The Congressional Assault On Women’s Rights

The 113th Congress of the United States began on January 3rd, 2013; they’ve been in session for less than two calendar months. I make it clear that it’s two calendar months because Congress is not in chambers everyday. No, according to their calendars Congress (House and Senate) was in Chamber a total of 8 times in January and in February and up to the 17h (today’s date) for 7 days; that’s a total of 15 working days in 46 days.

Republicans in Congress have been busy during these 15 days, unfortunately they don’t care about the message the American people sent them this past elections. Once more, Republicans are doing all they can to force women to have children they don’t want – for whatever reason they don’t want them. Once again, they are pushing their religious agenda upon every single woman in this country. There’s even a bill to protect doctors that refuse to perform abortions, but not one single bill to protect physicians that do and those are the ones that are being murdered by the Religious Right these Republicans in Congress represent. I guess that for them it’s OK to murder a physician for performing a legal abortion but no one can even criticize a doctor for not assisting a woman in obtaining information about a legal abortion.

There’s a bill that is founded on a study called “Son Preference and the Role of Culture: Evidence from Asian Immigrants to Canada” (to read the original, click here).  The study was written by three ECONOMISTS: Douglas Almond (Dept. of Economics, Columbia University); Lena Edlund (Dept. of Economics, Columbia University) and Kevin Milligan (Dept. of Economics, University of British Columbia); these individuals are not doctors and they have never claimed to be. This study was done using data from the Census in Canada, not the United States. The Canadian Census suggests that among the Asian communities in Canada there are more male children being born than females, especially if the parents had already two previous children and these children were female. From this information, these economists concluded that these Asian immigrants were selecting the sex of their fetus and having an abortion if the tests resulted in a female fetus. The same it’s not true in the States but that doesn’t matter. This prompted Republicans to create a bill using the Canadian data and a study that was created on population figures, but not one medical study, because they had none and in the study not one medical data was used.

These Republicans that are so obsessed with vaginas and fetuses are the same that are doing all they can to cut funding for Medicaid, Food Stamps and Educational programs. These are the programs that will provide medical assistance to poor families to care for their children and that rely on food stamps to feed those children. But these Republicans don’t care about a child that has passed through the birth canal, for all they care they can go without a doctor’s visit, food or a decent education. Their main concern is that sacred zygote.

It is my opinion – and I am entitled to have one – that the Republican Party wants women to be barefooted and pregnant, so she will not have the time to be involved in politics and moving this country forward. Most women oppose wars – because it is our children the ones that will die in those wars, and Republicans are ballistic, their second obsession is wars. Republicans are pro-corporations, by forcing all women to be giving birth continuously they will ensure these corporations a certain form of slavery, when there will be so many uneducated workers in a short period of time (18 years is not a long time), that they will work for pennies – just like China does.

Another thing to take into consideration is their fear that the White Race is becoming the minority in this country because the majority of the educated white women in this country are being responsible and abstaining from having a large family. What these Republicans don’t stop to think is that by prohibiting abortions and trying to obstruct access to prescribed contraceptives the other races will continue to reproduce at a faster rate, and this country is destined to be a multi-racial country where whites will end up in the minority no matter what they do to prevent it.

Republicans hate it that the left calls their actions a “War Against Women” but, what other name could we give it when it is obvious that they don’t care about women? There are those in Congress that want to ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and even if the mother’s life is in danger. Women for them are things to be used and not valued. What else can we call it when those Republicans in Congress have abstained voting to pass the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA)? What else can we call it when these Republicans are drafting bills to protect the rights of a rapist to visit the child he procreated through rape? The congressional assault on women’s rights goes on and on.

I will not stop until I see these retrograde, male chauvinists pigs removed from Congress. Draft a bill making men responsible. Draft a bill to control men’s procreation abilities (no more insurance coverage for vasectomies or vasectomy reversals; for Viagra or anything remotely related to male’s reproductive systems). Let’s get into those dusty pants and start probing into those penises. No more turning the other cheek, that has never worked. It’s time to give them a taste of their own medicine, it takes two to tango and that applies in relationships, sex and legislation.

We’ve come a long way, baby to let these dinosaurs take us back to the dark ages.

Elephants Do Love Nuts

It is amusing what is taking place in American politics. Has the Right wing gone completely insane? The 2012 Presidential Elections will forever be remembered as the wackiest in history.

Politics has always been, and will always be, dirty business but the level of dirt shown by the Right during these campaigns is off the charts. We’ve gone from a system of government with predominantly two parties, Democratic and Republican, who used to differ in many aspects but capable of finding a median ground where they could work and collaborate for the good of the country to what we have now, which is a completely dysfunctional system where if the Democratic Party says yea the other one by force must say nay, even if what they are rejecting are their own ideas. If instead of political parties leading a nation these were parents raising a child, that child would be removed from that household and placed in foster care due to abusive parents and child neglect. Yet we, the hypothetical children of these parents, are stuck with these parents where at least one of them couldn’t give a damn about us but we don’t have a Department of Children and Families to look after us and save us from these monsters. 

I am beginning to think that there is a secret competition among Republicans to see who does or says the craziest thing and gets away with it. It is almost as if they want to test how solid their base is, if they follow and are loyal to the Party because of the ideology or because of stupidity, and stupidity is winning. How else could you explain what is happening?

