona Veto Enslaves Christians into Baking Giant Penis Cakes 

Bill O’Reilly: A woman can’t be leader of the free world because of a ‘gender deficiency’ 

Maine Republican regrets saying men should rape women if abortion is legal

"I can smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor"

While voting to shut down the government Saturday night, apparently some of the House members weren't just drunk on power. From a Politico Congressional reporter:

I'm not over exaggerating when I say I can smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor.
— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) September 29, 2013

And from a Buzzfeed reporter on Capitol Hill:

I def saw more than 1 member of congress putting a few back on Penn earlier. Ran into 2 in the liquor store.
— KateNocera (@KateNocera) September 29, 2013

And before they even got drunk, they were already acting like drunken pigs:

[T]hey have added a “conscience clause” to the spending bill which takes away preventative care from women, which includes birth control.  

[snip]  

Friday afternoon, Republican John Culberson from TX got huge applause from his colleagues when he compared the GOP’s effort to destroy Obamacare to the heroes of 9/11. Culberson compared the House Repubs to the passengers on United Flight 93 who overtook the terrorists and got control of the plane on 9/11. Yes, Seriously.

This is your government on drugs Tea.

GOP Senate Candidate Tom Smith: Girls Love Shoes!

When we last left GOP Senate Candidate Tom Smith who's running against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), he was opining that there is no real difference between a pregnancy that occurs outside of marriage and one that is a result of rape. Now this expert on women offers some further insight: Girls love shoes!

Via Think Progress:  

SMITH: What are we talking about here, two girls together talking?  

WOMAN: We’re talking about the power of petite women.  

SMITH: My guess would’ve been you were talking about shoes.

Additionally, he recently offered this nugget of wisdom:

"Perhaps where we're making our mistake is that we are asking President Obama and Senator Bob Casey to do something they have no knowledge of. They've never been in business, they've never ran [sic] businesses, they don't have that knowledge," Smith said. "It would be like, your wife wrecks your car. You're gonna take it to the beauty salon to get fixed? No."

I'm in favor of a Personhood Amendment!

Only I want one for women and girls.

Thank you.

Women's health issues are "shiny objects"

Women's reproductive health as seen by the Romney campaign

Not only are women's jobs a mere distration, but women's health issues are a distraction too as well as being "shiny objects."

Pennsylvania Unite Against the War on Women

From the website:

Help defend women's rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States on April 28th, 2012, as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, "Enough is enough!"

Pennsylvania Unite Against the War on Women Rally
When: April 28, 2012, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Where: Pennsylvania State Capitol Steps, Harrisburg, PA

Facebook page here.

Gender Gap

"Democrats Winning Women Across The Board, Polls Show"

I can't imagine why on earth there's a gender gap...

Syndicator for Rush Limbaugh Suspends All National Ads For Two Weeks

After reporting that the total number of companies to drop their advertising from the Rush Limbaugh Show was up to 140 earlier yesterday, Think Progress announced that Rush's syndicator was suspending all national advertising for two weeks:

Radio-Info.com reports that Premiere Networks, which syndicates the Rush Limbaugh show, told its affiliate radio stations that they are suspending national advertising for two weeks. Rush Limbaugh is normally provided to affiliates in exchange for running several minutes of national advertisements provided by Premiere each hour. These ads are called “barter spots.” These spots are how Premiere makes its money off of Rush Limbaugh and other shows it syndicates.

Looks like when Rushbo slandered Sandra Fluke -- and by extension, the vast majority of women in this country -- he bit off a little more than he could chew.
Not Safe for Work:

Hillary Clinton on Extremists: "They all want to control women"

(Longer remarks here)

Transcript: "Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim -- they all want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies. Yes, it is hard to believe, but even here at home, we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us because America needs to set an example for the entire world."

Via USA Today:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waded into the debate over women's rights, warning a global audience that "extremists" are out to control women.

Clinton's remarks to the Women in the World Summit come as Democrats and Republicans fight over issues such as access to birth control.

Thank you, Hillary!

Two local boobs on the wrong side of history

Just in time for Women's History month, PA's Forced Ultrasound Bill and The Blunt Amendment allowing any employer to deny birth control coverage any insurance coverage requirement on moral whims objections both went down in flames. One would be tempted to decry Republicans again and their relentless War on Women, but we can't ignore the Democratic douchebags are who foot soldiers in this war too.

The Trouble With Harry

PA State Rep. Harry A. Readshaw (D, PA-36) not only cosponsored the odious Forced Ultrasound (Rape by Any Other Name) Bill, he was completely out of line when replying to a constituents' letter to him about it (blogger Amadi). He began his thoroughly condescending letter to her by addressing her by her first name only. He proceeds to divulge his daughter's private medical condition as a part of his argument and concludes by letting Amadi know that he's looked up her voting record. Amadi also notes that the letter is handwritten -- perhaps to ensure that there is no digital trail (I guess he neglected to find in his inquiries that she is a popular blogger). Please read her account of it here, including a photo of his correspondence). I'm embarrassed to add that he is also my Rep.

