GLAA Forum

Rep. Trent Franks wants to expand his DC abortion ban nationwide

Tara Culp-Ressler reports in ThinkProgress:

Not content with attempting to impose his anti-abortion agenda upon the women who live in the nation’s capital, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) now intends to push for a nationwide bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks. Franks, who invoked the illegal abortion provider Kermit Gosnell to justify his decision to re-introduce a 20-week abortion ban in DC, now says that Gosnell’s crimes have compelled him to amend his bill so it applies to women across the country....

However, that’s a gross mischaracterization of the state of legal abortion services throughout the country. Abortion opponents have repeatedly attempted to twist the facts surrounding Gosnell’s high-profile murder trial to make it appear as if his crimes are rampant throughout legal abortion clinics. But that’s simply not the case. The Philadelphia-area abortion doctor was guilty of much more than simply breaking Pennsylvania’s law that criminalizes abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy; he was also able to offer discounted prices for his services because he didn’t employ medical professionals or adhere to safety standards. Gosnell’s “house of horrors” isn’t analogous to the way that legal, sanitary late-term abortion clinics provide care to the women who need it.

I can't believe we have to fight this all over again, 40 years after Roe v. Wade. I am so tired of the religious fanatics and bullies in this country.

Charles Ramsey tells how he rescued Amanda Berry and 2 others

This has to be one of the best breaking news interviews ever.

PS: No, Mister Ramsey doesn't look a thing like D.C.'s former police chief of the same name. But he is one upstanding citizen. As he was eating McDonald's takeout when the rescue incident started, he got the following tweet from the fast food giant:

Sexist double standards do not require wolf-whistles

(Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Photo by Associated Press)

WaPo's Jonathan Capehart posted an item on Thursday titled, "Obama was right about Kamala Harris":

President Obama prides himself on telling the truth. And when he reportedly said that California Attorney General Kamala Harris is “by far, the best looking attorney general,” he spoke the God’s honest truth. But that wasn’t the only thing he said about the talented attorney with a national future. In fact, it was the last part of what he said.

“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough,” Obama said at a fundraiser this morning in Atherton, Calif. “She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general.” The president’s compliment was greeted with laughter as he added, “It’s true! C’mon.” Yep, all true.

What’s also true is that Obama and Harris are longtime friends.

I hate to disagree with Jonathan, but the feminists who called out President Obama for his objectifying (though politely worded and not crude) comment about CA AG Kamala Harris's looks have a point. They acknowledged his pro-women policies. They were not calling him the enemy. But it's just the case that men are not commonly objectified in a similar fashion. In Ft. Worth in his last public speech, JFK noted good-naturedly the attention his wife Jackie was getting, and quipped, "Nobody wonders what Lyndon and I wear."

Can't we acknowledge the double standards at play in these situations without being accused of setting the place on fire? Hillary Clinton has had to put up with endless discussions of her hair and clothes in a way that her male counterparts do not. Come on, folks. It won't kill us to reflect on this.

Now that that's taken care of, when is Hillary going to get her pre-campaign makeover? Will she do Botox? What about those frumpy jackets? And that hair-- what was she thinking?

BTW, I loved the response to this controversy by my friend Walter: "The President overlooked Beau Biden."

Also: in addition to having a Pulitzer Prize to his credit, Jonathan Capehart is completely adorable and is always immaculately dressed. And Chris Christie should apply for his own zip code. And ....

Pam Spaulding tweets:

‏@pamspaulding
Three Cheers For Feminist Bloggers Who Called Out Obama’s Objectifying Comment About Female Politician | Mediaite http://bit.ly/XuXV10

Video: President Obama Signs Violence Against Women Act

"This victory shows that when the American people make their voices heard, Washington listens."

Sen. Warren puts the wood to bank regulators at her first hearing

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stumps bank regulators with the simple question of when they last took a Wall Street bank to trial. She talks about ordinary citizens who are aggressively prosecuted "to make an example of them," while the megabanks that do vastly more harm get off with settlements in which they pay fines out of their ill-gotten gains. "I'm really concerned that 'Too Big to Fail' has become 'Too Big for Trial.' That just seems wrong to me."

