Saturday, November 17, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Stupid but refreshingly honest Mormon works for the county clerk registering Republicans to vote. Mormons: A dangerous right wing racist cult. Liars by religion
Ooops. Unsurprisingly, there were questions for County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams, who just happens to be a Republican and according to his official bio at the El Paso County, Colorado website, “an active member of the Chapel Hills Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where he currently serves in the Bishopric.”
And the young woman also just happens to be a Mormon. She is wearing a Mormon CTR ring, a type of ring given to children at baptism (CTR means “choose the right”):
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Texas Judge Predicts Civil War
HURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012
GOP Texas judge predicts civil war if Obama wins
[Obama] is going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the UN. Okay, what’s going to happen when that happens? I’m thinking worst case scenario here. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. We’re not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations. We’re talking Lexington-Concord take up arms and get rid of the guy.And I was able to confirm that he is in fact a Republican judge.
Now what’s going to happen if we do that, if the public decides to do that? He’s going to send in U.N. troops — with the little blue beanies. I don’t want ‘em in Lubbock County. Okay. So I’m going to stand in front of their armored personnel carrier and say ‘you’re not coming in here’. “And the sheriff, I’ve already asked him, I said ‘you gonna back me’ he said, ‘yeah, I’ll back you.’”
It's amazing how much Republicans hate our country. After all, they're the only one who keep talking about leaving? Hell, Mr. Romney's family did leave. They hate our system of government (they can't stand the separation of powers, especially an independent judiciary). They can't stand gays, women, blacks, Latinos. Other than the Second Amendment, they don't seem to like the Constitution much either.
They do like the flag, but that's only when they don't have to think very hard about what it actually stands for.
They claim to like the military, but they don't - just look at the way they treated John Kerry for winning a medal for saving his fellow service members. And the way they use our service members without much thought given to the lives they're putting at risk (Iraq comes to mind, and don't forget Bush's unwillingness to give our troops the body armor they needed). And they mock the commander in chief for having caught bin Laden.
So it figures Texans keep talking about leaving the US. They and their party left America behind a long time ago.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
John Willke.The Source of Akin's "information" is a prominent Republican and close associate of Willard Mitt Romney
Poor Willard. Here he is, trying to be as deceptive as possible about so many things, and someone like Todd Akin, the idiot right wing fanatic in Missouri who shot off his mouth about whether all rape victims have been "legitimately" raped, blows his cover. Willard officially repudiated Akin's message. But you see, the sick, ludicrous idea that rape hardly ever results in pregnancy (!) has been promoted most prominently by someone that Willard himself was mentored by, John Willke. The story is here:
Here is what this Dr. Willke (who is the source for Akin’s “female body shuts down pregnancy” hokum) has said about pregnancy and rape:
Dr. John C. Willke, a general practitioner with obstetric training and a former president of the National Right to Life Committee, was an early proponent of this view, articulating it in a book originally published in 1985 and again in a 1999 article. He reiterated it in an interview Monday.
“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.”
A physician and former president of the National Right to Life Committee, Willke was an “important surrogate” for Romney’s 2008 presidential bid. Willke is the oft-cited source of the theory that rape-related pregnancies are “rare.” The theory is sometimes used by antiabortion advocates to argue that abortion laws should not contain exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest.
Willke believes that trauma caused by violent rape causes a woman’s reproductive system to shut down. He presents this belief as fact in educational materials, including a book about abortion and a website called abortionfacts.com. Willke’s views – and his role in promoting a theory that has been widely rejected in modern medicine – appear not to have concerned Romney in 2007, when he touted Willke’s endorsement.
“Dr. Willke is a leading voice within the pro-life community and will be an important surrogate for Governor Romney’s pro-life and pro-family agenda,” the Romney campaign said in an October 2007 statement.
“I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country,” Romney said in the statement. “He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer-funded abortion and partial-birth abortion.”
Insane nonsense. Shocking. Horrible. Why? Because this whole "can't get pregnant from a rape" lie is the basis of the Republican assertion that women who say they've been impregnated by a rapist are lying, and have no right to end the pregnancy.
Unbelievable. And the chief idiot spreading this garbage is admired and ENDORSED by Willard.
Women of America, draw your own conclusions.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The Official Guide to Legitimate Rape
http://jezebel.com/5936160/the-official-guide-to-legitimate-rape
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The Official Guide to Legitimate Rape
Yesterday, Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, Republican Senate nominee and member of the House Science, Space and Technology committee, said pregnancy from rape was "really rare" because "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Akin quickly said that he "misspoke," but he didn't rescind his claims that women have magical sperm-defying ovaries — or that there's a hierarchy when it comes to different "levels" of rape.
