Grenada...does anyone even remember the tiny Caribbean island we invaded in the 1980s to keep Cuba from going all Communistic? The one that had a population of 100,000 at the time?
I didn't think so. The people at The Reagan Library are hoping that people born after 1980 don't remember either. Which is why they're so eager to push St. Ronnie. The man already has an airport that had a perfectly good name, Washington National, re-named after him instead, and TWO frickin'postage stamps in the past 6 years. Enough is enough.
In November the American people sent a loud and clear message to Washington: work together to get the economy moving again. And during the lame duck session and then over the past few weeks, I was encouraged by the ability of Republicans and Democrats to come together to work for the American people. But now, just two weeks into the new Congress, it appears Republicans in the House are already seeking to end that spirit of cooperation.
They have introduced HR3: The No Taxpayer Funded Abortions Act, which would restrict women’s access to affordable reproductive care and even deny care to women when their lives are in danger. This bill would severely undermine women’s rights.
Even as Republicans lament that the government is being too intrusive in people’s lives, it seems that the very personal, private and often painful issue of ending a pregnancy is one area they are determined to regulate. Tragically, the consequences of this intrusiveness could prove disastrous to the health and well-being of women across America.
The Republicans likely have a large enough majority in the House to pass this bill, but we must block this bill in the U.S. Senate. Earlier this week, Senator Blumenthal and I sent a letter to all of our colleagues in the Senate, urging them to oppose similar legislation.
In the letter we wrote:
We must work together to stop these bills in their tracks, as they represent an unprecedented effort to restrict women’s access to reproductive health care and to their trusted health care providers.
I pledge to you that, just as we did with the Stupak Amendment, we will organize our fellow Senators to make sure we defeat this legislation. Can I count on you to join us in this fight to make sure Republicans and some conservative Democrats don’t succeed in chipping away at a woman’s right to choose even further than they already have?
Man, who ever thought it would be so hard being in charge? Seriously. It's become quite apparent that the Democrats have a serious case of minority-party PTSD as, with the exception of a hand full of brave souls, they seem capable of doing little more than cowering in the corner while Boehner and McConnell continue to steal their lunch money.
And all the while the drumbeat of criticism levied at President Obama about his push toward "bi-partisan" solutions has grown louder as even reasonable minded Democrats seem about ready to abandon this presidency and resign themselves to handing the keys back over to the GOP. I'll admit, I'm on that ledge. But let's consider this. What if bi-partisanship is not about Republican support, but about trying to wrestle in the remaining Reagan Democrats in Congress?
Look at who is consistently blocking Democratic initiatives, for example. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a perfect case study. Now, as a Nebraskan I can speak a bit to Nelson and he is a classic Nebraska Democrat. If the Republicans were not so blatant in their racism he'd (and most his voters) would be Republicans. Same with Evan Bayh. Unless the Democrats were to get real comfortable with the idea of passing every piece of legislation via reconciliation (which would be far too brass-knuckled for the delicate constitutions of Democrats), President Obama needed to find a way to maintain 60 votes, and keep up appearances of Democratic unity. That's a political quagmire if one ever existed.
But so what? What do we do now that the Republicans control the House and have pledged to block every piece of legislation the Democrats introduce (save, of course, tax cuts, OBVIOUSLY). Do we let them, as some on the left have suggested and let the American people see them for the obstructionists that they are? Sounds tempting, but I'm starting to think that's too sophisticated for our current political media and most voters. Sigh.
Or, do we take the tactic of our President and work to get SOMETHING passed, knowing that something is better than nothing and it is easier to build on legislation than to pass it? That's what we did with health care reform and financial services reform. It's also what we did with civil rights legislation. Our first Civil Rights Act was pretty meager. Over time it got better. I suspect the same will be true with the Affordable Care Act, presuming the Democrats (and a few sane Republicans) find the will to beat back the impulse to cave to the quick and conservative-media driven narrative that the bill is garbage.
So, I guess what I'm saying is let's not give up, no matter how dark and how cold our political climate may be right now. And lets resist the urge to punish one man for the failings of Congress and keep in mind that legislative change happens incrementally, and often is a process of two steps forward, one step back. We'll get there, and President Obama can still bring us there, but not if we expect miracles and victories at every turn and in every year.
I remember every single anti-woman crack that came from your party during the debate on health care reform. I remember Republicans shouting down and talking over their female colleagues in Congress. And I remember every single NO vote for SCHIP, breast cancer prevention programs, inclusion of maternity care in health insurance reform, and how you cut funding to domestic violence shelters to balance the budget.
I remember how you said HUNGER IN CHILDREN IS A POSITIVE MOTIVATOR.
I remember every act of violent intimidation against women who dare to speak up for what they believe in to get what they need, whether it's a political protest where they get stomped or shoved, or if they're simply trying to visit Planned Parenthood for any reason. I remember how you changed your mind and kept the donation from the campaign worker who stomped the woman.
I remember every single ugly sign people in your corporate-funded subsidiary the Tea Party waved, the images and words revealing more about your misshapen souls than anything about our president or our fellow Americans.
I remember every loud silence when "moderate" Republicans were too timid to denounce the bullies in their party.
I remember when you APOLOGIZED to the British corporation that had just befouled our Gulf waters with an oil spill that is perhaps the worst ecological disaster in recent memory. I remember how you said you still believe in "Drill, baby, drill."
I remember how you were economic advisor to the presidential candidate who lost because he said, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong."
I remember how you said your housekeeper was "like family" and then the moment she became a political liability you acted as if you barely knew her and now you say that you would deport her.