Thank the Goddess and the voters of Massachusetts that this woman is in the Senate. (BTW, love the Valentine's red.)

NM bill would criminalize post-rape abortions as evidence tampering

Not from The Onion.

In a hearing that included Rand Paul and John McCain, NY Post thinks Hillary Clinton was the hysteric

In case your brain went missing and you thought we were living in a post-sexist society, take a gander at this New York Post cover. Bullett Media comments.

My comment: The Secretary of State ate their lunch, and they're not man enough to admit it.

Rep. Ryan introduces fetal rights bill again

Paul Ryan is at it again. It's not just that the radical right learned no lessons from their defeat in the 2012 election. They are absolutely determined not to learn any such lessons. It is important for the rest of us to keep in mind that the fanatics who lost have not disappeared and are not giving up their efforts to control women's reproductive choices.

Breakthrough Year

My look back at 2012 is now online at Huffington Post. It ranges from our NFL allies Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe to President Obama and NAACP President Ben Jealous to Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin to our sweep of statewide ballot measures in November to the GOP's self-destructive year to Africa's raised LGBT voices to family affirmation. 2012 was quite a ride!

House Democratic women support Amb. Susan Rice

Excerpts from a news conference criticizing unfair attacks against U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice. Above is D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Below is Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11).

Pelosi slams Russert for 'offensive' question on aging House leadership

To be fair to young Luke Russert, his question was not just about Nancy Pelosi, but also about Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn. It may be ageist, but the cries of sexism seem pretty outlandish given what Russert actually asked. Also, he had not thought it up himself, but was relaying the privately stated views of other members of the House Democratic caucus.

Incidentally, whether Russert's question was legitimate or offensive of whatever does not depend on what one thinks of his having benefited from being the son of a famous journalist. He has struck me as sharp and capable. Personally, I have a great deal of respect for Pelosi, whose tenure as Speaker was quite productive. And I don't care at all how old she or Hoyer or Clyburn is. Ben Franklin was old when he pulled off some sly diplomatic maneuvers in Paris. Pelosi is quite effective at pulling together the House Democrats. I also like and respect Hoyer, who wants the top Democratic job (and the Speakership) himself. I have about a thousand concerns that matter more to me than their rivalry.

Women's Night

In tribute to our new women senators-elect, and to all those who answered the Republican Party's attack on women with a resounding electoral defeat on November 6, here is the great Aretha Franklin, in a performance in Stockholm in 1968. All she wants is a little respect.

God Bless America

Going into this election, I didn't think we could have another moment to compare with Grant Park in Chicago four years ago as the election was called for Obama. But tonight brought victory and vindication on so many fronts, reminding ourselves, our fellow citizens, and the world that Americans will not accept government by fanatics and bullies, we will not tolerate their war against women, and we will not continue to deny gay and lesbian couples and their families equal respect and protection.

I was taking a taxi home after congratulating D.C. Council reform candidate David Grosso on his upset victory against ethically challenged incumbent Michael A. Brown, and passed along U Street past Ben's Chili Bowl, the Lincoln Theater, and the Republic Gardens. People were dancing in the street and chanting, "Four more years!" in celebration of President Obama's victory. But this is about so much more than the top of the ticket. What a glorious moment for this country's rich diversity, which has defeated the angry voices of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and homophobia. Deepest gratitude to every activist and community worker, living and dead, who helped pave the way for this moment.

Update: Mara Keisling wrote on Facebook:

Had it not been for the aggressive and immoral (and effective) redistricting process the Republicans did after the 2010 census, last night would have been more clearly a generational repudiation of the increasingly extreme Republican Party. The Republicans only held the US House because they redrew the maps to solidify their extremism. Everything else went the Dems way. Republicans need to get their adults back in charge and just knock it off.

Amen to that.