If you're unfamiliar with the exciting concept that your uterus can pick and choose between various kinds of rape, don't fret. We have just the guide for you.
Non-Pregnancy Rape
For decades, conservatives have claimed that women can't get pregnant from "legitimate" rape thanks to their wise, all-knowing uteri, psychic "juices" and Spidey Sense-like "secretions." (Hmm, if legislators can applaud our vaginas for being so omniscient, how come they can't let us control them?)
In 1988, Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Stephen Freind said the odds that a woman who is raped will get knocked up are "one in millions and millions and millions" because rape causes a woman to "secrete a certain secretion" that kills evil sperm. I don't know about you guys, but my "secretions" are so judicious that they start flowing the second after an Ayn Rand-lover approaches me at a bar, before he can even utter the word "Objectivism." I guess my vag is just highly evolved.
In 1995, North Carolina state Rep. Henry Aldridge told the House Appropriations Committee that "The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work and they don't get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever." Plan B: If your secretions can't kill evil sperm, you just "dry up" and brush yourself off after you're done being raped, baby-free. No biggie!
Then, there's this famous 1999 Christian Life Resources piece from John C. Willke, a physician who was once president of the National Right to Life Committee, in which he basically just makes shit up:
Finally, factor in what is is certainly one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that's physical trauma. Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle. To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one knows, but this factor certainly cuts this last figure by at least 50 percent and probably more.
Got it, ladies? If you're normal, you'll never emotionally recover from your rape because it's the "greatest emotional trauma" you can ever experience. But at least you'll be too fucked up to have a baby! If your body allows basic biology to happen inside of it, your rape wasn't aggressive enough. Try, try again?
Bad Weather Rape
In 1990, Texas Republican gubernatorial nominee Clayton Williams told ranchers that victims should take rape in stride and try to enjoy it — like when you have picnic plans but then there's a huge thunderstorm so you decide to see a movie instead and it turns out to be a pretty enjoyable afternoon after all! Yes, Williams literally compared rape to the foggy weather that was affecting his ongoing speech by saying, "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.''
Williams isn't the only conservative to claim rape is akin to unfortunate weather; in 1997, Bush appointee Federal Judge James Leon Holmes said in an article that "concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami." Because of the juices! And the secretions! And SCIENCE.
Politico Rape
Last night, Politico's Dave Catanese tweeted that it was "impossible" to know what Akin really meant to say when he said "legitimate rape" doesn't lead to pregnancy. "Just maybe," Catanese surmised, Akin "didn't really mean 'legitimate.' Perhaps he meant if 'someone IS really raped' or 'a rape really occurs.'" Catanese then got all huffy when people accused him of being a rape apologist, tweeting, "The left is often 1st to shut down debate as "off limits" when it deems so. Aren't these moments supposed to open up a larger debate?"
Catanese sure has a lot of questions! Here are some others: Why is it wrong to think that Akin meant to say "legitimate" when he literally said "legitimate"? Why should we spend a millisecond of our time analyzing Akin's deep thoughts on the "science" behind the female body's ability to "shut down" if she's being raped? Why does Akin deserve the benefit of the doubt at all? Why is aPolitico reporter more concerned with all of the mythological crazy ladies out there claiming fake rape than with the fact that a state representative who sits on the House Science committee doesn't understand how pregnancy works?
Forcible Rape and/or Assault Rape
Last year, Ye Grand Protector of All Womenfolk Rep. Akin joined forces with GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan to co-sponsor the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act", which introduced the awesome new term "forcible rape" into our vernacular. Federal funds can only be used to pay for abortion in cases when a woman is raped; the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" sought to chip away at that exception by clarifying that only pregnancies resulting from "forcible rape" would qualify for federally funded abortions. The true meaning of "forcible rape" was never clearly defined, and the term was eventually removed from the bill.
Yesterday, the Romney-Ryan campaign said the men disagreed with Akin's statement and that "a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape." Funny, since Ryan was one of the original co-sponsors of the "forcible rape" bill and has said that abortion should be illegal in all cases except when the mother's life is in danger.
Marriage Rape, aka "JK LOL Doesn't Happen!" Rape
Earlier this year, Idaho Senator Chuck Winder made good use of his time on the Senate floor when he warned everyone about those wily, dangerous housewives who didn't get the memo that putting a ring on it = no rapes forever and ever. "I would hope that when a woman goes into a physician, with a rape issue, that that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage, or was it truly caused by a rape," he said.