What's the Matter With Bob?

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) was one of only three Democratic US Senators to vote against killing the Blunt Amendment. One must suppose that he favored it on the basis of his Catholic faith -- even though it was so broad as to allow employers to willy-nilly ignore any insurance coverage requirement (and as noted by Sen. Barbara Boxer, allow insurance companies free rein to deny coverage on "moral" grounds as well -- like that wouldn't be abused). Here's Obama for America's take on the bill, Bob:


(Click to enlarge)
Hey! Wait a minute? Doesn't Bob work for us? I think we should all vote on what health care coverage we want to deny him. Please be as arbitrary and capricious as you like! Also, I agree with Marcy Wheeler that Bobby (as someone who's been on the public dole for many years) needs to disclose to us, his employers, details as to what his history of reproductive choice has been, including details on what kinds of birth control he and his wife have used and who paid for it, as well as whether he's used erectile dysfunction drugs, and who paid for it. It's only fair! After all, employers have a right to have a say in these matters.

The War on Women, Part II: What's Wrong With This Picture?

Here's a photograph of the witness table at yesterday's House hearing on contraceptives:


If you don't get what's wrong with it, I'll spell it out for you:




Via Think Progress:

This morning, Democrats tore into House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) for preventing women from testifying before a hearing examining the Obama administration’s new regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide contraception coverage to their employees. Republicans oppose the administration’s rule and have sponsored legislation that would allow employers to limit the availability of birth control to women.

[snip]

Issa also dismissed the Democrats’ woman witness as a “college student’ who does not “have the appropriate credentials” to testify before his committee.

So what was the appropriately credentialed remarks like? Here's the testimony of the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Shorter version: women's va-jay-jays are the mandated ham salad sandwich at a kosher deli -- I kid you not!).

I'm beginning to think that they don't really like women

[Where "I'm beginning to think" means "I've always known."]

Rick Santorum blames his wife for anti-feminist statements in his book.

GOP to fight to let any employer deny birth control coverage to women.

Virginia to continue shackling pregnant inmates while giving birth.

Zero Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

Fox News pundit says women in military should expect to be raped and that feminists have demanded too much money to fund programs for sexual abuse victims. (I wonder if Ron Paul would consider those to be "honest" rapes...)

New Willie Horton-style Web Ad -- Now with Misogyny!

Not Safe For Work:

Talking Points Memo is spot on when they called this ad against Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn (D) -- running in a special election to replace the retired Democratic Rep. Jane Harman (CA-36) -- "Willie Horton on steroids." But its all that and more. Let's go down the check list:

False accusations about her actions regarding gang members: ☑

False inference that the gang members in question are African-American -- Obama! -- when they were primarily Latinos: ☑

Depicting the opponent as demonic: ☑

Calling the opponent a "ho" and a "bitch": ☑

Depictions of various gangsters (Al Capone), gang members, Che Guevara and Charlie Manson (?!): ☑

Depicting the opponent as a pole dancing stripper with (bonus!) a smelly crotch: ☑

Depicting Hahn as about to be sexually violated with an automatic weapon...WHAT?...WTF? This has got to be the sickest, most vile ad ever.

And, we get to thank Citizens United for this one. The ad is not being run by her opponent, tea party Republican Craig Huey. It's being run by the brand-new Turn Right USA PAC. Via TPM:

Turn Right USA, the sponsor, is a brand new political action committee which only filed its paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. The paperwork indicates that Turn Right USA intends to operate as a so-called "super PAC," capable of raising funds in unlimited amount, but will not use those funds to directly support federal candidates or committees.

Scalia: Constitution does not prohibit discrimination against women

Via HuffPo:

In a newly published interview in the legal magazine California Lawyer, Scalia said that while the Constitution does not disallow the passage of legislation outlawing such discrimination, it doesn't itself outlaw that behavior:

In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don't think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we've gone off in error by applying the 14th Amendment to both?

Yes, yes. Sorry, to tell you that. ... But, you know, if indeed the current society has come to different views, that's fine. You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don't need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box. You don't like the death penalty anymore, that's fine. You want a right to abortion? There's nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn't mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law. That's what democracy is all about. It's not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.

Here's the relevant part of the 14th Amendment:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This would mean that either Scalia believes that women still aren't "persons" or "citizens" or that since discrimination was allowed against women when that amendment was written they still don't have rights. You know, the same way that he believes that the 2nd Amendment only allows people the right to own muskets and cannons. Right.

Apparently Scalia said something similar back in September. Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks points out his hypocrisy when it comes to being a "strict constitutionalist" here:


.