Lena Dunham: Your First Time

This amusing ad from the Obama 2012 campaign is causing conniptions on the right. Mary Elizabeth Williams lays it out at Salon:

Lock up your virgins! There’s a dark-skinned, middle-aged man coming for them! And in other breaking news, archconservatives have absolutely no sense of humor....

On Twitter, conservative columnist John Podhoretz gently referred to the ad as “an unwise political move,” adding, “I don’t think appealing to undecided voters in the Midwest is in her skill set.” Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, meanwhile, could barely shudder out an “Appropriate?” I just hope none of these twisted-knickered conservatives ever find out what Sarah Silverman’s been doing to raise voter awareness.

But in the oddest responses of all, RedState’s Breeanne Howe described Dunham as a woman “who was raised in a wealthy, over-sexualized household,” and also evoked the “creepy” Putin ad. The best part, however, is how she declared that Barack Obama, like droit du seigneur-rocking feudal lord or Kurdish chieftain, “has asked for your daughters.” Your innocent, probably white, virgin daughters, ravished by that hymen-lusting brute in the White House. Breitbart’s John Nolte issued a similarly revolted response, bleating that “Obama has young daughters. But that didn’t stop him from releasing this commercial. Because this is what Obama thinks of your daughters.” Convenient, isn’t it, how conservatives like Nolte can’t or won’t distinguish between the president’s 14- and 11-year-old children and the 26 year-old Dunham? Don’t understand an appeal to adult women of legal voting age? Math is hard!

A political ad that openly flirts with sexual innuendo, one starring a woman known for her raunchy television show, will naturally have a built-in controversial element. But what makes the right-wing bluster entertaining is that it blithely ignores the basic reality that women and women’s bodies and sexual choices are already front and center in this election.

Weapon of Mass Instruction

From Nick Anderson of the Houston Chronicle.

A man with binders on

(Hat tip: Alexandra Beninda)

Romney's epitaph: "Binders full of women"

Mitt Romney indelibly captured his own cluelessness regarding women with one perfectly tone-deaf phrase in last night's presidential debate. In doing so, he scored a touchdown for the other team.

Wisconsin anchorwoman takes on a bully

Jennifer Livingston, the morning anchor at WKBT News 8 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, responds to a bully. Jonathan Capehart gives her a "You go!"

Fischer: DNC is a "Three Day Death Camp"

Bryan Fischer here is talking about Democrats' support for women's right to choose abortion. I myself have been called a genocidaire (as the French elegantly put it) for this very reason. The distinction between one's personal moral beliefs and one's view of what should be the law in a religiously diverse society is entirely lost on these theocrats, of course. But we must keep pointing out their disrespect for that diversity, and calling them out for their bullying, for the sake of our fellow citizens who are paying less attention and are more susceptible to their propaganda. This election will be won at the margins.

Renegade Raging Grannies respond to Todd Akin

(Hat tip: George Bakan)

Fischer: Akin is Like a Victim of Rape

Um, no.

(Hat tip: RightWingWatch)

Akin staying in the race

TPM reports. The fight, as they say, is on.

You never told me!

After what I learned yesterday from Rep. Todd Akin, I'm a bit mad at my sisters. All these years you've had these magic vaginas with secret super powers, and you never told me! I coulda turned out different....

"Legitimate Rape": Todd Akin explains it all for you

Yes, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who is running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), actually said on camera:

If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist.

Okay, how many more aggressive ignoramuses are American voters going to elect? Naturally, many Republicans are eager to push Rep. Akin under a bus and have the driver hit reverse to run over him again. Sen. McCaskill warns them to think twice. But let's not get too caught up in schadenfreude; McCaskill still has an uphill fight. And the right wing war against women is deadly serious, emphasis on deadly. Do not take this election for granted. And if you have friends who are disenchanted and plan to sit this one out, please find a nonviolent way of changing their minds. As the man says in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

Meanwhile, surprise surprise, Politico reporter Dave Catanese defends Akin.