Fear of the "Wife who cried rape" is nothing new; as a state legislator, Akin once only voted for an anti-marital-rape law after wondering whether it might be used "in a real messy divorce as a tool and a legal weapon to beat up on the husband."
"Rape" Rape
Remember when Whoopi Goldberg said Roman Polanksi didn't, like, "rape-rape" a teenage girl? "I know it wasn't rape-rape," she said on The View. "It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape. He went to jail and and when they let him out he was like 'You know what this guy's going to give me a hundred years in jail I'm not staying, so that's why he left.'" That "something else" that isn't "rape rape" is a lot like....
Gray Rape
Young readers might think that "gray rape" has something to do with a certain popular BDSM bestseller, but it's a term that's officially been around since the '90s. Most people think thatCosmopolitan invented the term "gray rape" in 2007, when Laura Session Stepp defined it as "sex that falls somewhere between consent and denial and is even more confusing than date rape because often both parties are unsure of who wanted what." But Katie Roiphe infamously claimed "There is a gray area in which one person's rape may be another's bad night" in her 1994 book The Morning After: Fear, Sex and Feminism.
When the Cosmo article prompted a panel on the dangers of "grey rape," Linda Fairstein, the former chief of the sex crimes unit at the Manhattan district attorney's office, told the New York Times that the concept had been around long before Cosmo decided it was trendy. "Certainly, in the criminal justice system there's no such thing as gray rape," she said. "Gray rape is not a new term and not a new experience. For journalists, it may be, but for those of us who had worked in advocacy or law enforcement, this description of something being in a gray area has been around all the time. It's always been my job in law enforcement to separate out the facts."
Date Rape
"Date" rape is the opposite of "stranger" rape, which is everyone's favorite kind of rape, because if the attacker is a crazy inhuman savage jumping out of the bushes and never to be seen again (unless shot to death by a nearby princely fellow carrying a gun specifically for cut-and-dry situations such as these), there's no need to acknowledge rape culture or try and educate people about complicated issues of consent.
The term entered the national consciousness in 1985, when Ms. Magazine published a three-year federally-funded study by psychologist Mary P. Koss on date rape on college campuses. The study found that one in four college women were victims of rape or attempted rape, and that only one in four women had experienced sexual assault that met the legal definition of rape at the time. In the piece, Koss encouraged women to reconsider their past experiences and ask themselves if they had actually consented, even if the person in question was a friend.
When we attach "date" as a modifier to rape, the term becomes quainter and less violent; it implies the attacker and the victim were friendly, making the situation more convoluted. Which it very well may be. But "date rape" is much more common than "stranger rape." According toRAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, approximately two-thirds of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim, 73 percent of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger, and 38 percent of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
Why do we feel the need to get so specific when a rape is "date" rape if that's the unfortunate norm?
Rape
RAINN defines rape as "forced sexual intercourse, including vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. Penetration may be by a body part or an object." To clarify: "Rape victims may be forced through threats or physical means. In about 8 out of 10 rapes, no weapon is used other than physical force. Anyone may be a victim of rape: women, men or children, straight or gay."
(And here's some additional info for Scientist Akin: according to a 1996 article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year." According to Planned Parenthood, more than five percent of all rapes result in pregnancy.)
Let's stop differentiating between different types of rape as if they were different flavors at an ice cream shop. Politicians need to get over the pervasive fear that adopting a zero-tolerance attitude towards rape means that people will be able to disingenuously "cry rape" if they're having a bad day. That's not going to happen. You know what's way more dangerous? Allowing legislators like Akin to make declarative statements that are unarguably false. If you don't know how basic biology works, you shouldn't be able to hold a government position that gives you real power over the bodies of millions of women.
Sure, it would be a hell of a lot easier if uteri were able to define rape for us. But they can't, and it's insane to pretend otherwise.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/08/21/721321/rep-steve-king-says-hes-never-heard-of-a-rape-induced-pregnancy/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&mobile=nc
REP. STEVE KING SAYS HE’S NEVER HEARD OF A RAPE-INDUCED PREGNANCY |
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is doubling down on behalf of his colleague Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) who said Sunday that it’s unlikely for a woman to get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because her body would “shut that whole thing down.” In an interview with Iowa’s KMEG-TV, King denied ever hearing about anyone getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest, saying: “Well I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way, and I’d be open to discussion about that subject matter.” King is one of Akin’s very few remaining defenders as Republican politicians try to distance themselves from the controversy. Just a few weeks ago, King claimed that it’s perfectly legal to rape and kidnap a young girl and then transport her across state lines to force her to get an abortion to “eradicate the evidence of his crime.”