On September 12, 2011 at the GOP/Tea Party Express Debate, Wolf Blitzer asked an hypothetical question about a healthy 30 year old man who chose not to have health insurance and all of the sudden gets sick and needs intensive care for six months. When the Blitzer asked Ron Paul if society should let him die, there were people in the audience cheering and yelling “Let him die!” Ironically, the majority of those people call themselves Christians.  Ron Paul didn't agree, none of the candidates did but not a single one of them made a comment against what those in the audience yelled, and we all know that silence speaks volumes.

During the Republican Presidential Candidates Debate at Reagan’s Library in Texas, Brian Williams asked: “Governor Perry, question about Texas, your state has executed two hundred thirty four death row inmates more than any other governor in modern times [applause], have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that anyone of those might have been innocent?” When the audience heard “more than any other governor” they went wild applauding and even whistling in approval and Governor Perry far from showing an image of concern or consternation, openly showed a smile, a smile that can only be described as content and pride for holding such a record. Governor Perry went on to explain that he didn’t lose any sleep over it. Apparently everyone that is in death row in Texas is guilty without a shed of a doubt even though there has been proof all over the United States of people in death row that later were found to be innocent, without a trace of a doubt. But Perry doesn’t let that bother him. For me that is a man clearly without a conscience; I do not say that he should have been apologetic, after all the Death Penalty is legal in Texas but… not being or expressing any concern for executing an innocent person? That is heartless and barbaric and does not make him any better than a murderer or terrorist. 

There was a time when those running for any office, whether it is for an Executive or Legislative position, would not dare touch the subject of Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security because they did not want to alienate the senior citizens. Not anymore. Today they go rampant and feel free to say that they will privatize the only safety net most seniors have… and the Republican seniors cheer with huge smiles on their faces! The same goes for women, Right wing women. The Republicans running for office or already holding a position such as Governor, Representative or Senator have decided that a woman’s vagina is one of the few things that are public domain and that government has a right to dictate what a woman can and can not do with what she has between her legs. They have suggested probing, testing, poking and everything you can think of with or without the woman’s consent. In my books, that is known by one word: RAPE. Yet, many of the Republican women sitting in Congress have approved of this invasion of their privacy. More unthinkable is the fact that there are common women affiliated with the Republican Party that apparently do not mind this intrusion. They seem to be Republican in soul, body and vagina! This might explain why Rep. Todd Akin believes and publicly said that “if it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”, perhaps he was referring to the governmental rape which lacks cojones and therefore sperm, and as “to try to shut that whole thing down” is his way of saying that is precisely what the government, if Republican, will do: shut your vaginas down.  Later, Akin tried to rectify his unfounded and ignorant comment retracting from that statement but once a statement like this is recorded, it can not be taken back.  These Republican officials are the same ones that are always claiming they want smaller government, but that only pertains to governmental departments that will keep corporations on check by regulating them, but they are more than willing to create even larger departments to control our bodies and what we decide to do with it.

  

The Republican base has been demanding to see President Obama’s birth certificate since he won the presidency. It matters little to them that he has provided copies of it; they believe it’s a fake and no matter what proof is given they will reject it because no matter what President Obama presents it will not change one simple fact: his race and for as long as the race on the birth certificate reads Black, it will not be accepted by the Right wing but of course, they do not want to be accused of racism so they have to adhere to the birth certificate issue. Now, they have a presidential hopeful that has a history of scheming small businesses for decades, who has cheated this country by hiding his fortune overseas in order not to pay income taxes and when he has paid those taxes (if he has) it has been at a rate of 13% but refuses to show more than an incomplete year of tax returns. The Right wing has no problems whatsoever with Romney’s refusal to provide us with his income tax returns. What’s more, they claim it is not important. Not important? How can they say that? For them it is not important whether or not the person they want to elect for president of this country has systematically and unscrupulously screwed this nation by being a tax dodger, hiding his fortune and outsourcing our jobs.  For them these is fine and dandy, they see nothing wrong with this. 

A little over a week ago Mitt Romney made his choice for Vice President public and the “comeback team” was created. No one has asked “comeback” to where? They were never a team before so they can’t be a comeback team so I am sure they are referring to a time in history. Where to? The Bush-Cheney era, is that where they wish to go back to? Or perhaps they’re dreaming of going back to the Reagan-Bush era? Neither one was good. One we all remember since we are still suffering the effects of that administration, the other one the GOP has worked diligently in one of the best marketing campaigns in history: To make out of a terrible president who was practically insane a hero, a demigod and the face and values of the current Republican Party. It took time, but they erased, altered or dismissed all the bad things that Reagan did, such as the famous "Reaganomics" which ran a huge deficit and fail to produce revenues to sustain the expenses, so in 1986 and as a direct result of "Reaganomics" the United States went from a Lender to a Debtor and the GOP glorifies it.  The GOP has eliminated the contra scandal and substituted it with a fantasy which is that Reagan ended Communism in Europe and hold as proof the “Mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall” speech that Reagan read at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987. It was an inspiring speech but in and by itself did nothing to open the gates that separated Germany and East Germany. The German people brought down that wall two years later on November 9, 1989, not Gorbachev and not Reagan. But the Right wing do not give credit to the German people for this huge accomplishment, they  give all the credit to Reagan and to a speech that was written for him by Peter Robinson.

  

Since when going backwards moves anything forward? 

The above are just a few examples of the wacky ideology of the new Republican Party and the behavior of their representatives.  I always heard that elephants love nuts, the above just confirms it.