Rosenberg & Robertson: God Removing Hand of Protection over Legal Abortion

I am wondering: how many times can God remove his protection from America due to our wickedness? Didn't Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson agree back in 2001 that God had removed his protection, and that was the cause of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Are these guys accusing the Almighty of backsliding?

(Hat tip: Right Wing Watch)

Vagina: Can't say it? Don't legislate it.

Thanks to ACLU of Michigan for this poster, inspired by state Rep. Lisa Brown, who offended the men who run the state House of Representatives by using the word "vagina" during a speech against an omnibus anti-abortion bill, so that they barred her from speaking in the follow day's session.

Rep. Norton not allowed to testify on Hill's DC abortion bill

The GOP's latest demonstration of contempt for democracy. DCist reports.

Well, why should their voter suppression efforts leave us out? How anyone could reward these unscrupulous people and call themselves patriots I do not understand.

Abused woman gets 20-year sentence

This is nuts.

Condescending Castellanos meets his match in Maddow

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Meet the Press yesterday was particularly galling because of the generous portion of over-the-top Republican lies, first from Ed Gillespie and then from Alex Castellanos during the round-table discussion. But I'm glad I stayed tuned in, because Rachel Maddow was also part of that discussion and she calmly let Castellanos have it. Castellanos cynically tried to portray her as being emotional, and she challenged him for being patronizing while continuing to make her point about policy. The GOP's denial that they are waging a war on women may well fool enough voters into letting them win if there are not more voices like Rachel's. Brava to her for showing the way.

Politics USA has a good take on it.

Sister Courage

My column this week: Amid the latest demonstration of the Vatican's authoritarian impulse, one nun's quiet persistence in protecting victims of sexual abuse by clergy. (She happens to be my cousin. She is one strong woman.) Here's an excerpt:

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith used to be called the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. That came to mind last week when the CDF cracked down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) for tolerating "radical feminist themes" and focusing too much on social justice instead of opposing abortion and gay marriage.

I called my favorite nun, Sister Katherine M. Donnelly, to express my solidarity. She is one of my Boston cousins, and is chaplain at a small inner city school for girls in Boston where the focus is on the Catholic Social Teachings and the need for the young women to become productive citizens and leaders in their community.

Katherine has also worked for over thirty years in the field of child abuse prevention. In 1992, with Thomas F. Carr, a family therapist and highly respected child abuse investigator for the Boston Juvenile Court, she co-founded the Pastoral Response Assistance Team, Inc., a multidisciplinary team of highly skilled professionals, to deal with the crisis of clergy abuse in the Church. Over the years the team has donated countless thousands of hours to fill gaps in service to any religious institution where allegations had been made, to help empower survivors of sexual abuse to take positive action, and to promote an honest discussion of sexual abuse within a church setting.

Katherine's work is about ministering to people. Amid so much controversy, the Pastoral Response Team quietly but effectively lives out the purpose outlined in its application for tax-exempt status in Massachusetts: "We have been called [in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi] 'to heal wounds, to reunite what has fallen apart and to bring back those who have lost their way.'"

Read the whole thing here.

Working woman

For some reason, the overblown, phony furor over Hilary Rosen's comment about Ann Romney not appreciating the struggles of working women because she never worked a day in her life made me think of this indelible scene from the 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl's flawless, ball-busting gloriousness as an Anna Wintour-like fashion exec put me in awe of her for the umpteenth time. So that's cerulean.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Romney, a pool reporter caught her comment about Rosen's comment being an early birthday present — and all the outrage on behalf of stay-at-home moms is revealed to be (gasp!) merely a bit of cynical opportunism. Meanwhile, Mittens doesn't think staying at home is dignified for poor mothers. Don't be distracted by the political theater. It's about public policy, and the Republicans are extremely radical in their policies that disrespect and ignore the reality of the lives of the vast majority of women, who of course do not work for Vogue any more than their houses have garages with elevators. Please, don't sleep late on election day.

Mitt Romney: Mothers Should Be Required To Work Outside Home Or Lose Benefits

HuffPo reports on a shocking, shocking development: Mitt Romney flip-flopping on an issue.