REP. STEVE KING SAYS HE’S NEVER HEARD OF A RAPE-INDUCED PREGNANCY |
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is doubling down on behalf of his colleague Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) who said Sunday that it’s unlikely for a woman to get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because her body would “shut that whole thing down.” In an interview with Iowa’s KMEG-TV, King denied ever hearing about anyone getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest, saying: “Well I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way, and I’d be open to discussion about that subject matter.” King is one of Akin’s very few remaining defenders as Republican politicians try to distance themselves from the controversy. Just a few weeks ago, King claimed that it’s perfectly legal to rape and kidnap a young girl and then transport her across state lines to force her to get an abortion to “eradicate the evidence of his crime.”
- Todd Akin actually does represent The Republican :Party. They're trying to disavow their own platform.
Todd Akin and Republican abortion plank: bad timing? (+video)
The GOP platform committee is meeting in Tampa, Fla., this week – and set to approve a plank opposing abortion with no exceptions. Democrats call it the 'Akin plank,' after Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, who is under pressure to quit his Senate race after a sensational comment on rape.
Rep. Todd Akin (R) of Missouri, announcing his candidacy for US Senate, in Creve Coeur, Mo., in this May 17, 2011, file photo, is now under siege for comments in a Sunday interview on abortion and 'legitimate rape.'
Jeff Roberson/AP/File
Republicans in Tampa, Fla., are drafting a platform provision that calls for a “human life amendment” to the Constitution: a ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
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Republican US Senate candidate Todd Akin released a campaign ad asking voters to forgive him for his comments about rape and abortion. CBS News' Jan Crawford reports on how Akin's comments sidetracked the GOP message.
Nothing new there. The party adopted the same plank four and eight years ago. But this year, the timing could not be worse for the GOP, amid the uproar over Rep. Todd Akin’s statement on “legitimate rape.” Congressman Akin ofMissouri, Republican challenger to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), is under intense pressure from GOP leaders to withdraw from the race, but has resisted.
Akin has created a perfect storm for theDemocrats: He now embodies the Republican Party’s opposition to abortion under all circumstances, a position that the Romney campaign does not follow. Mitt Romney includes an exception for rape, in line with the view of most Americans.
RECOMMENDED: Battle for women's votes: 6 flash points
Democrats are now calling the GOP abortion provision “the Akin plank” and are tying him to Mr. Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. In 2011, Akin and Congressman Ryan (among others) cosponsored legislation stating that only pregnancies resulting from “forcible rape” would be exempt from a federal ban on abortion funding.
The Republican National Committee is expected to vote on its abortion plank on Wednesday, with the full convention voting on Monday.
The abortion plank “will affirm our view and support for the right to life” that has long been part of the Republican platform, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) of Virginia, chairman of the platform committee, told Bloomberg News.
The platform does not include exceptions, because as long as the US Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion is in effect, “these are matters of faith and morals,” Governor McDonnell said. He also condemned Akin’s comment, saying that Akin’s assertion that rape rarely results in pregnancy is “bad science.” McDonnell condemned “violence in every form against women.” Akin has retracted his comment.
Usually, the drafting of party platforms is considered a pro forma exercise and a safety valve for input by interest groups. Candidates often say the platform doesn’t really matter. In 1996, Republican nominee Bob Dole famously said he hadn’t even read the GOP platform. This year, expect Team Obama and the Democrats to make hay out of Akin and the abortion plank, as they seek to exploit their advantage with women voters.
While apologizing Monday for making an “ill-conceived” statement, Akin has stuck by his view that abortion should be banned under all circumstances.
The Democrats – especially Senator McCaskill, considered the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate – want nothing more than for Akin to stay right where he is, still running but ostracized by his party in every way, including financially. Republicans were counting on winning McCaskill’s seat, as they seek to take control of the Senate, where Democrats currently have a 53-to-47 majority.
A survey taken Monday night by Public Policy Polling shows Akin still leading McCaskill by one percentage point, 44 to 43. That’s down from his five-point average lead before his rape comment, but the signal that he still could win might encourage him to stay in the race.
The Akin uproar began on Sunday, when he was asked on St. Louis television about his abortion position. Addressing the issue of exceptions, he said pregnancies from rape are “really rare,” based on his understanding from doctors.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said on KTVI-TV. “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child."
Akin faces a 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline on whether to quit the race. If he drops out after 5 p.m., it would require a court order to remove him from the ballot. Until Sept. 25, the Missouri Republican committee has two weeks to select a replacement from the moment Akin drops out, if he does.
“Rape is an evil act,” Akin said in an ad released Tuesday morning. “I used the wrong words in the wrong way, and for that I apologize.”
RECOMMENDED: Battle for women's votes: 6 flash points
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