I remember that you were shameless after you said and did all this.
I remember.
I remember who's been working hard to move us all forward. And I vote.
The latest suicide of a young person who was bullied about his sexuality by his classmates and acquaintances has me shaken up. Tyler Clementi's is the fourth such reported death in less than a month. And yet we continue to hear of more such suicides.
I'm stunned and horrified that two Rutgers students thought it would be "funny" to livestream schoolmate Clementi's sexual activity over the internet without his permission or knowledge, directly contradicting Clementi's request for privacy.
As a parent, I'm devastated by the Clementis' terrible loss of their beautiful, gifted son. There is nothing so heart-wrenching as parents forced to bury their child; a situation so profoundly unjust and sorrowful it goes against everything parents attempt in the simple, hopeful act of nurturing children. People of all ages recognize this grief; you need not be a parent to understand it. But I think parents feel a particular pain knowing that in some cases, their vast love and acceptance, like Wendy Walsh's for her now-dead son Seth, was not enough to counter the hate. When he came out to his mother, Wendy Walsh told Seth, "It's okay, sweetheart, I love you no matter what." I'm heartbroken that despite her abiding love, her son couldn't endure torment from his schoolmates and the deafening, indifferent silence of teachers and staff.
Ellen DeGeneres immediately made a moving and urgent plea to suicidal young LGBT people to "stick around." Be around for the changes, because society is changing--unevenly, slowly, in pockets here and there. But it is changing for the better.
Dan Savage, the popular sex-positive advice columnist, started "It Gets Better," a similar movement to reassure and encourage LGBT youth that they will find love, that with luck and perserverance and the warm support of friends and allies they will find their niche in the world.
National Coming Out Day is October 11, 2010--seven days from now. And October is Anti-Bullying Month.
I'm starting up a Blog Action that I hope everyone will join, from the parenting blogosphere, to LGBT bloggers who have already written and vlogged so movingly about homophobic bullying and the courage to come out. I know caring educators will have something to say, as will activists in the youth and feminist movements. I think we allies need to find one another.
If you've blogged a memorial about the suicides of of kids tormented because of their sexual orientation, if you have a hopeful coming out story to share, if you have resources to help people who witness bullying become the ones to stop it, please add your blog post link to the Simply Linked below. For the next seven days until National Coming Out Day, October 11, let's demonstrate that there's more love, compassion, and acceptance out there than there is cruelty and hate.
TONIGHT 9500 LIBERTY premieres on MTV Networks Join filmmakers Eric Byler and Annabel Park for webcast Q&A
[Reprint of press kit materials describing the films.]
SB 1070, the racial profiling law in Arizona, has been tried once before, and it failed.
Please
tune in tonight for the world television premiere of the film, "9500
Liberty" at 8 PM Eastern time, and 8 PM Pacific time on MTV 2, MTV U,
and MTV Tr3s (with Spanish subtitles).
"9500 Liberty" provides a
blueprint for how ordinary citizens can join together across party lines
to oppose extremism. We hope our film will incite civility and make
room for progress, not just the immigration issue, but on issues
involving the responsible practice of democracy.
WORLD TELEVISION PREMIERE Sunday Sept. 26th 8 PM ET, 8 PM PT on MTV 2, MTV U, & MTV Tr3s (with Spanish subtitles)
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post wrote a post called "Tough Love for Obama." It's a quick read.
Marcus writes:
I spent a fascinating evening last week listening via video hookup to
focus groups, 30 women in all, in three battleground states:
Pennsylvania, Missouri and Colorado. These were, literally, Wal-Mart
shoppers -- the retail giant sponsored the discussions -- screened to
exclude committed partisans of the left or right and split evenly
between 2008 supporters of Obama and John McCain.
If you think this week is a time for celebrating as the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act going into effect this week, think again. For you skeptics (myself included!), today comes the announcement from several major insurers that they will drop certain policies that would cover children who have pre-existing conditions rather than comply with the new law and lose money for their shareholders.
Yeah, that's just the kind of country we apparently live in. I'm waiting for the next shoe to drop in the not-entirely-unexpected insurance story I call, "Is Anyone Surprised?"
August 18, 2010: combat troop withdrawal from Iraq began ahead of schedule. There are now 50,000 soldiers left behind in Iraq to oversee general security. By winning, I don't mean we won this war. I mean it's a victory for those who opposed the war that we elected a new president who did what he promised.
If the talk by various lawmakers of repealing "birthright citizenship," or citizenship by virtue of being born on U.S. soil, sounds surreptitiously anti-woman, it is. It's as familiar and toxic as the right-wing's bogeyman, the "welfare queen." Only, this is a way to transfer the negative feeling conservatives have
attached mostly to African American women to Latina (and Asian) women instead. It's hateful talk and it's spreading from the home of racial-profiling law SB1070, Arizona, to Texas.
The idea is the same: dehumanize women of color and their children, characterize them as dependent on social programs meant for "real people," and deny their families dignity and legitimacy. By denying children of immigrants citizenship, 14th amendment repealers hope to deport undocumented parents and their citizen children, thereby uprooting and breaking up families.
It's an ugly trick and as old as the hills. Claims about reliance on social services are not even true. And it definitely speaks to the lesser impulses of our country and makes a mockery of the sentiments embodied by the Statue of Liberty.
Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k. She was 6 years old when her parents, immigrants from China and permanent residents of the U.S. at the time, became U.S. citizens. She is a citizen of the U.S. by virtue of being born in the state of Wisconsin. She'll get into the face of anyone who thinks repealing birthright citizenship is a worthwhile idea--that means you, Senators Kyl & Graham.
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