In Arizona, Life Somehow Begins Two Weeks Before Conception. Don't Ask.

Common Dreams reports the latest obnoxious lunacy signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Kate Clinton pays tribute to Adrienne Rich

Comedian and activist Kate Clinton pays tribute to feminist poet Adrienne Rich, who died on Tuesday at age 82.

Harry Jackson Claims the Contraceptive Mandate is an Attack on the Black Community

Right Wing Watch reports:

After claiming that everyone from everyone from the IRS to gays and lesbians is a direct threat to African Americans, now Harry Jackson maintains that the Obama administration mandate for insurance plans to cover contraceptives is actually a means of anti-Black population control. Jackson links the requirement for employees to offer plans that include contraception to racist anti-Black actions in the past, but never explains how ensuring that insurance plans cover contraceptives is part of a “silent effort of the powerful to control black breeding,” arguing that “the black community does not need more birth control.”

Bishop Jackson is a veritable cornucopia of nuttiness. But followers of this blog already knew that.

Dual lives: the effect upon women

An older friend this morning talked to me about coming out late in life after a heterosexual marriage, and how his wife was affected. He had repressed his same-sex feelings, so there was nothing like an Oscar Wilde scandal in his case; but in his marriage he still had not been able to give his wife everything that she needed and deserved. This unhappiness is the inevitable consequence of what the radical religious right wishes for gay people and those who love them: lives with dishonesty at their heart, in which family and social pressures lead to marriages with something missing at their center.

Naturally, the presence of public scandal greatly magnifies the harm to the family of a man who has lived a lie. In this scene from the 1997 film Wilde, Oscar in his disgrace talks to his wife Constance, who says that she will permit him to see his sons again only if he will agree never again to see Lord Alfred Douglas. As it turned out, she changed her sons names to Holland, and she died two years before Oscar, as a consequence of a fall down some stairs. As the final scene from the movie (below) shows, her condition was one that Oscar could not meet. Bosie Douglas is played by Jude Law, Oscar by Stephen Fry.

Hillary Clinton's call to arms for women

If you haven't seen it, here is a portion of Hillary Clinton's bracing speech at the 2012 Women in the World conference. One thing she says is "We are living in what I call the age of participation." Amen to that.

For much more on the gathering, check out the Daily Beast.

Vote Like a Woman

My column this week concerns the current Republican war against women. Here's an excerpt:

Turnabout being fair play, women legislators in Virginia and Oklahoma have proposed the Every Sperm Is Sacred amendment, in which ejaculation of sperm anywhere but into a woman's vagina is an act against an unborn child. (For biblical support, see Genesis 38: 9-10.) Others would require men seeking Viagra to watch videos on the dire consequences of erections lasting more than four hours.

Activist Toni Broaddus recently posted on Facebook, "I have a vagina and I vote." I replied, "I intend to vote as if I had a vagina."

Each of us has characteristics that others can use to label us. I say to those of us who enjoy a measure of privilege because we share characteristics with the dominant group (white, male, Christian): Vote as if you were a woman. Vote as if you were a Muslim. Vote as if you were an immigrant who fits a police profile. Vote as if you were Deoni Jones, murdered fifty blocks east of the U.S. Capitol because she didn't conform to someone else's idea of an acceptable gender presentation.

Read the whole thing here.

Meryl Streep pays tribute to Hillary Clinton

Meryl Streep movingly introduces "the real deal," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at Women in the World 2012. Brava.

Limbaugh issues rare apology; Carbonite still won't advertise with him

Rush Limbaugh has done something rare for him: issue an apology. He apologized for calling Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" for her advocacy of inclusion of contraception in health insurance policies.

But one of the sponsors that pulled its advertising from his show, the online backup company Carbonite, still won't return as an advertiser. It stated:

No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.

Good for them. Bullies like Rush can be defeated by standing up to them. And good for Sandra Fluke. If we want a decent country that lives up to its own principles, we have to fight for it.